Awesome / Sonic Forces

"It's a brand new day! We have turned the page!"

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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Promotional Material

• The first trailer took the entire franchise up a notch with a little aspect that fans have been waiting for for years. Eggman has won.
• The second trailer has Chaos, Shadow, Metal Sonic, and Zavok standing together, a new villain named Infinite, and a customizable Player Character to even the odds for our heroes.
• Enter Infinite is a full MoA for Infinite in general, as he curb-stomps Sonic, his readings are off the charts, and his voice? Chilling as hell.
  Infinite: You may call me Infinite... in the brief moments that remain to you.
• The Double Boost in the Tag Stages — Sonic and the Avatar plow through the stage at blinding speed, to the sounds of "Fist Bump".
• The latest trailer feels like an epic anime trailer full of action, suspense, and high-stakes fighting between the forces of good and evil. Join the Resistance/Uprising indeed.
• After years of Sonic as the only playable character, Shadow the Hedgehog gets his own DLC episode, short as it may be.
• After several games as a Butt-Monkey, Knuckles is the leader of the Resistance!
• The Introduction Trailer is just awesome in several ways:
  • For the first time, we can hear the full version of the game's main theme, Fist Bump.
  • Sonic's declaration that even though he's scared, he's never gonna give up the fight.
• The tie-in comic miniseries by IDW are themselves visually impressive, but they give us days in the limelight leading up to Forces itself.
  • The first issue has Team Chaotix taking on a horde of robot infantry, with Vector fighting literal-tooth and nail to keep them busy while one of the Rookies, scared out of his life, scrambles towards an anti-air cannon for a one-in-a-million shot on Eggman's carrier.
  • The second has Silver and Knuckles teaming up to fight Chaos, as well as Eggman showing that the Phantom Ruby is fully operational.
  • The third issue has Infinite's first major combat operation to take down Omega, who has up to that point cut an oil-stained swathe through Eggman's defenses out of sheer contempt for the doctor with no assistance necessary.
  • And finally, the fourth issue gives us Eggman discovering the Phantom Ruby and unlocking its potential. It also gives us a look into who Infinite really is; the leader of a squad of jackal mercenaries who handily crushes Eggman's defenses up until the Ruby starts creating more than they can keep up with. Even still, Infinite nearly manages to kill Eggman if it wasn't for the Phantom Ruby distracting him long enough for Eggman to knock him prone.

