Sonic Adventure 3 (ソニックアドベンチャー Sonikku Adobenchā 3) is a platform video game developed by Sora Ltd. & Bandai Namco and published by Sega to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was released on December 21, 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S and re-released on November 15, 2022 for Nintendo Matrix to mark the console’s release, titled Sonic Adventure 3: Action. It is a sequel to Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, a reboot of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and all games after, and a crossover between the Sonic the Hedgehog games and several spinoffs including two of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series, published by Archie comics and IDW publishing, introducing characters such as Sally Acorn, Nicole the Holo-Lynx, Rotor the Walrus, Tangle the Lemur, Whisper the Wolf, among others. Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel, who had never been seen in the main games, are in the game, but it is unclear what continuity they are from, as they have their appearances from the Archie comics but they mention events and characters from the classic games.
Sonic Adventure 3 has sold over 2 million units as of January 7, 2022 and received critical acclaim for its return to the iconic Sonic Adventure gameplay, story, replay value, and playable characters. However, its connection to other media received mixed reviews, as some praised it for being attention to detail while others criticized it for being confusing for newcomers to the Sonic series. The game defined how most of the games in the next decade were set up, as most Sonic games in the 2020s had multiple playable characters and the same five gameplay styles, they heavily tied into the game's plot and payed attention to most of its characters, and they remained exclusive to Sega hardware.
Plot[]
Meanwhile, it's Christmas in Station Square and Sonic rushes across Emerald Coast to meet Amy Rose on his first date with her. On their date, the two talk about how their life has been different since Metal Overlord was defeated and they have more time to do more simple things like going on dates. When their date is finished, Sonic picks up Amy and they decide to go to Tails's workshop.
In a technological city 200 years in the future, Silver goes through a VR simulation. When the simulation ends, he exits the building and goes for a walk, but the city starts glitching out of existence bit by bit. Silver makes contact with his father, Chrome, whom he knows is currently working on a time machine as he escapes, so he can find the source of this destruction and stop it back in time. Silver uses the time machine, which his father tells him is only 75% complete, to locate the source of the destruction, and finds out that it is Dr. Eggman and Maximus, whom he doesn't know, 200 years in the past. In his world's last seconds of existence, he travels back.
Eggman arrives in his new base, where an alternate version of Eggman is setting up a mysterious machine. He tells Eggman that he is Dr. Eggman Nega, an alternate version of Eggman who was sent to this world by Maximus. He also says that he is working on a project called the Egg Collider, which can use dimensional energy from other dimensions, as well as this dimension to remake Maximus's dimension and it needs to be powered by the Master Emerald on Angel Island.
Eggman goes to Angel Island and magnetizes the Master Emerald. Knuckles tries to stop him by shattering the Master Emerald, but Eggman uses Chaos Control to teleport back to his base. Knuckles decides to break into Eggman's base and take back the Master Emerald. Meanwhile, Shadow, Omega, and Rouge arrive at Eggman's base. While Rouge places bombs around the base, Shadow and Omega break in and try to steal the Master Emerald. Eventually, all 3 of them arrive in Eggman's central control room, along with Knuckles. Rouge tries to steal the emerald, but gets sucked up by Eggman's collider, never to be seen again. Knuckles, Shadow, and Omega escape through the ground.
Sonic and Amy arrive at Tails' house, where they meet Tails's mother, Jessica O'Meter, who is an actress that they recognize. They also meet Tails's siblings, Zooey and Kyle O'Meter Prower, but also reunite with their friend himself. Tails leads them down under the house and shows them his new plane that he created, the Hurricane. Just then, Silver arrives in their house. He tells them why he is there. The four of them decide to break into Eggman's base. They use the Hurricane to get to Eggman's base, where they meet up with Knuckles, Shadow, and Omega, who tell them that Rouge is gone. Tails and Silver disable the forcefield while Amy defeats the guarding robots and Sonic breaks into the central control room. Sonic fights Eggman, but the collider goes off and explodes. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy use the Hurricane to get back to Tails's workshop while Shadow, Omega, and Silver escape through a nearby forest and encounter a mysterious inter-dimensional cat princess named Blaze, who tells them that she is a guardian of the multiverse and has met them from multiple parallel realities, all of which are colliding with this universe because of Eggman's collider. The four of them decide to unite with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy at Tails's workshop.
