Three lanes, one hedgehog, no finish line. Hardlight’s endless runner passed half a billion downloads and, more than thirteen years after launch, is still on sale under a new name.
ReleasediOS 7 Mar 2013 · Android 26 Nov 2013 · Windows 3 Dec 2014
DeveloperHardlight (Sega)
PriceFree to play since April 2013
Downloads500 million+ by September 2021
Spin-offsSonic Dash Extreme, Sonic Dash+, Sonic Prime Dash
Available?Yes, now titled Sonic Dash Run
Title
Sonic Dash (listed as Sonic Dash Run on the App Store and Google Play in November 2026)
Platforms
iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows; arcade (Sonic Dash Extreme)
Developer
Hardlight (Sega Europe), based in Leamington Spa, UK
Publisher
Sega
Genre
Endless runner
Players
1, with leaderboards and community challenges
Released (iOS)
7 March 2013 (US$1.99, £1.49, €1.79, A$1.99); free to play from 3 April 2013
Released (Android)
26 November 2013, free
Released (Windows Phone and Windows)
3 December 2014, free
Arcade
Sonic Dash Extreme, shown at the IAAPA expo in November 2015
Other versions
Sonic Dash+ (Apple Arcade, 5 April 2022); Sonic Prime Dash (Netflix, 13 July 2023)
Availability
Still live and updated as of November 2026: free with ads and in-app purchases on the App Store and Google Play
Overview
Sonic Dash points the camera over Sonic’s shoulder and never lets him stop. He runs into the screen automatically along a three-lane track; you swipe to change lanes, jump, roll and spin through Badniks, collect rings and try to get further than last time. It is an endless runner in the mould of Temple Run, built on the runs-into-the-screen sequences of the console games.
It was the second Sonic game from Hardlight, Sega’s mobile studio in Leamington Spa, after Sonic Jump. It came out on iOS in March 2013 at US$1.99, went free to play within a month, and reached Android late in 2013 and Windows a year after that. Updates have never really stopped: new characters through community challenges, boss fights with Zazz and Dr. Eggman, new zones, crossovers with Angry Birds, Hello Kitty and Pac-Man, and tie-ins with the Sonic films.
Critics were lukewarm, mostly about the in-app purchases, but players were not. Sega announced 100 million downloads in 2015 and 500 million in 2021. In November 2026 it is still on both app stores, now under the name Sonic Dash Run.
Character selection.The Eggman boss battle.A later version of the game.
Endless runner action has never been faster with Sonic Dash!
Sega’s store listing goes on to promise 3D courses run with Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Shadow and more, rings to collect, Badniks to spin dash through, boss battles, and tracks including Green Hill Zone, Beach Zone and Sky Sanctuary Zone.
— Official description: Sega, Sonic Dash Run listing on Google Play (read November 2026). One sentence quoted; the rest summarised.
Quick Answers
The short answers, with the detail further down the page.
When did Sonic Dash come out?
On iOS on 7 March 2013, on Android on 26 November 2013, and on Windows Phone and Windows on 3 December 2014. More →
Who made it?
Hardlight, Sega’s UK mobile studio, as the follow-up to Sonic Jump. More →
Is it free?
Yes. It launched at US$1.99 but went free to play on 3 April 2013, paid for by ads and optional purchases. More →
How many people have downloaded it?
More than 500 million, by Sega’s count in September 2021. More →
Who can you play as?
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, plus a long list added over the years, including Shadow, Blaze, Silver, Rouge, Cream, Espio and Classic Sonic, and guest stars from Angry Birds, Sanrio and Pac-Man. More →
Is it still available?
Yes. In November 2026 it is free on the App Store and Google Play, now called Sonic Dash Run. More →
Was it well reviewed?
Mixed: 69 out of 100 on Metacritic. Reviewers liked the speed and controls and disliked the in-app purchases. More →
Are there other versions?
An arcade cabinet, Sonic Dash Extreme; an ad-free Sonic Dash+ for Apple Arcade; Sonic Prime Dash for Netflix; and the sequel Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom. More →
Plot / Story
The title screen on iPad.Image via Sonic Retro
Sonic Dash has no plot to speak of. Sonic is simply on the run, through settings borrowed from Sonic Heroes’ Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace at first and, as the updates arrived, from Green Hill, a beach full of boats and killer whales, the underwater tubes of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Sky Sanctuary.
What story there is comes from the bosses. In October 2013 Zazz of the Deadly Six, the villains of Sonic Lost World, gatecrashed the game; a few months later Dr. Eggman followed. Each boss chase borrows music from its source: the Deadly Six boss theme from Lost World for Zazz, and Sonic Adventure’s Egg Hornet battle for Eggman.
