Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)

[Enesephus]

Perhaps it'll be a good Jak game and a bad Sonic game, the mine level looks a lot better when I look at it like that. The mine level is my personal favortie of what's been shown, because it looks like you can go just about anywhere. While the characters move uncharacteristically slowly, at least Sonic's very brief spin dsh(?) can be spammed to pick up the pace, kinda like the sliding move in Crash Twinsanity or Jak's long jump.

I'm pretty much going into this looking at it as a game that happens to have Sonic characters, which I am more than fine with; I think it's good to have a new experience from time to time. I just hope there are some reviews reasonable enough to still give the game the score it deserves (assuming it's as good as it looks, which I think it will be) regardless of wether they think it counts as a "good Sonic game."

 

Also, the mine was my favorite of the levels we saw, too.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

a full interview from Siliconera

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/06/03/creating-sonic-boom-rise-lyric-big-red-button/

 

All About Creating Sonic Boom: Rise Of Lyric With Big Red Button

By Spencer . June 3, 2014 . 3:02am

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After playing Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Siliconera spoke with Bob Rafei, Creative Director and CEO of Big Red Button which is developing the Wii U game. Rafei and his studio have been working with Sega and Sonic Team to make a new type Sonic the Hedgehog game tied to the upcoming TV show of the same name.

What was the biggest takeaway you got from fans after Sonic Boom was announced?

Bob Rafei, CEO of Big Red Button: That’s easy. What a strong fanbase and a vocal fanbase this franchise has.

The most important feedback was from Sega and Sonic Team. This is something they are exploring in terms of a different approach for Sonic. That was the most important guidance to us.

In terms of your first question, having that strong reaction to me validates we were on the right track. The majority of it was strong and positive so we know we are hitting the right chord. Also from my personal perspective is if we didn’t foster such a strong reaction we wouldn’t be giving Sega their run for their money by having us really explore a different approach with the franchise. We ultimately believe we are on the right track and we are happy and comfortable with the direction that Sonic Boom is going in.

What part of Sonic Boom surprised Sonic Team the most when you showed it to them?

I would say combat. That was a bit of a head scratcher for Sonic Team, but the more they saw what we were doing the more they helped us hone it. We knew it had to have speed elements because it is a Sonic game. That sense of exploration is going back to a Sonic Adventure feel.

[Feedback from Sonic Team] was really in terms of balancing and tuning. Part of the mission mandate at Big Red Button was to expand on Sonic. I would say that is something we brought to the table and Sega really digested and agreed it was a good approach.

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Sonic is an interesting series since there are kids that grew up with 2D Sonic and there are kids that grew up with and prefer 3D Sonic. And now, there are going to be kids that will grow up with Sonic Boom. There are three different kinds of games with one starring character. When you look at your style in Sonic Boom what are the tenets of this kind of Sonic game?

Primarily, it is a character action exploration. It’s an epic adventure story. It’s all about exploration. We introduced combat in a way that is kind of new to the franchise so it was very important that we do that right because it is such a different approach. And certainly speed is part of the equation. The speed component for us is tapping into joyous movement, the sense of rollercoaster and exhilaration of movement.

In terms of the main project pillar, it was cooperative play. We wanted to have an experience where friends and family sit down on a couch and are able to play the game together. That kind of relationship people will bring to it, we wanted to have the characters display that in their banter. Personality was another big important part of it, in terms of how the characters emote and how it reflects into the mechanics as well.

For example, Sonic is all about speed. His navigation and combat are centered around fast rapid movements. Knuckles is a big bruiser, he’s a power character. Tails is the inventor on the team and Amy has agility. She has a triple jump. Knuckles has burrow and wall climbing. Tails has a buddy bot, which he can release onto enemies or unlock gates for him. That kind of characteristic that comes out in their persona also come out in how they speak to each other in the story. These guys known each other for a long time that means we can have some fun since they don’t always agree with each other.

Is it hard to do joyous movement in 3D space compared to the 2D Sonic games where Sonic had one less plane to worry about?

I think Sonic Boom has found a good formula for that. We tried to make a subtle variation by having lane changing and the obstacle course. There are a lot of different paths too. Classic Sonic has the main path and for the more skilled players you can access the higher levels. That is also something we wanted to tap into as well.

