Last year, Sonic Frontiers captured attention with a bold promise: open regions and the freedom to roam the world like never before. The idea of a crossover that blends exploration with fast, exhilarating action has finally landed on consoles and PC. At first glance, it could be the franchise’s strongest entry in the modern era, but the real test is whether the hype holds up. We had the chance to sample the game ahead of release, and there is a lot to unpack.
SEGA is once again pushing to redefine its flagship series, even as it has tinkered with older experiments like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Unleashed in the past. What open-world play brings is the sensation of moving at light speed and feeling Sonic’s speed and toughness in ways never seen before. It promises a sprawling experience that satisfies fans with an expansive toolkit of abilities and a depth that invites long sessions of discovery.
Revolution comes to the franchise
First, this project stands out as a unique entry in Sonic history. It moves away from strict linear storytelling, replacing it with a platform that rewards exploration and offers a breadth of content fans have imagined for years. In short, Sonic Frontiers signals a new era: Sonic, Amy, and Tails arrive on the Starfall Islands after detecting the Chaos Emeralds, only to be pulled into a dimensional portal. Sonic awakens alone in a strange digital world crafted by an ancient, highly advanced civilization.
Isolated and unsure, Sonic must uncover the land’s secrets while facing dangers never seen before. The plot develops with a more mature tone as players traverse the five islands. Numerous puzzles and side objectives enrich the narrative, adding texture to the journey and filling in details about the story and its characters. The appearance of an artificial intelligence named Sage stands out as a fresh, compelling addition with strong potential for the future of the series. Overall, the storytelling remains engaging, with a script that leans more introspective as characters discuss their motivations amid a dire situation. References to classic adventures like Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic Unleashed appear, weaving nostalgia into the new framework.
Sonic is modernizing and doing a great job
The renewal rests on three solid pillars, each executed with noteworthy success. The first is the open world: vast environments filled with activities, secrets, and constant opportunities to uncover something new. Yet the game also preserves traditional linear segments accessed through Cyberspace portals.
These zones conjure 2D/3D stages reminiscent of familiar locales such as Green Hill, Chemical Plant, and Sky Sanctuary. Players must complete objectives to unlock keys and, in turn, Chaos Emeralds. Earning gears by fighting enemies and bosses is part of the process, and the Cyberspace stages reintroduce classic challenges whose placement and evaluation give the older formula renewed importance. It’s a carefully constructed balance that treats exploration as an essential complement to the core game, not a mere distraction.
A battle system to keep
The third cornerstone of Sonic Frontiers is an all-new combat system built around fluid melee mechanics, a skill tree, and rewarding combos. It stands as the most intricate fighting approach in the series to date, with a variety of button sequences for different moves. While combat isn’t solely about offense, one notable ability lets Sonic nimbly move around objects and enemies, revealing hidden mechanisms, triggering switches, or simply dealing damage. Numerous foes, including formidable bosses, can be toppled using this feature. Rings can be refreshed at any moment, letting Sonic maintain high speed through stages.
As players progress through the islands, they collect red and blue seeds that boost attack and defense when exchanged with various characters scattered across the map. Small creatures called Kocos can be summoned to boost Sonic’s speed and his capacity to collect rings. This feeds into the ongoing gameplay loop that defines the experience.
Torn between two dimensions: real size and digital size
To finish the adventure, stages in cyberspace must be traversed to obtain keys, unlock the seven Chaos Emeralds, and defeat powerful bosses on each island. Exploring regions and rescuing friends from a digital fate are central to the quest. A few remnant fragments drive subplots forward, provide additional dialogue, and deepen the world’s lore. Players can undertake extra quests and solve environmental puzzles, uncovering secrets scattered across the Starfall Islands.
If the scope feels overwhelming, fear not. The game presents a clear collection loop, with items that fit naturally into the story. Purple coins unlock rewards in mini-games and classic rings help extend the hedgehog’s life and accelerate speed when maximum rings are gathered.
Overall, Sonic Frontiers feels like a menu of three courses with dessert for fans of high-speed action. Beginners can adapt quickly, and the experience allows customization across multiple settings, including hedgehog speed. The design centers on a journey that rewards exploration and achievement, inviting players to spend many hours chasing 100 percent completion. That depth helps the game stand out in the franchise’s long history.
As big as you can imagine
Frontiers presents a stunning, open-world ambition for Sonic Team. The visual design showcases varied, engaging environments, diverse enemies, and a wealth of resources, all running smoothly without frame-rate dips. The narrative underlines Sonic’s isolation from loved ones and the melancholy of his predicament, which strengthens the emotional pull of the experience.
The game translates well into Spanish, with a soundtrack that blends slower piano passages to emphasize loneliness and broader musical shifts that accompany the faster cyberspace sequences. Sonic titles are known for their music, and Frontiers stands among the best releases of the year. Electronic tracks in cyberspace fuse with rock elements during boss battles, highlighting the series’ musical versatility.
Results
Many familiar Sonic elements surface in Sonic Frontiers, yet their execution has a freshness that reinvigorates the franchise. The result feels like a bold reinvention that fans once worried wouldn’t happen. Sonic Team arrives with a new baseline for the series, inviting both returning players and newcomers to discover a different kind of Sonic experience.
The package proves to be the most complete, entertaining, and innovative in franchise history. It’s plausible to argue that it’s the strongest in decades, surpassing older favorites like Sonic Adventure. Packed with content, supported by a refined combat system, and built around an open format that rewards freedom and exploration, Frontiers points toward a bright future for the series. Watching how SEGA evolves the concept in future installments will be intriguing.
Title: Sonic Frontiers
Genre: Action, Adventure
Release Date: 11/08/2022
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PS5
Developer: Sonic Team
Producer: Sega
Distributor: Sega
Language: English
Voice: English
PEGI: +7
Price: Consult