Across thirty-nine reviews, Game Rankings recorded the average score as 46%; the second poorest average for an Xbox 360 title at the time of the game's release.[7] Sites like IGN admitted that "it offers a few good ideas, and a handful of exciting moments, but none of this helps the game recover from a catastrophic loss in control." Gamespot called it "a mess from top to bottom," while the Detroit Free Press referred to it as a "train wreck of a video game."
Dave Halverson of Play Magazine is notable for initially giving the game its biggest praise; a score of 9.5 for the 360 version. This was dropped down to 8.5 in the next issue, with Halverson explaining how he was incorrectly told that the load times and glitches in his review copy would not be in the finished product. Later, Halverson gave the PS3 version a 5.5, expressing his disgust not only for how the glitches and load times had not improved, but how the game actually ran worse despite the extra development time.
Sales were lower than expected for a premier Sonic title, with only 38,000 units being sold in the first two weeks.