Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice - first gameplay details

Coming from Sega producer Omar Woodley...

- developed by Sanzaru Games
- this game focuses more on speed
- Sticks will appear
- 2.5D platformer
- toned down the exploration
- reduced the length and the size of the levels
- levels have a linear path through the middle, with exploration happening above and below
- collectibles unlock stuff like characters and bonuses
- seven islands in the game, six of which are exploration-based and feature four levels plus two bonus stages
- seventh is called Thunder Island and is basically a two-player local play option
- this is based on a race between Eggman's bots.
- Eggman has found a new element called Ragnium, which he melts down and combusts as fuel
- Eggman's goal is to humiliate Sonic by making bots that are faster than him
- beat all the bots in the game to prove Eggman is wrong, with one on each island
- unlock character bots that can then be used to race your friends in local play
- main story follows a henchman called Defect who's been designed by Eggman to find Ragnium and mine it
- he has eco magnets that are supposed to enable him to raise it out of the ground
- when Eggman turns him on, this fails, which is how he got the name Defect
- he can magnetize everything other than Ragnium
- he begins to use his powers to build himself up so he can beat Sonic
- while Eggman collects Ragnium, he's polluting the environment
- adventure stages are the main levels of gameplay, with four per island
- use each of the game's characters in every level
- each character has his or her own special powers and there are setups in the game where you need to use all of them
- switch between them on the fly by using the touch pad
- Sonic can jump higher than all the other characters, and has a special air dash
- Amy has a hammer that can break things and alter the terrain of a level
- Tails can hover and fly by using air streams, plus he also has a blaster that can reflect off mirrors
- Knuckles can punch stuff, and can also burrow underground and reach parts of the landscape other characters can't
- Sticks has l boomerang that you can take control of and guide around so it can hit things that might be around corners
- every character has fire and ice abilities that can be used to freeze water so you can walk over i
- ice blocks are in the way that you can melt to go through
- water spouts that you have to turn into ice so you can run across them
- change from fire to ice ability very quickly in some situations
- challenge rooms are designed specifically for hardcore Sonic fans
- you don't have to complete the Challenge Rooms to finish the game, but you have to finish them if you want to get 100%
- most enemies aren't tough, but some will chase after you
- 4 boss fights, each using both screens of the 3DS
- play as Sonic in each fight, but you're paired with another character so you can use their special abilities
- each boss fight has Defect using items from the environment to construct a giant monste
- one is a large creature made out of tar and dinosaur bones
- tar flows from the ground and you have to avoid it
- tar bubbles are created, which Tails can dodge by floating over
- another bonus area takes the form of a classic 3D tunnel run from Sonic 2,
- there are twelve of these in Fire and Ice
- another bonus level features the Sea Fox submarine from Game Gear Tails Adventure
- float around shooting at things with your sub while looking for collectibles
- hovercraft game where you're racing up the screen trying to avoid or blast icebergs