Sonic Forces is a 2017 platform game created by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It was made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The story follows Sonic the Hedgehog as he joins a group of fighters formed by his friends, a new rookie, and another version of himself. Together, they work to stop Doctor Eggman, who has taken control of most of the world with the help of Infinite, his newest assistant who gained power from the Phantom Ruby. The game includes three types of gameplay: "Classic," which uses side-scrolling levels like the original Sega Genesis Sonic games; "Modern," which uses 3D gameplay similar to Sonic Unleashed (2008) and Sonic Colors (2010); and an "Avatar" mode, where players can create and control their own custom character.
Development of Sonic Forces started after the release of Sonic Lost World in 2013. The game’s name was chosen to reflect its themes of power and teamwork, and it was designed to have a more serious tone than earlier games in the series. The character creation system was inspired by Sonic fan art the developers saw over the years. The game was mainly made by staff who worked on Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations (2011), using an updated version of the Hedgehog Engine, which was also used in Sonic Unleashed and Generations. It was first announced, along with Sonic Mania, under the name Project Sonic 2017 during the Sonic 25th anniversary event at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con. The story and development of Sonic Forces were influenced by Sonic Mania.
Sonic Forces was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in November 2017. Critics gave it mixed reviews. They praised the game’s visuals, music, voice acting, character creation system, and the Modern Sonic gameplay. However, they criticized the story, levels that were too automated, technical issues, the game’s short length, and the inclusion of Classic Sonic gameplay. Many critics called it disappointing compared to Sonic Mania, which was well-received earlier that year. The feedback from critics later helped shape the development of the next Sonic game, Sonic Frontiers (2022).
Gameplay
Sonic Forces is an action-adventure platform game that plays similarly to earlier Sonic the Hedgehog games. The player’s goal is to free the world from Doctor Eggman’s rule. The game includes three characters: two versions of Sonic the Hedgehog ("Classic" and "Modern") and a custom character called the "Avatar." Each character has different abilities. Classic Sonic plays in a side-scrolling style like older Sonic games and can use a spin dash on the ground and a drop dash in the air to move faster. Modern Sonic plays like Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors, allowing him to double jump, attack enemies, use springs and zip lines, and gain speed by collecting White Wisps. The Avatar is built from seven animal types, each with a special ability. The Avatar can use a grappling hook and carry weapons called Wispons, such as flamethrowers, whips, and hammers. Depending on the Wispon, the Avatar can gain temporary powers by collecting matching Wisps. Some parts of the game let players control both Modern Sonic and the Avatar, switching between them as needed, like in Sonic Heroes.
The game has several levels with different themes, some based on locations from older games, such as Green Hill Zone. Players must complete each level by fighting enemies and (except for Classic Sonic) switching between side-scrolling and third-person views. Levels include features like spring boards, rails, and boost pads, as well as obstacles like spikes, bottomless pits, and robots. Golden rings are scattered throughout levels and act as health: they protect players from damage, but players lose rings when hit. If a player has no rings and is hit, they lose the game. Instead of a traditional life system, the game reduces the player’s score based on the number of deaths. Players receive a grade based on their performance: "S" is the highest, and "C" is the lowest. Some levels include bosses that must be defeated to progress. Bonus levels can be unlocked by collecting hidden Red Rings in stages. Players may also receive SOS Missions, which require replaying levels with specific goals.
Plot
Doctor Eggman attacks a city, and Sonic tries to stop him. When Sonic arrives, he is attacked by Infinite, a hired fighter who gains power from the Phantom Ruby. Infinite defeats Sonic, and Sonic is captured and taken to the Death Egg. Without Sonic to stop him, Eggman, along with his robots, Infinite, Shadow the Hedgehog, Chaos, Zavok, and Metal Sonic, takes control of the world in six months. Knuckles the Echidna starts a resistance group with Tails, the Chaotix, Amy Rose, Silver the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, and a survivor named the "Rookie." Knuckles finds where Sonic is, and the Rookie steals a spaceship, enters the Death Egg, and saves Sonic. In the city, Tails is attacked by Chaos but is helped by Classic Sonic, who was sent to the present by the Phantom Ruby's power. Together, they gather information about Eggman's plan to destroy the resistance in three days.
