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Pre-release demos featured at [[E3 2014]] received mixed reception from journalists. [[Destructoid]] nominated ''Rise of Lyric'' for "Best Platformer" and "Best Nintendo Exclusive" for their "Best of E3" awards.<ref name="Best of E3" /> In contrast, [[GameCentral]] was much more negative in their preview stating, "the very worst game in the line-up was Sega's ''Sonic Boom'', which was so unspeakably awful we couldn't even force ourselves to play through the whole demo".<ref name="Worst of E3">{{cite web|url=http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/27/hyrule-warriors-hands-on-preview-plus-the-misery-of-sonic-boom-4778036/ |title=Hyrule Warriors hands-on preview – plus the misery of Sonic Boom |publisher=Metro |accessdate=July 2014}}</ref>
Pre-release demos featured at [[E3 2014]] received mixed reception from journalists. [[Destructoid]] nominated ''Rise of Lyric'' for "Best Platformer" and "Best Nintendo Exclusive" for their "Best of E3" awards.<ref name="Best of E3" /> In contrast, [[GameCentral]] was much more negative in their preview stating, "the very worst game in the line-up was Sega's ''Sonic Boom'', which was so unspeakably awful we couldn't even force ourselves to play through the whole demo".<ref name="Worst of E3">{{cite web|url=http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/27/hyrule-warriors-hands-on-preview-plus-the-misery-of-sonic-boom-4778036/ |title=Hyrule Warriors hands-on preview – plus the misery of Sonic Boom |publisher=Metro |accessdate=July 2014}}</ref>


The game's final release was critically panned, becoming the lowest scoring game in the entire series and is regarded as one of the [[List of video games notable for negative reception|worst video games ever made]]. It has a [[Metacritic]] score of 32%,<ref name="meta"/> the lowest for any Sonic game so far, and a [[Game Rankings]] score of 32.56%.<ref name="gr"/> Don Saas from [[GameSpot]] panned the game for its repetitive level design, dull puzzle-solving, numerous bugs, and uninspired combat system. He stated that "Through a combination of unwieldy controls, a broken camera system, and a total lack of responsiveness, the platforming and exploration elements of Rise of Lyric are totally unworkable". He summarized the review by saying that the Sonic name deserves better than ''Rise of Lyric'', and so do consumers.<ref name="gamespot"/> Similarly, Tim Turi from [[Game Informer]] criticized the poor visual quality, framerate and dialogue, unfunny jokes and shoddy level-design.<ref name="GI"/>
The game's final release was critically panned, becoming the lowest scoring game in the entire series, and is also considered one of the [[List of video games notable for negative reception|worst video games ever made]]. It has a [[Metacritic]] score of 32%,<ref name="meta"/> the lowest for any Sonic game so far, and a [[Game Rankings]] score of 32.56%.<ref name="gr"/> Don Saas from [[GameSpot]] panned the game for its repetitive level design, dull puzzle-solving, numerous bugs, and uninspired combat system. He stated that "Through a combination of unwieldy controls, a broken camera system, and a total lack of responsiveness, the platforming and exploration elements of Rise of Lyric are totally unworkable". He summarized the review by saying that the Sonic name deserves better than ''Rise of Lyric'', and so do consumers.<ref name="gamespot"/> Similarly, Tim Turi from [[Game Informer]] criticized the poor visual quality, framerate and dialogue, unfunny jokes and shoddy level-design.<ref name="GI"/>


