There’s absolutely a way to make Sonic cute and campy and get away with it.

Tails, Amy, and Sonic are more than tolerable, but a lot of soul is missing, particularly when it comes to the titular hero. Knuckles: “Wait, there are presents?!” Ugh. Sonic: “And as we know, there’s no time like the present!” Case in point, this conversation between Sonic and Knuckles: But in Sonic Boom, he is a complete moron, billed as the “brawn” of the operation like a poorly produced Saturday morning cartoon (and it does have a cartoon now, which may explain things a bit). He was a great counterbalance to Sonic’s carefree attitude. As a once-respected protector of the Master Emerald, I enjoyed Knuckles’ proud nature and his ability to bravely take on any problem head-on. The most criminal change of all is the decision to make Knuckles a lumbering idiot. While the actual designs are passable, the in-game personalities aren’t. First off, you might notice the new crew (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy) are wearing different gear and wraps - lots and lots of wraps. The biggest problem is that developer Big Red Button not only changes many things for the worse, but the “alternate” universe is a half-measure. Sonic Boom is not a reboot per se, but a re-imagining of the Sonic universe with a new art style and villain. Recent games like Generations and even Colors or Lost World were decent, and despite the bad apples, I’m generally hopeful good Sonic games still exist. Like any popular franchise with consecutive releases, some of them are going to be good, some of them are bad. No matter what is announced, I can practically hear the collective groaning from my desk. It has all of your favorite friends in it, like The Incredible HulkĪs a character, Sonic gets a bad rap these days.

Dr boom big red button