Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal

"Work together to stop an ancient evil!"

- Tagline

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (known in Japan as Sonic Toon: Island Adventure (ソニックトゥーン アイランドアドベンチャー) ) is a 2D side-scrolling action/adventure game, produced and developed by Sanzaru Games, and released exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo eShop on 11 November 2014 in North America. The game plays as the handheld counterpart of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and is the second title of the Sonic Boom continuity. Both this and the Wii U game serve as prequels to the animated television series. Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal specifically centers around events and lore of the Sonic Boom continuity with exclusive environments and characters.

A demo is available on the eShop that has eight uses and is free to download.

Plot
The game begins immediately after its in-game comic strip prequel, where Amy is in the middle of a fight with Lyric the Last Ancient who wants the info she has on finding the Lost Crystal of Power. After dealing a blow that stuns him for a bit, Amy contacts Sonic to tell him of her findings, only to be knocked off guard by Lyric, (getting disarmed in the process). Despite her protests, Lyric manages to plant a device on Amy's head, knocking her unconscious as he introduces himself to an outraged Sonic. After destroying Amy's communication device with his tail, Lyric makes his getaway.

After completing Seaside Beach, Sonic meets up with Tails, explaining the situation and asking for his help in tracking down Amy. Tails eagerly agrees and reveals his newly-developed form of technology that can allow the viewing of destroyed files. Sonic is glad at this fact, but then wonders how Sticks will react when she learns of Amy's capture. After finding their new friend Sticks the Badger, the duo tell her their current predicament, with Sticks nonchalantly running off to find Amy as they give chase. After a race, Sonic urges Sticks to join the team as teamwork is the only way they can win. Meanwhile, Tails manages to decipher some of Amy's research logs, which prompts them to head for the Scrapyard, where Knuckles last was. The group finds Knuckles without much trouble and the echidna is eager to help, claiming that they should get a move on. With the full team assembled, the group heads for Shadow Canyons, where they notice Shadow the Hedgehog standing off in the distance, only to run off. Wondering what he is up to, the group follows him, and after a race, he comes back to his senses and everyone realizes that he's been possessed by Lyric this entire time via a mind control device similar to the one used on Amy. After being taunted by a hologram of Lyric that comes from the broken device, Shadow skates off in hot rage, with the others agreeing to follow him into the Ancient Ruins.

After completing Ancient City, the group discovers that a large robot facility is hidden beneath the ruins, and is responsible for all of Lyric's robots. They decide to shut it down, and are ambushed by Metal Sonic while down there. Sonic races him, but loses and Tails shortly manages to track his movements and find that he is headed for the Volcanic Crater. Once there, the team finds themselves lost, but decides not to give up. After deciphering another of Amy's logs, they discover that a hangar of ancient planes is hidden in the volcano and decide to search for it. After finding it, the group heads off, and manages to escape the volcano, though Tails has some trouble steering the plane and ends up crash-landing on the Cloud Sanctuary, (much to an airsick Knuckles' relief). Meanwhile, it is revealed that Amy has regained consciousness and is adamantly refusing to translate the ancient language for him despite his orders, all the while claiming that Sonic and co. will come for her.

After Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Sticks, and the freed Amy finally arrive on Lyric's airship, they being to flaunt the power of teamwork in front of the dastardly snake, only for Lyric to get an idea and trap everyone but Sonic in the same glass ball that Amy had been imprisoned in previously. Sonic gives chase, and after fighting Lyric, he frees everyone. Their rejoicing is cut short however, as Lyric regains consciousness and prepares a giant robot to finish the group off. Shortly later, Shadow intervenes and dismantles the mech, rendering it useless and kicking Lyric out the bomb-doors of his own ship (which Sonic had opened just as this happened). The team rejoices again, as Sticks gives a slightly incorrect speech about teamwork. The adventure over, Shadow walks off, claiming to be a loner and to be superior to Sonic. Sonic is dismayed over the fact that Shadow does not want to join them, as he thinks that he would make great addition to "Team Sonic". Sonic and Knuckles then get into a brief argument over what the team's name should be as the group beings the long journey back home.

