Gaze upon this new frontier and it’s clear this is no Sonic of the Wild, or Elden Hedgehog. Nonetheless, like those two allusions that fans have been making ever since it was announced, Sonic Frontiers is a necessary new direction for the Blue Blur to modernise with his peers – one that attempts to finally pull his speedy form into a genuine 3D game.
More than Dr. Eggman’s nefarious schemes, 3D has been Sonic’s long-running nemesis since his 3D debut with Sonic Adventure more than 20 years ago (although it arguably began with the cancelled Saturn game Sonic X-treme). Too fast for his own good, or for the camera to keep up, Sonic Team has opted to keep its mascot firmly within linear routes like a rollercoaster ride, hoping dazzling visuals would distract you from realising you were doing little more than holding up.
Frontiers then is the team finally having the confidence to let Sonic roam freely in vast open environments at the speed you expect him to achieve. It seems a no-brainer since, for me, traversal has always been one of the greatest pleasures in any open world game – my fondest memory of the sorely underappreciated Xenoblade Chronicles X is having an avatar who could bound across the world at a superhuman default running speed. For those concerned whether they can keep up, you can also customise Sonic’s speed settings, from acceleration to turning, though I was actually fine with turning it to max.
