Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice Critic Reviews

Feels like a real return to form, with well-designed and vibrant environments matched with varied, exciting challenges throughout.

While Fire and Ice’s art direction and music are woefully generic, the well-constructed level layouts create a solid arcade-style experience that accomplishes a sense of extraordinary speed while accommodating a reasonable degree of control. Sonic Boom successfully draws from much of what makes the best of classic Sonic game play satisfying, sprinkles in a better-conceived exploratory structure, and remixes it into an intelligent, cohesive, and rewarding package.

While it’s not going to revolutionize the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice is a solid entry in the franchise. Its slick controls, fun boss battles, and entertaining speed sections are bound to put a smile on fans’ faces.

Developer Sanzaru Games seems to have taken the criticisms of Shattered Crystal to heart.

Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice is more positive than negative. It is developed to tap that deep nostalgia that Sonic fans have for the series, while bringing in some new elements that make it more than just an arcade platformer. While it isn’t perfect, especially the controls, it’s still a very entertaining experience that should satisfy the Sonic the Hedgehog fanbase.

It has its flaws, but nonetheless the constant change of abilities that first perfectly to the level design makes this one of the better entries in the Sonic games of late.

Despite an overly simplistic story and maybe being a bit too laid back, I really enjoyed my time with Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice. It’s a well-paced platformer, with the right mix of stages when I’d get bored of the basic platforming. Although it’s missing some of the polish I’d expect from other platformers, there’s a good foundation here for possible greatness if Sanzaru continues to be given the opportunity.

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is a new entry in Sonic’s franchise for Nintendo 3DS. The gameplay is fast and fun: there are plenty of stage types and many characters to choose, each with his unique skills. But the game seems way too easy, with too much advice and unlimited lives. It’s a good game overall, but not the right one to celebrate Sonic’s 25th anniversary.

The younger players amongst us should have no trouble picking up and enjoying some Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice. It’s geared toward younger kids, and maybe as a 32-year-old man with nostalgia brain, I want to try something a bit more. It feels short with only a handful of hours to work through each stage, many of the stages feel the same, and while the platforming isn’t bad, it’s like a small piece of candy: It’s gone quickly, no matter how nice it might taste. The game is somewhere between the classic franchise titles and the modern ones, but it holds truer to the originals, and y’know, that’s a good enough start.

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is a big step in the right direction for the spinoff series. While it still has quirks, it's a fun, easy experience that anyone can play. Though I still vastly prefer the classic Sonic games, Fire & Ice is an enjoyable spinoff title that brings some great elements of those games back into the forefront.

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice isn't the worst Sonic game I've ever played. It isn't terrible. The platforming and sense of speed are here, though just not as fun as you might remember them. The whole affair is rather ugly -- which can't only be blamed on the 3DS, though it doesn't help -- and the game isn't exactly long at a few hours to complete, if that. Hardcore fans of the series will probably get some enjoyment out of this, but for the full price of $40, it is hard to recommend to anyone else.

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is a complete and entertaining game that brings back Sonic to the right way. However, there are some elements and issues that do not have a positive effect on its gameplay.

The new Sonic Boom manages to offer an adventure with good ideas, but its lack of difficulty makes it recommended for young players.

It’s not quite the next big step that some may want, but Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice is nevertheless a fun, funny little platformer that’s a worthwhile romp for fans of the genre.

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is surprisingly good with a level design that actually takes advantage of the speed the character has.

Sonic is back with a rather good platform game on 3DS. Sometimes the screen is a bit too crowded, but the level design keeps everything enjoyable.

It is a good return for Sonic and his friends. It tries to maintain the balance between the classic style of Sonic and platforms of exploration but he still has a long way ahead.

Sanzaru has tried to listen to the bad response to the worst sold Sonic game ever. Changing into different characters, using fire and ice is fun, but those puzzle platform elements still mess up the awesome speedy feeling that we long for.

This isn’t the smartest, most exciting or most imaginative 2D platformer you’ll find on the 3DS. In fact, Sega seems hell-bent on hobbling its chances with a selection of tedious or frustrating mini-games...Yet, overall, Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice isn't bad, dishing out the kind of rollercoaster looping, spring-heeled madness that first made us love the little fella. It’s a high-speed sprint in the right direction; it's just a shame about the missteps on the way.

Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice has a forgettable story and some rather tedious, but optional, side missions. While the main 2D levels can be fun, they start to feel repetitive before long.