Hello, dear reader, I hope you’re having a good day. I’m not being paid to write this blog, and it contains information based on my opinions from playing Sonic Forces on iOS. Sonic Forces is rated 9+ on the App Store due to Infrequent/Mild Cartoon Violence.
Review:
Sonic Forces: Speed Battle is a free-to-play online multiplayer racing game for iOS and Android. The game does have in-app purchases, but starting characters already feel fair. The Sonic you start with is one of the fastest characters in Sonic Forces! The game matches you with players within 100 trophies so races don’t feel unfair. As you gain trophies you unlock new stages. Memorizing stage layouts will be key to grasping victory and leaving your opponents in your dust.
Time: It takes a match about 2 minutes to complete start to finish in the first three stages. It does feel like the stages get longer as you progressively unlock them. Chest slots are easily vacated by watching ads for 30 seconds. About 2 minutes 30 seconds of your day will grant you a fun race and a significant amount of character shards. As long as you get first place.
Pros and Cons: The music is super catchy. It certainly follows the Sonic tradition of sticking between your ears all day. The races are tight and usually feel close right up to the warp gate! If you are a veteran of endless runners, it may disappoint you to learn Sonic Forces doesn’t allow multiple movements to combine. In other words, no diagonal leaps out of danger. The game will only recognize one movement at a time, with a little bit of lag between commands. Once you get used to it, it really isn’t a problem. Advertisements are everywhere. Thankfully, ads also help you progress quickly by unlocking chests and doubling your shard gains from victories. This allows you to unlock new characters within a day or two. The game is supposed to remove ads for anyone making an in-app purchase. Two dollars may be a small price to pay for you to remove ads, yet it won’t get you many red rings. Still, the game makes you feel like you don’t need to make any in-app purchases in order to fully enjoy the content. You do need a good Wi-Fi connection. The game simply can’t handle a lack of communication, like most people really.
Overall Impression: I would recommend Sonic Forces to gamers who enjoy endless runners, or online free-to-play multiplayer racing games which require fast reactions and level memorization. I don’t recommend the game to anyone looking for more than a fun race or who can’t stand ads. Who isn’t content with a good race though?
Tips:
Links: http://www.sega.com/games/sonic-forces-speed-battle is the developer website, the forum is at http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_Forces:_Speed_Battle and another review is at http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPad/Sonic+Forces%3A+Speed+Battle/review.asp?c=75821.
Disclaimer: I’m not being paid by Hard Light, Sega Europe, or anyone else to write these tips. The only money I could make would be through advertising on this site or on YouTube at this point in time. I don't take responsibility for the content on sites linked to from this article.
by Brian Petrilli AKA Jalinon
Review:
Sonic Forces: Speed Battle is a free-to-play online multiplayer racing game for iOS and Android. The game does have in-app purchases, but starting characters already feel fair. The Sonic you start with is one of the fastest characters in Sonic Forces! The game matches you with players within 100 trophies so races don’t feel unfair. As you gain trophies you unlock new stages. Memorizing stage layouts will be key to grasping victory and leaving your opponents in your dust.
Time: It takes a match about 2 minutes to complete start to finish in the first three stages. It does feel like the stages get longer as you progressively unlock them. Chest slots are easily vacated by watching ads for 30 seconds. About 2 minutes 30 seconds of your day will grant you a fun race and a significant amount of character shards. As long as you get first place.
Pros and Cons: The music is super catchy. It certainly follows the Sonic tradition of sticking between your ears all day. The races are tight and usually feel close right up to the warp gate! If you are a veteran of endless runners, it may disappoint you to learn Sonic Forces doesn’t allow multiple movements to combine. In other words, no diagonal leaps out of danger. The game will only recognize one movement at a time, with a little bit of lag between commands. Once you get used to it, it really isn’t a problem. Advertisements are everywhere. Thankfully, ads also help you progress quickly by unlocking chests and doubling your shard gains from victories. This allows you to unlock new characters within a day or two. The game is supposed to remove ads for anyone making an in-app purchase. Two dollars may be a small price to pay for you to remove ads, yet it won’t get you many red rings. Still, the game makes you feel like you don’t need to make any in-app purchases in order to fully enjoy the content. You do need a good Wi-Fi connection. The game simply can’t handle a lack of communication, like most people really.
Overall Impression: I would recommend Sonic Forces to gamers who enjoy endless runners, or online free-to-play multiplayer racing games which require fast reactions and level memorization. I don’t recommend the game to anyone looking for more than a fun race or who can’t stand ads. Who isn’t content with a good race though?
Tips:
- Double your rewards- Like most games, you want to win. In this case, you get major benefits from being first. You unlock 11 trophies at a time, and up to 44 character shards at once. Most common characters only need 50 to 90 shards to collect. Afterwards, shards are used to empower your favorite hedgehog. Unlock 3-hour chests first! Unlocking 8-hour chests will prevent you from unlocking any new chests until 8 hours are completed.
- Memorize the course- Because you can’t do super speedy reactions in the game, knowledge will be your greatest weapon. Forget the fireballs, and focus on your environment! Most wins are gained through a combination of good placement of your racer and reacting to opponents’ plays. Don’t worry as much about your abilities and it’ll leave your mind more room to focus on the important task of staying alive.
- You can attack enemies – The game wasn’t very clear on this, but you can jump or down-slide into enemies for rings. If you’re behind, it’s a good idea to take a path leading to enemies. More risk is more reward. The rings will give you a nice speed boost and will help you catch back up to the pack.
- Gravity always wins- Read your abilities closely and you’ll learn not even Classic Sonic’s Invulnerability can defeat the awesome power of gravity. Always beware falls! You’ll lose your invulnerability, speed, and rings by falling.
- You can side swipe into speed boosts- Remember how you can’t combine movements together? You can’t, but you can time things so well you end up with a speed boost after jumping and then swiping down onto a booster. You can also time side swipes well enough to avoid an obstacle and then dodge back onto the booster. It’s a great trick when you can pull it off because you won’t accidentally hit the obstacle, unlike the up-swipe, down-swipe technique.
- Bombs, traps, and other player-made obstacles can be jumped- Don’t worry about finding the perfect path out of a player’s trap. You can jump the bombs and continue on.
- Don’t exit the app after a victory- you’ll lose the chance to double your rewards if you exit the app immediately after a race.
Links: http://www.sega.com/games/sonic-forces-speed-battle is the developer website, the forum is at http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_Forces:_Speed_Battle and another review is at http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPad/Sonic+Forces%3A+Speed+Battle/review.asp?c=75821.
Disclaimer: I’m not being paid by Hard Light, Sega Europe, or anyone else to write these tips. The only money I could make would be through advertising on this site or on YouTube at this point in time. I don't take responsibility for the content on sites linked to from this article.
by Brian Petrilli AKA Jalinon