Line #110 VideoGame/SonicForcesSpeedBattle


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sonicforces_speedbattle_titlescreen.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} Ready, set... Sonic!]]]]
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4	''Sonic Forces: Speed Battle'', also known as ''Sonic Forces Mobile'', is a ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' online multiplayer {{racing\|Game}}/battle MobilePhoneGame, meant as a tie-in to ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' and SpinOff of ''VideoGame/SonicDash''.
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6	The gameplay is similar to ''Sonic Dash'', with automated running, lanes to switch to, and obstacles to avoid. However, instead of {{Endless Running\|Game}} and occasional boss battles, you are to race against other 3 players from start to finish and slow them down with {{Power Up}}s, from projectiles for direct attacks to speed boosts to [[TrapMaster traps to place on the track]]. The ExcusePlot is that everyone is hunting Phantom Ruby prototypes down and thus race to do so.
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8	The game is known for its regular Events, offering FanArt-esque costumed versions of characters and bringing minor characters [[TheBusCameBack back from off the bus]].
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10	Elements first introduced in ''VideoGame/SonicDash'', then carried on to here should go on that respective page. Vice-versa applies.
11	----
12	!!This game provides examples of:
13	* HundredPercentCompletion: Get every character, and every of their levels to the maximum of 16.
14	* AlternateSelf: There are alternate world variations of characters from [[VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight the world of King Arthur]], [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehogFilmSeries the Paramount universe]], and [[WesternAnimation/SonicPrime the Shatterspaces]].
15	* AntiRageQuitting: Quitting mid-battle will deduct trophies from your count, most likely to prevent this players from rage-quitting once they're losing to save their trophy count. Unfortunately, this also applies to those whose game crashed or Internet randomly disconnected.
16	* AwesomeButImpractical: ZigZagged. Super characters falls between this and DifficultButAwesome, mainly due to his dash having a lot working against it despite its speed and invincibility. First of all, it needs at least 50 rings, later nerfed to 80 rings to use, which is a steep cost, and Super form having a lower starting ring level up doesn't help. Second of all, [[PowerStrainBlackout it then leaves you with 0 rings, which puts you at a massive speed disadvantage that can cost you any lead the dash would have gotten you]], and lastly, it's not ''quite'' as overpowered as it seems, as working against the speed boost is a short transformation sequence that starts it which has them come to a complete stop. On the plus side, if you are skilled enough to stick close enough with the other runners and manage to time their boost just right, Super characters are utterly unstoppable. with them capable of stealing their opponents' lead at the very last second, which can be quite satisfying.
17	* BackgroundMusicOverride: During Infinite and Mephiles events, their boss battle theme replaces the menu theme (and in some cases the stage music too, if they takes one of the player slots as CPU-controlled character).
18	* BadassPacifist: The description for Captive Light {{lampshade\|Hanging}}s this with care to Tikal's personality: "Win without violence!"
19	* BaseballEpisode: The Rivals League event, which happens every June, has baseball-themed Slugger Sonic and All-Star Amy and their teams pitting against each other.
20	* BlowYouAway: There are wind-based items, such as Whirlwind, Wind Boost, Tornado, and Cyclone Charge, that many characters have. They generally do less damage, but steal the rings dropped and give them to the user.
21	* BribingYourWayToVictory:
22	** You can buy chests of cards of either Super Rare or Event characters with real money in case you need a good character, or level up one.
23	** For a modest fee of $9.99 USD/$13.99 CAD (which is a lot for a mobile game), you can unlock Tails' Vault for an event's duration and get your reward cards doubled, having a higher level event character than usual. Later update increased the value of the vault with a daily bonus box containing a few extra cards and depending on the event, an extra doubled-up rings.
24	* TheBusCameBack:
25	** Storm of the Babylon Rogues comes back as a playable character after being gone post-''VideoGame/SonicFreeRiders''.
26	** Tikal the Echidna, who made her playable mobile game debut since ''VideoGame/SonicRunners''.
27	** Excalibur Sonic (and by extension, Caliburn in his super form) from ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight'' made his appearance in this game. In a later update, Sir Lancelot, Sir Percival, Sir Gawain and Sir Galahad also join the roster.
