“Sonic Boom†is slated for release this November on Wii U and 3DS, however, both platforms will actually feature separate games rather than tweaked experiences. The console version is titled “Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric,†while the handheld installment is called “Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal.†Review Fix recieved a hands-on with both titles last week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The former was certainly a more satisfying experience, but for those hoping to take Sonic’s latest journey on the go, “Shattered Crystal†is still awesome.
“Shattered Crystal†doesn’t at all feel like a watered down version of “Rise of Lyric.†It’s worth mentioning that the games are being handled by two different developers, as well: Sanzaru Games on 3DS and Big Red Button Entertainment on Wii U. Sanzaru showed enough of the game at E3 to assure us that “Shattered Crystal,†while centered around the same idea of featuring exploration and cooperative gameplay, is a unique experience.
The game’s stage select menu looks a lot more like the “game board†in “Mario Party†— we actually didn’t see the stage select menu for “Rise of Lyric†but we’re going to assume they’re different. After jumping into a level the top screen of the 3DS is changed to the actual stage while the bottom turns into a character select. Each character has different attributes which contribute to the player navigating through the stage.
For example, Sonic can charge up and bash through these blue containers that may block the path; Knuckles can dig through certain terrain; Tails can hover over wind platforms for a height boost; and Sticks… oh yeah, we got to play as Sonic’s newest companion, Sticks, who has a boomerang which she uses in battle and also to hit switches that would otherwise be impossible to reach.
From what we’ve seen, “Shattered Crystal†also features some combat, but not quite like the Wii U version. There was no all-out brawl, instead something more attuned to normal Sonic games, with a bit of “Sonic Boom flair,†of course. The energy beam is still existent and is used for exploration and also to remove force fields from enemies.
The only problem we had with “Sonic Boom†on 3DS was that we found ourselves traveling in circles quite a bit. Since there are certain ways to get through certain parts of the stage using certain characters, we would at times end up at square one trying to find which way to go; this however was at least rewarded by collectible items we found across the level, which helped to make our time not feel completely wasted.
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