Sonic Forces Gameplay Reveal Explodes with Nostalgia

Today Sega revealed gameplay of Sonic Forces, formerly known as Project Sonic and Sonic 2017.

In the first “Modern Sonic” gameplay video, we see our beloved blue hedgehog speeding through a beautiful apocalyptic city. There’s no denying the visuals are much more polished than any Sonic game we’ve seen before, and all the background action adds some depth to the linear level.

Despite the graphics upgrade, Sonic Forces still reminds you of other 3D Sonic games, specifically 2010’s Sonic Colors on the Wii and Nintendo DS.

While the level design looks fresh and new, the gameplay itself is instantly familiar. In the trailer, Sonic zooms through the level collecting rings, bursting through enemies, and speed boosting his way through obstacles.

To be honest, gameplay looks like the player simply has to press forward to run and through most of the world, while jumping fairly frequently to interact with boosts and items. The level also looks pretty linear with little freedom of choice in how to beat it.

However, IGN’s Jonathan Dornbush has seen a Sonic Forces demo being played and has much more optimism than what I gathered from this trailer. He says the demo shows alternate paths in the level, promising some versatility and replay value.

Dornbush also says that the camera view transitions pretty seamlessly from a 3D behind-the-back view to a sidescrolling 2D view for dynamic gameplay.

I remain skeptical but hopeful for this one. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.

Sonic Forces is set to release Holiday 2017 on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.