I do gotta say, this is definitely an enjoyable experience especially for being a mobile game. It's a pretty unique take on a Sonic game that sort of feels like it blends elements of the Adventure and Boost formulas, even a few from the Lost World style. Level design and controls are generally pretty solid here - having a lot of freedom to move around and explore the levels with the different paths and whatnot (including some that take advantage of character specific abilities).
Which, on that note, worth mentioning that this game also offers 6 playable characters that are essentially grouped into 1 of 3 categories based off of their abilities - Sonic and Amy being the "speed" types with the Air Dash and Light Speed Dash, Tails and Cream having "flight" abilities, and Knuckles and Rouge being able to glide and climb certain walls. It isn't quite as varied as the different playable characters offered in the Frontiers: Final Horizon update (especially with Sonic and Amy playing the exact same here), but it is nice to see this feature present in more recent Sonic titles while doing so in a way that doesn't feel too intrusive. Plus it's especially interesting since this is the first time that Rouge and Cream have been playable in a Sonic game (at least as far as platformers go anyway) since 06 and Advance 3 respectively. The visuals also look really good here - very colorful on top of having some surprisingly good animation with it's character models.
That being said I do kind of feel like this is a game that's held back by the fact that it is a mobile game. What's there is definitely solid, but with how short the game is there's inevitably a bit of padding in the form of the missions that you have to do to obtain 'Dream Orbs' in which you need to progress, with that count of course getting higher even just between stages as you progress. I will give them that you can at least choose the missions you do to unlock the orbs and as such you are able to just go at your own pace, but I can't really deny that I did start to feel pretty burned out especially towards the end when I was just kinda playing the same levels over and over again in order to collect enough orbs. It's understandable as to why the game is structured as such as yeah, it's... kinda sparse on content and even with that requirement it only really takes a few hours to beat, but given the groundwork laid here, it really feels like there's potential to expand upon this formula but it does feel held back by being an Apple exclusive, and even while you can play it on a Mac computer if you have one, it definitely feels designed more around the limitations of mobile gaming with the intention of being played on an iOS device.
Kinda doesn't help that the only (actively supported) Apple device I have is a 6th gen iPad in which the performance in this game was rather... mixed. It wasn't completely unplayable or anything, but the game would often drop frames, sometimes to the point of feeling like a complete slideshow. In all fairness I should probably be thankful I had an Apple device at all to play this game because I'm sure there are a lot of Sonic fans who don't, but it all just serves to make me wish that this was more accessible on other platforms rather than just being locked to an Apple subscription service. And unfortunately since (from what I've gathered) Apple did help produce this game, those odds... aren't looking too great right now.
Overall, if you do have a supported Apple device, I'd definitely recommend trying this with the free trial of Apple Arcade, although I do hope some day that this game gets ported to other platforms. Even if it doesn't... well, I can at least hope Sega/Sonic Team builds upon and fleshes out this style of gameplay perhaps in a mainline title.
Which, on that note, worth mentioning that this game also offers 6 playable characters that are essentially grouped into 1 of 3 categories based off of their abilities - Sonic and Amy being the "speed" types with the Air Dash and Light Speed Dash, Tails and Cream having "flight" abilities, and Knuckles and Rouge being able to glide and climb certain walls. It isn't quite as varied as the different playable characters offered in the Frontiers: Final Horizon update (especially with Sonic and Amy playing the exact same here), but it is nice to see this feature present in more recent Sonic titles while doing so in a way that doesn't feel too intrusive. Plus it's especially interesting since this is the first time that Rouge and Cream have been playable in a Sonic game (at least as far as platformers go anyway) since 06 and Advance 3 respectively. The visuals also look really good here - very colorful on top of having some surprisingly good animation with it's character models.
That being said I do kind of feel like this is a game that's held back by the fact that it is a mobile game. What's there is definitely solid, but with how short the game is there's inevitably a bit of padding in the form of the missions that you have to do to obtain 'Dream Orbs' in which you need to progress, with that count of course getting higher even just between stages as you progress. I will give them that you can at least choose the missions you do to unlock the orbs and as such you are able to just go at your own pace, but I can't really deny that I did start to feel pretty burned out especially towards the end when I was just kinda playing the same levels over and over again in order to collect enough orbs. It's understandable as to why the game is structured as such as yeah, it's... kinda sparse on content and even with that requirement it only really takes a few hours to beat, but given the groundwork laid here, it really feels like there's potential to expand upon this formula but it does feel held back by being an Apple exclusive, and even while you can play it on a Mac computer if you have one, it definitely feels designed more around the limitations of mobile gaming with the intention of being played on an iOS device.
Kinda doesn't help that the only (actively supported) Apple device I have is a 6th gen iPad in which the performance in this game was rather... mixed. It wasn't completely unplayable or anything, but the game would often drop frames, sometimes to the point of feeling like a complete slideshow. In all fairness I should probably be thankful I had an Apple device at all to play this game because I'm sure there are a lot of Sonic fans who don't, but it all just serves to make me wish that this was more accessible on other platforms rather than just being locked to an Apple subscription service. And unfortunately since (from what I've gathered) Apple did help produce this game, those odds... aren't looking too great right now.
Overall, if you do have a supported Apple device, I'd definitely recommend trying this with the free trial of Apple Arcade, although I do hope some day that this game gets ported to other platforms. Even if it doesn't... well, I can at least hope Sega/Sonic Team builds upon and fleshes out this style of gameplay perhaps in a mainline title.