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"The Jet Gamer" Game Review: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
11 years ago
Hey guys, this is the second review and the one more people likely are interested in hearing from me about. I'm also adding Sound and control as new grading categories. I totally spaced and didn't do them last time, but will from now on okay. Here goes.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Alright, I know people aren't going to agree with me here on this game, but honestly, I feel this game is really getting a bad wrap that it doesn't deserve. This game isn't perfect by any means, but if all you are looking for are its flaws, you are going to find them and not enjoy this game at all. I feel Sonic Boom actually is a decent platforming game and one that likely should be looked at a little more closely by people instead of just jumping on the bandwagon of disliking it. Here are my reasoning's behind these thoughts.
Gameplay
Sonic Boom's gameplay really is solid to be honest. There are a varying different types of levels, from the standard run straight on the path in a Sonic Dash sort of style where you gather the rings and avoid the obstacles while collecting anything that is in your path. There are the free roaming areas where you are supposed to explore to find the switches and bounce pads to advance to the next areas. There are lots of fight scenes where you and the other characters are fighting a group of robots that want to take you down. Then there are just general puzzle areas which are simple enough to figure out as most of them either tell you what to do, or tell you how many things you have to push to advance to the next area. There are even a few water based levels with you driving vehicles. If you want some variety in your gameplay, so that you aren't doing the same thing every two seconds, but at the same time, want some simple gameplay that isn't too hard to pick up and play, Sonic Boom does appear to deliver in this area. It might would get repetitive in some sense, but I feel the variety sort of keep it interesting up to the end.
Story
Sonic Boom's story really is quite impressive to me. While there are some little hiccups here and there with understanding some points, it seems to deliver in the areas where you expect. Sonic has to fight a new bad guy, while dealing with the old bad in a way while he has to collect various crystal to save the planet from destruction. Yes, it is sort of typical story for a sonic game, but it is done better than some of the stories as of late. The constant character interaction through the game helps keep you interested in not only the story, but in the characters' personalities as well. There is the little bickering and banter that goes along to get you more familiar with the characters and so that you care about them more. The numerous cut scenes as well definitely help in showing the story telling skills and to not have everything simply be told in little standing around scenes. You can actually get some nice action scenes and proper story telling that doesn't have to either be told in text boxes or dull scenes where the characters just stand there all the time.
Graphics
The graphics of this game, are really nice to look at, and the cut scenes are something nice to look at in my opinion as well. Though the game does have its share of graphical glitches that will make themselves known as you play the game. These will not always appear, but when you do encounter a glitch, you will know about it. Some are more common than others, like right before cut scenes or before you change areas, there are often little spaz moments that can happen as the game tries to load the proper location or scene while the game is either trying to continue forward or go ahead and post the next objective box before it is time to be shown. There are a few parts where the camera can possibly get stuck when you move too fast or move into a spot that may not have been expected by the game right away. I got stuck once or twice, but it wasn't exactly an abundance of these glitches and most of them really didn't effect the gameplay that much. I only think I died from camera problems a few times overall, which is better than some games for sure.
Sound
The music of the game is actually pretty decent, though at the same time, not exactly super memorable either. The sound department was where I encountered the main number of my glitches through my play through of the game. Parts where Tails' tail noises would go on after he had landed, weird noises when characters would get stuck or grind in weird areas in the auto run segments. Odd noises would pop up between loads and when you start in areas. The sound glitches definitely need some improvement as they can be distracting at times, but once again, they aren't devastating and the level music does what it is supposed to do. It keeps the place from being quiet, but still isn't exactly memorable to me at all.
Control
The characters controls are pretty unique and each character isn't an exact copy of one another. While they do share some abilities, as they do all have to run along certain paths and such and can keep up with each other together, they do have their own abilities. This allows you to pick who you are most comfortable fighting with usually, and stick to them or someone else, as you do have to use certain characters in certain levels at certain points. Sonic is quick and has his homing attack and rolling abilities. Tails has little bots, guns, and bombs he can throw at enemies, so he is the distant attacker. Amy has her hammer to smack things around with. Then Knuckles is the brute and does alot of up close physical punches and spin kicks on enemies. While, the controls can sometimes be a little tricky as the characters may slide around in certain areas, like the speed areas, for the most part, they are pretty solid at times, at least they were for me.
Replay Value
Sonic Boom's replay value I believe is better than some of the other sonic games as of late, as there are collectables if you wish to get them that would make you want to go back to play the levels again to hunt them down. If you want to relive the story as well, there are multiple save slots, so there is no need to delete your entire game again just to relive the entire story again at all. There isn't a massive amount of replay value, but the fact the game has added items and has a decent story that is worth reliving if you wish, I feel there is at least a moderate level of replay value here.
Overall, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric does have its flaws in the graphics and sound departments, but it certainly makes up for it in my opinion in the gameplay and story areas. The game has its flaws, but still seems to deliver a decent platforming experience, that keeps the variety at a nice pace, while giving some variety in not only settings, but in what you will be doing in those settings and with who. If any glitches at all is something that bothers you, then this game is a pass. If you enjoy sonic games or platformers and can get over some character changes for Knuckles, and that there are some small problems here and there, then go pick this game up.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I would give Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric a seven out of ten.
