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Not to be confused with Sonic Speed Battle.

Ready, Set... Sonic!


— Tagline

Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, also known as Sonic Forces Mobile, Sonic Forces PvP Racing Battle, Sonic Forces: PvP Battle Race, Sonic Forces: Run Battle Game, or simply Sonic Forces, is an online battle-racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was developed by Sega Europe and Hardlight for Android, iOS, and iPadOS mobile devices to promote the release of Sonic Forces.[1] It was soft-launched by Sega in September 2017, with the official release later in November.[3]

The base gameplay is similar to endless runners like Sonic Dash. Four players race against one another across various locations from the Sonic series. Speed Battle features over 100 playable characters from across the franchise, with varying degrees of rarity and power-ups. Since its 2017 release, the game has received continuous updates that add new content and promote new releases.

Gameplay[]

Sonic Forces Speed Battle - Screenshot 04 1509622503

Sonic running in Celestial Skyway, one of the many unlockable tracks in the game.

The gameplay of Sonic Forces: Speed Battle is very similar to that of Sonic Dash and Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom, featuring a competitive element. Instead of being an endless runner like Dash, it is a basic runner where players each choose a character and race against each other online in real-time on one of many tracks selected at random, based upon various locations from the Sonic franchise. During races, players can collect up to 100 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 with any obstacles will cause the player to lose Rings and slow down momentarily. After a race, the players will keep the Rings they have collected.

While racing, the playable characters continually run forward. At the same time, the players can use the Spin Jump and Slide moves to dodge obstacles and destroy enemies. They can also interact with other paths, normally utilizing Grind Rails.

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 receive 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 a premium currency which can be obtained from Free Chests or purchased using real money which can be used to purchase additional Rings, Chests or instantly unlock Victory Chests that are already acquired. A Free Chest is distributed to the player every eight hours and can be found under the "Lightning Deals" section in the Store. Players can view each other's Trophies in the online leaderboards by pressing their trophy count on the home screen.

Based on which position they finish a 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, which determines which courses the player is able to play on and the number of rewards the player can earn from Chests.

Players can also earn XP, which will increase their Level. XP can be gained by upgrading characters.

Lv. Player XP
1 0
2 20
3 50
4 75
5 100
6 225
7 450
8 700
9 1,000
10 2,000
11 4,000
12 5,000
13 7,000
14 14,000
15 22,000

When a player's level increases, their Ring Boost and Attack Resistance also increase. Ring Boost increases the maximum amount of speed the player can gain by collecting Rings. The higher the player's Ring Boost is, the faster they can go. Attack Resistance, on the other hand, decreases the effect attacks from other players have on the player's character. The higher the player's Attack Resistance is, the greater the reduction will be.

Journey[]

Missions[]

Every 8 hours, players will be given a new random mission (up to three of which can be left uncompleted at a time) which awards Rings or Red Star Rings, and Cards for upgrading characters. These missions range from tasks such as "Destroy 30 Badniks" to "Star Runner" missions, which require playing a certain amount of races with a specific character.

Progression[]

The Progression system is composed of pre-set missions divided into ten "Stages". Completing the missions (usually five or more) in said Stages rewards the player with items such as Rings or Red Star Rings. After completing a Stage, the player is awarded with a Gold Chest.

Seasons[]

SFSBPrestigePointsIcon

A Prestige point.

Seasons are monthly events that take place in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle. First unlocked in Tier 4, they can be entered by finishing a race in first place at least 3 times during that season and will award a Chest with a certain amount of cards at the end of the month, with the number of cards increasing the higher the player's Tier. Upon reaching the first prestige Tier (Tier 8) at 4,000 Trophies, any Trophies earned past that number will be converted into Prestige points at the end of the season and reset back to 4,000. These points are shown on a separate leader board, which only updates at the end of each season.

Objects[]

Items[]

Gimmicks and obstacles[]

Characters[]

Playable characters[]

Non-playable characters[]

Enemies[]

Tracks[]

Many tracks are based on known locations from Sonic Forces, such as the City, Mystic Jungle, and the version of Green Hill with sandy pyramid valleys. Sky Sanctuary, despite not appearing in Forces, is also present, as is Planet Wisp, added in 2021 to promote Sonic Colors: Ultimate. Additionally, Golden Bay, Emerald City, and Metro City, based on locations from the Sonic the Hedgehog film series, are also included.

