One of Sonic’s infamously bad games, based on a cartoon spin-off with designs that are unliked (especially Knuckles), I went into it expecting a horribly broken mess. The first thing I noticed is that there’s a lack of one important thing in the main gameplay: speed.
While it fails at that main aspect of Sonic, everything else was…actually pretty fine. I actually found myself enjoying Sonic Boom, and with the post-launch patches isn’t actually that buggy, the only odd thing encountered was everyone warping near to Sonic, but even big games like Mass Effect have that issue for followers.
In Sonic Boom, you swap between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy at will (although in some segments they’ll split up so you’ll have access to two of them), utilising their different abilities. Personality wise, Sonic and Tails are pretty much their usual selves, while Knuckles leans completely into the “dumb musclehead” persona that Knuckles was slowly becoming in the main games. Amy is drastically different, dropping her obsession with Sonic and having her interest in archeology being the reason why everyone is looking into the threat. She acts as a surprisingly confident “second leader”, often giving her idea of what to do and everyone following. I really like Amy in this game.
For abilities, Sonic can spindash up quarter pipes and use homing attack, Amy can perform acrobatics to traverse thin walkways and triple jump, Knuckles can climb up rocky surfaces and Tails can glide further and fly up using fans as well as deploy a small robot to hit switches. Everyone feels unique while using the same moveset and are all utilized well. Some sections will also give you two ways to progress, designed for different characters, so you can choose who you prefer.
While I do think a run button is definitely needed, I still enjoyed the platforming, it always felt precise and I never felt like I died because of the camera. I think deaths are slightly too lenient, as you respawn straight away instead of at the last combat and your only loss is scrap that you use for upgrades (similar to how the LEGO games work), but I prefer that when compared to a frustrating system.
Combat is another big part of Sonic Boom. Like the platforming, it’s basic but enjoyable. You have a standard attack, special ability, grapple beam and dodge. Some enemies will temporarily shield themselves so you have to avoid attacks, but most of the time you can get away with just spamming homing attacks or Amy’s hammer. But if you want to mix things up, you can. Tails is more unique in combat as he uses ranged attacks.
Sonic Boom has one element of speed, and that’s in the “road” segments, with boost rings that propel you forward as you dodge obstacles. These sections are fun, but like a lot of the game, are also quite basic.
Between each level you have to traverse the overworld, which feels a bit empty and could have done with some more NPCs (even if you couldn’t talk to them) as there’s a rather large town with around 3 residents. This section is where a run button is needed the most, as it feels especially slow as you’re out in the open.
Overall, Sonic Boom isn’t a bad game, just fairly average. I enjoyed my time with it, which is more than I was expecting based on its reputation.
While it fails at that main aspect of Sonic, everything else was…actually pretty fine. I actually found myself enjoying Sonic Boom, and with the post-launch patches isn’t actually that buggy, the only odd thing encountered was everyone warping near to Sonic, but even big games like Mass Effect have that issue for followers.
In Sonic Boom, you swap between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy at will (although in some segments they’ll split up so you’ll have access to two of them), utilising their different abilities. Personality wise, Sonic and Tails are pretty much their usual selves, while Knuckles leans completely into the “dumb musclehead” persona that Knuckles was slowly becoming in the main games. Amy is drastically different, dropping her obsession with Sonic and having her interest in archeology being the reason why everyone is looking into the threat. She acts as a surprisingly confident “second leader”, often giving her idea of what to do and everyone following. I really like Amy in this game.
For abilities, Sonic can spindash up quarter pipes and use homing attack, Amy can perform acrobatics to traverse thin walkways and triple jump, Knuckles can climb up rocky surfaces and Tails can glide further and fly up using fans as well as deploy a small robot to hit switches. Everyone feels unique while using the same moveset and are all utilized well. Some sections will also give you two ways to progress, designed for different characters, so you can choose who you prefer.
While I do think a run button is definitely needed, I still enjoyed the platforming, it always felt precise and I never felt like I died because of the camera. I think deaths are slightly too lenient, as you respawn straight away instead of at the last combat and your only loss is scrap that you use for upgrades (similar to how the LEGO games work), but I prefer that when compared to a frustrating system.
Combat is another big part of Sonic Boom. Like the platforming, it’s basic but enjoyable. You have a standard attack, special ability, grapple beam and dodge. Some enemies will temporarily shield themselves so you have to avoid attacks, but most of the time you can get away with just spamming homing attacks or Amy’s hammer. But if you want to mix things up, you can. Tails is more unique in combat as he uses ranged attacks.
Sonic Boom has one element of speed, and that’s in the “road” segments, with boost rings that propel you forward as you dodge obstacles. These sections are fun, but like a lot of the game, are also quite basic.
Between each level you have to traverse the overworld, which feels a bit empty and could have done with some more NPCs (even if you couldn’t talk to them) as there’s a rather large town with around 3 residents. This section is where a run button is needed the most, as it feels especially slow as you’re out in the open.
Overall, Sonic Boom isn’t a bad game, just fairly average. I enjoyed my time with it, which is more than I was expecting based on its reputation.