Game:

Sonic Forces (2017)

Category:

Review

Duration: 4:05

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Sonic Forces : Sonic has been defeated, and Doctor Eggman is conquering the planet. The only one who can put things right is your custom-made character, with some help from some old-school Sonics. The premise behind Sonic Forces
sounds like an amazing mix for a Sonic game, level design and overall inability to capitalize on its potential leaves it just a few steps short.

The character creation is a huge selling point and one of Sonic Forces’ best features, and it feels great to be able to live out a childhood Sega fan dream of making your own Sonic character. You pick their species, customize their look, and dress them up in all kinds of fashion, from stylish (swanky Sega-themed gear, slick shades, and sporty shoes) to downright odd (clown wigs, shutter shades, and wrestling belts), unlocking more as you play. Seeing your creation do wild stunts alongside Sonic, doing fistbumps and taking down some rampaging robots, is a whole heap of fun.

There are three types of stages in Forces, all of which have great visual design (take a moment to check out some of the crazy Eggman mechs rampaging through the backgrounds) and are set to a stellar soundtrack that combines Sonic remixes, 16-bit throwbacks (see how many common Genesis instrument samples you can hear), and cheesy late-90s pop-rock.

Amazingly, the boss battles are actually quite good in Forces, which is surprising because Sonic boss fights tend to be a fairly weak element. They’re challenging but not overly long, and feature some stunning backdrops like a reality-bending battle with new foe Infinite among the winding coils of a giant snake. The problem is that there simply aren’t enough of them, and most of them are over way too fast, limiting their impact.

After you’re done with the main game you can replay levels to improve your scores and times, rescue other players’ avatars in previously beaten stages through SOS missions to earn you gear and weapons, and unlock a handful of hidden (and quite short) challenge stages, but it still feels like there’s a fair bit of wasted potential. More levels and more big, exciting boss fights would have gone a long way.

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