Current tracks[]

Location Icon Track Tier requirement Difficulty
Green Hill Pyramid Valley 2
(100 Trophies)
Easy
Corkscrew Canyon 3
(500 Trophies)
Medium
Parched Palms 4
(1,000 Trophies)
Hard
Sky Sanctuary Celestial Skyway 2
(100 Trophies)
Medium
Temple Gate 4
(1,000 Trophies)
Easy
Ancient Isles 4
(1,000 Trophies)
Hard
Spiral Heights 6
(2,250 Trophies)
Hard
Pinnacle Peaks 9
(5,000 Trophies)
Medium
City Splash Highway 5
(1,500 Trophies)
Medium
Sunset Bridge 7
(3,000 Trophies)
Easy
Red Gate Bay 8
(4,000 Trophies)
Hard
Viaduct Valley 9
(5,000 Trophies)
Hard
Mystic Jungle Lambent Grove 3
(500 Trophies)
Medium
Electric Arbor 5
(1,500 Trophies)
Hard
Dash Vegas 8
(4,000 Trophies)
Hard
Glowing Grotto 8
(4,000 Trophies)
Hard
Golden Bay Street Retreat 1
(Default)
Easy
Suburban Speedway 6
(2,250 Trophies)
Medium
High Hill Park 7
(3,000 Trophies)
Hard
Planet Wisp Mining Mayhem 3
(500 Trophies)
Medium
Mining Mayhem R 9
(5,000 Trophies)
Reversed
Emerald City Downtown Dash 1
(Default)
Easy
Emerald Market Blitz 6
(2,250 Trophies)
Medium
Big City Sprint 7
(3,000 Trophies)
Hard
Metro City Main Street 1
(Default)
Easy
Scramble Avenue 2
(100 Trophies)
Medium
Central Park 5
(1,500 Trophies)
Hard

Removed tracks[]

Location Icon Track Tier requirement Difficulty
Green Hill Sandy Hills 2
(100 Trophies)
Medium
Desert Falls 4
(1,000 Trophies)
Hard
Parched Palms R 7
(3,000 Trophies)
Reversed
Pyramid Valley R 7
(3,000 Trophies)
Reversed
Sky Sanctuary Celestial Skyway R 7
(3,000 Trophies)
Reversed
Temple Gate R 8
(4,000 Trophies)
Reversed
City Red Gate Ruins 7
(3,000 Trophies)
Hard
Splash Highway R 7
(3,000 Trophies)
Reversed
Red Gate Bay R 8
(4,000 Trophies)
Reversed
Mystic Jungle Tangled Tunnels 5
(1,500 Trophies)
Hard

Development[]

HARDlight Speed Battle Team Small

The development team behind Sonic Forces: Speed Battle.

Sonic Forces: Speed Battle was first in development in June 2016 after analyzing the latest capabilities of present-day phones.[4] It began as a prototype by Hardlight, checking if synchronous gameplay would work as well as they expected.[4][5] These early prototypes used existing tech and games as testing grounds for the gameplay, like Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom.[5] 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.[6]

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.[5] The game was scheduled to have three Zones with twelve tracks for its global launch, with more Zones being planned on being developed.[6] It was revealed on 16 March 2018 that Mystic Jungle would appear as a new Zone in an upcoming update.

Achievements[]

Name Description Rewards
We can do this! Reach Tier 3 500 pts
You're too slow! Win 10 Battles 500 pts
This is happenin'! Reach Tier 4 1000 pts
Long time no see Unlock 5 Runners 1000 pts
You think you can keep up with me? Win 50 Battles 1000 pts
You've got this Sonic! Reach Tier 5 2500 pts
Get a load of this! Perform 10 Runner Upgrades 2500 pts
Welcome to the next level Unlock 10 Runners 2500 pts
You think you can beat me? Win 250 Battles 2500 pts
One more last fist bump Reach Tier 6 5000 pts
The more the merrier! Perform 50 Runner Upgrades 5000 pts
Now we're talking! Unlock 15 Runners 5000 pts
The ultimate lifeform Win 1000 Battles 5000 pts
All systems, full power! Perform 150 Runner Upgrades 10000 pts
Reach for the stars Reach Tier 7 10000 pts

Reception[]

