New Sonic game for 2015

[big_smile]

Just one more thing about backstory for these characters: The developers shouldn't feel obligated to try and explain it all in one game. Making Shadow's history more ambiguous than not in the two upcoming Sonic Boom games could be a good way to generate story ideas for future titles. You can resolve all the loose ends related to Lyric and still have enough open material to meaningfully link the upcoming games with future ones without blaringly-obvious sequel hooks.

The trouble is, the game is the prequel to the TV show. The TV show just seems to be a comedy that isn't going to expand on anything about the characters. So if they don't explain everything in this game, it's going to be awkward, as they'll have the TV show coming in between this and the sequel (and they'll probably want to use all the characters in the TV show).

It'll be like Sonic Heroes, where Shadow was there, but they didn't really want to do too much with him as they were saving him for his own game, so they just came up with some poorly developed half-story.

There just doesn't seem to be any conviction here, probably because this is just a licensed game for a game-licensed TV show.

GG! used to describe Lego Star Wars as "Marketing Jegna". I wonder what he would have made of this!

[Wombatwarlord777]

The trouble is, the game is the prequel to the TV show. The TV show just seems to be a comedy that isn't going to expand on anything about the characters. So if they don't explain everything in this game, it's going to be awkward, as they'll have the TV show coming in between this and the sequel (and they'll probably want to use all the characters in the TV show).

Drat, I forgot all about that. Okay, okay, then just make Shadow a generic anti-hero in this game and the TV show, the same way that Sonic is the designated main protagonist, Tails is the inferred smart guy, Amy fulfills the action girl-trope, etc. If this little experiment proves to be a success, then maybe there can be a future game that fully fleshes him out. I think the original content and characters for this game are already enough to capture peoples' attentions without everything being spread too thin; The last thing we need is too much focus on Shadow with an elaborate origin for him and trying to fit that in with the rest of the plot.

Honestly, that was sort of the appeal of Shadow in SA2; By the end of that story, we still weren't really sure what the hell he was. Was he really the Ultimate Lifeform as he said he was? Was he specifically created as a brain-washed instrument of revenge? Something else? But that mystery, along with his actions in the game itself, was why I think he was so popular as a character. So his origins really didn't need to be wrapped up. But of course, Sonic Team attempted to do so anyways, and what we got was the hot story-telling mess that was Heroes and Shadow.

[Esrever]

I don't think "Boom" is a reboot in any fundamental narrative sense. I don't think it was intended (or allowed?) to be? It's not starting the story over. It's just taking where we were right at the end of Lost World and then branching off.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure when Boom starts, we'll see that Sonic and friends and Shadow and Eggman will all already know each other and will functionally have the same backstories and shared history they've always had. The game/show will just avoid mentioning it, and try to create the feeling of a reboot/restart by throwing them all into a new setting and cutting them off from all the locations and macguffins and extended cast of the previous titles.

That goes for Shadow as well. I'm sure he'll be the same old grumpy-pal-with-a-confusing-and-seldom-reiterated backstory that he was in '06 and Generations and Mario & Sonic at the Olympics and Wal Mart T-shirt. If he's a villain in this game, it'll be because he has been tricked or blackmailed or brainwashed by Lyric or something. I can totally picture the scene where he first shows up, looking menacing and vaguely possessed.

SONIC: Shadow?!?

CONVENIENT ON-SCREEN NEW CHARACTER WHO DOESN'T KNOW SHADOW: You know this guy?

SONIC: Yeah! He's a friend of ours--

SHADOW DESTROYS THATCH HUT WITH EYE LASERS

CONVENIENT NEW CHARACTER: He doesn't look too friendly to me!!!!

I am pretty sure that is what we're going to get.

[Wooduck51]

SONIC: Shadow?!?

CONVENIENT ON-SCREEN NEW CHARACTER WHO DOESN'T KNOW SHADOW: You know this guy?

SONIC: Yeah! He's a friend of ours--

SHADOW DESTROYS THATCH HUT WITH EYE LASERS

CONVENIENT NEW CHARACTER: He doesn't look too friendly to me!!!!

