Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric[lower-alpha 1] is a 2014 action-adventure platform video game developed by Big Red Button and published by Sega for the Wii U.[2] Along with Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal for the Nintendo 3DS, it is a spin-off of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series and is a part of the Sonic Boom franchise, which also consists of an animated television series (whose games serve as a prequel), a comic series by Archie Comics, and a toyline by Tomy.[3][4] The game explores on Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy, who must stop Lyric the Last Ancient from acquiring the Chaos Crystals by powering up a robot army and wiping out all organic life, after Sonic accidentally awakens Lyric from a thousand year rest, while escaping Doctor Eggman.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
North American cover art
Developer(s)Big Red Button
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Bob Rafei
Producer(s)Lisa Kapitsas
Stephen Frost
Designer(s)Brian McInerny
Christian Senn
Programmer(s)Jeff Lander
Artist(s)Adam Yeager
Writer(s)John Melchior
Christian Cantamessa
Composer(s)Richard Jacques
SeriesSonic the Hedgehog
EngineCryEngine
Platform(s)Wii U
Release
  • NA: November 11, 2014
  • EU: November 21, 2014
  • AU: November 29, 2014
  • JP: December 18, 2014
Genre(s)Action-adventure, platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric began developed under the tentative title Sonic Origins in 2011, initially intending to be a Jak and Daxter-style game (later retitled Sonic Synergy) and would have focused around four-player concept; intended for release on PC and other consoles, it moved development to the under powered Wii U as part of a three-game exclusivity deal Sega had signed with Nintendo. Since the game's engine, CryEngine, was not intended to run on the Wii U, many of the gameplay concepts were hastily removed or simplified, while the story was rewritten to tie-in with the then-unrelated TV series. Richard Jacques, who was the lead composer for Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R, returned to write the soundtrack.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric released in North America, Europe and Australia in November 2014, and the following month in Japan as Sonic Toon. Upon release, it received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics for its controls, camera system, combat, story, gameplay, dialogue, and numerous bugs and technical issues, with some describing it as both the worst game of 2014, and one of the worst Sonic games ever made. The game was also a commercial failure, with the combined sales of Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal totaling 620,000 copies by March 31, 2015, making them among the worst-selling games in the franchise.[5] Following the failure of Rise of Lyric, Big Red Button had nearly considered shutting down.[6]

Gameplay
An example of gameplay in Rise of Lyric.

Rise of Lyric is an action-adventure game with a stronger emphasis on exploration and combat compared to previous Sonic the Hedgehog installments, featuring four main characters whom players control: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. Each character has their own unique abilities and gameplay mechanics: Sonic can use his speed and homing attacks, Tails can fly and use various gadgets, Knuckles can burrow underground and climb on walls, and Amy can use her hammer to swing on poles. Each character also possesses a whip-like weapon called the Enerbeam, which allows them to perform various actions such as hanging from speeding rails, removing enemy shields, and solving puzzles. There is also a focus on collaboration, with players switching control between multiple characters and using their abilities to progress. The game supports local co-operative multiplayer for two players, with additional modes for up to four players locally.[7][8][9][10]

Rise of Lyric is divided into at least three main gameplay styles: speedy platforming stages similar to main-series Sonic games like Sonic Generations, exploration stages, and boss battles.[11]

Plot

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy pursue Doctor Eggman until they encounter an ancient tomb with carvings of Sonic and Tails on the entrance. Sonic is stopped twice by Amy from opening the door, but when Metal Sonic ambushes the group, Sonic opens the door and the group escape. Inside, they encounter an imprisoned, but powerful snake villain named Lyric the Last Ancient.[12] Lyric recognises Sonic from events transpiring one thousand years ago and captures the group, but Tails deactivates the shackles and turns them into beams named Enerbeams for the group to use.

After meeting Cliff, the group discovers that Lyric planned to power an army of war robots with the Chaos Crystals to create a world of twisted metal and robots, but was imprisoned by The Ancients when they discovered the plan; the group then set out to retrieve the Chaos Crystals before Lyric. At an abandoned research facility, they meet MAIA, a robot who rebelled against Lyric, who assists them by creating a portal, allowing Sonic and Tails to go one thousand years back in time to retrieve a map showing the location of the Chaos Crystals. Sonic and Tails are then attacked by Shadow, but defeat him, enter the portal, successfully retrieve the map from inside Lyric's weapon facility and trap him inside for future imprisonment by The Ancients.

