HHW Gaming Review: ‘Sonic Frontiers’ Puts The Blue Blur On A Rough Path To Open-World Greatness

Source: Sega / Sonic Frontiers

For years, Sonic The Hedgehog fans have been thirsty for a good Sonic game, and with Sonic Frontiers, they finally have got something to be excited about.

With Sonic Frontiers, Sonic Team took a bold step with Sega’s mascot by thrusting him into an open world full of new features he has never experienced during his sidescrolling adventures.

While giving the super-fast hedgehog plenty of open space to go fast is a brilliant idea, it is not perfectly executed, but it’s not a complete swing and a miss for Sonic Team.

There Are Plenty of Speed Bumps In Sonic Frontiers You Can’t Avoid

Source: Sega / Sonic Frontiers

Sonic Frontiers is a beautiful mess. Let’s get that out of the way. Plenty of issues will plague you throughout your 20-hour adventure if you speed through the game.

As you power through the game’s five zones, one glaring issue is the insane amount of pop-in, which is absolutely annoying. There were so many times while speeding through the terrain only to have a run halted by a rail just magically appearing or an enemy that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Speaking of enemies, each zone has multiple mini-bosses called “guardians” that are fun to face the first time but become a nuisance because they regenerate and are sometimes unavoidable. There were plenty of times frustration set in when accidentally bumping into a guardian.

Combat in Sonic Frontiers is unique. Jumping on your enemies will no longer cut it. Sonic can execute combos and other movies with a series of button presses as you progress and level him up. The combos sometimes feel weird and will have you mashing buttons while fighting enemies that serve as damage sponges.

Sonic can also parry. Yes, you read that correctly. He can parry that will allow you to inflict significant damage on foes by countering with a special move.

Puzzles in this game are ridiculously too easy. You will find yourself laughing at some of them. For example, one puzzle will have Sonic just running in what is essentially a hamster wheel. Another puzzle will have Sonic jumping rope.

When you complete these puzzles, or “challenges,” a portion of the map will be unveiled.

Other Bizarre Design Choices

Leveling up Sonic is also bizarre. You will have to collect items that level-up Sonic in four categories: attack, defense, speed, and rings.

Rings, of course, are Sonic’s life and help him stay in the game. Red Seeds of Attack, Blue Seeds of Defense, Skill Pieces, and small cute little statues called Koko also assist in the leveling-up process.

The Red Seeds of Attack and Blue Seeds of Attack are found by completing puzzles, defeating enemies, and finishing mini-games. You level up your attack and defense by taking them to the Hermit Koko, located at different points on the map.

Skill Pieces are earned by defeating enemies and let you unlock new abilities Sonic can use.

Finding small Koko can be found throughout Star Island and returned to the Elder Koko, and he will either level up your speed, or the number of rings Sonic can hold.

While leveling up your attack and defense is a much more convenient process, leveling up your speed and rings is not, and it’s pretty confusing why the developers didn’t use the same mechanic for leveling up your attack and defense with leveling up your speed and rings.

Also, there is a fishing mini-game in each zone where you can acquire an absurd amount of items ridiculously fast. Oh, fishing is relatively easy in the game, just like puzzles.

Source: Sega / Sonic Frontiers

Each zone will also have you collecting Memory Tokens to free Amy, Tails, or Knuckles holograms. From there, you will have to find them throughout the map to progress the story while engaging in godawful dialogue that doesn’t help the game’s subpar story.

Where Sonic Frontiers Wins

Source: Sega / Sonic Frontiers

Yes, we have pointed out some glaring issues with the game, but when Sonic Frontiers works, it’s absolutely an enjoyable experience.

The game shines the most when Sonic acquires Portal Gears from battles with the Guardians and other foes to unlock gates that will take Sonic to Cyber Space.

Once in Cyber Space, players will experience classic Sonic The Hedgehog zones that brilliantly alternate between 2D and 3D while jamming out to tunes reminiscent of the level BGM from classic Sonic games.

When you complete the Cyber Space levels by accomplishing goals like finishing with an S ranking, acquiring a specific number of rings, and finding five red rings throughout the level, you will receive Vault Keys.

The Vault Keys will give Sonic access to Chaos Emeralds scattered across the map, and when you have them all, you can turn into Super Sonic to battle gigantic robot enemies called Titans.

Source: Sega / Sonic Frontiers

The Titan battles are fun but sometimes seem repetitive and bogged down by awful camera angles. But it’s still fun controlling Super Sonic and watching him do God-like things to these massive bosses.

It’s a rinse-and-repeat formula for each zone, but it’s not annoying once you master it.

Final Verdict

Sonic Frontiers is by no means a perfect video game, but it is serviceable, especially for fans of the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise.

Never have you experienced controlling the Blue Blur like this before, and it truly feels like, at times, that Sonic Team has finally taken the restraints of its insanely fast hedgehog.

This Sonic game is fun despite its very noticeable and unavoidable flaws. Hopefully, Sonic Team is using Sonic Frontiers as a learning experience as to what not to do with a likely sequel. At the time of this review, we received our code well after launch, and the game has sold over an astounding 2.5 million copies, making it one of the year’s most popular titles.

Sonic Frontiers is a solid start to what could be a solid franchise featuring Sonic if Sonic Team addresses the issues that plague this game.

We enjoyed it so much that we platinumed the game, and that’s no small accomplishment, thanks to two very annoying trophies.

Sonic Frontiers is available now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC. We highly recommend that you only play this game on next-gen consoles for the full enjoyable experience.

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Photo: Sega / Sonic Frontiers

*Review key for Sonic Frontiers on PS5 provided for use by Sega*