You wanted a game that’s just about Sonic the Hedgehog running and jumping? Here you go—pure Sonic for a whole five minutes.
Available now for Android and iOS devices, Sonic Runners is a free-to-play game about Sonic and friends running. Your character automatically runs from left to right, and all you have to do is jump to avoid obstacles and collect coins and power-ups. It’s level-based as opposed to endless, so there’s a sense of progression beyond going far, fast. During these levels, with their well designed lines and excellent sense of speed, Sonic Runners really shines.
Then things get complicated.
Level up your characters! Level up your buddies! Collect more buddies for bonus! Spin the wheel to unlock new characters and items! Buy coins for more spins!
Red rings are on sale! Gold rings are on sale! Sonic heads are on sale! Did we mention the Happy Birthday Sonic! event? Consider it mentioned!
On the plus side, all of this extra crap allowed the developers to cram in stuff from just about every iteration of Sonic over the years, from Sonic Colors power-ups to what I am pretty sure was the sword from Sonic and the Black Knight as a special follower. You want Chaos? It’s got Chaos.
On the negative side, SALE! SALE! SALE!
Of course all of this happens after the first five minutes, so it doesn’t really matter—remember...
The First Five is the first five minutes of a game with light commentary. Once the five minutes are up, so are we.
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