The reception for Sonic Forces: Speed Battle since its launch has had a range of quite positive to mixed. The head of Hardlight, Chris Southall, stated that the game "exceeded expectations" shortly after launch. The game has a 4.4/5 star rating on the Google Play Store with over 450 thousand ratings, and a rating of 4.6/5 stars on the App Store with over 40 thousand ratings. It has a rating of 4/5 stars on Amazon with nearly 15 thousand ratings. It currently has a Metacritic rating of 7.2 based on 26 ratings.[7] The game has been praised for being fun, challenging, and entertaining, while being criticized for being multiplayer only.[7]

The online battle-racing game also earned a spot on the '#10 Top games' category on the Google Play Store. Additionally, Sonic Forces: Speed Battle has received individual ratings for various aspects of the game on the Google Play Store. These include: Gameplay (4.5 stars), Graphics (4.6), and Controls (4.4).

According to Ric Cowley of Pocket Gamer, "Sonic Forces: Speed Battle is a lot of fun to play, though it's probably best off experienced in short bursts," while noting, "there's a ton of grinding before you open up new levels, and after the hundredth run on the same two stages, you might start to grow a little tired of the experience."[8]

Two weeks after its launch period, the iOS version of Sonic Forces: Speed Battle had gained two million downloads.[9] As of 16 March 2018, the game has over 12 million downloads. It managed to exceed 10,000,000 downloads on the Google Play Store. On 21 April 2020, the game passed the 50 million download milestone.[10] On 30 September 2021, the game passed the 100 million download milestone.[11] On 13 June 2024, the game passed the 200 million download milestone.[12]

Soundtrack[]

The soundtrack of Sonic Forces: Speed Battle consists of reused tracks from Sonic Forces and past games. The sole exception is an original menu track that played during the "World Tour" event. Listed below are all the songs used:

Music Track Game origin
Green Hill "Lost Valley" Sonic Forces
City "Sunset Heights"
Sky Sanctuary "Mortar Canyon"
Mystic Jungle "Luminous Forest"
Menu "This Is Who You Are" (version 2.13.0 onwards)
"This Is Our World - Phase 1" (prior to version 2.13.0)
Party Match "Network Terminal"
Super Form (Super Sonic/Movie Super Sonic) "Fist Bump" (instrumental)
Challenger Mode (Infinite/Warlock Infinite) "Infinite" (instrumental)
Golden Bay "Escape from the City" (instrumental) Sonic Adventure 2
Bass Boost "The Deadly Six Theme" (remix) Sonic Lost World
Beat Boost "Team Chaotix" (remix) Sonic Heroes
Solo Hit "Follow Me" (remix)
Challenger Mode/Gameplay (Neo Metal Sonic) "What I'm Made of..." (instrumental)
Planet Wisp "Planet Wisp - Act 1 (Remix)" Sonic Colors: Ultimate
Emerald City "Living in the City" (instrumental) Sonic R
Challenger Mode (Mephiles) "[Boss] Mephiles" Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Menu (Sonic Frontiers) "Cyber Space 1-2: Flowing" Sonic Frontiers
Super Form (Super Shadow/Movie Super Shadow) "Event : Super Shadow" Shadow the Hedgehog
Metro City "Westopolis"
Super Form (Super Silver) "Team Ultimate: Silver" Team Sonic Racing
Sol Transformation (Burning Blaze) "Team Ultimate: Blaze"
Ultimate Waveform "Team Ultimate: Shadow"
Super Form (Classic Super Sonic) "Emerald Power: Super Sonic" Sonic Superstars
Gameplay (Extreme Gear Sonic/Extreme Gear Shadow) "Theme of Metal City" Sonic Riders
Menu (Sinbad the Sailor) "Seven Rings In Hand" (instrumental) Sonic and the Secret Rings

Staff[]

