Sonic Frontiers

Sonic Frontiers is a strange experiment that somehow worked, the mix of open world game mechanics with 3D Sonic gameplay worked out unexpectedly well, with just a little more polish on this idea SEGA could possibly have something really special here.

With a revelatory open world to zip around and entertaining boss battles alongside the more traditional Cyber Space levels, Sonic Frontiers is the best that Sega’s hedgehog has been for years.

Overall, Sonic Frontiers takes the lovable blue hedgehog into new open world territory, while staying true to how Sonic should feel in a functional sense. There’s also a lot to unpack here, so don’t take on too much at once and just go with the high-speed flow.

Sonic Frontiers really picks up the slack where this franchise started to falter. It’s still a Sonic game at its core and makes sure to stay true to the name even when branching out into other areas unfamiliar to the series.

Sonic Frontiers is nothing short of a marvel in how it blends together beloved elements from previous games with exciting new twists and turns to create something wholly unique.

Sonic Frontiers marks an ambitious, seismic shift for the series, with a massive open-world adventure that both honors its past and pushes the boundaries of what this franchise can look like moving forward.

There’s something dedicated Sonic fans see in “Frontiers” that others simply don’t, and it’s not just nostalgia.

Sonic Frontiers has given me good moments that I haven't had in a long time with our blue hedgehog. Many will wonder if being open world was a success, and the answer is yes. It is a very fun and intuitive game in which we will be busy with all the challenges it offers. Watching Sonic take on enemies, especially the big ones, is very satisfying. It is not a perfect game on a visual level but it is a necessary game in our lives.

Frontiers boldly plants one foot into the future with its “open zone” structure while keeping the other stuck in the past with mechanics and level ideas that are over a decade old. This approach results in a satisfying game even if it does not push the series into as many new frontiers as it could. It still hits many of the right notes that long-time fans will appreciate and works especially hard to satisfy those who have felt like the past few Sonic games have been missing some personality.

Sonic Frontiers was definitely a risk, but SEGA and Sonic Team are no strangers to rolling the dice and operating on pure ambition. If we are honest with ourselves, for too long, Sonic has come up short on the execution. But this time the iconic speedster has truly delivered. Open world games might be a dime a dozen, and they have not reinvented the wheel here. Instead, they've successfully transported Sonic to an intriguing new world that is a pleasure to explore, while maintaining some retro flare and an engaging story that will make fans happy. Put simply, Sonic Frontiers is the best 3D Sonic game ever made, and a fantastic step in the right direction that bodes very well for the future of everybody's favourite blue hedgehog.

Sonic Frontiers is obviously a love-it-or-hate-it sort of game so thankfully, I love it. The fact that there are just so many fun things that you can do at any given time makes my brain happy and I'm looking forward to a sequel. Please make it happen, Sega.

Sonic Frontiers is the best Sonic 3D game to date.

It may not be the most solid game out there, but it sure is a daring bet that works better than many had expected. It gives Sonic lore a new scope.

Branded by many as an announced disaster, Sonic Frontiers proves instead to be a chapter full of content and a lot of fun. It is not free from technical problems, however less heavy than one could imagine, but it represents the ideal bridge between the past and the future of the famous SEGA mascot.

Finally, after almost 25years of half measures and mostly mediocre titles, Sonic has finally reached the 3D levels of gameplay it needed to reach. Yes, the pop in is absolutely inexcusable and the ancient gatekeeping grindy methods damage the flow of the game for no reason, but a wonderfully built base exists here, with a highly entertaining adventure in wonderfully melancholic world and a surprisingly well founded story, thankfully clean of Sonic’s annoying 3rd tier friends!

Sonic Frontiers starts slow and puts you in a state of confusion. But as the game unravels further, it turns out to be an unforgettable and highly entertaining experience. It lacks a lot of polish, but even that does not manage to diminish the skyrocketing fun factor that will surely keep you hooked for hours.

This has been one enjoyable ride and it is great to see how well Sonic has fared in his latest outing. Exploration is fun, running around an island and going from grind rail to grind rail. The variety of challenges and collectibles are balanced, and combat has evolved via the new Cyloop ability, although this does get a little repetitive by the end of the game. There is never really a dull moment to be had, and there is plenty of content to power through. This is a game that every Sonic fan needs to play. Hopefully Sonic Team and SEGA follow up with a direct sequel as they have the formula nailed just right.