Meanwhile, Sonic meets Shadow, who explains that the Shadow following Eggman is a fake copy made by Infinite, as are the other villains. These copies can be made in large numbers to help Eggman's army. Tails breaks into Eggman's computer system and discovers that the Phantom Ruby's power comes from the Death Egg. Without the Death Egg, the Ruby becomes useless. While the Rookie creates a distraction, Classic Sonic destroys the Death Egg. Thinking they have the advantage, the resistance attacks Metropolis, the capital of Eggman's empire. However, Eggman has a hidden backup power source in his fortress. As the resistance attacks, Eggman uses Infinite to create a second sun, like an asteroid, that will destroy everything on Earth. The Rookie uses a test version of the Phantom Ruby to stop the sun, saving the heroes. Sonic and the Rookie fight Infinite and defeat him, but Eggman uses another plan by putting the real Phantom Ruby into his own robot and fighting the resistance directly. Working together, the Sonics and the Rookie defeat Eggman, but his location remains unknown. With the Phantom Ruby destroyed, all the fake copies disappear, Classic Sonic returns to his time, the resistance ends, and Modern Sonic and his friends work to rebuild the world. The Rookie leaves to find their own path.
The DLC pack, Episode Shadow, tells the story one month before the main events. Shadow is sent to a city by Rouge to gather information, but E-123 Omega causes problems even though the mission was meant to be a recon. As Shadow continues, Omega becomes confused, his sensors stop working, and his mind is damaged before he goes silent. Later, it is revealed that Omega was hurt by Infinite, who Shadow does not recognize. To help Shadow remember, Infinite shows him a memory of when Shadow attacked Eggman's base.
The leader of the Jackal Squad, a group of mercenaries, is ordered by Eggman to kill Shadow. However, Shadow easily defeats him, insults his weakness, and leaves. Unable to accept being called weak, the leader hides his past and gains new power from the Phantom Ruby, renaming himself Infinite. After showing Shadow a memory, Infinite takes Shadow to Green Hill Zone and tricks him into thinking Rouge is speaking nonsense and that Omega is still alive. This proves Infinite's ability to control people's minds.
Development
The development of Sonic Forces started soon after Sonic Lost World (2013) was finished. It was called Project Sonic 2017 at first. The game was made at the same time as Sonic Mania. Sonic Team created the game, and most of the staff had worked on Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations (which had a similar idea). Morio Kishimoto directed the game. He had previously directed the console versions of Sonic Colors and Lost World. The game was made to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary. The title was chosen to show themes of power, teamwork, and armies.
The game aimed to give a darker look to the world of Sonic, different from the fantasy themes of earlier games. It also wanted to improve the modern-style gameplay from Unleashed and Colors. To do this, the developers made levels that looked empty and more realistic. The team used the Hedgehog Engine 2, a new version of the game engine from Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations. The gameplay was mostly based on Unleashed, with parts from Colors and Generations. The first levels made were urban areas, which helped guide the design of other stages. Sonic Team wanted the levels to be unique and different. Many ideas were suggested during development, such as a prison in Green Hill. At one point, the team stopped using the traditional ring-based health system to balance the game's difficulty. For the Classic levels, the team looked to Generations and Mania for inspiration.
Takashi Iizuka, head of Sonic Team, said he had seen many fan-made characters and wanted players to use their own. The team had freedom to create the animal and customization features. Shun Nakamura, the producer, explained that the system was meant to change existing characters, not use complicated mechanics from other games. This kept the characters connected to the Sonic universe. Though Sonic Mania started development later than Forces, it influenced Forces. The games share connected stories, and Mania was meant to excite fans for Forces.
Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, recurring writers for the series, helped create the English script.
The music was mainly composed by Tomoya Ohtani, the series' sound director. The London Symphony Orchestra performed the music. Additional music came from Naofumi Hataya, Kenichi Tokoi, and Takahito Eguchi. The theme song, "Fist Bump," was written by Ohtani and includes lyrics by Doug Robb of the American rock band Hoobastank. Ohtani also wrote Infinite's theme, performed by Tyler Smyth and Andy Bane of the band DangerKids. Music from Sonic CD (1993), Sonic Adventure 2 (2001), Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), and Sonic Lost World (2013) was used in the game. A three-disc official soundtrack, Sonic Forces Original Soundtrack – A Hero Will Rise, was released in Japan by Sega's music label Wave Master on December 13, 2017.
Release
In 2016, during a special event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series at San Diego Comic-Con, Sega announced Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania using secret names. A short video clip showed both versions of Sonic, leading some reporters to think it was a follow-up to Sonic Generations. However, Iizuka explained that it was a new game.
The game was released worldwide on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in November 2017. Before the game came out, Sega released a four-part comic story that came before the game. The comic was created by Ian Flynn and Adam Bryce Thomas, who had worked on the Archie Comics version of Sonic the Hedgehog. A special edition included controller designs and downloadable outfits for the game's character, inspired by other Sega games like Jet Set Radio, Puyo Puyo, and Persona 5.