In terms of navigating in 3D space, yeah it is more difficult because spatially you have to understand what is happening. That’s the challenge of any driving game has or flying game has. That is something we were also very aware of when we developing the course in Sonic Boom.

How did you solve the problem?

It’s the progression of challenge and that’s through introduction and mastery of a mechanic. There will be cases when we’re introducing it will be a lot more straight forward and you are just mastering lane changing or obstacle avoidance. Later on, it becomes pretty fast and frantic. It was very important for us to get the right balance into the game. Right now, you’re seeing one of the levels and later on we’ll give you more feedback about what the full game has.

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Sonic is known for having an attitude and in the old cartoons he made a lot of one liner wisecracks. When you were writing the story, what are some of the jokes and catchphrases he has in Sonic Boom?

 

There are so many. We wanted to find a balance between making the character appealing and not being so repetitive by saying the same one liners. What we love about his personality is we wanted to build on his attitude of rushing into action sometimes without thinking about it. Tails, a lot of times, is telling him, “We got to check this out” or the other team members will say, “I don’t know if we need to go there.” That’s the fun aspect of having Sonic rush into action and then have to backtrack to see if he got into trouble or not. That plays a big part in the story which will we reveal more at E3.

 

What about Amy? It seems like she’s changed the most.

 

We wanted to have a strong, able-bodied female character. We didn’t want her to be fawning after Sonic. The goal was to have her be appealing on her own. She is very agile, she is very acrobatic, and very graceful. She’s the only character, from a pure mechanics perspective, that has a triple jump. There are some places that only she can get to.

 

And Knuckles?

 

He’s the most fun character to write for because he’s a little slow on the uptake. A lot of times, the things he is saying tend to be funny because he is trying to process what is happening. He’s our go to guy for the punch line and I think the show does that as well. In collaboration with the TV writers, we wanted to have a consistent approach with their personalities and the show really plays up on that.

 

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How does Eggman fit into this since Sonic Boom has a new main villain?

 

We wanted him to pass down the torch in terms of introducing a new villain. That’s a very fun dynamic that was very cool to create, these two guys have an uneasy partnership and we’ll be talking about that more at E3.

 

We will still see a decent amount of Eggman in the game?

 

Oh yeah, absolutely. We wanted to tap into the best parts of canon and build on top of that. Eggman is in the game and there is a boss round with him here. Part of the narrative arc is being stronger with friends, which is what are team represents and that kind of discord the antagonist team goes through. They can ultimately never be able to work together, so that becomes their undoing. Versus the team, which learns to mesh together and use their individual skills to their best advantage.

 

It seems like there are more collectables in Sonic Boom like all of those robot parts in the demo.

 

Because we chose to do a character adventure, part of the genre is the ability to explore and to find these rare items. That’s where that comes from, to be true to the genre blending, taking those parts of Sonic that we love and putting a twist on it by giving it a classic character adventure feel. You go to the hubs, you meet NPCs, there are unlockables there, there are missions that they give you. There are home improvement missions you’ll see at the hubs and those are satisfied by collecting robot parts.

 

Are we going to see any other characters from the Sonic universe? Maybe Metal Sonic, Shadow or Fang?

 

That’s to be determined later.

Read more at http://www.siliconera.com/2014/06/03/creating-sonic-boom-rise-lyric-big-red-button/#RqVEdRDBSr0omblQ.99

[Milo]

What about Amy? It seems like she’s changed the most.

 

We wanted to have a strong, able-bodied female character. We didn’t want her to be fawning after Sonic. The goal was to have her be appealing on her own.

 

And Knuckles?

 

He’s the most fun character to write for because he’s a little slow on the uptake. A lot of times, the things he is saying tend to be funny because he is trying to process what is happening. He’s our go to guy for the punch line and I think the show does that as well.

 

They could had easily written a new female character in Amy's place-or considering the acrobatic approach of her character, it would had been more fitting for the likes of Rouge, since she's a spy and all- rather than place her in this spot and taking away her defining/primary character trait. And don't we already have Sticks for characters spouting silly nonsense?

 

Seems that people's fears about Knuckles being dumbed down and Amy being some sort of "Sue" character have some merit in them.

