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Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice


Radiant Hero Ike

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It just goes to show good things can happen if you get it right the second time around, I guess. Let's hope F&I sells better than its predecessors because of this.

I'm really happy the game is getting good reviews. Sanzaru worked hard to make this game better than Shattered Crystal, and it appears they've succeeded. Perhaps this could mean the start of a turnaround for Boom?

Also, my thoughts on the season 2 images:

Spoiler

Hmm, it seems the team's adventures are bigger and more varied than those in season 1, so the fans of the show who want those things are no doubt going to be pleased. I guess Bill wasn't kidding when he said there were surprises in store.

Sonic and friends are going underwater? Something tells me Sonic isn't going to take this well. I wonder if his dislike of water is going to be a plot point in the episode?

So Eggman's stepping up his Badnik game this time around. About time-- the S1 Badniks were next to no challenge for Team Sonic (as they should be, though). I mean, yeah, Eggy will still burn through the things like he had a fire mode of his own, but hopefully they aren't as fragile. Wouldn't want the gang to get bored fighting 'em all.

I guess Amy finds some robots too cute to smash into itty-bitty pieces with her giant hammer, as evidenced by Bea. I can't wait to see how the rest of the team (heck, the entire village) reacts to her keeping one of Eggman's bots as a pet. Knowing this show, hilarity will ensue.

Liking the look of Mighton and Bolts. Here's hoping they're on the heroes' side. And that we get to see the cloud city they came from.

As Miru said, I bet the spacesuits have something to do with "Spacemageddonocalypse", seeing as that episode will deal with meteors-- you know, from space. No doubt they'll factor into a climactic attempt to destroy the meteor hurtling towards the planet.

Now, if only we had a premiere date. Anyway, I hope those of you who bought the game are having fun and those of you who are still on the fence are emboldened by the mostly positive reviews.

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2 hours ago, Operationgamer17 said:

First the game gets decent review scores. Then, the game gets a 7.3 user score on metacritic, and NOW it's sold out at Donnie's retailer. I remember when the game was first announced, people were hating on it like mad. Now all of this. What happened? https://www.twitter.com/SSF1991/status/780913323655176192

Simple, the game turned out to be actually pretty good.

I'm definitely getting this game at some point. It feels nice to be wrong for once. <3

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Woke up to it still be considered decent among all bases, and /v/ isn't ripping it apart so all and all Sanzaru did good. I hope to see a 3rd boom title from them.

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It's surprising, but pleasantly surprising, that the second chance looks to be paying off. I'll have to download it off the eShop at some point.

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Looks like Sanzaru's been given a second chance to make it work, and it pulled through with them. With a recent podcast I've heard they really did want to improve on what made SC fall short and work on it with an improved direction. 

I could actually see a third game from them in the series if it sells decently enough & SEGA wants to produce another Boom game.

I'm still awaiting the possibility of a demo cuz that's the only real way I'll ever play it though

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 I'm rather shocked that it's getting a decent reception. Again, nothing mind -blowing at all but I didn't expect reviewers like game informer to give this game such a fair rating.

Obviously not enough to save the reputation the Boom series has, game-wise. But sanzaru seem to have a winning formula somewhere in this game. If they're given the third chance to make a sonic game and improve upon what Fire and Ice did. We might get something truly great. 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, CottonCandy said:

 

 I'm rather shocked that it's getting a decent reception. Again, nothing mind -blowing at all but I didn't expect reviewers like game informer to give this game such a fair rating.

Obviously not enough to save the reputation the Boom series has, game-wise. But sanzaru seem to have a winning formula somewhere in this game. If they're given the third chance to make a sonic game and improve upon what Fire and Ice did. We might get something truly great. 

 

 

 

I have some ideas but I'll just say that after playing through it myself there just doesn't seem to be much to complain about.

And the game is generally a lot more "solid" than people thought.

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Well I completed Fire & Ice last night, like 100% completion and stuff. Well post my full thoughts on it soon but can I just say that controlling Sonic in this game is SO DAMN GOOD! He's super responsive and his air dashes and spindash are very awesome to use and you just speed through levels if you use them right; it's so good man!

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Spoiler

The symbols on the flags in the Gothic Gardens stage look a lot like the one in Shadows game.