Lyric reluctantly forms an alliance with Eggman, but after no success, Lyric turns on Eggman by programming Metal against him. The group defeat Metal and Eggman and retrieve the final Chaos Crystal, but Sonic is then surrounded by Lyric and his robots. Lyric demands the Crystals; Sonic refuses to give them up, but Tails, Knuckles and Amy agree to do so. Sonic is then attacked by Lyric's robots and buried under rubble, but recovers and the group set out to Lyric's lair to stop him. During the battle, Lyric reprogrammes the Enerbeams to ensnare the group, but before he can take advantage of the situation, Eggman ambushes Lyric from behind, freeing the group. Sonic then ties up Lyric with assistance from his friends and removes Lyric's technopathy device to incapacitate him; Knuckles discards it. The group celebrate, but Eggman recovers the device and uses it to revive Metal.

Development

Conception
For the 2022 video game compilation, see Sonic Origins.

Los Angeles based game studio Big Red Button developed the game under supervision by Sonic Team[13] and long-time Sonic game designer Takashi Iizuka.[14] The game was built on CryEngine and is centered on "combat and exploration".[13] Sega outsourced the game to Western developers in order to increase the game's appeal in Western markets, culminating in a separate westernized Sonic franchise.[14] The video game concept came after the television series plan. Big Red Button was chosen due to the studio's adventure game portfolio and leader, Bob Rafei of the Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted, and Jak and Daxter series.[14] Portions of the game were co-developed by IllFonic, who assisted with some of the game's level design, art assets, and code.[15]

Sonic Boom started development in 2011 as Sonic Origins, intended to be a Jak and Daxter-style game focused around four-player co-op multiplayer. The plotline for the game would have explained the origins of Sonic, with him and Doctor Eggman once being friends, only for Eggman to break their friendship after an incident related to time travel causes the both to have a feud. One of the "pillars" for the game was to create a more "organic and natural world" with a cartoonish art style, something a former developer for the game admitted to fan site Sonic Paradise isn't as apparent in the final game. Eventually, the development studio created a vertical slice over the course of two years to show to Sega of Japan, intended to be released on Steam, with releases on the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live if it sold well enough.[16][17] The vertical slice was titled Sonic Synergy.[16][18]

Transition to Wii U and development issues
An screenshot of the game from the Sonic Synergy phase of development; following the switch to the Wii U, the graphics would be significantly scaled back due to hardware limitations

At the same time of Synergy, Sega had signed an exclusivity contract with Nintendo in which three Sonic games would be developed exclusively for Nintendo consoles, particularly the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS due to them just being released. This included both Sonic Lost World and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, which both released in 2013 after the announcement of the deal.[19][20] In late 2012, Sega showcased the Synergy demo to Nintendo, who agreed to include it as part of the deal. Sega later announced the decision to switch to the Wii U in 2013,[21] as well as mandating a 3DS port of the game; the 3DS port eventually became Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, developed by Sanzaru Games. Sega of Japan also forced several changes, including altering the character designs to be closer to the originals, increasing the speed, and rejecting the origin storyline.[16]

Further issues came when the game was being ported to the Wii U; the engine the game was developed with, CryEngine 3, was not designed to run on Wii U hardware, forcing the developers to simplify several gameplay elements. The four-player aspect was reworked into a two-player game, while levels became much linear than designed. At the same time, a separate Sonic television series was being produced, however eight months before release, Sega gained full control over the series, which made further changes to the world; Knuckles was made more dimwitted, many filler cutscenes were added in an attempt to explain the world, and the Ancient's role in the story was reduced greatly.[16]

Other elements removed from the game included Chao, a ring-banking system, and a biplane segment between Sky Citadel and Lyric's Lair. The game was renamed to Sonic Boom due to Sega wanting to make the brand global,[22] and Synergy losing its original meaning by the end of development.[16] Bob Rafei later stated that they had added too many mechanics early on into development and that it led to its later development difficulties.[23] British composer Richard Jacques composed the music. Jacques was selected for his experience with Sonic games including Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic R, and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.[24]

Release and marketing

On February 6, 2014, Sega announced Sonic Boom as the title for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.[13] The franchise was designed for Western audiences[14] and serves as a prequel to the television series. Sega announced the game would feature Sonic's traditional speed alongside a new exploratory game mechanic called "Enerbeam". Sega of America's marketing director Marchello Churchill explained that the new franchise was not designed to "replace modern Sonic".[13] The Western developer's CEO explained that Sonic Boom's Sonic is "very different ... both in tone and art direction".[13] The game remains a separate continuity to the main series,.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric released in North America on November 11, 2014,[25] and in Europe on November 21.[26] Although not initially intended to be released in Japan,[27] it was later revealed that it would release on December 18, 2014, as Sonic Toon: Ancient Treasure.[1][28] On the first day of release, a glitch was discovered that allowed players to jump to infinite heights by pausing the game during Knuckles' jump, which could be used to bypass most of the game. Speedrunners managed to beat the game in under an hour using the glitch.[29] In January 2015, a patch was released to fix a few problems with the game, including the "Knuckles Jump" glitch.[30][31]

Reception

Pre-release

Pre-release demos featured at E3 2014 received mostly negative reception from journalists. Destructoid nominated Rise of Lyric for "Best Platformer" and "Best Nintendo Exclusive" for their "Best of E3" awards.[32] In contrast, GameCentral wrote, "the very worst game in the line-up was Sega's Sonic Boom, which was so unspeakably awful we couldn't even force ourselves to play through the whole demo".[33]

Shortly after the end of development in July 2014,[34] many employees began leaving the company due to the poor work experience, leading to concerns about its quality.[35]

Post-release

Unlike previous games, Sega did not provide reviewers with advance copies of either Shattered Crystal or Rise of Lyric; they could only begin reviewing once the game was set for sale.[46] Upon release, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics. It has a Metacritic score of 32/100[37] and a GameRankings score of 33.15%,[36] making them the lowest-scoring Sonic games on either site.

Reviewers near-universally criticized the numerous technical issues.[41][42][47] Don Saas of GameSpot called the world "more bug-ridden than the tunnel from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", highlighting sound effects not playing most of the time, being able to clip through various environments, and the game once crashing his Wii U.[41] IGN was less negative, writing "Rise of Lyric isn't fundamentally broken or unplayable; it's just thoroughly disappointing and unpolished."[42] The Independent also noted frame drops, regarding the whole game as rushed and unpolished.[47] The gameplay was similarly poorly received for its "tedious" combat and low difficulty, although some praised the multiplayer minigames.[41][42][38]

Reviewers also panned the overall presentation.[42][40][38] IGN felt that the characters were well animated, but that the game as a whole was "further dragged down by nearly every aspect of its presentation", particularly the overuse of the same character quotes for basic actions.[42] Tim Turi of Game Informer was similarly critical stating "These guys won't shut up about how much they love rings. Dr. Eggman even spouts out groan-inducing, poorly aged meme references, like "Nailed it!" or "That. Just. Happened.""[40] Destructoid felt that the characters and indoor environments looked good, but that the outdoor environments were half-finished.[38]

David Jenkins from GameCentral considered Sonic Boom the worst game of 2014, sarcastically saying that one of the few positives was that "it proves previews do give a relatively accurate impression of a game’s final quality".[48] Forbes,[49] Game Informer,[50] and Yahoo![51] all listed Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric as among the worst games of 2014, while Nintendo Life listed it as the worst Sonic game in the series' history.[52] Sega announced that both Sonic Boom games had sold a combined 620,000 copies as of March 31, 2015, making them one of the lowest-selling in the franchise.[5][53][54][55][56]

After the launch of Sonic Boom, former Sega of America producer Stephen Frost gave a number of reasons as to what went wrong with the game. One of which is that based on focus tests, people were "sick and tired" of Sonic going too fast and wanted to slow him down. Frost said that they added too many features in Sonic Boom that bloated the overall experience. He added that if he could do the game again, he would remove features and speed would be the main focus from the start.[57]

Notes
  1. Japanese: ソニックトゥーン 太古の秘宝, Hepburn: Sonikku Tūn: Taiko no Hihō, lit. 'Sonic Toon: Ancient Treasure'[1]