 

 

 

The most important feedback was from Sega and Sonic Team. This is something they are exploring in terms of a different approach for Sonic. That was the most important guidance to us.

 

If Sega/Sonic Team's idea of a different approach to Sonic was turning him into a Jak and Daxter clone (or alternatively, if it was BRB's idea, giving them their stamp of approval since they were and have been supervising this project from the beginning and have the final say), then (as far as I'm concerned) Sonic Team/Sega still don't have a one iota of a clue on how to handle this series.

[Marcello]

I watched the video today. I didn't think it looked bad. I was expecting worse going by the descriptions here. The characters definitely needs to move faster and fights shouldn't take so long, though. Other than that I liked what I saw. Not my ideal Sonic game, but fun nonetheless.
 

And Knuckles?
 
He’s the most fun character to write for because he’s a little slow on the uptake. A lot of times, the things he is saying tend to be funny because he is trying to process what is happening. He’s our go to guy for the punch line and I think the show does that as well. In collaboration with the TV writers, we wanted to have a consistent approach with their personalities and the show really plays up on that.

 
Well that's too bad. I know we already knew he'd be the idiot, but it certainly is disappointing to know that he's pretty much a walking punchline. And by going  what we've heard so far, not a very funny punchline. I hope I'm pleasantly surprised at release.

[Willsy]

I'm looking at it the same way as a few other people. It'll be a good game in general, but not a terribly great Sonic game. And that's fine, as long as I enjoy the experience I'll feel as though I've got my money's worth. And I did kind of want to play a game in the same vein as Jak & Daxter, but I don't have a PS3 and I don't know where my PS2 is or if it even still works. It'll be an interesting experience for sure.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

I do believe what we've seen is the makings of what a Sonic Boom game will encompass. Wonder if it'll set a standard for the Boom franchise.

[Salamander]

They could had easily written a new female character in Amy's place-or considering the acrobatic approach of her character, it would had been more fitting for the likes of Rouge, since she's a spy and all- rather than place her in this spot and taking away her defining/primary character trait.

 

Even though Amy's defining character trait was shallow and patronising?  Sure, they could've invented a new female character to replace Amy, but I'm pretty sure preserving all four male classic characters and sidelining the only female classic character rather than reimagining her like the rest would be a decision that could only have been less rather than more popular.  There have been calls to fix Amy for quite some time.  Maybe there are other ways BRB could have gone in doing so, and that's something that I'd find interesting to think about, but they were always going to have to invent quite a bit in the process.

 

I'm not even going near the idea that being actually competent makes Amy a Mary-Sue.

[Doctor MK]

So I've finally caught up on all the new info and my thoughts are... undecided.

 

First things first, I'm both shocked and pleased that the two games are actually going to have subtitles - I was sure they'd just go for the generic "Sonic Boom" and be done with it, so to see them being given their own identities is a nice touch, especially when you consider how many other things in the franchise already has that same title

 

Lyric isn't the best antagonist I've ever seen and certainly wasn't what I was expecting, but ehh, I've seen worse, and I kinda like the whole steampunk motif that he's got going on (and is apparent in a fair bit of the game it seems). At least we know that Eggman is going to be in the game as well, so there's at least one decent villain to contend with if Lyric turns out to be a bit naff.

 

Visually the game still looks great and I'm loving the quirkiness of some of the animations - it all feels very fluid and alive, which is great considering it's based off a cartoon. Can't wait to see some cutscenes and just general immerse myself in the world of Boom.

 

Gameplay-wise though... I'm not sure. On the one hand, I'm glad they're trying some new things for this game and the combat looks far more appealing than it ever did in Unleashed... but then again, I don't know if such a heavy emphasis on combat is the right way to go for Sonic in general. Yes, yes, I'm aware this isn't a "traditional" Sonic game in that sense and very much its own thing, but... I don't want the core Sonic experience to play second fiddle to some other method of play - that's what got us into all the initial gameplay roulette mess in the first place, with the fast-paced Sonic stages being bogged down by treasure hunting, or sword fighting, or guns, or Werehog-ing, and so on. The speed stages in Rise of Lyric look... alright, so far? But they don't seem to be anything particularly special, and the fact that the developers are outright stating the exploration and combat stuff will be the majority of the gameplay isn't especially reassuring.