  • Hardlight Staff: Alastair Graham, Andrew Paul, Andrew McMillan, Antony Lavelle, Ashley Khan, Billie McMillan, Chris Southall, Claire Chamielec, Claudia Farre, Daniel Darnbrough, David Foster, Dawid Esterhuizen, Gordon Theobald, Harinder Sangha, Ian Sullivan, Jacob Jensen, Jan Strajnar, James Back, Joel Atkinson, Joseph Stone, Liam Rüdel, Lisa Waldron, Louis Macan, Laura Back, Lubomir Baran, Louis McLaughlin, Lucy Lavelle, Luke Boscott, Marc-Etienne Beinio, Mark Milton, Matt Allan, Neall Jones, Neil Armstrong, Neil Topham, Nia Knibbs Vaughan, Nick Adams, Paul Twynholm, Richard Smith, Richard Sugden, Rebecca Thompson, Rob Ruck, Ryan Simpson, Scott Griffiths, Scott Orchard, Simon Foster, Shaun Lawrence, Stephanie Brooke-Harris, Stuart Grant, Tom Gaulton, Thomas Quartly, Tom Woodward, Yordan Gyurchev
  • Thanks: Adrian Klimczak, Anthony Lewis, Csaba Berenyi, Inna Slepstova, James Booth, Miklos Hajma, Oleg Salyakhov, Richard Tawn, Rick Nath, Simon Dew. Thank you to all at SEGA, our contractors and our fans.
  • Special Thanks: Iizuka Takashi
  • Presented by: Sega
  • Developed by: Hardlight

Trivia[]

MysteryCharacter

Teaser image for Blaze.

  • Some of the characters have their official artwork for the game derived and repurposed from existing artwork of other media in the Sonic series:
  • So far, Wave is the only character that was not teased before she was added to the game.
  • Prior to Big's reveal, an update allowed players to randomly see Froggy at the end of stages. Now, Froggy can be seen at the end of the races if at least one player is using Big, or a variant of him.
  • As an April Fools joke in 2018, the official Hardlight Twitter made a spoof character bio for Aaron Webber.
  • The sports-themed Special characters contain references in their outfits, mostly via numbers:
    • Slugger Sonic has the number 91 on his jersey, referencing the release year of the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
    • All-Star Amy has the number 93 on her jersey, referencing the release year for Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
    • Ice Slicer Jet has the number 06 on the back of his jersey, referencing the release year for Sonic Riders.
    • Quarterback Zavok has the number 13 on his jersey, referencing the release year for Sonic Lost World.
    • Linebacker Omega has the number 23 painted on him, which references the last two digits of his serial number.
SFSBFuturisticSilverTeaser

The teaser of Chrono Silver

  • In the initial teaser for Chrono Silver, an identification number reading 21-12-06 can be found. If read as a date, this becomes 21 December 2006; The Japanese release date of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
  • Baby Sonic, the Super transformation users, and Mephiles (including Oni Mephiles) are the only characters to have a different upgrade path for themselves.
    • Although, Baby Sonic is the only character with an entirely unique upgrade path, as the one for Super users only reduces the amount of Starting Rings, and the one for Mephiles only swaps the levels required for the Trap and Projectile upgrades.
  • Extreme Gear users, Eggman, Gamma, Red, and Chuck are the only characters that do not perform the Spin Jump. Instead, they merely perform a regular jump (in Gamma's case, the Hover technique is also performed).
  • Classic Sonic (including Elf Classic Sonic and Classic Super Sonic) is the only character that performs the Spin Attack instead of the Slide.
  • DJ Vector's hoodie references the famous clothing brand Supreme.
  • The Super transformation users are the only characters that cannot use the Shield power-up, just like in the various Sonic games this mechanic appears.
  • Currently, eleven characters have unique entrance animations:
    • When Tikal and Longclaw enter, a beam of light that emits from the sky appears above them.
    • When Excalibur Sonic enters, his armor floats around while he begins running in his base form.
    • When Eggman enters, he raises his fists in determination before lowering them again.
    • When the Werehog enters, he begins running in his base form before getting struck by a lightning bolt.
    • When Infinite (and Warlock Infinite) enters, he does a gesture with his hands while emitting a red aura, then releasing a wave of energy cubes. It resembles the animation he does at the beginning of his second boss fight in Sonic Forces.
    • When Darkspine Sonic enters, he begins running in his base form before being engulfed in a fiery aura, thus transforming him.
    • When Mephiles (and Oni Mephiles) enters, he begins floating while an aura of darkness surrounds him.
    • When Chrono Silver enters, he flashes white and becomes slightly transparent, like a hologram.
  • Currently, four characters have special abilities that other characters do not have:
    • Baby Sonic is the only character that does not need to slide under obstacles, though he still retains the mechanic to do so.
    • Eggman (and LEGO® Dr. Eggman) is the only character that can freely float over bottomless pits.
    • Gamma is able to stay in the air a little longer than everyone else while jumping thanks to his Hover technique.
  • Currently, three characters have unique hurt animations:
    • When Excalibur Sonic is hurt, he puts up a shield when he is hit as a reference to his vastly increased strength from Sonic and the Black Knight.
    • When Infinite is hurt, he extends his arms while glitch-like effects cover his body.
    • When Mephiles is hurt, he extends his arms while Invincibility-like sparkles cover his body.
  • Before Chrono Silver was officially announced, he was named 'Tech Knight Silver' in the game files, which is likely an early internal name.
    • Similarly, Snowdrift Sonic was once known as 'Santa Sonic' internally.
  • This game is the fifth time that Sonic and Super Sonic can appear on-screen together. The first four times are Sonic Shuffle, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, respectively.
  • Excluding transformations, the alternate versions of the characters from Sonic Prime, the film series, and the storybook series, Sonic and Amy currently have the most variants of any character in the game, with both standing at nine (Classic Sonic, Elf Classic Sonic, Slugger Sonic, Boscage Maze Sonic, LEGO® Sonic, Snowdrift Sonic, Dragonfire Sonic, Jester Sonic, and Extreme Gear Sonic; All-Star Amy, Jingle Belle Amy, Paladin Amy, Popstar Amy, LEGO® Amy, Panda Amy, Fortune Teller Amy, Dulce Amy and Blossom Amy).
    • However, if both of Sonic's incarnations are counted as separate characters, the amount is reduced to seven for Modern and one for Classic, making Amy the character with the most variants.
  • Silver's model originally lacked the black lining around his eyes, something that was noticeably prominent in the promotional trailer Hardlight released in 2024. This was eventually fixed.
    • However, Lantern Silver's model continues to have this mistake.
  • Valiant Tails was intended to be the 100th character in the game, but for unknown reasons was pushed back. Due to this, he is actually the 101st character, with Burning Blaze becoming the 100th character. Despite this, Valiant Tails is still promoted as the game's 100th character in promotional material.
  • Burning Blaze and Movie Super Shadow are the only characters with a Super transformation to not be in the Special rarity.
    • Additionally, Movie Super Shadow is the only Super character to feature different power-ups from his base counterpart.
  • Due to an oversight, the tracks in Metro City initially played the same music as those in Emerald City. This was fixed in the following update to their introduction.

