Sonic Dash - Endless Running

Sonic Dash - Endless Running is one of the best auto-running games around, period. It's a masterful pairing of classic Sonic the Hedgehog ideas, like loops, rings, jumps, and obstacles with a fantastically polished running experience. If you enjoy games like Temple Run, you'll love Sonic Dash.

Sonic the Hedgehog is all about going fast. The little blue critter has made waves in gaming spheres for years with his high-octane, high-speed hijinks. In classic Sonic games, your goal is to run through the level as fast as you can, jumping over obstacles, spinning through enemies, and carefully collecting rings without losing your momentum.

Sonic Dash takes this formula to an entirely new place. An auto-runner in the style of Temple Run, Sonic Dash puts your 3d camera behind Sonic's shoulders as he runs endlessly down a classic Sonic-style racetrack. The game's visuals are an homage to the old games, with obstacles, doodads, art, and even levels coming from Sonic Dash's predecessors in the Sonic Franchise.

Unlike other auto runners, Sonic Dash has simple, intuitive controls. There's no running off the edge or wrestling with tilt controls on your device. Instead, you simply swipe to change lanes, jump, or curl up into a ball. Jumping gets you over obstacles while turning into a ball lets you slide under obstacles or helps bring Sonic back to the ground, fast. Lanes are more important than in some similar games, but this comes with the big upside of never needing to worry about running off of the stage. Sonic will do the bulk of the steering for you, allowing you to concentrate on minute adjustments to switch lanes to avoid obstacles or pick up rings.

Sonic Dash also seems a lot faster than games like Temple Run. Despite the lack of twitchy turns, Sonic's art style and basic design give you a wonderful sense of speed. It feels like you're absolutely blasting through levels at breakneck pace, even more so than the competition.

Just like in both Temple Run and classic Sonic games, one of your goals is to collect rings while you run. If you die by crashing into an obstacle, these rings can allow you to get back up and keep running. This will cost your rings, however, meaning you'll probably run out of lives if you die several times in quick succession. A special kind of currency, red star rings, can be found rarely in levels or purchased with real-life money. These red-star rings can be used to purchase things like revives to massively boost your position on the leaderboard.

Every so often, you'll have the opportunity to bank your rings for later or continue to risk them by entering a special level section with lots of fancy track elements, including loops and more. During these special levels, the camera zooms out for a more cinematic experience, giving you an even bigger sense of speed. The way these sections break up gameplay helps Sonic Dash feel more like you're beating a series of Sonic levels and less like you're playing a procedurally generated endless game.

Sonic Dash is a near-perfect pairing of a classic IP and a modern style of mobile game. It's a bit difficult, however, and you may find that certain obstacle patterns get to be extremely challenging as you run farther and farther. With a little bit of practice, however, you'll be able to quickly jump and duck through them and run onwards to greener fields.

Just like in classic Sonic games, the key to Sonic Dash is conserving momentum. In a game with gentle turns and automatic running, however, this means something a bit different. In Sonic Dash, you'll want to spin through as many enemies as possible in order to keep your combo up and build your boost. Once your boost is full, start dashing at full speed to complete big sections of the level automatically with no danger.

As you collect currency in Sonic Dash, you'll have the ability to purchase both upgrades and power-ups. Try to purchase permanent upgrades first and only worry about powerups once you've got them all. The powerups are often very short-lived, meaning you won't get your rings' worth until you've fully exhausted the upgrade store.

Whenever you can, try to engage in a boss battle for some easy points. Bosses in Sonic Dash have telegraphed attacks that are very easy to avoid, making them a lot easier than the normal running stages of the game. It might take a few tries to learn all of their patterns, but once you've got the basics down, you can fight Eggman and his friends for big score boosts while also scoring a relaxing break.

Red star rings should definitely be rationed, especially at first. While it can be tempting to spend them on things like revives, try not to do this. Instead, use your red star rings for new characters and other unique purchases. Sonic Dash doesn't have a lot of differences between the characters in terms of gameplay, but it's still nice to be able to play as Tails, Knuckles, and all of your other favorite Sonic characters. While we're talking about revives, remember that you can get your first one for free by watching a short ad. It might not be glamorous, but a 10-second ad is definitely a lot cheaper than the real-life currency cost of a revive.

The game gives you periodic missions that you can work on as you complete each level. Try to prioritize these missions as much as you can, even if they cause you to play more risky than normal. Completing missions will add to your score multiplier, which has a massive impact on how quickly your score grows as you run through the level. This means that a run where you complete a mission quickly is much more valuable than a run where you don't. By going for missions early, you can front-load your risk and focus on restarting the level while you're still at an early section, making each run more successful on average.

Finally, bank your rings periodically, but not every chance you get. As you play through the game, you'll have many opportunities to bank your rings for later use in the store. It's not important that you hit this immediately every time, but it is important that you make it a habit to bank your rings every so often to ensure that a death doesn't set you back too much on your quest for upgrades. You might not want to do this every time, however, as you'll miss out on some cool levels and features that only appear when you're playing a bit riskier. Try to find a balance that works well for you and stick to it!

Are you a Sonic Dash master? Did we miss any tips? Share your high score, your favorite tricks, and your favorite characters in the comments below!