Sonic Boom announced (Wii U/3DS)

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

DmC wasn't a spinoff - it's a reboot. False equivalency when compared to Boom, as the situation is entirely different.

Okay, reboot then. But the point still stands regardless: You're taking serious risks when you make drastic changes whether spin-off or reboot.

 

You were around, for instance, when people were flipping their shit in the Metal Gear Rising thread over making the game more action based than stealth based like the Metal Gear series was known for - hell, I was practically one of those people. Come around DmC and seeing more promise from Rising, people were more supportive of the latter game out of spite of the former game's obnoxious developers.

[Sami]

Not really, because the point still stands regardless: You're taking serious risks when you make drastic changes whether spin-off or reboot. You were around when people were flipping their shit in the Metal Gear Rising thread over making the game more action based than stealth based. Come around DmC, people were more supportive of Rising out of spite of the former game's obnoxious developers.

No, a spin off by a different team is a spin off by a different team and thus has no bearing on the main series, which is still alive and healthy.

I was arguing the exact same point when people were losing their shit over Rising. It was silly then, too, especially since Rising ended up being fantastic.

[Milo]

Poor Traveller's Tales.

 

And SEGA Technical Institute for that matter. They only worked on one of the (If not the) most popular games in the series.

 

Sonic 3D Blast / Flickies Island isn't a mainstream game.

 

You do have a point regarding STI though.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

No, a spin off by a different team is a spin off by a different team and thus has no bearing on the main series, which is still alive and healthy.

I was arguing the exact same point when people were losing their shit over Rising. It was silly then, too, especially since Rising ended up being fantastic.

Let me repeat this - You're taking serious risks when you make drastic changes whether spin-off or reboot. We know it has no bearing on the main series, and we know the original series is staying put alive and well, and while that's fine and dandy that still doesn't mean people are going to be fine with the spin off as it is. It just makes it better to them knowing that it's not going to take over anything, but even then people can still have their problems with it.

 

For example, people were losing their shit over Rising because its end result was completely different from the initial one they promised of high speed predator stealth, instead going to straight hack and slash. It ended up being fantastic because, despite being hack and slash, it didn't completely forgo the traditional stealth elements of the Metal Gear or even the setting and world building, instead blending them or building them further with its new direction despite the stealth taking less priority. All of which was boosted by DmC being a complete middle finger to the DMC franchise when it came to the same genre, and making them further support Rising out of spite to the point they could call it a successor (although that last part I might be exaggerating). 

 

EDIT - And mind you, despite being under a different team like Boom, unlike Boom, Rising as a spin-off actually has a bearing on the main Metal Gear series as a continuation, in the same sense that ShTH was for Sonic main series as a spin-off title.

[Blue Blood]

If people missed this video interview when it was posted on the last page, here it is again:

 

Local co-op only, FFS! I would love a decent, online co-op experience.

[WhoWhatMan]

This game does look pretty graphically heavy for Wii U standards so I'm not really surprise that they have to stick with local co-op.

[BonkersTheAutomaton]

I have to agree with Nep that it's strange SEGA still doesn't want to do what Sonic Boom is doing now in their modern games, something fans have requested for years which is to add more playable characters and have what looks to be more lore and a good story. They are very determined to keep these series separate, but this does mean that the 2015 game may continue the tradition of bare bones plot, Sonic only, Pontac writing and a possible return to parkour. It is possible that SEGA may take some inspiration from Sonic Boom if the game is a success, but we'll have to see.

 

If that is the case.  I will happily say that I am a Sonic Boom fan only and none of the others.  Because personally, even though we haven't seen much of it, I'm preferring it to nearly anything Sonic Team have been doing recently with sonic Generations being the one exception.  But that's just me.

[Mauro Fonseca]

>interviews show SEGA started this project in 2011

>SEGA's objective is to do a media blitz in the West

>statements at Archie make it obvious there's a comic tie-in of some sort planned

>cartoon

>game by western developer

 

...