A related racing game called Sonic Forces: Speed Battle was released for iOS and Android devices in some areas in September 2017. After the game launched, new updates added features like a shirt with "Sanic" (a meme of a poorly drawn Sonic) and the ability to become Super Sonic. The Super Sonic content was free, even though it was originally meant to be a paid addition. In March 2020, Sonic Forces (along with Shadow of the Colossus) was offered for free on PS4 for PlayStation Plus subscribers.
Episode Shadow is free extra content that came with Sonic Forces. It tells a story before the main game, focusing on Shadow the Hedgehog and his friends, Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega. It explains how Infinite came to be. Players control Shadow, who moves like Modern Sonic but can do quick, repeated attacks. This content adds three new levels and lets players use Shadow in most of the main game's stages. Nakamura said Sonic Team made Episode Shadow to attract fans of older Sonic games, like Sonic Adventure from 1998. This was the first time Shadow could be played in a main Sonic game since 2006, and some reviewers found it harder than the main game.
Reception
Sonic Forces received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic.
Polygon writer Jeremy Parish praised the game's visuals and character customization but criticized its repetitive boss fights. He argued the game did not improve the series' design and disliked the ranking system, which rewarded players for finishing stages quickly instead of exploring for collectibles. Parish also said the tag team sections were "under-developed" because players preferred using Modern Sonic when the Avatar was not required.
Famitsu's four reviewers were more positive, praising the character creation system, story, and soundtrack. IGN's Heidi Kemps criticized some level design elements, noting "unfair-feeling traps" that appeared repeatedly and levels that were short and underdeveloped. Unlike Parish, Kemps enjoyed the "quite strong" bosses, especially one fought "among the winding coils of a giant snake," but wished there were more of them. She said the game's "goofy charm" kept her from being too disappointed.
Opinions on level design were divided, and Classic Sonic's inclusion received average feedback. Kotaku's Heather Alexandra said Modern Sonic's gameplay was "visually dynamic" and "the most fun" but criticized it as overly automated and shallow. Classic Sonic provided a solid but unremarkable platforming experience that did not match the creativity of Sonic Mania. Alexandra called the Avatar stages "disjointed and confused" due to poor flow and reliance on trial and error. She described Forces as fun despite its lack of polish and praised its "infectious energy and excitement."
Game Informer's Brian Shea called the game a "fun adventure" and said its controls and level design were the best in any 3D Sonic game. However, he concluded that 3D Sonic games still needed more refinement. Shea said Classic Sonic was the weakest of the three playable characters due to poor physics that did not match the original 2D Sonic games. Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of The Escapist criticized the game for not fully exploring its ideas and called the story's attempt at a mature tone weak. He ranked it the second worst game of 2017. Many critics saw Sonic Forces as a letdown compared to the well-received Sonic Mania.
John Linneman of Eurogamer found that the PlayStation 4 version of Forces was well-optimized with no noticeable improvement on the PlayStation 4 Pro. The Xbox One version was "slightly more responsive" but had screen tearing and lower resolution. He said the Xbox One X version offered the best experience, though it had occasional issues with resolution and frame rate changes. The Windows version had performance problems and frequent crashes, but Sega released a patch on launch day to fix some issues.
In the United Kingdom, Sonic Forces ranked fifth on the all-formats chart. In Japan, the PS4 version debuted at 10th place with 5,938 physical sales, and the Switch version debuted at 14th place with 4,686 physical sales. This totaled 10,624 physical units sold in its first week. Sega reported in a February 2018 financial update that the game "performed strongly."
Legacy
The feedback from players about Sonic Forces had a big impact on the next game in the series, Sonic Frontiers (2022). Kishimoto recognized that the game was not well received and decided that the way Sonic Team created levels, which started with Sonic Unleashed, no longer met fans' expectations. Sonic Frontiers was designed as an open-world game with a long playtime, focusing on exploring, solving puzzles, and fighting to fix the criticism that Forces received for being too short. The story of Forces inspired the plot of IDW Publishing's Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series, which began shortly after the game's events. Music from Forces was included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the Sunset Heights level was later recreated in Shadow Generations. The Luminous Forest level appeared in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (2025).
Infinite returns as the main villain in the 2026 audio drama podcast Sonic the Hedgehog Presents: The Chaotix Casefiles, voiced by Alejandro Saab. In the story, he has stolen the Astroscopic Lens, a device that creates illusions and boosts power, to try to destroy the world again.