Shadow, Omega, Silver, and Blaze arrive at Tails's house. Jessica O'Meter doesn't trust them, but Shadow convinces her that they can enter by telling her that they have worked with her son, Tails, as well as her husband, Simon Prower, who is in fact a G.U.N. agent. They enter the workshop and join Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. They decide to split into four groups to locate the energy from other dimensions.
At Eggman's base, fragments of Eggman bases from other dimensions collide with the technology in his current base. Then, many mysterious beings who have all fought and lost to Sonic arrive, including Metal Sonic, Scourge the Hedgehog, Mephiles the Dark, Infinite, and Fiona Fox, among others, arrive. Eggman and Maximus agree that they'll use these villains to hunt do n Sonic and his friends.
Sonic, Tails, and Amy go to a tropical island, where they encounter Fiona, who seems to have two tails, much like Tails. The fox is taken down by Sally Acorn, Nicole the Holo-Lynx, and Rotor the Walrus, three skilled fighters that seem to have a close relationship with Team Sonic. They eventually reveal that Sally is Sonic's ex-girlfriend, Nicole is an AI, and Rotor is an expert mechanic. Tails and Nicole come up with the conclusion that Sally, Nicole, Rotor, and Fiona have come from another world, but are still confused as to why Fiona has two tails when she previously had only one. Nicole detects fifteen villains with inter-dimensional signatures similar to Fiona, so Sonic and Sally decide to round up their friends by communicating with them so they can catch the villains, send them back to their worlds, and save this world.
After finding the shards of the Master Emerald in a construction site, Knuckles encounters and fights Metal Knuckles. Fortunately, Metal Knuckles is defeated by Mighty and Ray, who know Knuckles in another dimension that he is the leader of the Chaotix, who consist of Vector, Espio, and Charmy in this dimension. Meanwhile, Shadow, Omega, Silver, and Blaze arrive in another part of the city, where they fight against Tails Doll, who gets in their heads. Fortunately, Tails Doll is defeated by Tangle and Whisper, who attack him from behind. Tangle and Whisper know the heroes in another dimension. Just then, Mephiles the Dark, a mysterious hedgehog who looks like Shadow and tricked Blaze and an alternate Silver into killing Sonic. Mephiles captures Silver and Blaze and Shadow, Omega, Tangle, and Whisper are too late to save them. Both Knuckles, Mighty, & Ray and Shadow, Omega, Tangle, and Whisper get transmissions from Sonic, telling them where to go in order to get to the Sky Patrol and meet up with them.
All of the heroes meet up at the Sky Patrol. Nicole gives them the locations of the inter-dimensional energy signatures and they split into teams. Sonic and Amy fight against Metal Sonic, Scourge the Hedgehog, an opposite version of Sonic from another dimension and Rosy the Rascal, an opposite version of Amy from the same dimension as Scourge, and a metal version of Scourge, who they defeat immediately, Tails and Nicole fight against Fang, Bark and Bean, also known as the Hooligans and a version of Tails from the same dimension as Scourge, Knuckles, Mighty, and Ray fight against O'Nux, a version of Knuckles from the same dimension as Scourge, Sally and Rotor fight against Dr. Starline, a scientist whose intelligence almost matches Eggman's, Tangle and Whisper fight against Infinite, an enemy from their dimension who should be dead, but was brought back from an alternate timeline, and Shadow and Omega fight against Mephiles and save Silver and Blaze. They manage to catch most enemies, but Metal Sonic, Scourge, Infinite, and Mephiles are teleported back to Eggman's base by Maximus, who Sonic and Amy encounter. Rosy, Metal Scourge, Anti-Miles, the Hooligans, O'Nux, Starline, Metal Knuckles, and Tails Doll are brought to the Sky Patrol and transported back to their worlds. Fiona, however, stays to be interrogated.
Maximus, Metal Sonic, Scourge, Infinite, and Mephiles return to Eggman's base. Eggman says that he has detected that the Chaos Emeralds were scattered across the multiverse when Eggman's collider worked, but they already have 2 of them. Maximus and Eggman decide to go look for the Chaos Emeralds themselves because they don't want to risk the other villains losing again.
