This isn't unexpected. SEGA's PR always hasn't seemed to be that confident about the games, with them rather talking about the probably superior TV show.
Obviously, but they also implied that there was some big project in the works that hinged on Sonic Boom's success.
I imagine it boils down to future projects being headed by Western developers. This happens, this works, Sega can entrust a chunk of the brand to their branches outside of Japan again. But it won't, which means SoJ may become gunshy again and we lose a big opportunity to have Sonic a little less in the clutches of leaders that don't really know how to make him successful. I have no proof of this, but from the moment they showed the direction they were going with Boom, I couldn't help but feel that SoJ have purposefully steered the direction they would let BRB go with the project, just like they did in the 90's with SoA. They make this project fail, they get to hold onto their unearned sense of superiority. But again, I have no proof of this. I've just been wary of why they're letting the brand flounder in weird directions again when they had to be aware the direction would fail.
Part of me wants this to succeed in order to help give western developers a crack at Sonic. But this execution is just so wrong that I want it to crash and burn. Then we can all just forget the time Sonic was wrapped in sports tape. I mean, in some ways, Sega of Japan let the US have too much freedom with this direction. The designs should have not been touched and the gameplay should have stuck to some Sonic foundation and not Jak and Daxter. Can we have a normal Sonic game announced next year? Please? Or failing that just get cracking at Generations 2 for Sonic's 25th. Actually you know what I'd like to see for once? A sequel. A sequel to one of the better 3D games, whether it be Unleashed, Generations, Colors, Adventure, or even Heroes. Why? Because they need to keep a foundation and build on it and not reinvent the wheel every fucking game. Maybe the first one was mediocre, so what. Take what worked, tweaked what didn't, add some new stuff, and boom. It's what Sonic 2 and 3K did so well IMO. Same concept with added elements to mix up the fun. Failing that, make Generations 2 and let Sonic die. Let him go out with a bang at least.
All I'll say is I hope Sonic 3's remake isn't even remotely dependent on this. I'll watch the cartoons but I can't even make myself buy the game. I bought '06 with glee but I can't touch this tripe.
I tried this again tonight on 3DS with the mindset of 'I'm going to enjoy it this time' I didn't! I feel sad for my childhood hero, I hope Sega doesn't suffer to much from these games but the reality is they will :-/
Even if it had been successful as a game, it would have failed. WiiU version is going to tank because WiiU, and I imagine the entirety of the Sonic Boom project cost way to much to be made up with whatever they would earn back with the 3DS, judging by Sonic's sale trends these past years.
I'm confused. When Sonic was created and SoJ presented their direction to SoA, SoA changed a lot of things. They removed a lot of SoJ's ideas until Sonic was enough of a blank slate for SoA to come up with their own direction. While Sonic 2 and 3 were made by SoA, they still had enough in common with Sonic 1 and CD to fit in with SoJ's direction. The only time SoA had full reign over a Sonic title was Sonic Spinball, and that was a huge departure from the other games in terms of aesthetics and presentation. There was going to be a SatAM game too, but that got cancelled. SatAM was basically the Sonic Boom of the 90's in the sense that SatAM was America's Sonic and not that colorful and cutesy Sonic that Japan had. Maybe you were referring to Sonic X-treme. I don't know how true Sonic X-treme was to SoJ's direction, but obviously not enough since SoJ didn't support it. I find that weird since they supported 3D Blast and subsequently Sonic R. Then they came to some strange compromise with SoA and came up with an "international" Sonic for Sonic Adventure and onward. That Sonic became modern Sonic, and modern Sonic became SoJ's Sonic, so Sonic Boom is now SoA's Sonic, making the compromise that resulted in modern Sonic null and void. To make things even more awkward, SoJ thought Big Red Button's original designs for Sonic Boom were too drastic, so SoJ changed those designs to what we have now. Everything just came full circle. Sonic started with America altering SoJ's designs, and now we have SoJ altering America's designs. How ironic.
I think it was plenty obvious this was being doomed to fail from the start. For example, it using CryEngine 3 indicated this was intended for PS4, Xbone and Steam, but the project was downgraded to Wii U only. Now they need to use a heavily modified version of the engine. Then a 3DS partner game was announced, but it has quite a few engine similarities to Sly Cooper. The redesigns mostly received negative feedback all around, and journalists were lukewarm to the game at E3. We had a corespondent attend E3 this year and she basically noted the majority reaction to the Wii U game was a shrug or a meh, like a "It's not bad... but it's not very good." While the 3DS version didn't fare so hotly (she hated it), though some found some joy in it. Like I said, it was also noted that the staff on hand were pushing the show more than the games when questioning arose. Or even some of the other games on tap. Add in how review copies aren't going out until launch day, the downgrade in expectations in financial results, and all signs point to very low confidence in the sub-franchise. Or maybe I'm being overly pessimistic and it'll find someway to take off in shaky flight.
It's hard to keep remembering that this is not a game based off a game franchise. It's a game based off a TV franchise based off a game franchise.
Leave it to DSS to make the game actually look entertaining. They really should not make the characters grunt for every action, though.
No terrain or angle based physics, no variable momentum managing, a very static (and slow) running speed, completely linear platforming, and gameplay is driven mostly by cheap gimmicks. Because, after all, no one can tell the difference anymore. Sometimes I wonder if anyone even remembers what a Sonic game was.
In before every major game journalist outlet describes Shattered Crystal as "Classic 2D Sonic Action". As for the cartoon, I couldn't watch more than five minutes of either episode. It feels like watching that old Donkey Kong Country show, but slightly better writing. I must be too old for this shit now.
And what an uneventful "called it" that will be when it happens. And it'll be really sad when this too is not only praised, but defended. The bar drops a little more each time. The tolerance threshold raises a little more each time. Standards for what makes a good Sonic game, let alone a Sonic game at all, are steadily evaporating. Sega will eventually be able to crap out anything with Sonic's face on it and their fans will automatically accept and defend it regardless of content, quality, or integrity. This is something I've been watching happen slowly and methodically for the last 15 years and what a depressing process it is. I care about the Sonic series and this is what concerns me about it.
Hasn't this essentially been happening since SatAM? That's pretty much the ultimate example of a fan-overrated product that barely has anything to do with Sonic other than having his face on it. And that was 20 years ago, as opposed to 15. I also doubt journalists will be defending this game. Those are the guys that love to rip at Sonic all the time simply because it's "cool" to hate Sonic and Sega to get in with the modern CoD-shooter loving crowd. Furthermore, if they waited until THIS product to start praising Sonic again, there'd be a probable chance of accusations of an inherent bias towards western-developed games (especially in light of the fact that many of these guys hated on Sonic Generations, which was a game of legitimate quality), which is something that these types SHOULD be trying to avoid after spending the past 2 years overhyping multiple "AAA" western games only to see them end up becoming underwhelming, underselling products.
SatAM is an example of a licensed product that stayed in it's own bubble so to speak. It was absurdly different from the source material, and it stayed only in it's very limited animated series territory. It never overlapped with the official games (with very minor exceptions like the cameos in Spinball). Maybe a better way to put it is that they didn't profoundly influence each other. Even as a kid I never crossed threads between the games and TV shows (I tried of course but failed) because they were so obviously and distinctly different. They were isolated both in form and how they were handled. There's a LOT more ambiguity with the official series and Boom. A lot of people have been left confused as to whether or not Boom was an official reboot, and Boom is going to have two major, heavily marketed games that are basically taking up the space where official games might be. The overlap here is disturbing as Boom is basically tipping on the edge of official Sonic in terms of sheer presence and ambiguity. Maybe journalists won't defend it, but legions of fans will.