Videos[]

Trailers[]

Character Trailers[]

Behind the Scenes[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sonic Forces: Speed Battle. iTunes Store. Apple (US). Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  2. Jenni (2 November 2017). Sonic Forces: Speed Battle Runs To iOS Devices. Siliconera. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved on 5 January 2022.
  3. Sega Europe on X. X (3 November 2017). Retrieved on 3 November 2017. "Have you played #SonicForces Speed Battle yet? You can get it FREE on iOS at http://sega.vg/DLXU30g7hlZ. (Android version coming Nov.16)"
  4. 4.0 4.1 WHO'S GOING TO RUN THE FASTEST?. Sega (20 September 2017). Retrieved on 22 September 2017.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Behind the Screens: Episode One. YouTube. Sega Europe (13 October 2017). Retrieved on 14 October 2017.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Behind the Screens: Episode Two. YouTube date=20 October 2017. Sega Europe. Retrieved on 20 October 2017.
  7. 7.0 7.1 SONIC FORCES: SPEED BATTLE. Metacritic. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved on 19 May 2021.
  8. Cowley, Ric (6 November 2017). Sonic Forces: Speed Battle review - A surprisingly fun multiplayer auto-runner. Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019.
  9. Lazarides, Tasos (16 November 2017). 'Sonic Forces: Speed Battle' Launches on Android Today, iOS Version Had 2 Million Downloads in 2 Weeks. Touch Arcade. Retrieved on 17 November 2017.
  10. Forde, Matthew (21 April 2020). Sonic Forces boosts through 50 million downloads globally. Pocket Gamer. Retrieved on 1 July 2020.
  11. SEGA HARDlight on Twitter. Twitter (30 September 2021). Retrieved on 30 September 2021. "100 MILLION DOWNLOADS!! From all of us at Team HARDlight, thank you for your support."
  12. SEGA on Twitter. Twitter (13 June 2024). Retrieved on 17 April 2025. "Thank you for 200 million downloads of Sonic Forces!"

External links[]

Sonic the Hedgehog mobile games

Sonic Forces: Speed Battle

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