Sonic Forces Review

Thanks as usual to X Box for the code!

A world in peril and Sonic is missing, perhaps even (gasp) dead. A ragtag band of rebels gather in a secret location and plan to fight back against Eggman, as he attempts to conquer the world.

Wait!

News comes through that Eggman has been messing about with dimensional forces and the real Sonic may be a prisoner, so who is THIS little blue chap with the same cocky attitude, and Spider-Man worthy quips?

Only an alternate version from another dimension!

But wait, Eggman has also recruited some help, in the form of a hedgehog like creature called infinity but can Eggman trust this entity not to cross him? Wait and see, we don't do spoilers here!

You play as a rookie to the underground and it's here the options begin to make themselves apparent. You can create a cat, Wolf, even a Bear or a Dog to go zipping through many environments including some very familiar ones, such as Green Hills and the good old chemical plant.

To aid you Tails (what? Tails is an inventor? Who'd have thunked it!?) has developed a wrist mounted device called a Wispon that starts as a grapnel hook enabling you to do Spider-Man style swings from one place to another. It can be swapped out for an electrical weapon, flame thrower and a device that can attract rings too you and even make you invincible for a while. All of them have an alternative fire mode that is used by pressing Y (I'll leave you to find the others for yourselves).

Likewise you can change your gear as much as you like, different gloves, caps, shades etc but these do not do anything other than alter your cosmetic appearance. No Diablo style armour or speed boosts here (not that speed is an issue).

Can you liberate the world, defeat Eggman and Infinite whilst breaking speed records?

Bold and colourful...

Take those 8 bit graphics and unlike Sonic Mania, polish them to the nth degree and you sure have a game that's more than easy on the eye.

But at the same time, use the full power of the Xbox 1 to up the frame rate and boom, Sonic and pals will soon be zooming across the screen or along paths at blistering speed.

There is no stutter, frame rate issues or lag, pop up or drop out here. It's as fluid as a very fluid thing indeed!

This way and then that way...

You'll either be zooming along from a third person view or playing with the traditional sideways scrolling screens from days gone by, and it swaps from one too the other very smoothly.

And boy, it's fast....I mean really fast!

I guess it might be even quicker on the X Box 1X but it's no slouch on the standard either.

It looks great, plays fast and smoothly and heck it's fun.

Co-op play?

No but there is split screen one on one racing available eventually, and again it's all very smooth indeed.

There's no online play as such, just a league table and the ability to go and replay a mission and rescue 'captured' avatars of other players on levels you may have already completed.

Boss fights

There are several boss fights, one against a gigantic serpent that gives you a Sonic meets Shadow of the Colossus style feel to the proceedings. You will of course battle Eggman, and many other opponents.

Boss fights are challenging but not impossible, just pause and take some time and you will soon figure out the best tactics for the battle ahead.

Custom hero or heroines...

Backtracking a little here, but once choosing his or her appearence, then you are ready to go. There's even a bear but fear not, they can all speed along at a frantic pace indeed. One thing you cannot do sadly, is give your character a name. He or she is simply called Rookie by the other members of the squad and that's a bit of a shame.

Hi speed fun 'n' games.

Thats what lie ahead for you, and whether in third person or side scrolling you'll be at full speed, blasting enemies, destroying boxes and even doing Bio Shock Infinite style rail riding. 

It's fast, it's furious and yes it's fun and has many challenges ahead of you. 

It's not the worlds longest game but heck there's a lot of fun to be had here for young and old alike.

Once again I have been taken back to my childhood and once again, it's a fun ride and heck I'm gonna say this, if you enjoyed Sonic Mania then you'll love this because it's EVEN BETTER than that title!

Still stood there? Go, go on run! There's a world that needs saving....