Nintendo 3DS2014Sanzaru Games2D platformer

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (2014)

Lyric kidnaps Amy, and Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and newcomer Sticks swing to the rescue with their Enerbeams. The handheld half of the Sonic Boom launch, built around exploration and collecting.

Released11 Nov 2014 (NA) · 21 Nov 2014 (Europe) · 29 Nov 2014 (Australia) · 18 Dec 2014 (Japan)

DeveloperSanzaru Games

DirectorsBill Spence, Tin Guerrero

WritersKen Pontac, Warren Graff, Tin Guerrero

NewSticks the Badger, playable

Sales620,000 with Rise of Lyric (by March 2015)

Title	Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal; Japan: ソニックトゥーン アイランドアドベンチャー (Sonic Toon: Island Adventure); France: Le Cristal Brisé; Germany: Der Zerbrochene Kristall; Spain: El Cristal Roto; Italy: Frammenti di Cristallo
Platform	Nintendo 3DS
Developer	Sanzaru Games, San Francisco; supervised by Sonic Team (Takashi Iizuka)
Publisher	Sega
Directors	Bill Spence, Tin Guerrero
Producer	Jenny Huang
Designers	Mat Kraemer, John Hsia
Programmers	Jon Gilardi, Paul Murray
Artists	Jeremy French, JF Lepine
Writers	Ken Pontac, Warren Graff, Tin Guerrero
Music	Richard Jacques
Players	1 (StreetPass collectables mini-game)
Rating	ESRB E (Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence)
Released (North America)	11 November 2014
Released (Europe)	21 November 2014
Released (Australia)	29 November 2014
Released (Japan)	18 December 2014, as Sonic Toon: Island Adventure
Companion game	Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)
Sequel	Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (2016)

Overview

Shattered Crystal is the Nintendo 3DS half of Sega’s Sonic Boom launch, released on the same day as Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric on Wii U and three days after the Sonic Boom cartoon began on Cartoon Network. It was made by Sanzaru Games of San Francisco, and like its Wii U sibling it is a prequel to the TV series, set in the same redesigned world.

It is a side-scrolling platformer with a strong emphasis on exploration. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the new Sticks the Badger can be swapped at any moment, and each has a skill the others lack: Sonic air-dashes through blue barriers, Tails rides air currents and pilots gadgets, Knuckles burrows and climbs, and Sticks throws a boomerang you can steer. On top of their own skills, all four carry the same two tools: the homing attack, and the Enerbeam, a glowing tether that serves as a swing line over pits and a crowbar for prising the shields off Badniks. Levels are big mazes full of crystal shards, collectables and blueprint pieces, broken up by races and boss fights across six islands.

The story is simple: Lyric, the last of the Ancients, kidnaps Amy because she can read the writing that leads to the shards of a powerful crystal. Reviews were poor, if a little kinder than to Rise of Lyric, with critics tiring of the slow, backtracking-heavy levels and the jokey script. Sanzaru took the lessons on board for its sequel, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice.

Quick Answers

Quick answers; more detail further down.

Plot / Story

Shattered Crystal tells its backstory in an in-game comic and the rest in short cutscenes. It does not match Rise of Lyric’s version of events: the two games give different accounts of how Lyric was imprisoned and released, and even of where the team found their Enerbeams and the Tornado.

The Lost Crystal of Power

Thousands of years ago, Lyric the Last Ancient, a serpentine cyborg, tried to conquer the world with a crystal of immense power. His fellow Ancients smashed it, used its shards to lock him away in stasis, and scattered the pieces, knowing they had only delayed him. In the present day Lyric breaks free and starts hunting the fragments. When Shadow turns up and offers his services on his own terms, Lyric secretly fixes a mind-control device on him.

Amy goes missing

Meanwhile Sonic and Knuckles save Sticks from a rockslide, with Amy and Tails hauling them clear on their Enerbeams. Sticks babbles about an army underground, and Amy ignores her and heads off to study an ancient temple, leaving Knuckles on guard outside. In the ruins she finds an ancient script and a manuscript describing the crystal and where its pieces lie. Lyric ambushes her; she fights back with her hammer, but while she is calling Sonic for help, Lyric knocks her out and carries her off.

The rescue

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Sticks follow Amy’s trail across the islands, collecting crystal shards along the way. They meet Shadow, still under Lyric’s control, and Sonic beats him in a race, breaking the device’s hold; Shadow leaves, swearing revenge on Lyric. Lyric tries to make Amy translate the manuscripts, but the team catches up, rescues her and corners Lyric aboard his airship.