 

>Sony starts doing videogame movies

>Sony registers Sonic domains

>Nuremberg Toy Fair has "animated film" listed under Sonic Boom

>media blitz on all fronts

[SuperLink]

This game does look pretty graphically heavy for Wii U standards

Nah

[Marcello]

Sonic 3D Blast / Flickies Island isn't a mainstream game.

 

You do have a point regarding STI though.

I'd say, it's as much of a mainline game as Sonic Boom. I'd argue more so, since it's in the same continuity.

[Gabz Girl]

If that is the case. I will happily say that I am a Sonic Boom fan only and none of the others. Because personally, even though we haven't seen much of it, I'm preferring it to nearly anything Sonic Team have been doing recently with sonic Generations being the one exception. But that's just me.

Hah, this game seems to be doing everything right that SEGA has been doing oh so wrong for the past couple of years! But this is troubling since it means one game might be better received than the other. Of course we won't know until Boom comes out but it sure looks promising. As I said before though, I'm staying cautiously optimistic since I don't want to get my expectations crashed and burned like what happened with SLW (even though this isn't being made by SEGA).

[Your Vest Friend]

Oh hey, Crash of the Titans and Mind Over Mutant had 2 player co-op as well! Problem is in MOM I'd always kill player 1 (Crash) so I could solo the game as player 2 (Coco). The Knuckles Chaotix style won't let me kill Sonic so I can solo as Tails.

[Blue Blood]

I'd say, it's as much of a mainline game as Sonic Boom. I'd argue more so, since it's in the same continuity.

 

Hardly. 3DB was a spin-off side story. The Rivals series was developed in Canada, but again it's a negligible side game just like all the other Western Sonic games. Even Chronicles. Boom on the other hand is headlining a new franchise, and is a pretty major instalment even if part of a different continuity. 

 

The only Western Sonic games with any relevance before now would be Sumo's SEGA All Stars. And, well, that's more SEGA than Sonic.

[Blacklightning]

This game does look pretty graphically heavy for Wii U standards so I'm not really surprise that they have to stick with local co-op.

What on earth does graphical fidelity have to do with netcode? Hell, if anything, local multiplayer is actually far more taxing on the game than online is, on account of having to render the entire game world once per player (four times over, maybe five, depending on how the tablet screen is used), so I'm honestly kind of stunned they were even able to manage that when previous games of comparable detail still managed to find ways to shit themselves even with one player.

[azoo]

I'm in total agreement with Nepenthe. 

 

While I'm glad they've made a Sonic TV show that would seem to be pretty decent (and funny!) for what it is, I'm not really comfortable with it becoming a secondary main series. Sure, other franchises can do it and have done it before, but there's a good bit of things about this that rub me the wrong way, that can be summed up in one sentence:

 

This barely resembles Sonic at all. I know it's supposed to be a 'spin-off franchise' but come on; you're basing this off of a TV show that's based off the video game series, you could at least put some effort into having some similarities. The game looks and seems to play like a PS2 brawler-platformer, and it doesn't resemble anything I like about the series. At all. You know it's bad when you look at Sonic 06 and can tell easier that it's a Sonic game.. Because regardless of the pretty nice environment visuals and various superficial additions (those rings and those one or two ramps), it lacks any sort of "Sonic" flavor, which isn't helped by what seems to be a lack of nearly any staples to the Sonic series.

 

But at the same time of all of this is covering bases that I honestly wish it wasn't. Playable character variety, co-op, bigger maps, a 'level system and scope similar to Sonic Adventure', character interactions, background story.. I side completely with Nepenthe in worry that these things will be lost from the Sonic Team produced games due to the devs behind this game seeming really big on these qualities to their game. It's really disheartening, and we could be wrong and Sega might be planning to revitalize their game series with these things as well, but knowing how they've treated Sonic for the past five years it's not exactly reassuring.

 

I don't want this to become a "second series". Having two completely seperate canons with completely seperate art directions and gameplay designs getting their own games back and forth from now on while remaining under the exact same brand name just leaves a REALLY bad taste in my mouth. We shouldn't have had to have a completely different continuity to get the elements this Boom game is bringing, because this is just uncomfortable to me.

