Sonic Forces Nintendo Switch Demo Available Now, But It Has A Bizarre Catch

The second Sonic game of the year, Sonic Forces, launches in a couple of weeks, but Nintendo Switch owners have a chance to sample part of the game now. A free demo is available to download from the console's Eshop, though it comes with some rather bizarre restrictions.

First, the demo is currently only available in the Japanese Eshop, so you'll need to have a Japanese Nintendo Account in order to access and download it. Fortunately, that's easy enough to work around; all you have to do is create a new Nintendo Account and select Japan as your region. Once that has been set up, link it to your console and you'll be able to access the Japanese Eshop using the new account.

Once you download the demo, however, you'll quickly run into its other restriction. The Sonic Forces demo features three different stages, but as GameXplain discovered, each has a scant one-minute time limit. That's just barely enough time to get a taste of the game, let alone complete any of the levels, effectively undermining the whole point of having a demo.

Sonic Forces launches on November 7. It'll also be available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Like Sonic Generations, it features a mixture of modern and classic Sonic gameplay styles and levels, such as the iconic Chemical Plant Zone. The limited-quantity Sonic Forces Bonus Edition includes outfits and accessories from other Sega/Atlus games such as Persona 5, Jet Set Radio, and Super Monkey Ball. You can find all the Nintendo Switch demos available right now in our roundup.