Rosy, Metal Scourge, Anti-Miles, the Hooligans, O'Nux, Starline, Metal Knuckles, and Tails Doll are brought to the Sky Patrol and transported back to their worlds. Fiona, however, stays to be interrogated. She tells them that Eggman is working with a hedgehog from another dimension named Maximus, who plans to find the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald shards to create a doomsday device, powered by the combined power of the Chaos and Master Emeralds, that will suck the energy from all 5 dimensions to restore Maximus's dimension, which was destroyed. To stop them, the heroes plan to split into teams once again to find the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald shards. Knuckles, Mighty, and Ray stay in this world and get a Chaos Emerald and 3 Master Emerald shards, and everyone else travels to another dimension to collect a Chaos Emerald only. Omega, Rotor, and Whisper travel to the world that Mighty and Ray are from, Amy, Sally, and Tangle travel to the world that Tangle is from, Tails, Silver, and Nicole travel to the world that Sally, Nicole, and Rotor are from, and Sonic, Shadow, and Blaze travel to the world that Blaze is from, where they encounter Maximus and fight him.
Maximus and Eggman reunite at Eggman's base, which has turned into a dark tower because it collided with other Eggman bases. They call it Collision Tower. They tell each other that they failed to collect any of the Chaos Emeralds that they didn't have. Maximus uses Chaos Control to enhance the villains so they can hunt down the heroes. Metal Sonic becomes Metal Overlord, Scourge becomes made of acid, Infinite gets the power of the Phantom Ruby, but instead of making illusions, it can make actual things, Mephiles becomes a more godly version of himself, and Eggman Nega gets a new mech. The decide to scatter around the city in order to hunt down the heroes.
All of the heroes arrive back at the Sky Patrol, which finally takes flight with the power of a Chaos Emerald. They only collected 5 Chaos Emeralds, so Sally goes hard on Fiona so she can tell them the location of the other Chaos Emeralds. Since Maximus is more powerful than any of the heroes and will not give up until his plan has been completed, Blaze gets a plan to collide all 6 worlds and use the energy from the barriers between the worlds to bring back Maximus's world, with the exception of her world because the Chaos Emeralds and Sol Emeralds cannot exist in the same world, but in order for that to happen, everything will need to be back in the world that it came from. Before they split up to defeat the enemies, Sonic and Amy share a kiss to wish each other good luck. They split into the same teams to defeat the 5 remaining villains from other dimensions. Amy, Sally, and Tangle fight Infinite, Omega, Rotor, and Whisper fight Eggman Nega, Tails, Silver, and Nicole fight Metal Sonic, Knuckles, Mighty, and Ray fight Mephiles, and Sonic, Shadow, and Blaze fight Scourge, while Fiona guides them behind the scenes as the "girl in the chair." All of the villains are brought back to their dimensions with Chaos Control.
The heroes decide to meet up at the floor of Eggman's base with the Egg Collider in order for Blaze to use the barrier energy to restore Maximus's world and collide the other worlds. When they meet up, Blaze brings everyone back to their worlds and both herself and the barrier energy to her world to collide the dimensions, but she fails to do so. The heroes at Eggman's base are attacked by Maximus, who tells them that it is not working because he is in this dimension and he is from another dimension. Then, he brings Blaze to the world he is in and takes the energy from her and becomes a more powerful version of himself called Perfect Maximus. All dimensions start colliding, but not in the right way. They start distorting and slowly disappearing. In his last minutes of existence, Tails throws Sonic, Shadow, and Blaze the Chaos Emeralds, but in the process of going super, they are almost crushed by Maximus, so the almost gone Knuckles throws them the Master Emerald to protect them. This enhances the Chaos Emeralds to become the Super Emeralds and allows Sonic, Shadow, and Blaze to become hyper. They have a large clash with Maximus and eventually take his power out of him, bringing him back to his original form. They fight over the energy, but Sonic, Shadow, and Blaze eventually convince Maximus that they can bring back his dimension. Maximus tells them of another method of colliding worlds that he once thought of, colliding the Chaos Emeralds from different worlds using the Master Emerald. They summon the Chaos Emeralds from all 5 dimensions as well as the Master Emerald and Maximus says the Master Emerald chant, "The servers are the seven Chaos..." and all 5 worlds are collided. Blaze gives Maximus his energy back and he becomes Perfect Maximus again, but he restores both his dimension and the 5 other dimensions, which have been collided into one.
Sonic wakes up surrounded by his friends. Amy gives him a kiss and Shadow and Blaze tell him that the worlds have been restored. Maximus leaves, telling everyone that to make up for his bad deeds, he will go through the multiverse and save other universes from having the same fate as his. Eggman and all of the villains, including Fiona, gives Tails a suspicious wink on her way out, go to jail.
On the next night, which is the night of Christmas Eve, the heroes and their friends have a celebration of their victory at the Sky Patrol. Everyone wears fancy clothes and go do different things. Sonic carries Amy and takes her for a run across the Sky Patrol, Tails, Nicole, Rotor, and Omega talk about technology that only they would understand, Knuckles gives Mighty and Ray a job to guard the Master Emerald while he is not present at Angel Island, Silver and Blaze slow dance together, Shadow and the other G.U.N. Agents mourn for their fallen ally, Rouge, and a lot more. Eventually, Sonic, Shadow, and Blaze change back into their normal clothes and go for a race through the city, which ends in a 3-way tie. When they come back, Nicole says that they have a distress call from an anonymous source, but it has a picture of someone who Sonic recognizes, which leads the heroes into their next adventure.
A few months after the invasion of the Black Arms, Dr. Eggman is in jail, and gets a package. Inside his package is a Chaos Emerald. Eggman sees his reflection in the Chaos Emerald as a mysterious red and yellow hedgehog. The hedgehog introduces himself as Maximus the Hedgehog and says that his dimension has been destroyed and wants Eggman to build a new device to take the power from this world and other worlds to restore his destroyed world and promises that Eggman can rule with him. Eggman agrees because that would mean that he would be the ruler of a dimension without Sonic. Eggman uses Chaos Control to return to his base.
Characters[]
Playable Characters[]
| Image | Character(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic the Hedgehog is the world's fastest living thing. He has always fought Dr. Eggman and stopped his evil plans, but now, he must stop his most evil plan to date, a plan to use his army from many different universes to take over the multiverse! | |
| Miles "Tails" Prower | Tails is a smart fox boy with two tails who can create brilliant mechanical inventions at the young age of 12. He is Sonic's best friend who follows him around on all of his missions, no matter how difficult they are. | |
| Knuckles the Echidna | Knuckles is a skilled treasure hunter and martial artist who is the guardian of the Master Emerald. He is determined to find every single piece now that it has been shattered in Eggman's plan to take over the multiverse. | |
| Amy Rose | Amy Rose is a sweet girl yet a skilled fighter who uses her hammer to defend herself from enemies. Now, she must defend her friends from Eggman's largest army yet, including some of her past foes. | |
| Shadow the Hedgehog | Shadow the Hedgehog is the ultimate life-form created by Professor Gerald Robotnik has speed that can rival Sonic's. He was thought to be dead, but the government found him and placed him in Area 51. He managed to escape and is now on the run from both Eggman and the government. | |
| Silver the Hedgehog | After his world was erased from existence, Silver travelled back 200 years to save his world. Now, he must team up with Sonic and his friends in order to stop Eggman and save the future. | |
| Blaze the Cat | Blaze the Cat is a princess from another dimension. Her kingdom was taken over by the evil Maximus the Hedgehog. | |
| E-123 Omega | E-123 Omega was originally Dr. Eggman's invention, but he was reprogrammed to be good. Now, he is working with Shadow and is on the run from his creator and his expansive new army. | |
| Sally Acorn | ||
| Nicole the Holo-Lynx | ||
| Rotor the Walrus | ||
| Tangle the Lemur | ||
| Whisper the Wolf | ||
| Mighty the Armadillo | ||
| Ray the Flying Squirrel | ||
| Dr. Eggman | ||
| Maximus the Hedgehog | ||
| Fiona Fox | ||
| Dr. Eggman Nega | ||
| Eggman's Henchmen |
Gameplay[]
Unlike its predecessors, Sonic Adventure 3 has one story with multiple playable characters. However, throughout the story, it often branches into different perspectives and you can choose which one you do. When part of the game has more than one character of a certain gameplay style, the cutscene pauses before the level starts and you choose what character you play as in that level. There are 5 gameplay styles: running, flying, hunting, combat, and shooting. There are 15 playable characters: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Omega, Silver, Blaze, Sally, Nicole, Rotor, Mighty, Ray, Tangle, and Whisper.
Character-Specific Gameplays[]
Running Stages[]
The characters with running gameplay are Sonic, Shadow, and Blaze. The running stages are much like Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)’s adventure gameplay, rather than the gameplay of every Sonic game since Sonic Unleashed. The level design is mostly like Sonic ‘06. At the end of the stages, there are Mach Speed sections, similar to Sonic ‘06. However, they are more similar to the day stages in Sonic Unleashed and the modern stages in Sonic Generations.
