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GOD FLICKY DAMMIT HARDLIGHT

What you just witnessed was a recreation of my first 5 minutes with Sonic Dash. This was not exaggerated. There are minute long load times whenever you exit the app. This is my one major, major gripe with this game. The load times (on my iPhone 4, mind you. I’m not using some ancient technology) are abysmal.

Now, let’s get into the actual meat-and-bones of the review, shall we?

GAMEPLAY

Have you played the game “Temple Run”? It’s a free ‘run as far as you can’ type game on iOS and Android. It’s easily one of the most popular iOS games due to it’s addictive nature and easy controls. Let’s hope you’re not too good with those controls though…

The point of Sonic Dash is to run as far as you can, collecting rings and completing missions to unlock better power ups or more characters to let you run farther. Along the way, you can reach springs which will take you to different “set pieces”, such as loops or specific formations of rings and rocks. Once you hit a rock, fall into the water or hit an enemy or bomb with no rings, you’re dead and your round is over (unless you buy a revive, but more on that in a second.)

Sonic Dash uses roughly (and I mean very roughly) the same controls. It doesn’t seem to be as smooth, however. Turning doesn’t have as good as an ooomph as it does in Temple Run, and the slide (or in this case, Spin Dash) doesn’t seem as reactive. You also can’t just hold it down to slide infinity.

Sonic does have a few tricks of his own, though. You can “Air Spindash”, which is done by jumping and then sliding down. It’s like the stomp move from 3D games, but doesn’t lose momentum and puts you into a ball. You will need this, because this game loves to go “Slide obstacle, jump obstacle, slide obstacle” a lot. In certain sections, you’re required to homing attack chompers. You can’t just normally do this, sadly. I also don’t know if Amy, Tails or Knuckles can homing attack, because, like Sonic Jump, it’s stupidly hard to unlock them.

Speaking of unlocking, this game has two forms of currency. Rings (coins in Temple Run) are usable for temporary power ups, or leveling up certain stats on Sonic. Red Rings (Gems in Temple Run 2) are used for bigger items such as revives or unlocking characters. You unlock  missions to get more Red Rings just like in Sonic Jump, however it’s a little different here. Instead of just doing missions, you have to complete all three to “cash-in” and get your red rings.

Example of the missions.

Now, I want you to take a look at the bronze mission. You have to use a revive to continue. Sounds easy, right? Well, it is, but revives cost Red Rings. So, to earn Red Rings, sometimes you have to spend Red Rings. It turns it into almost a Red Ring economy if you are saving up to unlock characters, where you have to try and decide if you want to spend or save.

You can also just pay real money for either Red Rings or Rings, but it’s not a very good exchange rate.

PRESENTATION

As you guys can tell from our Sonic Jump review, I loved the art of Sonic Jump. When I saw this was in 3D, I was slightly bummed. But, seeing it in motion, it looks pretty good. People complain about Sonic being too slow, but honestly if he was any faster this game would be pretty unplayable. He’s at that perfect speed where if you make a mistake, it’s your fault. Set pieces add variety, and seeing Sonic run through loops or around bends always makes me happy. While Sonic Jump only had one memorable track in my opinion, this game really only HAS one track, a dubsteppy remix of Seaside Hill… which really isn’t too bad. I mean, it’s a remix of a good song, and a good remix as well.

The models are great. They look ripped right from Generations, and move fluidly. … with the exception of when Sonic is doing tricks. The game lags bad there, but it may be because I’m using an iPhone 4, which is sadly already old.

This game has, as of now, been confirmed for an Android release in the near future. I could see it running better on it, too, so don’t worry, ‘Droid users!

Now, one thing really bothers me about this game… the menus. They just feel hard to use and unresponsive. It’s not just click, sometimes you have to slide or pin point press tiny buttons. It gets in the way of playing the actual game, and is sadly something you have to go through every time you die.

Gallery

Final Thoughts

If you are a Sonic fan, this game is the best Sonic game to play on the toilet. It beats out Sonic Jump in terms of addiction, and for that, it accomplishes it’s goal as a time waster. …and nothing much else. If you like Temple Run and like Sonic, you’ll love this, and for $1.99, it’s a good deal. If you are casual or on the fence, I’d wait for an update (which they promise will be free) with more content or if it goes for free for a day like Sonic Jump did.

Overall, a 3/5. Score may improve with updates.