The game starts with Sonic running through Green Hill on
his way to stop another Eggman attack in the city. From this stage, it is clear
what the game is presenting us with. The level looks great, but is undone
somewhat by how it is designed – and that is pretty much throughout the game.
The controls of Sonic are also stiff, with a homing attack lock-on that can’t
decide whether it wants to work and visible shifts in speed instead of a
natural flow. After beating the stage, Sonic stops the robots attacking, then
royally gets his spiny blue tail handed to him by Infinite. And this cutscene shows
how the rest of the story plays out. It is tonally confused, to put it mildly. This
is Sonic getting knocked unconscious by his enemy, and starts with some
powerful hits until it devolves into some comedic piñata pummelling. It’s as
though the balance is being shifted too far in one direction after already
being in the perfect position. After a bit of text explaining that after
Sonic’s capture Eggman conquered the world, but a small band of resistance
still fights, the avatar comes into play.
Choosing from one of seven species [dog, wolf, hedgehog,
bird, bear, cat, rabbit], you’ll then choose from several options such as colour
of fur and skin. Later there’ll also be the chance to add clothing accessories
to the character that unlock upon completion of missions. In terms of gameplay,
the avatar is a bit worse off than Sonic. Lacking a spin dash and ball jump,
the avatar fights with Wispons – weapons that use the power of Wisps – to
defeat enemies. Also equipped with a grappling hook that is used to replicate a
homing attack, the jump of the avatar is floatier than Sonic. As with Sonic,
speed gain isn’t natural flow. And this is also the case for Classic, who also
sports a very botched jump. Landing on enemies doesn’t carry momentum, but
crushes it. As for automation claims… That’s weird in its own right. Rolling
down hills carries a bit of momentum that usually allows Classic to get around
loops, but there are still speed boosters aplenty. And all three characters
have sections that remove control entirely for a bit of spectacle.
There are also stages where Sonic and avatar team up,
where control switches between the two depending on which specific action you
do. Boosting swaps to Sonic, whereas using a Wispon will swap to avatar. These
are possibly the poorest levels of the game, since if you accidentally press
the wrong button by mistake [and fumbling the controls can happen when using a
Wispon is on the right trigger instead of the more sensible choice of the left
action button], the character automatically swaps, and if it was that left
action button you pressed – enjoy a trip to the last checkpoint if you were
anywhere near an open space.
The story is a simple one, with Eggman using the Phantom
Ruby’s power in Infinite to make him incredibly strong. With this Ruby’s power,
Infinite can make reality warp and create a new one that will affect anyone the
user wants. This brings Zavok, Chaos, Shadow and Metal Sonic into the loop, but
you’ll only ever fight two of them. Zavok is near the beginning, and in a way
proves that when not restricted the physics can work. Zavok is the only battle
fought by Sonic in an arena, and aside from the homing attack lock-on, works
incredibly well. Yeah, there’s no way to speed great distances, but movement is
fluid enough that if the restrictions were removed from other levels [and they
had a bit more depth] it would improve playability. Metal Sonic is fought on an
endless loop of a runway, and so are most of the other bosses as well. Chaos is
reduced to a quick kill when Classic appears, and the Shadow illusion is taken
out by the real Shadow. Both of these could have had some form of a boss.
Classic fighting Chaos would be in a 2D space as usual, but it could have been
a perfect way to start Classic’s entry in the fight. And Shadow, well add
another arena fight. Have him use Chaos powers in unique ways after each hit. The
fights against Infinite are a royal pain in the backside, as is the final boss.
If you hit the illusion cubes, be prepared to dodge attacks you can barely see
due to the red hue messing up vision.
The resistance is made up of familiar faces, with Knuckles
taking on the commander role. He has a much better characterisation here, and
most of the cast get a small time to shine with dialogue and interactions.
Silver is here, playing the careful planner to Knuckles’ hot-headed nature.
Espio, Vector, and Charmy represent Team Chaotix. Amy is around, as is Rouge.
Tails rejoins the main force later on – having lost it due to Sonic’s
disappearance. And Tails is really the only one to have regressed as a
character, though that really happened in Unleashed. It’s just more prominent
here. Back in Unleashed, Tails lost the Adventure developments to become a
tech-wiz with little combat ability. With Forces, he is seen a few times near
the beginning to cower in fear of robots and Chaos. When it comes to some true
action, again he is on the sidelines. Eggman is always on the attack, and since
he is the genius of the bad guys, it seems bad to keep Tails from fighting
back.
The music in the game is not the best, but still has some
shining moments. Most of it blends together due to the over-use of synths, but
there are a few stand-outs, such as the world map theme and the avatar stages.
The avatar stages have vocal tracks on par with Adventure 2’s. Think of the
treasure hunting themes or a few of Shadow’s, and that’s the general feel of
those offered here. Voice acting for the most part is fine, though audio logs
on the map screen sometimes get lost while the music is playing – especially
Shadow and Silver, who for some reason sound quieter than other characters.
Now, for everything I’ve been saying, you would think
this was bad. However, that’s the thing. Frustrating at times – yes. Unplayable
– no. There is nothing game-breaking here. It’s just a case of getting used to
the quirks it presents. Yes, some of them are larger ones – such as the control
of characters – but with the lives system gone, it’s just a case of try, try
again. There is fun to be had here, and if you care to do so, there’s enough
extras to keep anyone happy. Collecting red rings within stages unlock extra levels.
There’s five in each, and sometimes can be within easy reach, other times
presenting a bit more of a challenge. Arbitrary replayability is forced in the
avatar stages, where swapping Wispon to reach some of the red rings is
required. Completing daily missions give perks, which make earning those
S-Ranks easier [and you’ll be needing it on some stages]. The regular missions
unlock more equipment for avatar, and these come in all varieties. Completing
stages, earning an S-Rank in stages, using moves of characters, completing
stages under a certain time… There’s a lot of them. Some missions will also
give Wispons with added perks, such as score bonuses with each 100 rings
collected, or increasing speed when grinding. There are also SOS Missions that
present themselves in regular stages, which challenge you to one of three
objectives. Two of them are based on avatar – using a random avatar, or a rental
avatar. The other is with Sonic or Classic, and requires finding a pod within
the level to free animals before completing the level. The avatar ones are easy
enough, just requiring learning a different set-up. Finding the animal pod is
harder in some cases, as multiple paths mean it can be missed if you don’t
explore enough.
So… Recommendation time. It’s difficult to really say. If
you are a Sonic die-hard or want some platforming speed, other boost games can
provide much better. However, if you are on consoles, this is the only boost
game available on the current systems – at least until Unleashed and Generations
get put on the Xbox One’s Backward Compatibility program or HD remasters of the
two are released. The avatar creation system is fun to play around with, and
testing out all of that on the stages can provide some entertainment. There’s
wish fulfilment in that, for those who want it. If you know, like me, that you
will replay stages just because of the fun in doing so, then by all means buy
away. However, as a general buying guide, wait until it becomes cheaper.
There’s not much here that hasn’t been done before in the series. While
shorter, Generations is still the go-to game for boost gameplay, or Unleashed
for some true spectacle.