Review - Sonic Dash
If it’s true that the bigger they are the harder they fall, then Sonic the Hedgehog must have been massive. Only after seeing Let’s Plays of Sonic ’06 and regrettably trying to play Sonic and the Secret Rings have I truly begun to grasp the demise of the once-beloved character. While Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations may have been received well, our favorite blue blur is still far from coming back into most gamers’ good graces. When Sonic Dash was announced for mobile, however, I was optimistic. The iOS ports of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic CD are both wonderful, and the auto-runner genre seemed to be a perfect match for the character. Unfortunately, that potential was not lived up to.
The production quality of Sonic Dash is certainly a mixed bag. Some things are great, like the authentic sounds of Sonic collecting rings and spinning, the incredibly colorful and lively environments he sprints through. There are also some splendid moments visually where the camera pulls out as you speed through a loop. On the downside, the music is so forgettable I honestly can’t describe it despite playing the game a few moments ago. There is also lack of environment variety. Only two areas exist, a grassy hill region and a metal one, but the differences between the two are purely cosmetic as there is no change in obstacles or enemies. What’s worse is that hopping between the two means you don’t “bank” your coins. Risking all the cash you’ve earned up to that point really discourages players from going to the other location, so most people will stick with the one, which becomes boring. And finally, a lot of objects, and even the simple curve of the path, will occasionally hide incoming obstacles which then leads to a lot of cheap deaths. It gets frustrating very quickly.
Simplicity is what draws the masses to auto-runners, and at least Sonic Dash got that element right. As Sonic runs forward, you can swipe left and right to move between three lanes, swipe up to jump, and swipe down to spin, which can be used to both defeat enemies and duck beneath obstacles. This solid foundation for gameplay is perhaps Sonic Dash’s biggest strength. At the very least, it’s perfectly functional, which is more than I can say for a lot of other Sonic games. There are occasionally control problems, where a swipe wouldn’t respond or I would jump when I gestured to spin, but it isn’t common enough to detract at all. What does detract is its, to be frank, inferior gameplay. I try to review games as objectively as possible, but it’s incredibly hard to overlook the fact that Sonic Dash is merely emulating more successful games of its genre, almost all of which are better. I was hoping that a character like Sonic would bring new gameplay styles or ideas to freshen up the formula, but instead we get the opposite. Sega took no chances, relying solely on its mascot to sell their ho-hum experience.
The biggest problem with Sonic Dash by far is the fact that it is simply not well designed. I touched on this earlier when I talked about objects being unfairly blocked from view, but there is a deeper, more fundamental flaw at work in this game. Despite the fact that it gives you a randomized path each time, eventually a large cluster of obstacles come up out of nowhere, some of which I am thoroughly convinced are impossible to get through. Even if they aren’t, the fact remains that Sonic Dash is terribly inconsistent. These areas of highly concentrated obstacles are severe difficulty spikes, requiring a lot of skill and luck to survive. This simply isn’t how to make an auto-runner. The difficulty of an auto-runner should steadily increase as the player gets a higher and higher score so they feel like they’ve actually earned it when they beat their previous best. When I get a higher score in Sonic Dash, I just feel like I was lucky to avoid the inevitable for longer that time. It honestly robs the game of any and all satisfaction.
If you’ve played an auto-runner since the original Temple Run, you have probably already seen Sonic Dash’s upgrade system; only again, it is done worse here. You can only upgrade four things, the uninspired magnet and head-start power-ups, along with two ways to improve your dash ability. You can also buy Tails, Knuckles, and Amy to play as, but they are very expensive. You can earn more by completing by-the-books challenges (which are not clearly explained, so much so that I didn't know they existed until after initially posting my review), or using in-app purchases. As is common, the replayablity of Sonic Dash falls on the addicting nature of its gameplay. However, due to its uneven design, I highly doubt anyone will consider it such. At least GameCenter offers the standard achievements and leaderboards, though that’s hardly enough reason to keep people coming back..
