Big Red Button CEO and visual director Bob Rafei - who was instrumental in Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter - describes the Sonic Boom game for Wii U as "wide linear," but not necessarily open world. Instead, Sonic Boom will feature interconnected hubs, with the game's narrative determining which two characters are available for play in each area and all four characters featuring in boss levels. Every character brings something to the table, from Sonic's speed, to Amy's agility, Knuckles' strength, and Tails' range. There's also co-op play available.
"We have a critical path that we want to make sure every player can access, and there's secondary paths as well," explains Rafei. "There's a healthy dose of platforming in the game. We do have 2D sections in the game and the 3D exploration is all about that. That's not to say that's all the game is."
Rafei says it's "hard to say" at this point what the split between exploration and combat will be, but that combat will be a "major component". He also tells me that Big Red Button has found a compelling use for the Wii U GamePad, but declined to give details at this reveal. The Wii U game is built on Crytek's CryEngine 3, but Rafei was coy on what that means for the game's framerate or resolution.
"I think we're revealing that soon, so I'm going to hold off on that," he says.
