Sonic Dash

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Sonic Dash is a 2013 video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series developed by Hardlight and published by Sega for the Apple App Store in March 2013, with a Google Play Store release in November of that year and for other app stores in 2014. The game is an endless runner; players select one of over 100 playable characters and indefinitely run through stages based off the franchise.

Sonic Dash received mixed-to-positive reviews, praising the gameplay mechanics and graphics, but criticizing the game's repetitiveness and frequent crashes. Dash is the most downloaded mobile Sonic game to date, surpassing 400 million downloads by 2019.^[1] Since its release, Dash has received frequent updates that include new stages, playable characters, events, and other features. A sequel, titled Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom, based on the Sonic Boom franchise, was released in 2015.^[2]

Gameplay

Sonic Dash is an endless runner game, akin to games like Temple Run and Subway Surfers.^[3] The player directs their selected character through never-ending 3D Zones with three different spaces, moving forward at all times. The goal is simply to run as far as possible.

The tracks in Sonic Dash are full of obstacles the player has to avoid. To avoid obstacles in the character's path, they can Jump, Roll, and use the Quick Step. Some obstacles that can be found include bottomless pits and Badniks, the latter of which can be destroyed with a Roll. Some bottomless pits can be very large and extend towards the three spaces. In these sections, the camera will move much more slowly and the character will have to Homing Attack their way through some Choppers that will appear.

Rings play a critical role in the game. Like most other Sonic games, they can be collected across the tracks and can be used as currency in the main menu or as a method of protection in the Zones themselves. When Rings are collected, the Dash Meter at the bottom of the screen fills, and when it is full, the player can perform the Dash Boost, in which the character automatically blasts through obstacles. When the character hits a Badnik without Rolling, a Bomb or a set of spikes, while carrying at least one single Ring, the player will lose all of their Rings, making them vulnerable to obstacles of the same kind. Touching those same obstacles without having a single Ring will end the run. However, Rings cannot protect the player from most obstacles such as pits. Whenever the run ends, they can choose to continue playing or go back to the menu screen. In addition to the normal Rings, the player can encounter Red Star Rings, albeit very rarely. These are purely for currency and do not play the same role Rings go within the game.

At certain points, the player will encounter three different Springs with screens above them. Once they touch a Spring, the character will have all of their Rings banked automatically, and they will have to perform a certain combination of four Tricks by sliding their finger towards a requested direction. Each time the player correctly performs a trick they will be awarded a random number of Gems, Character Cards or Rings. In addition, touching the Springs will affect the game depending on the screen they have, and thus can send the player to another Zone, add loops and corkscrews to the Zone they are in, or fight a Boss.

As the player progresses, they will be able to collect Animals, which are obtained by destroying Badniks. Once the game ends, the player will be able to claim the collected Animals and use them to unlock new buildings to construct throughout the Zones. These buildings, however, can only be completed by collecting Gems through a variety of means. As the player completes the Zone, a gauge will be steadily filled and grant them different awards and a character when filled. In addition, certain characters are able to double the amount of certain Animals they have collected to make it easier for the player to unlock new buildings.

In addition to the standard game, the player can equip their character with different Boosters and power-ups to collect points more easily. These Boosters are obtained through certain means and can be equipped on the title screen. In addition, when the game starts, the player can use a Headstart or a Super Headstart to boost through the Zone for a short period of time, akin to the normal Dash Boost.

Scoring

Points are earned during gameplay as the player travels more distance, destroys obstacles and Badniks, or defeats a Boss, with new high scores being recorded after a run. Points are multiplied according to the player's current level, with the highest possible being 49. This level can also be doubled by collecting the x2 Multiplier power-up from Item Boxes. Equiping Boosters can also help the player earn more points by achieving the bonuses awarded by each Booster for doing certain actions.

The game also features a Combo system by doing actions such as destroying enemies, narrowly dodging obstacles, or using Dash Panels. This system has a timer, which can be refilled by increasing the combo chain or collecting Rings. If the timer runs out or the player is hurt, the combo chain will be reset.

