Sonic Forces is launching later this fall and we learned a lot about the game. From how it will heavily mirror Generations with the core gameplay systems for Modern/Classic Sonic to having stronger story elements, it will be a big adventure for Sonic to overcome. But what about that third gameplay style? Today I want to briefly talk about what I think the third style might be and how it could add to the game.

This is a opinion article, so this isn’t any confirmation or anything like that. Please read with that in mind. 

Dreamcast Sonic

Well this would make the most logical sense, even though it’s debatable if there even IS a Dreamcast Sonic (he evolved into Modern Sonic we know today after all). But his gameplay style from Adventure 1 and 2 hasn’t been touched on in a long time, with the closest thing to that being Lost World. I feel that if there is a third playable Sonic, a Dreamcast one would be a good pick.

His 3D gameplay is different from Modern Sonic, focusing more on exploration then high speed thrills (though that does happen often in Adventure 2). If they nail the control while also offering fixes to this gameplay style (such as different buttons for action commands and a tighter camera), we could have a great playing Sonic that will make many fans happy. Out of all the incarnations of Sonic, this version of the blue blur has been pushed to the side after Secret Rings.

Bringing him back in Forces might a good idea on both a gameplay level (to keep things fresh) and for budget costs (he could share many of the level assets with the Modern Sonic levels).

 ‘Boom’ Sonic

Before the pitch forks start coming out, here me out! This style will focus more on traditional platforming with large levels. Rise of Lyric was a very flawed game but it’s concepts had potential. The ‘slow-paced’ open 3D platformer has been done great in the past (examples include Banjo Kazooie and Jak & Daxter). Sonic can work with this style of platformer all the while blending his speed.

In many cases, I could see Sonic Team blending the team mechanic from Sonic Heroes (Tails and Knuckles helping Boom Sonic out) or adding more combat elements to the ‘Adventure Sonic’ gameplay. Either way, this could be a lot of fun if pulled off well. If anything, they could use Sonic’s enerbeam as a sling-shot to boost his speed and get across points in the level. I could see great level design open up; fling the beam on a wall so Sonic can wall run, use the beam to get further distance for a homing attack, or even slamming the beam into the ground to rev-up for a big boost.

Other Character(s)

This is honestly the most likely case for the third gameplay style and I’m scratching my head at what this could offer. A few ideas could happen.

• A New Hedgehog from this ‘Time-Line’ of Sonic that works with Classic and Modern to take out Eggman: Sort of like Silver but having a lot of Sonic’s base abilities. He could blend the ‘Boom’ and ‘Adventure’ gameplay styles mentioned above.
• Rebel Eggman Pawn working for both sides: The title is ‘Sonic Forces’ so it could mean both forces of good and evil. A rouge robot Eggman makes that doesn’t fully understand the conflict between the blue blur and the good doctor could lead to very unique levels. Focusing more on the shooting style seen from Adventure/Adventure 2 with more speed elements, it could be interesting to play as an Eggman robot again.
• Sonic’s Friends: This is a ‘duh’ type of thing, considering how we got confirmation that characters like Amy and the Chaotix are going to be in the game. At most we could see characters like Shadow and Tails playable, but it would be interesting seeing Tails flying abilities or Shadows Chaos powers implemented in the modern gameplay style.

Those are my ‘guesses’ for what the third gameplay style might be in Sonic Forces! Granted, we know little to nothing about the third style but it was fun to speculate. Hope you all enjoyed this article and feel free to leave in the comment section below what you want the third gameplay style to be. We will report more on Sonic Forces as further information comes out.