Format: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Developer: Sega
I love Sonic The Hedgehog I have done since I first played it back in 1991. Sonic may have had a bit of a ropey recent history. But he has still stared in far more good games than bad ones. He has already had a couple of games on the iOS, but this one is taking on the endless runner genre. Surely Sonic is tailor made to be in a game like this isn’t he?
This is a great looking game. It has the modern Sonic look which I love. I know that many people have more of a soft spot for the classic somewhat chubby Sonic (must have been all those Chilli Dogs he ate) For me though even though I grew up with Sonic I think the newer modern Sonic looks more cool. The levels also look great although if you do take a moment to check out the scenery you will smash right into something. The game looks great, but it is the sound that really does it for me. It is like it has been ripped right out of a Sega Genesis cart. And a whole bunch of nostalgic memories just come flooding back.
Game play wise this is somewhat your typical endless runner with a few little touches here and there. Sonic of course is always running forward. You can make him jump over things and move from side to side. As well as this by swiping down you can do Sonics spin attack to take out enemies. This is one of those games where you will want try and be thinking a few moves ahead.
Some times you will come to a big jump and what direction you go will either give you some extra rings or take you to a different part of the game like a temple themed section. I think this was a pretty good idea and it made the game more interesting as it does give you a feeling of choice. Of course as this is a Sonic game he runs really fast so this is a game you will need to have really fast reflexes. One cool thing though is I had zero issues with the controls and my son and daughter were also able to play it. One thing I will say is that I had a bit of trouble playing this on the iPhone. Not because of any control issues just because of the smaller screen.
Sonic Dash is a great Sonic game. Me and my kids love Sonic and this game a far as its visuals and its game play gets a big fat A+ from us, but Sega for all the good they do always in my experience have to spoil it.
What I am talking about here is the in app purchases. They are disgusting. This is one of the worst games I have played in terms of hustling you to spend more money. It is pure greed plain and simple. If this was a free game then maybe it would be ok. Actually scratch that no it would not. But I could understand it a little more. But this is not a free game and they really should have given us more.
One issue we had was the red rings that you can save up to unlock characters. My son loves Knuckles, but it is so easy when you die or beat a level to accidently spend your red rings on things you do not want to because a big ass pop up appears telling you “hey buy this” I know you may think that he should be more careful, but I can see this being something many kids will do by mistake. When they are tapping the screen to try and move onto the next level or re-start the one they just failed.
Sonic Dash is a great game the team behind this did a wonderful job and I will go as far as saying this is the best Sonic game on the iOS. But the Sega suits have spoiled this with there greed. You can still have a great deal of fun with this game and if you are a Sonic fan I am sure you have already downloaded it. But the way they have gone about the in app purchases really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.