Recent reviews by Mars

Sonic has been defeated by a mysterious new threat created by Dr. Eggman. Sonic's friends and a new face form a team in order to take the world back from the clutches of Eggman's diabolical hands.
(For the sake of this review, the avatar will be referred to as Gadget.)

To start off, this game's level design is very poor. For Sonic's stages, it typically revolves around one set path that has little hazards and plenty of rings. You will usually have your control taken from you for some automated sections or have a short alternate route for a collectible.
Gadget's stages are like Sonic's stages except with more enemies.
Classic Sonic's stage, while offering more exploration, suffer from little hazards and occasionally give you a hand if you fall in a pit.
In general, the stages offer little challenge and try to hide it with flair and rings.

Next, the gameplay.
Sonic's gameplay is very simple compared to past games that use the boost formula (Unleashed to Generations). No drifting, no light speed dash, just boosting and homing attacks with the occasional stomp and sidestep. Sonic can also slide, but I don't recall any moment where that's used. Sonic can also wall jump, but that is never used. The lack of drifting can cause Sonic to fall off Metropolitan Highway at the sharp turns.
Gadget plays similarly to Sonic except you don't boost. You make usage of the wispon, which is honestly fun, but it makes everything too easy.
Classic Sonic's gameplay has the same moveset as any other classic game. Spindashing, jumping, and the drop dash returning from Mania. His gameplay is plagued by a lack of momentum and poor physics. You could go running down a slope in Chemical Plant and not pick up any speed.
Because this game runs on a retooled framework for Lost World, you don't properly pick up speed. You start walking and then suddenly you're going fast.
QTEs are way too generous. You have a very wide window of time before you can fail a QTE. Even if the circle isn't even close to the "Perfect" area, you still pass the QTE.

Now, the game's story. This one is a big one, so hang tight.
The story is a mess. It shows Sonic being defeated after the first stage and just before the second stage it will be revealed that Sonic is still alive. It refuses to allow a character to seem defeated or in danger of being defeated. Null Space is a big offender with this. It is introduced after Metropolitan Highway and Sonic and Gadget are pulled into it. Almost immediately after, Sonic and Gadget double boost their way out of Null Space and it is never mentioned again nor expanded upon. This is similar to Colors with the Tails mind control scene, or Lost World with the Cyborg Tails scene in that it introduces a big plot element that could possibly affect the characters and doesn't allow it to breathe.
Sonic is terribly out of character here, as he has been throughout the 2010's. Ignoring that his imprisonment for six months didn't affect him at all, he tends to hurl insults at his opponents or spout a quip at nearly every opportunity.
Tails is also egregiously out of character here, as with virtually every other character featured in this game. He is too afraid. It's as if Adventure didn't happen, despite the inclusion of Chaos. Tails cowers at the sight of a mere fake of Chaos Zero, meanwhile he was able to take on Chaos Four in Sonic Adventure. He is also too dependent on Classic Sonic, while in both Adventure games, Tails learns to be independent and does some great things on his own, all without Sonic's help.
Infinite, while cool in some aspects, is not great. At nearly every moment he is on screen, he will say some verbose statement about how everyone will die and how friendship is weak and all that. His entire origin story was sparked by just one encounter with Shadow that ended in a painful beat down and getting furious that he was called weak.
Classic Sonic's inclusion as a whole has introduced a plot hole as well. Classic Sonic in this game comes from Sonic Mania after he is warped from Egg Reverie into Sonic Forces. Tails and Eggman both somehow know that Classic Sonic comes from another dimension, which makes no sense, unless Tails was researching other dimensions off-screen.
Some characters can have a scene where they get to shine, only to immediately have Sonic come and take the spotlight, like with Silver fighting Infinite after Luminous Forest only for Sonic to immediately come in.
Gadget's inclusion is not bad in itself, but it's how it is handled. Gadget just gets along well with everyone and they're constantly praised as they go about their missions. They easily make friends with Sonic too, teaming up in some stages. It feels like an amateur self-insert story to me, and that's coming from someone who has several OCs.

Sonic Forces also has weak art design. The Metropolis is supposed to be Eggman's city, but it doesn't look the part at all. Green Hill has just been converted into a sandy wasteland despite it being part of an island.

Episode Shadow is abysmally short and it doesn't even have original stages. It's just three remixed stages that you already played through.

Super Sonic is DLC, which removes the rewarding aspect of seeking out the Chaos Emeralds like in Colors to Lost World.

There are lots of collectibles across every stage. Red Star Rings, Moon Medals, and Number Rings. However, these collectibles provide absolutely no reward even upon collecting all of them.


To start off, the avatar system. I like the idea of playing as my own fan character and the customization is very rich.
Shadow was somehow kinda in character here, but that's not saying much.
The game looks and runs great, thanks to Hedgehog Engine 2.
A frozen over Chemical Plant is an interesting take on the location, and honestly it was nice seeing a modern Death Egg again.
The premise of the game, being Eggman taking over the world and Sonic's friends banding together to stop him, is a strong premise and I really like it.
The soundtrack is kinda good. I like the unique styles of songs for each character, like how it was in SA2.


Sonic Forces earns a D rank. It had all the keys to be good, and it threw them away. There is hardly any challenge even later on in the game, the game is incredibly short, and the writing is at its lowest. I am happy that we got Frontiers and IDW, which are both miles better than Forces in nearly every way.

I forgot to mention a couple things.

Sonic once again returns and builds upon his earliest installments with a brand new adventure through the Northstar Islands.

