Sonic Boom Shattered Crystal Review

Since I've owned the full version of Sonic Boom Shattered Crystal for some time now, I wanted to expand my original review on the game. Much of it will be the same, just take the original as a demo review of a demo game.

And now the full review:

To address the first question on everyone's minds: Does it play like a traditional Sonic the Hedgehog game? Well kind of sort of, but it's a good thing. That is if you're open to change. The element of speed is there though capped and not momentum based. Keeping your speed up is reflective of your reaction time to the enemies and stage obstacles. Thankfully the controls are really responsive and I was able to adapt to the physics quickly. A few minutes in and I was able to flow through the stage at a constant speed, dispatching enemies and swinging over pits with ease.

You have access to all four characters at the same time with the ability to switch to each on the fly. For the most part everyone moves and plays the same with the exception of Sonic being slightly faster. In addition each character has their own special abilities for attacking and gaining access to different paths. Sonic has an air dash that breaks certain kinds of walls, Tails can fly/glide, Knuckles can burrow, and Sticks has a boomerang that can be manually guided to hit switches that are out of reach.

The stages are massive with a multitude of branching paths and secret areas accessible by using each character's special abilities. The goal of each stage isn't so much about finding the exit but exploring to find all the hidden items and areas. It's almost like Sonic meets Metroidvania. The map on the bottom screen that you fill in as you progress further drives that feeling of exploration.

The game is divided up amongst several regions that have their own unique environments and map screens. Each map contains a stage or two as described above as well as a worm tunnel and racing stage. The worm tunnels are what I would consider the "special stage" of the game in that you only control Sonic from a 3rd person perspective as you speed down a tunnel collecting rings and dodging obstacles to complete certain challenges, such as grabbing all the rings or completing the tunnel under a certain time limit. The racing stages remind me of the Sonic Rivals series in that once again you control Sonic by himself and race against another character to complete a more speed oriented stage.

The main point of the extra themed stages and exploring of the main stages is to locate the scattered shards of the ancient crystal which you will need to complete in order to foil Lyric's ultimate plans. Shards are found laying around in the main stages while completing one of the extra stages will award you with one shard. The other challenges, such as beating a stage within a time limit or with a certain amount of rings awards you a token that you can use a QNC's shop to unlock character and enemy 3D models to look at. Or if you want to be lazy about it, you can gain one token every 24 hours by completing a simple work out mini game at Knuckles' cave.

The same voice actors from the show reprise their roles here, though they really only speak in a few cutscenes. The rest of the story is delivered through text based cutscenes which now seems to be the standard with Sonic 3DS titles (with the exception of Lost World). Fortunately here the in game models are present and interact with one another as the text scrolls through. They look a little off though. The cutscene models appear to have "chipmunk cheeks." They don't look as nice as the ones featured in the fully rendered cutscenes or the tv show so it's a little off putting.

The graphics in general though are very nice. The stages are very detailed and have a nice amount of depth when playing with the 3D effect turned on. The music is upbeat and fitting of each stages theme though I doubt any of it will get stuck in your head like the classic Sonic titles.

I think they nailed the target audience perfectly with this title. The difficulty is at a nice sweet spot where younger players can enjoy themselves while also bringing enough optional challenges to keep the core fan base and completionists interested. At the end of the day this is a Sonic game that explores territories of the platforming genre not typically seen in the Sonic franchise and your enjoyment will likely hinge on whether or not you're okay with Sonic doing so.

Pros:

-The game controls well and the movement of the characters and physics are easy to adapt to.
-Nice detailed graphics and music.
-Plenty of extra goals that encourage both exploration and speed running.
-Added power ups to make things easier for younger players but can be disabled for those looking for more challenge.
-Includes a gallery area where you can review all the cutscenes, comics and other stuff you've unlocked.

Cons:

-The majority of the cutscenes are text based.
-Avoid the dance party.