Sonic Boom (Untagged Spoilers)

[Your Vest Friend]

Honestly, SEGA ending the Boom stuff by the end of season 2 is a prediction I would have made without insider sources, because it seems pretty obvious to me. This was supposed to be a multi-pronged media project, but the games have not been selling well at all, the comic got done in thanks to Archie's terrible budgeting, the toys have never seemed to be stellar sellers (over here, the stock seems to stagnate and stay on store shelves) and even the cartoon is now facing problems. The project has overall been a pretty big failure considering the aims.

Even though I'm not a big fan of the classic era, more classic games alongside the modern honestly sounds preferable to more Boom anyway. 

[Baconjack]

It's quite sad to see that Sega might pull the plug on Boom, but most people did see it coming. When Boom was revealed in early 2014 I remember almost every existing fan was angry that their beloved characters and mythos would be radically changed, despite it being a last-minute effort to revitalise the franchise (ailing at this point in time). While the cartoon was good on its own, all three games released were sub-par in quality, and Rise of Lyric singlehandedly wiped clean the franchise's reputation rebuilt over 4 years with Colours, Generations (and Sonic 4 to a lesser extent). I really liked the cartoon, although it was nowhere near as good as SatAM, for what it was it was good to watch. At least Sega is now fully aware that Boom is doing more harm than good to their flagship franchise, and are pulling the plug on it before it's too late.

They've found the right way to improve Sonic's reputation by reintroducing Classic Sonic to the masses and getting Taxman to develop original games (which have received good publicity so far), however when Sega tried to do it with Boom they made several fatal mistakes that nearly singlehandedly killed the franchise, such as releasing the Boom games on failing platforms. While Boom was an interesting take on the franchise (and an enjoyable cartoon), in the end Boom was a colossal commercial failure. Sega have made the right decision to possibly get rid of Boom.

[SSF1991]

12 minutes ago, Sir Laptop said:

It's quite sad to see that Sega might pull the plug on Boom, but most people did see it coming. When Boom was revealed in early 2014 I remember almost every existing fan was angry that their beloved characters and mythos would be radically changed, despite it being a last-minute effort to revitalise the franchise (ailing at this point in time).

Huh? People were cautiously optimistic, not angry. And the franchise wasn't ailing in early 2014.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

14 minutes ago, SSF1991 said:

Huh? People were cautiously optimistic, not angry. And the franchise wasn't ailing in early 2014.

I remember fear and annoyance of it myself. Perhaps it depends which circle of fans one hangs at.

I do kinda doubt Sonic Boom will last much longer after Season 2... not because of the rumors, but just because of the overall signs pointing in that direction. All I'll say is if they do kill it soon after couple years... then I hope they save Sticks by adding her at least in as a reoccurring background character in the main series.

[Lucid Dream]

I don't see why Sega would keep the classic formula consistent and unchanging. They could develop it into something like the Advance series, which actually have a story and dialogue at times. The "Don't talk, no story!" thing is really quite stupid as anything other than a series throwback. 

Is it really so hard to learn from what they did right? Because, despite what a few people like to say, Modern Sonic undeniably did have quite a few modern games with pretty good writing. What mistake Sega did do is fairly easy to rectify (avoid rushing the story/game, make sure your writers actually know the source material), and they've actually been doing that now. I guess Sonic 2017 will show how confident Sega is in themselves. 

[SSF1991]

16 minutes ago, Sniper dreams said:

I don't see why Sega would keep the classic formula consistent and unchanging.

Because whenever SEGA tries something new, it blows up in their face

And because people are tired of SEGA constantly changing things up all the time?

And because that "consistent and unchanging" formula (which isn't the case anyway as Sonic 2 added Tails, Super Sonic and a Spin Dash, Sonic 3 & Knuckles added Knuckles, Super Emeralds, Hyper transformations, elemental shields, and a insta-shield) was a successful formula that made Sonic the gaming icon he eventually became?

23 minutes ago, Sniper dreams said:

Is it really so hard to learn from what they did right?