 

As with others, I'll go into this game expecting it to be something different to a Sonic game, and on that merit it might well turn out to be good. But unless something comes along to change my mind before November, I don't think this is going to be appease everyone who is looking for the normal (and, frankly, expected) high speed Sonic antics.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Speaking of Lyric. I was wondering, you know the announcement trailer? How it ended with that huge claw thing crashing down? 

 

Could that be Lyric? If you look at the 3DS screen of him, he's quite clearly giant. And the claw, whilst having an extra... claw... on it, could it be his final ultimate monster form or something?

 

 

Nothing new or interesting really, and it sounds like Bob fluffed the interview a bit with all the umming and ahhing. 

 

That's how it starts... first there's umming and ahhing, and then there's running and screaming. 

[Zaysho]

Well, Rafei's comments don't inspire much confidence concerning Knuckles. Granted, Knuckles was never the sharpest tool in the shed, he wasn't always the self-important dumbass Sonic Team turned him into eventually. I guess BRB is just trying to be consistent with what Sonic Team is doing (except they're attempting to actually use characters other than Sonic). The only thing that'll make this version of Knuckles worthwhile is probably Travis Willingham's performace, since he's probably one of the funniest voice actors in the business and he can really sell that kind of stuff.

Doesn't mean I'm happy that this is apparently the direction they're going with him (I'm so glad Archie has avoided this even in the reboot), but if it's at least entertaining and he's not a total butt monkey (unlike the current Sonic Team fare) I'll deal with it.

Don't have much comment on Amy. Though I feel like anything their saying about her isn't exactly new ground when looking at any other continuity (save for being more of an explorer). And the Sonic franchise doesn't exactly lack strong, capable female characters anyway.

[Gatestormer]

-IGNORE-

[KingIgort]

They could had easily written a new female character in Amy's place-or considering the acrobatic approach of her character, it would had been more fitting for the likes of Rouge, since she's a spy and all- rather than place her in this spot and taking away her defining/primary character trait. And don't we already have Sticks for characters spouting silly nonsense?

 

Seems that people's fears about Knuckles being dumbed down and Amy being some sort of "Sue" character have some merit in them.

 

Yeah but only hardcore fans give a shit about Rouge. Rouge is a stupid character. Amy has been around longer than Knuckles, people know who she is. I'd much rather they make Amy something other than the one-note, fan-girly, borderline sexist character that she is, and turn her into something with a lot more substance, which seems to be the route Sonic Boom is taking her. I'm all for it. Amy, as a character, deserves more than what she currently has.

 

The Sue comment though? So many people chuck that term around as a lame excuse for why something is awful, without reaaaally knowing what it means. It's too early to tell if she is a Sue, though, in honesty.

[Nepenthe]

Amy's performance in Sonic Adventure wasn't one-note nor sexist. The situations she was in allowed her to display quick-thinking, empathy for others, and the strength to defend herself and her friends. That was a wonderful performance for her- probably her best- yet it still retained her defining character trait that she is infatuated with Sonic.

 

If we're going to be tossing established personality traits out the window under some extremely short-sighted, black-and-white notion that they're somehow mutually exclusive from "strong independent female," at what point do we call these characters the same anymore? As far as I'm concerned, Amy without the admiration of Sonic is just Amy in name-only. Might as well make Sonic someone who doesn't like adventure.

 

Granted, this was something I suspected from the beginning since it was never elaborated on in the first place; that and Knuckles' lack of brightness (ugh). But to see it confirmed is a bit disappointing.

[MamboCat]

She might still have a crush on Sonic; it's just not going to be her main aspect... which in a way is a good thing, why should a female character be defined by their relationship to male characters?

 

Given that she's been drawn with droopy eyes, sometimes gazing in Sonic's direction, it says to me it's still going to be a thing! But yeah, too soon to tell right now, I'm just going by the concept art and released promo images.

