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Sanzaru Games

At this  year’s E3, Sanzaru Games’ Matt Kraemer caught up with the folks over at NWR about Sonic Boom. Check out what he had to say below

Sonic Boom won’t have any microtransations, according to SEGA of America’s senior director of marketing Marcella Churchill.

DLC is another story. Additional content isn’t confirmed, though it hasn’t been ruled out either.

Churchill only said the following regarding DLC: “There is currently no news on DLC for the game.”

Source

A few months ago, SEGA said that Sonic Boom wouldn’t be coming to Japan. Those plans have since changed.

The latest Famitsu leaks reveal that Sonic Boom is indeed heading to Japan… as “Sonic Toon”. Both versions – Wii U and 3DS – will be available sometime this winter.

SEGA and Nintendo partner to launch the highly anticipated Sonic Boom videogames exclusively for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS across Europe and in Australia

2nd June 2014 – An all-new Sonic the Hedgehog will be unleashed at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles with the debut of playable versions of new titles exclusively for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS and 2DS systems. Nintendo of Europe will be responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution of the games throughout European territories and Australia, with SEGA remaining as publisher. The new games Sonic Boom™: Rise of Lyric for Wii U, developed by Los Angeles-based Big Red Button, and Sonic Boom™: Shattered Crystal for Nintendo 3DS, from San Francisco-based Sanzaru Games, will introduce new gameplay and the most vile and formidable villain in Sonic history — Lyric.

In both games, Sonic and friends – Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and the newest member of the team, Sticks, will work together as they face their most powerful enemy yet. Lyric is a giant and monstrous snake-like creature from an ancient race. An extremely tech-savvy mastermind who uses a sophisticated robotic body of armour to carry out his own nefarious deeds, he is a formidable enemy and a force to be reckoned with. With a strong emphasis on collaboration, the roles of Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks, will be elevated in gameplay that capitalises on each character’s unique talents and abilities. The goal is to prevent Lyric from powering his army of robots and carrying out his plan to destroy the world. The stakes have never been higher, and the only chance to overcome Lyric is to band together and work as a team.

A whole bunch of Sonic Boom details have come in from new press previews. You can find a roundup of the latest information below.

– Demo broken up into different selectable sections
– Level from the campaign, Doctor Eggman boss fight, on-rails level to zoom through
– Each played differently
– Zoomy level had several paths to take
– Each one leads to more or less rings
– Combo system assigns letter grades based on performance
– This seems to be based on number of hits and not variation of moves
– Also in play is some sort of collectible currency (apart from rings) that go toward what might be an upgrade system
– Puzzles are mixed in with combat and exploration
– Eggman fight features him in a giant suit and he shoots rockets which either crash into Sonic and/or Knuckles, or come to rest on the ground
– Need to pick up the undetonated ones and use the EnerBeam to fling them back at the evil doctor

“If you’re a classic Sonic gamer, a 2D fan, you have an appreciation for the platforming. This game has quite a bit of that classic platforming. I think these levels inspire some of that feeling for the old places that Sonic went back in the day.” – Steve Frost

– Game has some hub world interactions
– Most levels will feature a branching path that only one specific character (you’re presented with a choice of two per level) can take
– Select characters on the GamePad
– Hub worlds and speed levels will make use of Sonic Boom’s full roster
– When two local players are in the same game and the time comes to split up, player one runs a character with the GamePad on its screen and player two uses a Wii Remote or Pro controller for their character on the television
– Big Red Button Entertainment thought hard about adding split-screen local multiplayer — either to bring more human players to the game, or to let the Wii U Gamepad perform other functions for them

“We had, for a long time, considered split-screen play. And it just didn’t feel as special. If we’re out in real life, and we’re off exploring, we have our cell phones and cameras out, we’re calling each other and saying, ‘Hey, you should see what I’m seeing.’ We wanted to have that sharing.

“Split screen doesn’t really do that because you’re constantly staring at the other person’s screen. That sense of wonder, of what the other person is doing, is gone.”

– Sonic and his cohort are exploring an ancient, unknown island
– Eggman has sought to exploit an ancient evil being named Lyric,
– It’s turned out to be more than he can handle
– Eggman isn’t supposed to be a bumbler — “he’s still got that fun personality, but his presence overall is more formidable”
– Sonic’s principal concern is exploring the surface and neo-Atlantean ruins and beating up the danger lurking within
– Knuckles can climb rock walls in sections specific to him
– Tails can hover on air currents and ride them to his goal
– Each character comes equipped with an “enerbeam”
– This lets you grapple and move pieces in puzzle levels
– With it, you can also lasso and toss foes into one another
– This will be required in some battles
– Previews mention that the camera isn’t up to snuff
– 3DS version is more of a traditional 2D, scrolling platformer
– No multiplayer in the 3DS version
– Can swap characters on the 3DS touch screen and solve multiple platforming puzzles
– Sonic Boom on 3DS features its own story and another entry point into the canon
– Sega’s strategy is that wherever someone’s interest might be piqued they may find something different in the other two.

“The thought is, we can only show you X amount of the world, and the others can show you even more. By virtue of the cartoon, the toys and the games, you can see this big cohesive world.”

Source 1, Source 2


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