The classic games weren't "done right"? Because there's a reason why Sonic became such an icon by 1994-1995.

25 minutes ago, Sniper dreams said:

The "Don't talk, no story!" thing is really quite stupid as anything other than a series throwback.

Except it's not the case at all. It's more than just a 'throwback". Part of what made the Classic games great was how you could just keep going, level by level, without worrying about cutscenes slowing you down. Yeah, you could skip them, but it was still extra button pressing when you'd much rather just boot up the level and keep playing. You still knew the story. Robotnik was being bad, so Sonic needed to stop him (although it's much more complicated than that, the game manuals explained the story much more back then because, well, games were more in an arcade style those days). And to be honest, the lack of talking, I can understand too. No one can agree on the voice acting. At all. No one can agree on the dialogue or the writing. At all. So, why bother? You can't please everyone.

And to be honest, I think this just goes for any Sonic formula. No one is going to fully agree on a formula, and not everyone is going to be excited to play it. Some would rather play Sonic games with more talking, less Classic Sonic and story because, well, that's more appealing to them. And that's fine. It comes down to what appeals to you. But honestly, SEGA didn't do this to upset Modern fans. They're still getting a Modern game, even though Classic Sonic's popping up in it. They did it because they needed something that works and well, let's be honest. What they tried recently didn't work and now Sonic's not seen in a positive light again.

There's also a generation divide in the fanbase too. You have kids that grew up with the Adventure and Modern games, and 20-somethings that grew up with Classic games. It's just added to the divide on what the fanbase wants with a Sonic game. So this is why SEGA has created this trio of formula branches. It's something for everyone, and while I don't really think Classic Sonic was necessary in Project 2017, I do understand that SEGA is focusing more on gaining trust again than pulling out a big reboot and changing things.

Long story short, it's understandable that you want more Modern-like gameplay, but SEGA hasn't been doing what they've been doing to push you away.

[Lucid Dream]

53 minutes ago, SSF1991 said:

Because whenever SEGA tries something new, it blows up in their face

And because people are tired of SEGA constantly changing things up all the time?

And because that "consistent and unchanging" formula (which isn't the case anyway as Sonic 2 added Tails, Super Sonic and a Spin Dash, Sonic 3 & Knuckles added Knuckles, Super Emeralds, Hyper transformations, elemental shields, and a insta-shield) was a successful formula that made Sonic the gaming icon he eventually became?

The classic games weren't "done right"? 

Considering my main example was Sonic Advance, I'd really like to hear about how that blew up in their face. As far as I can see that game was very successful. How was the Advance series a failure? 

And I don't think the games added that much change. They added much less change than some of the classics, like Chaotix. Except, debatably Advance 2. 

Also, I don't see how a 30 second cutscenes slows you down that much. Sonic 3&K actually has more and longer cutscenes than Advance 2/3. The Advance series only put 3-4 cutscenes in and it definitely added to the game.

You know, it would be nice if you actually read what I wrote instead of reading the first line and assume I'm talking about God knows what. I never said the classics weren't done right. Strawman fallacies are quite rude

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

So I've seen Nutwork. It's a good episode, and a really nice Sticks centric episode since My Fair Sticksy. 

The conspiracy lines are kept to a minimum and Sticks acts really sensible in this episode. Some scenes that made me laugh were the reports that Sticks made (with an unamused look on her face) about the accident and the puppies. It's also nice to see the Villagers do something right for once. There was a really nice music reference here, playing a mixed version of Highway to the Danger Zone when Tails and Sticks jump off the plane. Although the cat wilhelm scream is being used over and over again. And D.B Platypus with the quoted fingers joke soon got old. (D.B Platypus is still annoying since his appearance in Role Models gnfignifng.) Like the others said, it spread a message about the media.

