20 Disappointing Video Games That Didn't Fulfil Their Potential
10. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric was a game that nobody asked for during a time when the Sonic franchise was in flux. Sonic fans were just reeling from games such as Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episodes 1 & 2, Sonic Lost World and Sonic Free Riders; they needed a big win.
Sonic Boom was a bold reinvention of the franchise that came with controversial redesigns (I’ll say it now, they’re not that bad) and an actually pretty good TV show. Its grand entrance to the world, however, was the Wii U exclusive, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. Featuring all the staples of a troubled development, including a last-minute switch to a different engine, mismanagement and a long list of content that had to be removed due to time constraints. Sonic Boom landed with an almighty thud, killing off the fledgling franchise instantly.
But here’s my controversial take on this game: I actually don’t think it was a terrible idea. We would still be getting the Sonic games we know and love from Sonic Team, and this would be a nice little bonus on the side. I adore games such as Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank, so you want to give me a Sonic game akin to those and still feature speed sections where you can run as fast as you possibly can? I’m in! Plus, it promised to feature an interesting take on Sonic’s origins and seemingly wanted to build a new, fascinating lore around all the characters.
But with all the issues it faced during development, the game launched as a bug-filled nightmare with all of the interesting features, gameplay mechanics and storylines, gone. It was a skeleton of what it was supposed to be and was, unfortunately, never fixed post-launch. SEGA moved on with creating its own Sonic games, for better and for worse (looking at you, Sonic Forces).