Sonic Runners Guide
[Not sure if you really "gotta go fast?" Have a look at our Sonic Runners review.]
Despite its flaws, Sonic Runners' platforming action is actually quite fun. Though it can be a little more complicated than old-school Sonic games. Here's how to make sure you're up to speed when jumping in.
Scoring
Scoring high in Sonic Runners has a few different benefits. First is that scoring high in a run can get you to boss showdowns faster. This is good because bosses can yield buddies if you play your cards right (more on buddies later). Secondly, scoring high inevitably allows you to collect a lot of rings. Rings are good because they can help level-up characters. Finally, scoring high makes it easier to rank-up, which can reset the number of lives you have and is a particularboon if you're not spending money on anything.
Buddies
Buddies are little companions that accompany characters while they dash across a stage. Here are a few things to keep in mind about buddies:
- Buddies grant abilities like restoring rings, starting runs with a combo built up, or will attack bosses automatically..
- Buddies can collect collectibles. If a buddy that moves across the screen is equipped, any emeralds or rings it touches get collected for you.
- Collecting more buddies through spending red rings on the prize wheel or collecting them from bosses will increase your score bonus percentage.
- Collecting a buddy you already own causes the base buddy to level-up and will increase its effectiveness.
Stage Collectibles
In most stages you'll be gathering a combination of emeralds and rings. It seems like most have more emeralds than rings, but it's important to try and gather as many rings as possible for a variety of reasons:
- Rings give you a free hit just like the old Sonic games, so building a buffer of at least one ring makes characters more survivable.
- Rings are an in-game currency that can be spent to level-up characters. Emeralds are not.
- Rings scatter out of Dr. Eggman when he gets hit, and occasionally one of these rings might be red. Red rings are premium currency, and are used for getting buddies from the prize wheel.
Choosing the Right Characters
Sonic Runners has multiple characters to play as - namely Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles - and each has their own unique control scheme and set of skills. Similarly, most stages are designed for a specific character type (speed, flight, or power). Be Sure to take Sonic into speed stages, Tails into flight stages, and Knuckles into power stages because the design of obstacles assumes you have the specific control layouts for each character.
- Sonic - Sonic is a speed type character, though he doesn't seem much faster than the others. When controlling Sonic you can jump up to three times mid-air. Because his jumps all behave in the same exact way, Sonic is probably the easiest to learn and control.
- Tails - Tails is unlocked after you complete several episodes of Sonic Runners,and is classified as a flight type character. This means he can fly up at a 45 degree angle for a limited amount of time after jumping. Tails is limited to a set amount of upward motion before tiring out and floating back to the ground. Tapping and holding will cause Tails to fly to max height, but tapping intermittently can cause him to cover a lot more horizontal distance. He can be a bit tricky, but flight is a huge advantage. That being said, Tails' stages seem to be more diabolically designed to trap players in pits, so watch out!
- Knuckles - Knuckles is the last standard character to unlockand is defined as a power type. Knuckles' control scheme is the strangest because he has a jump-horizontal dash-jump progression that makes it hard for him to move vertically. His horizontal dash can be extended if he hits enemies, so you can cover big gaps if he hits several with one dash. However, Knuckles has to be the trickiest to control because his second "jump" is not always useful.
Platforming
Here are a few tips about the nuts and bolts ofSonic Runners'platforming action:
- Checkpoints bank your rings, and usually appear after encounters with Dr. Eggman. With this in mind, try to gather as many rings as you can off Eggman without being hit, as more rings means a higher score.
- Items in Sonic Runnerscome in two varieties. When equipped before a stage starts, they are consumable once they've been tapped at the bottom of the screen. Don't worry about using them before the end of the stage though, as equipped items can be carried between stages. If items are collected in the level they are immediately activated.
- Being airborne is what allows you to attack. Unlike the older games you don't need to be in a ball to dispatch enemies. For example, if you're flying as Tails you can hit enemies without losing all of your rings.
- Dr. Eggman appears between speed the increases in a stage. Try to hit him as many times as possible without letting him pass by. If you miss the speed up will begin immediately, which results in a loss of potential rings.
- Go with the level flow as much as possible. The collectibles strewn about often act as a guide. If you follow them you'll likely stay safe while building your score multiplier.
- Take the high road. Most levels have different tiered paths, and the higher road always seems to have better collectibles. It can be harder to stay up there, but it's worth it.
- If any character hits an enemy after using their last jump, they get a refresh on all of their jumps.
FREE!
