Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)

[anna]

That made me laugh- thank you.

...is that Aaron Webber?

[The Deleter]

Ha, there's only one Tails. Fitting.

 

And yes, I do believe that is Aaron Webber, staring through the endless vortex of our nightmares and fears. He's laughing at us, as if he told us so. But what could he have told us about that we missed?

 

...

 

Oh no.

 

 

Look at that cover art again.

 

See how they're clinging on top of each other, piled up like a hive of insects?

 

And how Tails is somehow dying off in his overall exposure comparatively?

 

 

They're here...

 

 

The bees.

[JezMM]

I think I can safely say hive had enough of the bee puns from the pre-release topic for Lost World.

 

 

 

 

Nah I'm just kidding in fact it would be preferable to the current load of drama llamas going on in here but I'm pretty sure the staff will throw us all in the naughty corner if we start that shit again.

 

 

Considering all of the previous major Sonic games have gotten OST's, I'm almost certain that this game will get one, too. Maybe with it being a Western-developed title, this inevitable physical release will even actually be available for us Westerns to purchase without importing...

 

Hard to say really.  Transformed was pretty much as major a title as the Riders games, but they had to really fight to get an OST out for that because it was western made.  I'm currently in a state of assuming there won't be one but hoping the team will be kind enough to include the traditional Sonic sound test or at least music/sfx/voice volume levels in options so music can hopefully be recorded straight if not".

 

Although even if that was the case they'd have to remember to disable the music volume decrease when characters speak.  BioShock 2 did the same thing when someone was talking to you on the radio, and when I went to record my own soundtrack before the OST release, discovered the music dimming still occured even when sfx and voiceover was turned off completely.

[Gabz Girl]

Sorry to break it to you, but the cover art was leaked yonks ago:

 

iregretnothing

 

Okay that's bloody amazing! XD Respect to you. 

 

Lol @ random Aaron Webber head. I feel like he's slipping away from us though~

[Casshern]

Have we heard a single track from this game yet? I'm curious to find out if the music will be another strong suit, if not the only positive thing about this experiment.

[SonicWind]

Some music can be heard in the several videos of the game at E3, and at the very least, it seems decent so far. The menu/speed section music has been in my head for some time now.

[Citizen Sweeps]

Actually, regarding the music, has anyone noticed that there doesn't seem to be a "battle theme" for when you encounter enemies? It just plays the regular background music. I guess they learned from Unleashed. It was always so frusturating to be listening to the lovely night music in Holoska or Adabat and then suddenly run into a group of enemies every couple minutes with that damn jazz theme that we'd heard for the last six levels or so... Still, I think it'd be cool if the music sped up its pace or something, sort of like how in Generations a faster version of the level music would play when you boosted. Then again, the game's not complete yet, so they may do something like that.

[TheLaw34]

Actually, regarding the music, has anyone noticed that there doesn't seem to be a "battle theme" for when you encounter enemies? It just plays the regular background music. I guess they learned from Unleashed. It was always so frusturating to be listening to the lovely night music in Holoska or Adabat and then suddenly run into a group of enemies every couple minutes with that damn jazz theme that we'd heard for the last six levels or so... Still, I think it'd be cool if the music sped up its pace or something, sort of like how in Generations a faster version of the level music would play when you boosted. Then again, the game's not complete yet, so they may do something like that.

 

Having seperate music for battle and exploration is much better. Slow exploration music just doesn't  make the battle you are fighting seem epic or fun. It would be a shame if they don't have fight music for every different major location at least.

[- Eternal Paradox -]

I'd at-least hope the battle music is themed, or they use something like Wwise to make it blend seemlessly with the music. It's kinda annoying in older games (like say, Lego Star-Wars) to suddenly be hit with "Battle tune" every time an enemy appears on screen.

 

But yeah, something that either transitions nicely, or is makes use of the current music but "layered" differently to suit combat.

[Citizen Sweeps]

Having seperate music for battle and exploration is much better. Slow exploration music just doesn't  make the battle you are fighting seem epic or fun. It would be a shame if they don't have fight music for every different major location at least.