Main Campaign

• Though we don't really know what was being done to him, the fact that Sonic is still calmly snarking at Zavok after being captured and tortured for six months, and then pulls a Flash Step and kicks Zavok's ass immediately after being freed.
  • Sonic's demeanor in general. He's fully willing to insult Infinite just as much as his other enemies despite learning the hard way what he's capable of, and barely reacts to getting sucked into Null Space. Despite fully admitting to being afraid, Sonic shows not an ounce of fear through the whole game.
• The cutscene before the first boss battle against Infinite:
  • Silver gets one by not only being able to put up something resembling a fight against Infinite (something no one else had managed to do up until that point), he knocks the Phantom Ruby Prototype off Infinite, which ultimately completely derails Eggman's big plan. Without even knowing it, Silver managed to change the past like he came back in time to do.
  • This exchange:
    Infinite: This wasn't part of my agenda, but I'm always happy to crush a hero. It keeps the rabble in line. Shows them that there is no hope.
    Silver: Does anyone but you believe your lies?
  • But then Infinite knocks Silver down and goes in for the kill, only for Sonic to jump in and knock Infinite out of the way. Infinite had beaten the crap out of Sonic last time they met, but Sonic still doesn't hesitate to fight this guy to save Silver, making it clear that nobody messes with Sonic's friends. Could also be considered a Heartwarming moment.
• Sonic's treatment of the Avatar can be considered one, since the two are paired up for a mission immediately after escaping the Death Egg. Sonic never once talks down to the Avatar or doubts their abilities while immediately calling them "Partner!" He treats them as an equal despite barely knowing them.
• Classic Sonic once again earns his keep. From the very first moment he emerges from the dimensional rift he'd been flung into at the end of Mania, he recognizes Tails in danger, promptly pummels Chaos 0, and immediately thereon asserts himself as the Resistance's Wild Card. The situation is darker than anything he's yet to have ever encountered in his young life, but he doesn't miss a beat of his usual ways, plowing through the Eggman Empire while remaining as bright and cheery as ever, not letting himself be the slightest bit affected by the legitimate war going on around him.
• Sonic finally catches up to Shadow, who promptly charges at him. Suddenly, the real Shadow appears and roundhouse kicks the fake one away the exact same way he did to Silver before, while "All Hail Shadow" plays in the background.
• Infinite's entrance is even better than it was in "Enter Infinite". Metal, Shadow, Zavok, and Chaos all manage to land a hit on Sonic in an epic Curb-Stomp Battle. They may be illusions, but they're damn good illusions.
• Capital City is pretty much an escalating war of awesome between the Avatar and Infinite. What starts off as a siege on Eggman's base literally gets flipped on its head when Infinite activates the Phantom Ruby and screws with the perception of the entire opposing battalion by creating kaiju-sized versions of himself to assault them and invoking Gravity Screw on a scale that hasn't been seen since Space Gadget. While everyone else is freaking out, the Avatar manages to take it all in stride and chase Infinite down to fight him head-on.
• After being sent into Null Space, Sonic and the Avatar break out with their powers combined, which leads to a level where the duo grind through Metropolis while the second half of Fist Bump acts as the level music.
  Sonic: We've got this! Keep it up, partner! Nothing can contain the two of us at max power! Not even null space!
• The war that the game had built up to. Knuckles' rebellion stands against Infinite's clone army, and after giving the go-ahead, they all charge at each other. After years of Sonic alone, seeing the likes of Knuckles, Vector, Amy, Rouge, and even Charmy getting in on the action is very refreshing.
  • And if you pay close attention to the battle that unfolds, you'll notice all of Sonic's friends being able to go toe to to with the likes of Zavok, Chaos, and Shadow. Remember that while they may be Phantom Ruby illusions, they're still every bit as powerful as the originals. After all these years of sitting on the sidelines while Sonic does the heavy lifting, we finally get to see them fighting in top form again.
  • After his only appearance in the game being unconscious and seemingly beyond repair, Omega arrives during the battle and is enough to distract Infinite himself. Twofold for Infinite originally taking him out in one hit during the promotional comics, Omega finally gets revenge.
  E-123 Omega: Target reconfirmed. Extermination mode initiated. Payback INEVITABLE.
  • A subtle Who's Laughing Now? for Infinite beforehand. Compared to the Curbstomp Battle that snapped him in Episode Shadow (see below), here Infinite handily blasts Shadow into the ground with the the rest of the main heroes in one wave.
  • The Avatar saving the Resistance by flying into a virtual sun to dissipate it with the Prototype Phantom Ruby.
• Tails gets one after the above by giving Eggman a pretty wicked burn.
  Eggman: Impossible! I thought all the prototypes were destroyed!
  Tails: A costly oversight, Doctor. This is why I always check and double check, as any good scientist would.
• Regardless of how disappointing the actual fight was, after all the shit Infinite's gotten away with over the course of the game, finally being able to Homing Attack that smug prick's face in as both Sonic and the Avatar is Catharsis Factor at its finest.
  • This exchange between Sonic and Infinite pre-battle gets right to the point:
    Infinite: Pathetic little hedgehog. Even with the Phantom Ruby weakened, I still have enough power to smash you into blue jelly. I'll show you how outclassed you really are!
    Sonic: I'm in a class all my own! Time to put up or shut up, Infinite!
  • It's also incredibly satisfying knowing that the Avatar is finally getting their revenge on Infinite after he murdered all of their innocent friends/squadmates on-screen at the start of the game.
  • One could also say that by this point, the Avatar has probably opened up to Sonic and told him about the trauma they went through. It becomes Heartwarming thinking that Sonic was probably not just getting revenge on Infinite for himself, but also for his friend.
• Eggman instantly disposes of Infinite after his defeat and Infinite couldn't do anything to stop it. After seeing Eggman get usurped by other powerful villains he's tried to send after Sonic in the past (including Metal Sonic, his previous greatest creation), it's a rather epic moment when he effortlessly shuts down what's most likely his most dangerous minion to date.
  • Even beyond that moment itself, what's Eggman's backup plan for if the sun-induced incineration goes sideways? Continue using Infinite? Haha, no. No, Infinite had his chance and now he's done. No, turns out Infinite was never the final option, just the testing ground; Eggman never actually needed him… because his last reserve is to just take the Phantom Ruby back and wield it himself. Surprise-surprise, he's actually incredibly good at using it.
  • Eggman being smart in general, having dropped the Villain Ball with gusto. He creates backups for all his power sources, the last of which is hidden until the final boss, has Infinite destroy all the prototypes so they can't be used to counter Infinite's (which only failed due to Infinite's screw-up misplacing a single one while fighting Silver), knows to instantly send Sonic to Null Space as soon as possible, and is all around more competent this time. He even gets to stay as the Big Bad throughout. The very setup for the story is one big Moment of Awesome for Eggman after years of being a running joke.
• The finishing move against the Death Egg Robot is pretty awesome to watch. The Avatar, Classic Sonic, and Modern Sonic all defeat the Final Boss with the Triple Boost. The end result is them flying straight through it with enough power to reduce the original Phantom Ruby into shattered fragments, destroying the accursed gem once and for all, or so they thought if Sonic Mania Plus shows what happened following the events in Forces with the Phantom Ruby escaping back to Classic Sonic's dimension to wreak more havoc.

Episode Shadow

• Shadow nonchalantly using Chaos Control to utterly demolish the leader of the Jackal Squad. Ultimate Life Form indeed.
  • Complete with an epic line delivery from Kirk Thornton.
    Shadow: Worthless. Don't show your pathetic face around me ever again.
• Mixed with Nightmare Fuel, Infinite's revenge. Despite managing to Mind Screw Shadow a good deal, the latter still manages to resist, getting Worthy Opponent props from Infinite.
• Seeing the birth of Infinite onscreen, considering it's not in the main story.