===

On the rumor that SEGA's gonna end Sonic Boom... I'm gonna wait for official confirmation on that. If it's true, then I suppose it's for the best. The first two games didn't do so well, gameplay and sales wise, and while F&I did slightly better, it wasn't enough. The comics ended last year, with just 11 issues. The TV series is prolly the decent thing to come from this spin off, but after getting a shoddy timeslot (for CN), lack of promotion, and moving new episodes to Boomerang, it has affected ratings really badly. The fact that CN/SEGA aren't doing anything about this isn't making things better. IF the rumor's true, I just hope they don't can it in the middle of Season 2. I know that's unlikely, but Season 2 is looking promising, adventures outside the island, good music, improved animation and color, is what they showed us so far (and some jokes too.) There's also gonna be returning characters.

In short, I'm gonna wait for more actual information. It's really confusing.

 

 

 

[RLS Legacy]

It's looking more and more like Boom is going to end up becoming a sad footnote in the history of Sonic the Hedgehog, which will, in my view, be a really sad end to what could easily have become a very lucrative moneyspinner for the franchise if it hadn't been so atrociously mismanaged.

Kids want toys, videogames, comic books, cartoons. Boom literally provided every single one of those things, as well as a cool and endearing cast of characters. By all accounts, it should have been a roaring success. And yet owing purely to the actions of both SEGA and Cartoon Network it's failed to stick.

Perhaps the only hope now is that, if SEGA puts in the effort to have season 2 moved to a better timeslot, ratings might pick back up and restore some of the company's faith in the project.

As an aside, do we know for sure how well Fire and Ice sold? I haven't been able to find any official statistics with a bit of Googling, but surely it can't have done worse than the first two, given that the Boom brand is more established among kids by now?

[Guest]

hey lemme give you all some leaks stuff you never would have guessed here comes:

video game that's successful will probably have sequels just like every other video game that's successful

failed franchise probably won't continue just like every other failed franchise

i gotta hide now i don't want sega ninjas catching me

Spoiler

(What I'm saying is please don't turn this guy into another Wentos if he turns out to be right cause these may as well just be educated guesses)

 

[RLS Legacy]

"I am reliably informed by completely legitimate sources that this franchise which has not been making very much money, sees diminishing television ratings and is often met with a total air of apathy from the company as well as viewers, might not - get this - might not be continuing."

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

8 hours ago, EmmBee said:

I, and season 2 of the show being shifted between two networks and still at a terrible timeslot.

 

That's more so Cartoon Network's usual brand of treating most of their shows that aren't Teen Titans Go like crap really. 

[Mad Convoy]

Its not the fact that Boom is ending that's bothering me so much as Sega isn't doing much to indicate that it learned as much from the experience as I'd hoped. Again, its doing similar burying behavior that it did with Sonic 06 that lead to a lot of the underlying problems with Sonic never getting fixed which in turn enabled RoL to happen-- and even creating a few new ones. I won't ever deny that Unleashed, Colors, and Gens are good games, but if you look into their development history, you can see plenty of foreshadowing for stuff like LW and RoL (the one that stands out most prominently is that all three games still appear to have been rushed, which is particularly evident with Gens due to its unusually short length and bevy of cut content-- but you can also see that the writing issues were never truly resolved but rather mostly reversed and the whole reason the trilogy exists is because of Sega's tendency to abandon gameplay styles on a whim, amongst other stuff).

I see Sega doing similar stuff with Boom and RoL and I'm picking up on some possible foreshadowing too-- it doesn't seem to have acknowledged, for example, the role of ignorance Sega executives had about the technical needs of game it made that contributed to RoL's decline (or it wouldn't have demanded that CryEngine go on a WiiU). Or the demoralization of the staff, who stick around for good pay and coworkers but have lost trust in Sega's leadership and faith in Sega's future. And how Sega may well decide that all innovation is bad-- even though the real issue is that it was neither thinking through its ideas enough nor did it ever apply what it learned from its experiments instead of recklessly jumping from one style to the next-- resulting in the Classic formula going stale and TaxStealth's talent going to waste or alternatively, Sonic Team going back to the recklessness that defined the Adventure era, possibly this time with Boost, which also hurts the series. And some new problems-- its just not advertising like it used to and even stuff outside of Boom is getting affected by that (Anybody remember Tembo the Badass Elephant? Sega sure didn't, because the game was barely promoted. But hey, at least we know about Sonic Mania, which the developers have decided to intentionally restrict advertising info about it. Oh, and Sonic 2017, which has had its information delayed to sometime in 2017-- here's hoping that gets properly advertised).