28	** Infinite, the main antagonist of ''VideoGame/SonicForces'', made his playable debut here.
29	** E-102 Gamma made his grand return here as a playable character ever since his last "appearance" in ''VideoGame/SonicBattle''.
30	** Sonic's werehog form from ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' made his playable return since ''VideoGame/SonicRunners''. Likewise, his Darkspine form from ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings'' also made his return here.
31	* CanonImmigrant:
32	** Longclaw, the owl from [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 the live-action movie]], plus both the baby and teenage versions of that movie's Sonic are playable here. Additionally, the movie version of Tails and Knuckles from [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022 the second movie]] also joins the roaster.
33	** Tangle, Whisper, and Surge originated in the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW the IDW comic series]], making them the first ever characters from the ''Sonic'' comics to be playable in a ''Sonic'' video game.
34	** As a tie-in to ''WesternAnimation/SonicPrime'', alternate universe versions of classic characters from the franchise who made their debut in the show were added to the game.
35	*** The New Yoke Shatterspace versions of Tails and Amy, Tails Nine and Rusty Rose, were added to the game after the show's debut on Netflix. The show's version of Sonic would also be added on February 28, 2023, specifically after he entered the Boscage Maze Shatterspace, known as "Boscage Maze Sonic".
36	*** Knuckles the Dread and Thorn Rose from the No Place and Boscage Maze Shatterspaces respectively joined the roster in 2023 for the premiere of the show's second season.
37	*** Alpha Grim Sonic, or simply Grim Sonic, was added to the game a few days before the third and final season's premiere in January 2024.
38	* CastFromMoney:
39	** Rouge's Booby Trap inflicts this on players as a debuff, locking them out of their item slots until they pay a ring fee per slot to open them back up.
40	** Treasure Hunter Knuckles and Elite Agent Rouge's Gold Rush and Infinite's Phantom Dash drain a certain amount of rings when the boost is activated until its duration is completed.
41	** Super Form, in true Super fashion, costs 50 rings, later nerfed to 80 rings to activate, at which point the characters will transform and dash forward with invincibility, consuming rings at a quick rate and continuing to dash until all rings are consumed or its duration is completed.
42	* CharacterSelectForcing:
43	** The "Star Runner" missions task the player to run a number of races with a specified character. The "Class of their Own" missions are more lenient, tasking the player to use any character of the specified class.
44	** {{Downplayed\|Trope}} with the now discontinued Hall of Champions events. Though they have you race with a specific character for a season (month) long, the only reward is being honored by Hardlight on social media.
45	* ComebackMechanic: Speed boost items show up more often if you're in third or fourth place, but you'll still need plenty of boosts, skill, and even luck to make it to first place. Conversely, once you are in first place, you don't get speed boost items at all and instead get a generic shield item as its replacement.
46	* ConsolationPrize: There are chests for every place after each race, including a fourth place, so you don't feel bad and still get a bonus.
47	* DifficultButAwesome: Tangle has no projectiles or traps to hurt others, so if she's at the back of the pack (which will happen often at the beginning of races with her average Acceleration and Speed stats), she's going to struggle to slow her rivals down with the very short melee range of her Tail strike. However, all of Tangle's attacks (sans the universal Shield power-up) boost her forward and her Tail Spring has a powerful [[ImmuneToFlinching super armour]] effect. Given that Tangle also has the potential to pick up two Tail Strikes in a single item slot (making for up to four at once), she can also string her boosts in quick succession. If used correctly, Tangle can leave everyone else in her dust as she bounds towards the finish line with little regard for obstacles on the track.
48	* DoppelgangerAttack:
49	** Infinite can once again create replicas of himself, which damage players that are not him upon contact.
50	** Chrono Silver and Grim Sonic can create duplicates of themselves to running alongside them to hit nearby opponents.
51	* DoWellButNotPerfect: There are missions in which you have to finish a number of races with ''no more than'' 80 rings.
52	* DynamicDifficulty: The difficulty the player faces is based on their trophy count. The higher the count, the more access to harder and reversed levels for them to navigate through. Though they'll get easy levels on occasion, they'll face players with similar trophy counts, which probably means similar skill levels to you.
53	* ExcusePlot: You, your friends, and your enemies go to various areas to collect Phantom Ruby prototypes. That's all to the plot.