Mikel Reparaz from [[IGN]] was slightly less negative, praising its multiplayer, but criticizing the simple and tedious combat, stating that "''Rise of Lyric'' isn't fundamentally broken or unplayable; it's just thoroughly disappointing and unpolished, and while it does have some fun to offer, it's fun that's been done better in countless similar games. ''Rise of Lyric'' falls well below our already-low expectations".<ref name="ign"/> Sam Gill of [[The Independent]] called its graphics "bland" whilst criticizing its poor gameplay and irritating glitches but praising its soundtrack. He concluded the review by stating while it could be argued the game is primarily aimed at children, it "doesn’t excuse the general lack of quality apparent in this poorly executed piece of software".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/gaming/sonic-boom-rise-of-lyric-wii-u-review-sonic-seems-needy-and-eggman-isnt-even-ovoid--it-all-feels-rushed-9855722.html|title=Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric Wii U review: Sonic seems needy and Eggman isn't even ovoid - it all feels rushed|work=The Independent}}</ref>
Mikel Reparaz from [[IGN]] was slightly less negative, praising its multiplayer, but criticizing the simple and tedious combat, stating that "''Rise of Lyric'' isn't fundamentally broken or unplayable; it's just thoroughly disappointing and unpolished, and while it does have some fun to offer, it's fun that's been done better in countless similar games. ''Rise of Lyric'' falls well below our already-low expectations".<ref name="ign"/> Sam Gill of [[The Independent]] called its graphics "bland" whilst criticizing its poor gameplay and irritating glitches but praising its soundtrack. He concluded the review by stating while it could be argued the game is primarily aimed at children, it "doesn’t excuse the general lack of quality apparent in this poorly executed piece of software".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/gaming/sonic-boom-rise-of-lyric-wii-u-review-sonic-seems-needy-and-eggman-isnt-even-ovoid--it-all-feels-rushed-9855722.html|title=Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric Wii U review: Sonic seems needy and Eggman isn't even ovoid - it all feels rushed|work=The Independent}}</ref>

Revision as of 18:45, 12 January 2015

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
North American box art, featuring from left to right: Amy, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. In the background at the upper right corner is Lyric's face.
Developer(s)Big Red Button Entertainment
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Bob Rafei
Jeff Lander
Producer(s)Lisa Kapitsas
Stephen Frost
Writer(s)John Melchior
Christina Cantamessa
Composer(s)Richard Jacques
SeriesSonic the Hedgehog
EngineCryEngine 3
Platform(s)Wii U
Genre(s)Action-adventure, platform

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, known in Japan as Sonic Toon: Ancient Treasure (ソニックトゥーン 太古の秘宝, Sonikku Tūn: Taiko no Hihō), is a 2014 action-adventure video game published by Sega and developed by Big Red Button for the Wii U console.[1] Along with Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal for the Nintendo 3DS, the game is a spin-off of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series and is a part of the new Sonic Boom franchise, which consists also of an animated television series, whose games serve as prequel, a comic series by Archie Comics, and a toyline by Tomy.[2][3] The two games together formed the third and final part in Sega's exclusivity agreement with Nintendo, following Sonic Lost World and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games in 2013. Both games were released on November 11, 2014 in North America,[4] November 21 in Europe,[5] and December 18 in Japan.[1][6][7]

Upon release, the game received extremely negative reviews from critics, deriding the numerous glitches and bugs, camera system, poor controls, uninspired combat system, dialogue and character development.

Plot

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric follows Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna and Amy Rose, as they battle against the evil Dr. Eggman. The group arrives on an island and encounter an ancient tomb sealed deep within. There, they come across a powerful snake-like villain from a race called the Ancients, named Lyric. The group finds that Lyric plans to power his army of war mongering robots with the Chaos Crystals in order to destroy everything organic and create a world of twisted metal and robots. To stop Lyric's evil plan, the group must put aside their differences and find the Chaos Crystals before Lyric.

Gameplay

Sonic Boom is an action-adventure game with a stronger emphasis on exploration and combat compared to previous Sonic the Hedgehog installments, featuring four main characters whom players control: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. Each character has their own unique abilities and gameplay mechanics: Sonic can use his speed and homing attacks, Tails can fly and use various gadgets, Knuckles can burrow underground and climb on walls, and Amy can use her hammer to swing on poles. Each character also possesses a whip-like weapon called the Enerbeam, which allows them to perform various actions such as hanging from speeding rails, removing enemy shields, and solving puzzles. There is also a focus on collaboration, with player's switching control between multiple characters and using their abilities to progress. The game will support local co-operative multiplayer for two players, with additional modes for up to four players locally.[8][9][10][11]

Rise of Lyric is divided into at least three main gameplay styles: speedy platforming stages akin to main-series Sonic games like Sonic Generations, exploration stages, and boss battles.[12]

Development

Sonic Boom features a cast redesigned for Western audiences. From left to right: Sticks, Knuckles, Sonic, Amy Rose, and Tails.[13]