And here's the thing, I get why Sega is doing all this. Save me the spiel on why Sega's actions are logical-- they are and could lead to good short term, as they did for Colors and Gens. But good long term? I think not. I would absolutely love it if Sega proved me wrong on this, but the implications of this aren't looking good.

[Shadowlax]

On 11/29/2016 at 7:38 AM, TimmiT said:

hey ya'll lemme give you some leaks stuff you never would have guessed here comes:

video game that's successful will probably have sequels just like every other video game that's successful

failed franchise probably won't continue just like every other failed franchise

i gotta hide now i don't want sega ninjas catching me

  Hide contents

(What I'm saying is please don't turn this guy into another Wentos if he turns out to be right cause these may as well just be educated guesses)

 

Yeah, like he has no proof, but what he's saying is like ... I can see the possibility of it from far away.  Its like the 3rd strike announcer " yeah that makes sense" 

 

On 11/29/2016 at 4:18 AM, SSF1991 said:

 

There's also a generation divide in the fanbase too. You have kids that grew up with the Adventure and Modern games, and 20-somethings that grew up with Classic games. It's just added to the divide on what the fanbase wants with a Sonic game. So this is why SEGA has created this trio of formula branches. It's something for everyone, and while I don't really think Classic Sonic was necessary in Project 2017, I do understand that SEGA is focusing more on gaining trust again than pulling out a big reboot and changing things.

Long story short, it's understandable that you want more Modern-like gameplay, but SEGA hasn't been doing what they've been doing to push you away.

The divide is a bit larger than that. Because the "kids who grew up with adventure" are 20 something's. The classic guys are older than that. The kids are like, sonic colors era.

But more importantly, to your next point. Pushing people away is exactly what sega has meant and is doing. They think non adventure money will make them more money, so they go in another direction. They abandon one aesthetic for another and appeal to that one. Its not malicious, its what businesses do. Or it shouldn't be malicious , DmC devil may cry is an active example of the devs being vitriolic to the original fambase to the point of being homophobic along with press pushing this narrative that the games critics were mouth breathing man children instead of ninja theory releasing an underwhelming experience.

Do I think sega is that? God no, they threw people a silly party for gods sake. But they do come off a cynical. The people who like adventure era stuff have been told for the past few years " we don't want your money unless its nothing big, or we are making fun of you" and to someone who might like adventure era stuff and sees the other parts of the fanbase being held in higher regard as far as sega goes, and ontop of a strait up new classic sonic game and 2017, and I went through why  that teaser including classic sonic undermines the tone and potential presented just moments earlier, these things in combination create  air that isn't welcoming. And it isn't sega is a buisness they want money, just not yours. Or at least if they try, its nothing major like shadow showing up in sonic boom and amounting to nothing.

But my point is , yeah sega is pushing folks away, they don't want their money. They think they can get more money elsewhere, sega is a buisness.  

[RLS Legacy]

Having Classic show up in the 2017 trailer was a mistake. It makes it seem like SEGA is afraid to take another shot at a proper, more serious 3D Sonic game without the crutch of "hey, it's got Classic in it!" to fall back on.

[Diogenes]

4 minutes ago, Mcbasilrocks said:

Having Classic show up in the 2017 trailer was a mistake. It makes it seem like SEGA is afraid to take another shot at a proper, more serious 3D Sonic game without the crutch of "hey, it's got Classic in it!" to fall back on.

They probably are, considering how poorly they've handled the series and the deserved backlash they've gotten for it. With Lost World's lukewarm at best response and RoL becoming the series' new biggest joke, they're retreating back to their least-bad formula since '06.

Anyway as for Boom, I'm not trusting anyone's word of being a prophet or an insider or anything, but I think it's clear that the whole Boom initiative has not been a success. Games bombed, comic cancelled, show only a middling success at best and now looking like it's been sent off to rot. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if Sega's been planning to drop the whole thing for a while now, once they've worked through the rest of what had already been in production.

[SBR2]

I refuse to believe anyone talking about their friends/relatives who work for a company. It's almost always complete BS.

[Zippo]

10 hours ago, SSF1991 said:

Because whenever SEGA tries something new, it blows up in their face

And because people are tired of SEGA constantly changing things up all the time?

And because that "consistent and unchanging" formula (which isn't the case anyway as Sonic 2 added Tails, Super Sonic and a Spin Dash, Sonic 3 & Knuckles added Knuckles, Super Emeralds, Hyper transformations, elemental shields, and a insta-shield) was a successful formula that made Sonic the gaming icon he eventually became?

The classic games weren't "done right"? Because there's a reason why Sonic became such an icon by 1994-1995.

Except it's not the case at all. It's more than just a 'throwback". Part of what made the Classic games great was how you could just keep going, level by level, without worrying about cutscenes slowing you down. Yeah, you could skip them, but it was still extra button pressing when you'd much rather just boot up the level and keep playing. You still knew the story. Robotnik was being bad, so Sonic needed to stop him (although it's much more complicated than that, the game manuals explained the story much more back then because, well, games were more in an arcade style those days). And to be honest, the lack of talking, I can understand too. No one can agree on the voice acting. At all. No one can agree on the dialogue or the writing. At all. So, why bother? You can't please everyone.

And to be honest, I think this just goes for any Sonic formula. No one is going to fully agree on a formula, and not everyone is going to be excited to play it. Some would rather play Sonic games with more talking, less Classic Sonic and story because, well, that's more appealing to them. And that's fine. It comes down to what appeals to you. But honestly, SEGA didn't do this to upset Modern fans. They're still getting a Modern game, even though Classic Sonic's popping up in it. They did it because they needed something that works and well, let's be honest. What they tried recently didn't work and now Sonic's not seen in a positive light again.

There's also a generation divide in the fanbase too. You have kids that grew up with the Adventure and Modern games, and 20-somethings that grew up with Classic games. It's just added to the divide on what the fanbase wants with a Sonic game. So this is why SEGA has created this trio of formula branches. It's something for everyone, and while I don't really think Classic Sonic was necessary in Project 2017, I do understand that SEGA is focusing more on gaining trust again than pulling out a big reboot and changing things.

Long story short, it's understandable that you want more Modern-like gameplay, but SEGA hasn't been doing what they've been doing to push you away.

Agreed with Donnie 100%. I don't see a downside to more Classic games, as long as Taxman is involved.

6 hours ago, TimmiT said:

hey lemme give you all some leaks stuff you never would have guessed here comes:

video game that's successful will probably have sequels just like every other video game that's successful

failed franchise probably won't continue just like every other failed franchise

i gotta hide now i don't want sega ninjas catching me

  Reveal hidden contents

(What I'm saying is please don't turn this guy into another Wentos if he turns out to be right cause these may as well just be educated guesses)

 

Please, listen to this man. The thought of being another "4Chan Legend" terrifies me.

 

[Polkadi~☆]

Even if the rumor is true or fake, it sparked up a mighty good topic.

 

So I finally got around to seeing the Season 2 episodes, and the first thing I have to point out is THE ANIMATION! SO SMOOTH AND BOUNCY!

Tommy Thunder: Method Actor was okay, but I dislike that it feels like Tommy learned nothing after Sonic gives him credit for a fight Sonic won. Whatever message there was, it wasn't clear.

Spacearmadooiugdsfviuhbesfv was a nice episode, with 2001: A Space Odessy references abundant, and Knuckles being more than just a dumb brute. He seems to really care for his friends, and anyone on the planet, when he tries to smash the meteor when Tails' invention breaks. Had some good jokes, like the TV Schedule.

Nutwork was another good episode, with a great message that's very relevant in these troubled times. Thanks to the poor quality video combined with my hearing loss, I could not understand most of the episode. When I find a better version, I'll have more to say.

