Selection of the game for development came from the insistence of parent company Sega Sammy Holdings president and COO Haruki Satomi.

Although the game received mixed reviews, Sonic Dash reached 500 million downloads in September 2021.

[1] The player directs Sonic or another character through levels, collecting rings and avoiding obstacles and enemies.

On October 31, 2013, an update was released that included a boss battle against Zazz, a member of the Deadly Six from Sonic Lost World.

[7] Several characters from other non-Sega franchises have been added to the game as part of temporary cross-promotional events, available to unlock only during a limited time period.

[12] Content themed around the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog films and IDW comic series has been added, as well as a "Zone Builder" feature.

[17] The game was announced as an exclusive for mobile phones,[17] with iOS the only platform explicitly mentioned,[1] stating that it would be available on the App Store "soon".

He stated, "Coming from a long console history, the concept of free-to-play for a company like Sega was a hot topic for discussion.

It was released on April 5, 2022 for Apple Arcade members, and it requires an active membership to this service and a compatible device with iOS 13/iPadOS 13 or newer.

[27] Chris Carter of Destructoid praised the controls, finding that the "swipe"-based motions worked better than the tilt-based ones typical of the endless runner genre.

[28] Edge praised the smoothness of the gameplay and quality of the graphics, but criticized the "cruel" placement of the enemies behind obstacles.

[29] Justin Davis of IGN praised the snappy, responsive controls but criticized the enemy placement.

[3] Harry Slater of Pocket Gamer said the game's speed makes it more challenging than other endless runners.

[30] Carter criticized the repetitiveness and in-app purchases that ranged from "not needed" to "pretty damn annoying".

[31] Edge said the level design "feels like it was made with in-app Continue purchases specifically in mind".

[29] A review for MacLife said Sonic Dash "fumbles the fundamentals and aggravates with heavy-handed in-app purchases".

[43] Ric Cowley of Pocket Gamer called the game "a lot of fun to play, though it's probably best off experienced in short bursts".