On May 17, 2013, Sega announced a worldwide agreement with Nintendo for the next three games in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series to be developed exclusively for Nintendo devices.[14] This included Sonic Lost World and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.[15] On February 6, 2014, Sega announced Sonic Boom as the official title for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. The game ties in with Sega's upcoming Sonic Boom franchise, which includes a television series and other merchandise, and will be the third release in Sega's exclusivity agreement with Nintendo.[16] The franchise is designed for Western audiences[17] and will serve as a prequel to the television series. Sega announced the game to feature Sonic's traditional speed alongside a new exploratory game mechanic called "Enerbeam". Sega of America's marketing director Marchello Churchill explained that the new franchise was not designed to "replace modern Sonic".[16] The Western developer's CEO explained that Sonic Boom's Sonic is "very different ... both in tone and art direction".[16]

Los Angeles based game studio Big Red Button developed the game under supervision by Sonic Team[16] and long-time Sonic game designer Takashi Iizuka.[17] The game was built on CryEngine and is centered on "combat and exploration".[16] Sega outsourced the game to Western developers in order to increase the game's appeal in Western markets, culminating in a separate westernized Sonic franchise.[17] The video game concept came after the television series plan. Big Red Button was chosen due to the studio's adventure game portfolio and leader, Bob Rafei of the Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted, and Jak and Daxter series.[17] The game remains a separate continuity to the main series, and was originally not intended to be released in Japan.[18] However, it was later revealed that the games would be released in Japan, under the name Sonic Toon (ソニックトゥーン, Sonikku Tūn).[19]

British composer Richard Jacques composed the music.[20] Jacques was selected because of his experience with previous Sonic games, including Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic R, and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.[citation needed]

Release

Unlike with previous games, Sega did not provide reviewers with advance copies of either Shattered Crystal or Rise of Lyric; they could only begin reviewing once the game was on sale.[21]

On the first day of release, a glitch was discovered that allowed players to jump to infinite heights by pausing the game during Knuckles' jump, which can be used to bypass most of the game. Speedrunners managed to beat the game in under an hour using the glitch.[22]

Reception

Pre-release demos featured at E3 2014 received mixed reception from journalists. Destructoid nominated Rise of Lyric for "Best Platformer" and "Best Nintendo Exclusive" for their "Best of E3" awards.[33] In contrast, GameCentral was much more negative in their preview stating, "the very worst game in the line-up was Sega's Sonic Boom, which was so unspeakably awful we couldn't even force ourselves to play through the whole demo".[34]

The game's final release was critically panned, becoming the lowest scoring game in the entire series, and is also considered one of the worst video games ever made. It has a Metacritic score of 32%,[24] the lowest for any Sonic game so far, and a Game Rankings score of 32.56%.[23] Don Saas from GameSpot panned the game for its repetitive level design, dull puzzle-solving, numerous bugs, and uninspired combat system. He stated that "Through a combination of unwieldy controls, a broken camera system, and a total lack of responsiveness, the platforming and exploration elements of Rise of Lyric are totally unworkable". He summarized the review by saying that the Sonic name deserves better than Rise of Lyric, and so do consumers.[28] Similarly, Tim Turi from Game Informer criticized the poor visual quality, framerate and dialogue, unfunny jokes and shoddy level-design.[27]

Mikel Reparaz from IGN was slightly less negative, praising its multiplayer, but criticizing the simple and tedious combat, stating that "Rise of Lyric isn't fundamentally broken or unplayable; it's just thoroughly disappointing and unpolished, and while it does have some fun to offer, it's fun that's been done better in countless similar games. Rise of Lyric falls well below our already-low expectations".[29] Sam Gill of The Independent called its graphics "bland" whilst criticizing its poor gameplay and irritating glitches but praising its soundtrack. He concluded the review by stating while it could be argued the game is primarily aimed at children, it "doesn’t excuse the general lack of quality apparent in this poorly executed piece of software".[35]

