Best Sonic Games For Online Play

While the Sonic the Hedgehog games are most commonly known for being single-player high-speed adventures, there have been a few instances where developers have also implemented multiplayer features to add replay value to the overall experience. Over the years, the minds behind the franchise have become quite creative in incorporating these multiplayer modes to ensure they still align with the core gameplay. While some modes allow multiple players to compete with one another to race toward the finish line, others are more experimental and unique.

It’s always a nice bonus for a Sonic game to have these online options, since it encourages players to return to the game soon after they’ve already blasted through the main story. With that being said, the actual quality of the multiplayer can vary greatly between the games, but these titles are among the very best Sonic games to play for anyone looking to enjoy some online action with the Blue Blur and his friends.

7

Sonic Free Riders

Cruise Through A Variety Of Stages On A Hoverboard Along With Some Friends

The third game in the Sonic Riders racing series admittedly received pretty poor reviews upon its release, though it does still include some fun online modes that can be enjoyed with a group of friends. Up to eight players can jump on the Extreme Gear hoverboards to partake in a race to see who can outlast the competition, and while the core gameplay may seem like more of the same, what makes it such a guilty pleasure is the Kinect compatibility.

The Kinect has always been a pretty clunky device, but it was still a ton of fun to use when playing with others, considering each player needs to focus their entire body on performing certain actions, such as drifting around the corner or bashing someone off their hoverboard. While Sonic Free Riders may therefore be a little boring when it comes to its single-player, there’s still some fun to be had when jumping into the online modes.

6

Sonic Lost World

Lost World’s Slower Pace Allows Four Players To Keep Up With One Another

Despite being released for both the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS, Sonic Lost World can only be played online on the latter system, which is honestly still a pretty bizarre decision made by Sega. Despite that, 3DS owners can still enjoy racing against not just one, but up to three players at a time. This might sound a little chaotic on paper, but because Sonic Lost World has a slightly slower pace in its gameplay than many of the previous entries in the series, it makes it much harder for someone to shoot past the competition in the blink of an eye, creating a more even playing field.

Sonic Lost World also includes a healthy variety of otherworldly levels, which are all incredibly fun to explore with a friend or two. Being restricted to the 3DS version of the game, which includes inferior graphics and a smaller screen than the Wii U, is a little disappointing, but the fact that multiplayer was included in this game at all is still a nice treat for fans of the franchise.

5

Sonic X Shadow Generations

The Addition Of Online Leaderboards Encourages Players To Get Competitive

The Sonic X Shadow Generations remaster doesn’t feature online play in the traditional sense, but there is still an online leaderboard for every single level in the game that will record the players’ final time after beating a stage. Players are encouraged to replay these levels over and over again until they feel like they’ve fully mastered them, before then jumping into the online mode to test their top speed against players from around the world.

It’s all so satisfying to see one’s username move up even a space or two on the world leaderboards after nailing a level, but while this is already plenty of fun with Sonic, it’s even more competitive with Shadow, given how much more difficult he is to use. Players need to know when and how to use each of Shadow’s new Chaos abilities to reach the end of the stage with a record time, providing the game with even more replay value than it already had.

4

Sonic Forces: Speed Battle

Speed Battle Enhances The Sonic Run Gameplay Style And Takes It Online

• Platform: Mobile
• Release Date: 2017

After the enormous success of the unlimited mobile runner game Sonic Dash, it was inevitable that Sega would eventually develop even more mobile Sonic games in the future, considering there was a large audience for them. The result of this was Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, a game which plays fairly similarly to Dash, but which also places a much bigger focus on the competitive aspect of the gameplay. Players must do their best to navigate a wide selection of difficult stages from the series’ past while also racing against three other players at the same time.

What makes the game so addictive is the staggering range of characters and unlockables that can be acquired over time. There’s a wide variety of costumes and abilities that players can toy around with once they enter a stage, so while this might not be a fully-fledged mainline title, Sega still did a great job of making this a game that thrives in the online scene, especially thanks to how accessible it is.

3

Sonic Superstars

Eight Players Try To Survive Through Several Challenge Courses To Reach The Top Spot

The fun, flashy, and vibrant Sonic Superstars feels like a heartfelt homage to the classic games of the series, but Sega made sure that this entry still feels modernized enough to meet today’s expectations. One way they achieved this was by introducing four-player co-op, and while this can only be accessed locally, the good news is that there’s also the online Battle Mode, which is much more competitive.

Up to eight players can compete in a variety of intense challenge courses, which play quite differently from the main game. In one level, players must try to survive a barrage of cannons by jumping between tiny platforms, while in the next, they will need to deal damage to one another by firing off giant lightning bolts. Needless to say, these minigames can get pretty wacky and weird, and while it definitely would have been nice to have seen online functionality baked into the story, this is still a nice compromise that helps to make up for this shortcoming.

2

Team Sonic Racing

A Unique Spin On The Racing Gameplay Formula Where Twelve Players Can Join In On The Action

Team Sonic Racing, as the name implies, isn’t a game where players can finish a race by simply running solo, as they will also have two other partners on the track who can help them gain the upper hand. This provides a unique spin on the age-old racing gameplay loop, which works incredibly well when jumping online, especially if players already have two other buddies to accompany them when searching for other racers.

Team Sonic Racing is a game that looks and feels incredibly well-polished, being a true feast for the eyes and one of the best Sonic racing games ever made. While it’s always fun to race around with a group of friends, the team mechanic also allows for some pretty interesting matchups that would never happen in the main story.

1

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Tons Of Characters, Plenty Of Tracks, And So Much Fun To Be Had

What makes Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed‘s online so addictive is the amount of variety that it contains in terms of its characters and tracks. Not only are there a bunch of fan-favorite Sonic characters to play as, all of whom come with their unique vehicles that feed into their personality, but there’s also a wide selection of other racers who also join in on the action, including the likes of Wreck-It-Ralph and Shinobi.

Players will enter each race in a standard vehicle, but as they go along the track, they will transform into boats or planes depending on the environment. This allows every race to feel completely different from the one that came before, and when playing with a full lobby of experienced racers, it can lead to competitions that are incredibly chaotic and unpredictable, but still a real joy to be a part of.