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Sonic Boom Preview: Worst Sonic Game I’ve Ever Played

P

Poetic.Injustice

Member
Let me be clear by saying that I’ve played nearly every single Sonic game. Yes, even the bad ones. As a Sonic fan from the early 90’s it’s hard to pass up any of his games. And even though people claim his 3D adventures sucked I actually enjoyed many of them especially SA, SA2, and Generations. Up until now though it’s been well known that Sonic 06 and Shadow the Hedgehog are the worst things to ever happen to the Sonic universe (Spinball for me). Well, after my time spent with the Sonic Boom E3 demo, I walked away frightened and shaken feeling that this could very well be the worst Sonic game made to date.

My E3 demo allowed me to explore a few of the game’s different themed levels. There was platforming, running, and a boss battle—each showing the unique aspects of Sonic Boom. The first platforming stage paired me up with Knuckles and it was sort of a brawler type stage. Straight from the get-go I felt something was incredibly off. The timing and precision when attacking enemies felt very clunky and some of my attacks barely registered. This also applied to many of the segments that involved jumping. Then came the lasso. Oh, god. Every time your character needs to pull something they would use this energy lasso, which in concept sounds interesting but ends up feeling dull in practice. It’s basically a web shot mechanic we see in Spiderman games except it’s highly broken and requires a lot of effort to get something simple accomplished. For example, when trying to move the box I had trouble trying to get the lasso to register properly and even when it did it required me to keep pressing down on the A button and move in a certain direction. The one before me (who was playing Sonic Boom at the Nintendo booth) gave up entirely because the lasso didn’t work half the time. I only did it because I wanted to see what was at the end of the demo. Turns out it was a mini-boss which can only be defeated using the lasso by throwing enemies at it. The only problem with was the throwing distance felt off. At times the enemies I threw landed close to where they were supposed to causing more frustration.

This leads to my next biggest problem with my Sonic Boom impression, the pacing. This game is slow. Like, Werehog stages slow, maybe even slower considering the lasso takes forever to get something done. I understand that this is an adventure take on the Sonic universe and I honestly don’t mind that at all. But between the long fights, and moving objects around, it just felt kinda boring. There were diversions that broke up the action. For instance I used the Wii U’s gamepad screen to scan the level for items and then dig them out using Knuckles.
Click to expand...

Sonic Boom needs a lot of work. When I completed my demo I asked one of the reps at BigRedDot if these levels were final and to my horror he acknowledged it with a firm yes. I’m worried what will become of Sonic Boom and if it does turn out to be the next Sonic 06, then that’s a shame because there were some elements I enjoyed. I liked how the characters finally have personality, I enjoyed swapping characters on the fly, and the adventure elements really brought back the Sonic Adventure feel (which is something I haven’t felt in a long time). I want Sonic Boom to succeed but judging by my E3 impressions I fear it will be destined to fail.
Click to expand...
http://www.vgstations.com/en/news/i...as-the-worst-sonic-game-i-ve-ever-played.html
 
S

ShinLuigi

Banned
I actually like the art style so reports that the gameplay sucks is disappointing.

There's no way it's worse than 06. Also, Werehog levels slow? That's all hope lost if true.
 
X

XenodudeX

Junior Member
I find it hard to believe that it's somehow worst than Sonic '06. That game was literally a broken, unplayable mess.
 
Eolz

Eolz

Member
I really don't believe it to be worse than Sonic 06 (that wouldn't pass any QA department) or Shadow the Hedgehog.
Nor that horrible Sonic RPG by Bioware.

I believe it's a bad Sonic game though.
 
V

VariantX

Member
XenodudeX said:
I find it hard to believe that it's somehow worst than Sonic '06. That games literally a broken, unplayable mess.
Click to expand...

True. If its better than sonic '06, then at least its a functional game, regardless of whether we care for the gameplay direction or not. Hell '06 had unfinished features, and shipped the title anyway in the state that it was.
 
N

NotLiquid

Member
Spieler Eins said:
Hope isn't dead yet, they might just dump leftovers on the WiiU, while the Japanese team prepares a multiplat Generations/Colours sequel.
Click to expand...

Seeing how the Jap Studio recently put out Lost World I highly doubt the Generations formula is what they're eager to jump back into.
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
It looks truly abysmal, and if a preview is this bad it probably means something is rotten in Denmark

but worse than Sonic 06? Would be a true feat indeed. Actually there's been a ton of atrocious Sonic games. Maybe worse than Shadow, which was itself a miserable piece of excrement.
 
