A former SEGA employee recently addressed the issues in development for the two recent Nintendo-exclusive ‘Sonic Boom’ games.

When ‘Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric’ on the Wii U and its 3DS counterpart ‘Shattered Crystal’ came out last November, they were both met with rather negative critical reception. Considering the positive reception met by more recent ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ titles like ‘Sonic Colors’ and ‘Sonic Generations,’ most hardcore fans have since wondered what exactly went wrong with the ‘Sonic Boom’ titles.

Former SEGA employee Stephen Frost, a producer on both of the ‘Sonic Boom’ titles, stated on the SEGA Nerdcast that “over-ambition” was the primary reasoning behind their overall quality.

“The biggest mistake in Boom was trying to cram too much into the game,” Frost stated. “Not only were we trying to make just a really good Sonic game, we were trying to add more to it. We overextended our grasp in some ways. We’re trying to add in a bungee mechanic, and we’re adding combat, and we’re adding puzzles, vehicles, hopefully a more compelling story and a bunch of different environments. And it’s just a lot, you know? If there’s any lesson for me, it’s that being too ambitious can be bad.”

Frost commented further on the ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ franchise as a whole, stating that there could be trouble if SEGA keeps sticking with the single-player formula.

“Solo Sonic games, I don’t know how long that can last – there isn’t enough variety to sustain it. The future of Sonic games needs to be co-op,” Frost explained. “It worked really well in ‘Sonic Boom’, community and online play, that sustains it. In general, you need to do multiplayer and add online multiplayer aspects. That will sustain and keep the franchise alive.”

For those who aren’t keeping up with the ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ franchise, ‘Sonic Boom’ is a spin-off franchise that is revolves around an animated series featuring a new story with redesigned versions of major ‘Sonic’ characters. Both ‘Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric’ and ‘Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal’ served as narrative preludes to the animated series.

‘Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric’ and ‘Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal’ are both available now on the Wii U and the 3DS respectively. 

Source: SEGA Nerdcast via IGN