The following article contains spoilers for Sonic Dream Team, now available on Apple Arcade.The surprising new entry to the franchise,Sonic Dream Team, has been winning fans' hearts ever since it was added to Apple Arcade earlier this month. As the nameSonic Dream Teamimplies, Dr. Eggman has created an entirely new threat that Sonic and five of his other friends need to stop. Alongside the blue blur himself, fans can take control of Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, and even Cream the Rabbit to put an end to Eggman’s evil schemes that are trying to escape through his dreams.
Players will be asked to run through fun,expansive environments inSonic Dream Teamthat are built with basicSonicplatforming concepts in mind, which plays into one of the larger reasons as to why the mobile game is performing so well. All the levels are either made to take advantage of a specific set of character’s abilities, or they’re specifically created to have multiple different paths for each of them. While players will finish the game in a matter of hours with enough dedication,Sonic Dream Teamkeeps fans playing thanks to one unique feature in particular.
Sonic Dream Team Has a Surprisingly Strong Emphasis on Player Choice
Choosing a Character is a Choice That Matters in Sonic Dream Team
Sonic Dream Teamfeatures a larger cast of playable charactersthat the franchise hasn’t used to its benefit in a long time. While there are quite a lot of characters to choose from, the cast is split in half, playing rather similarly to each other with a skill setting the pairs apart. It might not be as detailed asSonic Frontiers' playable cast, but a choice of character can affect many things inDream Team. Choosing the right character can make or break certain challenges, and even picking who to play as before a boss unlocks character-specific cutscenes.
Sonic and Amy
Tails and Cream
Knuckles and Rouge
Unique skill
Flight; able to interact with stamina-refilling rings
Gliding and climbing walls
Dedicated boss
The Guardian Hunter
Sonic Dream Team Marks the Return of Character-Driven Cutscenes
Once players manage to get to one of the first three bosses, they’ll find a feature that hasn’t been in aSonicgamesinceSonic Adventure. Just before fighting the big bad of the stage, a cutscene will play that ends by forcing the player to choose between a set of characters. Whatever choice fans make will change the next two cutscenes that take place before the boss and after. This choice may not matter in the long run withSonic Dream Team, but it’s a surprising feature that makes players wonder what each of the choices has to offer.
Choosing a Character For a Boss in Sonic Dream Team Is a One and Done Option
What’s even more surprising about these special cutscenes is that they can be easily missed without prior knowledge. Sonic and Amy actually lack a unique cutscene outside the Dr. Crabulous boss itself, which means the first time this choice matters when fans have to choose between Miles “Tails” Prower andCream the Rabbit. These cutscenes, as well as the option to choose at the moment itself, only appear in the game once. To see the other possible option, players will have to work their way back to that point in a separate file to see the other cutscenes.
Through this small mechanic, players get a rather big incentive to keep playing long after they’ve finished the game once. It works out rather well for theSonicmobile game, as the entire experience can be beaten in just a few hours with relative ease. The unique choices, along with how many fans enjoy the game’s approach to speed and platforming, make for a very replayable game. IfSonic Dream Teamcontinues to dominate Apple Arcade for the foreseeable future, the game may have a bright future ahead of it.
Sonic Dream Teamis out now exclusively on Apple Arcade.
MORE:The Pros and Cons of Sonic Frontiers' Sage Returning in Later Games
