Sonic Boom Sales Lowest in Franchise History

The masses didn't take kindly to the revamped looks the Blue Blue and the gang got in Sonic Boom, resulting in the lowest sales numbers the speedy hedgehog ever received in his 24 year history.

Eurogamer reports that the combined sales of the Wii U's Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and the 3DS' Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal barely reached 490,000 units. This number is extremely disappointing for Sega. While Sega has yet to distinct whether the 490,000 figure pertains to actual number of games sold or number of copies shipped, this is still extremely disappointing for the publisher and a bad sign for the future of the franchise. Whether shipped or sold, the combined numbers of Sonic Boom have established it as the lowest-selling launch in the history of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

What could have triggered such disinterest in Sonic Boom? Many longtime fans were put off by the controversial redesigns of Sonic and Knuckles, where Sonic was given a scarf and a lankier look, and Knuckles was overly muscular; all of its characters were needlessly covered in athletic tape, even their sneakers. Both Sonic Boom titles were met with negative reception from critics and gamers alike. Lastly, people have started to become accustomed to contemporary Sonic games simply being not good, after being scorned by numerous failed entries at trying to help the Blue Blur transition from 2D side-scrolling to 3D action.

Here's an excerpt from our (brutally honest) review about Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric:

Sonic Boom’s poor quality reflects a quick and dirty rush job by Big Red Button Entertainment. Rise of Lyric shouldn’t exist as a Sonic game or as a current-gen game, because it fails to meet the standards of both. Just when you thought there was nothing else that could be done to ruin the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise even more than its previous incarnations, all it took was a Big Red Button.