We developed three prototypes, selling two original IPs in the process, with publishers that were in decline, unfortunately. BRB was founded in 2008 and the current BRB leadership assembled in late 2009. Can you tell a bit about how you got from 2008 to Sonic Boom in 2014?īR: Correct. GZ: This is Big Red Button's first game, correct? It looks like the studio was founded in 2008. GZ: Will the game take advantage of the Wii U in any unique ways?īR: We’re using some of the unique features but you will have to wait until E3 for specific details. It will also show up in the animation when appropriate. Basically, it is used to some degree in all major pillars of the game and is an important character ability. Some examples are, in locomotion, such as the zip lines, to pull things like shields off of enemies and to interact with elements of the game world. The energy tether, or “Enerbeam”, can be used in quite a few ways. We ultimately decided to go in a different direction for Boom. GZ: What are the uses for the energy tether, and was Knuckles Chaotix an inspiration for that idea?īR: We looked at a lot canon titles including Knuckles Chaotix as inspiration of what would work best to establish this action adventure experience. These are some really fun characters! We’re excited to allow all four, not just Sonic, more center stage in combat and navigation. We wanted to enhance how players can engage enemies through different character abilities. What can we expect in terms of the combat gameplay?īR: In combat, our goal was to allow player expression via character selection and ability to engage enemies.

GZ: Combat appeared to be quite a bit more involved than previous Sonic games. Is that the focus of the game, or do you swap through characters in single player?īob Rafei: The game does feature co-op, which we will go into further detail at E3. GameZone: How does Sonic Boom make use of the four characters? The game features co-op. We picked his brain about some of the game’s unique features, their inspirations, and what a new Sonic game means in 2014. After Sonic Boom’s reveal a few weeks ago, we had a chance to get in touch with Bob Rafei, co-founder and CEO of Big Red Button Entertainment, the studio behind the Wii U version of the game.

Big red button game studio