Sonic Dream Team Review

ign.com:

Hot on the heels of a new full-sized Sonic game in Sonic Superstars, the Apple Arcade exclusive Sonic Dream Team might not look like it has much to offer at first. It only has a dozen levels, and all you get control-wise are a D-pad and two buttons. For some, the fact that it’s only available on Apple devices (at least for the time being) is a non-starter all its own. But despite all that, Sonic Dream Team more than manages to justify its existence – in fact, its superb level design and bite-sized missions make it one of the most fun, creative, and enjoyable 3D platformers I’ve played in a long time.

Sonic Dream Team’s story kicks off when Dr. Eggman finds a device that brings his dreams into reality. This is obviously bad news for reality, so it’s up to Sonic and friends to work their way through four dream worlds and defeat him. Unfortunately the story is forgettable, lifelessly told through voiceover on top of still images, like a radio play accompanied by comic book panels. But even with its brief runtime, taking me around five or six hours to reach 100% completion, the levels between those cutscenes pack in more delights than many much larger games.

Each world is visually striking, with its own distinct set of enemies and interactive elements. That ranges from the Scrambled Shores, a tropical area filled with giant inflatable structures, to the Dream Factory, which has conveyor belts and pistons set over lava pits. I especially liked the third world, Nightmare Maze, which is like a colorful take on an M.C. Escher drawing, with shifting gravity that lets you run up the walls and onto the ceiling, reaching new areas in mind-bending ways. It’s the only world that really takes advantage of the dream concept, making it