Sonic Rumble

Sonic Rumble (ソニックランブル^[10], Sonikku Ranburu^?) is a party mobile game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series developed by Sega^[12] in collaboration with Rovio Entertainment^[2] and will be published by Sega for Android, iOS and PC.^[10] It is slated for release on May 8, 2025. Before the delay, it was originally slated for release in the winter of 2024.

Synopsis

Sonic Rumble takes place in a twisted toy world created by Dr. Eggman named Egg Toy Land.^[9] Toy figures of Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends must traverse the toybox and compete against one another in races.

As shown in the introduction, Eggman sends invitations and some toy figures to Sonic and Miles "Tails" Prower, who are sitting on a couch. The genius is claiming that his new dangerous, gorgeous creations will need to be controlled by their wits to proceed through the stages. He then states excitingly that the one to collect the most rings will be the winner, before adding that he plans to crush Sonic once and for all, and whacks his figure with a figure of Sonic. He ends his message by taunting the blue hedgehog, daring him to be, "a pawn in [his] game".

Sonic then comments how the doctor seems to have a bit too much time to spare as he looks at a figure of himself and Tails. The two-tailed fox asks what Sonic plans to do, to which Sonic smirks as he gets up on his feet. The speedster doesn't know what his arch nemesis is planning, but he doesn't plan to back down from a challenge. He then says he's game, and is prepared to beat him with the Sonic figure he holds in his palm.

Gameplay

As the name suggests, Sonic Rumble will be a survival and racing game set across locations from the Sonic series. Players can join matches through online connectivity, each of which can hold a maximum of 32 contestants. In these matches, players must compete to gather the most Rings or compete to be the fastest in races.

Races involve the player characters running through various obstacle courses with the ultimate goal of reaching the track's end as fast as possible, all the while using the stage's gimmicks to boost themselves, and avoiding any obstacles along the track that may hinder their progress.

There are five game modes, broken down into three rounds. The first round consists of all 32 players and is a simple run-to-the-end minigame where half of the contestants will be eliminated. The second round will be selected randomly out of three choices: Survival, Hunt or Team. The third round - consisting of the final 8 players - is Ring battle.

Each game mode has the following objectives:

Additionally, there are several, currently unknown and unnamed, second level minigames; such as a chase minigame where the player must run away from Badniks in Silent Forest, pushing colored balls into holes with colored tiles (potentially a territory grab minigame) in Lava Mountain, and a game where four players are stood on a biplane in Sky Sanctuary.

Brand new modes will be added in "Pre-Launch 2", starting with Co-Op Battle, that will be enabled every two weeks (Friday to Monday) where you must work as a team of up to 32 players to defeat the Death Egg Robot and the Egg Pawn Rangers, that will allow you to earn mission points from cooperative battles and exchange them for "Skins" of your favorite characters.^[13]

Also brand new modifications to some of the game modes in "Special Rumble", for "Run", it can be modified to "Run Battle" and "Survival" to "Survival Battle", with "Ring Battle" getting two: "Low Gravity Battle" and "Hyper Boost Battle", where the movements of our characters will be modified. Additionally, you can earn Special Rumble points and redeem them for Skins of your favorite characters.^[14]

And finally "Custom Matches", as the name indicates, you can customize the scenarios or stages that will appear in each round within the games.^[15]

The game also includes a Battle Pass, where players can earn exclusive rewards in free and paid tiers.^[16]

Power-ups

• Barrier
• Boost
• Magnet
• Range Attack

Objects

• 100 Count Ring
• 20 Count Ring
• 50 Count Ring
• Balloon
• Bomb
• Cloud
• Dash Ring
• Egg Goggles
• Giant Ring
• Grind Rail
• Grind Shoes
• High-speed warp tube
• Horizontal Bar
• Medal
• Mega Mack
• Jump Panel
• Propeller Spring
• Ring
• Red Star Ring
• Sonic's shoes
• Super Ring
• Spring
• Treasure Box
• Windmill

Characters

Playable

Non-playable

Enemies

Badniks and other Eggman Empire robots

• Bomb
• Buzz Bomber
• Caterkiller (functions like the Sandworms in Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations)
• Chopper
• Clucker
• Crabmeat
• Egg Pawn
• Flapper
• Grabber
• Iwamodoki
• Miniature variant of the Owl Mech
• Metal Spinner
• Moto Bug
• Nebula
• Penguinator
• Solid Flapper
• Thunder Spinner