Showdown on the airship

Beaten but defiant, Lyric turns an experimental weapon on the heroes. Shadow arrives to settle his score, and as Sonic opens a hatch in the floor, Lyric drops through it to his apparent end. Sticks delivers a long, rambling speech about teamwork, Shadow goes his own way, and the friends head home bickering over whether they are Team Sonic or Team Knuckles. In Rise of Lyric, by contrast, Lyric survives his defeat.

Islands in Shattered Crystal

The game is split into six islands. Each has a world map, one or two adventure levels, a Worm Tunnel and a branch of Q-N-C’s Toy Shop, with races and boss battles spread between them; the player travels between islands with a slingshot.

1. Seaside CoastIsland 1Beach and jungle levels, plus the team’s homes: Tails’ Workshop, Sonic’s Shack, Amy’s House and Sticks’ burrow.
2. ScrapyardIsland 2A junkyard level and Knuckles’ Hangout.
3. Shadow CanyonsIsland 3Canyon level and race, where Shadow lurks.
4. Ancient RuinsIsland 4The Ancient City, a robot facility and a facility race.
5. Volcanic CraterIsland 5The Volcanic Caverns.
6. Cloud SanctuaryIsland 6The Air Fortress and the final battle on Lyric’s airship.

Bosses: Sticks (in a misunderstanding), Shadow, Metal Sonic and Lyric. Collecting Sonic Badges unlocks some levels, and the Worm Tunnels are into-the-screen dashes through underground tubes.

In comics, TV & other media

Shattered Crystal was one part of a big multimedia launch, and it shares its world, writers and voices with the cartoon. More in our cartoons section.

Characters

Four playable heroes, one damsel who refuses to stay in distress, and a villain with a lot of backstory. Character art below is the Japanese Sonic Toon profile art from our gallery.

Character	Who they are	In this game	Stats & abilities
SonicPlayable	The Boom Sonic: neckerchief, sports tape, plenty of attitude. Voiced by Roger Craig Smith (English) and Jun’ichi Kanemaru (Japanese).	Leads the rescue and frees Shadow by beating him in a race.	Mid-air dash breaks blue barriers Homing attack and Enerbeam
TailsPlayable	The team’s inventor. Voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey (English) and Ryō Hirohashi (Japanese).	Provides gadgets and transport.	Flies up air currents Gadgets, including a submarine Homing attack and Enerbeam
KnucklesPlayable	The team’s strongman. Voiced by Travis Willingham (English) and Nobutoshi Canna (Japanese).	Holds back the rockslide in the opening and argues for the name Team Knuckles at the end.	Climbs walls Burrows underground Homing attack and Enerbeam
Sticks the BadgerNew · Playable	A paranoid, wild badger who lives in the jungle, created for Sonic Boom; this is the first game in which she is playable. Voiced by Nika Futterman (English) and Aoi Yūki (Japanese).	Rescued from a rockslide in the opening, she warns of an army underground, and is even fought as a boss before joining up.	Boomerang that can be steered in flight Homing attack and Enerbeam
Amy RoseCaptive	The team’s brains, with a giant hammer. Voiced by Cindy Robinson (English) and Taeko Kawata (Japanese).	Discovers the manuscript that points to the crystal shards and is kidnapped by Lyric to translate it; not playable in this game.	Fights Lyric with her hammer before she is captured.
Lyric the Last AncientVillain	A snake-like cyborg and the last of the Ancients. Voiced by Patrick Seitz (English) and Jūrōta Kosugi (Japanese).	Freed from stasis, he hunts the shards of the Lost Crystal of Power, enslaves Shadow and kidnaps Amy.	Final boss aboard his airship.
ShadowRival	The Boom Shadow, aggressive and contemptuous of friendship. Voiced by Kirk Thornton (English) and Kōji Yusa (Japanese).	Offers to help Lyric, is mind-controlled, is freed when Sonic beats him and returns to take revenge on Lyric.	Boss and race rival.
Metal SonicBoss	Eggman’s robot double.	One of the four boss battles.	Boss.
Dr. Eggman and Q-N-CSupporting	Eggman appears in a small role; Q-N-C runs the toy shops found on every island.	The toy shops sell figurines and extras bought with the collectables found in levels.	Non-playable.

Enemies

Lyric’s robots, from our concept art gallery. The full roster also includes Blunt Force, Buzz Saw, Cliff Hanger, Shocker, Slynko, Spintrap, Stinger and Wrecks.

• ArmorilloRobotAn armadillo-like robot.
• Mor-TarRobotA mortar-firing robot.
• RockoRobotA rock-throwing robot.
• ScrawlRobotA crawling robot.
• ScuttleRobotA scuttling crab-like robot.
• ZapoRobotAn electrified robot.
• ZipperRobotA fast-moving robot.
• Design sheetConcept artSanzaru’s enemy designs for the 3DS game.

The people who made it

Key credits from Wikipedia’s cited sources.

