Sonic Runners Adventure

Sonic Runners Adventure is a side-scrolling endless runner platformer video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed and published by Gameloft for Android mobile platforms. It is the sequel to Sonic Runners. The game was first released in select regions on 10 June 2017.

Development
Sonic Runners Adventure was first confirmed to be in development in April of 2017 when Gameloft released a FAQ webpage for a purported sequel to Sonic Team's 2015 game Sonic Runners, titled Sonic Runners Adventure. The page was taken down a few days later, but would be restored when the game was launched in PAL regions without an official announcement on 10 June 2017.

Plot
While on his own, Sonic receives a transmission from Tails, telling him to come to South Island as Dr. Eggman is up to his old tricks again by kidnapping Animals. Locating Tails, Sonic learns from the fox cub that the doctor somehow caught him and made him build a robot teleporter. Sonic tracks down Eggman afterward and defeats him, but Eggman escapes through his collapsing robot teleporter, forcing Sonic and Tails to go after him using the same device. With Sonic getting injured during the transfer process however, Tails leaves Sonic to rest while searching for Eggman himself. Shutting down Eggman's newest facility, Tails rejoins with Sonic, who soon spots Eggman attempting to retreat. While Tails hunts Eggman down and defeats him, the doctor escapes once again, leaving Sonic and Tails to chase after Eggman once more.

With Knuckles joining Sonic and Tails along the way, the echidna takes the lead when the group arrives in a hostile environment. Discovering with the aid of Tails that Eggman has set up an Extractor, Knuckles stops the machine while defeating Eggman as the doctor tries to stop him. However, upon his defeat, Eggman retreats once more. Team Sonic then chases Eggman to Sky Sanctuary. There, Eggman uses a Mind Control Ray on Sonic to escape, and Tails and Knuckles soon realize what Eggman has been up to all along: Eggman used the Mind Control Ray to take control of Tails back on South Island, and has been setting up to control the world with a Mind Control Ray powered by the Extractor and the latent energies in Sky Sanctuary. Resolving to keep Eggman from using his weapon at all, Team Sonic destroys the Mind Control Ray, and Sonic steps in to defeat Eggman for good once more. As he flees, Eggman vows revenge, but Sonic promises that he and the others will be ready when the time comes.

Gameplay
Similar to its predecessor, Sonic Runners Adventure is a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer with endless runner mechanics. The goal of the game is to guide the player's character through a series of levels based on locations from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and end it with a satisfactory score. Characters automatically move forward, so players must tap their screen to jump to avoid obstacles and enemies. Running down slopes and utilizing certain gimmicks will increase a character's speed.

Scattered around each level are the traditional Rings; hold at least one Ring will protect the player from damage, though they will drop all their Rings when they take a hit. Once dropped, the Rings will be unrecoverable. Taking damage without any Rings will cost the player a try. Star Posts help the player to deposit Rings to prevent them from getting lost when the player incurs damage. At the end of a level, only the Rings in the player's possession will get deposited, while the total of all the Rings collected during the run (including the lost ones) are tailed on the Result screen. The player can also earn Rings by gathering Achievements. By collecting Rings, the player can exchange them in gameplay to unlock further content.

When beginning the game, Sonic the Hedgehog will be the only playable character, but the player can unlock more characters, each with their own unique abilities corresponding to their attribute (Speed, Fly or Power) and team affiliation (Hero, Chaotix, or Dark), by progressing with the game. The latter set of abilities in particular are triggered each time a character collects three hundred Rings during a run. In addition, each character has a level that can be increased (reaching a maximum of five) in exchange for Rings. By increasing a character's level, one increases the duration of equippable items and individual skills.

Before a run, the player can equip the playable character with "Booster items". Boosters items can be used during runs to aid the player's performance. Some can be activated by pressing the on-screen buttons at the right moment (albeit never at the same time), while others activate automatically when the level begins. One particular Booster item may even appear in the levels in Time Mode. The number of Boosters that can be equipped depends on the chosen character's level and number of acquired characters on their team. At minimum, a team can only have one character, who can only carry one Booster item, and at maximum, a team can have three characters, each one carrying three different Booster items. In addition to Booster items, the player can also equip "Buddies". Buddies are companions for the characters, and each on has unique abilities that provide different benefits during runs.

