Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice

Promotional artwork
Developer(s) Sanzaru Games
Publisher(s) Sega
Composer(s) Richard Jacques[1]
Series Sonic the Hedgehog
Platform(s) Nintendo 3DS
Release date(s)
  • JP September 27, 2016
  • NA September 27, 2016
  • EU September 30, 2016
  • AUS October 1, 2016
Genre(s) Action-adventure, platform

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice[lower-alpha 1] is an upcoming action-adventure platform game developed by Sanzaru Games and published by Sega for the Nintendo 3DS. It is part of the Sonic Boom spin-off franchise of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, along with the games Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal, and a TV show. Originally planned for a release in Fall 2015, Fire & Ice is now set to be released in September 2016 in Japan, North America, Europe and October in Australia. [2]

Plot

Discovering an element known as Ragnium, Eggman starts harnessing it for himself, using it to create robots that can allegedly outrun Sonic and his friends while also damaging the environment in the process. Meanwhile, D-Fekt, a rejected robot Eggman created to search for Ragnium, starts using his magnetic powers to try and become more powerful. Sonic and his friends attempt to stop Eggman and D-Fekt and restore balance to the environment.[3]

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

Like the previous 3DS entry, Shattered Crystal, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is a side-scrolling platform game in which Sonic and his companions fight their way through various stages. In addition to Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Sticks, Amy has been added as a playable character. Like the previous game, players can switch between characters at will in order to use their unique abilities such as Tails' flight, Sticks' boomerang, and Amy's hammer. A unique feature in this game is the addition of fire and ice elements, which apply both to the level environments and character abilities. For example, Sonic can infuse himself with fire to break ice blocks or surround himself with ice in order to freeze water, alternating between the two at will. The game will also feature various special stages, bonus minigames, challenge rooms, and local two-player modes.[4]

Development

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice was first announced on June 9, 2015.[4] Sega producer Omar Woodley has stated both Sega and developer Sanzaru Games have been learning from their mistakes with Shattered Crystal, which received mostly negative reviews upon release.[5] One of the problems they identified was how, even though the game was targeted towards children aged 7–11, fans of classic Sonic games picked up the game and had a harder time getting into Shattered Crystal's lengthy exploration-based levels. As such, levels have been made shorter and include paths to better suit gamers who prefer speeding through levels, in addition to explorational elements.[3] On September 15, 2015, Sega announced that Fire & Ice which was planned for a release in Fall 2015, would be delayed to 2016 to allow more development time and coincide with the series' 25th anniversary.[6]

References

Notes
  1. Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is known as Sonic Toon: Fire & Ice (ソニックトゥーン ファイアー&アイス) in Japan
Footnotes
  1. Sonic the Hedgehog [sonic_hedgehog] (9 June 2015). "@sonic_hedgehog: @SANeroChaos @_Kitsune91 Actually, Richard Jacques -is- working on the soundtrack for Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice! (Surprise!)" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  2. Seedhouse, Alex. "Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice Speeds To Europe On September 30th". Nintendo Insider. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 "What's Next for Sonic the Hedgehog (and friends)?". USgamer.net. 6 September 2015.
  4. 1 2 Klepek, Patrick (June 9, 2015). "Sega's Not Giving Up on Sonic Boom". Kotaku. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  5. "Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal". Metacritic. November 11, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  6. Aaron (14 September 2015). "Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice moves to 2016". Sega Blog. Sega. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
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