First Impressions: Sonic Boom

I openly admit that I'm behind the times, this song did come out in 1993 an was the theme for Sonic CD in the US and is one of the most well known Sonic vocal songs of all time...

My apologies for that, I got my documents messed up...

Sonic Boom, the upcoming Sonic game for 2014 along with the new TV show based on the two games. And as usual for Sonic games, they get unneeded hate from the fan base. Why? I'll answer that at the end of this.

I'll start with the games. As with Sonic Lost World, a 3DS version and a WiiU version will be made, but unlike Lost World, the consoles will have a different version of the game with a different plot, playable characters ect. In Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, you can play as Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles, the main 4 characters for the franchise.

 And as you can see from this, all four of them have had a redesign. For a better look...

Before I get to gameplay, I'll go through the "controversial redesigns".

• Sonic: There is barely anything is different with him. I like the little bit of detail in his spines, yes the exsessive use of sports tape is a bit of a let down but the same thing applies to all the characters except the "new" character so I'm going to ignore it. I love the addition of the scarf as it adds that little bit of detail to the character that updates him properly for the first time since the Dreamcast.
• Tails: The short and sharp version of my opinions on Tails is that he actually looks like a engineer now, which I like
• Amy: Ever since the designs were revealed, I haven't had any thing to say about Amy spesifically. I like this design more so then her main design as it seems to be more functional then the main design in the main series (at this point in time, this is a spin off of the series). I like the update to the hammer, even though it will probably be as ridiculous as ever in terms of physics (Amy is the reason why "Hammer space" exists).
• Knuckles: The controversy magnet for these redesigns... Where do I begin with Knuckles... How about the fact that he's not that bad. Even when I first saw him I didn't think he was that bad. Not great, I will admit that there are flaws but its not the end of teh world that people are making him out to be. I'm not a fan of his height, I do think he could be a bit shorter. I do like the fact that he has a lot more bulk to him now as he is supposed to be the muscle of the group, something that doesn't make sense in the current series. I will admit that the lack of a neck is more of a problem with Knuckles then it is for anyone else but I can learn to live with it.
• And finally, defiantly not Marine the Racoon, original creation do not steel... aka Sticks the badger: In terms of design, when its not screaming "I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MARINE", she looks ok. I'm skeptical about her character at this point in time i'm going to hold off on my thoughts about her, until I can see her in action.

If you want a look at some more characters, look here for the concept art: http://blogs.sega.com/2014/07/23/meet-characters-in-the-sonic-boom-universe/ don't ask for impressions on these characters.

As for Gameplay of the WiiU version, it looks fun. Simple, but fun. If you've played a Crash Bandicoot game, then you'll recognize the play styles of the characters. But seeing as the founders of Big Redd Button, the developers behind the games, came from Naughty Dog and worked on the first three Crash Bandicoot games (on top of the fact that Crash was based on Sonic) its no surprise. Each of the characters have a different play style and different paths they can travel to get to the end of the level. Sonic's is based on the 3D sonic games like Adventure, Heroes and Generations, Tails is mechanical and ranged based combat, Amy is the most athletic (has the highest jump ect) and uses acrobatic motions to platform with the help of her hammer, and Knuckes plays how you would expect him to.He can climb walls, tunnel underground, mow through enemies using his fists, the usual. As for Sticks... I have no idea. The gameplay is likely to be replicated in the 3DS version except the fact that it will be 2D based so for now, assume that what I said effects both versions.

Story wise: I'm going to directly quote the Sonic Wiki because news on the plot is scarce.

The Rise of Lyric (WiiU): "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric follows Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose and Sticks as they do battle against the evil Dr. Eggman. The group find themselves arriving on an island where they encounter an ancient tomb sealed deep within the island. There, they come across a powerful snake-like villain from a race called the Ancients, named Lyric, who plans to power his army of war mongering robots with the Chaos Crystals and destroy the world. To stop Lyric's evil plan, the group must put aside their differences and find the Chaos Crystals before Lyric. The stakes have never been higher, and the only chance to overcome Lyric is to band together and work as a team."

Shattered Crystal: "In Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, Amy discovers a secret ancient language and manuscript detailing the history and whereabouts of a Lost Crystal of Power. The evil and vile villain, Lyric, kidnaps Amy in his eagerness to get his claws on this long-forgotten power that has been hidden throughout the jungles and canyons of a mysterious new island. Sonic must team up with Tails, Knuckles and new friend Sticks to trace Amy’s footsteps and save her from the clutches of Lyric and his robot army. By trusting in their own abilities and working as a team, they will prove they are stronger together than they are apart."

Based on that, the plot for the WiiU version sounds interesting and I'm curious as to how it will be implemented. My only issue with the story is the 3DS version. Why is Amy being kidnapped? It doesn't make any sense based on her personality. The last time she was kidnapped was in Sonic Adventure and her kidnapper was the final boss in her part of the story so I hope something like this happens again.

Finally, the TV show. For the first time since Sonic X, we will be having another Sonic cartoon. from the two trailers we've seen, it looks like its going to have a comical side to it but I'm not sure how much humor is in the show. We've only had two trailers and they're being very vague as to what the show is about in my opinion. Only time will tell. The next impression will be Yoshi's Woolly world with Code Name S.T.E.A.M being the one after.