Written by Jesus Figueroa
Sega's "Sonic BOOM: Rise of Lyric" looses the momentum of previous Sonic games for Nintendo's Wii U.
The controls for the game seem fairly simple, but with the sporadic movement of the camera view it proves to be difficult to control character movement well, especially when trying to move quickly.
Sonic once again starts off going after villain Dr. Eggman, but after stumbling into ancient ruins Sonic releases the main villain Lyric, a snake like ancient evil.
At the start, the game has two types of gameplay. First, running courses, not racing just running, which feel pointless as all that needs to be done is to grab rings and dodge minor obstructions in the path with no villains to hit.
Second, a free play course with ancient robots with light swords. The robots are easy to defeat, but even while hitting the robots they are still able to swing their swords and make players lose rings.
The free play is confusing and only after too much wandering the right path to progress is found.
There is no end of level battles to speak of. The battles with Eggman, which have come to be what Sonic fans want, are no longer a focus in the game.
Having four playable characters — Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy — redeems gameplay, but not being able to level up skills, play the entire game with one character and being forced to use different characters through different levels becomes annoying. Although, each player has their own personality and special skill.
The storyline to the game is a good length, but it leaves little to no desire to replay the game.
I give this game 2 out of 5 Star Coins. The different character playability is good, but not being able to upgrade skill level leaves much to be wanted and makes this game a button smasher game where a player can use one button throughout the entire game. The story is new and intriguing, but the gameplay takes away from really enjoying it.
"Sonic BOOM: Rise of Lyric" is available exclusively on Nintendo's Wii U.
