Sonic Dream Team

Sonic Dream Team
This game is a dream.
Genre(s): Adventure Platformer Action Platform(s): IOS (Apple Arcade) Release Date: December 5, 2023 Developer(s): Hardlight Publisher(s): Sega Predecessor: Sonic Superstars

Sonic Dream Team is a video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a game published by Sega and developed by Hardlight for the Apple Arcade service on iOS, Mac and Apple TV devices. The game was released on December 5, 2023, and is described as a "narrative driven platform game."

Plot

Dr. Eggman has discovered the Reverie, an ancient device capable of making dreams come true. Upon learning of the doctor's plans to conquer the world using this object, Sonic and his friends travel through the villain's dreamscapes to thwart his ambitions.

Why It's A Dream

1. The graphics are very beautiful, colorful and the character models are really well made, especially for a IOS game.
   • Much like Sonic Superstars, the backgrounds are also very detailled and great to look at.
2. Fun gameplay as usual, comparable to Sonic Frontiers but more simd, and some characters play differently, making them having a specific fun to play.
3. All of the characters have different abilities, which are:
   • Sonic and Amy’s ability lets you zip through strings of floating rings that take you wherever the path leads, high or low.
   • Tails and Cream can both fly briefly, and most levels have floating yellow hoops that replenish that ability mid-air.
   • Knuckles and Rouge's gameplays are mostly similar to Sonic Adventure 2, which was already a fun playstyle to begin with.
4. While not as good as the previous games such as Sonic Superstars and Sonic Frontiers, the soundtrack is quite great, especially for an Apple Arcade game.
5. While the game is short, the levels are really open and spacious, allowing for a lot of exploration.
6. Tight controls.
7. After 13 whole years, Cream is finally back to the playable roster.
8. The boss fights are great.
9. The characters are all just as likable as ever, meaning that the dreadful characterization that plagued them since Sonic Free Riders is finally gone.
10. Despite being a terrible decision, this game could actually be considered a reason to buy an iOS, considering how good it is.

Bad Qualities

1. Releasing this game only on the Apple Arcade is a terrible decision since most players mostly buy Android and not IOS because these phones are considered to be better than IOS.
   • Not to mention that it also makes the game not accessible for everyone, making this even more of a problem.
2. The game is a bit too short, lasting 2 hours if you know what you're doing.
3. The story is pretty bland, even in comparison to Superstars.

Reception

The game received mixed to positive reviews by critics and Sonic fans alike, with a score of 78/100 on Metacritic.

Trivia

• It is the first game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series to have localizations for Australian English, Arabic, Dutch, Canadian French and Turkish. It is also the first game to have British English be a selectable localization instead of being a region-exclusive, like Sonic Colors.
• Barring other mobile games, this is the first Sonic game since Sonic Rivals 2 to lack a Japanese dub, and also the first since Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games to lack a French, Spanish, German, and Italian dub.
• This is the first platformer-genre game to have Cream the Rabbit and Rouge the Bat playable since Sonic Advance 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), respectively. This is also the first game where Rouge the Bat appears without Shadow the Hedgehog.
• Several of the characters' idle animations are similar to animations or poses they've used in past games:
  • Sonic will stretch out both of his legs, similarly to both his idle animation in Sonic Adventure 2 and one of his pre-stage start animations from Sonic Unleashed. Sonic also has an idle animation where he places his hands on his hips: his iconic idle animation from Sonic the Hedgehog.
  • Tails will occasionally yawn, like he does in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic Generations. He's also seen fluffing up his tails like one of his idle poses from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and Sonic Generations. Additionally, the idle animation where Tails sits and stares at the sky may be a reference to an idle animation he had in Sonic Triple Trouble.
  • Knuckles will occasionally tap his knuckles together, an idle pose he's had in many games like Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). His other idle animation has him shadowboxing with the exact same combination as his idle animation from Sonic Mania.
  • One of Amy's idle animations has her pull a pose similar to her Sonic Advance 2 start animation.
  • One of Cream's idle animations has her swing her arms similar to her standing animations from Sonic Advance 2 and Sonic Advance 3. The idle animation where she and Cheese look around before Cream cheers is from Sonic Advance 2, too. Cream also has an idle animation where she plays with her ears, like in Sonic Generations.
  • Rouge's idle stance is similar to her idle stance in Sonic Generations, and another of her idle animations has her flying and sitting in the air, similar to her Sonic Heroes and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) victory poses.
• Knuckles' renders seem to contain references to previous games. The render used in promotional material with Rouge bares a resemblance to his Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) render. His main render is also seemingly based on his stage clear pose from Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
• The material being used to create dreams, "Magination", is a similar concept to Maginaryworld.
• This is the second Sonic game for computers that isn’t available on Windows, due to it being exclusive to the Apple Arcade, the first being Sonic Racing, which was also an Apple Arcade exclusive.
• The ending of Sonic Dream Team is very similar to the ending of Disney/PIXAR's Monsters, Inc.. It is unclear whether this was intentional or merely a coincidence.
• According to Ian Flynn this game takes place sometime after Sonic Frontiers.

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