Sonic Frontiers wrangles with a muddled plot and messy technical performance, but the innovation and sheer ambition make it a joy to sprint through.

Quotation forthcoming.

Sonic Frontiers may not be the best game released this year, but it is one of the best 3D Sonic titles released in recent memory and should not be missed by fans of the series.

Sonic Frontiers is quite a fun game with much content to enjoy. It is a first step that excites us about the franchise's future despite the technical failures it frequently presents.

It's not a home run, but Sonic Frontiers does so much of the things that really matter so well that it is easily the most fun 3D Sonic has been in years – maybe even decades – and a genuinely fun and engaging game on its own merits.

Sonic Frontiers has finally figured out how to evolve the franchise in the 3D era, with gameplay mechanics that break away from the usual on-rails hyper-velocity of past editions, ironically giving a sense of speed like very few video games have managed. It's fun, deep and full of little surprises. You can shout to the heavens: Sonic is back! But don't shout too far, or the game won't render.

Sonic Frontiers begs, steals, and borrows to create a better 3D Sonic title than we’ve seen in quite some time. There’s absolutely still room to grow, but this is a largely positive step forward for the franchise outside its 2D roots.

Sonic Team has never been afraid to take risks and Sonic Frontiers is a good example of one that has paid off. There are some areas where it is lacking, such as the minimal number of Cyberspace settings and the Titan fights, but Sonic Frontiers is the best 3D Sonic games in a long time, with its open-world foundation offering something for the series to build on in years to come.

Sonic Frontiers breaks the curse within the 3D franchise with a great designed open world adventure. It's not perfect, but is easy to fall in love with it. A legend like Sonic deserved a game like this.

It seems like every major franchise is getting the open-world treatment. At first, you’d assume that Sonic is a terrible fit for this system. But it works surprisingly well. Every island is broken down into a nested series of combat and platforming challenges. No matter the scale, you’re still getting that essential Sonic the Hedgehog experience. Unfortunately, this also means you’re getting deeply frustrated at times. Exhausting story missions, impossible puzzles, and brutal acrobatics await. But most of the game is incredibly fun. This is what Sonic games are all about. A rollercoaster ride full of dizzying highs and crushing lows. As a game, Sonic Frontiers has some definite flaws to be wary of. But as a Sonic game, this is some truly top-shelf stuff.

The end result is much better than expected. Sonic Frontiers does feel like the next step for the series, and if Sonic Team is able to deliver a sequel to the level of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Adventure 2 and Generations, we could be in for a new era for the hedgehog, one for the that we should all be excited about.

Sonic Frontiers is an all-around solid Sonic the Hedgehog game. The shift to a more open-world style of gameplay works almost entirely in its favor and allows the game to offer more freedom and exploration without resorting to werehogs. At heart, it's still the same basic 3D-style gameplay that the franchise has been doing lately, but the change in perspective works in its favor. Not every change is a winner, but enough are that I dearly hope that Sega sticks with this flavor instead of reinventing the wheel. Fans of Sonic will be delighted, and those on the fence should give Frontiers a shot. It's easy to see how the greater freedom (and lack of annoying gimmicks) could be the difference between frustration and fun.

Sonic Frontiers is far from perfection but still the best and most fun Sonic 3D ever.

There is a satisfying quality to seeing Sonic blitz through rings in a Cyber Space mission while thumping dubstep or crunchy post-hardcore riffs blast throughout the level. Watching Sonic take down a Titan ten times his size in anime-like cutscenes at the end of a boss fight is always a spectacle. There is always something cool and worth the effort to see or do in this game, which is why Sonic Frontiers works well despite being very repetitive in nature. Those who can fall into its groove will find plenty to enjoy in Sonic’s latest adventure, and as a blueprint for the franchise going forward, Sonic could not be in a better place.

Sonic is back and in a very entertaining adventure. There is plenty to do in the game world that is presented to you. This is thanks to the fast-paced gameplay, exploration, battles and the presence of classic levels. At the same time, the titan battles do feel somewhat limited and more annoying is the high degree of visual pop-in, which is a blemish on the whole. However, don't let that stop you from giving the game a chance, as Sonic Frontiers is ultimately a more than fine title as a whole.

