Those who find it difficult to understand why we are always in ecstasy in front of the level design made in Nintendo, should spend even a quarter of an hour in the company of Sonic Boom: The Rise of Lyric. In fact, it's clear that the developers had their ass between two chairs: satisfying the public with "open" levels, while offering first-time fans 2D passages to navigate at high speed. In the end, the result is badly shaken and the progression in the adventure chopped. Worse, we even grilled some copied-pasted areas that do not deceive when faced with an informed eye. This lack of inspiration is also found in the Temple Run-style phases which fall like a hair on the soup, which is also the case of the zip-line passages where the challenge has no say. Afterwards, it is difficult to ignore the efforts made to reinforce the singularity of the protagonists; Knuckles is able to climb walls while Tails can sustain himself for a few seconds in the air. Amy, on the other hand, stands out thanks to her triple jump and her taste for gymnastics. The thing is that the player is rarely encouraged to switch characters, even when it comes to evolving in pairs. And then, the controls are so far west that exploring the surroundings quickly becomes painful. We still have in mind the boat that we have to steer to go down the rapids: to shoot the enemies, we have to press the right stick in the direction where they are. Simply unplayable. The camera is never positioned wisely, and we can't even count the number of times we have stupidly fallen into the void - despite the invisible walls - due to a moldy angle of view.
EXPLICIT LYRICS
It is also a real torture during the fights, the enemies then taking pleasure in taking us as traitors. Speaking of clashes, Sonic Boom The Rise of Lyric is even more rusty than Cranky in this area. The pseudo-combos are sorely lacking in fluidity, and the characters take a beating before sending the opponents into the air thanks to the lasso. An attack that we don't even dare to execute by force, even if it's the only one that shows more or less precision. Whether it's hooks, uppercuts, brushes or punches on the ground, collision bugs are always there to blow up a hose when we have no ring left in our pocket. In Sonic Boom The Ascension of Lyric, the famous rings act as a life gauge with a limit set at 100. Each damage suffered causes a handful to be lost, knowing that checkpoints are scattered everywhere to avoid having to restart the game. from the beginning. Purists will no doubt be shocked to learn that the rings are useless, an indisputable sign of the decline of the Sonic license, which now has to raise its finger before addressing Mario. To find the trace of a little bit of madness, it will be necessary to turn to the relics which improve the skills of the heroes, without however reaching the finesse of a real beat'em all. To get your hands on it, just do the NPCs a favor as having a conversation with is utter boredom. Anyway, overall, the dialogue in Sonic Boom: The Rise of Lyric oscillates between bad and very bad. It's true that it's not the main thing in this type of game, but when you know that Sonic Boom is also available on the small screen, we didn't expect such silly replies and this crazy humor. Besides, the Carambar jokes are top notch.
Purists will no doubt be shocked to learn that the rings are useless, an indisputable sign of the decline of the Sonic license, which now has to raise its finger before addressing Mario.
If at this stage of the test the worst seems behind us, it is to forget the extreme ugliness of the graphics when we are warned that the game is running on the CryENGINE. Which looks like false advertising as the textures - when they exist - drool like slugs, not to mention the dull colors, the omnipresence of aliasing, clipping or even the many framerate drops as soon as the action is accelerating. Believe us, after witnessing this sad spectacle, we greatly relativize the bugs of Assassin's Creed Unity and the illusions of the sacrosanct 1080p 60fps. What's good about Sonic Boom: The Rise of Lyric in the end? We always ask ourselves the question to be honest, the sound environment is also totally missed. On this subject, special mention to the sound effects of drowning which deserves a place in the Pantheon of sound effects. More seriously, the cooperation mode is likely to interest the general public whose indulgence is limitless. A player can then grab the GamePad while his partner will have to follow the events on the flat screen. Multiplayer is also the basis of the additional challenges that surround the main campaign. Nothing very extraordinary to put in your mouth, if not a concentrate of the shortcomings of Sonic Boom: The Ascension of Lyric which ends up being murdered like a mess.