High Scores

Sonic Dash features a high score listing in which players can get themselves on. This list includes preset high scores for various characters that appear in the game, with Sonic's icon representing the player. Upon failing to surpass a character's score, the character will react with a quote, either taunting or encouraging the player to try again.

Progression

Sonic Dash also features a progression system, in which players can reach new levels after gaining enough XP, either by upgrading characters or by completing Tasks. Reaching these levels grants the player various rewards, such as unlocking new Zones, having Cards of certain characters appear during Trick sequences, or receiving Rings, Red Star Rings, and Gems.

Objects

Items

• Enemy Combo (first appearance)
• Final Score Bonus (first appearance)
• Gem (first appearance)
• Golden Badnik (first appearance)
• Headstart (first appearance)
• Item Box
  • Magnet
  • Random Ring Bonus
  • Shield
  • x2 Multiplier
• Portal Gear^{[note 1]}
• Prism Shard^{[note 1]}
• Red Star Ring
• Ring
• Ring Streak (first appearance)
• Seed^{[note 1]}
  • Blue Seed of Defense^{[note 1]}
  • Red Seed of Power^{[note 1]}
• Spring Bonus (first appearance)
• Super Headstart (first appearance)

Gimmicks and obstacles

• Bomb
• Dash Panel
• Spring
• Spikes
• Totem Pole

Other

• Dr. Babble's Mech Suit
• Egg Mobile
• Grind Rail (cameo)
• Moon Mech

Characters

Playable characters

Main article: Characters in Sonic Dash

Non-playable characters

• Animals
  • Flicky
  • Pocky
  • Pecky
  • Cucky
  • Ricky
  • Picky
  • Rocky
• Cheese (cameo)
• Dr. Babble (unseen)^{[note 1]}
• Dr. Eggman
• Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Paramount) (unseen)^{[note 1]}
• Koco^{[note 1]}
• Mushmeanie (cameo)
• Orca (cameo)
• Wisps^{[note 1]}
  • Blue Wisp^{[note 1]}
  • Jade Wisp^{[note 1]}
  • White Wisp^{[note 1]}
  • Yellow Wisp^{[note 1]}
• Zazz

Enemies

• Chopper
• Crabmeat
• Drone^{[note 1]}
• Eggforcers^{[note 1]}
• Ghosts^{[note 1]}
  • Blinky^{[note 1]}
  • Clyde^{[note 1]}
  • Inky^{[note 1]}
  • Pinky^{[note 1]}
• Moto Bug
• Spikes

Bosses

• Bash^{[note 1]}
• Dr. Babble^{[note 1]}
• Dr. Robotnik^{[note 1]}
• Eggman
• Zazz

Zones

Sonic Dash currently features seven different Zones. Each Zone will appear in a ruined state when first unlocked, and can be restored by collecting Animals and using Gems. Rebuilding a Zone will reward the player at set milestones various items, including Character Cards for the Zone's respective character. Some upgrades have up to three different options, increasing in cost and appearing more unique. The player will begin a run in the selected Zone.

Achievements

Development

In a November 2012 interview with the UK toy trade magazine, Toys 'n' Playthings, Sega Europe employee Sissel Henno confirmed that Sega would have "several new digital titles" in 2013.^[4] On February 28, 2013, the title Sonic Dash was spotted on a listing from a LinkedIn profile.^[5] On March 1, 2013, Sega confirmed the game,^[6] with an official press release going out on March 4.^[7] The game was announced to be on iOS, while the Android version would exist only in rumors that it would be ported since Hardlight's Chris Southall said it would remain a possibily. It would be difficult to port the flexible iOS Unity 3D engine into Android, similarly to the experienced problem of porting Temple Run and its sequel. In addition, Android development also took a long time because of newer devices requiring testing and development before getting it released.^[8]