Sonic Frontiers is exactly what the franchise needed. It might seem a little rough around the edges, but it is revolutionary for the series as a whole. Combat feels amazing, Sonic feels faster than ever, the open zones concept works well and even the story is captivating. Believe me: Sonic is back.

Sonic Frontiers feels like a statement from Sonic Team after years of being treated like a joke. By no means is it perfect, but this is exactly the injection of life the franchise needed after the misstep of Forces, and it's the freshest Sonic has felt since Adventure first hit the shelves. While it is wrought with minor issues, the overall package of Sonic Frontiers mostly hits the mark, with its satisfying gameplay, a storyline that will please long-time fans, and an absolutely phenomenal soundtrack. It immediately places itself among the best Sonic games ever made.

If I put my nostalgia-tinted glasses aside when it comes to my affection for the Adventure games, I feel pretty comfortable calling this Sonic's best 3D effort. I hope Sega continues using and refining this open world formula. Who knows, we might even get two good 3D Sonic games in a row if they do.

From overall balance to questionable design choices, Sonic Frontiers might not be as sophisticated or polished as the very best games out there. However, when it comes to discovery and sense of wonder, Sonic Frontier’s Open Zone design can proudly stand side by side with any open world masterpiece. While admittedly many of its activities are simple, the amount of content it offers is staggering. The Open Zones and their epic boss battles make great use of Sonic’s speed, creating an experience that still feels authentic to the character. While far from perfect, there hasn’t been a Sonic title that feels this relevant in a long time.

After decades of miserable failure, Sonic Team has finally made a good 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game, and it’s one of the best open world platformers ever seen.

Sonic Frontiers manages to mix what we expect from a Sonic game with an open world full of collectibles. The gameplay is great, the soundtrack is fantastic and the graphics are good. The title lacks in the difficulty, story and in the visuals of the cutscenes.

Sonic Frontiers is one of the most fun games I've played all year with a superlative soundtrack. It managed to successfully blend open world elements with Sonic mechanics which is something I didn't think would work, but here we are. Despite the visual issues and some design-related annoyances, I'm looking forward to replaying it and hope it gets some quality of life improvements in future updates.

It may have had a mixed reception earlier this year, but Sonic Frontiers' final form is a brilliantly refreshing adventure that gives the series a much-needed shake-up. The occasional control and camera 'quirks' still pop their head up, but they appear far less frequently than Sonic fans will be used to, making for a much less frustrating experience overall. We would absolutely welcome more of this.

Sonic reinvents himself with an experimental adventure that, even with its flaws, shows a solid foundation for future adventures.

Though it’s rough around the edges, Sonic Frontiers is the best 3D Sonic game in years. This first attempt at the open-zone concept is an admirable effort, and I can’t wait to see how Sonic Team iterates on this formula in future entries, but it’s obvious this is not the formula’s final form. For now, Sonic Frontiers stands as a solid first foray into a brave new world for Sega’s speedy mascot.

Sonic Frontier Unknown is a contradictory work. It breaks the doubts of many people, proves that the combination of Sonic's traditional series and the open world is feasible. However in the same time, the combination is still rough. Sonic Frontier Unknown has many flaws, but it's still a fun Sonic game, and also pointed out a new direction for the running blue hedgehog.

Sonic Frontiers is a strange, yet fun time. The individual levels showcase Sonic at his fast-paced, ring-hoarding best, and some of the overworlds sport rewarding exploration mechanics. The insistence by Sonic Team to jam in minigames that block progress to the story is frustrating to say the least, and some of the larger maps’ designs feel a little haphazard. Overall, though, the weirdness of the story will keep some going just to see, well, where the hell it’s all going. It’s weird how much this doesn’t feel like a Sonic game outside of the individual levels, but this is an interesting direction that Sonic Team has taken their blue blur, and hopefully we will see a continued evolution that coalesces into something great.

Sonic Frontiers from Sonic Team has all the right moves with controls, level design, looks, feel, and structure. What it needs to work on is making the game more pointed in its narrative and flowing without interruption. This game has a great skeleton, now all it requires is some solid content to fill some of that narrative disconnect. It contains some great elements, but it’s far from perfect.

