Sonic Boom unveiled: Sega refreshes its hedgehog

Business

February 7, 2014

Sega has announced a new branch of the Sonic franchise; Sonic Boom will be exclusive to Nintendo platforms, and a TV series also in the works.

Sonic is an undeniably iconic video-gaming character, and since his inception in 1991 he’s featured in over 70 video game titles and sold over 140 million units; appeared in four animated series; and has an extensive range of merchandising.

Sadly, of late, everyone’s favourite Erinaceinaehas lost a bit of the pep in his step. It’s not that his recent outings have been entirely terrible, but just bland and average.

In 2013, Sega announced a deal to release 3 Sonic games exclusively for Nintendo platforms. The first of these was Sonic Lost World for Wii U and 3DS, which received lacklustre reviews hovering around 60% aggregate. This was followed by Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games for Wii U, which also did not impress and sits with an aggregate of around 50%.

Sonic Boom screenshot

Sega has now unveiled Sonic Boom, which denotes a new branch of the Sonic universe and a new look for Sonic and his pals. There will be a CG animated TV series, a line of toys, and the final exclusive game for the Wii U and 3DS named Sonic Boom.

The game will be a prequel to the stories in the TV series, and Sega says it will offer “a totally different experience to previous Sonic games with collaborative gameplay at its core.” The game is being developed by Big Red Button Entertainment (Wii U) and Sanzaru Games (Nintendo 3DS) in collaboration with Sonic Team.

No release date has been given, but it is expected in 2014.

The Sonic Boom TV series will debut in the 2014/2015 broadcasting season. As described by Sega:

The series is an ensemble comedy consisting of 52 x 11-minute standalone episodes packed full of high-adrenaline action. Every episode starts from a small character-driven story and explodes into an epic tale of saving the world, robot battles and more.