The Fall Guys Sonic level is worth checking out, but it won’t last long

The Bean Hill Zone event runs from August 11–15

I haven’t been back to Fall Guys since its free-to-play transformation. But the new Sonic the Hedgehog event, including a bespoke ring-collecting Bean Hill Zone level, got me to update and boot up the game again. Is it worth your time? Yes — well, to a point.

If you’re someone who’s dead set on winning, you might have a bad time, in a way that feels too out of your hands. If you’re looking for a chaotic casual play session — just long enough to clear the challenges for Sonic-themed rewards — then it’s a decent excursion.

Across three escalating rounds, which ultimately name just a single overall winner, the idea is to collect enough rings to avoid being culled from the greedy pack.

You’ll vault off Bounce Pads, tumble through suction tunnels, jog with speed boosters, and generally try and navigate conveyor belts to your advantage. The rings appear in certain locations, so if you know when and where to go, you can quickly hoard them.

If you’re trying to follow another player too closely and they leave nothing behind, or if the ring spawn timing otherwise doesn’t work out in your favor, the level can be frustrating. When it works out, though, it’s satisfying to collect a bunch of rings in a row.

Gotta go fast (except when you shouldn’t)

In some cases, charging forward nonstop isn’t necessarily the right call — if I missed a batch of rings, I would try and wait for them to respawn, then pounce on them. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time, which is easier said than done.

For some players, the spawn locations feel unfair. And for others, Bean Hill Zone doesn’t capture enough of Sonic’s sense of speed. As a limited-time event, I think it’s… fine.

Having another gameplay mechanic in the mix — say, some sort of manually activated speed-boost ability — could’ve added another layer of strategy, which would keep the experience fresh over multiple games. As is, simplicity works for and against this stage.

Rewards for the Sonic’s Adventure event

What’s the carrot on a stick this time? A nameplate, a ring skin pattern, and Sonic’s iconic red shoes are among the rewards up for grabs for clearing the challenges, as pictured above. It’s mostly running and collecting rings. Don’t forget to take a chili-dog break.

While I’m glad I tried Bean Hill Zone as a way of shaking up the usual Fall Guys mayhem, admittedly, the Sonic level isn’t something I’ll play beyond these challenges. It’s pretty one-note. (And it helps that against all odds, I won my first game, so the competitive pressure is off.) The three rounds go quick, which I like. It’s not a big commitment.

As part of the event, the Fall Guys shop is also hosting premium costumes for Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Eggman, and Super Sonic, along with a “foot tap” emoji. No surprise here, but this stuff isn’t cheap. Again, being a casual Fall Guys player has its advantages.

People complain about prices, when you could have Sanic for some kudos.. from FallGuysGame

Jordan Devore

Jordan is a founding member of Destructoid and poster of seemingly random pictures. They are anything but random.