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Sonic Runners (iOS/Android) - Thread Version 2.0


Cola

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I still want to give this a try once it's released, especially since it's free and all. I'm just not surprised it ended up being blah.

That's the thing, the actual runner part of the game is not blah. It's actually pretty tightly designed. The level design actually cleverly accounts for the way the characters move, and provides a petty steady ruleset that once you get it, it's actually very natural feeling. There's a satisfying feeling when you actually get into the flow of the level at higher speeds.

And that's another thing, the runner part of the level actually has an awesome sense of progression going for it. As you hit the higher speed sections, the game grows increasingly difficult, but at the same time it gets more and more rewarding. There's a great sense in this part of the game that when you tackle more difficult challenges, that there's the opportunity to get higher rewards.

The problem with the game is outside the context of the runner portion. The game stacks up the challenge of having to earn higher scores, but it doesn't scale the rewards to it. So inversely, the game becomes less and less rewarding as play goes on. At where I am in the game, I cannot reach those items on the map in time. Even if I get some absolutely great runs, I always seem to run out of time before then, and that's if I have continues.

It really, really does get grindy.

I think the sense of "progression" is supposed to come from the ranks and the companions, but those have all but slowed down to a trickle. I don't have many more companions than I did 20 episodes ago, and I for the life of me have a hard time seeing if the ranks have netted any perceptible benefit.

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Yeah, there's nothing inherently wrong with the gameplay, it's just the fact that (bafflingly) it goes from being a fun and rewarding experience to one that becomes increasingly more repetitive and cumbersome the better you get at it.

 

There have been points where I've been tempted to actually just uninstall the game and start all over again from scratch, just for that initial burst of enjoyment. Plus, there'd always be the hope that luck is on my side and I actually unlock some companions that I give a damn about early on when the red rings are plentiful. Wasting hours to scrape together enough currency just to have an impossibly low chance at winning something half-decent on the roulette is no fun at all.

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It's not blah, but the progression sucks. Sucking balls.

 

As people said, you'll love this game right to where I'm at (episode 22), and as you get higher and higher in episodes it gets tougher and tougher to progress and you barely get rewards for it. Like barely. And that's when the game is no longer fun to play. You'll have to spend IAPs to get that same enjoyment you had in episode 1.

 

And that's why I'm staying at episode 22. It's bad enough on the 2nd speed up you'll see spikes, bottomless pits and flying things everywhere making it almost no room for error.

 

It's annoying that once you get hit, Sonic and others are stunned for 2-3 seconds while moving forward meaning you're f***ed if there is a bottomless pit ahead, a set of spikes or any other hazardous thing approaching.

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Having said that however, I have to say this 1.5x rings special is pretty legit. I'm getting plenty of runs where I'm pulling in north of 4k rings.

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I tell you what would be a nice addition to the game - being able to purchase Red Rings using your ordinary rings. I've got loads of them banked up now but I don't want to spend them all on items that I hardly ever use. Red Rings are essential for the premium roulette and for mid-game continues, so restricting them to random bonuses and end-of-chapter rewards (which become further and further apart the longer you play) is just annoying as all heck.

 

Yeah, I know you can pay actual money to get more Red Rings, but... at least give us the option! I don't want to shell out pounds and pounds only to find I'm unlocking even more sodding Baby Wisps.

 

I swear, at this rate, I'm going to have a vendetta against those infant alien creatures. I didn't even mind them at first. Now they make me want to scream.

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But... you use Red Rings to buy regular rings... 

 

You may as well just drop the middleman at that point and have only one kind of Ring.

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I tell you what would be a nice addition to the game - being able to purchase Red Rings using your ordinary rings. I've got loads of them banked up now but I don't want to spend them all on items that I hardly ever use. Red Rings are essential for the premium roulette and for mid-game continues, so restricting them to random bonuses and end-of-chapter rewards (which become further and further apart the longer you play) is just annoying as all heck.

 

Yeah, I know you can pay actual money to get more Red Rings, but... at least give us the option! I don't want to shell out pounds and pounds only to find I'm unlocking even more sodding Baby Wisps.

 

I swear, at this rate, I'm going to have a vendetta against those infant alien creatures. I didn't even mind them at first. Now they make me want to scream.

 

Never going to happen. The point of freemium games is for companies to eventually push you to purchasing IAPs. That would just kill it. Or you would have to exchange it for a very high rate, like 10,000 rings for 5 red star rings which, is not worth it.

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But... you use Red Rings to buy regular rings... 

 

You may as well just drop the middleman at that point and have only one kind of Ring.

 

"One kind of ring to rule them all, one kind of ring to find them. One kind of ring to spin the wheel, and in the outrage buy them..."