Other

• Gun Beetle
• Orca
• Sandworm (Sonic Lost World)
• Yeti

Bosses

Co-op Battle Mode

• Death Egg Robot
  • Elite Death Egg Robot
• Egg Pawn Rangers
  • Elite Egg Pawn Rangers
• Mech Dragon

Other

• Death Egg Robot
  • Death Egg Robot (mass-produced)
• Giant Aquis
• Giant Chopper

Miscellaneous

• Orbot

Cosmetics

• Buddies
  • Boo
  • Chao
    • 2025 New Year's
    • Amethyst
    • Aquamarine
    • Aquatic
    • Arctic
    • Black
    • Blue
    • Dark
    • Chaos
      • Dark Chaos
      • Hero Chaos
      • Light Chaos
    • Eggie
    • Emerald
    • Garnet
    • Gold
    • Gray
    • Green
    • Hero
    • Holiday
    • Influencer
    • Lime-Green
    • Magician
    • NiGHTS
    • Onyx
    • Orange
    • Peridot
    • Pink
    • Purple
    • Red
    • Ruby
    • Sapphire
    • Shadow
    • Silver
    • Sky-Blue
    • Skull
    • Thanksgiving
    • Topaz
    • White
    • Yellow
    • Crystal
  • Death Egg
  • Froggy
  • Koco
    • Chaos Island 9
    • Kronos Island 1
    • Pirate Koco (unused)
  • Omochao
    • Tails
  • Tornado
  • Wisp
    • Cyan Wisp
    • Yacker
    • Yellow Wisp
• Effects
• Emotes
• Sticker (excluding the "Fearless" Sticker - which offers a reward)
• Trail

Stages

There are a total of three rounds. As of Pre-Season 1, the game has these levels:

• Green Hill
• Chemical Plant
• Sky Sanctuary
• Seaside Hill
• Starlight Carnival
• Desert Ruins
• Frozen Factory
• Silent Forest
• Lava Mountain
• Pinball Carnival

Stages in Bold are available in Stage Challenge.

Development

Sonic Rumble is under primary "development and management" by Sega,^[9] with assistance from Rovio Entertainment, a Finnish game developer best known for creating the Angry Birds series;^[2] the company was bought by Sega in 2023, becoming a subsidiary of the Sega Europe division.^[17] This thus marks Rovio's first game involvement following Sega's acquisition.

In an interview with Takashi Iizuka on 3 October 2024, he admitted that he wishes to expand the game's roster by adding lesser-known characters that players wouldn't recognize easily.^[18] Iizuka also stated that Sonic Rumble won't feature pay-to-win mechanics due to how poorly received they tend to be in the West.^[19]

According to SEGA, the delays are due to them being in current discussions in areas for improvement with Rovio which were found during the testing process in some regions, and plan to launch the service globally as soon as they can see the path to make improvements.^[20]

A new Sonic Rumble Creators Program was later revealed in 13 March 2025, this allowed Youtube users that in return of making videos for the game, they'll have access to early content, Discord membership, a new Tails skin, and Chao Buddy.

Veli Kiviaho, the coordinator between Rovio and SEGA teased that the first crossover event will happen before the global launch of the game, with an IP that hasn't been seen recently in other games.^[21]

Release

Through the official Sonic Rumble website, players could register to take part in the closed beta test of the game (exclusive to the United States). Submissions were accepted until 19 May 2024, and testing took place on 24 May (8:00pm to 11:00pm EST), 25 May (12:00pm to 3:00pm EST and 8:00pm to 11:00pm EST) and 26 May (same as 25 May).

On 19 August, Sega revealed that Sonic Rumble will have a series of "pre-launch" play periods that will test the mobile platformer in a number of key markets throughout the summer, starting with the Philippines with a follow-up phase including Peru and Colombia with a focus on Latin American countries. Once the Summer pre-launch phases were completed, a second "Pre-Launch Phase" will begin consisting of pre-registration for players, ahead of a full global launch in the Winter as originally announced.^[22]

On 5 October, it was announced that on 11 October, Sonic Rumble will enter "Pre-Launch 2", bringing a new patch packed with improvements and fresh content to more regions, including a (optional) monthly subscription that will allow players to win more Rings in each game and eliminate ads, general improvements to the user interface and the function of linking an account in order to transfer game progress to PC and vice versa. Once that version was released, users who participated in the first pre-launch phase received 30 Red Star Rings and 5000 Rings as a reward.^[23]

On 5 December 2024, Pre Registrations were opened. Depending on the amount of of pre registrations, more rewards would be given, including a playable Movie Sonic.

On 26 February 2025 it was announced that Sonic Rumble would be delayed and pushed the release date to Spring 2025.