How it plays
Swipes steer Sonic between lanes and send him jumping or spin-dashing past obstacles and Badniks; Destructoid found this more precise than the tilt controls of other runners. Rings protect you as usual, the distance run is counted in metres, Game Center achievements and leaderboards let you compare runs with friends, and a mission system always gives you something to aim for.
There are two currencies. Ordinary rings come from running; red star rings are rarer and can also be bought. Both go on power-ups, upgrades and new characters. That economy drew most of the criticism at launch: Destructoid called the leaderboards pay-to-win, and Edge felt the obstacle placement was built around selling continues.
Picking a runner.An event screen.
Years of updates
Characters arrived through community events. Shadow came with the first global challenge, Blaze with the second, Silver with a Christmas challenge, Cream with an Easter one and Rouge with the fifth. Espio started as an exclusive for Windows Phone and Amazon devices before spreading to the rest, Android players got Andronic, the Android robot in a Sonic costume, and Classic Sonic arrived with a Green Hill Zone stage in July 2016.
Crossovers followed: Red, Chuck and Bomb from Angry Birds Epic in June 2015, Hello Kitty, My Melody, Chococat and Badtz-Maru from Sanrio at the end of 2016, Bandai Namco’s Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man in 2018 and the Danimals mascot Bongo in 2021. Later updates added a Zone Builder and content tied to the Sonic films and IDW’s comics.
An event banner.A Knuckles-themed home screen.
Zones and courses
The course changes as you run. These are the settings named by Sonic Retro, Wikipedia and Sega’s store listing.
Seaside HillLaunchThe opening beach track, modelled on the Sonic Heroes stage.
Ocean PalaceLaunchAlso from Sonic Heroes.
Beach and underwater tubesVersion 1.6Boats, killer whales overhead and transparent tubes like those in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.
Green Hill ZoneJuly 2016Added with Classic Sonic.
Sky Sanctuary ZoneLater updateListed on the current store page.
Sega’s listing in 2026 names Green Hill Zone, Beach Zone and Sky Sanctuary Zone among the tracks.
In comics, TV & other media
Sonic Dash spawned versions for arcades, subscription services and television tie-ins. More in Sonic in other movies and media.
Sonic Dash ExtremeArcade · 2015An arcade version with physical controls, shown at the IAAPA Attractions Expo in Orlando in November 2015.
Sonic Dash 2: Sonic BoomiOS, Android · 2015Hardlight’s follow-up, set in the world of the Sonic Boom cartoon.
Sonic Dash+Apple Arcade · 5 April 2022An ad-free version with no in-app purchases for Apple Arcade subscribers.
Sonic Prime DashNetflix · 13 July 2023A Netflix Games version tied to season two of the animated series Sonic Prime, with a new track and characters from the show.
Sonic the Hedgehog filmsParamount · 2020 onwardsFilm-themed content has been added to the game, which Hardlight said brought new players in.
Characters
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles headline the roster, and the rest have been added over the years through challenges, platform exclusives and crossovers. Two bosses chase you down the track.
Character
Who they are
In this game
Stats & abilities
Sonic the HedgehogPlayable
The fastest thing alive, finally in a game that is nothing but running.
The default runner and the face of every store listing.
Available from the start
Miles “Tails” ProwerPlayable
Sonic’s two-tailed sidekick.
Named on Sega’s store listing alongside Sonic and Knuckles.
Bought with red star rings or real money
Knuckles the EchidnaPlayable
Guardian of the Master Emerald.
One of the three characters named on the store listing.
Bought with red star rings or real money
Shadow the HedgehogGlobal challenge reward
The ultimate life form.
The prize for the game’s first global challenge.
First character added through a community event
Blaze the CatGlobal challenge reward
Princess and guardian of the Sol Emeralds.
Unlocked by the second global challenge.
Community unlock
Silver the HedgehogChristmas challenge reward
The psychic hedgehog from the future.
Unlocked through the Christmas Festive Challenge.
Community unlock
Cream the RabbitEaster challenge reward
A polite young rabbit and her Chao, Cheese.
Arrived through the Easter Global Challenge.
Community unlock
Rouge the BatFifth global challenge reward
Treasure hunter and spy.
The reward for the fifth global challenge.
Community unlock
Espio the ChameleonPlatform exclusive, later for all
The Chaotix’ ninja detective.
First offered only on Windows Phone and Amazon Fire devices, later sold on the other platforms.
Started as an exclusive
Dr. EggmanBoss
Sonic’s arch-enemy.
Added as a boss early in 2014, fought to the music of Sonic Adventure’s Egg Hornet battle.
Second boss, after Zazz
Guests and exclusives
Characters with no icon in our gallery, added for a limited time or for one platform.
