Sonic Forces Review

Still considered one of the newest Sonic games, SONIC FORCES. The total rank  is gonna' be at the end if you prefer to skip all reasoning :P

Summary

I enjoyed Sonic Forces and was rather surprised by the general backlash. But I can defiantly understand. Heh, maybe the key to liking a game is low expectations (I thought this game would be crap but liked it, everyone else thought it would be SA3 and hated it, haha).

Gameplay

• Sonic
• Sonic's style mimicks the same "Boost to Win" formula it's been using for a while now. 
• Although this was "playing it safe," the style is becoming very repetitive and hasn't been cool since Unleashed (and remember, it debuted in Rush, making it over 10 years old).
• Meh. 
• Avatar 
• The Avatar is a nice blend of Sonic's speed and unique gimmicks such as the wispons or the species-exclusive skills like the double-jump.
• Good except for the occasional mishap (usually missing a target-lock, etc). 
• Avatar-Sonic (etc)
• Double boost was cool. 
• Like the idea of "tag"ing between characters. Like Heroes but less complicated. 
• Classic Sonic 
• Very close to Generations but the buttons are different, which can either be good (for a long time classic fan) or bad (for the poor soul who got used to the square button in Generations)
• Pretty boring, nothing seems new. 
• Shadow
• Unfortunatly it's pretty much a clone of Sonic's style. No Chaos Spears or Guns. Not even a "Wispon."
• On the other hand, this is the first time Shadow has a Boost like Sonic and is playable.  

Characters 

• Sonic
• Although it was nice to see Sonic in a darker plot, he's the same jerk he's been since Sonic Colors. Crappy jokes, brushing things off as nothing...
• However it was nice to see him bond with the Avatar and the ending was...yeah, nice. 
• Avatar
• Surprisingly good for a mostly mute character. Shows character development yet leaves details open for the player's imagination. 
• Fun to customize, very creative and a nice nod to the fans. 
• Don't like that in order to change the species, the story had to be completed. But that didn't take long, so... 
• Classic Sonic
• Why is he here? Ratings boost, much?
• Classic honestly probably hurt the story more than helped it, the little attention hog. 
• Despite this, the tie-in with Forces was a neat idea and his role in the end was also a nice goodbye. 
• Tails
• WTF?
• Seriously. 
• WTF?
• Sonic gets his butt kicked and Tails just sits there. I could buy him "being in shock" if they showed more--I don't know--emotion? It's just...he hangs out with Classic for the entire game and pretty much ignores the "Real" Sonic. That ain't right.  
• Knuckles
• In the mean time Knuckles apparently became this great "leader," but we don't see too much of that. In fact...didn't his plan suck? 
• Amy
• You'd expect Amy, if anyone, to go crazy over Sonic being saved. But she just brushes it off with a rude remark. Think all that rejection's starting to wear the girl down. 
• Silver
• Okay, why is he here? WHY SILVER AND NOT BLAZE????
• Seriously. He's from the future. They don't talk about it. We have to look at the comics for an explanation. What does that tell you? 
• Then he has about one "shinning moment"...and he gets beat up by Infinite. Is he only here for the Worf Effect, or...
• Chaotix (Vector, Espio, Charmy)
• They are just there. They don't do much. No mystery solvin'. 
• Shadow
• It was great to see Shadow have a role, and to be playable. 
• However many people were upset there wasn't a rival fight, even with the replica. I get that, but honestly I did like the cutscene where he finally shows up.
• Also, is he still workn' for GUN now, or...
• Rouge
• Same about GUN.
• I'm a little confused on why she didn't just tell Sonic and the others that Shadow was still on their side. 
• Omega
• Being shut down was a clever call back to 06, and I like when he shows up in the end, but otherwise he's useless. 
• Eggman
• As interesting as it is to see Eggman take the stage as main villain, it feels more like Infinite is. 
• Orbot & Cubot
• ...they were in this game? I remember...nothing?
• Lame. Bring back Scratch and Grounder. 
• Infinite
• Ah, Infinite. Perhaps the most over-hyped character yet. 
• Extremely disappointing. Easy boss fights, lame motivations and background...very weak. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKK
• I was never a huge fan of his design, but it does have a sense of mystery that was unfortunately only WEAKness.  
• Not a good rival, a weak villain. 
• He runs away. That weak little coward...
• Replicas
• Lame. Very Lame. Could have been used in an interesting way, but they were mostly for show. 
• Etc
• Talking to the other "resistance" members was kind of cool, but it got annoying after awhile. 

Plot/Cutscenses/Voice Acting

Voice Work:

• It's no secret I hate most of the current voice actors, but I was impressed this time. Working on Sonic Boom must have really helped some of them. Good improvement.
• Oh! and Infinite sounds kind of like Mephlies--interesting. 

General:

• The cutscenes are animated fairly well. Expressive. 
• Visually, though, not perfect. Not in this day and age, but good compared with older games. 
• Have to enjoy seeing the avatar in the cutscenes--pretty cool. 
• The absence of humans (aside from Eggman) is confusing. Even if there was a simple explanation or a small refrenece to GUN, it would have helped. 
• Plot could have been very serious, but was rather bland instead. 

Sonic's Role:

• Sonic's story starts out disappointing. Was he "tortured," or was he just sitting in a cell for 6 months? He sure acts the latter. 
• It's nice to see him encourage the avatar. And defeat Infinite. And Eggman. So it ends a bit better than it starts. 

