When Sonic CD was released, it opened with an animated cutscene showcasing our favorite hedgehog as he raced across a countryside, doing all sorts of stunts. Dashing across fields, down cliffs, launching off mountains, all beautiful. With each game that had a hub world to explore as Sonic, from the Sega Saturn title Sonic Jam, to Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast, there was a tantalizing possibility, a dream if you will: a chance to explore outside the confines of the regular Sonic game’s levels, and apply the high-speed platforming to explore an open environment with the same speed and finesse that we saw in that classic cutscene. After decades, we finally have a game that allows us to do that.
Introduction to Sonic Frontiers and the Story
Sonic Frontiers is a gamble: shifting towards an open-world environment (here called the Open Zone) where players have more freedom to play the game as they wish. The Sonic franchise has been known to experiment before, with Sonic Adventure, Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, and Sonic Boom all trying something new. Thankfully, this is more like the modern successor to Sonic Adventure than those other two blights. The story is an incredible step in a bold new direction, as Sega hired longtime fan and writer of the official Sonic comics, Ian Flynn, to write the narrative.
This story touches not just on aspects of the franchise’s history and lore, but also provides some of the most in-depth characterizations these characters have ever had. When Sonic, Tails, and Amy follow a signal that reveals that the Chaos Emeralds have been drawn to the Starfall Islands, they head over, only to be sucked into a strange Cyber Space dimension. Sonic manages to escape using his usual high-speed platforming skills, only for a mysterious voice to tell him to find the Emeralds and defeat the Titans (massive robots that loom over the islands). Taking this as the only way to help free Amy, Tails, and even Knuckles, the hedgehog sets off, while also being followed by Sage, a strange girl who observes his actions.
Gameplay
In terms of gameplay, it’s less Breath of the Wild and more Super Mario Odyssey, using Sonic platforming methods like rail grinding, honing in on floating springs, and bouncing off walls… Seeing something and figuring out how to reach it is a really enjoyable feeling. In addition, you have a lot of freedom in how you progress through the story.
As part of the game flow, you would normally fight robots to obtain portal gears, then use those gears to open the Cyber Stages (classic Sonic levels which often use layouts from past games) to obtain vault keys, which then allow you to obtain the Chaos Emeralds. The Cyber Stages visually resemble classic Sonic stages, like Green Hill, Chemical Plant, and Angel Island, but using the level design from past 3D titles like Sonic Adventure 2 or Sonic Generations. While you only need to complete each stage once to get one vault key for any of them, completing missions like beating it in the S-rank time, or collecting a set number of rings, or finding all the hidden Red Rings all get you an additional key, with full completion granting you bonus keys, so if you master a few stages, you can move through the story objectives just as quickly as just beating each stage. In addition, you can find gears and keys by exploring the environment or playing the new fishing mini-game (a fishing mini-game that actually has merit and isn’t boring). There’s a great sense of freedom in proceeding along your own way.
Although Sonic‘s controls take a while to get used to, you can adjust how his acceleration, speed, and turning work according to your tastes with the options. Combat in Sonic Frontiers is simple but addictive. The more you unlock from the new skill tree, the more awesome stuff you’re able to pull off as you smash the various enemies. That’s not to mention the many Titan bosses you’ll face in some of Sonic‘s most intense and epic battles throughout the game.
Audio / SFX/ Graphics
The voice acting is well done, and the writing actually gives these characters a chance to really get deep and personal. Roger Craig Smith, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Dave B. Mitchell, Cindy Robinson, and Mike Pollock all return (as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Eggman), and getting to hear their performances as these characters mature is great. They’re also joined by Ryan Bartley as the new character Sage, whose interactions with Sonic are some of the highlights of the adventure. Music in Sonic Frontiers is great, from the easygoing soundtrack that plays during exploration to the thrashing metal music during boss battles.
This is also one of the more visually impressive games in the franchise. It features the ability to play it in either 4K at 30 fps or in 1800p at 60 fps. Whether you running across the rain-soaked fields of Kronos Island, the arid desert of Ares Island, the volcanic peaks of Chaos Island, or just blasting through any of the Cyber Space levels, it’s all just so great to look at.
Minor issues While Playing
There are some egregious issues with pop-in, but nothing is ever game-breaking. It’s mostly as you explore, objects like floating platforms, rails, and springs all just suddenly appear as you get closer to them. None of these ever suddenly appear immediately in front of players as they’re boosting along. It is possible it’s just a side effect of having to compensate for Sonic’s speed in such a large world.
Also, I wish the Cyber Stage levels had more aesthetics than just the same four ones from past 3D titles used over and over again. It’s essentially a recurring loop of each one resembling either Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Angel Island, or Radical Highway. Thankfully, they are still well designed, with many of them using the layouts from some of the franchise’s best levels, paying tribute to the past while still paving the way to the future.
That’s probably the most important thing of all about Sonic Frontiers: this game is fun. It’s so much fun to just boost and explore, to race up spires and run along canyon walls, taking on robots, going for the S-ranks in the Cyber Stages, leveling up your stats, all of it is just so much fun. I actually managed to 100% this game, and get all the trophies, for no other reason other than because I just kept having fun playing it.
Replay Value
This is it, folks. This is the best 3D Sonic game, the one everyone should play. This should be the future of the franchise, and it’s such a blast to experience. Even after beating the main story, you can still try to perfect all the Cyber Space levels, or go for all the treasures you can unlock in the fishing mini-game, and with multiple save file slots, you can get a lot of replay value out of it, particularly as new DLC outfits come online for you to re-experience the plot and the Titan battles, with new DLC planned through 2023 that should allow for that. This is pretty damn perfect for the price tag, and should keep you playing long after the credits roll, much like I still am.
In the end, the main takeaway that this old Sonic fan can offer is this: that inner child within that stared in wonder at Sonic CD’s opening cutscene, and wished he could blast across fields and up mountains, practically defying gravity. He’s grinning widely inside me as I find new ways to explore this world. The comparison to Breath of the Wild isn’t because it’s an open-world adventure. It’s because after playing this, you’ll want to see the next one build on it because it’s the future.