ZazzBoss · October 2013The Deadly Six member from Sonic Lost World, the game’s first boss.
Classic SonicJuly 2016Arrived with a Green Hill Zone stage.
AndronicAndroid exclusiveThe Android robot mascot dressed as Sonic.
Red, Chuck and BombAngry Birds · June 2015A crossover event with Angry Birds Epic.
Hello Kitty, My Melody, Chococat, Badtz-MaruSanrio · December 2016A limited-time Sanrio event.
Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-ManBandai Namco · 2018Part of a two-way crossover with Pac-Man.
BongoDanimals · May 2021The yoghurt brand’s mascot, for Sonic’s birthday.
The people who made it
Hardlight does not publish full credits; these are the people named in interviews.
Chris SouthallHardlight studio headA Codemasters veteran who rose to chief technology officer there and helped form Sega’s racing studio before founding Hardlight.
Haruki SatomiPresident and COO, Sega Sammy HoldingsSaw the prototype and pushed for it to be made.
Neall JonesHardlight studio director (2020)Spoke of the team’s surprise at the game’s longevity.
How it was made
Our original page held only the release details; this section draws on interviews with Hardlight and contemporary news reports.
A runner chosen by the boss
The Android icon.Image via Sonic Retro
Hardlight grew out of a small team of technical specialists inside Sega Europe, led by Chris Southall, a long-time Codemasters developer who had helped found Sega’s racing studio. When Sega decided to make more of its own mobile games in 2012, the team became a studio, and Sonic Jump was its first release.
Next, the studio had prototypes for both a Sonic game and a Crazy Taxi game and was unsure which to pursue. The decision was made for it: Sega Sammy president Haruki Satomi saw the Sonic prototype and insisted it go ahead. Southall said the idea came from asking which parts of the console games would suit a phone, and running into the screen, as Sonic does in parts of the console games, was the obvious answer.
Leak, launch and going free
An event screen from a later version.Image via Sonic Wiki Zone
Planned for Christmas 2012, the game slipped to March 2013. A Hardlight job listing gave away the name in late February, Sega confirmed it at the start of March, and it reached the App Store on 7 March at US$1.99. The price fell to US$0.99, and on 3 April, less than a month after launch, Sonic Dash went free to play, a change Southall later said was much debated inside a company with Sega’s console background.
Android followed on 26 November 2013 and Windows Phone and Windows on 3 December 2014, both free. By July 2013 Southall was reporting 20 million downloads, with 100,000 new players arriving every day.
Firsts: what this game introduced
What Sonic Dash brought to Sonic on mobile.
1Endless runningInto-the-screen running with no finish line, built from the run-at-the-camera set-pieces of the console games.
2Free to playSwitched from paid to free within a month of launch.
3Half a billion downloadsMore than 500 million by September 2021, by Sega’s count.
4Community unlocksCharacters such as Shadow and Blaze earned by players working together.
5CrossoversGuests from Angry Birds, Sanrio and Pac-Man.
Cheats & secrets
Our original page had no cheats section. Sonic Dash is an online, regularly updated game with no cheat codes; these are the ways characters have been unlocked, from Sonic Retro.
Community challenges
Shadow, Blaze, Silver, Cream and Rouge were each unlocked for everyone by a global or seasonal challenge.
Platform exclusives
Andronic on Android; Espio first on Windows Phone and Amazon Fire.
Red star rings
The premium currency: earned slowly in play or bought, and spent on characters and continues.
Checked against Sonic Retro and Wikipedia, November 2026. Events and prices change often.
Glitches, exploits and oddities
No bugs are documented on Sonic Retro; these are the game’s oddities.
A game that keeps changing its name
Launched as Sonic Dash, it is listed in 2026 as Sonic Dash Run on both the App Store and Google Play, while spin-offs carry the Dash+ and Prime Dash names.
Borrowed music
The boss fights reuse older themes: Sonic Lost World’s Deadly Six music for Zazz and Sonic Adventure’s Egg Hornet track for Eggman.
The Android-only hedgehog
Andronic, the Android robot in a Sonic outfit, has only ever been available on Android.
Videos & media
Two of Sega’s own launch trailers: the original iOS trailer and the Android launch trailer from November 2013.
From SEGA’s official YouTube channel.
From SEGA’s official YouTube channel.
Trivia & facts
The app icon.Image via Sonic Wiki ZoneSega Sammy’s president picked Sonic Dash over a Crazy Taxi prototype after seeing a demo.
The game was revealed early by a Hardlight job advertisement listing it among the studio’s iOS games.
Its first settings, Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace, come from Sonic Heroes.
Hardlight’s first home was, in Southall’s words, “a field in Dorridge”; by 2017 the team of about 50 worked in Leamington Spa.