54	* FightingClown: Big the Cat may be a goofy fat cat who doesn't carry any exceptional power, but he's a Super Rare, along with the ranks of the very powerful Shadow, Chaos, Metal Sonic, and Zeti, who can best everyone else and whose Lilytraps are tricky.
55	* FragileSpeedster:
56	** Baby Sonic is the only character who can carry up to ''50 starting rings'' as opposed to the usual 35 rings upon being maxed out, giving him a massive headstart upon starting the race. That being said, he also has the weakest strength status in the game at 2/10, making him receive a much heavier slowdown upon hitting any projectiles and traps.
57	** In a more general sense, most variations of Sonic also have a high speed stat offset with a lower acceleration and/or strength.
58	* GoKartingWithBowser: With ExcusePlot in place, both heroes and villains are just duking it out in a race for the Phantom Ruby prototype.
59	* GoldenSuperMode:
60	** As a part of Sonic's 30th anniversary, Super Sonic made his debut as a playable character. That being said, he spends most of his game time in his normal form (with an aura) and only able to turns super once you grab the Super Sonic Form item and collect a minimum of 80 rings.
61	** Excalibur Sonic could also count, as he is Sonic's Golden Super Form in his debut game, ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight''.
62	** Eventually, more characters are also gains super variant such as Movie Sonic, Shadow, Silver, and Classic Sonic.
63	* GreenThumb: Spring Cream's Hedge Maze raises tall flowered vines from the ground.
64	* GrimReaper: Metal Sonic's Halloween variant is dressed up as the Grim Reaper, scythe included.
65	* GuestFighter: Red and Chuck (specifically their movie incarnation) from ''Franchise/AngryBirds'' made their appearance in the game as part of limited-time crossover event and notable for being the first playable characters outside the ''Sonic'' franchise.
66	* HarmlessFreezing: Ice attacks such as Ice Mine, Jingle Boost, and Ice Wave will encase you inside a block of ice where you continue to slide forward until you either thaw out over time or hit something and break out.
67	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Yes, you can even be hurt by your own traps if you're not careful. Most traps set themselves ahead of the player in every lane but the one they are currently in, but a few are a little trickier than that and can easily get you into trouble if you aren't paying enough attention, such as traps that place themselves directly in front of the racer ahead of you when they're in the same lane you are and dodge out of the way. There are some exceptions, though, such as Infinite being immune to his own Deadly Replica and Reality Warp. Additionally, some characters encourage you to hit their own trap to receive a quick power-up such as Longclaw and Boscage Maze Sonic gaining a little speed boost and a shield respectively.
68	* HolidayMode: Starting in 2018, the game hosts Chinese New Year, Halloween, and Christmas events annually, offering exclusive variations of characters themed after their respective holidays.
69	* AnIcePerson: Amy (and her variants), Sonic (and his variants), Chaos, Ice Slicer Jet, Reaper Metal Sonic, Santa Big, Elf Classic Sonic, Tidal Wave, Nutcracker Silver, and Zeena have ice-based items. Heck, Chaos is entirely an ice person.
70	* IKnowMaddenKombat: Sport-costumed characters can use their sport-specific ball to attack their opponents such as Slugger Sonic & All-Star Amy with Strike Out (A baseball), Ice Slicer Jet with Trap Shot (A hockey puck), and Quarterback Zavok & Linebacker Omega with Savage Throw (A football).
71	* InvincibilityPowerUp:
72	** Vector, Knuckles, Classic Sonic, Linebacker Omega, and Paladin Amy have the Invincibility item, which increase their speed and makes them invulnerable to everything except for BottomlessPits, (formerly) InterfaceScrew traps, and Booby Trap. Also, it will not destroy enemies.
73	** Movie Sonic, Movie Knuckles, Movie Tails, and Tangle also have invincibility as their boost effect, with the former two using their ring portal and the latter two perform a flight and a leap respectively.
74	* InterfaceScrew: Vector's Bubble Bomb, when stepped on by a player, covers their view of the track with bubbles, which can go away quicker by being tapped on and popped. Espio's Confusion Mine and his, Silver's, and Rouge's Confusion Boost, when a player runs into one, flips their camera horizontally temporarily, reversing their left-right controls. Tikal's Captive Light, when run into by a player, covers their screen with yellow light (though you can see through a little bit).
