Video Game Review: Sonic Frontiers

Platform: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC

Developed By: Sonic Team

Published By: SEGA

Released: November 8, 2022

Genre: Platformer, Action/Adventure

On May 27, 2021, Sega teased a new Sonic game in addition to their announcement of Sonic Colors: Ultimate and Sonic Origins. While fans now know it as Sonic Frontiers, the teaser left Sonic enthusiasts patiently awaiting its release as yet another addition to the beloved franchise. 

Sonic’s New Frontier

Sonic Frontiers takes place sometime after the events of Sonic Forces, making it the latest game in the timeline. However, this game features plenty of references to past adventures with Sonic and his friends throughout. 

The story begins when Sonic, Tails and Amy Rose arrive at Starfall Islands only to be sucked away into Cyber Space. Unfortunately, Sonic is the only one who can escape this digital realm, leaving his friends behind in the cipher. 

After escaping, an unknown voice tasks Sonic with finding seven Chaos Emeralds and defeating the Islands’ Titans in order to break the boundaries between Cyber Space and reality. 

Believing this will save his friends, Sonic must travel from island to island and free his friends from digital cages while collecting the Chaos Emeralds, defeating the titans and encountering a mysterious A.I named Sage. 

Sonic’s Biggest Adventure

In order to save his friends, Sonic will have to explore each of the Starfall Islands and collect Chaos Emeralds, Memory Tokens, Portal Gears, Vault Keys and much more. 

Most collectibles serve a certain purpose within the story and have multiple ways to acquire them. Collectables can be obtained by going through Cyber Space Levels, fishing with Big the Cat or defeating enemies. 

Sonic bolsters a vast moveset in the game, featuring the standard kicking and punching as well as an option to use skill tree so Sonic can unlock even more abilities to use in combat or traverse the islands with. One major upgrade to previous games is the Cyloop, which assists players in solving puzzles and finding hidden items. Sonic’s stats can also be upgraded, effectively making him faster and stronger depending on what the player chooses. 

Once all the Chaos Emeralds are obtained, Sonic can defeat Island titans with his Super Form. After a titan is defeated, Sonic can progress to the next island and the cycle can repeat. 

Graphically, Sonic Frontiers looks impressive for today’s standards and depending on the platform, the frame rate could be very smooth. However, the animation contains some rough edges and the game has an issue with obstacles suddenly appearing in front of the player when getting close to them. 

The game’s soundtrack is also noteworthy, as it blends many different genres of music throughout the levels like atmospheric pieces to accompany Sonic’s island exploring, hard rock for the Titan boss battles and high energy tracks for the Cyber Space levels. 

Sonic Frontiers is a brand new adventure for the Blue Blur and a breath of fresh air for Sonic fans to enjoy. Currently, the game sells for $59.99 on all platforms. Therefore, waiting for a price drop may be best if you are not a long time Sonic Fan. 

For a more in-depth look at Sonic Frontiers, watch this video.