Sonic the Hedgehog is a franchise that has worked well in video games, comic books, animated series, and movies. However, the idea of adapting it into a tabletop game sounds tricky. That’s exactly what IDW Games did when they developed Sonic the Hedgehog Crash Course.

Sonic the Hedgehog Crash Course is a board game developed by the same folks who make the current Sonic the Hedgehog comic books. Playing as either Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, or Dr. Eggman, players as they race along an ever-expanding course to be the first one to rescue (or capture in Dr. Eggman’s case) the most Flicky Birds. 

The board expands by placing tiles similarly to Betrayal at the House on the Hill, and Flicky Birds are earned by reaching a new tile or by performing tasks listed on each character’s card. Each character has their own special way of obtaining Flicky Birds that make them feel like you’re really playing as that character, like Tails needing to fly over opponents or Sonic needing to hit a certain amount of speed boosts.

Board Game Geek only rates this game at around 6 out of 10. Google users rated it a 3.4 out of 5.  Ratings such as this makes it seem like a so-so game at best, but it’s actually surprisingly fun to play. 

With a full four players, the gameplay can get utterly intense. With everyone trying to play their own strategy, using items to damage opponents, and placing obstacles in their way, Sonic the Hedgehog Crash Course can get just as competitive as a heated game of Mario Kart. It’s suspenseful, chaotic, and balances strategy and luck quite well. 

The game also looks like a lot of care went into it. The character pieces are all very well-detailed and look incredible. The artwork on the tiles, item pieces, and cards is beautiful and fully immerses players in the world of the classic Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone. It’s overall the ideal way to adapt the classic video games into a board game.

The game is not without its downsides, though. There could be some better balancing between the different characters and there could be more tiles to race on. Even adding other classic characters like Amy Rose and Metal Sonic via an expansion could prove to be an interesting direction for the game. Those minor issues aside, Sonic the Hedgehog Crash Course is wildly entertaining that leads to heated moments and big laughs. It’s quite shocking the classic video game series was able to be adapted to a tabletop game so well. Any Sonic fan is sure to have a blast playing it.

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