How it was made

Our original page was an infobox only, so this history is new, built from Wikipedia’s cited development history.

A Nintendo deal

Shattered Crystal exists because of a deal with Nintendo. On 17 May 2013 Sega promised Nintendo platforms three exclusive Sonic games: Sonic Lost World and the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games took the first two places, and the two Boom games shared the third. When the Wii U game, still called Sonic Synergy at that point, moved over in 2013, Sega wanted a 3DS companion to go with it, and that job went to Sanzaru Games.

Its own game

Sanzaru built Shattered Crystal under the supervision of Sonic Team and Takashi Iizuka, and it ended up a quite different game from its sibling: a 2D platformer instead of a 3D brawler, with its own story, levels and enemies and a distinct look for its environments. As with the Wii U game, the concepts followed the plans for the TV series, the aim was to appeal to Western players, and the Boom games were kept in a continuity separate from the main series.

Announcement and release

Sega announced Sonic Boom as the title for both games on 6 February 2014, promising Sonic’s speed alongside the new Enerbeam. The games were not originally meant for Japan, but a Japanese release under the Sonic Toon name was announced in mid-2014. Shattered Crystal came out on 11 November 2014 in North America, 21 November in Europe, 29 November in Australia and 18 December in Japan. As with Rise of Lyric, Sega did not send out review copies before launch.

Firsts: what this game introduced

What Shattered Crystal brought to the Sonic Boom world.

Cheats & secrets

Our original page had no secrets section, so this one is new.

Sonic Badges

Some levels stay locked until you have collected enough Sonic Badges, so it pays to explore.

Crystal shards and parts

Crystal shards are needed to progress, and the parts scattered around levels pay for upgrades.

Upgrades for Rise of Lyric

Play through the story to unlock special upgrades in the Wii U game.

StreetPass

Passing other 3DS owners feeds a collectables mini-game.

Glitches, exploits and oddities

Shattered Crystal is not remembered for bugs so much as for how its story and its sibling’s refuse to agree.

Two continuities in one launch

Released on the same day, the two Boom games give different versions of how Lyric was imprisoned and freed, how the team got its Enerbeams and communicators, and where they found the Tornado: at Cliff’s dig in Rise of Lyric, in the Volcanic Crater here.

Lyric’s fate

Here Lyric falls from his airship and appears to die; in Rise of Lyric he is merely defeated and stripped of his technology.

Slow going

Reviewers complained that the long, maze-like levels and constant backtracking slowed the game to a crawl, a criticism Sega and Sanzaru later acknowledged.

Videos & media

Launch trailers from Nintendo of America and Nintendo UK.

The launch trailer, from Nintendo of America’s YouTube channel.

The UK launch trailer, from Nintendo UK’s YouTube channel.

Trivia & facts

• 

  Sticks is fought as a boss before she joins the team.
• The game ends with Sonic and Knuckles arguing over whether the group is Team Sonic or Team Knuckles.

• 

  In Japan the game was called Sonic Toon: Island Adventure.
• Amy is the only member of the team you cannot play as, because the story revolves around rescuing her.
• Writers Ken Pontac and Warren Graff had previously written Sonic Colours and Sonic Generations.

• 

  The backstory is told in a comic inside the game; our artwork gallery has the pencils.

Media & artwork

Boxes, character art, concept art and screenshots from Sonic Scene’s own galleries and Sonic Retro. Select any image to view it larger.

• Box art
• Screenshots (67) and cutscenes
• Artwork, enemy designs, comic pencils and profiles

Legacy

Shattered Crystal was a commercial and critical disappointment, but it gave Sticks her first playable role and taught Sanzaru what to fix for a sequel.

Releases and milestones

• Nintendo exclusivity deal announced 17 May 2013 – Three Sonic games.
• Sonic Boom announced 6 February 2014 – With the TV series trailer.
• Sticks revealed 29 May 2014 – Voiced by Nika Futterman.
• Japanese release announced Mid-2014 – As Sonic Toon.
• TV series premiere 8 November 2014 – Cartoon Network.
• North America 11 November 2014 –
• Europe and Australia 21 and 29 November 2014 –
• Japan 18 December 2014 – Sonic Toon: Island Adventure.
• Sales announced 11 May 2015 – 620,000 with Rise of Lyric.
• Fire & Ice September 2016 – The sequel.

Fire & Ice

When Sega announced Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice in June 2015, producer Omar Woodley said Sega and Sanzaru had learned from Shattered Crystal. The game had been aimed at children aged seven to eleven, but players who knew the classic Sonic games had struggled with its long exploration levels, so the sequel’s stages were made shorter with routes for players who just want to go fast.

