Earlier this year, Nintendo and SEGA revealed “Sonic Boom†for Wii U and 3DS, the final game (or games, technically) in their agreement to bring three Sonic titles exclusively to Nintendo platforms. Review Fix finally went hands-on with the game on Wii U, now officially named “Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric,†last week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and though our demo was brief, it was still enough for us to get excited about the blue blur’s latest adventure.
This year’s “Sonic†installment is anchored around exploration and collaborative gameplay. We were able to play through two different stages, both of which carefully chosen to showcase the game’s variety in level design.
The first of which was the speed level, which obviously is the pillar of any “Sonic†experience. However, with “Rise of Lyric,†this level felt more like something SEGA threw in because they needed to. There was really no engagement and the level almost played itself. Maybe it was just that individual stage, but there wasn’t much excitement other than the small dose of adrenaline you get from finishing it so quickly… not that there was any challenge, though.
We spoke with SEGA of America Producer Stephen Frost after the game’s initial reveal, where he explained to us that the Sonic team wanted to actually slow the gameplay a bit… at least at times. The speed levels were only a small part of the experience and he next stage we played showed us exactly what that meant.
This was a cooperative experience; we played as Sonic and Knuckles making their way through a sewer-like environment. Right off the bat we loved how the two interacted with each other; there seemed to be much more depth to their relationship and individual personalities. The dialogue also felt like it was written with much more care.
As for gameplay, “Rise of Lyric†is a joy to play. Let’s start with the combat system. Players can get their hands dirty and battle their way through tons of different enemies. Fighting is simple, but a few additions like using the newly introduced energy beam to grab enemies or avoiding attacks with the dodge roll keep it from being too simple and should satisfy both children and adults alike.
The player can switch between any character available during the particular stage they’re in at any given time. Each companion has different abilities and can explore different parts of the map. For example, Sonic can roll up into a ball and charge to speed up ramps, while Knuckles can climb certain walls.
This level was designed to encourage players to switch between characters, often splitting the stage in directions, each accessible to a certain member of the party. Towards the end, we encountered a boss battle, which didn’t take much skill or brain power to take down, but still felt rewarding.
From the get go we felt that “Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric†would be a great addition to the franchise, and getting our hands on it last week certainly reassured our excitement.
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