In the end, all of these poor design choices add up to a below-average, yet fairly enjoyable game. However, it occurred to me after playing for a while that Sonic Dash isn’t just designed badly, it’s designed to get even more money from you. When I looked at the game’s faults, it all added up. Cheap deaths make the player feel like it wasn’t their fault they lost, so maybe if they spend the cash to try again they’ll succeed. People want more variety in environments, so they end up losing their coins. In order to afford the power-ups then, they’ll have to use in-app purchasing. These facts, along with a few others, make Sonic Dash almost insulting. It feels like at every turn the game is fighting you, trying to make you lose so you’ll pay money to succeed. These are tactics that I barely permit in a free-to-play game, but it is simply not ok to be in a paid app. If you really want an auto-runner, save your money and get Temple Run 2 instead. As for Sonic Dash staying on my phone? It’s gotta go. FAST.
Lacking
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Sean Capdeville is the official mobile game reviewer of ScrewAttack.com. An aspiring filmmaker, his favorite games include Skyrim, Link's Awakening DX, and NOVA 3. In his spare time, he likes to reference Casablanca. |
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» Tagged In: #auto runner, #Mobile gaming, #review, #Sean Capdeville, #sonic dash, #sonic the hedgehog
g1 DISCUSSIONS
OrangeGuy
I'm never really into Iphone games.
I was expecting iphone fans to love this game because it does look pretty nice, fine and dandy here.
But when I found out this game was a "Endless Runner" game I just turned my thoughts away from this game.
People can say what they want on Unleashed/Colours/Generations at least those speed levels had a end and had loads of variety of level themes that were very impressive to look at.
In these sonic reviews I'm getting really fed up with people constantly mentioning "Dark ages of sonic" or "Sonic 06" or anything related to the bad past. This is just wasteing the internet's time, because we know the dark age sonic games (mostly blamed as Shadow the hedgehog, Sonic 06, Sonic USA genesis and Dark brotherhood the worst close to their year releases).
Please people who plan to review future sonic games, cut the distasteful bullshit we have been fed since 2006 (aka the sonic dark era of bad games).
We do not need to be reminded or hinted of any bad sonic games, were not stupid.
Again I'm not a big fan of iphone games and endless runner type game will start to get boring after a few giggles here. Even a sonic fan like me I will ignore this game, but if someone likes a 3D sonic game on their iphone I say "Sure go and have some fun with it mates".
I'm not really a big fan of review scores but your score is just wrong. A 4/10 is normaly considered as a pretty bad game where pretty much everything from, presentation, graphics, audio/music, story (if there is any) and controls isn't likeable at all.
Also you need to take into account this is an iphone game that isn't very powerful gameing system at all.
If I said all those things you mentioned in this review I would have given this game somewhere betwee a 5.5/10 or 6/10 because there is something that will keep people interested at some point or another.
Between 5 and 6 is an average score to me, Not my kind of game I want to keep but some people will enjoy it even if they are or not sonic fans.
I just don't like scores it causes nothing but whineing among communities. Prefer to read or listen to a reviewer and based on their gameing preference I'll decide if I should buy it or not. Say for example if you was a reviewer from Game Trailers.com (who hate sonic) or IGN (who are morons). I won't take those guys seriously especialy.
Zero Punctuation on the other hand I appreciate his reviews, he keeps them brief, he comes up with witty original insults, he mentions good things about some games from series he doesn't like and he doesn't really like sonic either yet he enjoyed Sonic Colours compareing it to Resident Evil 4.
Sean Capdeville
A) Even mobile gamers don't judge a game solely by graphics. B) I brought up Sonic's fall from grace because I had personally only recently experienced it. Also, I feel like its relevant considering that I'm reviewing a Sonic game. C) My score is not "wrong". You can disagree, but it's just an opinion. It can't be "wrong". D) That isn't what a 4/10 means. The official description of 4's meaning is posted right below the score box. What you're describing, everything not being likable at all, is pretty much a 1, 2 at best. E) The iPhone can run the Unreal Engine 3. It's plenty powerful. Even so, the system's power has no relevancy here, and I think I am well aware of the mobile platform's abilities considering it is the only platform I cover. F) I wouldn't complain about people "whining about scores" after using three paragraphs to criticize my score. G) IGN's scores are just as valid as any from ScrewAttack. Mindlessly calling them morons makes you come across as incredibly immature. I can no longer take your argument seriously after such a pathetic and unnecessary claim.
