There’s a Sonic Forces demo for Switch, but it’s hilariously limited

One-minute timers on each level

Anyone willing to jump through a few hoops can get their hands on Sonic Forces ahead of its November 7 release. Sega put out a demo in Japan that’s meant to show off three levels, but it’s so needlessly restrictive that it doesn’t really show off much at all.

As GameXplain notes in the above-embedded video, the three stages each have a one-minute timer attached to them. After that expires, it kicks the player back to the menu. It doesn’t seem like enough time to finish any of the stages. In fact, it doesn’t even seem like enough time to get a decent feel for how the game plays.

For those who are still interested, gaining access to the demo isn’t too much trouble. All it requires is making a new Nintendo account, setting the region to Japan, and connecting the account to your Switch. That allows access to the Japanese eShop.

Even that nominal amount of extra work might not be worth it. Three collective minutes of gameplay doesn’t make for much of a demo. Optimists might say that at least Sega’s making sure you go fast. But that’s some spin that even Sonic can’t get behind.

The Sonic Forces Demo is Awful – Game & Watch (Nintendo Switch) [YouTube]