75	* LateArrivalSpoiler: This game blatantly advertises Movie Sonic getting his own super transformation, ironically before [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022 the film it appears in]] getting a physical release (or in territories like Japan, being released at all).
76	* {{Leitmotif}}: Each of super variant characters have their own theme whenever they activate their super form. For instance:
77	** Sonic and his movie counterpart has instrumental version of [[VideoGame/SonicForces Fist Bump]].
78	** Shadow gets instrumental version of [[VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog I Am All of Me]].
79	** Silver has instrumental version of [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Dream of an Absolution]].
80	** Classic Sonic has his super theme from ''VideoGame/SonicSuperstars''.
81	* LightEmUp: Tikal's Captive Light takes form of bright light orbs which can [[InterfaceScrew blind players]].
82	* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: You can occasionally get a shield item instead of a boost one depending on your position to protect yourself from a single hit for a short period of time.
83	* MakingASplash: Tidal Wave and Tropical Storm can hit others with Wipeout, a wave of water.
84	* MakeSomeNoise: DJ Vector and Punk Zazz feature sound-based attacks. Audio Assault pierces targets and keeps going without stopping, and characters hit by it [[PowerNullifier temporarily can't use their items]].
85	* MassMonsterSlaughterSidequest:
86	** The "Defeat X Badniks" missions.
87	** Eggpawn Assault events has all the players participating in this. They must destroy Badniks to increase the Resistance's score, while Badniks left on the track increase the Eggman Empire's score. They get rewards for giving the Resistance higher score than the Eggman Empire.
88	* MasterOfNone: Silver features a statline with a flat 6 across the board in every stat, which does him no favors, as it gives him the lowest speed stat in the game with nothing to make up for it.
89	* MechanicallyUnusualFighter:
90	** Tangle not only lacks projectile/trap items and has the ability to equip the same power-ups in two different slots (her Tail Strike) without the use of Metal Sonic’s Steal power-up, her Tail Spring power-up is a jumping boost with super armour once Tangle's in the air and as she lands. If this wasn't enough, all of her moves (sans the universal Shield power-up) boost her forward.
91	** Surge plays similarly to Tangle above, with the differences is that her items are generally more powerful than Tangle in exchange that her small boost items has a cooldown system with each use whenever it doesn't hit the opponents.
92	** Downplayed with the super variant characters. While they plays exactly the same as their vanilla counterpart, down to their stats and items, they only have access to super form for boosting and no shield item. And given the number of rings you required to activate them, the boost is best used when they near the finish line to overtake the leading opponents in one fell swoop.
93	* MultiSlotCharacter: This game features multiple alternate versions of characters as separate characters, mainly due to them being available as part of special events. For example, Sonic is also available as Super Sonic, [[VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings Darkspine Sonic]], [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed Sonic the Werehog]], [[VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight Excalibur Sonic]], [[WesternAnimation/SonicPrime Boscage Maze Sonic]], [[Toys/{{LEGO}} LEGO Sonic]], and plenty of his costumed variants with an addition of Classic Sonic has [[HolidayMode Elf Classic Sonic]] and Classic Super Sonic. There's also [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehogFilmSeries Movie Sonic]] being playable alongside [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 Baby Sonic]] and [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022 Movie Super Sonic]]. As such, you can have multiple instances of the same character racing with one another. Justified, as they're Phantom Ruby copies.
94	* MythologyGag:
95	** Tikal's Captive Light is named after her attack in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''.
96	** Whisper was added to the game in an event titled "Guardian Angel", alluding to Silver's nickname for her in the IDW comics.
97	** Elite Agent Rouge's Bat Bomb uses the same design as the Bat Cracker in ''VideoGame/SonicBattle''.
98	** Treasure Hunter Knuckles and [[Series/{{Knuckles}} Series]] Knuckles' cowboy hat is a reference to [[Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie the OVA]].
99	* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed:
100	** Golden Bay Zone, added to promote [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 the movie]], is obviously based on San Francisco, California.
101	** Emerald City, added to promote [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022 the sequel]], is based on Seattle.
