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"The Jet Gamer" Game Review: Sonic Forces
8 years ago
You knew this was going to come right away after all.
Sonic Forces (Switch)
With another Sonic game out and about, you knew it was going to review it as soon as possible. I will again try and do my best to not be bias towards the series as you know I’m a fan of it. Still, there has been lots of controversy as always with these games, but let us try and make sure Sonic gets a fair review now shall we? This one looks a bit different and has some time to be polished up, so let’s see if Sonic Forces can be held in high regards, or if there was more work to be done shall we?
Gameplay
The gameplay of Sonic forces is a bit interesting, because it feels like a mix of a couple different gameplay styles. I’ll do my best to go over them. Modern Sonic plays pretty similar to Unleashed, in that it’s boost as fast as you can, while defeating enemies to get more Boost as you get to the end of the stage. All the while you are looking for things to increase your boost, find red star rings, and get through the stages as fast as possible. Sounds pretty familiar I’m sure, and it should as this style has been used in many Sonic games. While yes, there are people that don’t like that some parts of this are automated or don’t require a ton of effort, honestly, if your goal is to make a game with lots of speed, then most of the modern Sonic sections do bring that feeling of speed that you are looking for. Yes, most of these levels are some of the easier levels in the bunch, but honestly they feel more like they are there to show off the speed of the game and that Sonic is about speed in general. There is also Classic Sonic in this game, and his levels play more like as you would expect, all in 2Dish levels where you try and get to the goal post at the end. These levels are much slower than the modern Sonic levels. These levels are a mix between speed and pure platforming. You will notice that while there are speed sections, these levels tend to be about making the jumps, not falling into the pit, and trying to take out the enemies with fewer moves than Modern Sonic has. These levels tend to be some of the harder missions in the game, some of this being down to the way Classic Sonic controls compared to Modern. While it isn’t game breaking by any means, Classic feels like he has more of a learning curve to use him properly than Modern Sonic does. What I mean is, that you may find him harder at first, but when you master the way he controls, you are going to have a much easier time of progressing. Then finally, there are the Avatar levels. Yes, I said Avatar levels, as this game does involve you creating your own character to play in the game alongside the two Sonic’s in the game. There are a great number of items to use to customize your character, though more would always be appreciated, and there are about a half dozen species you can choose from. I do wish there were more once again. The more detailed you can get with character creation the better, as the more you offer, the more creative your people will get. I get why it is a bit simple though, it is so that younger players won’t have to go into the intense detail some can get with character creation. It is nice to be able to add your own character to the game though, as it does feel like the world is more expansive than it used to be. Still, the Avatar’s levels tend to be similar to Modern Sonic’s levels just without the super high speed sections. The avatar has a weapon he carries around which are based off one of the Wisps. So there are lightning, fire, and other such power ups that they carry and can be activated during the level when you collect the wisp capsules in the level. This is the big difference you are going to have to get used to, because yes, you have your little grapple hook that sort of works like Sonic’s homing attack, but without the speed boosting, you need to use your weapon if you want to attack enemies as well. The weapons offer a variety of ways to attack the enemies, but each one has its own unique special that can be activated, such as Lightning, the one I used, having basically a boosted up light speed dash through rings or enemies. So you now have an idea of how all the levels play, and honestly, they all work rather well if I can be honest. Sure, they aren’t perfect as some levels are harder than others and some do have flaws that I spotted. Modern Sonic had a nasty habit of sometimes boosting off the edge of platforms for some reason, so there are some levels that seem harder than they should be. Classic Sonic also has a habit of not getting any bounce on enemies and when you expect to hit and enemy and be able to bounce somewhere, he just seems to fall down flat instead. The main complaint I have about the game though is the length. This has been my complaint with many of these games now is that while they are very fun and enjoyable, you seem to be done with it before you know it. There just needs to be more length put into these games if they want them to have a longer lasting appeal is all. Still, I don’t have many complaints with the gameplay overall, and I and see the fun in the game for sure.