Gameplay
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal is a 2D side-scrolling adventure platformer. Unlike its Wii U counterpart, which is more focused on 3D platforming and beat-em-up, Shattered Crystal places a bigger emphasis on platforming and puzzles, while each character has their own unique abilities to get them through the levels. There are three different types of stages in this game: Adventure levels, which take up the bulk of the game are large, mostly non-linear stages in which the player can control all four characters (though only Sonic is available from the start). Rival Races are also from the 2D perspective. In these levels, you must race another character through a linear but lengthy course. Finally, there are Tunnel levels, which take place in 3D and are completely on rails. Here, the player is stuck at a full run, and must move left and right to dodge obstacles, occasionally having to jump off the track and use the Enerbeam to grab onto a rail in order the cross a chasm. In the latter two stage-types, only Sonic is playable.

The bottom screen of the 3DS has three uses: A character-select screen allows the player to tap on the portraits of the four playable characters in order to switch to them on the fly, (though they can also be switched to by pressing their corresponding direction on the D-pas. There is also a map screen that shows the entire level in a Metroidvania-esque map format that highlights various things in the level, including collectibles, checkpoints, slingshots that separate chunks of the level from each other, and the level's exit, as well as showing the percentage of the map that has been explored. Finally, there is a Level Stats screen that shows how many of each collectible have been collected and the time and ring records of previous playthroughs of the level in question.

The game contains a variety of collectibles, with some of them unlocking special content for Rise of Lyric via connectivity between the two games. Game progression revolves around moving along a world map broken up into several islands, as well as the collection of emblems (34 in total) in order to access new levels on the world map. Collecting every emblem in the game unlocks Amy's house, where the player can enter and watch all five characters dance to a random piece of music from the game. Each adventure level has three emblems that can be earned from it, (along with two tokens which are not crucial to progress through the game), while the other types only have one emblem plus the two tokens. These can all be earned in the following ways: Other ways to get tokens include connecting with other players via StreetPass, and visiting Knuckles' hangout on the world map, (not unlocked until Knuckles is unlocked as a playable character, and only visitable every 24 hours) where you can input button presses to help Knuckles break a punching bag and gain the token inside.
 * Simply clearing the level - Every level (regardless of its type) rewards the player with an emblem simply by completing it.
 * Collecting all of the crystal fragments - Crystal Fragments are only found in adventure levels, and each level has a total of 5. Collecting all 5 unlocks an emblem. There are 40 of these in total, and when they are bought to Sticks' burrow (not available until Sticks is unlocked) she can repair the Lost Crystal. Additionally, the restored shards will fill in various spots on the crystal, causing them to glow and also affecting the way the top screen looks during a loading screen. After collecting all 40 shards, the player earns a purple token that can be used to purchase a rare figurine that can't be bought via any other methods.
 * Collecting all of the blueprints - Like the crystal fragments, these are only found in adventure levels, and each level has a total of 6. Collecting them all earns the player an emblem. There are 48 blueprints in total, and 6 of them are required to earn an upgrade to the game's assets; (upgrades are earned by taking the set of 6 to Tails' workshop, which can't be accessed until Tails is unlocked). Three of the upgrades are for the map. "Map Accelerator 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0" allow uncollected blueprints, uncollected crystal fragments, and ring/shield monitors respectively to be highlighted on the map. The rest of the upgrades are for various gameplay mechanics. The "Shield Award" allows the player to automatically gain a shield upon passing the first checkpoint in a level, the "Ring Defense" allows the characters to lose 25% less rings when they get hit, the "Ring Attractor" allows characters to instantly draw in nearby rings, the "Mega Grapple" allows the player to instantly kill shielded enemies just by ripping off their shields with the Enerbeam, and the "Mega Sprint" allows players to insta-kill grounded enemies just by sprinting into them (similar to the Sonic Boost from the mainstream games). All of these upgrades can be disabled and enabled at will.
 * Clearing the level in a certain time - By clearing the level in question within a certain time, the player can earn a token. The time requirement for adventure levels is 5 minutes, while it varies for rival races and tunnel levels.
 * Clearing the level with a certain number of rings - Like the above, a token is earned if the level is completed while the player has a certain number of rings. The ring requirement is 100 for all adventure levels, and 250 for the tunnel levels, while it varies for rival races. Tokens collected through both of these methods can then be spent at Q.N.C's toy shop, (with one location on every island), where paying just one will unlock a figurine. There are over 40 figurines in total, with one rare one that can't be unlocked without using a method mentioned above. Tokens cannot be earned more than once on the same level.

