Sonic Boom 3DS Upholds Series Tradition, for Better or Worse - Preview
by Jake Weston , posted on 14 June 2014 / 3,891 Views
The Sonic the Hedgehog series has been in dire straits lately, probably due to the fact that SEGA continues insisting on completely retooling the franchise every other year. Indeed, 2011’s Sonic Generations and its return to classic Sonic gameplay resulted in the highest critical reception for the series in years, so, SEGA being SEGA, of course went back to square one with last year’s Sonic: Lost World, spitting out another critical dud. They're looking to continue that tradition with Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric for the Wii U, yet another reboot of the series, which purports a drastic departure in style and gameplay from previous games in the series, and so far the response has appeared middling at best.
So yeah, it’s easy to be pretty cynical about the current state of Sonic, and I carried that cynicism with me when I decided to check out the 3DS version, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, on the show floor at E3. Surprisingly, that cynicism melted way when I discovered that, despite existing in the same universe as the Wii U reboot, Sonic Boom for the 3DS was a continuation of the side-scrolling gameplay that defined Sonic's classic sidescrolling entries, as well as the best parts of Sonic Colors and Generations.
In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised that Sonic Boom remains faithful to the original games, as developers Sansaru Games have proven their ability to emulate classic platformer gameplay with their numerous HD ports, as well as the excellent Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. Sanzaru really seems to get what made this genre resonate with players back in its heyday, and it looks like they are bringing that to the table with Sonic Boom.
Fans will feel instantly at home running left to right as Sonic, speeding through loops and spin attacking on enemies. It didn’t take long for certain undesirable trappings of the Sonic franchise to kick in, though, in this case switching to other characters to progress through the level (the hardcore Sonic fanbase seems to be crazy about the series’ huge cast of playable characters, but I just find it odd how much Sonic tends to take a backseat in his own franchise).
Using the 3DS’ touchscreen, you can switch on-the-fly between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and newcomer (ugh) Sticks. Tails can use his hovering power to shoot up vents, reaching areas other characters otherwise wouldn’t be able to, while Sticks users her boomerang to hit far away switches and collect items. I didn’t get a chance to play much as Knuckles, but assumedly switching between all four characters will be required to tackle all of the challenges the game will offer.
Of course, that doesn’t mean we should remove our trepidations just yet. Framerate seemed to take a hit fairly consistently, which is a problem considering this is a series known for its speed, and choppy animations would sometimes mess up the flow of the platforming. Still, I’ve seen enough to feel like Sanzaru may be on to something with the Sonic formula (even if I’m not a fan of the character swapping), so Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal will be on my radar when it launches alongside its Wii U brethren this November.
