(REVIEW)
Sometime last year, Hardlight Studios, a UK-based division of SEGA, created Sonic Jump, a mobile game in which you try to jump as high as you can in locations from Sonic the Hedgehog while playing as characters from said franchise. I was incredibly pleased with this little gem; I've gathered up plenty of Rings, found some tricks to getting more Rings, unlocked every character, and even S-ranked a few Acts. That said, I've been looking foward to Hardlight's new addition to the Sonic spinoffs, and, surprisingly, it came a lot sooner than I expected. Enter Sonic Dash.
While Sonic Jump was based around the craze of jumping games, Sonic Dash is based on the endless runner type of game, akin to Temple Run. You'll start off with Sonic the Hedgehog in Seaside Hill and you're challenged with jumping and Spin Dashing into and under obstacles and enemies in an attempt to go as far as you can while picking up Rings and powerups along the way. Sonic is also given a Boost meter, filled up by collecting Rings. When the meter fills, the player can tap the button and Sonic will go into a Super Boost, going a set distance while automatically dodging and destroying every obstacle in his way. The powerups are simple: a Headstart and a Magnet. Headstarts will give you a boost at the start of the round and a Magnet will attract Rings from all three lanes. Unlike Temple Run where your movement is based on the gyroscope, you control your character in Sonic Dash by only finger swipes, moving between the three lanes with horizontal swipes (causing Sonic to perform one of his newer techniques, the Quick Step) and jumping and Spin Dashing with upward and downward swipes. Some sections will require the Homing Attack; just jumping and tapping the targeted enemy will activate it. Every round is randomly generated, creating some simple rounds and some incredibly intense ones. The Rings you collect during these rounds can be used to increase your Boost meter fill speed, your Boost meter size, the amount of time a Magnet lasts, and to increase the distance a Head Start takes you. While regular Rings are used to purchase Headstarts, Red Star Rings (originally from Sonic Colors) are needed to buy Super Headstarts and Revive Tokens, both pretty self-explanitory. iTunes credit can be used to purchase both Rings and Red Star Rings. Said Red Star Rings are earned by completing Missions, returning from Sonic Jump. This time, however, you need to finish three Missions of different difficultlies before getting a new set of three Missions, ranking up and increasing your points multiplier.
So far, there is only Seaside Hill as a location, but if this is anything like Sonic Jump, new Zones will be added later. Sonic Dash supplies quite a few little nods to the franchise as a whole; the music used for Seaside Hill is a techno-esque remix of Seaside Hill: Act 2 from Sonic Generations, which mashes together the themes of Seaide Hill and Ocean Palace from Sonic Heroes. ...it's like a chain of references. Sonic's Extreme Gear from Sonic Riders, the Blue Star Mk II, can be seen in the store window, as well. While Sonic is the only character available from the start, players can use collected Red Star Rings to purchase Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose as playable characters.
As for the game intself, it feels a little stiff due to everything being controlled with swipes, but that aside, the game keeps at a steady framerate on my iPhone 4S and looks incredible. The beat of the background music causes me to tap my foot every time I play a round and the Ocean Palace sections remind me of playing Sonic Heroes when I was a little kid. I can tell this game is going to quickly get incredibly addictive, just as Sonic Jump did, and being on a mobile device makes it even better. It's currently only $1.99 on the iOS App Store, and an Android port is likely.
P.S.: Best part about the entire game? Somehow, Hardlight managed to cram this little soon-to-be gem into a download under 50 MB, meaning I can download this thing without a Wi-Fi connection. Why can't everyone do this?!
Sometime last year, Hardlight Studios, a UK-based division of SEGA, created Sonic Jump, a mobile game in which you try to jump as high as you can in locations from Sonic the Hedgehog while playing as characters from said franchise. I was incredibly pleased with this little gem; I've gathered up plenty of Rings, found some tricks to getting more Rings, unlocked every character, and even S-ranked a few Acts. That said, I've been looking foward to Hardlight's new addition to the Sonic spinoffs, and, surprisingly, it came a lot sooner than I expected. Enter Sonic Dash.
While Sonic Jump was based around the craze of jumping games, Sonic Dash is based on the endless runner type of game, akin to Temple Run. You'll start off with Sonic the Hedgehog in Seaside Hill and you're challenged with jumping and Spin Dashing into and under obstacles and enemies in an attempt to go as far as you can while picking up Rings and powerups along the way. Sonic is also given a Boost meter, filled up by collecting Rings. When the meter fills, the player can tap the button and Sonic will go into a Super Boost, going a set distance while automatically dodging and destroying every obstacle in his way. The powerups are simple: a Headstart and a Magnet. Headstarts will give you a boost at the start of the round and a Magnet will attract Rings from all three lanes. Unlike Temple Run where your movement is based on the gyroscope, you control your character in Sonic Dash by only finger swipes, moving between the three lanes with horizontal swipes (causing Sonic to perform one of his newer techniques, the Quick Step) and jumping and Spin Dashing with upward and downward swipes. Some sections will require the Homing Attack; just jumping and tapping the targeted enemy will activate it. Every round is randomly generated, creating some simple rounds and some incredibly intense ones. The Rings you collect during these rounds can be used to increase your Boost meter fill speed, your Boost meter size, the amount of time a Magnet lasts, and to increase the distance a Head Start takes you. While regular Rings are used to purchase Headstarts, Red Star Rings (originally from Sonic Colors) are needed to buy Super Headstarts and Revive Tokens, both pretty self-explanitory. iTunes credit can be used to purchase both Rings and Red Star Rings. Said Red Star Rings are earned by completing Missions, returning from Sonic Jump. This time, however, you need to finish three Missions of different difficultlies before getting a new set of three Missions, ranking up and increasing your points multiplier.
So far, there is only Seaside Hill as a location, but if this is anything like Sonic Jump, new Zones will be added later. Sonic Dash supplies quite a few little nods to the franchise as a whole; the music used for Seaside Hill is a techno-esque remix of Seaside Hill: Act 2 from Sonic Generations, which mashes together the themes of Seaide Hill and Ocean Palace from Sonic Heroes. ...it's like a chain of references. Sonic's Extreme Gear from Sonic Riders, the Blue Star Mk II, can be seen in the store window, as well. While Sonic is the only character available from the start, players can use collected Red Star Rings to purchase Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose as playable characters.
As for the game intself, it feels a little stiff due to everything being controlled with swipes, but that aside, the game keeps at a steady framerate on my iPhone 4S and looks incredible. The beat of the background music causes me to tap my foot every time I play a round and the Ocean Palace sections remind me of playing Sonic Heroes when I was a little kid. I can tell this game is going to quickly get incredibly addictive, just as Sonic Jump did, and being on a mobile device makes it even better. It's currently only $1.99 on the iOS App Store, and an Android port is likely.
P.S.: Best part about the entire game? Somehow, Hardlight managed to cram this little soon-to-be gem into a download under 50 MB, meaning I can download this thing without a Wi-Fi connection. Why can't everyone do this?!
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