Does this actually have some meaning or is it just there?

 

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Someone posted all the cutscenes finally.

My thoughts? It's basically on par with a Sonic Boom episode honestly, which is a sizeable leap for Pontac and Graff. There's no glaring plot threads that go nowhere, and I don't feel like my time is wasted. At the same time though.... It's Sonic Boom, and whether or not you actually enjoy the cutscenes boils down to whether or not you enjoy Sonic Boom. Personally, I don't care for Sonic Boom, so it's kinda lost on me. But it's not something I'd say was objectively bad, and the humor seems to resonate with some people so there's that.

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Ok, time for the Twat to talk about the meme in the making for about a year now. Was it worth me pre-ordering this game about two weeks after the game was announced last year?

To be honest, yeah kinda. I mean, I played through Shattered Crystal again recently to get my head in the game before I get my meme hands on F&I and I still enjoy it, not as much as most handheld games in the series but based on what Sonic games are available on the 3DS right now, before I got my hands on Fire & Ice yesterday. I would put it as my second favorite game, first is Lost World 3DS if it wasn't obvious.

So yeah story. I was pretty shocked to notice how little cutscenes Fire & Ice had compared to Shattered Crystal, 15 cutscenes for this game while SC had like over 20 if I recall correctly. But considering how bare SC's story was, it probably didn't need that many cutscenes in the first place so in this case, less is more. Returning are the infamous duo Pontac/Graff and the third wheel people keep on forgetting that also helped out on the story, one of the Creative Directors of Sanzaru Games; Tin Guerrero. But this time, like in Rise of Lyric, some additional dialogue were written by Bill Freiberger and the famous Boom writing duo, Alan Denton and Greg Hahn. I mean, we already know the story by now. Eggman mined up some stuff called Ragnium, uses it to power a bunch of racing bots to try to defeat Sonic in a race and make him into a "has-been", implying he isn't already. Originally, Eggman was going to get the Ragnium with the assistance of his new robot, RagnaBot, but realizing that he grabs everything except Ragnium. He just named him D-Fekt to emphasis how much of a failure he is and treat him like garbage. But despite all that, the young robot still wants to gain the ol' Doctor's love and respect and tries his best to defeat Sonic and crew and stuff. Yes, I like D-Fekt, he's adorable. SO yeah, that's the story. I mean, the first couple of cutscenes set up the premise quite well and stuff but it quickly became pretty meh for me. Remember when Colors kept on giving exposition for something we already know; Fire & Ice does that to a smaller extent. It wasn't as annoying as it was in Colors but it is there. So yeah, plot wise F&I is alright. Could've gotten away with doing more things but with it was perfectly fine. I definitely appreciate Sanzaru Games for making the in-game cutscenes have the characters actually talk and not doing the text-based cutscenes like in SC and it helps since I'm sure the jokes in SC would've had a better kick to them if the characters spoke. Also without a doubt the CG cutscenes are deliciously beautiful, definitely better than the cartoon's own animation. Sonic and crew were on par to how they behave in the show so that's another plus.

The presentation is also really nice as well, when looking back at the visuals for Shattered Crystal and compare them to Fire & Ice. There's definitely an improvement. I personally really liked how colorful these levels are, very vibrant and detailed so I approve of that. The gameplay is without a doubt MUCH faster than Shattered Crystal, by the moment I finished the first stage; I felt the difference. Sonic was much faster in this game than he was in Shattered Crystal. I bet when I pick up Shattered Crystal again after getting used to Fire & Ice's controls, it will probably feel very sluggish. I mean, I had a blast speeding through the levels as Sonic. With his spindash having some actual speed in it and his air dash are instantaneous, I just can't describe the feeling of how fun it is to speed through the stages. Tails not longer throws bombs to attacks enemies so he has a blaster which kinda works like the Cyan Laser. if you know what I mean. Amy smashes her hammer around and cause pillars to go down accessing new areas, which is neat. Sticks is more or less the same as she was in SC but this time when you make a circle with her boomerang, it causes and explosion within that area but I never used this. Knuckles also does the same when he digs and he no longer has a time limit like in SC so dig to your heart's content. While it's no longer mandatory, there is some exploration to be had. But this time, it wasn't as tedious to get all the collectibles than it was in Shattered Crystal. I mean, I didn't found myself spending more that 7 minutes clearing the level when I try to get all the collectibles in the level. Only one stage I recall that I had to spend 10 minutes getting the collectibles. But then again, some stages in Shattered Crystal can take like 15 minutes to clear when you do the same. And besides when you just want to reach to the goal, it won't take you more than 3-4 minutes to beat it. And unlike Shattered Crystal, where it only had like 8 stages; Fire & Ice has like 20 stages so yeah it's a much more meaty game. Though it's still pretty short but I'd say there's a good amount of content in it. 