Story
The story is actually one of the better stories I’ve seen in these Sonic games for a while. While a bit mixed at times, I would say this is the right track they should be taking with these games in terms of story. Pretty much, Eggman has taken over and you are part of the resistance as you try and take back the territory that Eggman has taken over as you try and restore the world to the way it originally was. Seeing a Sonic game where there is an actual resistance that is taking on Eggman seems to go back to the origins of Sonic as this was a common theme that was and has been used in Sonic stories for years. For a while now, the stories of Sonic have seemed to focus on just individual conflicts with Sonic and Eggman, while this story feels like it involves everyone in Sonic’s world, not just him, Eggman and his friends. I like that they make the world feel more expansive and that what everyone is doing has a purpose. Getting to see the world and many more of its inhabitants, who are all furry like Sonic and his friends, is a great thing to see and something I hope they continue to expand on in the future. I do have a few small complaints with the story though that could be ironed out in the future. One, is that again, the story is too short, thus towards the end of the game, the story feels like it kicks into overdrive instead of taking it’s time to get to the conclusion. It feels like this could have helped the pacing of the game by adding many more levels, which could have given the story more time to flesh itself out as you got to see them struggle and work to get things under control more. Also, at the end, it just feels like there are some questions that have been left unanswered, at least in my eyes. So yeah, I just feel things got a bit rushed in the end, and if they had taken the time to slow it down a bit more, it could have been even better than it already was.
Graphics
I honestly don’t see any problems with how the game looks. It has that cartoony feeling you expect from the series. Everyone’s models are rendered very well, and the animation of the characters looks pretty well done throughout the game. I really didn’t see anything that looked like major graphical glitches, and slowdown really didn’t look to exist from what I saw. Maybe I’m generous when it comes to how the game looks due to being used to this style for so many years. However, I’ve played much worst looking games than this. I’ve played really glitch games as well, and honestly, I don’t see of those around as well either. Things look smooth to me, and the characters, and backgrounds look pretty good as well. Sure, things are perfect as you can always ask for more detail, especially with how fast this game is moving. The mouth movements on the characters aren’t perfect, and honestly, I feel like I’m grasping for things to talk about now. Sure, the game isn’t going to look as good on this system compared to the others, but really, if you are just comparing background textures and such, really, I don’t count that sort of stuff. To me, this game looks good for its style, and other than small things here and there, really, I don’t see much to complain about.
Sound
Okay, if you have any problem with the music in this game, I don’t really know what to say, as this is one of the better sound tracks I’ve heard in a while. Really, when you have a game that is full of music that is full voiced and also full of classic sounding music that sounds like updated versions of music from the 90’s, you have one rocking sound track. I honestly have no complaint with the music and do suggest people go listen to it if they can as it really does feel like once again, Sega put some good effort into their music. The voice acting seems spot on for the most part as well. Really, when you hear the actors giving their performance, they seem pretty convincing to me. Sure, there are a few parts that aren’t perfect and you wonder if they could have done better in that scene compared to another one, but this does seem pretty few and far between. What I mean for example is that yes, there is a scene or two where some characters can sound a bit off or not showing enough emotion as they should be, but this is so miniscule that really, when it comes to sound, it doesn’t bug me that much at all. Sound effects are all classic and pretty much the same, so nothing really to say in that department, but to keep using what works. Overall, the sound is the biggest highlight of the game, and that shouldn’t be ignored at all.
Control
The control is something I do have to bring up about this game though. There are points where I feel the controls aren’t as responsive as they should be, but they are by no means broken either. I sort of mentioned my main complaints above with these in that there are times where it feels like you lose control in certain areas where you should still have it, thus resulting in deaths that feel very cheap. What I mean by this is for example, with modern Sonic there were several times where it seemed you were supposed to be boosting, but you went flying off the edge of the track due to have fast you were going. I could see what they were going for in some areas as I could see boosters stuck in certain curvy areas to be used to control your direction better. Some areas though have fewer of these than others, and the ones with fewer of them were much easier to make mistakes and go flying off of edges. Classic Sonic has more of a learning curve than Modern Sonic, as his style of gameplay is a bit different in this game than in a game like Mania where he felt way more controllable. He just feels a bit heavier than he should be, as you expect classic Sonic to be a bit floatier instead, so that platforming and being more precise would be easier to do. Plus, classic Sonic’s falling spin dash move, while useful, doesn’t always seem to register or work when needed. Again, this can be overcome with time, but it is something I had to bring up, as it does feel like classic could have used a bit more polish, while modern sonic seems to have most of his kinks worked out, just with a few here and there that could have been worked on more. Again, most of these issues can be overcome with time and learning how to handle the sonic’s in the given circumstances, but they do feel a bit out of place and like something that could be fixed. If these issues were handled, I would say the controls would be better. For the most part though, they are, so really, most of the game handles great!
