During this year’s SXSW in Austin, Texas, Sega revealed the name, gameplay and theme song for the upcoming Sonic Forces, which is due for release this holiday season for the PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
The gameplay arrived shortly after they announced that Sonic Project 2017 would be officially named Sonic Forces, and would center around Sonic and his friends taking on Dr. Eggman and his forces.
There’s definitely a lot going on in that tiny little clip. We get to see some giant Eggman robot mechs wrecking havoc in the background; there are fireballs and explosions going off just about everywhere; and Sonic is blazing through the level like a blur.
A few commenters in the YouTube section liked what they saw, but also criticized the level for being a bit too linear, comparing it to the more multi-route pathways and options offered up in Sonic Generations and Sonic Colors, the last two good Sonic The Hedgehog games.
Others were more about taking a “wait and see” approach to Sonic Forces, commenting that the level might be linear because it’s the first stage and could just be easing players into the gameplay.
In a separate video, the official Sonic The Hedgehog channel also posted up the official theme song for Sonic Forces, which has some obvious rocking surfer vibes to it. They just couldn’t give up that edgy teenager punk rock feel, either.
It’s such a far cry from where Sonic came from with the hip-hop and edgy synth from 20 years ago.
A lot of the commenters on the YouTube page are digging it. And if you can win over YouTube, you’ve already won half the battle.
Sonic Forces is due to drop this holiday season for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Sonic Mania is due out this summer for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch after being delayed from its spring release.