Ah, Sonic. One of the first games I ever played was Sonic The Hedgehog on the Sega Master System, it was tough at the time but really fun. I have continued to play Sonic games over the years some good and others...well not so much. I recently saw a trailer for Sonic Forces which gave me pause, seemed a little darker than normal, an interesting villain and though maybe it would be worth a play. Recently I saw it second-hand and thought to myself why not pick it up?
I like soup, it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Not sure what to eat? Have some soup. Feeling a little sick and not sure what your stomach can handle? Have some soup. Have next to no money but need to fill your stomach? Have some soup. I have tried quite a lot of soup, some has been really enjoyable and some have not. I recently tried apple and herb celeriac soup, what does that look like you ask? Imagine if an apple could poop, that's the start of it and they pour hot wallpaper paste over it. It doesn't look great, but as my dad always said to us growing up 'don't turn your nose up until you have tried it'. So, I tried it. Since then I have done my best to put that horrible experience behind. Playing Sonic Forces I found myself asking was this my apple and herb celeriac soup or did I need to try it before turning my nose up?
Story
The nefarious Dr. Robotnik has a new scheme cooked up. Okay, yeah I know technically he was and always has been called Dr. Eggman, it is the West who created the name Dr. Robotnik but it what I grew up with. He has created Infinite a being who can change reality, which to be fair is pretty nifty ability. Defeating Infinite and Dr. Robotnik will be tough but don't worry he will have plenty of friends including the original Sonic (the real Sonic in my eyes). There is also a new character which you can create, the story focuses a lot around them, yay.
The story is a pretty cool idea but never quite manages to reach its full potential. The addition of a new character feels unneeded especially as there are already some fairly meh ones in the Sonic Universe without adding another. The game likes to subtly jackhammer home points like 'we can do anything if we just work together' and 'you can't defeat because you are evil and don't have any friends'. Of course, my favorite line is said by Tails at the end of the game where he says 'true dat'. True Dat? True Dat!? What?! Did they want to make him sound like a dad trying to sound cool? Well done you did it.
Overall the story could be worse but it could also have been better. TRUE! DAT!
Visuals
Onto the visuals. They were pretty good, using some classic looking levels Sonic fans will be familiar with like Green Hill and Chemical Plant Zone. There are new zones like the Mystic Jungle and the Eggman Empire Fortress, which are quite colorful. Sonic has always been good at keeping the levels colorful even when you are somewhere dark like an evil fortress where almost everything can kill you.
Overall the visuals are probably one of the stronger elements of the game and managed to keep me entertained during my time playing.
Music
The soundtrack is upbeat, a little too much so and feel like listening to One Direction or another boyband from the West. This is surprising as Japanese composer Tomoya Ohtani composed it and has done so for many over the Sonic games for over ten years including; Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes and Sonic Generations to name but a few.
The soundtrack is over three hours longs which for a game this short feels overly long. I wasn't a huge fan of the soundtrack and perhaps that because the aim was to attract newer younger fans rather than long-standing Sonic fans. Even if that was the goal it still felt a little too upbeat, imagine a hyperactive child bouncing off the walls - it is fun for a few minutes but gets old fast.
Gameplay
The gameplay is a mixed bag. The newer version of Sonic has a lock-on attack as we have got used to over the last few games. The original Sonic focuses on his dash attack ability used in the classic games. I bet you want to play as all the cool characters from the series, no? You want to create your own avatar which is nowhere near as cool? The game focuses a lot on your homemade character, initially, I was like okay this might be okay but really that's not who I want to spend my time using.
Customization has become massive in games over the last number of years. I don't understand it for the most part. There is so much focus on it that it waters down the overall content. If you have a car in a game it makes sense to customize it but having accessories for your characters that provide no benefit seems pointless. Sonic Forces focuses a lot on this and I was not a fan of it.
We have all got used to ranking systems in games, normally you go from D or E ranking all the way to S ranking. It makes sense and helps you focus on getting better. If I died nine times on a level you would think, damn you are getting an E ranking for sure, no I got an S ranking. The most basic of systems is broken this badly, how, why? This was not my first experience of this happening.
Remember collecting rings, hitting one hundred and getting an extra life? I do, Sonic Forces does not. Once you hit one hundred rings they are no longer counted, there are no lives, there are no continues. There is no sense of achievement in completing levels at all. The boss on occasion over a mild challenge but nothing crazy.
Overall the gameplay can be fun but Team Sonic seemed to have forgotten what made Sonic so great. They have added in new things that don't work or are unneeded and overall ruined the experience. The gameplay panders to the Fortnite generation where more time is spent on what you are wearing than the actual gameplay itself.
Final Thoughts
So, after six hours how did I feel? Hollow, and like a small part of me died. The story was so so, the visuals were pretty good, the music was...next, and the gameplay just wasn't that fun. Perhaps in another dimension, I like the game but not in this one. Overall this gets an underwhelming 2 out of 5
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