References
  1. "ソニックトゥーン 太古の秘宝［Wii_U］" [Sonic Toon: Ancient Treasure [Wii U]]. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  2. Kellie (2 June 2014). "Sonic Boom Games at E3 2014". SEGA Blog. Sega. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  3. McWhertor, Michael (6 February 2014). "Sonic Boom gets an animated TV series, toy line from Tomy in 2014". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  4. "Sega reveals Sonic Boom: A new Wii U game, TV show and toy range". Computerandvideogames. 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  5. "Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2015" (PDF). SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  6. Hester, Blake (February 8, 2016). "Sonic the Hedgehog's long, great, rocky history". Polygon. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  7. "Sonic Boom Interview with Stephen Frost". Nintendo World Report. 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  8. "Sonic Boom - Road to review". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  9. "Big Red Button lead talks Sonic Boom gameplay". Destructoid. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  10. "SEGA Launches New Franchise Strategy for Sonic the Hedgehog with Sonic Boom". Sega Blog. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  11. McGee, Maxwell (June 2, 2014). "How Do The Two New Sonic Booms Compare?". GameSpot. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  12. "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal Out Now in North America". SEGA. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  13. Lien, Tracey (February 6, 2014). "Sonic Boom gives Sega's series a new look, two new developers". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  14. Corriea, Alexa Ray (February 6, 2014). "Why Sega handed Sonic over to Western studios and gave him a scarf". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  15. "IllFonic - Sonic Boom". IllFonic. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  16. Ash the Dragon (July 10, 2017). "De Project Apollo a Sonic Boom, su evolución documentada" [From Project Apollo to Sonic Boom, its documented evolution]. Sonic Paradise (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  17. Hero of Legend (May 22, 2015). "Unseen 64 Details What Happened Durng Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric's Development". Sonic Stadium. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  18. Whitehead, Thomas (April 22, 2015). "Sonic Boom Was Originally Called Sonic Synergy, Alternative Character Designs Emerge". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on July 7, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  19. "SEGA and Nintendo Enter Exclusive Partnership for Sonic the Hedgehog". Sega of America. The Wall Street Journal. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  20. Yin-Poole, Wesley (May 17, 2013). "Sega Nintendo alliance announced for three Sonic exclusives on Wii U and 3DS". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  21. "Taking A Look At What Went Wrong With Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric Development". My Nintendo News. May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  22. Nutt, Christian (June 25, 2014). "Ushering in the new era of Sonic the Hedgehog". Game Developer. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  23. Hester, Blake (February 9, 2016). "Redeeming Big Red Button After Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric". Polygon. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  24. McFerran, Damien. "How Sega can save its mascot with Sonic Mania". Red Bull. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  25. Campbell, Evan (September 18, 2014). "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric Release Date Moved Up". IGN. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  26. Scammell, David (August 14, 2014). "Sonic Boom release date confirmed for UK". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  27. Phillips, Tom (February 7, 2014). "Sega announces Sonic Boom for 3DS and Wii U". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  28. "Sonic Toon". Sonic Central. Sega. Archived from the original on December 3, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  29. "Sonic Boom Glitch Kinda Ruins The Game (If You Want To)". Kotaku. November 12, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  30. Whitehead, Thomas (January 18, 2015). "Sonic Boom Gets a Whopping 1GB+ Update in Europe, and Fans Figure Out What it Did". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  31. Carter, Chris (January 19, 2015). "Sonic Boom Wii U gets a massive 1GB mystery patch". Destructoid. ModernMethod. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  32. Aziz, Hamza (12 June 2014). "Destructoid's Best of E3 2014 nominees!". Destructoid. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  33. "Hyrule Warriors hands-on preview – plus the misery of Sonic Boom". Metro. 27 June 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  34. "Big Red Button Exodus was happening during Sonic Boom development". NeoGAF. November 15, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  35. Oliver, Tristan (November 15, 2014). "Reports Suggest BigRedButton Exodus Ahead of Sonic Boom Launch". TSSZ News. Archived from the original on November 18, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  36. "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric". GameRankings. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  37. "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric". Metacritic. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  38. Carter, Chris (November 20, 2014). "Review: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric". Destructoid. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  39. "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric review". Eurogamer. November 24, 2014.
  40. Turi, Tim (November 13, 2014). "Sonic Boom: Bored of the Rings". Game Informer. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  41. Saas, Don (November 14, 2014). "Sonic boo". GameSpot. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  42. Reparaz, Mikel (November 14, 2014). "Sonic Booooo". IGN. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  43. "Review: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)". 24 November 2014.
  44. Solmonson, Kyle (November 13, 2014). "Review: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  45. Gill, Sam (November 12, 2014). "Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric Wii U review: Sonic seems needy and Eggman isn't even ovoid - it all feels rushed". The Independent.
  46. Stapleton, Dan (November 11, 2014). "Where Are IGN's Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal Reviews?". IGN. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  47. "Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric Wii U review: Sonic seems needy and Eggman isn't even ovoid - it all feels rushed". The Independent. 12 November 2014.
  48. David Jenkins (November 25, 2014). "Sonic Boom: Rise Of Lyric review – fall of a hedgehog". Metro GameCentral. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  49. Ewalt, David M. (December 31, 2014). "The Worst Video Games of 2014". Forbes. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  50. Juba, Joe (December 30, 2014). "The Five Worst Games Of 2014". Game Informer. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  51. Silverman, Ben (December 23, 2014). "The 5 Worst Video Games of 2014". Yahoo! Entertainment. Yahoo!. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  52. Lane, Gavin (March 17, 2023). "Best Sonic Games Of All Time". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  53. "Sonic Boom is the Worst-Selling Sonic Title in History". 12 February 2015.
  54. "Sonic the Hedgehog needs to die". 12 February 2015.
  55. McWhertor, Michael (February 12, 2015). "Sonic Boom sells just 490K copies, Sega Sammy expects to lose 13B yen for the year". Polygon. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  56. Phillips, Tom (February 12, 2015). "Sonic Boom sells just 490K copies, Sega Sammy expects to lose 13B yen for the year". Eurogamer. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  57. McFarren, Damien (19 March 2015). "Sega Producer Explains Exactly What Went Wrong With Sonic Boom". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.