 

Oh yeah, I'd be cool with a seperate battle theme for sure. I just hope that they mix it up a bit by using different instrumentals or something. I got so tired of the one in Unleashed because it was the exact same theme with no variation from level to level. In fact, Lost World actualy did something similar with the Deadly Six theme. Depending on which member you were fighting, the basic theme was there but they just changed up the instruments that were used, which I though was pretty cool. It'd be neat if they did something like that here, or just had a completely different theme for both exploration and battle depending on the level you're in, as you suggested.

[The Deleter]

I think it should be more in line with how the music in SLW's underground stages was handled, where the normal, platfoming music is nice and smooth, but when the boulders start chasing you, the music gets added percussion and a few snappier notes and instruments, making it seem more intense, but still retaining the usual theme. Changing the tune altogether just seems unneeded, imo, and draws you out of the music, like Unleashed's battle music did.

[ImPantsAtThis]

Changing the tune altogether just seems unneeded, imo, and draws you out of the music, like Unleashed's battle music did.

 

You make an excellent point, Deleter. In fact, I think tha-

 

 

 

EVERY DAMN TIME!

 

--

 

For real though, having the song stay the same but get more intense during battles would be a nifty idea. The difference in music style could be like the difference between Mechanical Resonance (Final Egg 1) and Crank The Heat Up! (Final Egg 2) when you compare the main tunes.

 

 

 

[MegasonicZX]

You make an excellent point, Deleter. In fact, I think tha-

 

 

 

EVERY DAMN TIME!

 

 

And every time I will gladly listen to for it is bliss to my ears

[The Deleter]

You make an excellent point, Deleter. In fact, I think tha-

 

*BWADABABA, DADABWABA, BWADABABA, BADABAA!!*

 

 

EVERY DAMN TIME!

 

--

 

For real though, having the song stay the same but get more intense during battles would be a nifty idea. The difference in music style could be like the difference between Mechanical Resonance (Final Egg 1) and Crank The Heat Up! (Final Egg 2) when you compare the main tunes.

 

*video*

 

 

*video*

Well actually what I had in mind was there being absolutely no transition to another track, flowing together in perfect sync. But eh, close enough.

[HyperShadic]

I wanted to say "I was pleasantly Surprised by this..."I really wanted to say it considering how good various news and things had been in the last few weeks.

 

Instead I'm sat in here in awe at how bad this looks and before people say 'oh you can't please everyone' or 'well you're an older fan, let me explain why I think this looks terrible. 

 

Case in point. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YWdDO5jVeA

 

Every single part where we have high speed sections look totally barren and dull. My point from the first reveal trailer stands, they look lifeless and lack any enemies. There's not a single one. Combat as predicted seems to be restricted to these arena areas. Sonic's speed grinds to a halt and it just looks like I should be playing a new IP character.

 

I don't know if it's the art style but the colours look awful too. It looks like it's running through a Call of Duty brown filter, What happened to our bright colourful environments? Parts of Unleashed look more colourful than this does.

 

Purple Pit or whatever it's called, really!? Are you going with that background!? It looks like you just clicked the purple paint fill tool to colour in the environment, it looks awful. It's the same story for that underground base type level and the sewer segment. 

 

Even the guy describing the game sounded like he was struggling for encouraging things to say "Oh well when you damage docotor eggman he reacts like tugging on his mustache!" OH WOW REALLY!? "And he struggles to get it started up again!" Erm... what does this have to do with the gameplay!?

 

And then he finishes with "The boss battle wasn't terribly remarkable." 

 

The speed levels are totally empty, theres nothing in them! It's literally boost to win + ender beam to make a long jump. That is not fun, that is automated gameplay with a tiny bit of interaction. 

 

From 4:20 onwards to 5:05... Thats 40 seconds of a Sonic stage in which the player knows what they're doing, moving at high speeds through multiple parts of the level in we did not see ANY of the following.

 

* Enemies. 

* Traps.

* Item boxes.

 

We did however see a lot of the following.

 

* Bottomless pits.

* Rings.

* Automated sections.

 

It looks out of character, painfully slow, amazingly sluggish and void of life.

 

Combat stages look like it's just going to be 'enter room, defeat enemies at end' progress through door which will then open.

 

Amazingly disappointed by this footage.

 

Roll on Sonic 2015.

 

Oh P.S. anyone else spot the giant Sonic tribal statues in the video?