Sonic Frontiers is certainly different from what we’ve come to expect from Sonic and company – both for better and for worse. I don’t think anyone is going to compare it to Mario’s forays into open (or open-ish) worlds, but if nothing else, it definitely provides an interesting way forward for a series that has often seemed like it’s wandering aimlessly in search of a purpose. Sonic Frontiers doesn’t give it that purpose, but it does suggest it’s not far off from finding it, either.

Sonic Frontiers takes some risks, and that's good. Even in a bizarre way, it is an evolution of the franchise that brings new air and hope for the subsequent content. If you're a Sonic fan or an adventurer, you're sure to enjoy what this brave new open world includes. From the presence of classic stages to silly but enjoyable minigames, the new things are fresh air to the playground of possibilities that Sonic can run through. And even with its flaws and oddities (a bunch of them), I'll be back running through the fields of Frontiers to find what was missing in my first playthrough.

For the most part, the years haven't been kind to the Blue Blur, but while Frontiers has its problems, it's by far the most enjoyable and ambitious 3D entry in a long time. Its huge open spaces add a refreshing take, and zooming around at high speeds is still fun even after all these years. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a glorious comeback for everyone's favorite speedy hedgehog.

Sonic Frontiers has its fair share of issues, but the open world direction and varied gameplay makes it the most exciting Sonic game in decades.

Sonic Frontiers is a fun ride for those who love the series. It has everything a Sonic fan would want in an open world game. Except maybe for the boss fights, that are not that entertaining or challenging. The performance also fails to impress, as the Starfall Islands are filled with visual glitches and bugs.

Sonic Frontiers is an unsteady first run at the open-world genre for the blue blur but Sonic Team has crafted something endearing and immensely enjoyable all the same. Its core systems are fun, making Sonic’s iconic speed an integral part of traversal and combat alike while paying homage to what has come before in its Cyber Space levels. It’s not perfect, but it tries its heart out and I come away with warm memories of an uneven game.

Sonic's new open worlds prove delightfully engaging and imaginative, despite lacking polish and sloppy fixed-camera "cyberspace" levels.

An imperfect yet amusing title, capable of showing us the potential face of the hedgehog's future.

Interesting repurposing with open-world design that makes fast movement fun, but stumbles over technical issues.

Sonic Frontiers tries too hard to please everyone and this is its biggest downfall. It can be completed in around 10-15 hours if you skip all the dialogues that feel like filler anyway. The rhythm is all over the place as is the difficulty level, but somehow the game manages to be fun. It is an open world game that has flaws and strengths equally but is fun, nonetheless. What's even more painful is Sonic Frontiers is far even from an AA game, even though it pretends to be much more than this. Despite all the fun, I can't help but feel that Sonic would deserve more, just like his fans. That's not to say that some won't enjoy Sonic Frontiers, it's just that the franchise doesn't seem like it's going into the right direction.

There’s a lot I’d like to see improved upon in a Sonic Frontiers sequel (which they should absolutely do), but I had fun playing around with the open world format, and just skipping some of the more boring stuff that I didn’t want to do. If you haven’t given up on Sonic yet, you’ll find a lot to love as you wade through some of the muck.

Sonic Frontiers will be unable to return Sonic to the videogame Olympus, but it's not like it needs to. After all, the hedgehog has already transcended as a cultural icon in other fields of entertainment. What it does do is restore dignity to a franchise that went from the top to embarrassment. It's refreshing to try a Sonic that evokes the best moments of Sonic Adventure to remind us that SEGA's hedgehog is a gaming icon for a reason.

If Sonic Frontiers offers a rather simplistic open world in its conception, it is nevertheless a condensed action, fluidity and dynamism. It's a real pleasure to explore the different islands while sprinting or using the springs and other springboards to go higher and higher. Despite a somewhat redundant scenario and some ergonomic issues, this new title from SEGA is perfect to try 100% without ever getting bored thanks to the fights offering various patterns and mini-games allowing to unlock the zones. In short, an ideal adventure and platform game for the end of the year whether you are a fan of the blue hedgehog or not.

The game sticks the landing in many ways that matter, but these flaws are hard to ignore as its runtime carries on and you start bumping up against them more often. Sonic Frontiers falls short of a home run, but is still a successful step in the right direction from a studio that has demonstrably stumbled trying to do so before.