M

Masquerader

Member
... Crap as it was, I actually enjoyed Shadow the Hedgehog. I hated Sonic 06, though. If this is worse than... THAT vile... Horror, then...
 
CaptainLoveline

CaptainLoveline

Member
XenodudeX said:
I find it hard to believe that it's somehow worst than Sonic '06. That games literally a broken, unplayable mess.
Click to expand...

At least that game was trying to be a Sonic game (Yes it still failed, yes it still sucks hard in all aspects), this is a completely unrelated game with an ugly Sonic skin slapped on it.
 
S

See You Next Wednesday

Banned
ShinLuigi said:
I actually like the art style so reports that the gameplay sucks is disappointing.

There's no way it's worse than 06. Also, Werehog levels slow? That's all hope lost if true.
Click to expand...

Hi five bro
Knuckles_concept_art_Sonic_Boom_game.png

Been workin' on my traps, time to show em off.
 
F

Foffy

Banned
Is the 3DS sequel nearly as bad? Even that might be poisoned if the Wii U version is terrible; it's a direct sequel to that experience.
 
Zomba13

Zomba13

Member
Perfect Cha0s said:
This is a different team, and the game looks like it's being built to market alongside the TV show. We'll probably get something more.... Sonic-y from Sonic Team next year.
Click to expand...

I dunno, didn't we already get the "Sonic-y" game from them already? Lost Worlds was shitty too and it was in such an easy position to build upon Unleashed (Daytime), Colours and Generations and become a truly great Sonic game for the Wii U. Only thing Lost World had going for it was the cutscenes and graphics. I can't even recall any memorable tunes and you know you've messed up a Sonic game if that happens.
 
S

SliceSabre

Banned
Why do they feel the need to constantly do something new with each game? You saw how well received Generations was, except for that horrendous final boss fight, they should have built upon that.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
Foffy said:
Is the 3DS sequel nearly as bad? Even that might be poisoned if the Wii U version is terrible; it's a direct sequel to that experience.
Click to expand...

It's a Metroidvania-esque side-scroller from a completely different studio. All they have in common is they both share and draw from the same universe as the upcoming cartoon.
 
K

Kerub

Banned
If they manage to make it worse than Sonic '06, I'll have to buy it based on that merit alone. I just can't imagine a game being that bad although this actually seems to have a chance.
 
T

TimmiT

Member
While Sonic Boom being bad wouldn't shock me in the least, this is some pretty bad hyperbole. From what I've heard it's really just mediocre, and mediocre is still miles above the quality of Sonic 2006 and Shadow the Hedgehog.

Also, this guy likes Sonic Adventure 2, so his opinion already can't be trusted. :V

EDIT:
Up until now though it’s been well known that Sonic 06 and Shadow the Hedgehog are the worst things to ever happen to the Sonic universe (Spinball for me).
Click to expand...
...Spinball?
 
M

Marjar

Banned
SliceSabre said:
Why do they feel the need to constantly do something new with each game? You saw how well received Generations was, except for that horrendous final boss fight, they should have built upon that.
Click to expand...

This isn't made by Sonic Team. It's by a western studio.
 
L

Liha

Banned
I think the video game industry needs a prize like the Golden Raspberry Award. However, I hope that the author exaggerates, otherwise I am shocked and sad...
 
T

Toad.T

Banned
Knew it. Watch, this game will be seen by the new fanbase generation as the greatest game in the series, much like how Sonic 06 was to the gen before it and Sonic Adventure to the gen before that.

~It's the cirrrrrrrrrrrrccccccccccccccllllllllllllllleeeeee of liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifffffffffffffeeeeeeeee and it moves usssssssssss alllllllllllllllllllllll~
 
Zomba13

Zomba13

Member
TimmiT said:
While Sonic Boom being bad wouldn't shock me in the least, this is some pretty bad hyperbole. From what I've heard it's really just mediocre, and mediocre is still miles above the quality of Sonic 2006 and Shadow the Hedgehog.

Also, this guy likes Sonic Adventure 2, so his opinion already can't be trusted. :V

EDIT:
...Spinball?
Click to expand...

Spinball was a steaming pile of shit. I rented it once when I was little expecting Sonic x Pinball (basically a whole game of Casino night Zone) and it was just bad. The physics were super off and it was a bad game. People who like it should feel bad.

Also, easy fix for every mascot franchise that is getting shitty games or no games at all, give them to nintendo. Even when Nintendo mess up (Sunshine) it's still better than 90% of other games.
 
T

Tucah

you speak so well
I don't think I've seen a single positive thing said about this game. I look forward to seeing just how awful the final game is.
 
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