Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric

In 2013, Sega entered a three-game exclusivity contract with Nintendo for Sonic the Hedgehog content, which ended in 2014 with the release of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric on Wii U and Shattered Crystal on 3DS. These two games also marked the beginning of the short-lived Sonic Boom sub-franchise, for which I was formally introduced to through the cartoon series that the first two games were supposed to be a prequel to. While I had heard all the negative reviews of Rise of Lyric, including info on its rocky development, I couldn’t play it for the longest time due to not owning a Wii U at that point, but I didn’t really understand why the franchise failed to last that long since I thought the cartoon and 11-issue Archie comic were of good quality. When the Wii U and 3DS eShops were announced to be shutting down, I finally got a Wii U so I could play some games that were still stuck on the system, Rise of Lyric included. After finally getting to play such an infamous game, I now fully understand why the Sonic Boom franchise fell off the way it did, as the game leaves a rather terrible first impression.

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal

When the short-lived Sonic Boom franchise was first introduced, it began with a pair of games for Wii U and 3DS, respectively titled Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal. While I was a fan of Sonic Boom while it lasted, and have since tried to own whatever media related to it that I can find, I didn’t have a Wii U at the time Rise of Lyric came out and by the time I got a 3DS, I was only able to play the Shattered Crystal sequel, Fire & Ice. I did, however, go more out of my way to track down both games physically when their respective systems’ eShops were shutting down, deciding later to play the 3DS game first out of boredom on a trip due to its advertised connectivity with the Wii U game. After finishing the game faster than I expected, I found it to be pretty decent for what it was, but not quite as good as Fire & Ice.

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice

Around 2014, Sega launched Sonic Boom, a short-lived side series to the main Sonic series set in a new continuity across a handful of games, a TV series and an 11-issue comic series from Archie Comics (before they would lose the Sonic rights to IDW Publishing); notably, it also introduced the character of Sticks the Badger, who has since made minor appearances in games outside the Boom continuity. Though I was initially unable to play any of the main games on Wii U and 3DS, I was a fan of this continuity from watching the TV series and reading all 11 issues of the comic, though during its run that comic was roped into the Worlds Unite crossover with Archie’s other Sonic titles and Mega Man (and a bunch of other Sega and Capcom properties). While I still haven’t played Rise of Lyric (due to not owning a Wii U) or Shattered Crystal on 3DS, I was able to play the follow-up 3DS title Fire & Ice, even getting the Launch Edition that comes with a DVD containing 3 episodes from Season 1 of the TV series the game is modeled after. Though the game has its shortcomings, I enjoyed it nonetheless.