On 19 September 2013, the official Sonic the Hedgehog Facebook page announced that Sonic Dash might come out on the Android "soon", with a tentative date of fall 2013.^[9] However, Hardlight's Facebook warned players that there was a fake version that was not developed by themselves.^[10]

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Sonic Dash consists of remixes and reused tracks from past games for the most part. The theme that plays in the main menu, for example, is a remix of the track that plays in Blue Sky Zone in Sonic Jump and Sonic Jump 2, while the track that plays in Seaside Hill Zone, Beach Zone, Green Hill Zone and Temple Zone is a remix of "STAGE 1 : SEASIDE HILL", the theme of Seaside Hill from Sonic Heroes. The tracks that have been reused from past games are:

• "Egg Mobile ...Boss: Egg Hornet", which played during the Egg Hornet boss fight in Sonic Adventure, was reused for the boss fights against Eggman and Dr. Robotnik.
• "The Deadly Six Theme", which played during the boss fights against the members of the Deadly Six in Sonic Lost World, now appears during the battles against Zazz.
• The track for Diamond Dust Zone Act 1 in the Sega Mega Drive version of Sonic 3D Blast reappears in this game as the theme of Snow Mountain Zone. It uses the remix featured in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
• Before it was removed, "StH1 Green Hill Zone 〜Mega Drive version〜", which played in Green Hill Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit), was used for Green Hill Zone.
  • However, the song did not do its original loop when implemented in the game.
• The track for Sky Sanctuary Zone is "Sky Sanctuary: Act 2 - Fast", which played in Sky Sanctuary Act 2 in the console/PC version of Sonic Generations whenever the player was boosting.
• The music for Mushroom Hill Zone is "Mushroom Hill: Act 2" is the track that originally played in Mushroom Hill in the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Generations.
• Temporarily, instrumentals of "Escape from the City" from Sonic Adventure 2 and "Living in the City" from Sonic R were used as the tracks for Golden Bay Zone and Emerald City respectively.
• Temporarily, the credits theme from Sonic Prime and "Westopolis" from Shadow the Hedgehog were used as the tracks for New Yoke City and Metro City respectively.

Release

Sonic Dash was first released on 7 March 2013 for iOS phones with costing $1.99 in the United States and £1.49 in the United Kingdom. Since 29 March 2013, it can be downloaded for free. It was later released on 26 November 2013 for the Android on Google Play. At its release, the Android version was caught up with the then-current iOS version, having all of the features the iOS version currently has except for the iOS-exclusive Game Center. On 11 March 2014, the game was released for Android devices on the Amazon App Store.

On 3 December 2014, Sonic Dash was released for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.1. It has every feature of the Android and iOS versions except for recording gameplays and Google Play Games/Game Center.

Re-releases

Reception

Sonic Dash has received mixed to positive reception, holding a score of 69% on review aggregator Metacritic based on 26 reviews.^[14] In the Apple App Store, the game holds a score of 4.6 out of 5 based on ~20000 ratings.^[23] Much of the game has been praised for its graphics and other controls. But its in-app purchases, according to Destructoid,^[15] range from "not needed" to "pretty damn annoying".

IGN gave it a 6.1 out of 10, praising its gameplay and controls but criticizing its "pay-to-win elements" and the amount of "unavoidable deaths."^[20] According to Eurogamer, "The randomly-generated zones are filled with classic obstacles and enemies zooming towards you at an ever faster rate, and are showed off by some fantastic camerawork as Sonic zooms through long, twisting paths and loops. Rings are everywhere, which protect Sonic from a single enemy hit but not a collision, and can be 'banked' between zones to gradually level up the hog," although it finds "the entire game is framed and ultimately spoiled by in-app purchases," referring to the aggressive use of in-app purchases in the game.^[17]

Sonic Dash has reached over 100 million downloads since August 2015,^[24] making the Sonic series continue to break records for the Sega Networks division. All together, the Sonic franchise alone has reached over 143.5 million total downloads on mobile devices.^[25] On September 16, 2021, the game passed the 500 million downloads milestone.^[26]