[Sean]

Every time I see the words "strong [independent] female character" I feel like hurling. Namely, I don't trust the video game or movie industry to know how the fuck to write a good female character to save their lives except in very specific exemptions, because their concept of a good female character is one who is "one of the boys." Like Nepenthe said, Amy has shown before that she can fend for herself and obsess over Sonic at the same time. The fact that the Boom writers have to draw attention to this aspect of her in order to sell her new version is disheartening.

I don't like this concept that female characters must shed any feminine qualities in favor of replacing them with masculine qualities in order to be seen as respectable or capable, when the fact is that a good female character doesn't depend on being as physically or emotionally strong as possible - it depends on them being realistic, relatable, and/or just plain well written. Amy was a good character in SA1, why not just bring back that version, not only in Boom but also the main series?

[Vertekins]

So Amy and Knuckles confirmed for bastardized versions of their main series counterparts?

 

Why am I not surprised?

 

Now I have serious, serious fears for Sonic. I already have a suspicion about what's going to happen to Tails though going by it being previously stated that he's going to act akin to a critic of Sonic and these expressions;

 

 

 

 

"Obnoxious brat"

[PSI Wind]

IGN reveals that the game will be released in the UK/US on November 14th.

[KingIgort]

Amy's performance in Sonic Adventure wasn't one-note nor sexist. The situations she was in allowed her to display quick-thinking, empathy for others, and the strength to defend herself and her friends. That was a wonderful performance for her- probably her best- yet it still retained her defining character trait that she is infatuated with Sonic.

 

Yup. I absolutely agree.

 

And then they chucked it all out the window with Sonic Heroes.

 

EDIT: I only hear November 2014 in that video, PSI Wind.

[Indigo Rush]

So Amy and Knuckles confirmed for bastardized versions of their main series counterparts?

 

Why am I not surprised?

 

Now I have serious, serious fears for Sonic. I already have a suspicion about what's going to happen to Tails though going by it being previously stated that he's going to act akin to a critic of Sonic and these expressions;

 

 

 

 

"Obnoxious brat"

 

 

Ugh.

 

Not that I inherently disagree with your point, Verte, but at least use the rest of the image.

 

 

If I just use these 3 facial expressions out of context just like you have, then I can make the case that Tails is a happy, fun-loving but very sensitive ten year old.

 

And when you use the entire set:

 

 

You have a dynamic character who has an ego problem, but still has the same sensitive and lovable tendencies of a young pre-teen. 

 

This is just going off of the concept art.

 

Again, I don't necessarily disagree with you, but using only part of the concept art is rather shaky ground.

[FriendBot]

IGN reveals that the game will be released in the UK/US on November 14th.

 

The guy said November 2014.

[SilentDoom]

So Amy and Knuckles confirmed for bastardized versions of their main series counterparts?

 

Why am I not surprised?

 

Now I have serious, serious fears for Sonic. I already have a suspicion about what's going to happen to Tails though going by it being previously stated that he's going to act akin to a critic of Sonic and these expressions;

 

 

 

 

"Obnoxious brat"

 

We've gone through this already.  These are generic expression charts.  They mean nothing in the context of the character, but are more done to demonstrate the flexibility of the artist and the character's expressions.

[PSI Wind]

The guy said November 2014.

Oh. Well then. 

[JezMM]

Mmm these new comments about Amy concern me just a little.  I hope when they say they want to make her a "stronger more independant character" what they actually mean is "we're bringing these personality traits of hers that were always there more to the forefront of the story" because... yeah.  If they've ditched everything about vanilla Amy I'll be disappointed.  If they manage to actually give her a more realistic crush on Sonic mind you they'll get my respect because the previous cartooney portrayals of her feelings are kind of what make people see her as just an obsessed fangirl when she isn't (though that's namely because those are the only scenes they ever pay attention to, usually for the rest of the game she's as focused on the task at hand as anyone else).

[TheLaw34]

If amy not being in love with sonic makes her not amy then she was never a good character in the first place.

[MamboCat]

What I'm hoping we'll get is something along the lines of STC's Amy (waits for everyone to loudly groan in annoyance); because although she was always flirting with Sonic, she also had no problem getting involved in fighting!

 

I know some people don't like STC Amy because of the way she was written, but for me it was a good balance; she was still assumed to be Sonic's girlfriend, but she wasn't defined by it.... if that makes any sense?