Sega hasn't had the most consistent track record when it comes to the Sonic franchise for nearly a decade. It seems that for every decent game, like Sonic Generations, there is a game like 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog that drags the franchise down even further.
Sega is hoping Sonic Forces will fit into the former, given the clear influence on it from Generations. The game's newest trailer shows off a surprising new feature to give Sonic Forces a personal touch.
Sonic Needs A Hero
Like the previous trailer, the new one released May 16 continues peeling back the curtain on what Sonic Forces will entail.
The first trailer showed off the 3D-style Sonic that fans have been accustomed to since 1998's Sonic Adventure. The next revealed that it would feature the original, 2D-style as well, like the aforementioned Sonic Generations did, seeing the two Sonics unite to stop Dr. Eggman's latest bid to take over the world. But as the newest trailer shows, it will take more than these two Sonics to take down the villainous doctor. To stop Eggman, players will be able to create their own hero to join Sonic's fight against the antagonist.
Despite Sonic's long history on consoles, none of the games have had a proper character creator. Some have featured customization, like Sonic Adventure 2, which had upgrades spread throughout the different stages that made the six playable characters stronger. The trailer only gave a taste of the character creator, showing one of the anthropomorphic animals available, along with the some of the tools to help take on Eggman's robot army.
Gotta Go Fast
As mentioned, Sonic hasn't been the most consistent on console after the character made the jump to 3D. Sega has experimented with the franchise in as many ways as it could, taking cues from other franchises and genres in certain cases.
Most of the time, though, the company doesn't deliver, with the aforementioned Sonic '06 and the more recent Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric being the two worst offenders of how far the series has fallen in some fans' eyes. This hasn't stopped Sega from trying to get it right, as the games tend to do reasonably well at release, justifying more games in the series.
This makes it all the more interesting to see what Sonic Forces could do. While Sega did release Sonic Boom back in 2014, it was exclusive to the Wii U and tied into the animated series that started at the same time.
Sonic Forces will be the first game in the series to be released on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and the Switch, and has given off a sort of "back to basics" vibe around it. Whether or not that will translate to a commercial and critical hit, though, remains to be seen.
Sonic Forces will be available Holiday 2017.
