Sonic Dream Team Review – Return to Adventure

When SEGA announced a new 3D Sonic platformer for iOS devices and Mac, it was hard to tell what kind of game this would end up being. Something more in line with SEGA Hardlight’s prior Sonic Mobile games, but a bit bigger? Or something genuinely more ambitious?

Releasing early December 2023 on Apple Arcade exclusively as of this writing, Sonic embarks on another adventure, but will this one follow recent successes like Sonic Frontiers? Or will it be a nightmare like lesser installments in the franchise? I think the answer will surprise you like it did me.

Developer & Publisher // SEGA Hardlight, SEGA
Platforms // iOS, macOS, tvOS
MSRP & Release Date // Part of Apple Arcade Subscription ($4.99), December 5th, 2023
Reviewed On // iPhone 11

Dreamy Beginnings in Sonic Dream Team

The game begins with Sonic and friends discovering Eggman using a newfound discovery to use the power of dreams themselves to take over the world. Trying to turn off the machine, Sonic and his friends end up stuck in this strange dream world. Sonic learns that to save the day, he must save his friends, work together with them, and stop Eggman from making his dream a reality.

The premise is very simple. It doesn’t have the depth of the recent Sonic Frontiers, but that game’s writer (Ian Flyn) returns, and even with the simple narrative, Sonic and company feel both in character and quite charming.

What also helps this is the presentation of the story itself, being split between in-engine scenes and comic-esc scenes using in-game models. Both are very expressive and convey a ton of character for Sonic and the group. When all is said and done, the narrative isn’t anything groundbreaking or special, but it continues the solid characterization that started with Sonic Frontiers.

As a long-time fan, the story beats stuck out the most centered around Cream the Rabbit, a character that has been ignored in the mainline games for a long while. Seeing this innocent character grow into a more confident hero was very enjoyable.

Rolling Around

Starting with Sonic face-planting into a pile of sand, the game gives you control of the blue blur and you’re quickly running across sandy shores, not unlike the SEGA Dreamcast classic Sonic Adventure.

Controls are pretty simple compared to recent games in the series. You move with the left stick, have a jump button and a boost button. Similar to Sonic Adventure, the boost button acts almost like an action button depending on the situation. When in the air, for example, pressing the boost button lets you homing attack Eggman’s many robots and even home in on the many rails across the four zones.

Game feel is critical for any 3D Sonic game, or a Sonic game in general. Dream Team mostly accomplishes this, with Sonic and his friends feeling responsive to control when boosting at fast speeds or just slowly running around platforming across objects. It does feel a tad stiffer in comparison to games like Frontiers, but it never feels like a hindrance getting from point A to point B.

Gameplay Loop

The gameplay loop is very similar to a classic Sonic game. Sonic will through levels at fast speeds, collecting rings, and getting to the goal as fast as possible. But like the Genesis games and the earlier 3D titles, the level design welcomes exploration. Each of the playable characters are split up into three ‘types’:

• Speed (which lets you dash across trails of rings and granted you an extra air-dash when jumping again)
• Flight (you can fly for a short time and when entering special rings, you can extend the flight)
• Power (you can glide after pressing jump again and you can also climb red-colored walls)

Zones Are Plentiful

Of the game’s four zones, the one with the most inventive level design was ‘Ego City’, the final one. It offers the most paths you can explore, expects you as the player to understand how all the systems work, and getting to the goal across each act feels more engaging than prior zones.

With the main acts of each zone being built in mind for the three types, the developers are allowed to design levels not unlike the Classic Sonic games and offer multiple paths to the goal. This encourages a ton of replay value. Each route offers secrets and goodies for those with a keen eye, but more than anything, multiple routes allow the player to experiment with how fast they can complete an act.

Exploration is a key pillar of the Sonic experience, as getting the best times in each Act usually are the backbone of a Sonic game’s replay value. And the different routes offer that, in addition to various purple coins to collect to unlock trophies you can see in the extras menu of various characters and objects across the game.