Running around at the speed of sound might be a mantra of the fleet-footed hedgehog, but Sonic Frontiers is at its best when you're given time to simply explore. The music is calming and also solemn at times--even if it knows when to burst into life with a punk rock energy--and there's even a fishing minigame that lets you earn rewards while slowing down the pace a step further. It's easy to fall into a zen-like flow as you traverse each island, rattling off objectives as you happen upon them. There are frustrations that arise and break the flow, whether it's a middling mini-boss or a struggle with Sonic's floaty movement, and it's a big departure from what Sonic fans are used to. I'm fully on board with this new direction, though. Sonic Adventure set the template for the last 24 years of 3D Sonic games, and I'm hopeful Frontiers will do the same for the next generation. It has its flaws, and there's definite room for improvement, but the spiky mascot is finally moving in the right direction.

Sonic Frontiers is a delightfully weird and experimental evolution of the Sonic games so many of us grew up with. Its series of open-world islands are filled with so much variety and pieces of Sonic history, from classic platforming stages to silly minigames, that they’re enjoyable to explore even when awful graphical pop-in is a constant hedgehog spine in your side. Some of the new stuff Frontiers tries out, like the smart toggling between 2D and 3D perspectives out in the open world or the Cyber Space levels, are fantastic ways to pack as much Sonic goodness as possible into one package, while others – especially combat – are uninteresting experiments gone wrong. Still, I largely enjoyed my time running around in Frontiers, making it feel like a very promising first attempt at what could be a bright new era for Sonic and friends.

Sonic Frontiers is the best 3D Sonic in a long, long time. It’s bigger, faster, smarter, and I absolutely cannot fault its ambition. Unfortunately, it’s constantly derailed by the exact same things that have been holding back Sonic games for the last few decades. With a little more polish, I truly believe Sonic Frontiers could have been one of the greats. As it stands, it’s a frequently good time with occasional flashes of brilliance.

Sonic Frontiers is a fascinating game, mostly because of how little it actually feels like the rest of the series. The game’s marketing has called it an “evolution” of the Sonic formula, and that’s certainly accurate, but it’s still hampered by some growing pains. Sublime exploration and intuitive mechanics constantly clash with Sonic Frontiers’ insistence on introducing mandatory mini-games and one-off gimmicks, many of which simply aren’t engaging.

While it may be far from perfect, Sonic Frontiers is a colossal step in the right direction for the future of the neon blue needlemouse. Its issues are more stumbles than falls, with the action and exploration creating a memorable experience for everyone's favourite Hedgehog.

An experience that is half convincing: on the one hand the open world mechanics don't work very well, on the other hand the classic levels are a lot of fun.

Transforming a historically linear formula into an open world is not easy, and the Sonic Team is doing it without managing to avoid all the pitfalls that such a change imposes, starting with the repetitiveness of the adventure, a perfectible technique and a camera in difficulty. However, this new Sonic experience blows a breath of fresh air on the saga with its titanic combats, its open-world "platformer" approach and its desire to push its own limits, even if it means losing control.

Overall, a decent effort by the Sega team and they should be praised for their future vision for the series. Let’s hope the next title will really nail down that speed without visual compromise to give Sonic the next-generation game he truly deserves.

Imaginative and densely populated but also rather samey and sparse at the same time. Technically iffy, but its lock-on gameplay suits the open world playground. [Issue#22, p.70]

Sonic returns in an inescapable mishmash of strong mechanics and ideas alongside poor execution and empty lifeless ‘open-zones’ that offers little to tie it together. Whilst this could be the start of a brand new revolution for modern Sonic games, Frontiers still feels like a beta test, and one that fans shouldn’t have to playtest for Sonic Team to work out what to do next.

When a Sega marketing executive came up with the nonsense phrase “blast processing” to “explain” the technical capabilities of the Mega Drive, it’s now clear they experienced some sort of messianic premonition. Sonic Frontiers is blast processing in video game form: anarchic, careless, silly, exciting, meaningless, wonderful. What a daft and incredible ride.

This... isn't a good game - but it is still a fun one. Yeah sure, the controls are slippery at best, the open worlds are quite barren and the soundtrack is far below the standard for a Sonic game, but the absurd story, pretty visuals and the fact that it's just fun running around makes for a jolly good time.

