Preview: Sonic Boom

Is this it? Is this finally the Sonic game I’ve been waiting years for? Could this be the first really good 3D Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on the GameCube?

Unfortunately, the answer is a huge nope. Not even close.

My first console was the original Master System which I remember paying for mostly in one and two cent coins much to the dismay of the poor woman working at the Target lay-by counter all those years ago. The original Sonic the Hedgehog was my first and only video game for some time so I’ve always had a soft spot for this little blue mammal. Somewhere along the way Sonic started worrying a little less about saving enslaved animals and more about being a no-nonsense sassy rebel akin to Poochie the dog.

It was the last half hour before the show floor shut down on the third day of E3 and I had no appointments to attend. Rather than getting some much needed rest or a well-deserved beer, I made it my business to check out Sega’s latest Sonic title. Sonic Lost World at last year’s E3 was the very first article I wrote for Stevivor and I had some hope that this latest reboot would be less disappointing. Maybe, just maybe, Sonic Boom would finally bring Sonic back to his former glory.

There were two types of levels on show at E3; the first, an exploration/puzzler. I have long since stopped expecting Sonic to be groundbreaking but this is just going through the motions. You can use a lasso to grab objects like train cars — with springs on them, of course — and move them around on tracks to progress further. The lasso is also a weapon and can be used in combat. A more accurate description would be that it’s linked to one of the several buttons you need to mash to dispel enemies. There really is no need for strategy here; just mash away and check your Facebook news feed on your phone. When you look up, the baddies will be gone like magic. There are so many good examples of adventure/puzzle games out there and the majority of them make Sonic Boom look like a very cheap, poorly executed imitation.

The second style of level was a fast-paced running level, you know, like a Sonic game. It’s nothing new and it feels like you have little control but it’s much better than the exploration levels.

This should be the game!

The perspective shifts from classic side-scrolling to third-person and if you can manage to fly through the level without making any mistakes it can be fun and fast-paced. The lasso makes yet another appearance as a grapple to get between areas and even as a kind of flying fox (not Tails) to swing along poles Sunset Overdrive-style. These levels are easily the game’s best feature but the on-rails nature of them makes it almost like watching a cutscene with context-sensitive prompts. It’s still the lesser of two evils and I’ll say it again: this should be the entire game.

Sonic Boom is made to complement an accompanying cartoon (alarm bells!) and while I have never seen any of it I feel confident in guessing its targeted to very young children. I doubt many people will be upset to hear Sonic’s character has changed a bit because he’s been a bit of a douche for the last ten years or so. The whole cast — Sonic, Knuckles, Tales and Amy — are a little more silly and goofy than past versions. It’s a bit strange but anything is better than the extreme to the max hedgehog of old.

There were a few seriously crippling bugs in this build of Sonic Boom but the game isn’t launching until late in the year so I can only assume they will be fixed by then. So why mention it at all? Because dealing with said bugs took up nearly half my time with the game. I assure you that the bugs and glitches I encountered while playing did not factor into what is, let’s face it, a rather negative preview other than the overall mood they put me in. Unfortunately the game running smoothly merits this vitriol.

Sonic just keeps disappointing me. I know some of this is due to my own expectations and the fact that they exist rather than having given up on Sonic long time ago like most other gamers. I can’t help it though, as I explained earlier my affinity with sonic dates back to my birth as a gamer. I really hope my disappointment in Sonic doesn’t become a regular annual feature.

If you are reading this you’re not the target audience. If however your mummy or daddy is reading this preview to you because you’re yet to be able to read you may have some fun with Sonic Boom. Once you’ve got your pen license and can competently tie your own shoelaces I wouldn’t bother. Sonic Boom will be released in November 2014 for Wii U and 3DS so if you have some kind of Benjamin Button disease you may just age backwards enough to enjoy it. Catch you on the flip side dudemeisters!