Sonic Forces: Speed Battle

Sonic Forces: Speed Battle is a 2017 online battle-racing game. It was developed by Sega Europe and Hardlight for the Android and iOS mobile devices to promote the then-upcoming Sonic Forces at the time. It was soft-launched by Sega on the App Store (and eventually Google Play) on 11 September 2017 in the Philippines and on 20 September 2017 in Canada. It was officially released worldwide on 2 November 2017 for iOS and on 15 November 2017 for Android.

Development
Sonic Forces: Speed Battle was first in development in June 2016 after analyzing the latest capabilities of present-day phones. It began as a prototype by Hardlight, checking if synchronous gameplay would work as well as they expected. These early prototypes used existing tech and games as testing grounds for the gameplay, like Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom. The game was originally planned for the Sonic Boom franchise, using the main cast of characters from Team Sonic.

From the beginning of the project, Hardlight wanted the game to have flexible levels for more expansive gameplay. For this, they developed a modular system that allowed them to create any track piece they wanted. Hardlight also wanted, right from the start, for the game to be a skill-based, global multiplayer. While relying on the classic staples in the Sonic series, branching paths on the tracks were added to make the game more exciting and unique. Extra care was also made to ensure the levels fit the mobile environment. During development, the staff focused on making the tracks feel appropriate before polishing their design.

Hardlight pitched their idea to Sonic Team back in 2016 when the latter was looking for a mobile game. After discussing with Takashi Iizuka, the teams settled on what would become Sonic Forces: Speed Battle. Hardlight subsequently expanded their team while working on the environments and metagame. After being in development for about a year, Sonic Forces: Speed Battle received a soft launch so Hardlight could test the game and work out the remaining bugs before the global launch. The game is scheduled to have three Zones with twelve tracks for its global launch, with more Zones being planned on being developed.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Sonic Forces: Speed Battle is very similar to that of Sonic Dash and Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom, with a competition element from Sonic Rivals added to it. Instead of an endless runner, it is a basic runner where players each choose a character and race against each other online in real-time on one of many finite tracks selected at random. Characters are unlocked over time by reaching certain positions when completing races. During races, players can collect up to 100 Gold Rings (which serve to increase their movement speed) and dodge obstacles as they progress to reach the goal (represented by the "Phantom Ruby Prototype"). Getting hit by obstacles will cause the player to lose Rings and slow down momentarily. After a race, the players get to keep the Rings they have collected.

While racing, the playable characters are always running forward automatically. At the same time, the players can use the Spin Jump and Slide to dodge obstacles and destroy enemies. They can also interact with other paths acquired through rails. Each character has different levels of Speed, Acceleration and Strength stats, as well as a unique selection of power-ups that can be obtained from Item Boxes along the race courses. These items can be used for the players' own benefit or against their opponents.

At the end of the race, players can earn Battle Chests which grant a range of Cards to a particular character. In addition, the first and second place finishers receives a Victory Chest which can be unlocked to earn larger bonuses, such as a large number of Rings or Cards for multiple characters each. Red Star Rings are featured as premium currency which can be obtained from Free Chests or purchased using real money which can be used to purchase additional Rings, Chests or unlock Victory Chests that are already acquired.

Cards and Rings can be used as currency to buy power-ups and bonuses, or level up characters which improves their Items' effects and the number of Rings they start the race with. Based on which position they finish the race in, players will then gain or lose Trophies, a numerical matchmaking ranking system akin to an Elo rating system in other competitive games. This matchmaking gameplay mechanic is part of the "Tier" system a player is at, determining which courses the player can play in the amount of rewards the player can earn from Chests. Players can view each others' Trophies in the online leaderboards.

Gimmicks and obstacles

 * Dash Panel
 * Grind Rail
 * Spikes

Star Runner
Every 24 hours, every player will have a random playable character highlighted as the "Star Runner". When completing races with the Star Runner character, the player's Battle Chest rewards double which lasts for five races. This was implemented to encourage players to use a variety of characters.