David Jenkins from GameCentral was overwhelmingly negative about the game, citing a "terrible camera", dull combat, "insipid" level design, "broken" graphics and "serious" bugs. He stated it is "definitely the worst game of 2014". GameCentral was appalled with the E3 demo of the game, and David stated one of the positive things about Sonic Boom is that "it proves previews do give a relatively accurate impression of a game’s final quality".[32]

References

  1. ^ a b Kellie (2 June 2014). "Sonic Boom Games at E3 2014". SEGA Blog. Sega. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  2. ^ McWhertor, Michael (6 February 2014). "Sonic Boom gets an animated TV series, toy line from Tomy in 2014". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  3. ^ "Sega reveals Sonic Boom: A new Wii U game, TV show and toy range". Computerandvideogames. 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  4. ^ "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric Release Date Moved Up". IGN. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  5. ^ Scammell, David. "Sonic Boom release date confirmed for UK". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  6. ^ "SEGA - ソニックトゥーン". Sonic.sega.jp. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  7. ^ Karmali, Luke (3 June 2014). "Sonic Boom to Use CryEngine and Release Date Revealed". IGN. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  8. ^ "Sonic Boom Interview with Stephen Frost". Nintendo World Report. 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  9. ^ "Sonic Boom - Road to review". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  10. ^ "Big Red Button lead talks Sonic Boom gameplay". Destructoid. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  11. ^ Comments RSS. "SEGA Launches New Franchise Strategy for Sonic the Hedgehog with Sonic Boom". Sega Blog. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  12. ^ McGee, Maxwell (June 2, 2014). "How Do The Two New Sonic Booms Compare?". GameSpot. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  13. ^ Parker, Kellie (29 May 2014). "Introducing Sticks to the Sonic Boom Franchise". SEGA Blog. Sega. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  14. ^ "SEGA and Nintendo Enter Exclusive Partnership for Sonic the Hedgehog". Sega of America. The Wall Street Journal. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  15. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (May 17, 2013). "Sega Nintendo alliance announced for three Sonic exclusives on Wii U and 3DS". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ a b c d e Lien, Tracey (February 6, 2014). "Sonic Boom gives Sega's series a new look, two new developers". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ a b c d Corriea, Alexa Ray (February 6, 2014). "Why Sega handed Sonic over to Western studios and gave him a scarf". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Phillips, Tom (February 7, 2014). "Sega announces Sonic Boom for 3DS and Wii U". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Sega | Sonic Toon". Sonic.sega.jp. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  20. ^ Oliver, Tristan. "Alexander Brandon Sonic Boom Wii U Sound Designer, Jacques Music Composer". TSSZNews.com. Retrieved 10 August 2014.[unreliable source?]
  21. ^ Stapleton, Dan (November 11, 2014). "Where Are IGN's Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal Reviews?". IGN. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  22. ^ "Sonic Boom Glitch Kinda Ruins The Game (If You Want To)". Kotaku. November 12, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  23. ^ a b "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric". Game Rankings. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  24. ^ a b "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric". Metacritic. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  25. ^ "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric review". Eurogamer. November 24, 2014.
  26. ^ Carter, Chris (November 20, 2014). "Review: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric". Destructoid. Retrieved November 21, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ a b Turi, Tim (November 13, 2014). "Sonic Boom: Bored of the Rings". Game Informer. Retrieved November 13, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ a b Saas, Don (November 14, 2014). "Sonic boo". GameSpot. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  29. ^ a b Reparaz, Mikel (November 14, 2014). "Sonic Booooo". IGN. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  30. ^ Solmonson, Kyle (November 13, 2014). "Review: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved November 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ Gill, Sam (November 12, 2014). "Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric Wii U review: Sonic seems needy and Eggman isn't even ovoid - it all feels rushed". The Independent. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  32. ^ a b David Jenkins (November 25, 2014). "Sonic Boom: Rise Of Lyric review – fall of a hedgehog". Metro GameCentral. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  33. ^ Aziz, Hamza. "Destructoid's Best of E3 2014 nominees!". Destructoid. Retrieved July 2014. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  34. ^ "Hyrule Warriors hands-on preview – plus the misery of Sonic Boom". Metro. Retrieved July 2014. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  35. ^ "Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric Wii U review: Sonic seems needy and Eggman isn't even ovoid - it all feels rushed". The Independent.
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