Replay Value
The replay value here is a bit mixed in my eyes. What I mean is that the game is so short that you are going to be done with it before you know it, but the game does offer little collectibles and such to keep you playing for longer. You have the usual red star rings, which as you collect them, you get little small extra levels to play, which is a nice reason to collect them. You can try and also collect a good number of parts for your avatar, which can be done by doing all sorts of missions in the game. You get many naturally as you play the game, but the rest are done by doing things like, beating levels in certain time limits, getting S ranks on mission, using certain weapons, and other small random missions here and there, that when you accomplish you unlock more items to customize your avatar. If you really get into the avatar customization, this is a good way to keep you playing as you will want to see what all items you can gather up to create or customize your characters. However, let’s say you weren’t into the avatar function as much, most of the collectibles and add ons seem to not do much for you, other than the red star rings. This on top of the fact that replying the game once again can be done in a relatively short amount of time, the replayability factor is a bit limited at least in my eye. If you are someone that really like collecting and finding all the little secrets in a game, then there are plenty of those here for you. If you are looking for massive gameplay variety between playthroughs, then I’m sorry, you won’t be getting that here. Sure, you can change your avatar around for another playthrough, so that you are using a different character. However, nothing else change except for their appearances, so there isn’t going to be anything different when you play again. I do still see lots of things to do in this game though, so while it is a bit artificial in the way it extends the game, you can’t say there is nothing else to do once you finish it either. Just make sure you do enjoy the character customization in the game, as it is a big focus of wanting to keep playing after all.
Overall, I must say that while Sonic Forces isn’t perfect, it isn’t really a bad game at all. It’s overall a fun time that I can see people of all ages enjoying. Getting to create your own character is a neat little feature that I’m sure many out there are happy to see added into the game. This game sounds great and has a pretty neat story, though I can see why some may not like it, due to it being somewhat simple and also maybe not the most replayable game in the world. However, if you are looking for a platformer that goes for that fun factor while giving you something fun to listen to and give you a somewhat serious story as well, I would say this game is for you. So yeah, I would say this game is worth a try. It isn’t perfect, but I would say this is a decent addition to the series.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Sonic Forces an eight out of ten.
Gameplay: 8
Story: 8
Graphics: 9
Sound: 10
Control: 7
Replay Value: 7
Overall: 8
Sonic Forces (Switch)
With another Sonic game out and about, you knew it was going to review it as soon as possible. I will again try and do my best to not be bias towards the series as you know I’m a fan of it. Still, there has been lots of controversy as always with these games, but let us try and make sure Sonic gets a fair review now shall we? This one looks a bit different and has some time to be polished up, so let’s see if Sonic Forces can be held in high regards, or if there was more work to be done shall we?
Gameplay
The gameplay of Sonic forces is a bit interesting, because it feels like a mix of a couple different gameplay styles. I’ll do my best to go over them. Modern Sonic plays pretty similar to Unleashed, in that it’s boost as fast as you can, while defeating enemies to get more Boost as you get to the end of the stage. All the while you are looking for things to increase your boost, find red star rings, and get through the stages as fast as possible. Sounds pretty familiar I’m sure, and it should as this style has been used in many Sonic games. While yes, there are people that don’t like that some parts of this are automated or don’t require a ton of effort, honestly, if your goal is to make a game with lots of speed, then most of the modern Sonic sections do bring that feeling of speed that you are looking for. Yes, most of these levels are some of the easier levels in the bunch, but honestly they feel more like they are there to show off the speed of the game and that Sonic is about speed in general. There is also Classic Sonic in this game, and his levels play more like as you would expect, all in 2Dish levels where you try and get to the goal post at the end. These levels are much slower than the modern Sonic levels. These levels are a mix between speed and pure platforming. You will notice that while there are speed sections, these levels tend to be about making the jumps, not falling into the pit, and trying to take out the enemies with fewer moves than Modern Sonic has. These levels tend to be some of the harder missions in the game, some of this being down to the way Classic Sonic controls compared to Modern. While it isn’t game breaking by any means, Classic feels like he has more of a learning curve to use him properly than Modern Sonic does. What I mean is, that you may find him harder at first, but when you master the way he controls, you are going to have a much easier time of progressing. Then finally, there are the Avatar levels. Yes, I said Avatar levels, as this game does involve you creating your own character