Sonic Boom Announced

Fresh off the back of Lost World, Nintendo fans are getting two new exclusive Sonic titles!
SEGA have today announced the development of Sonic Boom for release exclusively on Nintendo consoles. Intended as a prequel to the upcoming animated TV series of the same name, the WiiU and 3DS game will put an emphasis on co-operative gameplay over the traditional platforming and speed-run orientated mechanics of previous franchise outings such as 2012's Sonic Generations and last November's Sonic Lost World.

Before fans get too optimistic about the surprisingly innovative election by developers Red Button Entertainment (WiiU) and Sanzaru Games (3DS) to step away from the series' original genre, though, they might want to test the waters by watching the first teaser trailer (below). Sufficed to say that Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and Amy Rose don't all look quite the same as they once did, and while it's hardly so radical a makeover as to warrant mass controversy from their fanbase, it doesn't take much to rile a long-term follower of this admittedly unwieldy saga (a feat which SEGA have achieved with alarming regularity over the last decade of reboots and HD remakes). The WiiU edition's engine doesn't look a world apart from classic PlayStation-exclusive series such as Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank, but at this stage, the quality benchmark for the blue hedgehog's current-generation adventures is distressingly low, such that any attempts at change should frankly be welcomed with open arms...

Sonic Boom will retail exclusively for Nintendo WiiU and Nintendo 3DS this Summer and the show will première on Cartoon Network in the Autumn.