• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Sonic Boom 3DS demo now up on EU eShop

M

Mango The Magician

Banned
Guys it's not a Sonic game, judge it on what it is not some weird metric that anything Sonic is measured by. Also the Demo has two levels available, the second one is similar to the Honeycomb level from Lost World, but faster.

Granted I don't think it's prefect, I'm not actually bothered by anything in it.
 
O

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
it's ok,
really jarring that when you stop pressing forward you stop DEAD in your tracks. NO momentum, even from sprint??
 
C

checkeredknight

Member
Played the demo. Wish I hadn't.

This game will bomb review-wise, but might find some success with sales if the cartoon is good. How depressing.
 
Z

Zonic

Gives all the fucks
Alright, got around to trying each stage.

Worm Tunnel: Welp, it's similar to some of the stages from Lost World, but this feels a bit faster. Probably the only level where I felt a sense of going fast. No issues here.

Seaside Race: Man, what happened to the speed? I kept holding down Y, but 1/2 the time, it felt like it didn't make any difference. Rush, Rush Adventure, & Colors' sprint button actually felt different. Here, I didn't get that feeling that I was blasting through the level.

Seaside Beach: Holy CRAP, did that feel like it just dragged. It took me about 14 minutes just to complete the stage, & I didn't even get all the collectibles. The idea of being able to switch characters on the fly, while good in theory, really doesn't do much. You'll just stick with Sonic until "oh, gotta use someone else for a few seconds", then switch back. The stages felt like they were designed for just Sonic, but then they figured "eh, better throw in some parts where you NEED to use someone else". It doesn't feel like they were designed to balance out the usage of all 4 characters. Speaking of which, why is it Tails glides & Knuckles can't?

I also feel like this could've worked if the stages were shortened up a bit. Another issue was that 1/2 the time, I had no idea if I was taking a path that'd lead me to a hidden item or forced me to a new area where I couldn't return back to the split path. That's not a good thing, considering your levels are meant to be explored in order to find hidden objects to get 100%. It just makes me want to wait for a guide to be typed up/uploaded to YouTube. & why am I collecting the crystals from Crash Bandicoot?

Really, it isn't that this game is bad. It's rather "meh". If the levels didn't feel so long, MAYBE I might've waited for a sale, but I don't know.
 
M

MrBadger

Member
Mango The Magician said:
Guys it's not a Sonic game, judge it on what it is not some weird metric that anything Sonic is measured by. Also the Demo has two levels available, the second one is similar to the Honeycomb level from Lost World, but faster.

Granted I don't think it's prefect, I'm not actually bothered by anything in it.
Click to expand...

To be honest I found it dull as a game in general. I didn't dislike it because it didn't feel like Sonic, I just found the level design, controls and character switching to not make a very enjoyable game.

I'm sure if it was good by its own standards, the fact that it doesn't feel like Sonic wouldn't matter. For example, Rayman Origins doesn't feel like classic Rayman and DKCR's physics are totally different to the series it was based on.

Ooh, also, if you head up on the map, there's a third level that you missed. It's a race level very similar to the rivals games.
 
H

hatchx

Banned
Why do they feel the need to get a new Sonic game out every year? It's clearly had a negative affect on the quality and reception of the series.

It's not like there's a new Mario or Donkey Kong adventure every year.
 
S

Spinluck

Member
hatchx said:
Why do they feel the need to get a new Sonic game out every year? It's clearly had a negative affect on the quality and reception of the series.

It's not like there's a new Mario or Donkey Kong adventure every year.
Click to expand...

They need the money.

Plus, this isn't made by the Japan team, and is outsourced to the West. It is a separate entity than mainline Sonic.

I don't think anything can tarnish Sonic's reputation at this point lol. This is much better than the worst of Sonic as bland and dull as it is.
 
Z

Zonic

Gives all the fucks
Also remember there's the new TV show premiering soon (like, a few more days, I think?), so they want the game out while the series is still fresh in the younger demographic's minds.
 
M

MrBadger

Member
Spinluck said:
They need the money.

Plus, this isn't made by the Japan team, and is outsourced to the West. It is a separate entity than mainline Sonic.

I don't think anything can tarnish Sonic's reputation at this point lol. This is much better than the worst of Sonic as bland and dull as it is.
Click to expand...

