Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

Character specific videos for Tails, Knuckles and Sticks are here, as well as some special moves for Sonic.

http://www.tssznews.com/2016/09/23/new-sonic-boom-fire-ice-character-specific-videos/

[Shaddy Zaphod]

Oh hey, they made the spin dash worth something.

[FriendBot]

That was the case when we saw the Joypolis footage at 2015 though.

[Shaddy Zaphod]

Well then i am one inattentive fucker

[LargoDELLZ]

Pretty excited for Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice since it looks to be improving from the problems I had with Shattered Crystal and just a fun game in general. If it turns out good, I doubt it will change the general public's opinion on the Boom franchise, but I feel like it might improve its reputation just a bit.

[Mad Convoy]

Going to wait for a price drop unless the game does something huge (which is what I do for most games, really), but I will probably get it eventually. It looks like a quick bit of fun.

[FriendBot]

Don't worry guys, will keep you guys up to date on what's up with Fire & Ice when I pick it up first thing in the morning. Though I probably will do more live coverage on Twitter than here, then again I am just ThatSoni so you'll never know.

subtle twitter namedrop was subtle

[Ghast06]

Get your wallets ready because Sonic Boom Fire and Ice comes out tomorrow!

[Shaddy Zaphod]

It's gonna be grea-

goo-

...

It'll be okay

[Graystripe2000]

French TV commercial. 

 

[Raijin]

So how much of this has actually improved? I heard they were trying to do better with this one.

[shdowhunt60]

3 minutes ago, Raijin said:

So how much of this has actually improved? I heard they were trying to do better with this one.

We don't know, because it's not out yet.

[Raijin]

Just now, shdowhunt60 said:

We don't know, because it's not out yet.

I meant from what we've seen from the footage.

[Hiki]

[removed]

[Shaddy Zaphod]

1 hour ago, Raijin said:

I meant from what we've seen from the footage.

Some amount. Sonic doesn't look as stiff as in SC, the Fire and Ice mechanic while simple (being just a press of a button) adds a level of attentiveness needed to what would've been automated segments, the backtracking and medal hunting is entirely removed in favor of old-fashioned level-to-level structure (with streamlined but apparently still expansive level design). Other than that, more characters, more bosses, more levels. Definitely forecasting a "solid and nothing else" game here.

[FriendBot]

Also the story and dialogue has seen some improvement from Shattered Crystal but that's because the writers for the show have assisted Pontac and Graff with the story.

[Starkirby3]

Sonic Boom Fire and Ice, this sounds interesting...

Looks at Gameplay...

Never have I lost this much faith in Sonic Boom than now. Sega could have made Sonic Boom good but after their reception with Rise of Lyric, I doubt that this game will reignite the Sonic Boom Franchise as a whole... still better than Rise of Lyric but that's my honest opinion.

Thank God for Mania. 

[Shaddy Zaphod]

21 minutes ago, Starkirby3 said:

Sonic Boom Fire and Ice, this sounds interesting...

Looks at Gameplay...

Never have I lost this much faith in Sonic Boom than now. Sega could have made Sonic Boom good but after their reception with Rise of Lyric, I doubt that this game will reignite the Sonic Boom Franchise as a whole... still better than Rise of Lyric but that's my honest opinion.

Thank God for Mania. 

How would you lose more faith from this game being whatever than the reception to RoL being the equivalent of a nuclear war over the last slice of pizza?

[Starkirby3]

25 minutes ago, Shaddy the guy said:

How would you lose more faith from this game being whatever than the reception to RoL being the equivalent of a nuclear war over the last slice of pizza?

 If Fire and Ice had a cliched plot that puts Spyro:Enter the Dragonfly to shame, boring gameplay, and a villain who isn't even canon in the Sonic Boom TV show.

But that's my honest opinion.

 

[FriendBot]

But alteast Fire & Ice is complete and polished compared to Rise of Lyric.

[Starkirby3]

That's True, Fire and Ice is Better than ROL but what about Shattered Crystal?

I never actually got time to play it fully because after Rol, i lost all faith. 

[Jeffhog]

In case any of you might be curious (I don't see the harm in mentioning it now at least), the review embargo will be lifted tomorrow morning at 6 Pacific/9 Eastern, so you can get a better feel of the game for yourself before picking it up then!

how do I know this, you might wonder

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

3 minutes ago, Starkirby3 said:

That's True, Fire and Ice is Better than ROL but what about Shattered Crystal?

I never actually got time to play it fully because after Rol, i lost all faith. 

It's longer than SC... plus the dialogue sounds better.

[FriendBot]

4 minutes ago, Starkirby3 said:

That's True, Fire and Ice is Better than ROL but what about Shattered Crystal?

I never actually got time to play it fully because after Rol, i lost all faith. 

Shattered Crystal was perfectly fine, nothing remarkable but it wasn't really bad. Just some forced collecting and a pretty meh story with even meh dialogue bogged it down for most people.

I can understand not having trust on SEGA after Rise of Lyric but remember, we could've gotten this game LAST YEAR. I'd say you have to take that into account as well but I don't expect it to be a complete overhaul on the gameplay since it was in the works soon after Shattered Crystal was out, if I recall correctly.

4 minutes ago, Jeffhog said:

In case any of you might be curious (I don't see the harm in mentioning it now at least), the review embargo will be lifted tomorrow morning at 6 Pacific/9 Eastern, so you can get a better feel of the game for yourself before picking it up then!

how do I know this, you might wonder

Ah geez, the EG Games I pre-ordered my copy at won't open until 10 EST. Dammit Jeffy Boi, you got the game before I did, didn't you?

[Mad Convoy]

Place your bets guys! Do you think the overall critical reception for Fire and Ice is going to be good, bad, or meh? And how will that affect the game overall?

Normally I'd say its going to be bad-- this being a Sonic Boom game, which critics have never liked. Even non-sucky, inoffensive games like Dash 2 are liable to get savaged by the press. But on the other hand, it seems like a lot of the previews for the game as of late are quite positive, praising the game and even showing hype from time to time. And the overall content seems decent to me, which could fuel some meh reviews for being a competent enough platformer but bringing no noteworthy content to the table. So it could go for any one of the three.

I definitely think the review scores are going to affect the sales of F&I. If it turns out to be received well, gamers are probably going to rush over to see just what the heck the critics are talking about and consider it the surprise of the century. Fans will also be influenced to talk about the game more and possibly buy it if they weren't going to anyway. But if its received meh or badly, people will be largely unsurprised and it'll maybe only sell a little more than RoL/SC. If the reception is meh, sales will probably pick up once the price drop rolls around but it won't be enough to do more than break even. Otherwise very few people will even consider buying the game.