Sonic Frontiers Review

Sonic Frontiers received a lot of flak when it was first shown off. When SEGA revealed what appeared to be a very early build of the game, we were shown a generic green plain with odd structures haphazardly strewn all around. It caused a lot of concern. Some wondered if this was going to be another misstep for the Sonic franchise, a franchise desperately in need of another big win.

Things aren’t quite so black and white, however. In many ways, Frontiers does make mistakes. But it’s also the most enjoyable 3D Sonic game in a long time.

It starts out unexpectedly strong. You’re almost immediately thrust into the first of 5 open “zones” and left to your own devices. You’re free to explore and complete all kinds of challenges at your own pace, and it’s genuinely a fun experience. Stumbling across random minigames or boss enemies is exciting the first time you discover them, and the controls are quick and snappy enough to make movement satisfying. You’ll be hopping from grind rail to booster, collecting items, and finding new sights. The world is a playground for Sonic, and it’s good to let loose in it.

Of course, the seemingly random placement of objects still persists from that first reveal. Rails, ramps, boosters, and springs are floating in the air, spiralling around cliffs and scattered across the ground. They exist solely to service the gameplay, killing any immersion these environments might have been able to conjure. They’re an ugly sight from afar, and even more problematic when they pop-in mere meters in front of you as you’re speeding to your next objective. It’s easy to overlook this though – immersion isn’t really Sonic’s strong suit.

Rather than compel you with environmental storytelling like other open-world experiences, Frontiers looks to immerse you in its speed and exhilaration. The team understands that performing exciting stunts or fighting big enemies is thrilling, and these things are regularly available to the player. They’re broken up by casual puzzles and story beats, none of which hold a candle to the enjoyment found in these hype moments (although the fishing minigame is pretty cool).

The best examples of the team’s approach are in the major boss fights at the end of each zone. This is where things get turned up to 11. The music from the first one has seared itself into my brain already, and the sheer spectacle of it is impressive. Even with the Switch’s lower-res graphics, it was something to behold.

Sadly, not all of these moments are equal, and this inconsistency plagues Frontiers at every turn. At times the music is awesome, and at others, it feels like a Breath of the Wild tribute band. Some zones are really fun to complete, while others are frustrating and confusing. Some of the boss fights are a blast to play, and others will annoy you to no end.

Take the five zones, for example. The first two are really solid, but as the game progresses the zones gradually devolve into weaker experiences. The third zone constantly forces you into 2D sections, breaking up the flow of gameplay – the thing that was making Frontiers fun before this point. You can often find yourself accidentally stepping on a booster which sends you flying into a part of the map you never wanted to be in, and you’ll spend the next 30 seconds struggling to get back to where you were originally.

The later zones are also questionable. It seems like the team just took a chunk of a previous zone and placed it later in the game to pad it out, and by that point, it’s nowhere near as fresh or exciting as it once was. Repetition starts to rear its ugly head the more you play too. Bosses that were once fun become annoying the more you have to fight them. And some bosses, like Strider or Shark, are simply too long and boring to begin with.

And I should mention the Cyber Space levels too, which are about as hit-and-miss as the rest of the game – only with worse controls. These levels reintroduce us to classic Sonic areas like Green Hill and Chemical Plant for what might be the hundredth time, only with less challenge and none of the nostalgia. Like the boss fights, these levels get repetitive quickly, and the awkward controls in these sections make them more irritating than they ever should be. They’re like looking at old family photos through a murky lens – reminiscent of what came before but disappointingly tarnished.

As a result, replay value takes a hit. Achieving S rank times in Cyber Space is easy, and the collectible red rings aren’t hidden well at all. Even if these elements were more challenging, the level design in Cyber Space isn’t good enough to warrant more playthroughs. Some of them are linear paths with none of the multi-route gameplay that makes exploring Sonic levels so fun to begin with.

It’s a shame that Frontiers drops the ball in this way. Despite how strong certain aspects of the game are, much of it is dragged down by what seems like a lack of development time. It’s a step in the right direction for Sonic, but a much smaller step than it could have been.