Remember in Shattered Crystal, where you had to use the Sea Fox to get a Blueprint within the stage; well instead of putting the Sea Fox minigame into the stages, it is its own minilevel now. But now each stage has a Challenge Room where if you're not paying attention you might see yourself dying a bit, it's not super difficult but there's a good amount of challenge in it. At the end of these Challenge Rooms, you get a Trading Card. Where it's functionally the same as the Blueprints in SC but instead of unlocking upgrades, you unlock race tracks for Bot Racing. There's also 2 other collectibles to be found in F&I's stages, Hammer Parts and Junk Parts; 3 in each stage for both. Hammer Parts cosmetically changes the look of Amy's hammer; I didn't feel any difference so yeah it's purely cosmetic. Collecting all the Junk Parts for Sticks gets you the Sticks-bot to use for Bot Racing. Though there is upgrades; 3 of them. The Shield Reward, grants you a shield when you pass your first checkpoint, Ring Attractor, self-explanatory, and Sprint Attack, whenever you dash into an enemy, you kill them. Though these upgrades don't come cheap, so better grind up some Ragnium by collecting all the Dragon Rings and killing enemies though I found the beginning for the first level in World 3 to be a good place to grind some. You can also purchase concept art from the show with the Ragnium you collected and as you already saw, 5 of them are teasers to what Season 2 has to provide and I'm intrigued on how those episodes are going to be like.

Gosh, I'm all over the place, Minilevels. We have the Hovercraft, Fissure Tunnel, Sea Fox and Bot Racing levels in each world, one for each for type. The Hovercraft levels are fine thought not very challenging. All you do is boost and shoot and you'll beat it just fine. Fissure Tunnels is the same as the Worm Tunnels of Shattered Crystal though you'll have to switch between Fire and Ice mode when necessary though it is obvious when to be in which mode. When you're in an icy area, stay in Fire Mode and vice versa. So yeah, like those types of stages in SC? You'll like them here. The Sea Fox is back in its own level and they're fine, outside of some graphical enhancements, it's the same thing you're doing like in SC. Bot Racing is another ok mini level, the tracks aren't really that challenging, they just require you to be attentive on what to do next. But personally I liked how the racing levels were in SC over this, maybe it's because the SC racing levels reminded me of the Rivals games since my first Sonic game was Rivals 2 but I don't know, the 3-lap run around kinda kills it for me.

So yeah, if I were to see Sanzaru make a third Boom game with this gameplay style. I personally would like the story to be more interesting, nothing big or epic but something to keep thoroughly entertained  throughout the game. The story here is an improvement over Shattered Crystal's but it can still be better. The level design here is just fine for me, none of the stages really drag for me when I just speed through them though I want these levels to be more unique and have something memorable to them, I mean F&I does do this in small parts. In the pirate world, you light up kegs with your fire powers to progress; do more of that in the next game. That's all the improvements I think I liked to see for a third 3DS Boom title.

Overall, Fire & Ice in my opinion is a decent start to bringing back the reputation of Sonic after the fallout of the previous two Boom games. I liked what I played but I think some more improvements here and there can be still be made if Sanzaru returns. 

Fire & Ice is a good game.

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23 minutes ago, Twat said:

Fire & Ice is a good game

Agreed.

But I think Amy got the short end of the stick in terms of abilities. There just doesn't seem to be much reason to use her over other characters, Sonic and Knuckles especially. I feel like they had a hard time figuring out what to do with her. 

Also I wish the Bot Racing had actual online because there really doesn't seem to be any reason to play it seeing as I don't have someone to play it with.

