Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal - Nintendo 3DS

Fantastic game overall; if the "Sonic Boom" branding scares you, don't let it. This is one of the best Sonic outings in years.Sonic Boom is a GORGEOUS 2.5D entry in the series that pulls it's characters and settings from the Sonic Boom branch of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. That means it's a sidescroller like classic games, but with 3D graphics - think something like Donkey Kong Country Returns if you haven't heard of the term "2.5D" before. The title incorporates elements from a lot of quality sidescrollers - including world map screens similar to various Mario titles, team based gameplay with unique powers like in The Lost Vikings, expansive maps with hidden paths only accessible with specific skills a la Metroid - and meshes them all with quality Sonic gameplay.If you just play through the stages as fast as you can, you'll enjoy a Sonic game with great level designs that's a little less precise than the best games in the series, but has a focus on tricks & special moves to engage instead of asking for precision all the time. With the characters' new "electro whip" thingie, they can now swing from grapple points, and with their individual abilities, all the platforming becomes something special. You'll end up pulling off combos like run > jump > swing > air dash > slam down into a zip boost > grind > bounce pad > swing, etc. So the classic-ness of the gameplay, while a little less fast and a little less precise, is actually a lot more engaging and rewarding to play. The game does bring the speed though, it's just metered out a little better than in previous sidescrollers. The camera is also a lot better and more dynamic, with a nice amount of "lead space" (the distance between the front of your character and the edge of the screen) so you actually have enough time to see obstacles coming and AVOID them. Crazy!The game is a bit of an "adventure" in that you'll need to return to areas with new characters to gain access to different chunks of the levels and collect different doodads. Collecting doodads is important for a few reasons, namely you need them to access new levels (they're locked and require a certain number of emblems - obtained by finishing the stage, finishing it under a certain amount of time, collecting all the crystal shards in the level, etc. - to unlock), and you need blueprints to get Tails to build you upgrades. These upgrades apply to all characters, and include awesome things like destroying enemies by running through them, revealing item locations on the level map, or adding a "Ring Vaccuum" effect to your character so you can grab them by merely getting close to them, instead of having to get through them. A fully powered up character at the end of the game is a big improvement from one at the beginning, so the upgrades are important. Luckily going back into the levels with new characters and using their abilities are really fun. Tails lets you use fans in the level since he can glide, and he also has a toy submarine that lets you access a mini-game to get things too. Knuckles and bust through certain materials and tunnel underground, and Sticks has a boomerang that you can control around in the air - very useful for anything really, but specifically for hitting switches and turning off traps. Our main man Sonic however can air dash, which gives him the ability to reach out of the way areas ("L shaped" moves; air dashing straight up and right, for instance) and bust through blue blocks. You'll see all these "hooks" while making your way through levels, so you're going to WANT to explore further. And with Tails' upgrades, you won't be wandering around aimlessly - you'll see the items on your level map, know where you need to go, and just have to find the way to get there and pick the character who can do it.The levels are really well designed in general, and - like I said before - gorgeous. This is one game where you'll want to crank the 3D up from time to time, because the depth in the game is really nice. There's a great mix of foreground, mid and background objects and the camera's dynamic; the 3D really makes it look like a diorama with it's mix of depth. All the models & textures look great too - this is one of the nicest looking games on 3DS for sure. It all moves at a smooth clip too. All the worlds are very distinct in aesthetic and feel from one another too. All the levels are built to accommodate both speeding through, with a default "middle track" and exploration, with additional "upper and lower tracks", to every level. So you'll end up exploring above, below and all over your main track on subsequent playthroughs, but it's always off to the side the speedier stuff - it never gets in the way. They're really good level designs that they function so well just racing through or slowing down and taking your time.Sonic Shattered Crystal is super enjoyable once you come to terms with it's little oddities. Namely how progression works (gotta get those emblems!) and the less-precise-than-other-Sonic-sidescrollers controls (well, that's not true. It's better than Sonic 4 Part 1 and the Sonic Rivals games). It's gorgeous, the elements it adds to Sonic gameplay are fresh and welcome, the way it handles team based skills works beautifully, there's loads of content here, and it's just a blast to play. Highly recommended - but you don't even need to take my word for it. There's a demo for Sonic Boom on the 3DS eShop - just give it a play. This game is rad and deserves a purchase if you enjoy quality sidescrollers and Sonic games. Also, be on the lookout for it's sequel coming up this year: Sonic Boom Fire & Ice. It's from the same developers and looks to be as good as this one while adding in more to the formula.Fun fact; the developers of this are Sanzaru Games. They're also the studio that makes Sly Cooper for Sony now (Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time for PS3/Vita is freakin' fantastic as well, I should point out). Sony only deals in quality platformers - just look at Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank or Ape Escape - so when Sega gets the makers of Sly Cooper to make a Sonic game, you would figure it would be good, right? Well it is. It's an absolute - baffling - shame that so many outlets refused to cover this and instead focus on the disaster of the console game.

I'm probably gonna be the odd one out here, but I'm just gonna say it.I've been a fan of Sonic since 2001. I've stuck with the series through its ups and downs. One of the downs being the fandom. I absolutely love the franchise, but I loathe the fandom with a fiery passion. They're the reason the games haven't been successful in the last few years.Now, with that being said, it's time for my review.I have watched videos about both this game and Rise of Lyric. I have to say, I was not impressed with Rise of Lyric. I tried to ignore the hate and judge it for myself, and I came to the same conclusion: it was a good concept, but it was poorly executed.This game, on the other hand, was not only a good concept, but I think it was executed very well! The game play is fun, addictive, brings new elements as well as keeping some of the old.It gave me a Sonic Rush vibe and that's one of the reasons I like it a lot. I would even argue that this game has some advantages over Sonic Rush. For example, you can replay the cutscenes (all of them. Not just the CGI ones), you can play all the music, you can go into interactive spots on the map like Tails' Workshop, Amy's House, Sonic's Shack, Knuckles' Hangout, Sticks' Burrow, and this toy shop where you can use tokens you've earned to unlock new "toys."And you can replay the levels over and over again so you can get all the emblems in order to move to the next level.Sega, if you're listening, you did a great job with Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal. I am an older fan (23) and I am loving this game! If you make another handheld game, make it as epic as this one! I'm not even kidding you. This is a great game!

The games case arrived very beat up and in very poor condition. The were pen markings and several small tears.