Staff

• Hardlight Staff: Nick Adams, Matt Allan, Neil Armstrong, Tom Anderson, Joel Atkinson, Luke Boscott, James Booth, Daniel Darnbrough, Dmitry Deryabin, Kostas Eleftheriadis, Dawid Esterhuizen, Simon Foster, David Foster, Tom Gaulton, Alastair Graham, Scott Griffiths, Yordan Gyurchev, Sebastian Livall, Neall Jones, Anthony Lewis, Lara Mazzolari, Andrew McKenzie, Louis McLaughlin, Mark Milton, Ash Morgan, Scott Orchard, Andrew Paul, Stephen Quinney, Daryl Reeves, David Rodriguez, Oleg Salyakhov, Harinder Sangha, Ryan Simpson, Richard Smith, Chris Southall, Joseph Stone, India Swift, Gordon Theobald, Neil Topham, Paul Twynholm, Ruby Urlings, Scott West, Sam Whitfield, Craig Yates
• Pixel Toys Staff: Francisco Llios, Rob Dutton, Tom Gleadall, Pete Hancox, Phil Irving, Holli Packwood, Hannah Payne, Alex Price, Dave Reed, Andy Wafer, Quentin Warnant, Alex Zoro, Andrian Baciuc
• Special Thanks: To all at SEGA, all our contractors and loyal fans.

