Get ready, Sonic fans – it’s time to keep the Sonic Frontiers excitement going with new updates players are sure to love. On Wednesday, March 22 at 5pm PT / Thursday, March 23 at 1am CET, the first of three Sonic Frontiers content updates this year – the Sights, Sounds, and Speed Update – will release on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
Fans can try out new features such as a Photo Mode to capture memories of their adventures, new Challenge Modes to test their strength against powerful foes, and the Jukebox to play their favorite Sonic Frontiers tracks around the Starfall Islands.
Photo Mode
To capture memories of your journey, open the pause menu to access Photo Mode, which will pause gameplay and bring up a freely moveable camera to position the shot however you want. This mode may be inaccessible during certain parts of the game.
Whether you’re battling enemies, rail grinding, or performing awesome Air Tricks, you can capture Sonic in action across various landscapes to create the perfect scene for your photo. You can also choose between seven visual filters to add some flare to your photos.
If you need some help, you can turn on a grid to frame the perfect image or reset the camera with the right analog stick to change the photo’s angle and mood.
New Challenge modes
After completing the main story campaign, challenge modes are instantly playable via the title screen.
The new Cyber Space Challenge is a time-attack mode where you’ll complete seven stages from each island (Kronos, Ares, Chaos) while competing against the clock.
Also, Sonic Frontiers now offers Battle Rush, a timed-battle mode where you rapidly defeat multiple rounds of enemies, Guardians, and Titans in one go. Aim for the fastest clear time, and you may get a special surprise.
For more on how to master your gameplay strategies and explore the Starfall Islands, check out the Sonic Frontiers: Speed Strats series on the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube to become the most formidable force in the frontier.
Jukebox
Play your favorite Sonic tunes throughout the Starfall Islands with the new Jukebox feature, which includes music from Sonic Frontiers and past Sonic games, if you want a bit of nostalgia as you explore! Some of the tracks include:
- Sega Sound Team, Tomoya Ohtani, Merry Kirk-Holmes – I’m Here (Sonic Frontiers)
- Crush 40 – Live & Learn (Sonic Adventure 2)
- Crush 40 – Open Your Heart (Sonic Adventure)
- Sega Sound Team, Tomoya Ohtani – Reach For The Stars (Sonic Colors Ultimate), and much more.
You can listen to any of the 53 songs – 13 of which are instantly unlocked and playable as soon as the game is updated. Unlock the remaining 40 songs by collecting Sound Memories on each island, so keep an eye out for those orange music notes.
To change the music on the island, press right on the directional-pad or hold to open the song list. The Jukebox can also be disabled in the Options menu.
Please note the Jukebox feature may be inaccessible during certain parts of the game.
Two more updates to Sonic’s open-zone, action-packed adventure will arrive later this year and include new features, challenges, playable characters, and more. Specifics about release timing and content will be revealed at a later date.
Immersion – PlayStation 5
Like Sonic speeding through the Starfall Islands, the PS5 “goes fast” into the future of gaming with its ultra-high-speed SSD that works to remove barriers to play and create experiences that are seamless and dynamic.
Hiroki Tokunaga, Sonic Team Lead Programmer, spoke a bit on Sonic Frontiers’ development on PS5 and how the team took advantage of the console’s hardware to create the vast open-zone freedom that gives Sonic more room to run at speeds only the Blue Blur can deliver.
“Sonic Team created and implemented a brand-new texture streaming system in the Open-Zone areas so players can run around the vast, diverse environments at incredibly high speeds. On PS5, the SSD could support high-speed streaming, so we were able to make the most out of the texture streaming feature and keep up with Sonic’s speed.
It was also crucial for the team to reduce wait times during scene transitions between the Open-Zone areas, Cyber Space, and other areas so fans can spend more time exploring and immersing themselves in the game. A lot of load processing happens during these transitions, which is why we deployed compressed files, organized the resources, and coordinated everything to maximize the file input and output. The PS5’s fast SSD enabled us to significantly reduce wait times for smooth transitions between scenes in the game.“
– Hiroki Tokunaga, Lead Programmer, Sonic Team
Sonic Frontiers is available now on both PS5 and PS4 consoles. To learn more, head to PlayStation Store or Sonic Frontiers official website. Starting March 22, PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers can play the Sonic Frontiers Game Trial at no additional cost.
