Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric | Better Late Than Never Videogames #11

[@MarioTainaka]

this is the first well uh "Positive" review that actually takes some time to look at the game from all angles instead of saying it sucks followed by a 60 minute rant

[@Onaterdem]

Definitely.

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

+Mario Tainaka strangely enough, booms plot and story is more salvageable than 06, I guess that was a shock to the system.

[@Kcinthasun]

Haruhi Suzumiya 06 was waaaay better.

[@somethingsomething9008]

When your plot Is so simple it's not that hard

[@Haedox]

Goddamn, this was a FUCKING AMAZING review. Your voice over and everything was really good. Keep it up! :D

[@SEGAClownboss]

"It doesn't even look like a game" You're right. It looks like a dream. Where many clashing elements appear that make no sense tying into themselves.

[@ChaosAngelZero]

Also, the "bad game 'cause it's for children" argument is a total fallacy, and here's proof: go play or at least look up Ride to Hell: Retribution. It's pretty much the same kind of unfinished, half-assed mess this game is, but is chock-full of "adult-oriented" stuff. Bottom line is, when a game is bad/unfinished, it's bad/unfinished, period, no disclaimers.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Did you miss the points of what I was trying to say or are you re-enforcing them

[@ChaosAngelZero]

BlazeHedgehog Reinforcing them, it's just that it's better to use another actual videogame for a clear analogy.

[@ornetwork]

I agree with you because shadow the hedgehog sonic 06 and secret rings all had some adult language in it and the overall message had bad stuff written all over it and I love Sega enough to know this.

[@eeveelution1248]

The reason the game is broken because the engine, (called CryEngine) did not support Wii U, it was originally for the PC and Sega suddenly came to BRB and told them it now has to be for the Wii U. It came as a surprise to BRB, so they had to quickly move it over to the Wii U. (Basically rush and go from there.) Any confusion just tell me.

[@ChapBloke]

1:40, I'll be honest I smiled when you used that Sonic Underground screencap I took. Great review as always.

[@WaddleDee105]

Loved 14:20 - 16:35. Quite a lot of people I normally respect and agree with have said that Sonic Boom: RoL isn't that bad since it's just a product for kids.

[@AROBASPARK]

So THAT's the whole issue about the Blue Arms? Makes sense now!!

[@galacticspecter4364]

Right on time for the trial of Christian Weston Chandler for being the perpetrator of the blue arms riots of December 2014.

[@tonibitonti2623]

,

[@SaturnMemories]

So they really only bothered to fix one bug in single-player, and it's the one that let's you skip over a large chunk of this insufferable mess? That's swell!

[@sarika3689]

Saturn Memories Ye

[@theminecraft2516]

They basically patched all the fun glitches

[@craigsure2949]

Yes, it's finally here! I waited for this video really long. Thank you BlazeHedgehog. It's a really good review and I agree with it. Hope we will get sonic goes boom soon. :)

[@NannerMan]

BRB: *spends years creating and developing a universe and game using an engine that isn't natively compatible with Wii U* SEGA: lol we signed a contract with Nintendo, port that shit to Wii U.

[@Mer.Saloon]

I honestly feel like people will forget about this game in a year. It's just not that memorably horrible aside from it's bugs. It's not pretentious and scarring like Sonic 06, but it just is something unmemorable. Heck, I compare this to Disney's Black Cauldron. A film that was released when the studio was at it's lowest and was a huge failure to the point that Disney refused to talk about it. It was a film that just felt unfinished at many points, and was held back by Disney executives conflicting with the creators because no one universally knew what to do with it. The big difference is that Black Cauldron was stuck in film limbo for years before eventually being rushed out into theaters, and Sonic Boom had no chance with SoJ breathing down BRB's necks. Now the question is the aftermath. Disney eventually realized they messed up and went straight into restructuring the company and it's vision, similar to how SEGA is doing. This led to Disney's second Golden Age. The question is will SEGA be going into another golden age? Edit: Willingly winks and nods at Sonic 2006? I really think you are stretching it man.

[@michaelkemel9711]

Davis Rojas I think Boom actually was stuck in development hell, in one form or another, since 2009.

[@WaddleDee105]

I'd love for that to be the case but just by looking at all the half-assed Let's plays on KZbin, it's clear that Sonic Boom has at least partially become the new Sonic 06 for many. Sadly, the Sonic series is back to square one when it comes to being even remotely respected again.

[@michaelkemel9711]

WaddleDee105 Unfortunately, yes. It really is incredible. Most game series would get a game like Boom or 06 once in a career, but Sonic got both of them in less than 10 years.

[@metalslayer777]

Totaly agree with BlazeHedgehog!

[@aortaplatinum]

Saddest part is that, unlike Sonic 06, even if SEGA hadn't bastardized Sonic Synergy and forced it to release on a console that shouldn't even be able to run it, it would probably just be mid.

[@begemottt]

Nice review, Blaze. Keep up the good work!

[@ragingcombo2907]

I just love listening to this guy while I'm working. Something about his videos just seem very entertaining to listen to.

[@ShootingStarNeo]

Thoughts: holy shit, I AM one of those adults who's been following Sonic for more than a decade! Sonic 06 is almost ten years old! How did that happen?? Also: who's making popcorn while waiting for the inevitable expose about what happened at Big Red Button?

