Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric


 * For other subjects named "Sonic Boom", see Sonic Boom (disambiguation).

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is an upcoming video game published by Sega and developed by Big Red Button Entertainment that is scheduled to be released on November 18, 2014 in North America. It is one of the two video game prequels for the Sonic Boom television series, the other being Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and will be released on the Wii U as the third and final video game in the Nintendo-Sega partnership, the previous two being Sonic Lost World and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Plot
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric follows Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose and Sticks the Badger as they do battle against the evil Dr. Eggman. On what seemed as a regular day of foiling Dr. Eggman's plans, 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 the Last Ancient, who plans to power his army of war mongering robots with the Chaos Crystals to destroy everything organic and create a world of twisted metal and robots. 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.

Gameplay
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is an action-adventure game with a stronger emphasis on exploration and combat compared to previous Sonic the Hedgehog installments. The game features four playable characters, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy. The game will support local co-operative multiplayer and is typically housed around two player co-op mode, with additional modes for up to four players locally. However, if a player is playing alone, they are allowed to switch to any character at any time (similar to the various Lego video games), while the computer will take control of the other characters. . The game does not support online multiplayer but instead features local multiplayer.

Each character has their own unique abilities and gameplay mechanics to explore the areas and environment. Sonic can use his speed, reach secret areas with the Spin Dash and use the Homing Attack, Knuckles can burrow underground for a while and climb along marked wall sections, Tails can fly and use various gadgets and Amy can use her hammer to swing on poles. The gameplay also features new mechanics such as the "EnerBeam", a tethering device used by all four characters. This device can be used to perform various actions such as hanging from speeding rails, removing enemy shields, moving switches and platforms, lasso enemies and throw them in any direction and they also play a big role in boss fights as well. The gameplay often focuses cooperation between characters, such working together using EnerBeams to use Switches, move platforms or push minecarts, with the player's switching control between multiple characters and using their abilities to progress.

The game features four different levels to play on with three main gameplay styles: a boss fight, a speed level and two adventure-style levels. The adventure style levels features slower and more methodical game pace than other Sonic the Hedgehog titles. The different characters' abilities also allow the players to take multiple paths through the adventure levels; Sonic can cross grabs using the Homing Attack while Amy can climb and swing between pink platforms in a classic side-scrolling section. The levels also feature different collectibles, some of which can only be collected by certain characters with their different abilities. The speed levels serve as gateways from the hub world to the adventure levels themselves where the player has to race at high speed through platform-filled sections. During these levels, the player can use the Enerbeam to zipline from side to side and as well use the different characters and their special abilities.

During gameplay, the characters can offer different tips to the player through conversation between the characters. Also, if the player has trouble getting through the levels, the computer will help the player out more with the other chracters. Also getting attacked by an enemy will only cause the player to lose a portion of their Rings.

Playable

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Knuckles the Echidna

Other

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Sticks the Badger
 * Lyric the Last Ancient
 * Q-N-C
 * Old Tucker
 * Hayward
 * Salty
 * Pepper
 * Hokey
 * Pokey
 * Perci
 * Foreman Fred
 * Doc Ginger
 * Cliff
 * Chef Woody
 * Fastidious Beaver
 * Mayor Fink
 * Tunnelbot
 * Metal Sonic
 * Shadow the Hedgehog

The Pit
The Pit is the first level of the game. It is an open-world forest area that has the player control all four heroes. Eventually, as the route they go grows, only Sonic and Knuckles will be playable, as they embark at an industrial mining area. Different areas for different characters will play a big part in this stage, such as Knuckles capable of digging and climbing on walls and ceilings respectively and Sonic Spin Dashing his way on high ground.

Ancient Template
Ancient Template is another level in the game. It is an underwater facility in the future where the player controls Sonic and Amy. This entire complex filters out all the muck and gunk dumped into the sea during the war with the Ancients in the past and returns the oceans to normal. Sonic and Amy venture into the Ancient Template to retrieve the Chaos Crystal powering this area.

Development
Development for Sonic Boom began in 2011, when Sega went the newly formed BigRedButton Entertainment, made up of former Naughty Dog (the creators the Jak and Daxter and Crash Bandicoot series), High Impact Games and Heavy Iron Studios employees. The game was in development before the Nintendo-Sega partnership, but Sonic Boom was added to the Nintendo exclusive contract.

Development for Sonic's redesign went through a long process before the developers decided to stick with the "Scarf Sonic" design. In an interview with JamesGames with Steven Frost, he revealed that both versions will have a separate story and hopes that some characters may come to the game.

These new games are essentially the ultimate evolution of the franchise's main conflict: nature versus technology.

Reception
Destructoid nominated Rise of Lyric for "Best Platformer" and "Best Nintendo Exclusive" for their "Best of E3" awards.[19] In contrast, Metro was much more critical in their preview stating, "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".[20] However, Frost defended the game, stating that the E3 demo was intended to highlight the differences between this title and previous Sonic titles, and did not fully represent the final product.[21]

Trivia

 * Chris Senn, lead level implementer for BigRedButton Entertainment, was co-lead designer and art director for the cancelled Sonic X-treme.
 * This is the first 3D Sonic platform game since Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) to feature Amy as a full-playable character.
 * Coincidentally, it is also the first 3D Sonic platform game since Sonic Adventure not to feature Amy as a side character and with her own unique gameplay style.
 * The background music in the debut trailer is the song Bangarang, performed by Skrillex.
 * The game has similarities to Sonic Heroes with focus on teamwork and combat.
 * This the second Sonic game to feature a beat 'em up style gameplay in conjunction with speed and exploration rather than just the momentum-based platforming gameplay the Sonic series is known for. The first being Sonic the Werehog's gameplay from Sonic Unleashed.
 * This is one of the few Sonic the Hedgehog video games to not feature the Chaos Emeralds.
 * In an interview with Bob Rafei, he stated that the Enerbeam tether idea came from Knuckles' Chaotix.
 * This is the sixth game to have a E10+ rating by the ESRB.

Videos
Trailer = Hub World = E3 2014 Gameplay = E3 2014 Trailer = Gamescom 2014 Trailer =