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| Sonic Boost in Sonic Boom? |
Let's begin with the Sonic Boost. The Sonic Boost first made it's debut in Sonic Rush for the Nintendo DS in 2005. Since then, it's been in nearly every Sonic game to date. The Boost is rather simple in nature: press this button to go fast...instantly. Despite it's simplicity, however, the Sonic Boost has been a fan favorite for nearly a decade. When watching the Sonic Boom video game trailer, I noticed something that other people have been keen to out. At about the 0:40 mark, we see Sonic and friends running at full speed, with what appear to be streaks of color following behind them. Some people believe that this might be the return of the almighty Sonic Boost. I, however, do not think this is the case. My evidence for this claim lies in the trailer for the Sonic Boom animated television series that is to air on Cartoon Network in late 2014.
As you can see at about the 1:32 mark, after
running in a closed loop for a reasonably long amount of time, Sonic appears to
break the sound barrier. Once he does this, he gains that same streak of color
seen in the game trailer. This leads me to believe that this streak is not
something activated by a button, but instead earned with time. Now, for those
of you who think this is slightly far-fetched (there’s always at least one),
this wouldn’t actually be the first Sonic game to do this.
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| Boost Mode in Sonic Advance 3 |
A similar concept
appeared in both the Sonic Advance series and the Sonic Rush series, called ‘Boost
Mode’. It would work like this: After running uninterrupted for a certain
amount of time, Sonic would essentially break the “sound barrier”. At this
point, Sonic would begin to spawn after-images of himself and would become
invulnerable to damage, similar to the Sonic Boost. This effect would continue
until Sonic is slowed down or stopped by an obstacle that breaks his stride
(Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my str- never mind). My point to all this is that I
believe a similar system will be implemented into Sonic Boom, with after-images
being replaced by a streak of color.
With the Sonic Boost most likely not returning in favor of
what I’m calling the ‘Sonic Boom’ (how fitting), I had to ask myself about
another one of Sonic the Hedgehog’s trademark abilities: The Supersonic
Spin Dash.
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| The Supersonic Spin Dash |
The Supersonic Spin Dash (Spin Dash for short) made its first
appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. In this game, you could hold the down
button and press the jump button to make Sonic continuously somersault in place
and build potential momentum. When you let go, Sonic would be launched across
the screen with amazing speed in ball form. While the Spin Dash has appeared in
some 3D Sonic games, it was effectively absent from Sonic and the Secret Rings
onward up until Sonic Generations. After several years, the Spin Dash did finally
make an appearance in Sonic Lost World, and while it was a bit different, it
worked rather well in my opinion.
So, will the Spin Dash be in Sonic Boom? ...Maybe. Let me explain. There is one point in the game trailer (Skip to 0:42) in which we can
see Sonic rolling up a vertical slope in ball form, but this could mean one of
two things.
For all we know, there was simply a speed booster that caused Sonic
to enter ball form so that he could travel up the slope. After all, this wouldn’t
be the first time this happened either. In Sonic Unleashed for the Wii, you
could make Sonic enter ball form by Boosting into dash pads. Similarly, in
Sonic Lost World for the 3DS, Sonic would automatically transform into a ball
after hitting a speed booster, no Boosting required (as the Sonic Boost did not
appear in regular gameplay).
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| Rolling in Sonic Unleashed Wii and Sonic Lost World 3DS after hitting a Dash Pad |
One thing to keep in mind is that both of these
games were developed by Dimps, and it is not uncommon for developers to reuse
certain elements from past games (a good example of this being ‘Boost Mode’
from Sonic Advance, which made an appearance in a total of six games). Sonic
Boom (Wii U), however, is being developed by Big Red Button Entertainment, and
while it’s possible that they’re borrowing details such as this from other
games, I don’t think this is the case. Here’s why. After looking at the trailer
footage extremely closely and slowing it down to one fourth of its normal
playing speed, I’ve noticed something. Remember that streak of color I
mentioned earlier? It makes yet another appearance in this trailer, but this time,
in the Spin Dash. When travelling up the slope in ball form, Sonic for a short
time has a blue streak flowing behind him. About half way up, however, the
streak disappears. This is when I realized that this was not the first time I’d
seen this. The exact same thing happens in Sonic Lost World. When you activate
the Infinite Spin Dash (I call it the ‘Inspinidash’) in Sonic Lost World, Sonic
(in ball form, of course) begins to generate a blue streak behind him, and when
you release the button to deactivate it, the streak goes away.
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| The Spin Dash in Sonic Lost World Wii U |
Well, I’ll be
honest: this too can mean one of two things. The first possibility is that the
Infinite Spin Dash is returning in Sonic Boom, and that the player chose to
deactivate it half way up the slope. The second possibility is that Sonic
gained the blue streak after hitting a dash pad. But wait! If Sonic got the
streak from the dash pad, does that mean that he also got his ball form from
the dash pad, like in Sonic Unleashed? Not at all. After losing the blue speed streak,
Sonic actually stays in ball form until he is launched upward. Even if Sonic
got the speed streak from a dash pad, he would’ve had to have been in ball form
BEFORE hitting the dash pad in order to reach top speed and achieve the streak,
considering the fact that he remains in ball form even after the streak
disappears. If this were Sonic Unleashed, or even Sonic Lost World, Sonic would
have uncurled out of ball mode and resumed his normal running animation. In
short, this short two second clip essentially confirms the return of the
Supersonic Spin Dash in Sonic Boom…but what of the Infinite Spin Dash?
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| The Mysterious Blue Streak |
As I
mentioned earlier, the blue streak behind Sonic could mean two things: a dash
pad, or an Infinite Spin Dash. Well, believe it or not, the very next clip
solves this mystery. In this next clip, we see Tails the Fox flying upwards in
the exact same stage Sonic was in two seconds prior, and we get a good look at
the slope Sonic was travelling on.
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| Tails Assisting in Research |
I looked, and looked, and looked, but there was no
dash pad to be seen. In fact, I couldn’t even see where the vertical slope
began! This means that Sonic would be travelling up a ninety degree vertical
slope for a considerably long amount of time…with no dash pads to help him
along the way! In order to overcome this, Sonic would need a continuous burst
of momentum that a regular Spin Dash would not be able to provide, and considering
the possibility that the Sonic Boost probably won’t be returning, that only
leaves one viable option: the Infinite Spin Dash. My hypothesis is that Sonic
used an Infinite Spin Dash to travel straight up the wall and launch himself
upward. So there you have it! I think that not only the Spin Dash will be
returning, but the Infinite Spin Dash as well!
Now I just have to wait until E3 to see if I'm right!
Thanks for reading! For more news (and speculation!) about Sonic Boom, be sure to keep up-to-date with the Nintendo Alliance!
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