Trivia

• In earlier versions of the game, every playable character had the same Trick set that Sonic and Tails originally had.
  • Additionally, every character shared the same upgrades.
• In one major update, a day-night cycle was added, progressing through noon, sunset, night, and dawn. The time of day would progress a phase each time a Spring was hit to go to the next area.
  • This feature was removed in a later update. Following this, every location was locked to noon, except Mushroom Hill Zone, which was always at sunset. Temple Zone was formerly locked to night but in version 4.9.0, it was turned to noontime.
• When Zazz was first introduced, the player could attack him during the attack phase without waiting for reticles to match, as that mechanic was added in a later update.
• Five global challenges with new game characters as star prizes were later added.
  • Shadow was added on July 18, 2013 as the star prize of the first global challenge, which ended on August 3.
  • Blaze was added on September 26, 2013 as the star prize of the second global challenge, which ended on October 6.
  • Silver was added on December 24, 2013 as the star prize of the Christmas Festive challenge, which ended at January 6, 2014.
  • Rouge was added on February 20, 2014 as the star prize of the fifth global challenge, which ended on March 3.
  • Cream was added on April 24, 2014 as the star prize of the Easter Festive challenge, which ended on May 5.
    • The third global challenge is the only global challenge to not have a new character as the star prize. Instead, the star prize was five wallpapers based off of the game Sonic Lost World.
      • The Global Challenge menu was removed in v2.0.
• Before it was removed in v2.0, the shop area had a Sonic Riders model of the Blue Star, a Red Star Ring, a promotional Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) Tails poster, and Sonic's gloves and shoes can be seen.
• For iOS, the minimum device required to play this game at an acceptable speed is one with an Apple A5 CPU or newer (The A5 CPU is used on the iPad 2, the iPhone 4S, the fifth Generation iPod Touch and the iPad Mini). On older devices, the game is unplayable due to very low frame rate and certain graphics are disabled, such as the coral reef seen in the water.
  • On Android, Google Play automatically checks on the device for compatibility in order for the phone/tablet to play Sonic Dash. If any of the phones' requirements are not succeeded, it will not be able to download Sonic Dash from Google Play. That does not mean that said device cannot run the game, though.^[27]
• At the game's release in March 2013, Red Star Rings were extremely rare and could not be found during gameplay. Instead, they were given three at a time to the player after completing a set of three missions and in special circumstances. Prior to the game's newer updates, the only other way to obtain them is through in-app purchases, a requirement met with much controversy.
  • However, the Daily Challenges rewards players the chance to win five Red Star Rings on the second day, ten Red Star Rings on the fourth day, and twenty Red Star Rings on the fifth day if the player can select its prize during the quick raffle. As of recent updates, the Daily Challenges reward players five Red Star Rings on the fourth day and ten Red Star Rings during the fifth day if the player gains it during the quick raffle.
• The achievement "Espio Is Cleary Ready To Go" references one of the lyrics in the song "Team Chaotix" from Sonic Heroes.
• The achievement "Running Miles", which focuses on Tails, references the character's real name, Miles.
  • Another achievement in particular, "Miles Per Hour", which is also centered on Tails, is a reference to the unit of speed of the same name, which Tails' full name, Miles Prower, derives from.
• Sonic, Knuckles, Blaze, Silver and Espio share the same running style.
  • However, Silver's Dash Boost is much different from the other four, being more similar to Shadow's.
• Several characters feature distinct movement animations:
  • Tails (excluding his LEGO® and Dragonclaw variants), Rouge, Charmy, Metal Sonic, Longclaw, Movie Tails, Metal Sonic 3.0, and every Super character move by flying instead of running.
    • Initially, Super Shadow shared the same running style as his base counterpart. But as of the v7.14.0 update, it has been changed to match the other Super characters.
  • Because of their designs, Epic-Red, Epic-Chuck and Epic-Bomb move by hopping instead of running.
  • Jet and Extreme Gear Sonic move by riding an Extreme Gear instead of running.
    • Similarly, Series Knuckles moves by riding a chopper bike instead of running.
  • Mephiles and Infinite move by floating instead of running.
• Andronic and Android Robot are the only characters not to be included across all types of devices.
  • Additionally, Android Robot is the only character to be removed from the game. He cannot be loaded up on later versions even with hacking.
    • Despite this, his full body portrait still exists in the game's code.
• The bosses and the Angry Birds are the only characters in the game with voice clips.
• This is the first game to feature Espio as a playable character since Sonic Rivals 2.
• The character select artwork for Amy and Rouge was changed in v2.0.
• By the time the Angry Birds Epic event was taking place, there was a Sonic Dash event in said game. In it, the player could use Sonic alongside the Angry Birds. The event took place at Seaside Hill and the enemies, rather than pigs, were Badniks.
• During the period when the Sanrio characters were available, the Sonic the Hedgehog series held a cross-promotion in which the Sanrio characters were sold as plushes in Sonic styled costumes, My Melody as Amy, Badtz-Maru as Knuckles, Chococat as Tails and Hello Kitty as both Sonic and Super Sonic.
• The amount of cartridges that was needed to unlock Classic Sonic during his initial event (623) is a reference to 6/23, or June 23, the release date of the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
• PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN were introduced as playable characters for the celebration of the fifth anniversary for Sonic Dash. Bash was made exclusively for the game to represent the series.
  • During the period PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN were available characters, the Sonic series received a level pack in the mobile version of PAC-MAN as part of a cross-promotion.
  • When using PAC-MAN or Ms. PAC-MAN, the sound effects of the game change to ones from the original Pac-Man and Ms. PAC-MAN games.
    • Upon PAC-MAN's starting run, the music when beginning a game of the original PAC-MAN game plays. For Ms. PAC-MAN, the beginning jingle from her debut game will play instead.
    • When defeating Ghosts (with or without the Dash), the sound effect when they eat the ghosts in Blue Mode in the original games is played.
    • Collecting a PAC-MAN bonus item mimics the same sound when PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN collect them in their original games.
    • When using the Dash, the effects when PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN use a Power Pellet in their original games is heard.
      • All the Ghosts enter into their Blue Mode states.
    • When the character loses a run, the failure theme from the original PAC-MAN game plays.
    • If the character revives, it will play the Continue jingle from the original PAC-MAN games.
• With the addition of Tangle, Whisper, and Surge, this is the first time in which characters from a comic adaptation have been playable in a Sonic game.
  • According to Ian Flynn, this is because Sega owns the characters from the IDW comic series, thus making it possible to use them in games.^[28]
  • Interestingly enough, Amy and Charmy actually made their first appearances in the Sonic the Hedgehog manga series published by Shogakukan. However, Amy was originally conceptualized for the video games before her manga debut.^[29]
• Treasure Hunter Knuckles' hat is based on the one his counterpart wears in Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie.
• Elite Agent Rouge's artwork shares the same pose as Rouge's artwork for Sonic Heroes.
• Besides Sonic himself, Bongo is the only character who requires no effort to unlock, as he was unlocked automatically once the player first opened the game during the period the Danimals promotion was active.
• Linebacker Omega and Movie Super Sonic so far are the only variant characters added to the game without the base characters being included in the actual game beforehand.
• Excalibur Sonic, every Super character, Mephiles, and Infinite all have a unique animation when getting pushed back by an obstacle or enemy. Instead of falling on their rear, they will slide back a bit and still stand.
• One of Classic Sonic's poses when doing Tricks is a reference to a piece of artwork from the original Sonic the Hedgehog video game.
• Despite appearing in promotional material, and on Unicorn Cream, Drummer Cream and Unicorn Knight Cream's character portraits, Cheese does not appear in-game.
• Excluding any characters added prior to the release of Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, Tangle, Whisper, Treasure Hunter Knuckles, Elite Agent Rouge, Nutcracker Silver, Movie Tails, Movie Knuckles, Rusty Rose, Boscage Maze Sonic, Surge, Drummer Cream, Idol Shadow, Valhalla Surge, Pyromancer Blaze, Oni Mephiles, Dulce Amy, Warrior Shadow, Bassist Blaze, Unicorn Knight Cream, and Sinbad the Sailor are the only characters that were playable first in Sonic Dash instead of the aforementioned game.
  • Additionally, Pirate Sonic and Captain Shadow are the only Sonic characters that appear in Sonic Dash but not in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle.
  • Likewise, Zavok, Chaos, Wave the Swallow, Storm the Albatross, Lantern Silver, Spring Cream, Tidal Wave, Tropical Storm, Ice Slicer Jet, Zeena, Tikal, Quarterback Zavok, DJ Vector, Punk Zazz, Lucky Whisper, E-102 Gamma, LEGO® Dr. Eggman, and Warlock Infinite are the only characters that appear in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle but not in Sonic Dash.
    • This makes Jet, Whisper and Infinite the only characters in this game to not have a variant of themselves despite already having one in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle.
• Despite being part of the 'Epic' rarirty, Infinite's event banner depicted his cards with the 'Legendary' rarity.
  • It is possible Infinite was planned to be a Legendary character, as he shares the exact same stats with Mephiles, who is part of said rarity. Additionally, during his initial appearance on Sonic's Shop, the price and amount given to his cards matched with those of a Legendary character.
• It is possible that Series Knuckles was originally going to be called "Warrior Movie Knuckles," as the file for the home screen texture used during his event is named "home_screen_movie_knuckles_warrior" internally.
• If the Super characters run into a Badnik without attacking it, even though they will still take damage, the Badnik will be destroyed.
• Knuckles the Dread, Thorn Rose, and Grim Sonic are the only characters released in 2024 that did not receive their own splash screens.
• With the exceptions of Knuckles the Dread and Thorn Rose, both of which had been present in the game files for a while before their first event, 2024 marks the first year since the release of Sonic Forces: Speed Battle that no character previously exclusive to said game was released in Sonic Dash.
• Rockstar Rouge, LEGO® Amy, Oni Mephiles, and Unicorn Knight Cream are the only characters who have accessories in their character artwork that can never be seen in-game.
  • Inversely, Jet, Knuckles the Dread, and Series Knuckles are the only characters whose in-game accessories do not appear in their character artwork.

Videos

Notes

References

External links

• Sonic Dash at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia