When it comes to the mobile gaming market, the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has had many titles come and go over the years. Now that Sega has acquired Rovio, however, more mobile Sonic games are on the horizon, with Sonic Rumble being one of the first to come out of this partnership. Aiming for a Winter 2024 release, Sonic Rumble recently held a weekend-long closed beta test, which Game ZXC was invited to attend.
Sonic Rumble wears its inspirations on its sleeve as a platforming battle royale title. Comparisons to Fall Guys are inevitable with the majority of Sonic Rumble's stages using all the iconic elements of the genre, including obstacles like breakable walls, bumpers, balancing platforms, and swinging pendulums. That said, the Sonic franchise being made into a platform-based battle royale game fits like a glove. There is more than enough that gives Sonic Rumble its own identity, and it's shaping up to be a fun experience for all ages.
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Sonic Rumble's Gameplay
The game begins as Dr. Eggman declares his latest project, Egg Toy Land, complete. He sends Sonic a few of his toys in a bid to get the hedgehog to play with (and lose against) him, and Sonic declares he isn't one to back down from a challenge. From there, players are pulled into a tutorial that holds their hand but also provides a quick understanding of the many buttons on their mobile screens. Without a controller, Rumble players will have a thumbstick on the left side and three buttons on the right. In order to keep the controls simple, specific buttons won't light up or be usable until fans are near an objective that necessitates them. Most players will be spending their time running and jumping, hitting dash panels to go faster, and avoiding obstacles to stay ahead of the pack.
How Sonic Rumble Captures the Gameplay Fans Enjoy
Just like in Fall Guys, stumbling or getting sent backward can make or break a player's results by the end, but familiar stage elements from Sonic games like loop-de-loops and springs are used alongside different level designs that feel more Sonic Team and less Mediatonic. Each Sonic stage featured in the game thus far keeps its unique elements, like Starlight Carnival's hologram purple road, to emphasize the blue blur's world. The end result is a game that captures both the Sonic series' charm, while still remaining a bundle of charmingly cute mayhem.
That said, there's certainly a difficulty between stages that doesn't entirely get communicated, leaving some players to go through Green Hill Run with very basic obstacles to later play Starlight Carnival Run, which is filled with pits and explosions. The jump mechanic in Sonic Rumble seems to rely on being on the ground as well, making the mechanic useless if a fan falls off the stage for any reason. If this keeps happening, it can make or break what would otherwise be a rather fun match. With a few issues lingering from the fact that Sonic Rumble is still in beta, many frustrating moments would occur as a result of minor glitches, or most noticeably, latency issues.
While playing, opponents would zip across the screen at faster speeds than the player, as if the game needed to catch up between screens at times. Other effects such as the corners of the screen flashing red when taking damage would occur despite not being hit by any obstacles, and some players would be favored by the lag more than others. This showed the most with one stage taken from Sonic Lost World, Frozen Factory Teams. Fans could easily be left running around, not affecting the match whatsoever due to how low in the pecking order they were due to lag.
Sonic Rumble Players Gotta Collect Rings Fast
If players go into Sonic Rumble expecting that they need to be the best out of everyone, that's where they'd be wrong. Rumble, from the very beginning, uses how many rings fans collect to decide who's in first, second, third, and so on. Currently, the matches play out in specific ways - a race that cuts the starting roster of players by half with the first 16 qualifying for round 2, a team battle that only leaves the last eight standing, and then a "Ring Battle" free-for-all with attacks, obstacles, and challenges unique to the game's selection of iconic Sonic stages.
Just being the fastest Sonic fan in these challenges may be enough to net bonus rings at the end of a stage, but being first doesn't mean that player has the most rings, and therefore, doesn't mean that they're necessarily holding the winning spot. Even a player who's managed to hold onto eighth place until the final round can play their cards right, steal rings from everyone else, and manage to come out on top. The final rounds of Sonic Rumble are truly anyone's game, which makes it just as chaotic and unpredictable as most players expect from party games.
Egg Toy Land's Unknown Price of Admission
Rings are even more important than the emblems players earn from taking first place. Rings can be redeemed for all sorts of custom gear in the shop, where the concept of emblems, taken straight from the Sonic Adventure games, gradually add up to increase players' ranks and earn cosmetics that aren't overly important.
The progression and way players could earn items in the beta were immensely satisfying. All the rings players collected were saved as currency after their matches were over, and special campaigns - the Year of Shadow pass, Amy's Request, and Dr. Eggman's Challenge in particular - made earning Red Star Rings, medals, and special cosmetics fun and rewarding. Anything that required currency that wasn't rings was optional, but the beta still offered more than enough to unlock everything. It begs the question of how this progression will change in order to encourage players to spend money on the same items.
From what was seen in the beta, Sonic Rumble has a good gameplay loop going for it; one that doesn't punish players for not winning and makes it easy for players to get anything they want with the rings they collect while going through the motions. There are quite a lot of customization options available, allowing fans to play as and dress up their favorite Sonic characters through skins, collect buddies to follow them, and express themselves through emotes, stickers, and even have special poses before the match and for victories.
Sonic Rumble is a cute, hilariously chaotic, yet fun easygoing game that will have people playing it again and again. It remains to be seen how the game changes before its full release, but this closed beta still managed to tick the right boxes when it comes to capturing Sonic's iconic nature, his world, and incorporating all of that into a platforming-based battle royale game.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is a prolific game franchise that started life on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. Covering both 2D and 3D iterations through the generations, Sonic is known for speedy movements and interesting platforming mechanics.