Even with all the frustration built up by the game’s technical problems, I found myself unable to truly dislike Frontiers. I found its pacing to be extremely solid, the Cyberspace levels (and their godlike soundtracks) to be fun, and the combat always enjoyable...Sonic fans will adore this game for the risks it takes and the story bits that can be picked up through its side missions. There’s clearly a lot of love and care put into this game, and although some of that should’ve been spent to fix its glaring performance issues, it still holds up as a fun adventure.

Sonic Frontiers is nice, but gives the impression of an early access title, looking like a technical demo or a potpourri full of ideas from other licenses, without being perfectly understood.

For Sonic fans, this is an entertaining adventure, with plenty of variety packed into its 20-hour running time. Chances are you'll encounter plenty of frustrations while making your way through it, but when things are going right you'll see that there's great potential in this formula going forward. 'Inconsistent' is perhaps the best word to describe Sonic Frontiers: it's a grab-bag full of ideas, all pulled off with varying degrees of quality. But there's one thing for certain: it's got a cracking soundtrack.

Sonic Frontiers timidly presented some good ideas with its open world but the execution is ultimately lacking; it recycled many of its past installments mistakes. The game feels repetitive, and it isn't polished enough like we hoped, and the story is also weak and uninspiring.

With Sonic Frontiers, SEGA wanted to modernize its license by choosing the open world, which is a great risk. The idea is good but the result is not successful. The world is empty, with no common sense, game mechanics way too redundant, and technically the game is way too dated. We get bored quickly in this Sonic Frontiers who wants to do something new, but never manages to convince. You don't become an open world expert by clapping your hands, right…

Sonic Frontiers really doesn't impress in any way. Behind the technical drama, the simple puzzles and boring combat is something of a blueprint for a good three-dimensional Sonic game, but then you have to search very well.

The fact that there are several difficulty levels and the ability to fine-tune Sonic’s speed, jump height, and even damage recovery as part of the in-game options is not a great sign and is indicative of the mish-mash feel. In the end, the lack of focus and consistency makes Sonic Frontiers feel unfinished - even if playing in the solid 60 frames-per-second performance mode is great for capturing and conveying a sense of speed and scale. But even here there’s so much pop-in that you lose out on a true sense of awe when it comes to the environments and structures born from the mysterious Cyber Space. Another average, but ambitious, outing for the blue hedgehog.

Sonic’s open world feels half dead, full of boring activities, tedious bosses and awful graphics. The undeniable potential has been squandered. Well, maybe next time. How often do we say this when talking about Sonic?

With Sonic Frontiers, SEGA is taking risks to modernize its iconic license. Unfortunately, it doesn't work mostly because of the open world and its mechanics. On the other hand, classic levels are still very enjoyable and save the game. This isn't the return of a great Sonic that we could expect.

The latest title from the popular hedgehog tries to mark a new trend for the franchise, but none of its highlights end up coming together.

Sonic Frontiers is a solid core experience stretched far too thin, proving that sometimes more is less.

For a game that relies on a certain level of fluidity in its core mechanics, Sonic Frontiers often feels thoughtless.

There’s a real tonal dissonance in Sonic Frontiers. It wants to be a fun platformer. It wants to be a high-speed exploration puzzler. It also wants you to feel a sense of power as you take on towering bosses, and save a world from certain destruction. But in striving for success on multiple fronts, it achieves none of these goals – instead arriving as an ambitious but lukewarm adventure-platformer pockmarked by deflating choices.

Sonic Frontiers features the kind of lightweight yet engaging storytelling that should easily enrapture fans young and old – though I'd hate to be a child forced to play through some of the abysmal platforming featured throughout. Was taking Sonic open world an ambitious endeavor? Yes. Did it pay off? Absolutely not.

There is nothing remotely redeeming about this game. Nothing that even the most die-hard loyal Sonic Fans would or should advocate for. I hope that one day someone who cares enough about this franchise could give us something-anything of substance. A fan can hope, can’t they? A fan can hope.

A game that never feels comfortable giving you full command of its star. We're left feeling blue, but not in the way Sonic Team intended. [Issue#379, p.118]