Any franchise that can live through Shadow and 06 and still make a profit is invincible. Selling Sonic games must be like taking candy from a baby.
which is fine by me
 
P

PeakPointMatrix

Member
hatchx said:
Why do they feel the need to get a new Sonic game out every year? It's clearly had a negative affect on the quality and reception of the series.

It's not like there's a new Mario or Donkey Kong adventure every year.
Click to expand...

Just to put it into perspective, the last mainline Sonic title on the PS3/360 was Sonic Generations in 2011. So arguably, the majority of the fanbase has yet to play a new 3D Sonic platformer for three years, since Sonic Lost Worlds is contained to the WiiU player base. The same goes for Sonic Boom, which isn't even being made by Sonic Team. The next real Sonic game being made by ST for the PS4/X1 may be announced this E3 for a release in late 2015/early 2016.
 
Glass Rebel

Glass Rebel

Member
the 8 play demo limit was funny even before I tried it

who is going to play this trash more than once
lc0kaqw.png
 
S

Starwolf_UK

Member
I'm watching the GameXplain video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeN8zV4xdf0

So who greenlit the map screen idea? Specifically, bits you have not visited the being same colour as bits you have making it impossible to know otherwise.

I don't really like how it appears you can't choose your favorite character to beat levels as only Sonic can defeat blue blocks etc.

Also if these levels still had the 10 minute time limit...
 
P

Piccoro

Member
Peff said:
In case anybody else is feeling adventurous tonight, it's 944 blocks. Can't be worse than Dimps, can it?
Click to expand...

I actually liked all the Sonics made by Dimps.
They are 1.000.000 times better than that Boom/Toon crap any day.
 
A

Arc Christelle

Member
That loading screen is dumbrunningsonic material. lol

The level select looks charming tho.
Sonic doesn't spin jump.......
Enerbeam has got to be the dumbest shit ever placed in a Sonic game.

It looks so stiff and slow...
 
N

Nexus Zero

Member
I guess I should be past being surprised by this but it's terrible. Slow, janky, uses too many buttons for a Sonic game.
 
A

Azure Dream

Member
Two control configurations, neither one let you put the Special Action or Dash on the shoulder buttons where they'd be handy.

I don't... haaaaate it, but it's definitely weird. I don't like that it's exploration-based to find secrets, but if you pick the wrong way between two directions, often you can't double-back. (Basically, you're often confronted with two paths, and it's not clear which one is supposed to be the "secret" path to an item or collectible.)

The Race gave me weird shades of Sonic Rivals. Surprised Sticks kept up as well as she did, but I also kept missing many of the "Here's a shorter path- whoops you missed it" moments.

The Mach Speed-esque bit was very simplistic, but there's a bit when you're running on the wall higher than usual, that it's a bit difficult to struggle back over to the left from what you'd think you'd push. Also, boost not allowing you to change lanes really sucks.
 
eXistor

eXistor

Member
Not a bad game (or demo rather), but extremely derivative and frankly, dull. Good for ages 7-11 I think, who'll likely watch the show and haven't played as many games as most of us here have. For more experienced gamers, there's nothing to see here we haven't seen a million times before. Levels seem overly long and a lot of control is taken out of the players' hands at too many points.
 
A

Ataru

Unconfirmed Member
Spinluck said:
They need the money.

Plus, this isn't made by the Japan team, and is outsourced to the West. It is a separate entity than mainline Sonic.
Click to expand...

If they were going to outsource to the west, they should have chosen Wayfoward.

Something tells me they could make a decent 2D Sonic game.
 
M

MrBadger

Member
Ataru said:
If they were going to outsource to the west, they should have chosen Wayfoward.

Something tells me they could make a decent 2D Sonic game.
Click to expand...

Retro Studios would make the best 2D Sonic ever. But they're too busy making the next Metroid.
Please.

Not too sure about Wayforward. They'd nail the art style, but have they ever made a momentum based platformer? All I've played from them is Mighty Switch Force, Ducktales and a bit of Shantae, but they all feel more like puzzle platformers.

Kouriozan said:
Sonic Rush is still the best handheld Sonic game then.
Click to expand...

I think I prefer the first Advance game. Rush is good though.
 
A

Ataru

Unconfirmed Member
TheSlySoul said:
WayForward's issue is they are extremely inconsistent. They are pretty much like Dimps.
Click to expand...

That's why I said '2D'.