[@SonicTheJackrabbit]

I half agree with your example of TMNT '87 not aging well. Personally, with the exception of those oddball "Teenagers from Dimension X" episodes, I think the first two seasons were done relatively well, albeit a bit cheesy being made in the 80's, though after that the series became a heavily mixed bag, with more episodes being below average than good unfortunately. For that reason, I greatly prefer the 2003 and 2012 series because they feel more consistent in terms of quality. (Except for those awful Fast Forward seasons in the '03 series of course.)

[@HarpoTheVillain]

>Whoever designed Sonic committed two cardinal sins >they gave KNUCKLES individual fingers wat >They gave Sonic blue arms Chris, is that you?

[@BlazeHedgehog]

HarpoTheVillain So because you ignored everything else I had to say and focused on two sentences, I'm the one with brain problems?

[@XxAngiexXRPI]

I liked Sonic's height on the Adventure DX model best. Not too short, not too tall

[@ABlob]

That's exactly my thoughts on it. Oh, I had an audio bug at the sightseeing cutscene with Sonic and Amy where the audio went insane... That wasn't nice.

[@dapperblookanimations226]

To those that believe 06 is more salvageable than boom. Think of this. 06 shot itself in the foot with contradictory time travel and Elise having a chaos emerald; the story and characters are completely flawed as well to the point of nothing making sense. in order to "fix" 06 it mustn't be 06. Every improving change you make will make the product vastly different from the original. You can have a game with Elise, silver, and Solaris but it won't be the 06 we know. While boom would have an easier time being fixed. The story premise itself isn't entirely flawed. It just needs to be fleshed out a bit more and cut and tweaked in a few places. Also the characters the biggest complaint, could be fixed in many ways, from concept changes to just plain character development. The gameplay and world could be expanded upon and changed without much consequence. In the end if both games were ever remade from the ground up as better games, I'd easily be able to recognize boom from the original. While 06 would be entirely different in my eyes.

[@DoubleATam]

Both 06 and Boom are marked by gross overambition, but while in 06 you'd be better off cutting content than redesigning it, here there's a whole portion of gameplay *missing*. It's actually intended to be a beat'em up, so enemies have a reason for having health, but they didn't *design* a combat system beyond "push da buttons" to drain it.

[@BirdX-qj8ej]

Those similarities with 06 makes sence because this game is sequel to Sonic 06.

[@brianbaptiste4666]

Getting kinda sick of the idea that everyone can match or keep up to sonic. He's supposed to be the fastest thing alive so it's kinda takes that away when amy,knuckles,tails etc can simply run along side him at all times.

[@Yan93]

Personally, I think this game is worse than Sonic 2006. Although I hate Sonic 2006, I can see a couple of good things in it - Silver and the music, where as I cannot see anything good in Sonic Boom

[@Yan93]

***** Not to mention: the levels in Sonic 2006 (not so much the hub world, but Wave Ocean especially) have the Sonic feeling to them. Sonic Boom on the other hand literally feels like you're playing as Sonic characters in a Jak & Daxter or Rachet & Clank game

[@justoneguyisright]

Yan Anthony As BlazeHedgehog said this game could've been better if BRB spent 3 or 6 months more on Sonic Boom rise of lyric. After all this isn't an anniversary game unlike Sonic 06

[@Keyfur91]

Oh my god...that part in the beginning where Amy Rose was sliding backwards while standing still...my sides hurt from fucking laughing like a maniac. That was beautiful. Oh god, you get a Like on this video for that alone.

[@RatchetSprite1]

Hey, I came back to this video after like a month ago when I left an uncalled for comment completely disregarding the topic and the actual review. And well, I just wanted to say that this was a very good review. Perhaps the best review of Rise of Lyric I've seen on KZbin. I agree with almost, if not all of the points you made especially the quality over effort argument. It was also in some very nice quality too. Great job with this.

[@CEAONtheCeaon]

RatchetSprite Agreed entirely. He's not too hard on it nor too easy

[@Beagleman1996]

I had a feeling that Ryan was going to say something along the lines of "Rise of Lyric isn't as bad as '06". The fact that the title, of what I think is his most popular video, explicitly states that '06 is bad was enough to convince me.

[@izuto727]

Now we wait for a pc fan port that fix the game like p06

[@determinationanimations2720]

one thing that explains everything wrong with sonic boom....where did the chaos emeralds go?

[@GRex7777]

If nothing else, I WILL give Sonic Boom credit for getting a large patch that helped it out. It's still buggy clearly, but it's still MUCH better than before, and post-patch, I actually had a halfway decent time playing through the game. I admit having a soft spot for silly humor, and there's a good bit of that here.

[@frankkuhn7515]

I'm a kid but I still new it would suck

[@theceptorperson9570]

I wish there was a video showing off the best dialogue and every funny scene from the game

[@HermaphroGynandro]

I honestly don't think it was Big Red Button Entertainment who made that patch. The patch was originally distributed through Europe and a lot of the sixty-five people of Big Red Button either quit and left the project and the company or got laid off. So I doubt there would be enough people to create the patch.

[@Phos9]

Based on (IIRC) file modification dates, this game went gold something like 6 months before release. The biggest problem with the new designs is probably Knuckle's height, the other characters heads are right at crotch height to him, meaning that scenes of anyone talking to knuckles are really hard to frame. Just take a look at the show, see how often they put both knuckles and the character he's talking to in the same frame. They almost always cut to shot/reverse shot if they're supposed to be making eye contact.

[@Brandtendo]

1:47 What the frick was that mouse Sonic or that Cat Sonic thing? 😐

[@hoodedstreetmonk352]

This review is pretty spot-on, and I couldn't agree more with the part where you mention that just because a game has potential, it still shouldn't get a free pass if that game doesn't fulfill it. This is a video that all the Sonic fanboys should see. EDIT1: If I had to disagree in one single part of this review, it would be the comparison between the dialogues. I agree that Sonic Team's skill for storytelling leaves a lot to be desired, but I think you're being a tad too harsh on the dialogue on Sonic Team's games, as well as I think you've let some of Boom's badly put dialogue off the hook. I mean, for example, the dialogue between Sonic crew and those weird sentient mecha-jellyfishes was pretty bad. EDIT2: Another thing, don't you think the 2D platforming was pretty unnecessary for a game that has such a focus on exploration of hubworlds?

[@RebelliousRobot]

I'd guess Big Red Button tried to make a better version of Sonic 06' Nah....

[@MatrixEvolution17]

Let's just hope the pesky eLisence doesn't get to this video.

[@Pinkanator]

Sonic Boom: HOPE YOU LIKE CANYONS!

[@Andi_Thy_Is]

can you talk about the 3DS one if you haven't already?

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Here's a written review by me: www.tssznews.com/2014/11/19/review-sonic-boom-shattered-crystal-3ds/

[@Andi_Thy_Is]

+BlazeHedgehog Thanks! The game for me is more of a guilty pleasure. I can't help but like it.

[@TARINunit9]

"Lower bar of quality because it's intended for children" Like you said, this is only partially true, and only on a specific level. I'm not going to get into how much you should dumb your writing down for kids, so let's focus on the part I can quantify: game design and heuristics. NOBODY likes games with bad heuristics. That's the very definition of bad heuristics: software that teaches you how to use it through it's design so it engages your mind. Games for kids amplifies the necessity for good heuristics, because their brains are still developing and are more receptive to learning and learning experiences. Nobody likes being frustrated or bored, kids least of all. It's the same thing that lead to Sonic 06 being a broken, unplayable mess. The game was frustrating instead of fun. Sonic 06 fought you at every step of the way. Rise of Lyric takes the problem in the opposite direction: it's frequently mindless and boring. Its repetitive, one-note combat makes up way too much of the game, as does running back and forth in the hub towns to just get to the next cookie-cutter sidequest or even find the next level. So at least for video games, no, you shouldn't set the bar any lower. Balancing the whole learning thing without becoming too cryptic or too patronizing is even harder for kids games

[@Rose-zo1oo]

True

[@lokiking3]

idk i still think 06 is at least funny (in a way) but rise of lyric was just dull and not fun at all

[@OmegaChase1002]

complaining about blue arms? cmon, dont be a chris-chan.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

+Chase's Channel He might be an asshole but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have opinions, even if they accidentally align with his. It's rude that you'd discount me on such an easily ignorable thing.

[@OmegaChase1002]

im just sayin, thats like bashing SA1 cuz his teeth are too sharp, or SA2 cuz his shoes are different. now i can understand why people dislike boom, because it is a _heavily_ flawwed game. but blue arms? really? all the other male hedgehogs have colored arms, so why can't sonic? it makes him look more masculine.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

***** I spend 98% of this video complaining about a lot of things that are not blue arms. I feel like I justified my reasons for not liking his blue arms, too. You're just hung up on some weird technicality.

[@OmegaChase1002]

its ok to dislike blue arms. im just sayin that character deign doesn't affect gameplay.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

***** So spending hours staring at character designs you don't like shouldn't factor in to whether or not you like something? Okay, sure.

[@V1NCYN1CAL]

Two words: "Sonic Synergy" that's the potential that was there :c

[@EWToonsInColor]

I think it's worth noting that only 2 members of Naughty Dog worked on Sonic Boom. BRB is mostly comprised of High Impact Games, the PSP/Wii developer. It's in the writing too, compare Sonic Boom to Jak and Daxter TLF or Ratchet & Clank Size Matters on PSP. Good game design is there, developer muscle is not. Sonic Team should have co-developed this game since they're good at polish.

[@Jcproduction8748]

Thank you!!! Finally somebody a can agree with their opinion on both good and bad of Sonic Boom Rise of lyric game :D

[@spoilerman3435]

Sonic boom is bad yeah but it was because they made the game for the xbox and playstation but at the last second it was made for the wii u with a engine that the wii u dod not support.

[@ShadwSonic]

I find it interesting how the author's opinion of '06 is mine for Lyric and vice versa...

[@sonicvsmariorandom]

Sonic Boom makes Sonic 06 look like Sonic Boom playing Sonic 06.

[@unknownshadow675]

You sound kinda like Metatron (Really hope I spelled that right) from Supernatural.

[@therealgemsoda]

my theory:I think sonic boom has lots of glitch cuz they put the release date in the wrong day so they have to release the game with the glitch like assasin creeds unity edition or idfk

[@warioland523]

I like this game but I still agree with this review to some extent. It could have been so much better. Have you ever looked up Sonic Synergy? I would love this to be remade for the Switch like how it was originally envisioned.

[@Camman6972]

Lmao every time I hear the sonic boom theme I laugh.

[@TwoTailedSponge]

I actually like Knuckles with fingered gloves. I've done that with some fan art long ago.

[@chriselboi3840]

i had no glitches it was fun

[@MrLuciusrm]

Wait... Knukles dont have individuals fingers? I thought i was just wearing boxing gloves

[@mann-nova9392]

What made the character switching in Heroes so bad? I thought it had a very unique flow to it.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

It was never used in a way that felt like I was making a decision. You'd just see a sign to switch to Tails, do the one scripted action with Tails, and then switch back to your preferred character. There's almost never any reason to switch characters unless the game forces you to switch, but it's never done in a smart way that makes you see what you're missing. Instead it's just a series of locked doors where the most strategic action you can take is switching to one of the three keys needed to progress. You always have the keys with you, it's just a matter of switching to the key you need to unlock the door. That stops being interesting almost instantly.

[@Lugbzurg]

I'd just like to point out that the whole "Big Red Button = Former Naughty Dog Employees" thing turned out to be an ENORMOUS exaggeration. Guess how many came from Naughty Dog? Two. TWO. Both of them graphical artists.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Yeah, and both of them founded the company. They hold the highest positions there. Top rungs on that corporate ladder.

[@onthedre]

Sonic 06wasnt done yet lol we got an early build I played this then 06 and was actually happier and appreciated 06. This game made me appreciate 06. Nuff said.

[@kohakupiss]

I hate to admit it but sonic is holding down forward and dashing through pretty levels and that's its charm so don't change what worked

[@michaelkemel9711]

Fox Gaming/AlexD8282 Not all Sonic games. Sonic 3 and Knuckles has way more depth than that.

[@kohakupiss]

yeah but its mostly that

[@michaelkemel9711]

Fox Gaming/AlexD8282 Well it might seem silly to highlight a few examples like that, but I think Sonic 3 and Knuckles is what every Sonic game *should* be, even if most don't quite measure up.

[@Space02_]

Worth the wait :)

[@Cyperstudio]

one up side from the personalitys is the fact amy is a creep.

[@CaptainSouthbird]

"A bummer for more than just consumers." Perhaps this references Sega seemingly giving up on consoles altogether due to them financially bleeding out? This review definitely was the first fair and critical one I've seen, and I have to admire it for that. I am actually someone who thinks that Sonic '06 is conceptually not horrible, but do agree it needs to be re-done. This game, I'm not as convinced about. Sonic '06 sort was like a very distorted version of some kind of vision, but you could still sort of see what they _wanted_ it to be. This game however is largely a series of button-pushing and path-tracing. While it is kind of interesting that they have the multiple character roles, those roles aren't imaginative and tend to repeat. Tails is always just to use a giant blower fan. Amy is always to use those pink bar things. The game has some nice looking environments here and there, but the actual gameplay design is lacking to the point of pretty much not existing. So I don't think it just needs a few months work, I think it needs a total re-imagining of its gameplay core. I'll give you the character banter is kind of fun at times. But then, in-level the banter tends to be extremely irritating obvious statements and one-liners that only exaggerate what I think almost no "old" fan wanted, and that was the way some of these redesigns turned out. Perhaps most glaringly and agreed upon is Knuckles, who went from sort of a mystic guardian of the chaos emeralds to a lunkhead body-builder. Also definitely agree about the design-for-kids thing being a stupid argument. I mean, everyone has different tastes about it, but the most memorable cartoons from when I was a kid had _depth_. The shows I watched on the long-forgotten "Disney Afternoon" could at times be quite epic. Sonic Boom's cartoon identity both in Rise of Lyric or the TV show itself seem to be very average cartoon show humor. It might be a fine show for kids and people seem to like the simplistic humor well enough, but does it in any way truly make it a _Sonic_ cartoon? It doesn't help that the characters are narrow-focus stereotypes. Tails is the smart one who uses big words. Knuckles is the dumb one who wants to punch things. It might make for some reasonable comedy sketches, but it doesn't really try to get a particular message across. It's just there to keep some kids quiet for 30 minutes. To put it another way, if it didn't have Sonic and Co.'s face on it, would anyone have paid any particular attention to it at all? To bring this back around, Sonic Boom is just a nail in the coffin for Sega. It doesn't need to exist and should never have been made. Sega's been repeatedly dropping the ball and stumbling along for years now with what used to be an incredibly respected and valuable IP. I'm of course all for taking everything back to the beginning where the simple "pinball" gameplay focused simply on speed and a light environmental message would be fantastic. Get rid of most of the "friends." Stop wedging so much "reality" into it (per Sonic X, Sonic '06, and others of that sort, Boom actually at least tries to keep it in-universe sort of.) And failing my old codger request, they had some successful 3D titles but failed to develop along those lines. The money and time spent on Boom should have been invested into the new stuff that was _working_. The whole thing about Boom feels like some desperate attempt on Sega's part to get Sonic back to where he was in the 90s, with a video game and at least one cartoon airing, perhaps hoping that if there's enough advertising in your face, Sonic will be "cool" again, at least for kids if the old fans are lost. And why would you deliberately make something that potentially cuts off your old fans?! You think how Mario persists and the same kids who grew up with an NES still buy and play most of his games happily, because Nintendo didn't try to constantly reinvent the character. Mario feels like an old friend who always stays true to himself. I don't even know who Sonic is anymore. Or who -Robotnik- Eggman is supposed to be. (He's not a villain, he's mostly just Sonic's playground bully... doesn't even seem to turn animals into robots anymore. What is his motivation at this point?) So in conclusion, Boom was just another huge mistake, and so I'm not interested in it being "fixed", as much as I want to travel back in time and convince somebody to put that investment into something, anything that actually works for Sonic. Sega's on the verge of fading away because they don't listen to their own consumers and it makes no sense.