Playable Characters
The game contains four playable characters: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and newcomer Sticks, who can be switched to at anytime via the touch screen of the 3DS (provided that they are unlocked). All four of the playable characters have access to the same moveset, though each one has their own special abilities. The abilities that everyone can perform are as follows: The abilities exclusive to each of the four characters are shown below:
 * Running at two different speeds.
 * Jumping/performing a double-jump.
 * Performing a downward stomp.
 * Using the Homing Attack.
 * Making use of the Enerbeam to remove enemy shields and swing from floating mechanisms that are scattered throughout the levels in order to reach new areas.
 * Sonic the Hedgehog: Can perform a mid-air dash in four different directions, allowing him to break through special blue blocks. He is the only character who can perform the Spin-Dash, and is the fastest of the four with the highest jump to boot.
 * Sticks the Badger: Can throw boomerangs. By tapping the X button, she can toss a short-range boomerang in any of the four main directions, but by holding the button, she can throw one that can be controlled mid-flight for a short while. Both of these methods can be used to both hit faraway switches, and to attack enemies.
 * Knuckles the Echidna: Can dig underground in certain spots for a limited time, and can perform a punch move in four different directions to take out enemies. By making use of these punches, Knuckles can one-hit-kill enemies that normally require more than one hit to defeat. He is the slowest of the group and has the weakest jump.
 * Miles "Tails" Prower: Can use his twin-tails to glide across wide gaps, but unlike his counterpart from the mainstream games, he needs wind in order to gain altitude, and as a result cannot actually fly. By riding air-currents though, he can reach high-up areas. He can also throw bombs that home in on and stick to enemies, and is the only one who can activate the Sea Fox submarine by pressing X near certain monitors.

Non-Playable Characters

 * Amy Rose
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Metal Sonic
 * Q-N-C
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Lyric the Last Ancient

Seaside Coast
Seaside Coast is the first level in the game. It takes place on a tropical beach with homemade shelters.

Scrapyard
Scrapyard is the second level in the game. It is an old, abandoned junkyard and castle with scrap parts of airplanes in the background.

Shadow Canyons
Shadow Canyons is the third level in the game. It features construction and mining in this level.

Ancient Ruins
Ancient Ruins is the fourth level in the game. It is an abandoned city with old buildings covered in vines and plants.

Volcanic Crater
Volcanic Crater is the fifth level in the game. It takes place in an underground abyss where there is nothing but lava.

Cloud Sanctuary
Cloud Kingdom is the sixth level in this game. It takes place on floating ruins above the clouds with pink skies and ruins. It also has similarities to Sky Citadel in Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.

Amy's House
Unlocked for collecting all the Sonic Badges. Inside is a completely non-interactive dance party of the main characters dancing a very stiff and jerky version of the Robot.

Sonic's House
Unlocked after beating the first level. Used to listen to in game music, watch cutscenes again, and read the prequel comic.

Tails' House
Unlocked after beating the first level. Used to make upgrades from blueprints collected through the game as well as disable them after completing them.

