Sonic Dash

To be fair, the power-ups (magnet to attract rings, head starts) are quite lazy, considering most running games use similar items. That said, Sonic Dash is a quality experience that no hardcore Sega fan should miss.

Will have even the most cynical of Sonic bashers gurning with nostalgia. [June 2013, p.85]

Sonic Dash is a quick automatic runner that harnesses the essence of the franchise in a great way. Perfect for both a five-minute break, and a lazy evening in the sofa.

It's a bit pricey for an endless runner, especially considering that there is only one environment to run through, and it's mostly interchangeable with just about any other Temple Run clone out there, but this is also the best Sonic has played on a smartphone yet.

Sonic Dash doesn't seek to innovate in the auto-runner genre, and for that alone it's disappointing, but if you scratch beneath the surface you'll find a game willing to throw a significant challenge your way.

It's hard, eventually hard and well designed. There's nothing outstanding, but everything is correct. However, we don't really understand why it's so focused on in-app purchases when we have already paid for it.

Sonic Dash isn’t a bad game as an endless runner, but Sonic fans might notice that the game has a certain lack of depth and variety when compared with his more traditional fare, or even other iOS games such as his own Sonic Jump or fellow mascot runner Rayman Jungle Run.

With more zones and less weighty in-app-purchases by way of an update, Dash could be one of the more enticing endless runners on the market. As it stands, you might find yourself picking this up, and running right past it after a fleeting sense of enjoyment.

Sonic Dash is free right now, so give it a try. Whether or not you'll want to pay more into the game for a coin doubler or currency packs requires almost as little consideration: if you like endless runners, you'll like this one, too.

A very nice game which is not so original, but still offers a nice variation to Temple Run. It looks and feels familiar and doesn't contain a pay-to-win formula.

The Endless Runner-genre makes perfect sense combined with Sonic. It’s running and jumping without too much mush, with some funny and logical references to the Sonic-world. Despite is being a somewhat lazy game that isn’t special in any regard, it doesn’t do anything wrong. It’s exactly like Temple Run, but with a different look. We still prefer Temple Run though, mainly because it’s free.

Sonic Dash is certainly a looker and it can move like lightning on the right hardware, but IAPs do hurt the experience a little for a paid app. Still, it can sit proudly as one of the top Endless Runners on the App Store, none-the-less.

Playing it safe, Sonic Dash is a fun if unremarkable Endless Runner that owes much of its gameplay to other games within the genre.

A perfectly playable endless runner, Sonic Dash is entertaining enough, but highlights how far the series has come since its glory days.

Sonic Dash is a decent endless run, with some good graphics and accurate controls, but it doesn't add anything new to the genre.

The game plays it too safe – there is nothing here that hasn’t been done before. This combined with its pay-to-win leaderboard environment makes Sonic Dash an unexceptional experience.

Finally, a Sonic game that's actually about running really fast! [June 2013, p.85]

Sonic has always been an endless runner of sorts, and Sonic Dash fits perfectly in that picture. Thanks to the simple controls, running through the colorful environments is a joy. Sadly it is lacking in the amount of these environments and extra characters don’t really add anything. Aside from that, the game seems to push you towards in-app purchases a lot, which acts like a big stormy cloud above its joyful core.

Sonic Dash takes the tried and tested formula of Temple Run and adds a solid control scheme that doesn't involve tilting your device. But with close to a gazillion endless runners on the market it fails to impress. It is an enjoyable take on the genre, and has great graphics, but we have seen it all before. Buy it if you absolutely love Sonic, but do not expect anything new to the formula.

Problems with the controls and really greedy micro transactions prevent Sonic Dash from reaching it's full potential. Somewhat of a waste since it has many really good ideas.

Sega seems to find it hard enough to make a decent Sonic game these days, and then it goes and publishes something like Sonic Dash - which with a little more polish could be great, but is instead rushed and spoiled by greed.

For once Sonic gets a spin-off that’s well suited to his talents, but this is an uninspired homage to his glory days – with little new to offer him or endless runners.

If you just haven’t had enough endless runners, Sonic Dash ($1.99, Universal) is a high quality addition to consider, but it truly feels like another also ran. It’s fun, but too familiar for its own good, and we expect more from Sega than just a Sonic version of Subway Surfers or Agent Dash.

Gorgeous and silky smooth it may be, but the level design feels like it was made with in-app Continue purchases specifically in mind, hiding enemies cruelly – and punishingly – behind obstacles, preventing the game from flowing and dazzling as it clearly has the potential to. Accomplished and beautiful, then, but Sonic Dash shows that, for Sega, learning from the competition comes at a price – one it’s passed onto its fans.