Zero Punctuation: Sonic Boom - Boom or Bust
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
Wait, using Ape Escape as an example of a "pre-analog stick PS1 game"? Not only did Ape Escape support analog sticks, it was the first game on the system to actually require them. You really couldn't have picked a worse example there.
EDIT: Damn it, a few seconds too late.
EDIT: Damn it, a few seconds too late.
But it is still not a Nintendo game. The arguement you seem to be presenting seems based on the fact that Nintendo fans will flock to any game that is exclusive to their platform no matter who made it. This is not the case, because Nintendo fans like games made by Nintendo.Johnny Novgorod said:
I've been watching the Game Grumps playthrough of this and I must admit, it's hand holding really helps lost little Arin and his short attention span. But I've been enjoying them tear into it as much as TBF have been ripping on The Evil Within. I suppose I'm just sadistic. But it really is a terribly put together game. And it's almost a shame because the graphics and atmosphere almost make it feel like it could have been an awesome PS2 platformer...if it were handled by another developer and it didn't have Sonic in it.
Nah, I don't think we need to do that with poor old Sonic - just the head-up-the-ass SEGA execs who keep screwing him over and over. Seriously, the reason that Sonic 06 and Sonic Boom sucked so much was that SEGA simultaneously sliced and diced the team that was creating the games, and forcing the poor sods left to work on a rushed timeline to boot the misshapen mass that the "game" had become out the door for an arbitrary deadline. Just look at these articles to see how the Sonic Boom development team got shafted, had to severely cut back on the game, and STILL couldn't release what was left in a workable state:crazygameguy4ever said:
http://www.sonicstadium.org/2014/11/the-spin-sonic-boom-what-happened-part-1/
http://www.sonicstadium.org/2014/11/the-spin-sonic-boom-what-the-heck-happened-part-2/
On the plus side, the Sonic Boom cartoon show seems to be doing pretty well, even if it's gotten some criticism from die-hard Sonic fans: pretty ironic that a TV Sonic would be doing pretty well, while its actual games would be considered just passable (Shattered Crystal) or downright broken (Rise of Lyric).
I too wonder who the people are that keep buying these games such that they're profitable. I mean, they are profitable, aren't they? Or they wouldn't keep churning out this garbage?
Hey people, whoever you are! Stop buying bad games!
Hey people, whoever you are! Stop buying bad games!
Johnny Novgorod said:
To clarify: I meant that Hyrule Warriors (both the game and Yahtzee's vid) doesn't exactly feel like Worst GOTY list material. Yahtzee's shredded worse games this year than Hyrule Warriors (Regardless of whether people liked it or not), and considering what games Yahtzee has had to put up with, like Sonic Boom, there's not much chance of Hyrule Warriors winding up on that list.
Captcha: "Someday is here." Not exactly.....
MaddKossack115 said:
I caught an episode of sonic boom and it's really bad.. and stupid.. it's just plain awful in every sense of the word.. at least you don't have to pay $60 to watch it.. which is the only upside.
At this point, I think Sega should outsource Sonic to four year-olds. Buying a new Sonic game would equate to buying a piece of construction paper with a poorly-drawn Sonic on it, accompanied by the words "Throw the paper around the room to go fast". DLC would involve more pieces of paper with scrawled-on representations of Eggman and Sonic's usual partners-in-sucking.
So, a little bit like this:
So, a little bit like this:
oh sonic boom such a disappointment, much like a red headed step-child everyone ignores during the holidays. With that joke out of my system honestly what the hell was sega thinking by letting a new team make a sonic game?? Am I the only one who thinks sonic colors, generations and last world were actually decent?? The sad part is that this sonic boom is getting lower scores than sonic 06 across the board from fans and critics alike which is just sad, yet funny at the same time.
That aside this is the only sonic boom I need in my life
That aside this is the only sonic boom I need in my life
Sonic games have been kind of a mess ever since they forgot the two basic tenets that got the original games their acclaim in the first place--fast movement speeds and a way to competently control Sonic in the process.
Weirdly enough, when I sat back and squinted at it a bit, Boom didn't look or feel like a Sonic game. What it does feel like, though, is the original Battletoads. Consider it. Point-to-point brawling, the odd jump challenge, and linear reaction-test race sections--sounds like Battletoads to me. Take out the bright colors and and scale the violence back up to decapitation-kick levels and there you go. Problem is that if you take out the comedic gore, Battletoads as a game is just, well, not all that great at present, which is why Boom comes off as so lackluster.
Weirdly enough, when I sat back and squinted at it a bit, Boom didn't look or feel like a Sonic game. What it does feel like, though, is the original Battletoads. Consider it. Point-to-point brawling, the odd jump challenge, and linear reaction-test race sections--sounds like Battletoads to me. Take out the bright colors and and scale the violence back up to decapitation-kick levels and there you go. Problem is that if you take out the comedic gore, Battletoads as a game is just, well, not all that great at present, which is why Boom comes off as so lackluster.
Well, based on the linked articles on the previous page, it feels as though Big Red Button didn't really care about the project. They started out with one concept, Sega barged in with the idea of connecting their project with another handheld release and a planned cartoon series - and everything they'd built up in terms of concept art and design propositions had to be scrapped. They spent the rest of their allowed time scrambling to make ends meet with an engine that was barely stress-tested for the Wii U.
I mean, CryEngine 3 felt sluggish even on the 360 and its optimal PC requirements are still slightly insane. Considering how quickly 3D Sonic games have to update what's visible at max draw distance, I can see how the engine would buckle under pressure. Boom was hastily cobbled together, the cartoon is only slightly better - great visuals, meh writing - so yeah.
Chalk it up to Sega's inability to find a competent outsourced team and to said outsourced team's generally not giving a shit.
It's a crazy thing when the best thing the Sonic license has going for it as of the last decade is the Archie comics line. Even that's not saying much, with Sega stamping down on the team's creative license as of Robotnik's change into Eggman in said comics. Archie's Sonic went from an overwrought Greek tragedy-slash-soap opera with robots and anthros to Sega's printed promotional material peddler.
I mean, CryEngine 3 felt sluggish even on the 360 and its optimal PC requirements are still slightly insane. Considering how quickly 3D Sonic games have to update what's visible at max draw distance, I can see how the engine would buckle under pressure. Boom was hastily cobbled together, the cartoon is only slightly better - great visuals, meh writing - so yeah.
Chalk it up to Sega's inability to find a competent outsourced team and to said outsourced team's generally not giving a shit.
It's a crazy thing when the best thing the Sonic license has going for it as of the last decade is the Archie comics line. Even that's not saying much, with Sega stamping down on the team's creative license as of Robotnik's change into Eggman in said comics. Archie's Sonic went from an overwrought Greek tragedy-slash-soap opera with robots and anthros to Sega's printed promotional material peddler.
Sure, Battletoads didn't have horrific glitches that broke game sequence or simply failed to render even basic concepts like the floor, but note that I said as a game, not as a programming exercise. I should also specify I'm referring to the home console versions. Last-second reaction-test track runs, flat combat, and unhelpful controls do not help a game age well. We can use so much more than just plain difficulty to engage a player these days, and Boom and BRB not remembering those lessons when making a modern-gen reboot didn't help Sonic either. Anyone can accidentally cause glitches to happen or leave them in the code, but devs have to actively decide how they design their gameplay.LordTerminal said:
Battletoads Arcade was all right though.