Sonic Dash

Sonic Dash is a game title developed by Hardlight Studio and released by Sega on March 7, 2013. The title of the game was first mentioned on February 26, 2013, at company description in LinkedIn, which reveals the game being developed to iOS and then later on to Android, similarly to the Hardlight's previous game Sonic Jump. On February 21, Sega removed the title from company description.

Sonic Dash received positive to mixed reviews, praising the gameplay mechanics and beautiful graphics, but criticizing on the game's repetitiveness. As of July 11, 2013, Sonic Dash has received more than 20 million downloads.

Gameplay
Sonic Dash is an endless runner; it is very similar to the gameplay of theTemple Run series and Subway Surfers video games. The player directs Sonic, Tails, Amy, or Knuckles through a never-ending 3D version of Sonic Heroes' Seaside Hill/Ocean Palace, moving forward at all times. The player can swipe his/her finger up to Spin Jump, down for a Spin Dash (this can also increase speed slightly), and sideways to Quick Step. The goal is simply to run as far as possible without hitting a wall, falling off the course, or taking a hit with no rings in possession.

When rings are collected, the Dash Meter at the bottom right of the screen fills, and when it is full, the player can tap the bottom of the meter to perform the Boost Dash, which is similar to the Sonic Boom or Boost. The player cannot jump during a boost, though Sonic automatically blasts through obstacles. A full dash meter doubles the score multiplier (so when you dash, you lose the double multiplier). Upgrades such as "Headstart", "Magnet", and "Dash Boost" can be used and upgraded in-game. Players are able to share and compete for accomplishments such as "fastest time" or "longest distance". At certain times, Sonic reaches a set of three springs. Monitors above the springs indicate where they will take the player: If the player hits a spring that doesn't bank rings, then the player has the opportunity to perform 3 tricks. The player must swipe according to on-screen directions. Doing so successfully will give the player a ring boost from 10 to 100 rings, depending on how many rings the player currently has (the reward is greater the fewer rings the player currently has). Failing in the middle of a trick sequence gives no reward, with the exception of the Shuttle Loop.
 * Ring: Banks the player's collected rings, preserving them.
 * Totem pole or pillar: Takes the player to Seaside Hill.
 * Loop-de-loop : Takes the player to a section with a few loop-de-loops, corkscrews, or other automated sections.
 * Statue: Takes the player to Ocean Palace, which is filled with several gaps.
 * Puzzle Piece: Takes the player to a section that, when completed, rewards the player with 1 of 4 puzzle pieces for the Daily Challenge.
 * Question mark: Random effect, can be any of the above, except the Daily Challenge sections.

Playable Characters

 * Sonic
 * Tails (45 Red Star Rings to unlock or through 5+ days of daily challenges)
 * Amy (30 Red Star Rings to unlock or through 5+ days of daily challenges after unlocking Tails)
 * Knuckles (60 Red Star Rings to unlock or through 5+ of daily challenges after unlocking Amy)
 * Shadow (Unlocked during Global Challenge to run 100 laps around the world)

Enemies

 * Crabmeat, which can be defeated in any way.
 * Spikes, which must be defeated from the side, or do a Rolling Attack as landing on them will hurt the player.
 * Chopper, which flies out of large gaps. The player must tap on it to perform a Homing Attack and continue. Sometimes particularly large gaps with multiple Choppers (up to five) appear, which require stringing Homing Attacks. It is possible to destroy them with a Spin Jump during a Dash.

Objects and Obstacles

 * Rings
 * Item Boxes
 * Rings (10 to 100)
 * Magnet
 * Shield
 * Red Star Rings
 * Dash Panels
 * Springs
 * Spikes
 * Bombs
 * Totem Poles

Development
In November 2012, an interview with the UK toy trade magazine Toys 'n' Playthings, Sega of Europe employee Sissel Henno confirmed that Sega would have "several new digital titles" in 2013. On February 28, 2013, the title Sonic Dash was spotted on a listing from a Linked In profile. On March 1, 2013, Sega confirmed the game, with an official press release going out on March 4. The game was announced to be on iOS, costing $1.99 in the U.S. and £1.49 in the UK. Now it can be downloaded for free. As for the Android version, there are rumors that it will be ported but Hardlight Studio's Chris Southall says there might be, because it will be very hard to port the flexible iOS Unity 3D engine into the Android version as of the experienced problem also in porting Temple Run and it's sequel, so it is expected to take time before the Android version can be announced.

Reception
Sonic Dash has gotten mixed to positive reception. According to Eurogamer, "The randomly-generated zones are filled with classic obstacles and enemies zooming towards you at an ever faster rate, and are showed off by some fantastic camerawork as Sonic zooms through long, twisting paths and loops. Rings are everywhere, which protect Sonic from a single enemy hit but not a collision, and can be 'banked' between zones to gradually level up the hog.", although it finds "the entire game is framed and ultimately spoiled by in-app purchases", referring to the aggressive use of in-app purchases in the game.

Trivia

 * A scrapped Nintendo DS Sonic game, called Sonic DS somewhat resembles this game, the demo shown at E3 2004 had linear race to the finish gameplay and took place in Seaside Hill; however, both games are mechanically very different.
 * One of the block obstacles uses a tile from Labyrinth Zone.
 * The set of three springs in this game is similar to a gameplay mechanic in Seaside Hill in Sonic Generations, in which the player could choose two different kinds of paths out of a set of three paths.
 * When going over to the shop, the Blue Star, a Red Star Ring, the promotional Sonic 06 Tails poster, and Sonic's gloves and shoes can be seen.
 * This is the first game in which Amy, Tails, and Knuckles have a manually activated boost.
 * Sonic can string together spin dashes by repeatedly flicking downwards, and can cancel jumps (effectively a Stomp) by flicking downards in midair.
 * Sonic rolls when using a Dash Panel, similar to Sonic Unleashed (Wii/PS2) and Sonic Generations.
 * The minimum device required to play this game at an acceptable speed is one with an Apple A5 CPU or newer. On older devices, the game is unplayable due to very low frame rate, and certain graphics are disabled, such as the coral reef seen in the water.
 * Red Rings are surprisingly rare and cannot be found in the main game. Instead, they are given 3 at a time to the player after completing a set of 3 missions, and in special circumstances. The only other way to obtain them is through in-app purchases, a requirement met with much controversy. Currently it is mandatory to pay for Knuckles and Tails due to a limited amount of missions.
 * However, the Daily Challenges gives players the chance to win 5 Red Star Rings on the second day, 10 Red Star Rings on the fourth day, and 20 Red Star Rings on the fifth day if the player can select its prize during the quick raffle.
 * The Dash Panel has a new design that is different from the usual red and white design.
 * There is a bug where if Sonic fails to do homing attack on a chopper but there is only a small distance between the land, Sonic will just run past the pit.