Avatar's Role:

• Interesting concept, nice little plot about friendship, getting past fears, and learning from others. 

Classic's Role:

• The only thing I like is the tie-in with Mania. It's like a crossover...sorta. But does mute-Sonic use sign language and warn Tails about this "Phantom Ruby?" Hehe, nope.  

Episode Shadow:

• This plot was disappointing. Not on Team Dark's end, but with Infinite's backstory. It's very weak. 
• And it was too short. 

Music

• The music was impressive on several accounts. 
• The vocal themes were not only good, but it was the first time in a long time that the main theme wasn't instrumental.
• Fist Bump was great, although I was kind of expecting Crush 40 for the 25th anniversary. Maybe they should have put in a "Sonic Youth" Easter Egg somewhere.  
• The Avatar's levels having both male/female tracks supported the flexibility of the character (because it could have been a girl or boy).
• The Stardust Speedway Remix was not only a good reference, but a serious break for those of us who prefer the US music from Sonic CD. 
• WHY, Mania, did you torture us with the JPN Stardust Speedway. UUUUGH!
• The remixes in Shadow's episode were awesome (including remixes from SA2 and Shadow's own game).  
• I'd say the one con is that all have a modern ring to them. It's fine, but a mix of styles would have been cool. 
• Also, it was a little weird for Chemical Plant and Green Hill to have different music than their traditional ones. 

Graphics/Design

• Graphics are pretty good, for a Sonic game. Sonic Generations probably looks just as good, though, and that game is from 2011.
• Most if the designs were awesome. The city and bridge area, such as Park Avenue, was perhaps the best. 
• However, bringing back Green Hill, even as "Sand Hill," was redundant. Same for Chemical Plant. The Death Egg? Fine. But they could have at least used zones that don't get as much attention, like Springyard, Starlight, Aquatic Ruin, Mystic Cave... 

Final Thoughts

• I think Infinite's background could have been tweaked...ha-ha, tWEAKed. Anyways, they could have at least given a bit more in the "digital comic" about why it he would take so much offense at the term "weak."
• The game's plot ("resistance") was a nice nod to the old Sonic media (SatAm, Underground, the comics). It's be cool to see more of this make-shift team-up. 
• I really hope the excuse for lack of humans isn't "it's a separate planet." That makes no sense. I'm just assuming South/Westside Island have a high "mobian" population and that the human populations aren't really seen because they're on the other side of the map.
• Levels seemed...too easy? 
• It was good to see a plot that:
• wasn't 100% Sonic
• was a bit more "serious"  

Game Ranking (E is lowest, S is highest): B

This game isn't bad. But it also fails to take advantage of "what could have been." It's average.

Quote of the Month

"Ah! The dirt suits you so well!"
--Jet the Hawk, Sonic Riders

What Sonic Generations 3DS Should Have Been...

Sonic Generations was amazing. It united the "classic" style with "modern" for the first time. The game was filled with Easter Eggs, remakes of fan-favorite levels, and a plethora of supporting characters and cameos. It celebrated the blue-blur's 20th anniversary with a bang.

Generations was released for main consoles, but it also had a version for the 3DS. Now, I admit, this is one of the few games I haven't played--but why would I?

Like Colors, the main plot is the same as between versions. Although some levels are different, the port is obviously weaker compared to the console version. 

To me, the portable version of Sonic Generations should have reflected the years of games released on the Game Gear (Sega), the GameBoy (Nintendo), the DS (Nintendo), and the PSP (Sony).

Green Hill...HOW MANY TIMES, SEGA?

Instead it just felt like overflow from the main game. Water Palace (Sonic Rush; DS) is the only level from any of those systems. Green Hill supposedly resembles the 8-bit version, but that version itself was off the original Green Hill. And as much as I like Radical Highway, isn't that Shadow's level?

The "Classic" section could have been filled with those old 8-bit levels re-imagined. Stuff from games like Sonic Chaos and Sonic Tripled Trouble.

StH 8-bit: DO NOT play this game. It's NO GOOD.

Okay, the 8-bit ones kinda sucked. Some REALLY sucked. But it would be accurate.

Meanwhile the "Transitional" section could have levels from the Advance series, and the "Modern" spots could have been filled with ones from the Rush and Rival series. Maybe The Dark Brotherhood somehow or Colors.

Blaze and Sonic were rivals in the original Sonic Rush

Then the rival battles could have been switched for others, too. Classic could have fought Nack the Weasel, or Knuckles if that character was too obscure. The transitional fight could have been Emerl (representing Sonic Battle), and the modern fight against Blaze the Cat. The boss fights with Eggman could be changed as well. 

Boss from Sonic Advance

Something else that bothered me since Colors--why were they replicating plots (Colors, Generations, later Lost World) instead of creating new ones for the DS/3DS? It's unoriginal and it doesn't make me want to buy it or even care to play. If Generations 3DS is better in some way, I'll never know because on the surface all it looks like is a dumbed-down clone.

At least if they had kept the theme on the years of handheld games, it would have seemed more creative and more like a new game. 

My point here is that they chose what was recognizable over what made sense. I like some of the levels they picked, but Silver in Tropical Resort? Does that make any sense?

Silver fought Sonic in 06 and later in Rivals 1 & 2

I think most of the handheld games are underrated, and this would have been a cool way to draw attention to them.