What is there to say about Sonic Forces that hasn't been said before, this game is just plain terrible. I don't think there is even a single idea in this game that is at all original, everything in this game is just recycled from prior games. The game is so easy and short that it is one of the most forgettable in the series despite being so bad. Creating your own avatar is kind of cool but there is just no depth in the customization to it that the feature just fails. The avatar sucks to play as, modern sonic is basically just boost to win, and classic sonic feels abhorrent in this game. Not even the music is good, and the story is even worse. The best thing I can say about this game is that some of the levels look decent.

Sonic Forces is bare minimum the video game. It has just enough polish to be playable but absolutely nothing beyond that to be anything other than one of the most ordinary experiences you will ever have. It doesn’t actively go out of its way to do much I would consider the absolute worst of the worst, but it never once tries to be anything good which in turn just creates a special blend of bad. I hate beating games to the ground, but it’s genuinely shocking how unremarkable Sonic Forces is. It’s like taking the blueprint of something and submitting the blueprint as the finished product before any construction was done.

Honestly, I’d barely consider it a game at all. Most stages are able to be completed in barely over a minute and require little to no input from the player. This is the one game people actually have a case for when they call Sonic a hold stick and occasionally press button to win simulator. Forces plays itself for you. The level design offers no incentive for your input. It largely consists of singular, unbroken straight lines with little to no obstacles. And the occasional times it does require your input? The characters control so frustratingly bad. They jump like they have 100 pound weights tied to their shoes. It takes them ages to turn around if at all. Running feels stiff, especially for Classic Sonic who feels like he’s always running against a wind current. Nothing about the control scheme or physics feel good at all. Overall I can only describe it as feeling like an extremely watered down Sonic Generations which frankly can be said about the entire game.

The story is absolutely miserable. On paper, a Sonic story about a resistance trying to take back an already conquered world sounds really cool. Unfortunately this game is barely over two hours long if even, and has Sonic’s 2010’s writing. So what you get instead is trailer bait and plot points that are resolved in the same breath they are revealed. I’m not even kidding. Cutscenes are typically only 30 seconds to a minute long and most major plot points are resolved in just those 30 seconds with no extra room to breathe for any additional dialogue. The pacing is WILD. Characters are lacking all the substance they used to have and only speak in cliche one liners. Its level of depth is only comparable to a basic plot synopsis you’d find on the back of a game’s box.

The only positives I can say is that…visually it looks solid? Like, really. I’m actually pretty disappointed such cool and colorful locations were wasted on this nothing of a game. The soundtrack has a small handful of decent songs…? It’s actually a shockingly mediocre soundtrack for a Sonic game.

…and that’s really it. Even in some of the worst games, I at least try and give credit to clear ideas, care, and passion even if they don’t always work out. There’s plenty of not so great games that still showcase a level of effort. Unfortunately…I cannot give that credit to Sonic Forces. This is still one of the laziest, effortless, passionless games I’ve ever played. The game’s existence feels like it was only designed to meet a release quota. Its best achievement is that it’s playable…and even then, if it’s so uninteresting why should anyone want to play it? Sonic Forces is the culmination of everything that was wrong with Sonic during that time. So much so that the series has since steered into an entirely new direction. Hopefully we never see another Sonic game as unremarkable as this ever again.