On 8 April 2025, it was announced that Sonic Rumble would be released on 8 May 2025.

Promotion

Sonic Rumble was shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2024, with novelty gifts being offered. All players received a novelty paper fan containing the key art of the game on the front and a render of all the playable characters on the back. Those who competed and finished first to third received a Sonic Rumble-branded neck fans and those who placed fourth to eighth received a novelty bottle holder.^[24]

A demo of the game, along with Sonic X Shadow Generations, was playable during the Thailand Game Show 2024, held between 18 and 20 October 2024.^[25]

Trivia

• Sonic Rumble was initially titled "Sonic Toys Party".
  • The early title of the game also looks very similar to the Toy Story logo.
• The game was leaked around two months before the game's announcement trailer.
• This is the second ever Sonic game to have an official Discord Server.^[26]
• For mobile devices, this is the first game to be developed by a third-party besides Hardlight.
• An early build of the game made use of stolen fanart in a mode selection screen for "Ring Collection", likely unintentionally. The original artwork was made by TBSF.^[27]
• After purchasing a character, the character will briefly pull a pose before showcasing their win animation. Some of these poses are references to other media and games.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog's seems inspired by his artwork from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
  • Miles "Tails" Prower appears to be based on stock artwork.
  • Knuckles the Echidna's is based on his artwork from Sonic Frontiers.
  • Amy Rose's is based on her original bio artwork from Sonic Channel.
  • Metal Sonic's is based on artwork from Sonic Free Riders.
  • Doctor Eggman's is a reference to one of his iconic poses from the classic era, specifically that of his Sonic the Hedgehog CD artwork.
  • Shadow the Hedgehog's pose seems inspired by his original bio artwork from Sonic Channel.
  • Rouge the Bat's is similar to her artwork from Sonic Heroes.
  • Cream the Rabbit's is based on artwork from Sonic Battle.
  • Silver the Hedgehog's appears inspired by his pose while using his Levitate ability in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
  • Big the Cat's is based on his original bio artwork from Sonic Channel.
• Additionally, after showcasing their win animation, characters will pull another pose. Some of these poses are references to other media and games as well.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog's references Classic Sonic's stage clear pose from Sonic Generations.
  • Miles "Tails" Prower's references his artwork from Sonic Free Riders.
  • Knuckles the Echidna's is mostly original but seems to borrow elements from his Sonic Runners artwork.
  • Amy Rose, while having no direct match, looks somewhat similar to a piece of stock artwork. It also may reference a Sonic Advance animation.
  • Metal Sonic's references the iconic finger wag Metal has had since Sonic CD.
  • Shadow the Hedgehog crossing his arms harkens back to his stage clear animations from games such as Sonic Heroes and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
  • Rouge the Bat's seems to be inspired by her May 2017 artwork from Sonic Channel.
  • Cream the Rabbit's entire win animation and final pose references an animation she and Cheese have in Sonic Advance 2.
  • Silver the Hedgehog's references his artwork from Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
  • Blaze the Cat's references her artwork from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
  • Big the Cat's appears based on his stage clear animation from Sonic Adventure.
  • Vector the Crocodile's pose is based on his artwork from Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.
• Several skins reference other games and media in the series.
  • Detective Tails and Tycoon Rouge both are based on their outfits from The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog.
  • DJ Vector, Witch Rouge, Treasure Hunter Knuckles, Lantern Silver, Popstar Amy, Rockstar Rouge, and Spring Cream's skins are taken directly from Sonic Forces: Speed Battle.
  • Captain Shadow and Pirate Sonic's skins are from Sonic Dash.
  • Server Silver's outfit comes from his August 2023 Otherworld Comedy artwork, where he is an undercover butler.
    • The later added Skater Silver comes from his April 2023 Otherworld Comedy artwork, where he is Princess Elise's ice skating instructor.
  • Halloween Sonic is based on his vampire outfit used in several Sonic Channel artworks.
  • All the 'Riders' themed outfits are based on the character's outfits in the Sonic Riders series
    • Notably, the only characters missing their riders outfit are Silver and Vector.
  • Woolly Sonic is likely a reference to the Sonic-themed costume from Yoshi's Woolly World that could be unlocked with Sonic's amiibo.
  • The designs for Extreme Riders Sonic, Tails and Amy are based off Sonic Riders concept artwork.
  • Gold Style Sonic, Gold Style Shadow and Stealth Suit Sonic are based on their respective outfits from Sonic Speed Simulator.

Videos

Notes

References

External links

• Official English website
• Official English Twitter
• Official English Discord server