Stick's Burrow
Unlocked after beating the second level. Used to but the Shattered Crystal back together for the purple token to get figurine number 61

Knuckle's Hangout
Unlocked after arriving at the second island. Used to get one token every 24 hours coming back after the calender has changed to the next day wont work it must be 24 hours from last coming here or more.

Q-N-C's Toy Shop
Unlocked after beating the first level. Used to collecting figurines in exchange for tokens and viewing collected figurines.

Development
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal was officially announced on 2 June 2014 by Sega as an article on the SEGA Blog and was showcased at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) 2014 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Comic Adaptation
In addition to the main gameplay and storyline, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal includes a digital comic produced by Archie Comics as in-game content. This comic is four pages long and explores the events leading up to the game's opening cut scene. While a Target-exclusive version of Sonic and the Secret Rings featured a comic book pack-in, this marks the first time that an Archie Comics product has been included as in-game content in a Sonic game. The comic was crafted by the same team helming the Sonic Boom comic series. The player can view this comic at any time in Sonic's house on the world map (unlocked at the same time as Tails' workshop) where they can also rewatch cutscenes and listen to the game's soundtrack.

Staff

 * Writer: Ian Flynn
 * Pencils: Evan Stanley
 * Inks: Rick Bryant
 * Colors: Matt Herms
 * Editors: Paul Kaminski, Vincent Lovallo

Summary
The story starts thousands of years ago as Lyric and his robot army are attacking an old temple. Inside, Lyric proclaims himself unstoppable to his fellow group of Ancients. However, Lyric then sees the Ancients break apart the object of which he sought: the Lost Crystal of Power that could grant him omnipotence. Lyric is furious, but the Ancients turn the crystal fragments on him and uses them to imprison him. However, the Ancients know that they only managed to slow Lyric down and that he will be free one day, so they decide to scatter the crystal fragments.

In the present day, Lyric is searching for the crystal fragments with his robots, believing he will have what is rightfully his, when Shadow appears and ask him if he needs an army for that. Lyric wonders if he objects, but Shadow insists "Justice must be had by any means necessary." Lyric like Shadow's style and decides to make him his servant, but Shadow refuses to serve anyone. However, Lyric sneak a device onto Shadow and takes control of him.

Days later, Sticks is running from a rockslide in a ravine where Sonic and Knuckles come to her rescue. While Knuckles holds the boulders back, Tails and Amy get Sonic and the secured Sticks to safety with the Enerbeam. Sticks explains to the gang that she was in the ravine getting info from the rocks and claims a underground army will destroy them all. Ignoring Sticks, Amy goes back to her research at an ancient temple and takes Knuckles with her. After a long trip, they reach the temple where Amy has Knuckles stand guard outside as he annoyed her on the whole trip by asking when they were there. In the ruins, Amy is reading the carved symbols when Lyric appears and attacks her, declaring she will help him in his conquest. However, Amy summons her Piko Hammer and starts fighting Lyric.

Characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Amy Rose
 * Sticks the Badger
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Lyric the Last Ancient
 * Several robed Ancients

Reception
Unlike previous games, Sega declined sending advanced review copies of either Shattered Crystal or Rise of Lyric to journalists for unkownn reasons. The game received mostly mixed-to-negative reviews though noticeably slightly more positive than Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, scoring 46/100 from Metacritic based on 16 critics and 47.89% from GameRankings based on 9 reviews.

Trivia

 * This is the first handheld Sonic game to be handled by a development team other than Dimps since the Sega Game Gear games.
 * Coincidentally, this is also the first handheld Sonic game since Sonic Rivals 2 to feature playable characters other than Sonic himself in a platformer.
 * Amy's Figurine in the game modifies a quote from "Romeo and Juliet". The quote is "Amy, dear Amy, o wherefore art thou Amy?".

Videos
E3 2014 Trailer = PAX Prime 2014 Trailer= Sonic Boom 2014 Event Trailer= Japanese Trailer= TV Commercial= Behind the Scenes=