102	* NoSell:
103	** Baby Sonic noticeably being the only smaller character, which allows him to run under obstacles without the need to slide, effectively making the traps like [[PowerNullifier Storm Cloud and Zap Trap]] completely useless against him unless he deliberately jumps into them.
104	** Dr. Eggman can hover above bottomless pits with his Eggmobile, which allows him to just pass across them without the need to jump.
105	* NonStandardCharacterDesign: [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 Longclaw]] looks like a realistic owl. This is in stark contrast to fellow avian characters Jet, Wave, and Storm, who look just as cartoony as everyone else.
106	* PacifistRun: There are missions in which you have to run a number of races, each destroying a very few number of Badniks.
107	* PlayingWithFire: Naturally, all of Blaze's items, Fire Whirl, Fire Boost, and [[MagmaMan Lava Bomb]], are fire-based. Several other characters have Fire items as well, such as Fire Whirl or Boost also. Fire moves generally don't do anything special or unique, but will do the most damage of any of the other elements.
108	** Series Knuckles is notable for having a unique fire attack with Flames of Disaster, where his punch projectiles removes an item upon hit in addition of leaving a trail of fire that drains the opponents' rings when they stay in it.
109	* PowerNullifier: Getting hit by any electric-based attack or trap, such as [[ShockAndAwe Lightning, Electro Boost, Zap Trap, and Storm Cloud]]. will erase a random item you have. Special variant characters like DJ Vector, Punk Zazz, and Movie Tails have moves that instead prevent the player from using any item for a set amount of time.
110	* PowerParasite: Metal Sonic can Steal items from other players, allowing him to virtually use any item with the exception of boost items.
111	* PunnyName: Wave and Storm's "summer" variants: ''Tidal'' Wave and ''Tropical'' Storm.
112	* {{Retcon}}:
113	** Initially, some characters had InterfaceScrew items explicitly themed around Infinite's Illusion effects from ''Sonic Forces''. In preparation for Infinite's introduction as a proper racer, all of those Illusion items were changed to be smoke themed Confusion items so the new Illusion could now inflict a more thematically appropriate debuff, although they now deal damage and hide the item interface alongside their usual screen flip as a tradeoff.
114	** The young and old versions of Sonic from [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 the movie]] were simply introduced as Baby Sonic and Teen Sonic. Following the introduction of Movie Tails and Movie Knuckles to tie in with the sequel, Teen Sonic was renamed Movie Sonic to be in line with the others.
115	* ShockAndAwe: Attacks such as Lightning (which targets the leading player), Electro Boost, Zap Trap, Storm Cloud, and EMP Boost are electricity-based items to shock others with and (except for the last one) [[PowerNullifier erase an item they have]].
116	* ShoutOut: Tangle was added to the game in an event titled [[Franchise/Ben10 "It's Hero Time!"]]
117	* SuperCuteSuperPowers: Cream's and Tikal's items produce pretty flowers and weaponize precious Chao.
118	* SwissArmyWeapon: Lantern Silver's Firework Flurry holds 3 types of fireworks. [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience The red one slows down. The yellow one stuns. The blue one freezes.]]
119	* ThinkingUpPortals: Movie Sonic and Movie Knuckles both have their Ring Portals from the movies as their dash. While mechanically this is implemented more like the regular invincibility power up, it does make the character invisible for its duration to evoke the idea of teleportation.
120	* TrapMaster: Everyone has some sort of Trap item to place on the track for others to run into and get hurt in [[InterfaceScrew one way]] or [[StatusEffects another]]. The sole exception to this is Tangle, who exclusively utilises melee moves.
121	* WackyRacing: You run on foot and own your opponents with {{Power Up}}s while evading obstacles in the way.
122	* WolverinePublicity: Shadow appears alongside Sonic in the official app icon for seemingly no other reason but because of his popularity.
123	* YourMindMakesItReal: All of Infinite's items are capable of inflicting an illusion debuff that temporarily causes racers afflicted by it to perceive all boost pads and item boxes on the course as spikes, and take damage from them as if they were actually spikes. Badniks also become immune to regular jump attacks and slides, although they can still be destroyed with items.

Context VideoGame / SonicForcesSpeedBattle