to play in the game alongside the two Sonic’s in the game. There are a great number of items to use to customize your character, though more would always be appreciated, and there are about a half dozen species you can choose from. I do wish there were more once again. The more detailed you can get with character creation the better, as the more you offer, the more creative your people will get. I get why it is a bit simple though, it is so that younger players won’t have to go into the intense detail some can get with character creation. It is nice to be able to add your own character to the game though, as it does feel like the world is more expansive than it used to be. Still, the Avatar’s levels tend to be similar to Modern Sonic’s levels just without the super high speed sections. The avatar has a weapon he carries around which are based off one of the Wisps. So there are lightning, fire, and other such power ups that they carry and can be activated during the level when you collect the wisp capsules in the level. This is the big difference you are going to have to get used to, because yes, you have your little grapple hook that sort of works like Sonic’s homing attack, but without the speed boosting, you need to use your weapon if you want to attack enemies as well. The weapons offer a variety of ways to attack the enemies, but each one has its own unique special that can be activated, such as Lightning, the one I used, having basically a boosted up light speed dash through rings or enemies. So you now have an idea of how all the levels play, and honestly, they all work rather well if I can be honest. Sure, they aren’t perfect as some levels are harder than others and some do have flaws that I spotted. Modern Sonic had a nasty habit of sometimes boosting off the edge of platforms for some reason, so there are some levels that seem harder than they should be. Classic Sonic also has a habit of not getting any bounce on enemies and when you expect to hit and enemy and be able to bounce somewhere, he just seems to fall down flat instead. The main complaint I have about the game though is the length. This has been my complaint with many of these games now is that while they are very fun and enjoyable, you seem to be done with it before you know it. There just needs to be more length put into these games if they want them to have a longer lasting appeal is all. Still, I don’t have many complaints with the gameplay overall, and I and see the fun in the game for sure.
Story
The story is actually one of the better stories I’ve seen in these Sonic games for a while. While a bit mixed at times, I would say this is the right track they should be taking with these games in terms of story. Pretty much, Eggman has taken over and you are part of the resistance as you try and take back the territory that Eggman has taken over as you try and restore the world to the way it originally was. Seeing a Sonic game where there is an actual resistance that is taking on Eggman seems to go back to the origins of Sonic as this was a common theme that was and has been used in Sonic stories for years. For a while now, the stories of Sonic have seemed to focus on just individual conflicts with Sonic and Eggman, while this story feels like it involves everyone in Sonic’s world, not just him, Eggman and his friends. I like that they make the world feel more expansive and that what everyone is doing has a purpose. Getting to see the world and many more of its inhabitants, who are all furry like Sonic and his friends, is a great thing to see and something I hope they continue to expand on in the future. I do have a few small complaints with the story though that could be ironed out in the future. One, is that again, the story is too short, thus towards the end of the game, the story feels like it kicks into overdrive instead of taking it’s time to get to the conclusion. It feels like this could have helped the pacing of the game by adding many more levels, which could have given the story more time to flesh itself out as you got to see them struggle and work to get things under control more. Also, at the end, it just feels like there are some questions that have been left unanswered, at least in my eyes. So yeah, I just feel things got a bit rushed in the end, and if they had taken the time to slow it down a bit more, it could have been even better than it already was.
Graphics
I honestly don’t see any problems with how the game looks. It has that cartoony feeling you expect from the series. Everyone’s models are rendered very well, and the animation of the characters looks pretty well done throughout the game. I really didn’t see anything that looked like major graphical glitches, and slowdown really didn’t look to exist from what I saw. Maybe I’m generous when it comes to how the game looks due to being used to this style for so many years. However, I’ve played much worst looking games than this. I’ve played really glitch games as well, and honestly, I don’t see of those around as well either. Things look smooth to me, and the characters, and backgrounds look pretty good as well. Sure, things are perfect as you can always ask for more detail, especially with how fast this game is moving. The mouth movements on the characters aren’t perfect, and honestly, I feel like I’m grasping for things to talk about now. Sure, the game isn’t going to look as good on this system compared to the others, but really, if you are just comparing background textures and such, really, I don’t count that sort of stuff. To me, this game looks good for its style, and other than small things here and there, really, I don’t see much to complain about.
