Sega is no stranger to putting Sonic the Hedgehog into just about any game idea possible. If there is an opportunity to put the blue blur into a new experience, they have likely explored it. That said, I don’t think many people saw them adapting the Fall Guys formula in 2024 on mobile. In a bit of a surprise move, we have Sonic Rumble upcoming, formerly leaked as Sonic Toys Party, and I got hands-on experience with the first closed beta for the game. Here are my first impressions of the upcoming free-to-play mobile title.
Sonic Rumble initial impressions
Right off the bat, Sonic Rumble, at its core, is a fun game that doesn’t take much longer than five minutes to play an entire match, provided you get to the final round. As a mobile title, the idea is to be a quick battle that wants you to keep coming back. Through three rounds, up to 32 players are whittled down through various challenges until the victor is decided. The name of the game is collecting rings, with the champion being who has the most at the end.
One thing that particularly impressed me is the visual aesthetic of Sonic Rumble. There are skins that allow you to play as a long list of Sonic characters, whether that is classic, in various costumes, or original basic animal characters unlocked through the game’s loot box system (UGH). Collecting rings or completing challenges through your runs allows you to unlock the skins of your favorite character. Of course, there’s the usual Sonic, Shadow, Tails, etc., but all of the characters that appeared in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog visual novel have their outfits from that game you can unlock through various means. There is a lot of potential for there to be some very cool callbacks with various special events and new intriguing looks when this game gets going.
The courses are also well-made. As is the case with any Sonic game, Sonic Rumble loves a good callback. Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, and plenty of other classics throughout the years play as the backdrop for these areas. I’ve been very vocal in recent years about how tired I am of seeing these levels make appearances in new games, but since Sonic Rumble is making all brand-new courses and the level themes are nothing more than an aesthetic choice, I’m fine with it here. For a small spin-off game, I’m fine with the dedication to celebrating the past.
You will likely hear the Fall Guys comparison pretty much whenever Sonic Rumble is mentioned, and there’s a good reason for that. Everything here has already been done in that game over the last four years. That doesn’t mean Sonic Rumble isn’t a good time, but it’s definitely not bringing new ideas to the table. If you enjoyed Fall Guys when it blew up during the pandemic, you’ll probably like jumping into this game for a quick run, but you’ll get a good sense of déjà vu as you participate. There’s nothing special here. With Fall Guys still available and free-to-play on all consoles and PC, it definitely feels like Sega is trying to take over the mobile market for this kind of game by being the imitator with a little more budget put into it.
You may as well be in a school zone with these speeds
The biggest area where this game feels more like Fall Guys than Sonic is the speed. Movement in Sonic Rumble is very slow. Even with speed boosts, this is probably the slowest this series has felt since Sonic Labyrinth on the Game Gear. I didn’t have too many issues with lag or terrible frame drops, but moving through the obstacles in these courses can be a slog. There’s one course in particular where you move through snow to collect rings, and you move at a snail’s pace unless you get one of the power-ups in the arena.
Luckily, with this being the first closed beta for Sonic Rumble, I expect the speed to be upped in the future. Just about everyone I have seen who had a chance to play the game shares that it is very slow. I get that the developers want this to be an easy experience to get into for kids who get ahold of their parent’s phone, but it’s to a level where it negatively affects the fun of the game as it is now. Hopefully, we can put down the throttle a little more in future playtests.
Held back by the phones it’s built for
I was pretty impressed with the variety at play in the closed beta. There are races, arenas for collecting more rings than your opponents, and some survival challenges to avoid being eliminated. With your chosen toy, you run, collect, and homing-attack everything in your path to victory. Control-wise, everything is very simple, but I had a tough time getting used to the on-screen controls.
Of course, with this being played on a phone, you have a joystick and a few buttons to the side to control your toy, with on-screen commands dedicated to jumping, homing attacks, and emotes, oddly enough. It’s simple enough for anyone to get the hang of after a few rounds, but this is one of the biggest reasons I have never been a big fan of mobile gaming. Using the screen as a controller doesn’t feel great. This would 100% feel better on just about any controller, but because this is a mobile title, we’re stuck playing a downgraded experience.
Overall, I enjoyed my time in the first Sonic Rumble closed beta. There are definitely areas for improvement, particularly in the speed of the game, but for a first showing, it’s a fun time. There’s a lot of room for fun callbacks in the level design and skin choices, and hopefully, more unique challenges will make their way in as updates come out. For being a spin-off mobile title, I came away feeling about as good as I possibly good about the future of this game.