I know some of their 3D games have kinda sucked, but the majority of their 2D games have been excellent (with the exception of Adventure Time).

And Sonic speed x old-school metroidvania would be interesting.
 
B

Boogiepop

Member
Man, that was bland as hell. Like, really really uninteresting. I'm hoping that maybe, maybe it'll get better in later levels since a big issue here was just that everything was ungodly easy. Like, the worm stage should've been fine but it was so easy that it was insanely boring. The main stage on offer though... geez. As already mentioned of course the characters feel like "switch here for one second to deal with an obstacle, then back to Sonic!" But honestly the abilities all feel so poorly implemented too that it almost feels like slow-mo quicktime events half the time rather than any sort of interesting gameplay. And my god is the map awkward as hell! Also, that Tails "minigame" thing on the stage is super poor, like somebody was attempting to program their first game for a class and ended up with something functional but impossibly dull. Really, it felt like the level was doing the thing the worst of the 3d Sonic games did where they literally copied level geometry to extend stage length for no good reason. Not sure if they actually did, but everything just feels so similar and stretched to an insane degree.

It also feels kind of annoying/dumb that they have you go through a 15 minute level in the demo but don't have the decency to even save what you did, and certainly nothing here is transferring to the main game. Hopefully this thing drops in price hard like it should, because I'm sure I'll grab it at some point because I like to punish myself, but I certainly don't think this is going to be worth spending much on at all.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Hmm, the gameplay isn't TOO bad once you get the hang of it but it doesn't make a good Sonic game or even a fast paced action game in general. They use far too many buttons for specific obstacles and many of those functions feel terrible (that laser whip thing, for instance). They make it worse with the extra characters which basically act like shift states where buttons are changed into a different type of action. Those extra characters only come into play briefly so they really add nothing.

The animation is all pretty basic and lends to a floaty feeling game that doesn't feel terribly satisfying to control while the frame-rate makes things even worse. The lack of a spin jump feels weird with Sonic and I can't understand why they took that direction.

It just doesn't seem like a great game which I think Sanzaru is capable of after their work on Sly.
 
Z

Zalman

Member
I gave it a shot because I like Sanzaru. This game is pure garbage. Slow gameplay even as Sonic, boring level design, crappy controls. By far the worst thing I've played all year.
 
M

Mango The Magician

Banned
MrBadger said:
To be honest I found it dull as a game in general. I didn't dislike it because it didn't feel like Sonic, I just found the level design, controls and character switching to not make a very enjoyable game.

I'm sure if it was good by its own standards, the fact that it doesn't feel like Sonic wouldn't matter. For example, Rayman Origins doesn't feel like classic Rayman and DKCR's physics are totally different to the series it was based on.

Ooh, also, if you head up on the map, there's a third level that you missed. It's a race level very similar to the rivals games.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I actually found the third level after I posted that. As for what I said, I really don't think the game is super great or anything, but the posts about the speed of the game and things like that just seem irrelevant as not every Sonic game needs to have speed.

But, if you find it dull for what it is, and not for what it lacks, then that's fine, as like I said it's not super amazing or anything.
 
R

RaidenZR

Member
Thought this game demo was pretty bad. The characters have an odd, unresponsive stiffness to them, and the camera was very sloppy. Not considerate to the player at all. That and the initial level was incredibly, and tediously overlong. And what was that odd submarine mini-game thing all about?
 
P

Peff

Member
Mango The Magician said:
but the posts about the speed of the game and things like that just seem irrelevant as not every Sonic game needs to have speed.
Click to expand...

If this game were Mario Boom it'd still be slow. There's a middle ground between GOTTA GO FAST and 10+ minute-long levels which make you stop every thirty seconds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Sega needs to really capitalize on the Sonic Adventure 2 nostalgia like RIGHT NOW
2
50
2K
Geometric-Crusher replied
Adventure Bar Story now available worldwide for PS5 and PS4; launches April 25 for Switch and May 9 for PC
News
0
225
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
The 3DS is still a killer retro machine in 2024
Opinion 2
68
3K
Hudo replied
Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog launches this winter for PS5, PS4, Switch, and PC (Demo now available for consoles)
News Trailer
0
164
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
  • Poll
Sonic Frontiers is now the 6th best selling Mainline Sonic game in franchise history. How much more will it sell? (Prediction thread)
17
4K
Eddie-Griffin replied
Top Bottom