Update history

 * Version 0.0.1 (12 September 2017): Initial soft-launched release of the game.
 * Version 0.0.2 (15 September 2017): Implemented bug fixes and gameplay refinements.
 * Version 0.0.3 (17 September 2017): The update brought some changes and fixes including:
 * Matchmaking - fixed a lock up on loading screen after returning from a disconnection
 * In-game Rail Grinding – fixed an issue with teleporting players after landing on a rail
 * Fixed an issue with Dash Panels appearing submerged on inclines for Green Hill Zone
 * Account Login – fixed an issue with device account changes not being detected on next login
 * And many other bug fixes and refinements
 * Version 0.0.4 (25 September 2017): The update brought the following changes:
 * Android performance improvements
 * Fixed Lightning item-related crashes that could cause all players to drop out of a race
 * Boosts and Shields now have a cooldown before the player can pick up a new item in that slot
 * Destroying Badniks now awards the player Gold Rings.
 * The Red Star Ring cost for chest unlocking will now reduce over time
 * Made balance adjustments to the Trophies awarded in the higher tiers
 * And many other bug fixes and refinements
 * Version 0.0.5 (28 September 2017): Fixed an issue where some player will have experienced a pause at the beginning of matches, and an issue where some ads did not close properly.
 * Version 0.1.0 (12 October 2017): The update brought the following changes:
 * Reduced the height of the wind effect on the Tornado trap to show that it can be jumped over.
 * New info dialogue explaining the Star Runner.
 * Android builds now support screen ratios up to 2:1, the Galaxy S8 and similar devices are now supported correctly
 * Bug fixes and optimisations
 * Version 1.0.0 (25 October 2017): The update brought the following changes:
 * A new introduction to the battle races during loading times. These display all players' names, their character, Trophies and their player and character levels.
 * Lots of gameplay and balance improvements
 * The item slots now properly display multiple Fireballs, Tornados, Moto-Bugs items if they were picked up.
 * The Tier level Trophy thresholds have been increased for the following Tiers: Fighter (200 to 300), Specialist (400 → 600), Veteran (700 → 1000), Leader (1000 → 1500) and Hero (1500 → 2100).
 * The Power stat has now been renamed as the Strength stat.
 * The following characters have their stat values adjusted: Shadow (Speed decreased from 10/10 → 9/10), Rouge (Speed: 9/10 → 8/10 and Strength: 6/10 → 5/10), Omega (Speed: 5/10→ 7/10), Vector (Speed: 7/10 → 5/10), Espio (Speed: 6/10 → 7/10) and Charmy (Acceleration decreased from 10/10 to 9/10).
 * Players can now only collect up to 100 Rings (top running speed is still capped at 100 Rings).
 * Lightning now damages and takes Rings away from hit opponents. It also has a new visual effect.
 * Omega's Invincibility has now been replaced by the Electro Boost.
 * Fixed an issue that caused all items to be set to the level of the player using them rather than the level of the character they belong to.
 * Version 1.0.1 (1 November 2017): The update brought the following changes:
 * The game's app icon has been changed.
 * Current players can refer the game to new players to earn additional reward chests.
 * Chaos, Classic Sonic, Metal Sonic, Silver, Zavok have been added as playable characters.
 * The Tier level Trophy thresholds have been increased for the following Tiers: Fighter (500 instead of 300), Specialist (500 → 1000), Veteran (1000 → 1500), Leader (1500 → 2250) and Hero (2100 → 3000).
 * The Trophy system was re-engineered to provide effective matchmaking between players, capping all players to have 3000 Trophies. Players who had over 3000 Trophies that were affected by the loss of Trophies were given an exclusive Chest as compensation.
 * Version 1.0.3 (3 November 2017): Implemented bug fixes and refinements including:
 * All Victory Chests have their unlock times increased. (Silver: 2 hours → 3 hours, Gold: 4 hours → 8 hours, Platinum: 8 hours → 12 hours, Diamond: 12 hours → 1 day/24 hours)
 * Lowered number of Gold Rings required to upgrade some characters.
 * Adjusted stat values of the following characters: Omega (Strength: 9/10 → 7/10), Shadow (Speed: 9/10 → 10/10), Espio (Strength: 7/10 → 6/10), Vector (Strength: 10/10 → 9/10).
 * Version 1.1.0 (15 November 2017): This version also marked the global release of the game in Google Play. Google Play version owners were treated to an exclusive Welcome Bundle of rewards and also made the following changes:
 * Achievements support has been added.
 * The daily chest count limit now resets everyday with the lucky character reset (8am UTC).
 * All Chests in the game have new designs.
 * The Diamond Chest is has been replaced by the Emerald Chest (the player still retains any Diamond Chests they have acquired and can be unlocked as normal).
 * Players that finish a race in second place now also obtain Victory Chests.

Trivia

 * Prior to version 1.0.1, the game files as well as a teaser image posted in the in-game's news bulletin hinted that Silver, Classic Sonic, Metal Sonic, Zavok, and Chaos were going to be added as playable characters at a future date.
 * This is the first Sonic Dash-based game to not to be a endless runner title.
 * The initial main cast of the game (except for the inclusion of Amy) is the same as Sonic Runners Adventure, another mobile game released on the same year.
 * The music for the levels, provided by Tomoya Ohtani, is an alternate instrumental remix of "Fist Bump", the main theme of Sonic Forces, which also plays during the Lost Valley stage in the said game.
 * This is the first game since Sonic Battle in which Chaos is a playable character.

Video
First Look= Behind the Screens Episode One= Behind the Screens Episode Two= Behind the Screen Episode Three= Behind the Screen Episode Four= Launch Trailer=