Does Cyclonic Rift affect tokens on the battlefield when overloaded?

Cyclonic Rift's overloaded mode reads: 'Return all nonland permanents your opponents control to their owners' hands.' Tokens are permanents while they exist on the battlefield, so they are valid targets for effects that affect nonland permanents (CR 111.1, CR 111.7).

When a token would be returned to a player's hand, it ceases to exist as a state-based action instead of actually going to the hand. This is because tokens cannot exist in zones other than the battlefield (CR 111.8). The token is still 'returned,' but it immediately disappears upon leaving the battlefield.

The practical result is the same as destroying the token: it's simply removed from the battlefield. The Rift does affect them — it just so happens that the token vanishes before it ever reaches the hand zone, rather than surviving there.

Concrete example: Your opponent controls a 1/1 Saproling token and a Tarmogoyf. You cast Cyclonic Rift with overload. Both the Saproling token and the Tarmogoyf are returned. The Tarmogoyf goes to your opponent's hand; the Saproling token ceases to exist as a state-based action (CR 704.5d) because tokens cannot exist outside the battlefield.

So yes — overloaded Cyclonic Rift absolutely affects tokens. They don't survive or somehow dodge the effect; they're caught by it and then cease to exist as a consequence of leaving the battlefield.