Sonic Forces

Genre: Platformer / 3D Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Sonic Forces + Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD bundle, along with Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD. It is also included in The Ultimate Sonic Bundle, along with Sonic Mania and Team Sonic Racing.)

Sonic Forces is a family-friendly 3D Platformer (with 2D Platforming sections) released in 2017 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This game aims to shake up the Sonic franchise by starting on a down note – Sonic has been defeated and captured (or worse!) by Dr. Eggman, and following this the villain’s forces have very nearly conquered the entire world. Only a handful of Sonic’s allies remain to resist this takeover, and representing their last glimmer of hope in this dire situation is… you, playing a character you custom-create after the game’s prologue.

This premise is simply bursting with potential to give players a variety of ways to play the game. After all, when earlier games gave us Sonic’s speed, Tails’ flight, and Knuckles’ gliding and climbing, surely giving players a wealth of custom characters to create would lead to some incredibly unique gameplay opportunities!

Sadly, the reality of the situation is not nearly so interesting. Depending on the species of character you choose (dog, rabbit, wolf, etc.) you’ll get a small passive bonus along the lines of attracting nearby rings or having a longer invincibility buffer after taking damage, but the most extraordinary unique ability you’ll have on offer is if you choose bird to get a double-jump. No matter which character type you’ll create, you’ll get a grappling hook (in place of Sonic’s homing attack) and a flamethrower attack, but to say this is underwhelming is an understatement.

As if this wasn’t enough of a problem, Sonic Forces is absolutely loaded with cutscenes during gameplay that wrest control away from the player, really killing this game’s pacing. And that’s on top of gameplay problems that seem far too common for the Sonic series – clunky Platforming gameplay in 2D sections of the game and on-rails 3D sections that are fast but not very engaging.

Another problem is that Sonic Forces runs at a painfully-low 30FPS 720p resolution on Nintendo Switch in both docked and portable mode, and while the game does look visually-good, it’s often difficult to follow the fast-paced action when the visual quality just is not up to the task. Beyond this you have a pretty typical Sonic soundtrack and presentation.

Overall, Sonic Forces was a game that was bursting with potential, but that potential is absolutely squandered by game design that is nowhere near as ambitious as its premise, and graphical performance on Nintendo Switch that is simply not conducive to a Sonic game. By this point, you have multiple other better options for Sonic games on Nintendo Switch, play one of those instead.

tl;dr – Sonic Forces takes a mix of Sonic’s typical family-friendly 2D and 3D Platformer gameplay and puts players in the role of a new character after Sonic is defeated in the game’s prologue. It’s a concept that’s brimming with potential, but that potential is sadly squandered, with clunky unambitious gameplay and performance on Nintendo Switch that is not conducive to Sonic’s fast-paced gameplay. This is not Sonic’s worst game, but it is far from his best.

Grade: C-

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