Gameplay: 9
Story: 9
Graphics: 6
Sound: 5
Control: 7
Replay Value: 7
Overall: 7
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Alright, I know people aren't going to agree with me here on this game, but honestly, I feel this game is really getting a bad wrap that it doesn't deserve. This game isn't perfect by any means, but if all you are looking for are its flaws, you are going to find them and not enjoy this game at all. I feel Sonic Boom actually is a decent platforming game and one that likely should be looked at a little more closely by people instead of just jumping on the bandwagon of disliking it. Here are my reasoning's behind these thoughts.
Gameplay
Sonic Boom's gameplay really is solid to be honest. There are a varying different types of levels, from the standard run straight on the path in a Sonic Dash sort of style where you gather the rings and avoid the obstacles while collecting anything that is in your path. There are the free roaming areas where you are supposed to explore to find the switches and bounce pads to advance to the next areas. There are lots of fight scenes where you and the other characters are fighting a group of robots that want to take you down. Then there are just general puzzle areas which are simple enough to figure out as most of them either tell you what to do, or tell you how many things you have to push to advance to the next area. There are even a few water based levels with you driving vehicles. If you want some variety in your gameplay, so that you aren't doing the same thing every two seconds, but at the same time, want some simple gameplay that isn't too hard to pick up and play, Sonic Boom does appear to deliver in this area. It might would get repetitive in some sense, but I feel the variety sort of keep it interesting up to the end.
Story
Sonic Boom's story really is quite impressive to me. While there are some little hiccups here and there with understanding some points, it seems to deliver in the areas where you expect. Sonic has to fight a new bad guy, while dealing with the old bad in a way while he has to collect various crystal to save the planet from destruction. Yes, it is sort of typical story for a sonic game, but it is done better than some of the stories as of late. The constant character interaction through the game helps keep you interested in not only the story, but in the characters' personalities as well. There is the little bickering and banter that goes along to get you more familiar with the characters and so that you care about them more. The numerous cut scenes as well definitely help in showing the story telling skills and to not have everything simply be told in little standing around scenes. You can actually get some nice action scenes and proper story telling that doesn't have to either be told in text boxes or dull scenes where the characters just stand there all the time.
Graphics
The graphics of this game, are really nice to look at, and the cut scenes are something nice to look at in my opinion as well. Though the game does have its share of graphical glitches that will make themselves known as you play the game. These will not always appear, but when you do encounter a glitch, you will know about it. Some are more common than others, like right before cut scenes or before you change areas, there are often little spaz moments that can happen as the game tries to load the proper location or scene while the game is either trying to continue forward or go ahead and post the next objective box before it is time to be shown. There are a few parts where the camera can possibly get stuck when you move too fast or move into a spot that may not have been expected by the game right away. I got stuck once or twice, but it wasn't exactly an abundance of these glitches and most of them really didn't effect the gameplay that much. I only think I died from camera problems a few times overall, which is better than some games for sure.
Sound
The music of the game is actually pretty decent, though at the same time, not exactly super memorable either. The sound department was where I encountered the main number of my glitches through my play through of the game. Parts where Tails' tail noises would go on after he had landed, weird noises when characters would get stuck or grind in weird areas in the auto run segments. Odd noises would pop up between loads and when you start in areas. The sound glitches definitely need some improvement as they can be distracting at times, but once again, they aren't devastating and the level music does what it is supposed to do. It keeps the place from being quiet, but still isn't exactly memorable to me at all.
Control
The characters controls are pretty unique and each character isn't an exact copy of one another. While they do share some abilities, as they do all have to run along certain paths and such and can keep up with each other together, they do have their own abilities. This allows you to pick who you are most comfortable fighting with usually, and stick to them or someone else, as you do have to use certain characters in certain levels at certain points. Sonic is quick and has his homing attack and rolling abilities. Tails has little bots, guns, and bombs he can throw at enemies, so he is the distant attacker. Amy has her hammer to smack things around with. Then Knuckles is the brute and does alot of up close physical punches and spin kicks on enemies. While, the controls can sometimes be a little tricky as the characters may slide around in certain areas, like the speed areas, for the most part, they are pretty solid at times, at least they were for me.
Replay Value
Sonic Boom's replay value I believe is better than some of the other sonic games as of late, as there are collectables if you wish to get them that would make you want to go back to play the levels again to hunt them down. If you want to relive the story as well, there are multiple save slots, so there is no need to delete your entire game again just to relive the entire story again at all. There isn't a massive amount of replay value, but the fact the game has added items and has a decent story that is worth reliving if you wish, I feel there is at least a moderate level of replay value here.
Overall, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric does have its flaws in the graphics and sound departments, but it certainly makes up for it in my opinion in the gameplay and story areas. The game has its flaws, but still seems to deliver a decent platforming experience, that keeps the variety at a nice pace, while giving some variety in not only settings, but in what you will be doing in those settings and with who. If any glitches at all is something that bothers you, then this game is a pass. If you enjoy sonic games or platformers and can get over some character changes for Knuckles, and that there are some small problems here and there, then go pick this game up.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I would give Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric a seven out of ten.
Gameplay: 9
Story: 9
Graphics: 6
Sound: 5
Control: 7
Replay Value: 7
Overall: 7
