With the upcoming release of Sonic Boom, the art direction of the characters received a major overhaul, and for some members of the Sonic Team, the transformation was "traumatic."

"Early on, when we had our first review of all the crazy things we wanted to try, Iizuka-san came down to Los Angeles and looked through all the different concepts," Big Red Button CEO, Bob Rafei said according to Joystiq. "I felt sorry for the guy because sometimes he couldn't actually look at the screen ... it was too traumatic seeing all the crazy stuff we wanted to do."

Rafei went on and spoke about how they initially experimented with fur, scales, and different colors, but instead settled for tape and a few accessories.
"From my perspective, it was important the characters have a practical heroism to them and not vanity, which is more fitting for villains," Rafei said, speaking on the taped up appendages of the heroes. "When the world is in jeopardy, you don't have time to worry about what you look like."

See what Sonic and the rest of the gang look like here.

Sonic Boom will be for the 3DS and Wii U and is sort of a spinoff of the traditional series of Sonic games. The animation and gameplay is different, and from the trailer it appears to be a group effort of play much like Sonic Heroes, except in more of an open world feel.

Polygon reported that the game will be a prequel to the going-on's of the show, and will based on exploration.

See the game trailer below:

Sonic the Hedgehog's new CG cartoon has a trailer up as "Sonic Boom" will come to TV as well, on Cartoon Network toward the end of 2014.

Sonic Boom the cartoon will air 52 eleven minute episodes.

Watch the trailer below: