I mightnot be the biggest Sonic weirdo at TheGamer, but I still have a lot of love for the Blue Blur and his rollercoaster of a career. I’ve seenSegado a lot of incredibly strange things withSonicin my lifetime, from making him ride around on hoverboards tomurdering him in a visual novel, and it’s reached a point where I rarely get surprised by whatever new wacky spin-off he’s starring in.
Despite that, Sonic Rumble still managed to shock me.When it was announcedthat Sonic would be getting what appeared to be a rethemed version ofFall Guys, I couldn’t help but do a cartoonish double-take that matched the uncanny toy-like art style. I have no clue how such a strange mash-up came to be,but as an unironic enjoyer of Sonic’s willingness to be weird, I was almost instantly on board.
After getting the chance to spend a few hours with Sonic Rumble as part of a recent closed beta test, I came away from it having had some fun while also uttering a lot of swear words. In that way, it certainly captures the spirit of Fall Guys and the 3D Sonic games while putting a unique spin (dash) on the two formulas, but I do wish it had gotten rid of some of the more annoying elements.
A Green Hill Coat Of Paint
The big question I had going in was whether Rumble was really just a Fall Guys clone, or if there was more to it than just repainting beans to look like Big the Cat and Shadow the Hedgehog. While there are some twists on the formula, and the Sonic stylings do give it a lot of charm, Rumble is going to feel incredibly familiar to anyone who has played even a little bit of Fall Guys.
Some fans were worried about how Sonic Rumble would perform on phones, but I’m happy to report that I didn’t have any major framerate issues. Load times were a little long, but it was nothing game-ruining. I also love the toy style, for what it’s worth.
Each match of Sonic Rumble pits you against 31 other players in three different rounds, each one whittling down the number of players until only one winner remains. So far, so Fall Guys, but there is one key difference - once the first two rounds are done, the final winner is decided based on whoever has the most Rings in their possession.
As is the case in every Sonic game, Rings are pretty easy to collect and can be found throughout the stages or nabbed from other players by using a special power-up. On paper, this is a unique twist on how Fall Guys usually works, but in practice, it doesn’t really change things up all that much and just adds another thing to think about that then comes full circle at the end of a match.
Sonic’s The Name And Party Royale’s My Game
You’re still running around (although not at the speed of sound since everyone moves like molasses) in the platforming rounds trying to beat other players to the finish line, and you’re still trying to outlast other players in challenge rounds, including a team-based puzzle round that has you rolling balls to unlock doors. Yes, Sonic Rumble has team rounds, and yes it’s just as annoying when five idiots ruin your perfectly good plan.
If you’ve played Fall Guys before, you’ll also likely have run into your fair share of luck-based minigames, like the one where you have to guess which door will let you progress. This is personal preference and perhaps a sign I take things too seriously, but I’ve always hated those minigames and I was sad to see them featured in Sonic Rumble. In fact, they seem to appear more throughout a lot of levels, which never failed to frustrate me. Losing is bad, but losing because of luck is even worse.
As is the case with nearly every Sonic game, Rumble’s soundtrack is absolutely banging thanks to its poppy remixes of beloved tracks.
The only time things really change is during the final round, where it becomes more of a mad dash to get as many Rings as possible while resisting the urge to throw your phone out the window when someone steals some from you. Focusing on Rings does give Sonic Rumble more of an identity than if it had just been about coming in first place, but it can also make things more frustrating when you play perfectly but still end up losing because someone else has hoovered up some poor fool’s Rings at the last minute.
This Hog’s Tough To Handle
That frustration isn’t helped much by Sonic Rumble’s controls, which feel a little too imprecise for some of its stressful competitive platforming, despite its uncharacteristically slow pace. I played strictly using the touchscreen and found the jumping too floaty. In platforming rounds, that can just mean falling behind a little and losing out on some Rings, but for special stages like the one where you’re being chased by a massive Badnik, it can mean a swift death.
This isn’t a problem specific to Sonic Rumble, but I also found that using the touchscreen controls led to major arm aches and hand cramps.
If you’re dead-set on playing Sonic Rumble and want to get the most out of it, then you’re going to need some sort of controller to get through it. I’m not sure if that’s going to improve the platforming, but it will give you a fighting chance and stop the grumbling that made up most of my playtime.
While the focus on Ring-collecting left me with some mixed thoughts in the few hours that I played, the one thing I did really love about Sonic Rumble is, ironically enough, the Sonic coat of paint that I was silently judging before I played it. There’s a lot for fans of the series to enjoy here, from the wide roster of playable characters (including Zavok, for some reason) to the levels themselves, which are all based on worlds from Sonic games like Seaside Hill and Chemical Zone.
None of the challenges themselves feel particularly inspired by Sonic, as it’s mostly just jumping around or trying to survive some kind of Badnik attempting to ruin your day, but it’s still fun to see toy versions of the Sonic cast run around beloved worlds with funky remixes playing in the background.
I came away from Sonic Rumble with some mixed feelings about the whole thing. I liked the Sonic stylings and clear love for the series and think that it can be a fun time in short bursts, but the imprecise platforming and focus on Rings meant that taking it too seriously could lead to frustration. I’m hopeful that the final release will improve the controls, because I’m ready to jump back into the Sonic royale.