Several changes from the original game have been made as well; the game can be played offline, although an Internet connect is required for the first launch and certain external links. Each level also has different mission goals for the player to complete. The progress of each mission goal is displayed by the goal bar in the upper part of the screen during runs. Completed goals are shown as golden stars, while goals that are failed or incomplete are grayed out. By completing each mission goal, the player receives stars. Stars allow the player to unlock new levels and progress through the storyline.

There are three types of levels in the game: "Finite", "Looped", and "Infinite". In finite levels, to successfully complete the level, the player needs to reach the finish line. The player will also need to reach the end of the level if they receive a Star for completing a goal. In infinite levels, the player will keep running until all the objectives are completed or the player's character is defeated. Once the player has successfully completed all goals, the level will end. During Infinite and finite levels in particular, a character's speed increases with time, until they reach their maximum. In looped levels, the player has to complete several laps before reaching the finish line. The player needs to reach the end of the last lap to keep all the Stars received during the run. During Looped levels, Rings will also not respawn with every lap; instead, they are replaced with sparkles. The game also has Timed Mode, where Time Freeze Booster items are collected to stop the timer countdown for a while, and Bonus levels, where the player has to collect as many Rings as possible without enemies or obstacles.

Non-playable characters

 * Dr. Eggman
 * Animals
 * Cucky
 * Flicky
 * Pecky
 * Picky
 * Pocky
 * Ricky
 * Rocky

Enemies

 * Balkiry
 * Bladed Spinner
 * Buzz Bomber
 * Caterkiller
 * Crabmeat
 * Moto Bug
 * Nebula
 * Pata-Bata
 * Snail Blaster

Bosses

 * Iron Ball Eggmobile

Stages
Sonic Runners Adventure consist of four Stages (referred to as "chapters"), each one split up into nine obligatory levels, two optional levels, and one boss. The obligatory levels are unlocked as the player completes them while the optional ones require a certain numbers of Stars to be unlocked. At the end of each chapter, the player must defeat a boss, which will in turn unlock the next chapter. The chapters in their order are:


 * 1) Green Hill
 * 2) Desert Ruins
 * 3) Lava Mountain
 * 4) Sky Sanctuary

Bonus levels
Bonus levels are extra levels where the player can obtain additional Rings. These levels can be entered by collecting a Bonus item and then finishing the level in which it was found. In each Bonus level, the playable character flies through an obstacle-free space for a short time, during which they can pick up Rings from various clusters.

Buddies
Buddies are companions with special abilities which the player can equip to their characters on the Team screen before a run. By bringing a Buddy along for a run, it will create benefits for the player. Most Buddies can be purchase from the Team menu with Rings while others are unlocked as the player progresses with the game. The description of a Buddy's abilities can be found on the Team screen by tapping its icon.

Collectable items

 * Rings: Can be collected regularly in-game during runs. Taking damage once without protection will make the player lose all Rings. Each Ring grants a single point to the score. Obtaining achievements will also reward the player with Rings.

Booster items
Booster items are special items that the player can equip to the characters before a run, which gives them certain temporary advantages. They can be purchase from the Team menu with Rings before a run. The duration of a Booster item's effect depends on the chosen playable character's level (excluding the Springs Booster item), which can be viewed in its description on the Team screen. There will also be a Booster item duration indicator over the characters during a run.

Achievements
Achievements are special rewards in Sonic Runners Adventure that give the player a significant amount of Rings. To claim them, one has to complete the achievements under a particular category. One can check one's achievements under the Achievement section accessible from the main menu. Once every achievement has been completed, the player can claim it on the Achievements. Collecting all the achievements will unlock a special reward. Once an an achievement has been completed once, one can complete the achievement again at a higher level, which brings greater rewards. The following achievements can be obtained:

Options
Options is the settings menu for Sonic Runners Adventure which holds the following options:
 * Language: Change the language of the messages to be displayed.
 * Music volume: Adjust the volume of the music in the game.
 * SFX volume: Adjust the volume of the sound effects in the game.
 * Reset Game: Deletes the main game's save file.

Reception
Carter Dotson of TouchArcade has expressed hope that an iOS version of the game will be released, and praised that it was a game with a fixed price, unlike Sonic Runners who made use of the freemium mechanics.

Trivia

 * This is the first Sonic title to have both endless runner and "Reach to the Goal" levels.
 * Most of the game's soundtrack is taken from the original Sonic Runners, while Green Hill and Sky Sanctuary's music are taken from the classic remixes from Sonic Generations
 * The Bonus level is very similar to the "Fever Mode" of Sonic Jump Fever.

Videos
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