I am pretty sure that is what we're going to get.

If it must come to this , please let it be exactly this way.

And I meant to add to my previous "who Shadow should be" post (knowing that probably nobody here particularly cares, but somebody for the first and possibly last time ever asked me about it!) that minus a few things (including the annoying "I follow my own destiny as made by me!" speeches that kept popping up) and lacking in some places, Sonic 06 came the closest to a proper post SA2 Shadow portrayal.

[big_smile]

They've confirmed that the characters will have new backstories, so it won't be just a branch from the existing series (E.g. Amy is an archaeologist, there are no Chaos Emeralds, but there are the 9 Chaos Crystals).

I think Esrever correct with the amount of story that they will give. But the lack of story comes probably comes from the fact that while the games are going for a Sonic Adventure-style story, the TV show is being written in the vein of the old AoSTH cartoon. This means the games can't do too much, as most of their story won't carry over to the TV show.

[Esrever]

But have they actually SAID the story and characters are being rebooted? Or are fans just assuming that because of things like the examples you mentioned?

I don't think making Amy interested in archaeology or introducing yet another set of magic rocks (to accompany the chaos emeralds, super emeralds, sol emeralds, chaos rings, time stones, infinity gems and dragon balls) necessitates a full reboot, any more than Sonic Heroes needed one to make the Chaotix into a team of detectives. It's just wandering off in a slightly different direction to create a new fresh start... a "soft reboot", as we call it in comics.

Now, if the game was about the core characters meeting for the first time, or if it depicted new origins for characters like Knuckles and Shadow that didn't include things like the Floating Island or genetic engineering... that would definitely mean a full on reboot. But as far as I can tell, they've never said that's what they are doing, right? I mean, it's hard to say. It feels like they are being deliberately obtuse about how much of a reboot this really is. But so far all I see is some design tweaks and mild adjustments of character personalities and interests. I get the impression they're taking the have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too approach... starting the game at a time when all the relationships between the existing characters are already established, and where their shared history could easily be the one we already know... but then dumping said characters in a new isolated location where that history never comes up, and where things like Chaos Emeralds and Gerald Robotnik will be neither be mentioned nor contradicted.

[Yami CJMErl]

I would personally consider it a sort of "half-reboot": partly because it DOES sound like they're going for as few connections as possible to the old games, but also because SEGA has also said that this isn't replacing the 'original' series, but is more of its' own thing.

...of course, they could just be saying that to cover their tracks should this plan succeed or fail, a la Nintendo originally treating the DS as a "third pillar" alongside the Game Boy and home consoles.

[Wombatwarlord777]

But have they actually SAID the story and characters are being rebooted? Or are fans just assuming that because of things like the examples you mentioned?

They've been incredibly vague about this too, but one of the biggest changes of this new incarnation of Sonic is that he's used to working alone and that Rise of Lyric is supposed to show him gradually becoming a willing team player. That would seem to imply that this is the first time Sonic either meets or works with Tails, Amy and Knuckles since Sonic has willingly worked with them in past games. Of course, it could mean a million other things too.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

It's kinda the nature of long-runners to retreading old aesops, no?

Hey Homer, stop being an inconsiderate asshole to your wife, Marge. ETC

[big_smile]

Pre-order the game from Amazon and you get these costumes:

sonicboom.jpg (57.35 KiB) Viewed 16990 times

The image speaks for itself.

[Esrever]

TRONIC

[G.Silver]

Ding ding ding to the ring ring ring, baby!


If they're doing this sort of thing, where can one preorder it to get a set of costumes where no one wears tape and Sonic's arms aren't blue?

[Wombatwarlord777]

Finally, Sonic can safely bicycle at night.

[big_smile]

http://www.tssznews.com/2014/09/29/soni ... in-europe/
http://retail-merchandiser.com/index.ph ... ega-europe

^ In an Interview with Sissel Henno, SEGA Europe Head of Brand Licensing, it was revealed that the Sonic Boom TV show won't be airing in Europe until Autumn 2015.
That's fairly significant, as Sonic has traditionally had a large fan-base in Europe, so you'd think the TV channels would be eager to obtain the show.