 

All I've wanted was Sonic Team to make their games better. Not take their fans' complaints and shove it somewhere else. :\

[MamboCat]

If that is the case.  I will happily say that I am a Sonic Boom fan only and none of the others.  Because personally, even though we haven't seen much of it, I'm preferring it to nearly anything Sonic Team have been doing recently with sonic Generations being the one exception.  But that's just me.

 

My main concern is that although Boom is an AU to Modern Sonic, this will become the primary Western Sonic, and we don’t get to see Sonic as he was again. For example, Dash just got an exclusive Japanese version. Is the franchise going to be split between Japan, who get Sonic Team games with the "old" Modern Sonic cast, and the "West" get Boom games? And the two shall never cross?  I fear that the Sonic I grew up with may no longer be something we can access.

 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

 

My main concern is that although Boom is an AU to Modern Sonic, this will become the primary Western Sonic, and we don’t get to see Sonic as he was again. For example, Dash just got an exclusive Japanese version. Is the franchise going to be split between Japan, who get Sonic Team games with the "old" Modern Sonic cast, and the "West" get Boom games? And the two shall never cross?  I fear that the Sonic I grew up with may no longer be something we can access.

 

 

Yeeeah I don't think they'd do something that jive. If SEGA of Japan were to do that, they can kiss their Sonic revenue good bye considering the ratio of Sonic sales sold America to Japan these days. I'm quite sure we'll get our entry from each franchise every other year.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I don't want this to become a "second series". Having two completely seperate canons with completely seperate art directions and gameplay designs getting their own games back and forth from now on while remaining under the exact same brand name just leaves a REALLY bad taste in my mouth. We shouldn't have had to have a completely different continuity to get the elements this Boom game is bringing, because this is just uncomfortable to me.

 

All I've wanted was Sonic Team to make their games better. Not take their fans' complaints and shove it somewhere else. :\

For the record, you mean all of that at once right and not just seperately?

 

I mean, I kinda get what you're saying and have some similar feelings. The odd thing is that since I get to keep the original verse, it kind of lightens my distaste and makes me look forward to it despite, or perhaps because it's separate.

 

And I see a silver lining in this. While you could very well say they're taking fan complaints and shoving it elsewhere, you could look at this to see its strong points that you've desired and continue to criticize Sonic Team for. Things like better writing and characterization, multiple characters, a detailed well connected lore, and room for growth. Sure, it came in the form of a completely different artstyle, but this is where it being a second series has another benefit of not screwing with the original verse's designs.

[Adrian Shephard]

This is honestly looks better than Lost World actually. Hope it will be better too.

[Robuttnik]

Can somebody please explain to me how this doesn't look like a Sonic game? It's doing something a bit different, but it has plenty series staples in there and it sure looks like a Sonic game to me. The characters have their signature abilities. Sonic can spindash and homing attack. Knuckles climbs walls and can dig underground. Tails can fly. Amy has her hammer.  You've got running on water. You've got what looks like boosting or at least a variant of it. Speed is still there. The environments look just fine for a Sonic game. Rings are there. Platforming is there. The exploration aspect is clearly there. Even the things it's doing different compared to the last few games are things that aren't alien to the series. Character switching has been done before. Hub worlds have been done before. Even the higher emphasis on combat is something the series has done before such as in Heroes.

 

At the end of the day this series has gone through so many changes over the years. Sonic 2, Adventure, Heroes, Unleashed, Lost World. Every one of the games I just mentioned are main series games but are games with completely different takes on Sonic gameplay. Sonic Boom is yet another Sonic game going in a bit of a different direction. This time it's a bit more open with a focus on different character abilities with speed, platforming, combat and exploration all playing important roles. But the essence of the series is still there and it still very much looks like a Sonic game to me. Yeah I really don't get the it doesn't look like a Sonic game argument.

