Sonic Forces Reviews
Sonic's latest adventure has moments that recapture the best moments of past games, but they're spread too thin--both literally and figuratively.
Forces continues the trend of Modern Sonic games being very average and not even an injection boost like Classic Sonic or the new customisable Avatar character can save this from being average at best.
Overall, Sonic Forces isn’t the follow-up critical darling that Sonic Mania was, not even close. However, it’s not without its own merits, from the mostly decent gameplay and unabashedly corny story, there’s still some things to love about the game. I’d only recommend it to the passionate Sonic fans, however, who need some more blue blur magic in their life. Sometimes Sonic just has to get over a few speed bumps to be good, but this time it’s just another speed bump.
Sonic Forces has come out at a bad time. Had it come out at a time where Sonic Mania wasn't a thing then I'm sure it would be seen as a decent iteration of the Sonic franchise. With that said, it isn't technically a bad game, it looks and runs great, it just tries too hard to be a bit of everything which in-turn results in it being forgetful and lacking in a lot of areas.
A heavy focus is put on a weak custom character that for some reason plays a larger role than Classic Sonic. Sonic Forces takes too many steps backward from 2011's formula for an experience that's average at best.
While the technology is mostly convincing, the new Sonic lacks game depth and scope.
Review in German | Read full review
Sonic Forces is a mixed bag, but the bad outweighs the good. Its few bright spots - mostly in the form of classic Sonic - get dimmed by the muddled mess of the weaker elements, and the lack of content doesn't help. The game's biggest achievement is the reminder of old school Sonic's superior gameplay.
Sonic Forces is a disappointing rehash of everything that has been done wrong with the Sonic franchise in the past. There were some good ideas here, but none of them were executed in a way that was fun or enjoyable.
Think of it as a Sonic games for the toddlers at home. Even so, it keeps some mistakes from which Sonic Team should have learned a long time ago.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
While I see potential in Sonic Forces, the execution just isn't there, especially with the Switch edition. In the future I really hope Sega reinvents the wheel, taking a more Mario Odyssey adventure approach. The whole level-based 3D "thing" hasn't worked out so frequently that it's worth a shot.
Sonic Forces is an easy, soft and repetitive experience in which Sonic Teams shows again how the "good times" of the IP seem to stay in the past. A perfect product for the youngest players but with a huge lack of creativity.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It may look lovely and run well, but Sonic Forces' uninspired level design and lack of flow prevent it being much fun to play.
Sonic Forces has polish in some key places, but fails to bring that polish to every facet of its design.
Sonic Forces is yet another chapter in the Sonic saga that fails to bring justice to one of the biggest franchise of the '90s. Forces is not the Sonic game we were waiting for: trivial and too much easy, despite a difficult-to-manage gameplay that can easily cause frustration. SEGA must take a break and change direction in order to let its brand shine again, and we really hope that Sonic Team could find a formula to achieve it to make Sonic great again.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Fans might get a kick out of designing their own character, but weak platforming stops Forces dead in its tracks.
Sonic Forces is a spectacular but empty sugar rush that's over in a blur. Once again, Sonic's return to form falls flat.
Sonic Forces creators' good intentions and interesting ideas don't amount to much in a game so clumsy and limited in design. It certainly doesn't help that Forces follows right on the heels of Sonic Mania, a game that not only demonstrated a more focused design sensibility but also did a far better job of realizing its creators' ambitions. Forces may have had a larger budget than Mania, but it feels like the poorer creation all around. Unless your dearest dream has always been to play a Sonic game as your own original fan art character, Sonic Forces doesn't have much to offer.
Sonic Forces consistently fails more than it succeeds, squandering the opportunity to build on the series' past successes.