Gamezebo’s reviewer called it the first Sonic game in 20 years that you absolutely had to play; Digital Spy called it the best Sonic on a smartphone so far.
The App Store listing in 2026 carries an Editors’ Choice badge.
Legacy
Sonic Dash became the template for Sega’s mobile Sonic games and is still running.
Release history
iOS7 March 2013 – US$1.99; free to play from 3 April 2013.
Zazz boss update31 October 2013 – Tied to Sonic Lost World.
Android26 November 2013 – Free.
Windows Phone and Windows3 December 2014 – Free.
Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom2015 – Sequel.
Sonic Dash ExtremeNovember 2015 – Arcade version.
Sonic Forces: Speed Battle2017 – Competitive successor from Hardlight.
Sonic Dash+5 April 2022 – Apple Arcade.
Sonic Prime Dash13 July 2023 – Netflix.
Still liveNovember 2026 – As Sonic Dash Run, free on the App Store and Google Play.
Still running
Most mobile games from 2013 are long gone. Sonic Dash is not: when we checked in November 2026 it was on the App Store and Google Play as Sonic Dash Run, free with ads and in-app purchases, and Google Play’s own install counter for it alone read 500M+ (Sega’s all-platform total had passed 500 million back in September 2021). Hardlight’s later games, Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom and Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, both grew out of it.
Sales & reviews
Downloads
The numbers kept climbing. Hardlight’s Chris Southall reported 20 million downloads in July 2013. Sega announced 100 million in June 2015, across the App Store, Google Play, the Amazon Appstore and Windows Phone, with 14 million people playing each month; a 2017 profile of Hardlight put the total above 300 million, and in September 2021 Sega said it had passed 500 million.
500M+Downloads, September 2021 (Sega)
100MDownloads, June 2015 (Sega)
14MMonthly players, June 2015
69/100Metacritic (iOS)
Reception and review scores
Reviews cited by Wikipedia, converted to percentages.
GamezeboOnline · 7 March 2013
5/5
Digital SpyUK · 12 March 2013
4/5
DestructoidOnline · 12 April 2013
7/10
TouchArcadeOnline · 5 April 2013
3.5/5
Pocket GamerOnline · 7 March 2013
3.5/5
IGNOnline · 19 March 2013
6.1/10
EurogamerOnline · 12 March 2013
6/10
PCMag UKUK
3/5
EdgeUK · March 2013
5/10
MacLifeUS · 11 March 2013
4/10
The fans among the critics were enthusiastic: Gamezebo’s Jim Squires thought it the first must-play Sonic game in two decades, Digital Spy rated it Sonic’s best smartphone outing so far, and TouchArcade compared it to the half-pipe special stages of Sonic 2. Destructoid preferred its swipe controls to the tilting of other runners, and Pocket Gamer found the sheer speed made it harder than most.
The money side was another matter. Eurogamer saw greed in the in-app purchases, Edge called some of the enemy placement cruel and the design built for paid continues, Destructoid called the leaderboards pay-to-win, and MacLife thought the purchases heavy-handed. Scores ranged from 5/5 at Gamezebo to 4/10 in MacLife.
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet. Played it? Give it a score out of 10 and tell other fans what you think.
Artwork, title screens, icons, character art and event screens, from Sonic Retro and Sonic Wiki Zone. Select any image to view it larger.
Artwork from our original page.iPad title screen.Character selection.App icon.Android icon.A later version of the game.The Eggman boss.Sonic.Tails.Knuckles.Shadow.Blaze.Silver.Rouge.Cream.Espio.An event screen.Another event screen.An event banner.Knuckles-themed home screen.Sonic Dash Extreme cabinet.Sonic Dash+.Sonic Prime Dash.
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources below. Sonic Retro and older press pages were read through Wayback Machine copies; store listings were checked live in November 2026. Download figures are Sega’s and Hardlight’s own, as reported by the trade press.
Sonic Dash ExtremeArcade · 2015An arcade version with physical controls, shown at the IAAPA Attractions Expo in Orlando in November 2015.
Sonic Dash+Apple Arcade · 5 April 2022An ad-free version with no in-app purchases for Apple Arcade subscribers.
Sonic Prime DashNetflix · 13 July 2023A Netflix Games version tied to season two of the animated series Sonic Prime, with a new track and characters from the show.
Sonic the HedgehogPlayable
Miles “Tails” ProwerPlayable
Knuckles the EchidnaPlayable
Shadow the HedgehogGlobal challenge reward
Blaze the CatGlobal challenge reward
Silver the HedgehogChristmas challenge reward
Cream the RabbitEaster challenge reward
Rouge the BatFifth global challenge reward
Espio the ChameleonPlatform exclusive, later for all
