LEGO Dimensions Sonic and More PS4 Review

Reviewed by Max C. on Jan 09, 2017

Rating:

LEGO Dimensions is the game that keeps on getting! Check out Kidzworlds thoughts on the most recent level packs, Sonic the Hedgehog, Adventure Time, and more for PS4!

By: Max Cannon

The base game of LEGO Dimensions was one of my favorite family friendly games that I reviewed in 2016. If you were lucky enough to get your hands on the game and now you're looking to see which add-on pack you should pick up next, look no further! Check out which add-ons were our favorites in our review of the 7th wave of LEGO Dimension releases.

Here's all that is included:

Sonic the Hedgehog - Story Pack
Adventure Time - Marceline Character Pack
Gremlins - Team Pack
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them - Tina Goldstein Character Pack
E.T - Character Pack

Sonic The Hedgehog Level Pack

This is really the star of the show. After seeing the initial design for Sonic I felt skeptical that he would translate well into LEGO. While some things aren't perfect, namely the camera, the gameplay is fun, refreshing, and most importantly it's fast. The opening level is in the iconic Green Hill Zone but it's been hit with a LEGO blast. Immediately upon playing you'll notice how quickly your character moves, especially if it is Sonic that you're controlling.

LEGO Dimensions Wave 7 Trailer

If you've got a knowledge of past Sonic games then think of this game as a condensed history of Sonic's greatest hits. You'll get references to classic moments like Sonic's drowning music and Sonic 2's special stages and you'll find more obscure throwbacks to games like Sonic R and it's eccentric soundtrack. The story is a pretty standard attempt at stopping Doctor Eggman's grab for the Chaos Emeralds but mixed in with the dimension jumping backdrop of LEGO Dimensions.

Gameplay replaces LEGO studs with Sonic rings and feels like a fair hybrid of Sonic and LEGO gameplay. Speed is the name of the game and while the main levels succeed, the boss fights feel pretty weak. Most of them have some camera issues that can make fighting a tedious ordeal. When the camera isn't the issue it's often some sort of bug that gets in the way, like an inability to attack a weak point or invisible enemies causing damage. While these issues are only prevalent in the boss fights they definitely detract from the overall experience.

Oh and the sense of speed lends itself very, very well to Sonic's free roam world.

Sonic's Green Hill Zone translates surprisingly well to LEGO - I should stop being so surprised by TT Games.Courtesy of True Achievements

Gremlins, Fantastic Beast and Where To Find Them, "Adventure Time," and E.T.

The other additions that Activision sent my way added new characters and new free roam worlds but nothing new in terms of story or levels. There are a collection of small missions in each world that can be cruised through pretty quickly. Unless it's a character or world that you love, I don't really see the value in heading to these worlds. That's not to say that these worlds aren't lovingly made.

Like any LEGO game, there are easter eggs everywhere. Classic music fills the world and you can head to classic settings from your favorite movies. Going into the house from Gremlins and taking missions from the movie's Mom was a highlight for me. Each character has a unique tool that comes with their collectible figure, personally I was a big fan of E.T's phone even if it felt a little on the nose for an item.

Marceline joins the rest of the Adventure Time cast in LEGO Dimensions.Courtesy of Kotaku

Final Thoughts

If you were going to pick up any specific bit of Wave 7 for LEGO Dimensions my heart would definitely lie with the Sonic The Hedgehog set. It's fun and fast-paced even if the boss fights are lacking. The other packages are fine if you're really passionate about the source material, but if you're just looking to play some more story in LEGO Dimensions then you'll be better off if you look elsewhere.