As I attempt to play all the Sonic games, some are difficult to play or lost to time. I will be filing information on these here.
1. Sonic Kart 3DX
- Platform: Mobile (Java)
- Status: No ROMs leaked to public, copy known to exist
The above video shows someone from Japan playing this mobile game. It appears to be a 3D kart racer, but with no items. Players would be able to compete each other online, or post their times to leaderboards.
This is one of the mobile games that was part of he Sonic Cafe service – a bunch of mobile games (with network connectivity), available only in Japan. Due to the limited Japanese-only release, many of these games were not backed up by fans.
This person has the game on the original device, so hopefully they are willing to share the ROM so that this game isn’t lost to time.
2. Sonic Athletics
- Platform: Arcade
- Status: No ROMs, not much interest in backing up.
Available only in Sega’s Tokyo Joypolis, this arcade game looks to be a collection of three events based on Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics, but without Mario & Co. There are eight cabinets in a line, all with a treadmill and a button.
As this is only available in one location (and I’m not sure if it’s still there or if the 2016 and 2020 versions replaced it), along with it being built for unique inputs, it’s not an easy game to preserve – even if someone wanted to do so.
As the 2016 and 2020 arcades are based on the Mario & Sonic series, I won’t be including them here. Athletics is only here due to it’s unique branding.
3. Sonic Billiards
- Platform: Mobile
- Status: No ROMs leaked to public, copy known to exist
Another Sonic Cafe games – a lot of failed games will be from this Japan-only mobile phone service. Footage of this exists from the same source as the other Sonic Cafe games. Sonic Billiards looks to be nothing special, it’s a basic billiards game with a picture of Sonic or Shadow in the corner representing each player. There’s no additional Sonic “flair” such as having Sonic be the cue ball, obstacles like bumpers and springs or power-ups, just regular billiards.
4+. Sonic Cafe Card Games
- Platform: Mobile
- Status: No ROMs leaked to public, copies known to exist
I’m going to lump all of these in one section to avoid a lot of repetition. A lot of card games were released via the Sonic Cafe service, all of which are a single card game using artwork from the Sonic Advance series. The most interesting of note are Amy’s American Page One as it features female characters (Amy, Rogue, Cream and a Hero Chao because they somehow couldn’t think of a fourth, or just didn’t have the assets to re-use) and Sonic’s Napoleon, because of the hat in the artwork.
Other card/board games include: Sonic Hearts (which has a DX version), Sonic Backgammon, Sonic Reversi (and Hyper Reversi), Sonic Speed DX, Sonic’s Millionaires, Sonic’s 7 Narabe and Sonic Casino Poker.
5. Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
- Platform: iOS
- Status: Was delisted, ROM is available and playable, but requires iOS device.
A mobile olympic game exclusive to iOS, this was delisted from the App Store and is unavailable to purchase. It looks to be a very limited version of the Wii Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games, with four events, and it looks like it didn’t control very well with just the touch screen either, going from videos.
It is possible to get hold of the ipa of the game, as a backed up version was found in 2019, but I do not own an iOS device which is required to run it.
6. Sonic Racing Shift Up
- Platform: Mobile/Sonic Cafe
- Status: Unknown.
Another one of the Sonic Cafe old mobile games, this is a drag race where the focus is on changing gears. you don’t have to worry about turning, your focus is entirely on going forward. The # or * keys on the number pad accelerate, while numbers 1 to 8 correspond to the gear positions when viewed from above (including all the sports in between, so 3 is the middle left, 5 is neutral, and 6 is middle right). To change gear you have to do the full motion by pressing each button along the path. So to go from neutral to first, you have to press 4 and then 1.
It’s a very oddly specific and technical thing for a Sonic game, which makes the game somewhat fascinating.
7. Tails No Flying Get (Tails Fly & Get)
- Platform: Mobile/Sonic Cafe
- Status: Unknown
This is a singleplayer version of the “Fly & Get” mini game from the Game Boy Advance game Sonic Battle. In it, you have to ply around collecting rings while avoiding bombs. This is a vertical scrolling game where you have to fly upwards, manoeuvring around platforms. It was described on the Sonic Cafe website as a game practice your skills to do better when you play against friends.