Sticks after Shattered Crystal

Sticks became one of the cartoon’s main cast, was playable again in Fire & Ice, and has since turned up in games outside the Boom brand, including Sonic Runners, the Rio 2016 Mario & Sonic and Sonic Frontiers.

Sales & reviews

Sales

Sega announced on 11 May 2015 that Shattered Crystal and Rise of Lyric had sold 620,000 copies between them by 31 March 2015, placing both among the lowest-selling games in the series. Sega has not given separate figures for each game.

• 620kBoth Boom games, by 31 March 2015
• 47Metacritic
• 68Famitsu (Sega Retro)

Reception and review scores

Scores from Wikipedia’s cited review table, plus Famitsu from Sega Retro, converted to percentages. Metacritic rated it “generally unfavorable”.

Shattered Crystal was received poorly, though a little better than Rise of Lyric, and several critics called it the stronger of the two. GamesRadar’s Becky Cunningham enjoyed some of the platforming and treasure hunting, but in the end, she wrote, its “tedious mazes and poor story ultimately make it a drag”.

Others were harsher. Destructoid’s Chris Carter thought it lacked even the few redeeming qualities he saw in Rise of Lyric, criticising its sluggish pace, poor dialogue and repetition, and complaining that it kept making players wait before they could get to the platforming. IGN’s Scott Thompson called it “simplistic” and “monotonous”, found the jokes “painfully unfunny”, and summed the whole thing up as “a slog that never finds its footing”.

Further reading

More from Sonic Scene on Sonic Boom:

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the sources below. Sonic Retro and Sega Retro were read through Wayback Machine copies from 2025 that show the real article, because both live sites show a bot check. Review scores come from Wikipedia’s cited review table and Sega Retro. Our original article was an infobox only; its facts are kept in the info table.

• Overview: Sonic Scene box art gallery: North American 3DS box, back cover (official description); Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Wikipedia, Sonic Boom (TV series): characters, cast, Japanese release, games
• Quick Answers: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Sonic Wiki Zone, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal: comic prequel, islands, bosses, enemies, cast, continuity differences; Sonic Scene box art gallery: North American 3DS box, back cover (official description)
• Plot / Story: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Sonic Wiki Zone, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal: comic prequel, islands, bosses, enemies, cast, continuity differences; Sonic Scene screenshot gallery
• In comics, TV & other media: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Wikipedia, Sonic Boom (TV series): characters, cast, Japanese release, games; Sonic Scene box art gallery: North American 3DS box, back cover (official description); Sonic Wiki Zone, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (credits: producer Jenny Huang; story by Warren Graff, Ken Pontac and Tin Guerrero); Sonic Wiki Zone, Archie Sonic Boom Issue 11 (the eleventh and final issue)
• Characters: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Wikipedia, Sonic Boom (TV series): characters, cast, Japanese release, games; Sonic Wiki Zone, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal: comic prequel, islands, bosses, enemies, cast, continuity differences; Sonic Scene artwork gallery (Japanese profile art, enemy designs, comic pencils, level concepts); Sonic Wiki Zone, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (credits: producer Jenny Huang; story by Warren Graff, Ken Pontac and Tin Guerrero)
• How it was made: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Wikipedia, Sonic Boom (TV series): characters, cast, Japanese release, games; Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Synergy and the 3DS mandate)
• Firsts: what this game introduced: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Sonic Wiki Zone, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal: comic prequel, islands, bosses, enemies, cast, continuity differences; Sonic Scene box art gallery: North American 3DS box, back cover (official description)
• Cheats & secrets: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Sonic Wiki Zone, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal: comic prequel, islands, bosses, enemies, cast, continuity differences; Sonic Scene box art gallery: North American 3DS box, back cover (official description)
• Glitches, exploits and oddities: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Sonic Wiki Zone, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal: comic prequel, islands, bosses, enemies, cast, continuity differences; Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (Omar Woodley on lessons from Shattered Crystal)
• Videos & media: YouTube, Nintendo of America, video Bhco-h3kWAs (checked with oEmbed); YouTube, Nintendo UK, video NZs1kzkpyjA (checked with oEmbed)
• Trivia & facts: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Sonic Wiki Zone, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal: comic prequel, islands, bosses, enemies, cast, continuity differences; Sonic Scene artwork gallery (Japanese profile art, enemy designs, comic pencils, level concepts)
• Legacy: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (Omar Woodley on lessons from Shattered Crystal); Wikipedia, Sonic Boom (TV series): characters, cast, Japanese release, games
• Sales & reviews: Wikipedia, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and the sources it cites (Sega press releases; Destructoid, IGN, GamesRadar, Metacritic); Sega Retro, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal: Famitsu score (Wayback copy, November 2025); Sonic Retro, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric: sales data for both Boom games (Wayback copy, November 2025)