[@ChaosAngelZero]

No dialog in Sonic games before this one? It isn't saying much, but I remember Amy breaking Sonic out of prison in Sonic Adventure 2 looking like a reasonably decent attempt at dialog (and with half-decent mocap!), albeit not overly fluid, interesting or well written due to everyone in the game being some sort of Japanese stereotype. Probably not the only decent bit from Adventure 2, but that one kinda sprung into my mind.

[@MartinMcgFilms]

whats the music at the end

[@BlazeHedgehog]

If you watched the video to the end then you should already know this answer, because the song title is listed in the credits.

[@richardkelly3407]

Ugh the way it runs at 19fps hurts my eyes

[@theelectricneko]

This game answered my questions If sonic was in a Beat em up? answer Rise Of Lyric

[@poobd]

x'cuse u the shows and comic changed my life theyre so good

[@shrektheogre4349]

Actually, knuckles had fingers all the time. It was shown off in an episode of sonic x as he climbs a mountain, and actually digs his fingers into the cliff O_o

[@WaddleDee105]

That's Sonic X. It was just an animation error.

[@shrektheogre4349]

Maybe so, but that's like saying sonic has no neck, yet he has been shown pulling his head out the ground in various games and media

[@Mer.Saloon]

WaddleDee105 And his skeleton was shown in Sonic 3 with individual fingers.

[@TYFitz531]

Sonic synergy was the real sonic boom

[@craigsure2949]

I wasn't so shocked when this was annouced because i'm on the 1st category. I played games from sonic 2 to sonic generations and i have no problem with a change of gameplay but if it's done uncorrectly then i'm just dissapointed.

[@ThatEntityGirl]

"Sonics never been in a crappy beat em up before". *COUGH* sonic unleashed *COUGH*

[@zdcosner3766]

I personally loved Unleashed. At least the Werehog had more variety when it came to performing different attacks and combos. Boom just haves you pulling the same moves over and over again without making them interesting.

[@michaelkemel9711]

ZD Cosner Yeah. The werehog is really just a competent God of War ripoff, not Sonic with fighting shoved into it. I'd say Heroes is Sonic with beat-em-up elements thrown in.

[@Keurgui1]

Actually he mentions the werehog in Sonic Unleashed and he actually says it's pretty fun lol

[@ThatEntityGirl]

Keurgui1 He's got a few screws loose!

[@Keurgui1]

Entity1037 They don't look boring as they are repetitive

[@michaelcottrello]

I just played this game this week. It’s certainly bad, but a lot better in co op.

[@beItway]

10:24 You mean just like Sonic '06. Sonic '06 should be your next review.

[@Glacidon]

I kinda like blue armed Sonic.

[@TheDbzthedgehog]

I am legitimately confused here. You think that the people who made Sonic 06 didn't care? You think Sonic Boom would've been better if they had more development time after 3 years of Development time already? Yeah, Sonic 06 had a little over a year for Development time, and it still doesn't have as many bugs as Sonic Boom has. I don't ever recall entire parts of the map just blinking out of existence in 06. I don't recall Cutscenes being absent of audio or even subtitles. I'm actually fine with the fact that you see a glimmer of hope for this game, but to say such contrived things like the devs of 06 didn't care and whatnot (when they're dev team was split in half AND their dev time was cut short) seems so completely aggressive for no real reason. To me it just sounds like you're spouting a bunch of angry complaints at the game that you didn't even properly back up compared to Rise of Lyric. And yet regardless of all of that 06 still ended up being a /Sonic/ game instead of a Jak and Daxter or Rachet and Clank Clone with Sonic slapped on it. You can actually go fast at will in Sonic 06 instead of being tied down by on rails tracks that give you little to no control of where you're going. The framerate is even more stable in Sonic 06, an early Ps3 game (last Generation console), while Sonic Boom had 3 times the development time, much more work effort (in terms of people who were capable of working on it), and it was a whole generation ahead of 06. Sonic 06 was /literally/ condemned. The choices Sonic Team made literally caused 06 to become a flop, and in this scenario, it was just sloppy organization and development. After all of that you still don't see as many graphical issues as Sonic Boom. Many of the same things that Boom has done, 06 did better, a whole console generation before hand. You're saying Sonic 06 took pleasure in wasting your time? And what about the gigantic hub worlds without any actual way to get there quicker other than a /very/ limited spin dash. Y'know 06 had a mini map with that. And y'know, Sonic was actually fast in that game. I don't ever recall the framerate dropping or even more glitches happening due to Co-op mode either. That's just pathetic. Slow and Boring combat is much faster than in 06 too. With Sonic, for taking down bigger enemies, just homing attack to bounce attack. With Shadow, The Chaos Boost + his multi-hit homing attack make it much quicker to deal with enemies. With Silver, Stun, then grab, then throw. RoL, is literally just mashing a few buttons repeatedly, for an extended time. Sonic Boom, has like no sort of speed to anything other than those automatic running sections especially when 06 actually had creativity to it's mach speed sections. That isn't to say that 06 doesn't have it's problems, or that you deserve to like 06 more than Boom. That's not the case at all, but like, when your thrill in a Sonic game comes from slowing plodding along, and slowing beating up enemies, and running along a track, that doesn't really sound like a Sonic game to me. They even made a patch and all it literally did was add a useless mechanic, and fix the one of the only things many people liked about the game. How can you honestly say all of this without the proper backup for these claims? Again, it's your opinion and all, but completely ignoring stuff like that and claiming it still doesn't deserve to actually be looked at positively is just silly for lack of a better word.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

When did I say the people who made Sonic 06 didn't care? You can care about something plenty and still make awful, stupid decisions. There was a wonderful blog I read once years ago from one of the game designers on the original arcade version of Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game, and he talked about how he was the self-proclaimed biggest Street Fighter 2 fan in the world, and SF: The Movie: The Game ended up being one of the worst Street Fighter games ever made. He said it KILLED him to know that he did that. To be such a huge fan of something, and accidentally produce its worst, most hated, most lampooned entry. He had its best intentions in mind, he cared so much, and ended up squeezing out a gigantic, massive turd. Listen. I've been making games, and I've been writing about games for quite a while. Over ten years. Especially with regards to Sonic games. I have developed what I consider to be a pretty innate sense of the state of "things." And I can tell you with confidence that even if every bug in Sonic 06 was "fixed," it would still be a junk game. Its problems extend far beyond mere bugs; its problems infest the game's design document. Even the best version of the concept of Sonic 06 would be junk. To "fix" Sonic 06 is to throw the entire game out and start over from scratch. Re-write and re-make every single piece. At that point, you're basically just making a different game. A "fixed" version of Sonic Boom is an inoffensive, breezy PS2-style platformer. Not a grand slam, and definitely nothing like a Sonic game, but playable enough. But arguing over hypotheticals is stupid. Don't do it.

[@TheDbzthedgehog]

BlazeHedgehog 13:42 "Actual talent from people who cared was put into Rise of Lyric" This implies that the game(s) you were comparing it to (which include Sonic 06) didn't have talent from people who cared. Regardless, I can see where you're coming from, but a fixed version of 06 isn't a game devoid of bugs, it's the game at it's best level of quality. And by that, I mean if the game were actually allowed to be shown at it's best, it would warrant positive reviews. The game was a rush job. Not only that, but a Beta build was released to the public. You can't say everything about a game is broken or can't be fixed if you haven't even seen it at it's full potential. Even so, you said yourself that you were excited about the game up until the very release to the public. If that were the case, wouldn't you be able to tell that the level design, and what was actually shown beforehand was bad from the get-go? Granted that's 9 years ago, and that practically all of your development knowledge being gone, but still. I honestly doubt you'll humor me in this, but what exactly is so broken about the game that it can't be fixed? The level design? The Story? The standard gameplay mechanics of each individual character? I already know the Graphics, and the Music are alright, so those are the only things that aren't actually susceptible to change, since those are subjectively viewed as good or bad. But, other than that? Minor Tweaks would make it passable to many gamers. I've heard it more times than I can count. And the development time it deserved? Probably even worthy to call it Sonic Adventure 3. Well that's a bit drastic, but still.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Let's put it his way: I don't think anyone wants to make a bad game. Nobody sets out and says, "I'm going to sabotage this project, because I don't care." But! There is such a thing as exhaustion. You can give as much as you have, but you might not have much. There's an article I wrote out there on tssznews.com called "The Blog Sega Doesn't Want You to Read." A current (now former) employee of Sega UK wrote about his experiences with the company and his professional relationship with Sega before eventually deleting the blog and trying to erase its existence (he was giving away company secrets, you see). www.tssznews.com/2009/01/05/the-blog-sega-doesnt-want-you-to-read/ This blog was written right after Sonic 06 came out, and over a year before Sonic Unleashed was unveiled. He described the situation at Sonic Team -- primarily talking about it from the perspective of the development of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. He described Sonic Team as a tired, weary development team. They were stuck cranking out Sonic game after Sonic game with no rest, no respite. They were sick of making Sonic games, but there was no escape. NiGHTS was intended to be a chance to stretch their legs, but Sega hampered the project with budget cuts and all sorts of other problems. I'm sure Sonic 06 was developed with as much care and energy as they had left to spare... but unfortunately that wasn't much. They were just about tapped out. It's like when people are tired, you start making all kinds of mistakes -- not because you don't care, but because you're too tired to think straight. The same can happen with teams. After Sonic 06, Sonic Team was restructured and fresh blood was brought in to help alleviate the fatigue they were experiencing. Big Red Button was not suffering from fatigue. They were suffering from a lack of budget and a tight deadline.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

***** Concept art is not full game production.

[@WaddleDee105]

***** You think the entire team at BRB existed back 6 years ago and was doing nothing but concept art? The concept art was done for the "Reboot/spin-off" as a whole; not for the game. The team, budget, and general idea of making a Sonic game with this new style probably didn't start until after Sonic Generations. They most likely had 3 years of dev time and that was hampered by a shoestring budget as well as a shift to making the game on the Wii U ( the game was originally for PS4/Xbone). The Cryengine was never intended to work on the Wii U so BRB had to figure that out all by themselves which would have been a nightmare. I'm not saying BRB isn't to blame to at least some extent, but it's clear that problems out of their control hurt the development of the game by a ton. You're oversimplifying this way too much.

