Not just a return to form, but a renaissance that has managed to break through a creative rut the series has been stuck in since Unleashed.
For the gameplay, this is the best Sonic's ever felt to control in 3D. The handling is tight and feels so, so good, you can stop on a dime with ease, and there is some precision platforming in the open world that would not be possible with the unwieldy race car controls of the Boost games. The open world itself is littered with tons of objectives and things to do, to the point where it can even be a little overwhelming when you're deciding what to do next. I really appreciate that fast travel is extremely limited, and how this game manages to set itself apart from the standard cookie cutter Ubisoft Towers open world games. Combat is also surprisingly good, but it gets a little muddled with weird control overlap between combat skills and movement. You lose control the more you upgrade Sonic, which sucks. The UX is pretty smooth for the most part, although I do wish dialogue options and tutorials could be navigated a little quicker. It's at it's worst with the Koco upgrades to ring count/speed, where you upgrade it one prompt at a time.
Graphically, this game is not some amazing AAA blockbuster, it is a Switch game at it's core after all, but it works well enough. The environments can be pretty, the animations for the character models also look great, and there are some impressive set pieces here with the Super Sonic battles. The biggest issue here is how bad the pop-in can get with the platforms in the sky, however for the actual environmental details, such as trees, grass, etc, pop-in isn't noticeable, so it's a bit of a strange juxtaposition.
Story is a bit unique for a Sonic game, taking a little more of a serious tone. It doesn't take itself TOO seriously, there's still quips in here, Sonic is still the cocky, sarcastic teen he's been since the 90s, however things are a little toned down here, which allows for some heartwarming conversations between Sonic and his friends, reminding you that hey, these are actually friends who care about each other. The tone in this story is most comparable to Ian Flynn's archie run and the IDW Sonic comics, and long-time Sonic fans will appreciate this.
By the way, OST is a 10/10, as usual for Sonic games
Would recommend this game to anyone who's been a fan of Sonic before. For people who aren't big Sonic nerds, I just want to stress that this is the best Sonic has ever felt to control, it's more comparable to a standard 3D platformer like Mario, and there are sliders you can change to tweak the controls if they feel too janky or hard to control for you.
For the gameplay, this is the best Sonic's ever felt to control in 3D. The handling is tight and feels so, so good, you can stop on a dime with ease, and there is some precision platforming in the open world that would not be possible with the unwieldy race car controls of the Boost games. The open world itself is littered with tons of objectives and things to do, to the point where it can even be a little overwhelming when you're deciding what to do next. I really appreciate that fast travel is extremely limited, and how this game manages to set itself apart from the standard cookie cutter Ubisoft Towers open world games. Combat is also surprisingly good, but it gets a little muddled with weird control overlap between combat skills and movement. You lose control the more you upgrade Sonic, which sucks. The UX is pretty smooth for the most part, although I do wish dialogue options and tutorials could be navigated a little quicker. It's at it's worst with the Koco upgrades to ring count/speed, where you upgrade it one prompt at a time.
Graphically, this game is not some amazing AAA blockbuster, it is a Switch game at it's core after all, but it works well enough. The environments can be pretty, the animations for the character models also look great, and there are some impressive set pieces here with the Super Sonic battles. The biggest issue here is how bad the pop-in can get with the platforms in the sky, however for the actual environmental details, such as trees, grass, etc, pop-in isn't noticeable, so it's a bit of a strange juxtaposition.
Story is a bit unique for a Sonic game, taking a little more of a serious tone. It doesn't take itself TOO seriously, there's still quips in here, Sonic is still the cocky, sarcastic teen he's been since the 90s, however things are a little toned down here, which allows for some heartwarming conversations between Sonic and his friends, reminding you that hey, these are actually friends who care about each other. The tone in this story is most comparable to Ian Flynn's archie run and the IDW Sonic comics, and long-time Sonic fans will appreciate this.
By the way, OST is a 10/10, as usual for Sonic games
Would recommend this game to anyone who's been a fan of Sonic before. For people who aren't big Sonic nerds, I just want to stress that this is the best Sonic has ever felt to control, it's more comparable to a standard 3D platformer like Mario, and there are sliders you can change to tweak the controls if they feel too janky or hard to control for you.