In addition to the main acts, various sub-acts are present that offer cut-down versions of the main levels. The sub-acts are built specifically for a character type. They can range from getting to the goal with X character type, collecting X amount of objects to open up the main goal, and running through checkpoints to keep the clock from going down. There’s even a proper time trial where you have to get the goal in X time. For most of the game’s short run time, this didn’t feel like padding. I would argue that sub-acts are there to teach the player about the level design of each act.

The game uses this progression structure similar to games like Mario 64 where in order to unlock the next main act, you have to have a specific amount of Dream Orbs, the main collectible in the game. With the amount of orbs needed for progression being generous, you can play as much or as little as you want.

Capping off each zone is a boss act where you have to take down a larger threat that requires a few hits to take down.

Diverse Boss Fights in Sonic Dream Team

Bosses aren’t that difficult but they do utilize each character type in a fun way to keep the fights engaging. From a painfully simple crab boss that involves three simple homing attacks, to a more platforming-centric boss encounter. The latter of which will have you staying airborne for stretches of time. There’s even a chase boss similar to something from Sonic Unleashed or Sonic Generation. Most of the boss fights offer something different, which helps keep things fresh.

The final boss is by far the best one in the game, however. It involves you playing through a level where you tag out between five of the game’s six playable characters. Each character passes control to one another like a baton. Then it caps off with you playing as Sonic for the final time. Where he proceeds to torment the final boss and run while the game’s main rock theme starts blasting. This was a very enjoyable way to wrap up the game.

Controlling the Speed

Considering this is a game built in mind for touch-screen platforms, how you engage with the game is critical. Thankfully, both physical and touch controls work quite well.

The has full support for all modern controls. I split my time switching between Touch, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch Pro Controllers. Fortunately, all three worked quite well.

Touch controls are a lot better than expected. Sonic and friends responded to the touch buttons and virtual stick without issue.

The game also offers options to adjust the sensitivity of the analog stick for both touch and physical controllers. So you can tweak things as you see fit.

Dreamy Aesthetics

Going for a more simple art direction, Sonic Dream Team leans into its namesake and offers fun original locations that are both familiar and new to longtime Sonic fans.

Kicking things off with the Emerald Coast-like Scrambled Shores and ending with Eggman’s dream city coming to life in Ego City. The four zones on offer remind me a ton of the creativity seen in Sonic games like Sonic Colors or Sonic Mania. More specifically, ideas carried the artistic vision and resulted in level design being more wild than usual.

The two zones that stood out the most were ‘Nightmare Maze’ and ‘Ego City’. The former had wild-looking plant life. While the latter reminded me a lot of the better Eggman-centric levels from games like Sonic Heroes and Sonic Unleashed.

The actual quality of the art is surprisingly high, considering this is an iOS/iPhone-built project. Character models are very expressive and detailed. While worlds have simple shading and look very clean on higher-end iPhone and iPad platforms.

Performance

For those with lower-end iPhones or iPads, the game sadly struggles to maintain its 60FPS target. In particular, Ego City Acts often hits below the 30FPS mark on the game’s Normal Graphical settings. It is otherwise a mostly stable experience, but if you have a lower-end i-Device, do expect lesser performance.

Audio Design and Soundtrack

Musically, Dream Team offers a good effort. Even if none of the tracks stand out as anything iconic or impactful like prior Sonic releases. They are vibrant, and bubbly and keep the action going. The music also is consistent in quality and style, something that is very much appreciated.

Final Thoughts on Sonic Dream Team

When this was announced, I earnestly didn’t expect much. A mobile game built exclusively for Apple Arcade? But SEGA Hardlight proved me quite wrong. They offered a 3D Sonic platforming experience that even the Sonic Team themselves could take a lesson or two from.

Tight level design, strong visual identity, and a game length that doesn’t overstay its welcome; Sonic Dream Team could be a dream come true for people looking for a traditional 3D Sonic adventure in the palm of their hands.

Sonic Dream Team is available now on Apple Aracde.