Sound
Okay, if you have any problem with the music in this game, I don’t really know what to say, as this is one of the better sound tracks I’ve heard in a while. Really, when you have a game that is full of music that is full voiced and also full of classic sounding music that sounds like updated versions of music from the 90’s, you have one rocking sound track. I honestly have no complaint with the music and do suggest people go listen to it if they can as it really does feel like once again, Sega put some good effort into their music. The voice acting seems spot on for the most part as well. Really, when you hear the actors giving their performance, they seem pretty convincing to me. Sure, there are a few parts that aren’t perfect and you wonder if they could have done better in that scene compared to another one, but this does seem pretty few and far between. What I mean for example is that yes, there is a scene or two where some characters can sound a bit off or not showing enough emotion as they should be, but this is so miniscule that really, when it comes to sound, it doesn’t bug me that much at all. Sound effects are all classic and pretty much the same, so nothing really to say in that department, but to keep using what works. Overall, the sound is the biggest highlight of the game, and that shouldn’t be ignored at all.
Control
The control is something I do have to bring up about this game though. There are points where I feel the controls aren’t as responsive as they should be, but they are by no means broken either. I sort of mentioned my main complaints above with these in that there are times where it feels like you lose control in certain areas where you should still have it, thus resulting in deaths that feel very cheap. What I mean by this is for example, with modern Sonic there were several times where it seemed you were supposed to be boosting, but you went flying off the edge of the track due to have fast you were going. I could see what they were going for in some areas as I could see boosters stuck in certain curvy areas to be used to control your direction better. Some areas though have fewer of these than others, and the ones with fewer of them were much easier to make mistakes and go flying off of edges. Classic Sonic has more of a learning curve than Modern Sonic, as his style of gameplay is a bit different in this game than in a game like Mania where he felt way more controllable. He just feels a bit heavier than he should be, as you expect classic Sonic to be a bit floatier instead, so that platforming and being more precise would be easier to do. Plus, classic Sonic’s falling spin dash move, while useful, doesn’t always seem to register or work when needed. Again, this can be overcome with time, but it is something I had to bring up, as it does feel like classic could have used a bit more polish, while modern sonic seems to have most of his kinks worked out, just with a few here and there that could have been worked on more. Again, most of these issues can be overcome with time and learning how to handle the sonic’s in the given circumstances, but they do feel a bit out of place and like something that could be fixed. If these issues were handled, I would say the controls would be better. For the most part though, they are, so really, most of the game handles great!
Replay Value
The replay value here is a bit mixed in my eyes. What I mean is that the game is so short that you are going to be done with it before you know it, but the game does offer little collectibles and such to keep you playing for longer. You have the usual red star rings, which as you collect them, you get little small extra levels to play, which is a nice reason to collect them. You can try and also collect a good number of parts for your avatar, which can be done by doing all sorts of missions in the game. You get many naturally as you play the game, but the rest are done by doing things like, beating levels in certain time limits, getting S ranks on mission, using certain weapons, and other small random missions here and there, that when you accomplish you unlock more items to customize your avatar. If you really get into the avatar customization, this is a good way to keep you playing as you will want to see what all items you can gather up to create or customize your characters. However, let’s say you weren’t into the avatar function as much, most of the collectibles and add ons seem to not do much for you, other than the red star rings. This on top of the fact that replying the game once again can be done in a relatively short amount of time, the replayability factor is a bit limited at least in my eye. If you are someone that really like collecting and finding all the little secrets in a game, then there are plenty of those here for you. If you are looking for massive gameplay variety between playthroughs, then I’m sorry, you won’t be getting that here. Sure, you can change your avatar around for another playthrough, so that you are using a different character. However, nothing else change except for their appearances, so there isn’t going to be anything different when you play again. I do still see lots of things to do in this game though, so while it is a bit artificial in the way it extends the game, you can’t say there is nothing else to do once you finish it either. Just make sure you do enjoy the character customization in the game, as it is a big focus of wanting to keep playing after all.
Overall, I must say that while Sonic Forces isn’t perfect, it isn’t really a bad game at all. It’s overall a fun time that I can see people of all ages enjoying. Getting to create your own character is a neat little feature that I’m sure many out there are happy to see added into the game. This game sounds great and has a pretty neat story, though I can see why some may not like it, due to it being somewhat simple and also maybe not the most replayable game in the world. However, if you are looking for a platformer that goes for that fun factor while giving you something fun to listen to and give you a somewhat serious story as well, I would say this game is for you. So yeah, I would say this game is worth a try. It isn’t perfect, but I would say this is a decent addition to the series.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Sonic Forces an eight out of ten.
Gameplay: 8
Story: 8
Graphics: 9
Sound: 10
Control: 7
Replay Value: 7
Overall: 8
have you done a review of odyssey?