[SuperLink]

My main concern is that although Boom is an AU to Modern Sonic, this will become the primary Western Sonic, and we don’t get to see Sonic as he was again. For example, Dash just got an exclusive Japanese version. Is the franchise going to be split between Japan, who get Sonic Team games with the "old" Modern Sonic cast, and the "West" get Boom games? And the two shall never cross?  I fear that the Sonic I grew up with may no longer be something we can access.

Of course the West will continue to get Japanese Sonic games, Japan barely buys Japanese Sonic games at all to begin with, so what makes you think they'll release them exclusively there?

 

Dash probably got an exclusive Japanese release because mobile gaming rules Japan. Seriously, Nintendo's stocks plummeted when they said they weren't going to go mobile. I think people underestimate how important mobile gaming is for Japan at the moment, by far one of the biggest Japanese franchises right now is a little mobile game called Puzzle & Dragon, it was so freakin popular that a retail 3DS spinoff ended up being one of the best selling 3DS games. Japan is at a point where mobile games influence the popularity of other entertainment, so Sonic Dash getting an exclusive release there is not surprising at all. What would be surprising would be Japanese exclusive Sonic games considering Sonic has always sold like shit in Japan. Lost World didn't even chart there.

 

Don't worry about not being able to play Japanese Sonic, that is far far from being a possibility. The only reason SoJ still makes Sonic at all is for the Western audience alone.

 

We shouldn't have had to have a completely different continuity to get the elements this Boom game is bringing, because this is just uncomfortable to me.

 

All I've wanted was Sonic Team to make their games better. Not take their fans' complaints and shove it somewhere else. :\

Dude I hear you but I'm really starting to think that Sonic Team as a development team is barely capable of making one good game every 3 years let alone release good games consistently. If I were SEGA I would scrap Sonic Team altogether and give Japanese Sonic to another developer too.

 

The sad fact of the matter is that yea it's come to this, it did need to have a different developer to get the elements Boom is bringing, because let's face it, Sonic Team? As they are now? Were never going to do it. And I think most of us know that. How long have people wanted some of the Boom elements? Probably like a decade! And yet Sonic Team is too busy failing to appeal to Sonic's original audience to fail to appeal to the Adventure audience too.

 

As for the continuity thing see my previous post about this stuff. Sonic Team are not going to share their plot ideas with some baka gaijin western developer, it's obvious that Iizuka or someone at SoJ is somewhat bitter about the game when they have no plans to localise it despite the designs already being pretty well received by Japanese Sonic fans.

 

A congruent plot between western and Japanese branches that have practically zero communication is not going to happen. If they stuck with the original canon, you can bet we'd get a whole lot of "no plot ever" again because Sonic Team would probably just say "no please leave that element alone" down the phone and then not talk to them again for years while they also did fuck all or did things that go against what Boom is doing, causing even more confusion.

 

Seriously, the Japanese Sonic situation is not going to change until Sonic Team shapes up or fucks off. And I hope that day comes eventually! Until then Boom is probably the only way we're going to get a lot of these ideas running, whether they turn out good or not. I'm not saying they necessary will be good, but I for one am extremely glad that SEGA are actually willing to at least try to outsource Sonic in an attempt to improve his game quality.

[Aquaslash]

I just want to say that I approve of the use of bangarang in the trailer.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Heh, a little late to the party since I actualy had to sleep but

I just hope they use the back catalog of enemies that have been unused for some time either for the game, the show, or both.Their excuse is always that they have no where to fit them in without upsetting what they have going in the main series, and they didn't fit in with the side games either (even tho i personally think Riders and Generations was a missed opportunity). So why not in this? New universe, clean slate.

 

Sure have new ones, but there are plenty of fans out there that would love to see old ones return. Hell i would crack up if one episode had Eggman build Scratch and Grounder or something...one of the antho's in the town hub resembling Mighty or Ray, Bean or Bark. Have Nack make a come back for a bad guy or rival role, after all it said OLD and new enemies. Older fans would crack a smile, have a laugh, get some recognition. Easter eggs and cameos are always welcome. With a clean slate and not being as critical as the Sega of Japan main games why not? And it's mostly the western countries that remember and hold onto the "lost" characters due to the Archie Comics and the TV shows we have had here like AoStH and SatAM. Throw us a bone

 

 

Nepenthe... I am in COMPLETE and TOTAL agreement with you. WHY exactly did they have to give us everything we wanted... in a NEW continuity? That really, really upsets me.