[@DrRalphSmiffingtonIII]

I am a big fat hairy geek with glasses and I am quite sad that I cannot buy a "his name is Robotnik" t-shirt from your store. :(

[@BlazeHedgehog]

I'd actually considered it, but since all I did was trace over official artwork, that doesn't feel right, to me. I'd have to draw my own take, I guess.

[@DrRalphSmiffingtonIII]

I appreciate that, and I'd still buy it. An ensemble cast of Robotniks?

[@alder613]

What about the 3DS game?

[@BlazeHedgehog]

+Alder613 I produced a written review for that over here: www.tssznews.com/2014/11/19/review-sonic-boom-shattered-crystal-3ds/

[@alder613]

BTW, the "Sonic getting taller" pic has the F word in it.

[@671tch]

11:00 lol, never seen that before.

[@somethingsomething9008]

Makes sonic 06 look not rushed

[@reversalmushroom]

Do you voice Snot in American Dad?

[@dragonboooster88]

in a way (even with wiiU) e-shop , in this year (2017) haved the time for check the bugs of the games , i haved one on the sonic all-stars racing transform : i was with sonic trying to beat a time limit race but at surprise , with a fisic and virtual vers. (with an update)i get under the water to my death most of times , also on a space like parade i try it and surprise surprise falling to the space , even i was on the track , i hate to say it but sonic you did well but we need better (and less glicthed vers.)

[@EnderElectrics]

Incredible review until the end! 06 could've easily been fixed into something incredible, and I'm pretty sure there's no way they could fix Sonic Boom in 3 months :P

[@BlazeHedgehog]

I don't think that's true. Speaking as someone who has been in and around the game development scene as an indie, there are deeply rooted technological problems in Sonic 06 that would require a top-to-bottom rewrite of the entire gameplay physics system, and that's not easy while still keeping compatibility with existing levels. Especially in a professional development environment where you have milestones and certification and QA testing. That's not even counting the work it would take to patch up plot holes -- rehiring voice talent, redirecting cutscene sequences. Making Sonic 06 even just the bare-minimum playable would take almost a whole year's worth of work. You'd be better off making an entirely new game from scratch. Sonic Boom, on the other hand, has a lot of frayed edges, but the core of the game is in place. To me, Sonic Boom is a game that suffers the death of a thousand tiny cuts. There aren't a lot of show-stopping problems in Sonic Boom, it's just like, framerate optimization, cleaning up animation transitions, and rebalancing missions. Polish, in other words. Lots and lots of polish. I'm not saying it'd be a 10/10 amazing game, but it'd be good enough.

[@EnderElectrics]

@@BlazeHedgehog I mean, enabling a few patches in the Mod Manager makes the game more than playable and actually really fun. I can spot how the physics and controls were rushed since I'm obviously an indie developer as well, but the bad physics wasn't 06's main problem for me. It was just the amount of annoying glitches and inconsistencies that could've been ironed out. I guess you could say it's preference about the thousand tiny cuts thing. I personally think 06 is already a fun game in and of itself, I like the mechanics in the game, the level design and how tight the controls are. I'm not a big 'adventure game' kind of guy though. So while more polish would've made the game objectively better, I wouldn't see myself enjoying my time with Boom either way. Glitches usually don't really bother me in games, so to me, Boom is much more flawed on a fundamental level than 06.

[@EnderElectrics]

Not saying I'm a professional game-developer, by the way. I'm just saying I'm familiar with how coding is structured.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

@@EnderElectrics See, I don't think Sonic 06 is fun to play by itself at all. Like, Sonic doesn't HAVE physics in Sonic 06. He has zero weight or momentum, he turns on a dime and his feet stick to every surface like his shoes are coated in glue. It feels awful. He's stiff and robotic and unwieldy, and that's BEFORE the game starts breaking.

[@EnderElectrics]

@@BlazeHedgehog Well personally I like the predictable nature of the controls, you always know he's going to stick on certain walls and you always know that he'll turn to the left when you tap the analog stick. They implemented Sonic's physics in a really crappy, time saving manner but it just has a certain 'groundedness' for lack of a better word. The thing is, I already enjoy 06, glitches and all. If they had more time with the game, I only would've enjoyed it more. From a fundamental level, I already don't really like Sonic Boom. The puzzles are mundane and boring, there's tedious hub worlds and there's not even a run button to speed it all up. I'd rather play the much more fundamentally broken yet exciting 06, than the tedious and boring sonic boom that could've had its bugs ironed out.

