Every time a new 3D Sonic game is announced there’s hope that it will be good. Then it arrives and it and crushes that hope. Sonic Forces is no different.

The main game plays okay, but it’s not approaching “classic” status by any stretch. There are three main stage types: classic, modern, and avatar.

The classic Sonic stages handle terribly and don’t feel anything like a classic 2D Sonic game. Acceleration and movement are inconsistent, which makes some of the platform sections extremely frustrating. I did like the classic Death Egg stage though. Death Egg doesn’t get enough revisits in modern games.

Modern Sonic is the same boost gameplay that has been present for over a decade. I feel like they slowed it down a little, but maybe that’s to stretch the levels a little further. Some are far too short, which is shame as they look quite nice. Enemies offer virtually no challenge, and there are a lot of “dash and smash 100 enemies” type sections.

Avatar stages are a decent diversion, and it’s fun to change the avatar up, but they’re not that different from Sonic’s stages. I have no idea why they have wisp powers, and it’s not always clear about what they do. Weapons are hugely overpowered, and grappling is totally underused. Some of the wispon addons - like auto-running when you hit the ground after damage - are horrible.

The music grew on me, and each character has their own distinct musical style. Classic Sonic uses some instruments from the Mega Drive era, and the avatar’s stages all have lyrics.

Graphically the game looks nice and there are some cool set pieces throughout the game. Fighting through a city that’s being attacked by Death Egg robots is really cool.

The story is completely forgettable and the dialog is on the level of a 2000-era Sonic fangame. I’m not really a fan of the gritty-lite atmosphere they were going for. The opening plot is completely undone a few minutes later, and I have no idea why classic Sonic is around. It feels like they wanted the best parts of Sonic Generations, but didn’t understand why people liked them.

The game is really short and can be comfortably beaten in an afternoon. Completing challenges awards new avatar clothes and equipment, but playing the same 2 minute stage quickly gets old.

It’s worth renting for a day, but that’s about it.