 

I want to be able to play as characters other than Sonic in a main series Sonic game. I want to be able to beat the game fully with just Sonic, but I'd like to play as other characters as well with slightly different abilities. I'd like to see a good storyline with good humor all rolled into one. Why can't we have it all?

 

So far... it seems to be ok, its a dream come true. Now if ONLY it could be the MAIN Sonic continuity getting this treatment. I like the current continuity. Who cares if its a clusterf*** like other people say? MAYBE it is... but there's still a lot of depth there, and they can FIX the old continuity instead of throwing it away for a new one.

 

 

Who knows? Maybe Sonic Boom is a sign that they ARE trying to do that. I'm not confident in it at this point, but maybe Sonic Boom's storyline will follow roughly with the original storyline so perhaps it won't be so bad. I'll wait and find out.

 

 

On that note, if these AREN'T the only playable characters, that'd be absolutely awesome. I'm fine just having other playable characters for once, but if there's even more, great. As long as all the characters work well, I'm fine with them adding more. The main problem in the past is that Sonic Team couldn't seem to get all the characters working well, polishing the game, and making a good storyline all in one.

 

I'd love to be able to play as Shadow and Rouge again, and perhaps even Omega for the first time as a solo playable character (not counting Sonic '06, and even then you could never really play him solo). I won't hold my hopes up for it, but it'd be cool if we did get some more. I'd be a bit concerned if there were more than 8 unless they added more as DLC later.

 

I could see four main characters and four rival characters, but more than that is stretching it a bit; need to make sure the game is good before we worry about adding more and more characters.

 

 

 

Heck yeah, I've been waiting to see Fang back for pretty much ever at this point. That'd be amazing. Not counting on it, but it would be cool.

I totaly agree with these, and would love Nack back as well XD

[Kuzu]

Superlink is basically saying everything I wanted to say.

 

 

I know people find this new continuity pointless, and just wonder why couldn't Sega just do it in the main franchise. Well, maybe Sonic Team just isn't capable anymore. I know people like to say "Well, they did it in the past, so why not again" the thing is tho, the Sonic Team from the early 2000's, or even 2007 are figments of the past; the staff has changed, the direction has changed, and the design philosophy has changed. So honestly, I can't really see Sonic Team making the Sonic game that everyone here wants, its been over a decade and they're still fumbling with how to keep this series above water; even their objectively "good" games get a "meh" reaction at  best from the audience.

 

Now here comes this Western Studio, and gives damn near everything we've wanted out of a Sonic game; more detailed environments, open-world levels, a potentially plot-driven story, and fucking playable characters. And we're turning it down on the basis of being a spin off? I can understand preference for the main series and its elements, but come on. Its not Sonic Boom's fault that the main series isn't delivering, its Sonic Team's; they're the ones who refuse to change, they're the ones who refuse to take fan input, and they're the ones responsible for taking the franchise in a direction not many cared for in the first place. 

 

I'm not saying that everyone should just fall in love with Sonic Boom, its a deviation from the series norm and its understandable to be skeptical and cautious, but the fact is, its off to a much better start than any of Sonic Team's current games. Now if you're the type who still have the utmost faith in Sonic Team to deliver, power to ya, just understand that the game you want may not be the game you get.

 

 

 

On the subject of this being different from the "normal" Sonic....well duh, its a spin off, that's kind of the point. Spin offs aren't supposed to be like a main line game.:V

[Chooch]

This Sonic Boom situation is kind of reminiscent of the old classic Mega Man split into Mega Man and Mega Man X. There's really nothing wrong with the two continuities coexisting.

 

If you're only interested in the established game universe then just wait for the next game in that series to be announced.