Sonic Forces Review

Sonic the Hedgehog is a strange part of my childhood with his 2D platforming instalments bringing the fast-little blue blur into my heart, with gameplay focused on collecting power rings and freeing barnyard animals. It competed Nintendo’s mascot Mario, with the early 90s rivalries getting to epic levels.

But who was the best? It was all about preference back in the day, did you want to be lightning fast? Or precise with each jump? Kid’s had a choice between genre kings. While Mario has stood up against the blue guy as the reigning champion transitioning to 3D with ease, Sonic The Hedgehog has never been able to jump into the next generation.

After countless failures, the fantastic swan-song game Sonic Generations (2012) breathed fresh into a withering icon, relying on redesigning in classic levels and gameplay elements. 2017 brings us the sequel, which claims to deliver a Furry Resistance to save our hero. But will they have a favourable mission? Jordan Samuel reviews Sonic Forces

Sonic Forces Review

Sonic the Hedgehog has been in a rough patch since his transition to 3D, the intelligent game design and fun-loving characters never honestly working in the new virtual universe. With Sonic Adventure (1999) being the only recent instalment nailing his signature design elements and level progression, as countless sequels forgot his roots.

Dismantling his reputation of the early 90s, as Sonic Team entirely not remembering why he became an icon in the first place. Releasing the shockingly disastrous, unfinished and disrespectful Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) publishing on time with Microsoft's Xbox 360 console and confusing fan bases with edgy Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) spin-off game. The franchise is in disarray with multiple releases failing to match, franchise staples and falling from greatness.

Sonic Generations (2012) was the step in a right direction for the series remastering iconic levels, also bringing together modern and classic sonic gameplay for the first time. Celebrating franchise origins but remixing elements for an anniversary outing which brought back the blur into solid well throughout gameplay.

But can the follow-up, Sonic Forces repeat on those rich elements? Or does the blue hedgehog have another stinky sequel?

Find out as Jordan Samuel reviews Sonic Forces

I was genuinely impressed with SEGA's 2D revival Sonic Mania for pushing the franchise closer to roots, with new additions and outstanding level design staples to a long-lasting icon. But was good enough? Can one game save a dying star? It feels like Sonic Team is on another planet with the middling Sonic Forces (2017) stinking up areas, with frankly preposterous level design and a purposeless character creation tool totalling nonentity to an almost dead horse.

The game throws away franchise staples (lives, intriguing environments and fast-paced level design) for shorter levels with hardly any structure, rhythm or ideas. Placeholder assets cluttered the unfinished game, with broken platforming and bizarre boss fights.

It doesn't advance the series design, and gameplay element instead fails in even putting together a cohesive mission structure. 2D action sequences make Sonic 4: Episode 1 looks like a Picasso painting, with lousy enemy placement and slow down are laughable for a 2017 platformer.

Sonic Forces brings both Classic and Modern interactions of the titular hero, with each style embedded into core mechanics but the glue is missing: as none of the levels works together. You also have a new character creator who brings, a recruit to the table in forms of Avatars which aid Sonic in his quest to defeat Eggman and villainous Infinite (I am not kidding with you). The latest edgy creation by Eggman, set to bring war into the fluffy universe against Sonic and his cute friends. Infinite brings in a ridiculous Zack Snyder level tone which doesn’t fit within a blue hedgehog’s world.

The story is just unfinished with plot elements being removed, in favour of terribly animated cut scenes which hardly make sense and even fail when compared to Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) CG. The laughable attempts at making Infinite a good villain, come across dull for even a child’s point of view as he lacks any new character assets.

Mascot and franchise leader, Sonic is also underused with the speedster being in the doghouse for a whole chunk of the short 4-hour playtime. Our created hero is used to bring in new elements including a gun mechanic ripped straight out Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) and on rails speed boost mode seen in recent games. The mute role feels uncompleted and adds nothing to an already mediocre video game, feeling like a last-minute addition to Sonic Forces.

Despite a few new ideas and sublime soundtrack, I cannot for recommend picking up Sonic Forces on any platform until a low bargain bin sale. It's just embarrassing the iconic character hasn’t been given the right treatment in his next generation debut, perhaps 3D sonic games are over? Or the franchise needs to stay buried.

2/5