Sega will release Sonic Boom on Wii U one week earlier in the US
Sega is preparing to release two new Sonic games this fall: Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric on Wii U and Sonic boom: Shattered Crystal on 3DS. The games are prequels to the upcoming “Sonic Boom” animated series.
Who would have though back in the 90’s, when the console wars between Nintendo and Sega was at its peak that twenty-something years later they will be able to play Sonic games on a Nintendo system? The answer is simple: nobody. At the time, Sonic on Nintendo sounded as fantastic as, for instance Uncharted on Xbox sounds today. And yet, it happened.
Initially, Sega announced that Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric will be released on the Wii U on November 18 for the North American market and on the 21st in Europe. However, the publisher reconsidered and moved the North American release one week earlier, on November 11, at the same time as Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal on 3DS.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is being developed by Big Red Button and Shattered Crystal is developed by Sanzaru Games. The two upcoming action-adventure additions to the Sonic universe are the last two games included in Sega’s exclusivity deal with Nintendo. The other two games are “Sonic: Lost World”, released in October 2013, and “Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games”, released in November 2013 in order to coincide with the event.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric follows Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose and Sticks the Badger, finding themselves on an island following a battle against Dr. Eggman. There, they encounter a sealed ancient tomb and come across a powerful villain from a race called the Ancients, named Lyric the Last Ancient. Lyric’s plan is to power his army of robots with the Chaos Crystals and destroy every living thing, replacing them with mechanical beings. The team has to find the Chaos Crystals before Lyric in order to stop him.
The new Sonic game has a stronger emphasis on exploration and combat than the previous installments. Players can control four main characters: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Sticks. Each character comes with is unique abilities and gameplay mechanics. Players can switch control between characters and use their abilities to progress or to solve certain puzzles. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric also supports local co-op multiplayer for two players.