Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (3DS, developed by Sanzaru)

So this is going to be more like a regular Sonic game than Shattered Crystal, but there's some fire and ice gimmicks across the whole game that will require the players to repeat a certain action each time they come across them?

How can that sound like a good idea to anybody, even on paper? Let me guess, some of those actions require halting the gameplay and drawing on the touch screen?

Makes you wonder if a development team should keep listening to little kids when making new games, doesn't it?

But hey, if kids themselves don't know how to design great games for kids, who will? Right? :v:

 

That's Facebook doc :P

 

I've done a little game development now and understand how annoying and stressful it is. The fast turn around on this game means that most of the work is done with the engine, so it's mostly new art and stage design, on top of a new scenario. The most the engine will see are tweaks to accommodate new gimmicks and optimization. This isn't a shock considering most of the trailer was full gameplay instead of bullshots.

That said, Fire and Ice is apropos as Hell has frozen over and now Sanzaru has a chance to redeem themselves with a second game and show that they've refined the game to be moderately enjoyable. It's not often a game that's poorly received (admittedly, the 3DS version was the much lesser of two evils) gets a second chance, so I hope they do their all.

Though, if I may be so brash, I just hope they remove having the characters grunt for every action they do and they remove the forced run button. I'm not hopeful on either front.

 

Is it bad that it was a Game Grumps comment that first alerted me of this game's existence?

 

Here's hoping Big Red Button announce a sequel to Rise Of Lyric.

 

Let's not get hasty. Already enough of an atom bomb 3DS is going forward.

 

I don't have a 3DS, so I won't be getting this game. To be honest, I wouldn't buy it even if I did own one. Fire & Ice looks bland and boring. Just another shitty game. No thanks.

I get the impression - in terms of the Booms games at least - that SEGA will be releasing a small game each year from now on, probably aimed at the 3DS and maybe mobile devices. I would be surprised if another Boom game is ever developed for the Wii U again.

I'm sick of Sonic games being released exclusively on Nintendo consoles. They don't sell well.

 

Really, with the rep Sonic's gained over the past... forever, do you really expect him to sell well anywhere?

 

Umm.. yes they do. Unleashed sold more on Wii than PS360, and Colors outsold Generations.


When you guys saw the trailer, when it said "What do you get when you mix fire with ice", did you also shout "FUCKING WATER!!" at the screen like I did? =P

 

Sonic games for the Wii have sold well, but not for the Wii U and 3DS.

 

Yep, I agree. If Sonic is ever to make a proper comeback the next game needs to be as gorgeous and groundbreaking as Sonic 1 was for 1990. It's possible, but only with the right team with the right talent at the right time.

 

In all fairness, nothing has sold particularly well for Wii U, especially from third parties.

 

I'd like to reckon that's because there haven't been any good ones for either system yet. (Even if you liked Generations 3DS like I did, it was probably more of a "wow this is a lot better than a lot of the other shitty Sonic games but still not great, I'm just glad I have an at-least decent Sonic game for this system" sort of like)

 

I was actually referring to the last few years where the sales figure for Wii U and 3DS are pretty rubbish.

As for Colors and Generations, it wasn't by much was it? Generally Sonic games have sold well on other platforms. Besides, it's kind of a tired argument anyway.

The fact is the sales of the Nintendo exclusive games over the last few years have been poor. I'm not saying sales will be better if SEGA did an exclusivity deal with Microsoft or Sony, but they've got to try something because what they're doing right now isn't working.

I'd prefer another episode of Sonic 4 over the Boom games any day.

 

Sonic games sell well on popular and successful Nintendo systems. Sonic games sold well on the Wii because it was the perfect target audience and the Wii's install base was astronomical. Greater than even the 360 and PS3 (100 million versus the ~80 million for each of the HD twins). Not even that far off PS2 levels relative to time span on the market. This is the logic that went in the Nintendo deal in the first place (with Sega assuming the Wii U would repeat the success of the Wii and not be the catastrophic failure that it was in terms of commercial performance). Purely talking about Sonic's commercial potential on Nintendo systems I don't think people still understand just how much of a commercial failure the Wii U actually is. At the same point in its lifespan (~2 years on the market) the Wii U's install base was half the level of the Dreamcast when the Dreamcast was discontinued. As in were Nintendo in Sega's same financial position back in the Dreamcast days without their vast financial reserves which number in the multiple billions acting as a safety net for the company the Wii U would have almost certainly ended Nintendo as a console company. The console was that much of a failure.

This news is alarming because the Nintendo deal is up now, Sonic games are bombing and Sega are still releasing Sonic games for Nintendo. The silver lining is that at least it's for a moderately successful Nintendo console in the 3DS. It does look like Sega have learned from their mistakes with the Wii U now that they have gained hindsight.