Sonic Frontiers Review: The best 3D Sonic in Years falls short of greatness
Sonic Frontiers is one of the most popular 3D Sonic games in recent years. What does it actually mean? Sonic’s 3D history is as embarrassing as being bit in the face by an angry dog. Sonic Frontiers is more entertaining than Sonic Forces and Sonic. Listening to your Nan rank her favourite Emmerdalevillains is also a great way to have fun.
Sonic Frontiers is a great game. Sometimes it even manages to be a great game. It’s still hampered by the same issues and caveats that plague every 3D Sonic game since Sonic Adventure. As always, the question is how much you are willing to forgive and forget. You can overcome Sonic Frontiers’ flaws. This is Blue Blur’s best 3D experience since Sonic Adventure II.
Sonic FrontiersWatch, our chilli-dog-loving hedgehog, awaken on a mysterious island. A disembodied sound guides him to discover the truth about an ancient civilization that has lost itself in war. So Breath of The Wild. While Sonic Frontiers is easy to compare to 2017 Zelda, it shares much more with 2017’s Mario. The excellent Odyssey.
You will find a series of open-world islands that are disconnected and filled with environmental puzzles, boss fights, and portals to more classic Sonic levels. You spend your time on each island exploring, running, and collecting memory tokens to save any friend Sonic has trapped there. You’ll earn keys that can unlock the seven Chaos Emeralds. Each island ends in a cinematic Super Sonic boss fight before our hero moves onto another island. He loses the Emeralds in an annoying plot contrivance and must start the “save friend/collect the emeralds” process again.
It works well, and I don’t think it is a bad idea. Each island has enough space for Sonic to play on and plenty of things to do and see. It’s great fun to sprint between points of interest and unlocks new map areas. You can also collect power-ups that increase Sonic’s speed, defence, attack power, and overall speed. Sonic Frontiers is an open-world adventure game with that “just one thing” quality that makes it enjoyable. It pushes you to discover more before you call it quits.
The variety of mini-bosses between islands is one of the best things about the game. These powerful enemies can be found all over the world and act in a similar way to traditional Sonic boss battles. You must chase down a vast, squid-like robot on the first island before you can attack. Sonic can avoid the tank on the second island by avoiding it in freefall.
These mini-bosses, and other smaller enemies, are fun to fight. Sonic is a much better fighter than ever, thanks to an impressive array of combat moves. The familiar homing attack is often just one step in a combo that may include punches and kicks, counters, as well as ranged abilities, devastating stomps, and ranged abilities. The Cyloop ability allows Sonic to create a circle around enemies and objects. It’s a lot of fun and keeps combat momentum going. Frontiers seem to have more in common with other Sonic games – it remembers Sonic is supposed to be fast, and that’s something I don’t blame.
There are also the Super Sonic boss fights that go far. These Super Saiyan encounters are usually reserved for the end of Sonic games. Sonic Frontiersfeatures multiple battles with terrifying behemoths. These encounters are enormous in scale. They begin with a Shadow Of The Colossus-style challenge to climb to each monster’s top before turning into Super Sonic to have a high-speed battle. These moments are great for the most part. However, the camera is not always the best, and the checkpoints can be frustrating.
The Sonic Frontiersworks rough concept. A large open-world area with puzzles, other challenges and fun to enjoy. There are also portals that allow for more traditional Sonic experiences. This is a great idea. The problem is that while the open-world content works well for most of the game, the classic Sonic levels really let down the game.
These Cyberspace levels are just plain rubbish. They don’t have enough, they are too few, the visual variety is very limited. Although the idea of Cyberspace levels that can recall past Sonic adventures is appealing, most levels are based on Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant Zone. Angel Island is the majority. While there are some exceptions, Cyberspace is largely populated by variations of these three worlds.
To make matters worse, the original and excellent music that these legendary levels were known for has been replaced with new, largely generic pieces. These Cyberspace levels are not any more enjoyable than previous 3D Sonic levels. Cyberspace is plagued by the same camera problems, unexpected obstacles, and unfair death. A well-thought-out 3D Sonic action would have complemented the open-world fun perfectly and lifted Sonic Frontiers to new heights. It drags it down as it is.
