The Sonic franchise has seen a number of changes over its storied 23 year history, but the Sonic Universe is getting yet another visual adjustment. The official Sonic Boom website has this to say about their upcoming release:

“Sonic Boom™ is a new branch of the Sonic the Hedgehog™ universe that will race to TV, video games, and merchandise this year. Featuring an all-new look and feel for Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and introducing new friend Sticks, the team must band together to explore brand new adventures full of comedy and action. Get ready for an exciting new way to play, watch and experience Sonic Boom!”

Upon watching the trailers I immediately noticed that the characters appear to have received the most drastic changes in appearance with Knuckles taking on the oddest shape. His upper body is wildly disproportionate to his lower half, perhaps emphasizing his extreme strength which has always included his strong arms. Other than a completely different look for Knuckles, the other characters all have a slightly altered physical appearance but most notable is the fact that everyone is wearing some sort of explorer-esque garment, possibly alluding to the new emphasis on adventure and exploration? One other major change is that Sonic’s voice seems a tad bit deeper now, but Tails still has that classic pre-pubescent girlish voice he’s famous for.

Sonic Boom: Rise of the Lyric

Sonic Boom is a new universe so this new look and style will be present across all 3 mediums. The Wii U version, titled Rise of the Lyric, seems to be placing heavy emphasis on the story with a lot of cinematic cutscenes. Having cinematic stories is nothing new for Sonic, but the level of graphical detail and voice acting paired with fast-paced action makes me feel like I might actually be PLAYING a Sonic the Hedgehog movie for the first time!

Check out the Nintendo Wii U trailer below:

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal

Being the Sonic fan that I am, I have to admit that I’m extremely excited for this upcoming Sonic series. I like their inclusion of a brand new character adding to the already crowded Sonic Universe character list, but she’s a definite welcome character. In the 3DS trailer we can see her throwing a boomerang which appears to have a user-controlled flight-path. The 3DS version, titled Shattered Crystal, seems to be a little be slower than the Wii U version but likely only because of the 3DS’s inherently lesser capabilities. There still appears to be plenty of speed and action but on a smaller scale. There also appears to be more emphasis to a 2D side-scrolling approach akin to the original Sonic classics on the Sega Genesis.

Check out the Nintendo 3DS trailer here:

Sonic Boom the TV Series

The TV show isn’t entirely dissimilar from the Wii U game featuring similar (if not actually identical) voice-acting and impressive 3D computer graphics. There’s no denying the relation between the show and the games this time, unlike the original 1993 TV series which was very difficult to tie into the game due to the Genesis’s lack of technical capabilities. There appears to be plenty of action paired with lots of comedy in a simplistic approach that will definitely appeal to young kids as well as a few super nerdy teenagers.

Check out the TV Series trailer here:

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