She also mentioned that Sega have plans involving the retro side of Sonic.

[Rob-Bert]

One can only imagine what those plans are, as Izuka stated they have no plans to use Classic Sonic again.

[cjmcray]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVuLPxfVyY4

New trailer.

I thought it was funny.

[big_smile]

It looks a lot like the Ken Pontac Sonic, where the characters are treated as generic mascots that try too hard to be funny. As I understand it, Ken isn't actually involved with this, which is a shame, as it would be a way to rid him from proper Sonic.

Also, is it just me, or does the animation look a bit weird? I can't put my finger on it, but the character movements don't look very fluid.

[Rob-Bert]

I don't think anything about that came off as trying too hard. Tonally it reminds me a lot of Nickelodeon's TMNT, and as far as I'm concerned that's a good thing. Bring on the funny.

Also, for a TV show the CGI looks unusually good. Has technology really come that far or is Sega putting a lot into the budget for this thing?

[Dash]

Eh, I think it's just that tech is a lot better now. A lot of the CG show staples are still there; bland backgrounds, lack of weight to movements, iffy lip sync, underplayed expressions, and the fact it seems all of the characters just stand completely still between lines(no breathing). The colors look nice and it's all right in spots, but I'm getting a strong Donkey Kong Country show vibe from the environments. It could be that circular tree house they're living in...

Talking script though, I think it has a shot at being funny. Seems a lot of the humor will focus on Eggman, which is cool with me.

[Esrever]

I think I saw more Sonic characters sitting on couches during that one-minute trailer than I have in the entire history of the franchise.

[Rob-Bert]

Dash:
Standing still between lines is a staple of pretty much every cartoon today, but I dunno where you're getting the "underplayed expressions" from. Sonic particular looked the most expressive he's ever been, as far as I see.

I like how overall this show carries the tone and humor of AoStH but places it in a setting similar to SatAM, only here they went with a Tatooine-esque desert world rather than the Dagobah-esque foresty/swampy world like the one we saw in SatAM. Point is the Star Wars parallel still stands, what with the whole "rusty/used up future" aesthetic.

[Wombatwarlord777]

It's a shame the game seems to get more and more (deserved?) vitriol as more trailers are released. But then the TV show seems more and more like a solid product (especially for what I imagine the targeted audience is), so it's all good.

The only other thing I'll add is that Sticks's voice sounds a million times less grating. It sounds as though her raspy rants are reserved now for when she's overtly paranoid, which is fine by me. It sounds as if the same voice actress is still voicing her. I'm glad they found a way to make her work with the character.

[Yami CJMErl]

I just think Mike Pollock's delivery on that "Yeah, I know, that's why I having YOU do it" line is priceless.

[Dash]

Yeah, I liked that line too. I think Pollock plays a great Eggman, and I'm glad they kept him from the Sonic X gang. Hope he gets lots of good material to work with.

Dash:
Standing still between lines is a staple of pretty much every cartoon today, but I dunno where you're getting the "underplayed expressions" from. Sonic particular looked the most expressive he's ever been, as far as I see.

I realize it's kinda what's being done. Doesn't mean I have to like it though!

I might just be a grump about it after getting cool things like this and this where the movements themselves are super expressive(Eggman is just all over the place in the best of ways!). The budget isn't equivalent to those shorts I linked, but they can afford a few more asymmetrical poses can't they? There's a lot of hands-on-hips, arms-directly-to-side mirrored poses here, making it seem pretty dull visually. The expressions are also pretty reserved when they could be much funnier. Like, Sticks freaking out on the robo-apocolypse... the arms are always mirroring each other and she has a rather blank expression. If those arms were flailing about and her eyes actually got smaller to indicate her panic, it'd really drive the point home. I don't even consider that a creative solution; those are just the basics yo.

It's not hopeless visually, but not great either.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

Oh... Oh! Ewwwww.