Having initially struggled to adapt its speedy blue mascot to the fully 3D environments that his greatest historical rival, Mario, has moved into effortlessly, Sega has since settled for the happier medium of what could be called ‘2.5/D’. So it continues for Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom, the sequel to the infinite runner Sonic Dash released onto iOS back in 2013.
Playing as Sonic or one of his familiar chums, like Tails, Knuckles or Amy, you can rush through vivid and colorful worlds, all the while wiping out enemies, amassing rings and picking up blue orbs to fuel a meter along the top of the screen. Once the meter is full, you can tap twice to activate a dash, during which you can just plow right through enemies and obstacles at ridiculously high speed.
One issue that we tend to have with the infinite runner genre is its slightly one-dimensional – and, as a result, repetitive – nature. We would level much the same criticism at Sonic Dash 2; however, developer Hardlight has still applied enough slick polish and other endearing touches to give this free-to-play runner a more lasting appeal than many of its genre stablemates.