Flying Stages[]
The characters with flying gameplay are Tails, Silver, and Nicole. The flying gameplay is much like Sonic's gameplay, but more open and revolves more around the ability to fly. There are many gaps in the stages that the character flies over. Each flying character is given some kind of weapon to defeat flying enemies. Tails has classic cartoon bombs, Silver has his psychokinesis, and Nicole has her electricity that she has in the fan game, Sonic World. You have 30 seconds to fly, but when you stop flying there is air to boost you, much like Sonic Riders. It is much like Tails' gameplay in Sonic Adventure, but does not involve racing another character.
Hunting Stages[]
The characters with hunting gameplay are Knuckles, Mighty, and Ray. The hunting gameplay is much like it was in the previous adventure games and revolves around finding 3 to 6 objects in an open stage. The stages are a little more open than they were in the other games. They are around the size of the jungle in the Mystic Ruins. They would have Sonic Adventure’s emerald tracker, but Sonic Adventure 2’s hint computers. There would be some secret areas that would be accessible by digging or using the mystic melody, which is an upgrade.
Combat Stages[]
The characters with combat gameplay are Amy, Sally, and Tangle. The combat stages are similar to the night stages in Sonic Unleashed, but also similar to the game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. One difference from the night stages in Sonic Unleashedis that the stages are more based around fighting the enemies than getting to the goal. The combat is different for each character. Amy uses her hammer, Sally uses her energy weapons, and Tangle uses her tail.
Shooting Stages[]
The characters for shooting are Omega, Rotor, and Whisper. The shooting stages are very similar to how they were in the previous games. They are on shooting down enemies and obstacles through linear stages. The characters are all able to shoot bullets, lasers, and rockets out of their guns. Also, all characters are able to glide over gaps in the stages.
Sub-Games[]
Chao Garden[]
Chao Garden is a lot like it was in the previous games, but is an entire open world, It has some new missions like saving Chao from Eggman robots. You are able to unlock some characters throughout the world.
Multiplayer[]
Up to 4 players must compete in any of the five main styles of gameplay. Unlike Sonic Adventure 2, all characters are playable in all styles of gameplay, but their abilities are altered to fit the gameplay style. In flying, the characters who can't fly are given jetbpacks., for hunting, all characters who can't glide are given hangliders and all characters who can't dig are given shovels, and for shooting, everyone who can't shoot is given a gun.
Gimmicks[]
All Stages[]
- Dash Pannel
- Spring
- Ball Switch
- Cannon
- Fan
- Omochao
Voice Cast[]
- Max Mittelman as Sonic the Hedgehog, Mighty the Armadillo, and Scourge the Hedgehog
- Mark Hamill as Dr. Eggman, Tails Doll, and Dr. Eggman Nega
- Cassandra Lee Morris as Miles "Tails" Prower and Anti-Miles Prower
- Christopher Daniel Barnes as Knuckles the Echidna and O'Nux
- Kimberly Brooks as Amy Rose and Rosy the Rascal
- Johnny Yong Bosch as Shadow the Hedgehog
- Matthew Wood as E-123 Omega
- Mark Lund as Silver the Hedgehog
- Tara Strong as Blaze the Cat, Sally Acorn, Whisper the Wolf, and Fiona Fox
- Ashley Eckstein as Nicole the Holo-Lynx
- Justin Roiland as Rotor the Walrus
- Olivia Olson as Tangle the Lemur
- Nicholas Cantu as Ray the Flying Squirrel
- Steve Blum as Maximus the Hedgehog
- Ryan Drummond as Metal Sonic
- Scott Dreier as Metal Knuckles
- Liam O'Brien as Infinite
DLC[]
Classic Skin Pack[]
Classic versions of Sonic, Tails, Kunckles, Amy, Sally, Rotor, Mighty, and Ray.