Edited by TippyCat
just adding something I missed.
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2 hours ago, Twat said:

Well I completed Fire & Ice last night, like 100% completion and stuff. Well post my full thoughts on it soon but can I just say that controlling Sonic in this game is SO DAMN GOOD! He's super responsive and his air dashes and spindash are very awesome to use and you just speed through levels if you use them right; it's so good man!

I made it to 91% completion and I feel I'm completely done with the game. I think the only way for me to get 100% is to buy all the battle bots from Tails to use in local co-op races, but the thing is that it's pretty pointless for me to spend my time grinding to buy them all when I have no one to enjoy this game locally with. So with everything else unlocked, this is my 100% completion. lol 

And congrats on actually going the full mile and getting the actual 100%. 

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Just now, TippyCat said:

Agreed.

But I think Amy got the short end of the stick in terms of abilities. There just doesn't seem to be much reason to use her over other characters, Sonic and Knuckles especially. I feel like they had a hard time figuring out what to do with her. 

Well to be honest, I don't really choose any other character besides Sonic cause he's just too much fun to use with his spindash and air dashes. I mean, I could see where you're coming from with Amy though but I don't really mind it. I mean, it's fine for her debut in the 3DS Boom games but here's hoping Sanzaru gives her more stuff to do.

4 minutes ago, Mysterion said:

I made it to 91% completion and I feel I'm completely done with the game. I think the only way for me to get 100% is to buy all the battle bots from Tails to use in local co-op races, but the thing is that it's pretty pointless for me to spend my time grinding to buy them all when I have no one to enjoy this game locally with. So with everything else unlocked, this is my 100% completion. lol 

And congrats on actually going the full mile and getting the actual 100%. 

Neither do I but as you said, I'm dedicated to this game man. Meme in the works for about a year, can't go halfway with this. Too late for that.

I mean I have the proof right here.

Spoiler

Ctd35o3WIAAwLFo.jpg

 

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I got the game today. And I enjoy it. I need more dedicated time to it though. I was playing it and towards the end I was falling asleep. I wake up eatly for work. But I enjoyed it. The challenge rooms are fun as well.

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I gotta say though... Considering the plot's focus on Eggman's high speed Bot Racers, I'd have thought Metal Sonic of all known Eggman robots would have made some sort of appearance in this game outside of unlockable Sonic Boom production art. I'm guessing they just didn't want to risk pulling the spotlight away from D-Fekt or have a character as significant as Metal play second banana, but it would've been neat to unlock him as a playable character for the races as a 100% reward.

Or... you know, get something as a reward for completing the game in full. :unsure:

But hey, at least there ain't a dance party.

 

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I don't know about you but that dancing party was the best thing about Shattered Crystal.

and boom shadow but nevermind that

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Turns out there's an Easter egg in the game, in a certain gothic gardens stage...

tumblr_oe73tnOKyl1rwya1ao1_400.jpg

StH is canon for the Boom universe confirmed

 

Also, it may be more in line with pre-played speed running, but trying to verify this through a playthrough, I... think this stage has kinda sold me on the game?

And whaddyaknow, it's designed more like a regular Sonic stage than anything Shattered Crystal did. Physics and speed look pretty great in this, as well.

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12 minutes ago, The Deleter said:

Turns out there's an Easter egg in the game, in a certain gothic gardens stage...

tumblr_oe73tnOKyl1rwya1ao1_400.jpg

StH is canon for the Boom universe confirmed

 

Also, it may be more in line with pre-played speed running, but trying to verify this through a playthrough, I... think this stage has kinda sold me on the game?

And whaddyaknow, it's designed more like a regular Sonic stage than anything Shattered Crystal did. Physics and speed look pretty great in this, as well.

That stage actually looks good, but the rest I've seen of the game is really dull. I don't know, I really am wondering if I should get this now or wait for christmas

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I'm curious, for the few that have the Japanese copy of the game. Who did they get for Eggman?

EDIT: Never mind, I just found out Japan doesn't have it yet. It's next month

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12 minutes ago, Ryusuke said:

I'm curious, for the few that have the Japanese copy of the game. Who did they get for Eggman?

EDIT: Never mind, I just found out Japan doesn't have it yet. It's next month

I mean, Eggman's new Japanese voice actor was already known if you look at the credits in the Rio Olympics games.

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