PlayStation 4 Critic Reviews

There’s a moment early on in Sonic Forces where Sonic says that it’s “not time for thinking. It’s time for running.” Not only does he perfectly describe his series’ design philosophy, he also sets the blueprint for who will enjoy this game. If you’re willing to turn your brain off for a few hours, and just take in the pure spectacle that is watching hundreds of Sonic characters fighting on a battlefield during a cutscene, then you’ll find a lot to enjoy here. It’s a really dumb game at its core, but it’s also just pure fun in a well-meaning, lighthearted package.

2017 is the year the Sonic franchise stops running from itself. Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces celebrate different eras, but they both take the same shameless “all-in” approach. Sonic Forces is a confident game, serving up a story and stages that go for broke while dodging the pitfalls of the past. As long as you’re not a hardline 3D Sonic hater, this earnest, entertaining adventure is worth a spin.

As the latest generation of the Sonic series, Sonic Forces retains the high-speed game experience. To comply with the trend of the times, Sonic Forces reduces the difficulty, hoping to use this strategy will attract new players who have never tried this kind of game. Unfortunately, the length is not sufficient enough to satisfy players, and too much repetitive content makes this game boring.

Sonic Forces is neither the best nor the worst game starring the blue hedgehog. It's mediocre at best with spectacular action, but blunt characters.

Sonic Forces is passionate, strong and fast... very fast. However, it has notorious design problems we have seen in previous Sonic games. That said, the game is visually charming, musically vibrant and brings real hope to fans for seeing the revival of Sonic in the future.

​It's not the game we hoped for, but it will make fans happy and those looking for a good platform.​

What ends up holding Sonic Forces back is that it — ironically — moves too fast to leave any sort of lasting impact, speeding through both its plot and levels in short bursts instead of leaving more time for anything to soak in. Outside of its length issues, however, the gameplay is solid, the character customization is incredibly fun and the aesthetics are impressive as always.

Sonic Forces mashes together everything from Sonic’s history, from 2D/3D mechanics to over-the-top action spectacle pieces. The new customizable hero feature breathes fresh life into the franchise, but the 3D gameplay it uses overpowers the game’s attempt to combine what has made the different eras of Sonic work.

Despite its weird, war-focused beginning, Sonic Forces turns out to be a fun return to form for Sonic Team.

On top of the joy of creating and playing as your own character, there’s a lot of goofy charm that makes Sonic Forces hard to be too disappointed with. The graphics are colorful and engaging, and the music is a pumping backdrop for extreme team-ups, super-speed cinematics, and lots of ruminations on the power of friendship. There are some really fun levels in the mix, too, and surprisingly strong boss fights make for some unexpected highlights. But Sonic Forces doesn’t build on its handful of good ideas as much as it should, and it screeches to a halt just as it seems to hit its stride.