Classic Stage Pack[]
Stages from other Sonic games, upgraded for this game’s gameplay, including:
- Green Hill (Sonic the Hedgehog [1991])
- Chemical Plant (Sonic the Hedgehog 2)
- Stardust Speedway (Sonic CD)
- Sky Sanctuary (Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles)
- Studiopolis (Sonic Mania)
- Sylvania Castle (Sonic the Hedgehog 4)
- Speed Highway (Sonic Adventure)
- City Escape (Sonic Adventure 2)
- Seaside Hill (Sonic Heroes)
- Westopolis (Shadow the Hedgehog)
- Crisis City (Sonic the Hedgehog [2006])
- Eggmanland (Sonic Unleashed)
- Tropical Resort (Sonic Colours)
- Windy Hill (Sonic Lost World)
- Sunset City (Sonic Forces)
Christmas Skin Pack[]
Christmas-themed costumes for the characters including:
- Sweater with ring for Sonic
- Sweater with Tails symbol for Tails
- Sweater with Master Emerald for Knuckles
- Sweater with heart for Amy
- Sweater with G.U.N. symbol for Shadow
- Santa hat and beard for Omega
- Sweater with psychokinesis symbol for Silver
- Sweater with fire for Blaze
- Sweater with Freedom Fighters symbol for Sally
- Sweater with Red Star Ring for Nicole
- Sweater with wrench for Rotor
- TBA for Mighty
- TBA for Ray
- TBA for Tangle
- TBA for Whisper
Summer Skin Pack[]
Summer-themed skins for the characters including:
- Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses for Sonic
- Blue swim trunks and goggles for Tails
- Black swim trunks for Knuckles
- Red swimsuit with skirt and flower designs for Amy
- Sunglasses for Shadow
- Sun hat for Omega
- Black swim trunks and sunglasses for Silver
- Purple swimsuit, towel, and sun hat for Blaze
- Black swimsuit, Hawaiian Shirt, and sunglasses for Sally
- Black swimsuit with neon designs, sun hat, and flower in hair for Nicole
- Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses for Rotor
- Red swim trunks for Mighty
- Blue swim trunks for Ray
- Black and yellow swimsuit for Tangle
- White tank top and blue shorts for Whisper
Halloween Skin Pack[]
TBA
Development[]
After the release of Sonic Forces, Sega had the idea for a sequel to Sonic Generations, intended as a game that would "save the franchise." The idea for the game's story was that Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic would be the only playable characters and Modern Sonic would be lost in Classic Sonic's world and would be forced to team up with characters who hadn't appeared since the classic games, but in the process of making the Sonic the Hedgehog film, Sega, as well as all of the characters that were linked to Sega and were owned by other companies such as Archie, were bought by Paramount, which allowed them to have a much larger budget and get back veteran staff that worked on the Sonic Adventure titles. While they carried on the original idea, they made it a third Sonic Adventure title, and they didn't only make it cross over with the classic games, the game would cross over with multiple Sonic continuities, including the comic book series
Reception[]
Upon its release, the game received very positive reviews from reviewers across the globe. It received an 81 out of 100 on Metacritic, making it their second-best reviewed 3D Sonic game.
In GameSpot's review, they praised the gameplay and said that the game is "proof that old-school gamers still exist in our modern society", praising its 90s/2000s-inspired gameplay and tone and calling it "a return to the platformer genre when no old-school platforms exist anymore" and said that "this is a direction that Sonic should stick with, possibly forever."
The story received mixed reviews. GameSpot said "while the story is ambitious, emotional, and fast-paced, it would probably be quite confusing for people who start playing Sonic with this game."
| Reviewer | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 80.2% |
| Metacritic | 81/100 |
| Edge | 8/10 |
| Famitsu | 32/40 |
| GamePro | 4.2/5 |
| Game Revolution | A- |
| GameSpot | 8.3/10 |
| IGN | 8.3/10 |
| IMDb | 7.7/10 |
| GamesRadar | 7.9/10 |
| Eurogamer | 8/10 |
| Game Trailers | 8.2/10 |
| Nintendo Power | 8.3/10 |
| Gamespy | 4/5 |
| Screen Rant | 4/5 |
Trivia[]
- This is the first Sonic game in 15 years to have the adventure formula.
- Excluding remakes, this is the first 3D Sonic game for the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
- This is the first Sonic game since Sonic Heroes to have all characters playable in two-player battle.
- This is the first Sonic game to fully realize Sonic and Amy's romantic relationship.
- Though they keep their signature styles, a few characters have significantly different designs.
- Sally Acorn now wears a black long tank top and blue jeans.
- Nicole the Holo-Lynx now has a purple streak in her hair and wears a purple and grey dress over her normal sweats.
- Rotor the Walrus has a bazooka and a few new pouches on his bag.
- Tangle the Lemur has a black tank top, blue jeans, and a pink hoodie around her waist.
- Whisper has a green trench coat and uses one of Omega's guns that was given to her.
- Much like Sonic Adventure 2, the game had an online tournament where players fought each other and the winner fought Takashi Iizuka
- This is the first game where Tails is 12 rather than 8, Knuckles is 18 rather than 16, and Amy is 15 rather than 12.