Sonic Runners

Sonic Runners was a free-to-play side-scrolling video game in which the player-character was constantly running forward. To avoid obstacles and defeat enemies, the character jumped when the player tapped the touchscreen. The game featured a wide variety of playable characters from the cast of the Sonic franchise with unique abilities, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna. The player started as Sonic and would unlock more characters as they progressed.

Sonic Runners received periodic updates, which often included new characters. For example, Classic Sonic from Sonic Generations was added on June 26, 2015 to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the original Sonic the Hedgehog.

Longtime Sonic series developer Sonic Team created Sonic Runners for Android and iOS. The game was Sonic Team's first Sonic game exclusive to smartphones. Development began in late 2013 with a ten-person team, which expanded as the game progressed. It was developed over the course of a year and a half using the Unity game engine. Series veteran Takashi Iizuka, who designed and directed previous Sonic games, served as producer.

Runners was conceived after the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II (2012). Sonic 4 had been designed with home consoles in mind, and Sonic Team wanted to take advantage of the unique experiences and uses smartphones provided. The developers were interested in adding content regularly to keep users interested. Sonic Runners was designed to be easy to pick up and to resemble the Sega Genesis Sonic games, with a focus on action and jumping.

When Sonic Runners was announced, Nintendo Life uttered disapproval that it would not be released on Wii U. Destructoid opined that while "it's tough to imagine Sonic fans getting too excited about Runners", its future augured well after the critical panning of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal. Reviewing the soft launched version, Hardcore Gamer believed it was the best Sonic game in years. Although critical of the game's excessive amount of pop-up ads, they felt it was focused, exhilarating, and corrected many problems present in prior games, and described it as "everything Sonic should be". TouchArcade praised its gameplay and presentation, but criticized its online functions and wrote they "could easily see it going off the rails".

The final version received "mixed or average reviews", according to the review aggregator Metacritic. Generally, reviewers believed the core gameplay was enjoyable. TouchArcade considered it better than Sonic Dash and praised its fan service and content. Destructoid and James Stephanie Sterling felt the game was well-designed; Destructoid said it had depth and succeeded as both a platformer and a Sonic game, and Sterling wrote that in terms of gameplay it was better than most endless runners.