Sonic games past the Genesis era have always had one problem: you never just play as Sonic, running through an obstacle course. Sonic Generations fixed this issue by giving us old and new Sonic to play around with, but for every other game your Sonic fix is wedged in between digging for Emeralds, piloting a mech, or fishing.
Sonic Dash for the iOS distills Sonic down to its basic gameplay tenets and by getting rid of all that other junk that’s built up over the years, it manages to be simple and most importantly, fun. In the game, Sonic runs forward while you dodge roadblocks and baddies by swiping the screen. Collecting rings fills up your boost meter which you can use to run even faster, breaking through everything in your path. Rings are then banked and can be used to buy upgrades. The game is over when you slam into something or fall off the course.
As the levels go on, the things in your way come quicker and thicker, meaning you have to be fast with your fingers if you want to succeed. Adimittedly, some of the environments are pretty stale and the game does have microtransactions, but for $1.99 you can have a few hours of good old fashioned Sonic fun.
I recommend Sonic Dash highly, so check it out if you’re so inclined.
iTunes Store – Sonic Dash
I feel like the Temple Run-esque gameplay would detract from a Sonic game. But I guess I was wrong. I’ll wait for this on Android.