Sonic Synergy
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is a 2014 action-adventure platform video game developed by Big Red Button and published by Sega for the Wii U. Along with Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal for the Nintendo 3DS, it is a spin-off of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series and is a part of the Sonic Boom franchise, which also consists of an animated television series (whose games serve as a prequel), a comic series by Archie Comics, and a toyline by Tomy. The storyline follows Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy, who must stop Lyric the Last Ancient from acquiring the Chaos Crystals by powering up a robot army and wiping out all organic life, after Sonic accidentally awakens Lyric from a thousand year rest, while escaping Doctor Eggman.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric began development under the tentative title Sonic Origins in 2011, initially intending to be a Jak and Daxter-style game (later retitled Sonic Synergy) and would have focused around four-player concept; intended for release on PC and other consoles, it moved development to the under powered Wii U as part of a three-game exclusivity deal Sega had signed with Nintendo. Since the game's engine (CryEngine) was not intended to run on the Wii U, many of the gameplay concepts were hastily removed or simplified, while the story was rewritten due to Sega gaining full control over the television series. Richard Jacques, who was the lead composer for Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R, returned to write the soundtrack.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric released in North America, Europe and Australia in November 2014, and the following month in Japan as Sonic Toon. Sega did not provide reviewers with advance copies; it received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics for its controls, camera system, combat, story, gameplay, dialogue, and numerous bugs and technical issues. Some described it as both one of the worst games of 2014, and one of the worst Sonic games ever made. The game was also a commercial failure, with the combined sales of Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal totaling 620,000 copies by March 31, 2015, making them among the worst-selling games in the franchise. Following the failure of Rise of Lyric, Big Red Button had nearly considered shutting down.
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