Looks like Sonic Boom isn’t retreating from the video game space after all. Despite the scathing reception and poor sales of last year’s double bill of Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal on Nintendo 3DS, and the especially-hated Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric on Wii U, Sega will be releasing yet another Sonic Boom game this year. This new game is Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice.
This new Sonic Boom game will be skipping Wii U, and will only release for Nintendo 3DS. This is no doubt due to Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric ending up on almost every ‘Worst Games of 2014’ list out of last year, with the game going on to become by far the poorest-selling Sonic-branded game to date.
As the title suggests, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice features gameplay that has players harnessing the elements to navigate 2D Sonic the Hedgehog-style stages. It appears to be running on the same engine as Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal as well. The game will not only feature Sonic as a playable character, but will also allow players to play as Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose and Sonic Boom-specific character, Sticks. Dr. Eggman will also return in the game, alongside Sonic Boom villain, D-FEKT.
Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice will also feature a multiplayer mode with some bearing on the single-player gameplay as well, called ‘Bot Racing’, which will allow players to race bots, whether solo, or with a friend. Players can unlock different variations of bots as they play as well.
It was believed that last year’s Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric signaled a rather unceremonious end for Sega’s three-game exclusivity deal with Nintendo, which also included 2013’s Sonic: Lost World for 3DS and Wii U, and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games for Wii U. Apparently however, Sega is still exclusively releasing Sonic Boom games on Nintendo hardware for now, despite the dubious reputations of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric especially.
Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice will come to 3DS later this year. It likely won’t be present at E3 in a couple of weeks however, with Sega opting out of having a booth at the expo this year.
Keep speeding to Eggplante for all news and updates on Sonic Boom, and other Sonic the Hedgehog-related game projects.