OrangeGuy
(Z) I don't care!
Alpha Unit
I stopped reading after "coin sounds". Worst review of all time. 8.5/10 IGN review scale.
Thiedeapolis
Thanks for the heads up!
Xaxal Eternitum
I think you really are underestimating the amount of good will that Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations has generated with gamers at large.
Oh, and this was clearly
Case in point: As of the past year, very few well-written articles have been made about Sonic's fall after 06. Most of those articles tended to be unintelligent spectacle.
Oh, and this game, unlike Sonic 4, was clearly made with mobile in mind. As a runner game. So you're expectations were too high to begin with.
Zilchrion
uhhh its pretty good for a fucking phone game. kids are jaded these days and only have negative things to say. negativity is too easy to talk about. not saying be all sunshine but change your pace dude, this one is boring.
Sean Capdeville
I will review the game as I see it, and in this case it is mostly negative. My job is to communicate this opinion, no matter how "boring" you find it. A review's purpose is to inform, not entertain. Also, I've only given three scores below a 5 out of eighteen reviews. I hardly think I'm taking the easy route by constantly being negative.
lev186211
Read this review before buying it. Have now DODGED TEH BULLORT! Thanks mate.
SideSmash
I completely and unabashedly disagree. I think it's a lot of fun and it's not suffering from any cheap difficulty. Playing it with custom fast-paced music is also the best way to play, but I realize it doesn't help the review. I've not paid a single dime for DLC and instead I've been getting better at the game and getting more rings to bank in. And speaking of which, I think that choice of either banking rings or going farther with the promise of possibly more rings is an excellent risk-reward system that gives players the option of opportunity of grabbing up to 100 rings with a few swipes or making sure what they've already collected is safely stored. I can kind of see where you're coming from with the difficulty "spikes," but it's not like it's abundant, at least to me anyway.
Also, are you aware of the mission system? That's how you get those red coins. Not impressed with that miss, Sean.
Sean Capdeville
Mission system thing fixed. Missing something like that is not ok. I'll be sure to not make that same mistake in the future. I apologize for the oversight, though my score does not change.
Monderetro
I enjoyed it greatly (at least it was more fitting than Sonic Jump), but there's a couple things that I can attest to, like the lack of an easy method to obtain Red Rings REALLY detracts from the experience, and I did ran out of missions to perform (how is this possible?). Some obstacles are harder than others, and indeed, I'd put this in the harder half of runner-style games. The difficulty curve is not as apparent, though. Environments are lacking, but hey, you REALLY don't want to be distracted by the pretty pictures, am I right? The banking of rings is a pretty cool adaptation of the ring system of previous Sonic games, but I can understand how its frustrating.
Overall? I'd give it's a 6.5-7. I'm certain a lot of improvements should come in either sequels or patches, but I still had a lot of fun with it. I'm just glad that there's a Sonic game that's a runner-style game, as it was so freaking obvious that I pretty much bought it at the chance. Not buying any extra rings, though; that's only for free games, and even then, it's only a chance of a dollar or two at most.
EDIT: Do note that I did not take any disappoints into account; if I did that, my score would be more closer to your score, which (I'm gonna have to say it.) is not fair. I may make a blog or something in the future, but...stay tuned, I guess.
Queldroma
Yea This game just freaking love to screw you over and beg for more money oh well I only wasted $3:00
Zrox345
That's basically what I hated about Temple Run 2 actually.
Albino Rhino
Same here. I dug the first one but man the second one pissed me off to no end. Deleted it after a couple days. Was hoping this would be a solid replacement but it's not looking like it.
Zrox345
Mobile app/game devs need to learn that simplicity is a large factor to what makes these games good, which is what the first Temple Run accomplished fairly well.