[@SuperMarioFan123311]

Did you know this game rips off Pac-Man World 3? REALLY badly I might add? A game from 2005 from the PS2 did the same idea of combat and platforming and was still better than this. Hell, a lot of the environments seem ripped off too.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

+SuperMarioFan123311 Actually, I hate to break it to you, but that's just, like... generic 3D platformer stuff. I've played most of the way through Pac-Man World 3 on PSP, and you're right, but that stuff isn't unique to PMW3

[@G5onicDmi]

7:25 Iluminatti confirmed

[@reversalmushroom]

I'm surprised and disappointed that you didn't mention the constant hand-holding.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

So many games hand-hold nowadays that it goes in one ear and out the other for me. I don't even hear it anymore.

[@reversalmushroom]

BlazeHedgehog Yeah, but this is excessive even by today's standards. It's way more than any other game I've ever seen.

[@seerofbalance7401]

Today is my b day and this as posted 2 years before XD I find that funne

[@JSpyx]

I did not hate Sonic 06 either. :') Honesty, I wished i played this game. because it looks much like Sonic Heroes. with a mix with real Sonic adventuring here and there. NPCs in free roam worlds/cities, quests you can take here and there...I wish honestly, that there were more of those. Also, the pairing up thing and random banter in between fighting and such, reminds me a lot of Over the Hedge (the game). depending on who you team up with, they have their own lines and quotes. and they interact with each other's quotes differently depending who you choose to duo up. I think those kind of games are really fun!

[@gokucrash9908]

hey at least sonic 06 got it's cutscene right

[@Juddmeister]

Really? Sonic 06 had potential, and it wouldn't be good with more development time? That doesn't make much sense to me, but ok. I respect your opinion.

[@tailsawsome17]

i agree to everything said. BUT and its a big but. i enjoyed SOME of sonic 06 and completed it with in 2 hrs.

[@CaptainSouthbird]

I enjoy Sonic '06 for the wrong reasons. In its brokenness there's a "charm", and playing it is sort of a challenging gauntlet because it messes with your basic sensibilities most of the time. But ... that's not the right way to think of a video game.

[@TSMSnation]

like an anime fan on prom night?

[@Okagemi]

I feel you are entitled to your opinion, as I should be entitled to mine. Sonic '06, to me had potential, but clearly for a different audience. While I think you are right, that a few more months given to Sonic '06 would not have fixed it, I also feel that the circumstances were also bad for the game. It wasn't the big project that all of Sonic Team should have been working on together, in fact a small portion of the team, that was inexperienced in developing for newer consoles would be put on this game. The better developers were taken out to work on other games that would receive some "not so good" reviews from many people. I think you could say that something similar did in fact happen with Sonic Boom. You had a smaller portion of a pretty good game-making team working on a game, that would be released unfinished. Sonic '06 was clearly unfinished, and they were pressured for a quick release, as Sonic Boom. I think Sega has a good opportunity to save Sonic. The fans have stated what they want, it's just up to them to interpret it in a way that we would like it. One person I saw brought up how a good portion of the community complained about his friends. They were no longer given the stories they used to have, but they began to not matter, simply being used to repeat the same directions in final boss fights. The agreement with Nintendo is over now, and they could go back to developing for multiple systems, but they have to give the games time. The main issue I personally find with the games is that not enough time is given to developing the games to make them as good as they can be. Sonic '06 could have been pretty decent with time. Sonic Boom could have been even BETTER with time. I'm sure a few people noticed in the plot hole involving Sonic not being "fast enough" to save Tails when it was him going "too fast" that started the problem. I think this describes Sega's situation pretty well. TL;DR Sonic '06 had even less potential than Boom, but time was all it needed to be better, as with Boom. Sega can save Sonic, but they have to take their time.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

All of Sonic Team WAS working on Sonic 06, though. They originally planned to launch the game on the 360, PS3 and Wii -- this was before the Wii was formally announced, and the expectation was that it would be similar to the 360 and PS3 in terms of power. When it wasn't, Sonic Team split in to two: one to finish up the 360/PS3 game, and another to create something new for the Wii. Sonic Team was chosen by Nintendo as one of the first third party developers to get Wii devkits, too, so it's not like they could just discard that gesture of goodwill and ignore the Wii. You say Sonic fans have stated what they want, but that's kind of naive. Because while that's technically true, I don't think all Sonic fans can agree on what they want. A lot of that is Sega's fault -- Sonic has been so many different things over the years that everybody wants different things now. Sega can literally please no one.

[@Okagemi]

BlazeHedgehog From what I remember learning, one of the creators of Sonic resigned from the team early on, and that would put most teams behind when they lose one of the best people on their team.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

toonrichard Yuji Naka resigned. He was one of the last members of Sonic Team that was responsible for the creation of the original Sonic game in 1991. He was the president of the company, but I doubt he did much hands-on work with the game. Like, he didn't actually write code, or create art, or any of that stuff anymore. He was basically a supervisor. Within the last year, Yuji Naka went on record to say that the reason he resigned is because it felt like if he didn't leave he would've been trapped making Sonic games for the rest of his life.

[@sonicmastersword8080]

Big Red Button went bankrupt.

[@M.N.O.93]

Sonic Dash 2 : Sonic Boom . It's good

[@theonewithglasse5302]

I had fun with this game same with sonic 06 I must be crazy

[@angel901purple]

I actually like this game 6.5/10 7/10 at a push