Um, you realize that the speed section at E3 is just a very basic, transition level (possibly even a tutorial speed level)

[The Deleter]

I'd assume he does now

 

 

Considering it's been a month and two days from that post.

[Detective Shadzter]

A couple more previews.

 

PREVIEW | Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric was the worst thing I played at Nintendo's E3 showcase
http://www.dealspwn.com/preview-sonic-boom-laughably-bad-176971

Booming with Bandages
http://www.gamedynamo.com/article/preview/8031/5059/en/nintendo_wii_u/sonic_boom_rise_of_lyric

[Willsy]

Wow, this game is really getting hammered hard. :/ I'm actually kind of worried about how it will score when it comes out, because if it gets bad scores, critics probably won't shut up about it.

I asked one of the young fellows who'd been hired for the day to stand next to the booths and deliver verbal press releases on all of the games his opinion on the game.

"I'm not trying to trick you," I said. "But is it just me or is this a steaming pile of balls?"

He laughed at this and intimated that I might not have been the first person to observe this about Sonic Boom, but suggested that he couldn't possibly pass comment himself. I applauded his professionalism and decided to play on to fulfil my own.

Yeah.....this doesn't sound very optimistic to me. I think I'll probably skip Rise Of Lyric and get Shattered Crystal instead.

I'm really hoping that Sonic Team don't mess up with their next game...

[Badnik Mechanic]

Um, you realize that the speed section at E3 is just a very basic, transition level (possibly even a tutorial speed level)

 

Yes I do, and it looks terrible.

[CottonCandy]

So much negativity surrounding the game, I don't get, it looks okay to me. What's so terrible about it? Oh well to each their own, I guess. That said, I'm still gonna keep my interest in the game. Plus, I'm curious to know about the hubs, story, and upgrades. 

[Badnik Mechanic]

 

Fireworks!

[Tani Coyote]

I presume that's an official image? Well, good they're trying to help keep the hype train running... given I'm pretty sure the engine's falling apart.

I'm just terrified that even if the release version is good, so many minds will have been made up by this demo that the whole project will fall flat.

But that's what the cartoon is for, now isn't it? This was never meant to be a critical success. It was meant to be something that armies of young people will get their parents to buy when they see it advertised somewhere in the cartoon's timeslot. If we older gamers buy it too, well, that's just icing on the cake.

[Willsy]

If the game does turn out to be bad, I'm just hopeful that critics will just chalk it off as a TV show tie in game and forget about it when the next Sonic game is announced. We don't want another Sonic 06 situation where it's the center of every reason why they think that Sonic should just die (only later to contradict themselves).

[Junko]

I'm still getting both - no qualms about that, buut whether I enjoy Rise of Lyric I'm, not too sure, considering all the criticism and such. And before someone says "It's a matter of opinion", normally I'd agree, but when every review is bad, ehhh not too sure. But, critically Unleashed delved into the realms of mediocrity and it's my favourite Sonic game. Soo back to Square 1.

I'm just terrified that even if the release version is good, so many minds will have been made up by this demo that the whole project will fall flat.

Yeah, this is pretty much my biggest concern right now.

[- Eternal Paradox -]

As I've said before, I'm not expecting anything pheunominal from Sonic Boom. This isn't a Sonic Generations or Mario Galaxy beater. I like the look of the game, it fits right into my favourite genre, reminds me of one of my favorite movie-tie ins of all time. But at the same time, I'm not going to spend £50-20 pounds on this. I'll wait for the price drop. It is, all-in all, a rather mediocore game. The only thing that will stop me actually buying the game is if it launches in an aboslutely broken, glitched format, in which case I'll steer right clear of it, thank you very much.

 

However, given how in your face this new marketing scheme appears to be (Toys, a TV show, merchindise out the wazoo), I have no doubt this will be snapped up by kids, undoubtly by their parents. For better or worse, Sonic is being thrown back into the limelight again.

 

I also think this game could end up being the SkyLanders of the Sonic Franchise - Not really what the fans want, doesn't play that much the orginals, but kids love it and it end up selling. I think that's what SEGA's aiming for with this thing.

 

On the other hand, it could bomb massively, and bring the rest of the franchise down with it. Oh dear.