Well, Thursday proved to be quite the whirlwind of new information, didn’t it? TSS posted several updates about what was happening as it happened, but for those who may have been away from their monitors when the information dropped, or are looking for a one-stop-shop for everything Sonic Boom related that was revealed, here’s the run-down.
Sonic Boom: An Introduction
Sonic Boom is basically, SEGA trying something entirely new with the Sonic mythos. Whilst an awful lot of media for this series has surfaced, SEGA is keen to stress that this isn’t the definitive new direction for the franchise as a whole, and instead is more of a sub-series, and won’t replace the currently established franchise. This should basically allow them to be more liberal with design choices and such.
For example, with this ‘new take’ comes an all new set of character designs.
Sonic Boom’s new designs for the main cast
Those who have been in the franchise for a while will immediately notice the differences between the current cast and the Sonic Boom cast. Sonic’s spines are a little messier, Amy is rocking a new outfit, Tails has a new mechanic motif, whilst Knuckles is… definitely bigger.
Of course, it wouldn’t be much use to create new characters if you weren’t going to do something with them! Enter….
Sonic Boom: The Video Game
The Sonic Boom video game is what is believed to be the third and final Nintendo Exclusive title that SEGA will be producing under the ’3 game deal’ announced in 2013. The game will be coming to both Nintendo Wii U as well as Nintendo 3DS, and will be developed by Big Red Button Entertainment and Sanzaru games respectively. Sonic Team will not be involved in the creation of either of these two games, aside from being a collaborative partner.
There is currently no release date, or release time frame beyond the normal ‘Coming Soon’.
Several screenshots of the game were released, and an official teaser/gameplay trailer was also revealed, showing the bright new world that Sonic and his friends will now adventure through. The game looks to be a vibrant, charismatic platforming adventure, in which it has been confirmed that all four characters will be playable in both single player and multi-player modes.
Click here to view the embedded video.
It’s also been stated that this game will serve as a prequel to…
Sonic Boom: The TV Show
The Sonic Boom TV show will feature Sonic and friends in the aforementioned designs, in a sizable series spanning 52, 11 minute long episodes. The series is being produced by the french based OuiDo studios, and is heading to Cartoon Network in the States as well as both CANAL J and GULLI in France towards the end of 2014, possibly at the start of 2015. No details on whether the series will be released in other regions just yet.
It’s worth knowing that the show has made it to production with the current voice cast intact. Roger Craig Smith is still the Blue Blur, Kate Higgins is reprising her role as Tails, and the ever-brilliant Mike Pollock is returning once again to give us more classic quotes as Dr. Eggman.
In the same vain as the video game, the series looks to be a fun, colorful outing filled with character driven stories, and some excellent looking action sequences. OuiDO has even produced a little 2-and-a-bit minute teaser of the cartoon to show us the kinds of antics we can expect Sonic and co to be getting up to:
Click here to view the embedded video.
This wasn’t the last of the information that we got though. Oh no, there’s more.
Sonic Boom: The ‘Everything Else’
Aside from the details of a game and a television series, there were also details of a tie in merchandise line to be produced by TOMY. This has been confirmed to include toys and apparel, but no further information has been revealed beyond these facts. It still gives all the merch-hogs (like me) something to be on the lookout for in the coming months.
It has also been stated that Sonic Boom will remain in western territories only. Japan won’t be getting any of the Sonic Boom action. Head of Sonic Team Takashi Iizuka has stated however that he WILL be overseeing the project.
Finally, SEGA’s official Sonic Boom website has also gone live. The current layout suggests that we’ll be seeing a LOT more information to come in the way of proper character bios, details of the video game, merchandise list and potentially more.
…That was a lot of info. Anybody still alive after all that? Anyway, now that we’ve had the chance to digest all the information from the last few days, what are your thoughts? Are you still eagerly anticipating this new direction, or are you still skeptical about the whole concept?