I love how the game is styled. The graphics look great as per usual. The characters are animated well. I love the way the Chaos Emeralds were implemented into the gameplay. Instead of having to collect all seven to become virtually invincible, you can use one of the seven emeralds, each with unique traits. The Slow power makes me think of Chaos Control, which it basically is.
I also appreciate the choice to add Amy's modern outfit as DLC, which I may say is very cute. Those comic book skins look interesting, however I wasn't able to get them before they were taken down.
The soundtrack can vary, but it hits most of the time for me. The new Shadow costume is pretty funny.
I love Egg Fortress Zone Act 2 being a reversed Act 1 with everything going in reverse. Very interesting stuff.

At the time of writing the review, I had just beaten the main story and hadn't played Trip's story. There is a big issue with boss fights in this game. They seem to drag on without being too engaging, Sand Sanctuary being an example of that. They are also sometimes frustrating and unfair, which is where I bring the review to Fang Mk. II, Trip's final boss.
This boss fight is, in my opinion, the worst boss fight in the entire series, rivaling none. It drags on for a long time, taking around 6-9 minutes. It utilizes instant kill attacks, combines that with attacks that inhibit your movement, and had attacks that are too fast to predict. The ground is wavy in comparison to the Egg Gundam's flat ground, which can cause physics to work against you and send you into a laser, at least in my experience. Making things worse, there are no checkpoints between the two phases of this boss fight. This made for an absolutely miserable experience playing and I still haven't even beaten it yet. I fear what the true final boss will entail.


Let's see here.

Sonic Superstars earns a(n):
for...
its style, gameplay, and ideas. It is weighed down by its long and sometimes unfair boss fights, its steep price for its shorter length, and occasional unfair level design.
I originally gave this game an A, but after playing through Trip's story, I decided to bump it down to C due to the downsides I see.

This game has been the greatest installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise in recent years. The story is interesting, with the characters feeling like themselves, and the stakes being high. The soundtrack is absolutely incredible, fitting each mood for each stage, and overall just sounding very good. The gameplay is also quite fun. There may be some bugs, but they probably don't affect the game all that much and can just be easily patched out. I definitely recommend this to all players.

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Sonic Frontiers continues to amaze me in every aspect. After many years, Sonic's friends finally have a chance to shine on a revisited Ouranos Island, each with their own movesets. Each character has fun mechanics that set them apart from Sonic, such as Amy's Tarot Cards being a form of damage and a glide move, Tails's use of gadgets to fight and the reference to the Cyclone from Sonic Adventure 2, and Knuckles's flaming fists of fury. The update was significantly more difficult than the base game, yet it was still incredibly fun nonetheless. The guardians also return stronger than ever with remixed music and tougher battles. Amy, Knuckles, and Tails all have their own missions while gathering the Chaos Emeralds for Sonic, while Sonic must go through a set of trials to unlock a dormant power that will give him the edge in the final battle. I had fun with Amy, Knuckles, and Tails. I was given the opportunity to experiment with their moves and see what they had in store. I didn't get to unlocking all of their skills, but I may come back to that in the future. I was particularly interested in seeing Amy's and Tails's gameplay probably because I favored those characters. Sorry, Knuckles. Your moves were pretty cool too. Overall, I liked them all. They took traits from their respective characters and made them a weapon, like Amy's Tarot Cards, and Tails's wrenches and, as I mentioned before, the Cyclone from SA2. Sonic doesn't undergo any changes in his gameplay, as we played as him the most and it wouldn't be necessary to change up his gameplay. The trial towers reminded me of Rhea Island with how you must climb a great height in order to make progress. I had some funny moments where I would fall from a high of the tower by accident, get mad but come to terms with it and trying again. I particularly liked the idea to have a rematch with all the titans you fought previously for the final trial leading up to the final battle against Supreme/The End, though I did have a tough time getting through, mostly because of the smaller parry window, but it was still fun, and I got to see some moves I never saw the titans do before. When I inevitably got to the final battle, Supreme fought exactly the same as the main game, though it went by faster for me considering I maxed out Sonic before the update came by. I initially thought that was it, but was I wrong. When The End came and possessed Supreme, I became excited as a remixed version of I'm Here began to play and Supreme's name became THE END. The Final Horizon transformed Supreme from a simple penultimate titan to a genuine threat with incredibly high stakes and difficulty. Of course, I can't end this review without mentioning and sharing my opinion on this new Super Sonic state, dubbed by a few as either Super Sonic 2 or Cyber Sonic. This was the biggest development of canon Super Sonic as a whole, especially with the major shift in his demeanor to a more calm and smooth attitude. This was a great choice. The end of that fight was the most excited I may ever get when it comes to any game I've played, at least for a while. It was beautiful seeing Super Sonic completely let loose as he is fired out of Supreme's rifle by Doctor Eggman and directly into THE END as a bolt of lightning, finishing the fight, and saving the world once more. The ending was very sweet too, seeing as Sage did not have to sacrifice herself to save the world this time and was able to go home with her father, Doctor Eggman, as well as Sonic and his friends taking off to what new adventures await them.
Amazing update, amazing campaign, amazing soundtrack, amazing gameplay. Recommended 100%.

Sonic Origins is a rather neat blast to the past, with added details here and there. I personally liked the added details, such as the crouching and looking up positions being present across all directions in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, as well as the added cutscene after the Launch Base Zone "Big Arms" boss fight that connected 'Sonic 3' and 'Sonic and Knuckles'. Certain songs in Sonic 3 & Knuckles's stages and forms, such as Carnival Night, Ice Cap, and the Super Sonic music have been swapped out with their prototype counterparts. I personally liked said music, though it wasn't very well received among fans, though I would make a couple of tweaks to the instrumentation. I really enjoyed the animated movies made for the games in the collections, they really connect the games with each other and are fantastically well made. The games retain the challenge they had, though lowers it slightly with seemingly no lives nor Game Overs, in the Anniversary Mode at least. Overall, I like it a lot. It's rather faithful to the games, and adds some details to the experience.

Wisely done, Valve.