[RLS Legacy]

I think the message of the Tommy Thunder episode was more or less that Sonic was being the bigger man by giving Tommy the credit. He could so easily have thrown Tommy under the bus in front of the entire town and news crew, especially since he now knows Tommy's lame real name (Irwin Fertelmeister or something), but he doesn't.

He can see how desperate Tommy is for the respect of the townsfolk, and decides to give him this one, keeping all the citizens' idolisation of Tommy intact in the process. Everyone's happy.

 It shows Sonic's humility and reinforces that he isn't such a big jerk after all.

[EmmBee]

9 hours ago, Jovahexeon the Sapphire said:

That's more so Cartoon Network's usual brand of treating most of their shows that aren't Teen Titans Go like crap really. 

It still doesn't help the situation, and probably has some sort of influence on Sega's part. It would be rather easy to point to lackluster ratings to help justify ending the Boom line.

[CottonCandy]

I actually quite enjoyed Nutwork episode and how it tackled the mass media and news outlets. Fighting for what you believe a is good message. Probably one my favorite sticks episode so far, right next to my fair sticksy. 

I don't have Boomerang on my T.V as of now, I'm gonna have to rely on the internet. :V Still pretty upset this show's treatment have pretty much gone from worse to shit. This whole Boom series is depressing the more hear I about it. 

 

 

[blazefan519]

Just now, EmmBee said:

It still doesn't help the situation, and probably has some sort of influence on Sega's part. It would be rather easy to point to lackluster ratings to help justify ending the Boom line.

But Season 1 of Boom actually did really well, especially in Europe. If you're talking about this Season, they only changed it after they previewed the first episode on CN, which the views on that were poor because of terrible advertising.

[SpongicX]

1 hour ago, Mcbasilrocks said:

I think the message of the Tommy Thunder episode was more or less that Sonic was being the bigger man by giving Tommy the credit. He could so easily have thrown Tommy under the bus in front of the entire town and news crew, especially since he now knows Tommy's lame real name (Irwin Fertelmeister or something), but he doesn't.

He can see how desperate Tommy is for the respect of the townsfolk, and decides to give him this one, keeping all the citizens' idolisation of Tommy intact in the process. Everyone's happy.

 It shows Sonic's humility and reinforces that he isn't such a big jerk after all.

Sonic could have easily given himself credit without trashing Tommy Thunder. It also doesn't help that Tommy already told the whole town early on in the episode that he's no real hero, and is just an actor. This ending would have made more sense if the episode was about Tommy being introduced as a hero, but Sonic finds out he's a fake, while everyone else still thinks he's a real hero. Sonic could have easily said "actually, I stopped Eggman", instead of giving Tommy undeserved praise. In life, people shouldn't be rewarded for living a lie, and stealing others' credit, so I don't see how it's fair to give credit that isn't due. It's just as bad as rewarding a sore loser, just because they're throwing a pouting fit over not winning. What really annoyed me, was how Tommy continued to steal Sonic's thunder, without thanking him in private or something. It would have also been nice to see Tommy man up, and confess that Sonic was the real hero. I felt this episode had a horrible moral, it's just my opinion though, don't let it change what you thought of the episode. 

 

[Zippo]

6 hours ago, CottonCandy said:

I actually quite enjoyed Nutwork episode and how it tackled the mass media and news outlets. Fighting for what you believe a is good message. Probably one my favorite sticks episode so far, right next to my fair sticksy. 

I don't have Boomerang on my T.V as of now, I'm gonna have to rely on the internet. :V Still pretty upset this show's treatment have pretty much gone from worse to shit. This whole Boom series is depressing the more hear I about it. 

 

 

To me, Cartoon Network has been nothing but shit for years now. The cancellation of Sym Bionic Titan, Young Justice and Green Lantern greatly aggravated me. Shows like Regular Show, Steven Universe and Gumball don't appeal to me, but i can tell from all the hubbub online that CN's poor treatment of all of these shows is being met with justified criticism. Not sure if the executives are listening or truly care about what people have to say, and that's bad for everyone involved.