Sonic’s done a lot in 30 years. He’s been a pioneer of the high-speed 2D platformer, an Olympic athlete, a respectable kart racing enthusiast, a fighter, a TV star, and a Hollywood blockbuster movie star as well. But he’s never done open world, and Sonic Frontiers fixes to change that. I was fortunate enough to be one of the first people outside of Sonic Team to go hands-on with Sonic Frontiers, and let me just say, if you’re worried about how the blue blur will fare in this unfamiliar genre, I think Crush 40 put it best:: “Open your heart, it’s gonna be alright.”
The first thing that struck me about Sonic Frontiers was how uniquely somber and serene it was right from the outset. After flying into a wormhole with Tails and Amy, Sonic finds himself separated from his friends and all alone on an isolated island, with nothing but an AI voice guiding him to collect the Chaos Emeralds. There’s no one for Sonic to bounce quips off of, no energetic Crush 40 soundtrack, just wide-open fields as far as the eye can see. There’s an air of mystery in Sonic Frontiers, and it’s a vibe that’s driven home even further by the beautiful yet minimalist piano melodies that accompany Sonic as he explores the island.
All of this is a very intentional choice. I asked Sonic Team Head Takashi Izuku to describe how the tone of Sonic Frontiers differs from previous Sonic games, and he said, “Past games in the Sonic series have taken different tones depending on their story and themes. This time, these mysterious islands are the game's major setting. That's why our artists have worked hard to create a mysterious mood.”
The big new change in Sonic Frontiers is the shift from purely linear levels to a huge open world where Sonic can run freely in any direction, but Sonic Team doesn’t like to use the term “Open World” to describe Sonic Frontiers’ gameplay, instead referring to its style as being “Open Zone.”
“Open world games like Zelda or other AAA games fundamentally have RPG or adventure worlds,” said Izuku. “For Sonic, the core here is a 3D action game. Our basic idea was to have that take place in an open space. What sets Sonic Frontiers apart is this different approach to an open game world.”.
Having played Sonic Frontiers for about four hours, it’s easy to see what Izuku means. Sonic Frontiers’ open zone design is very different from any other open world I’ve ever played — it’s a giant playground. Every few feet a bumper spring that bounces you like a pinball between five other bumpers before putting you on one of the many grindable rail tracks; or a speed ramp that sets you on a completely different path leading to some other collectible or reward; or a line of rings that you can light speed dash into. Essentially, they’ve taken that core appeal of every Sonic level having multiple paths that eventually loop back around to the main one, and applied that to these giant non-linear open zones.
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