Publisher: Kess
Age: 10+
Players: 2 – 4 players
MSRP: $19.99
Sonic Speed Battle is a 3-in-1 card game, with easy-to-play games based on familiar classics such as War and Rummy. Including over 20 Sonic characters is impressive, though some of the games work better than others.
Read on for our review of Sonic Speed Battle!
Race, Battle, Hunt
Two of the games in Sonic Speed Battle are modeled after War, though with more strategy than simply flipping over cards and comparing numbers.
In Action Race, players choose a card from their hand, and reveal it at the same time. Different numbers score one point each, while matching numbers are forced into a Homing Attack, where they must play more matching number cards to stay in and score.
Different suits, which are modeled after common Sonic items like rings and the invincibility power-up, activate different abilities when played, such as drawing and discarding cards. The first to 1o points wins.
Action Race is easy to teach and plays quickly, with huge amounts of player interactivity that proved a hit with my kids.
Shooting Battle is slightly more awkward and works best with two players, as players specifically challenge one another with a similar exciting card-reveal.
This time the highest card number wins, dealing damage to the other player, as well as activating different suit abilities.
The suit effects are all different between each game, making the player reference cards helpful and critical components.
In Shooting Battle, the key strategy involves charging a special weapon by playing a Speed Shoe card, followed by a Ring card to deal a devastating amount of damage with that special weapon card on a following turn.
Treasure Hunt plays far differently than the other two games, and completely fell flat with my kids. It’s a simplified take on Rummy and features very little player interaction.
In Treasure Hunt, players take turns playing cards in their “radar” area, represented by three piles. Cards in a pile must be the same suit, and the goal is to match numbers on the randomly revealed Emerald Shard cards to claim them.
Some of the rules for Treasure Hunt are a bit confusing or missing, such as revealing additional Emerald Shard cards, or if players are forced to discard or add to their own piles from certain card effects.
The first time we played, we messed up how the number pattern is formed due to the iconography of the Emerald Shard cards (which clearly show a certain number on each pile, instead of requiring the correct numbers all in a single pile).
My kids didn’t enjoy playing Treasure Hunt at all; it lacked the immediacy of slapping down the cards and revealing a winner that the other two games provided.
Each of the three games features their own cast of Sonic characters to choose from. Each character also has a special power unique to that mode, though some feel way more powerful than others.
Blaze and Metal Sonic are much better at winning Homing Attacks (which can generate a lot of points), while Sonic can almost always score double the points from winning a round in Action Race. Meanwhile, Wave lets the player literally cheat by peaking at their opponent’s card before the duel in Shooting Battle! Plus, it’s a bummer that players can only play as their favorite characters in a single game mode (such as Sonic in Action Race, or Knuckles in Treasure Hunt).
The Rating
Sonic Speed Battle has a recommended age rating of 8+. Even my four and a half year old could play along if we helped with suit effects. The character cards feature excellent artwork that will delight fans young and old.
The Takeaway
Two out of three ain’t bad? I would have preferred Sonic Speed Battle as more robust, singular card game, rather than three smaller minigames, with Action Race as the preferred blueprint. As is, Sonic Speed Battle is a serviceable, if ultimately forgettable, licensed card game.
Sonic Speed Battle is available directly from Target, and Amazon.