 

Never going to happen. The point of freemium games is for companies to eventually push you to purchasing IAPs. That would just kill it. Or you would have to exchange it for a very high rate, like 10,000 rings for 5 red star rings which, is not worth it.

 

Oh yeah I know, it's blatantly a freemium tactic through and through. Doesn't make it any less annoying though :lol:

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I'm already at the 250 animal mark. I figure if I go full tryhard mode, I can probably do the whole challenge.

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I was incredibly lucky in that the first time I spun the premium roulette, and it was a free spin, I got Chip. And I promptly swore about it until I realised just how damn good he is as a companion (and I take everything I said back, even though I still dislike the character)

I find the 50 red rings per spin a bit steep though, especially when they cost so much in the store. I seem to use a lot of the ones I get as 'continues' tho so I'm probably using them wrong. Not yet resorted to buying them anyway, maybe that will change the closer I get to the end levels...

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"May the odds be ever in your favour"

 

11055256_1384492371869865_88081941142434

 

 

II'm on rank 93, my Espio is in level 64, with 35% animal boost, with the 80% of the Skull Chao, it made 115% animal bonus, I'm already on 1000 animals

 

Hope I get Charmy soon, I wasted 1350 Red Rings ;_; (Which I earned from playing)

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Man, this starting to feel like that one event in Sonic Dash where they extend the event so everyone can get the character, I think it was Silver?

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Man, this starting to feel like that one event in Sonic Dash where they extend the event so everyone can get the character, I think it was Silver?

 

Yup, Rouge, Sliver, and Cream. Which I would love it if they do that again

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Given, the new event with that Monkey RC toy. I'll expect such an event will happen in the near future.

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Given, the new event with that Monkey RC toy. I'll expect such an event will happen in the near future.

 

Then again, I expect Amy to be given for free when the next console game is released, like they did in Dash

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The events in Dash and Jump Fever sound tons better than this game. In that, it came down to a matter of skill and play rather than nothing but complete luck. Everyone had a fair chance to unlock the characters without spending anything. You just went into the game and played, collect enough things and there you go, character unlocked. If you missed the event, you had to pay Red Rings sure but they still offered you the chance to get the character free. It's not their fault you didn't participate in the event.

 

Here, it's more or less forcing most players to pay more and more money for red rings just for a chance of unlocking the Chaotix, which is especially bad when you have to unlock them one by one. So that three different times you have to hope you get lucky enough to do it. 

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So is this game popular? Apparently the Chaotix initiative has been extended for a week, I just got Espio today, maybe I can try to get one more...

Also, it's been said there are 500.000, in a few weeks time that's pretty good, but who knows how many of those downloaded it regularly from Japan and Canada, perhaps there is a way to know it by looking at the number of downloads for the APK?

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The fact this game isn't available all over yet is still a real bummer, just got my new Sony Xperia Z3 today and I want to play some Runners pls SEGA ;-;

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There seems to be a trend of these mobile Sonic games starting out as being fun (or the core / actual gameplay actually being fun) but then gradually gets tedious to play as the flaws of the methods used to unlock more content rear their heads, the microtransactions become intrusive, or the structure of how the game works (relating to the characters you use or how you can access the stages) is changed for the worse.

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Maybe I was a bit harsh when I said Sonic Runners is blah... ^^; I still wanna play it though just to try it out, so let's hope the release date is announced soon.

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There seems to be a trend of these mobile Sonic games starting out as being fun (or the core / actual gameplay actually being fun) but then gradually gets tedious to play as the flaws of the methods used to unlock more content rear their heads, the microtransactions become intrusive, or the structure of how the game works (relating to the characters you use or how you can access the stages) is changed for the worse.

 

But let's be honest. 90% of all freemium games are like that, not just Sonic.

 

(Still not an excuse for Sonic Team to do this)

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Yeah, that is true. I remember when Sonic Dash didn't have ads everywhere and actually had some fun events every once in a while. At least Sonic Jump is still fun. Well, the original, that is, I'm really not a fan of Jump Fever.

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I wouldn't call Sonic Jump a freemium game as it was a paid app for almost 2 years until the iTunes 12 Gifts of Christmas promotion. Sega then decided the app should remain free. Sonic Jump was created before freemium games became a thing too.

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Question about the red star rings in Runners.

 

In terms of them appearing in the stages, just how frequent are they? Are their appearances totally random? I'm currently playing the lava stage (episode 34-1) and a red star ring appeared in the level (not the Eggman boss fight) which is extremely rare. Also, I noticed that - at least in the lava stages - a red star ring normally appears when you fight Eggman for the third time (after the second "speed up" section). 

 

I set a new personal best score of 1,265,404 yesterday.

 

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