By Cameron Smith, Staff Writer of Arts and Entertainment

Sonic Frontiers is a 3D open-world action-adventure platformer game developed by Sonic Team and published by SEGA. This most recent and most popular installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series introduces a new open-world with not only room to run, but mysteries to solve! This exciting adventure was released on November 8, 2022 for the Xbox One and Series, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, Steam and PC consoles.

Plot: A+

Sonic engaging Asura, one of the Guardian minibosses in Sonic Frontiers.

“Find the Chaos Emeralds. Destroy the Titans. Tear down the walls between dimensions…”

Those are the tasks given to our hedgehog by the mysterious entity guiding him.

Sonic, alongside longtime friends Tails and Amy, head to the mystic Starfall Islands to find the Chaos Emeralds, which have miraculously started gathering there. However, after getting separated from his friends and escaping Cyber Space, Sonic ends up stranded and alone on one of the Starfall Islands, guided by only his instinct, burgeoning questions and a ghostly voice. As he explores the islands, Sonic must figure out how to find and save his friends, as well as fight a mysterious enemy created by Dr. Eggman. Can our hero survive his most difficult quest yet?

Gameplay: A

Sonic being targeted by an enemy in the desert-strewn Ares Island. Image courtesy of GameInformer.

In Sonic Frontiers, explore the Starfall Islands as Sonic as you search for his friends, fight against hordes of cybernetic foes, and solve long-forgotten mysteries and puzzles around the ancient civilization that once called the Starfall Islands home. Defeating enemies will earn you Skill Pieces, which combine into Skill Points that can be used to unlock combat moves and skills, like the new Cyloop ability, which can be used to damage enemies or reveal hidden items and challenges. Complete challenges to map each of the Starfall Islands and collect Memory Tokens to free, as well as interact with, Sonic’s allies. Along the way, return to Cyber Space to take a run through classic linear platform stages similar to those from previous titles. Beating the missions for each Cyberspace level rewards you with Vault Keys, which you can use to unlock Chaos Emeralds.

Super Sonic about to fight Giganto, one of the gargantuan Titans.

With all seven Chaos Emeralds, transform into Super Sonic in order to lay a beatdown on the powerful Titans. Defeating them will advance the game’s story. Can you explore these frontiers and unlock all the secrets the Starfall Islands can offer?

Reception: A+

Sonic Frontiers received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Metacritic gave Sonic Frontiers a 72/100 score. Other ratings include a 7/10 from IGN, four stars from VentureBeat and Video Games Chronicle, and a 9/10 from Shacknews. The PC version received much better praise from critics outside of the console version, the latter whose controls were described as a hit or miss. The game was well-received for its storytelling, open-world elements, visuals and soundtrack, but was criticized for its repetitiveness and some technical issues. GameInformer also called Frontiers the best 3D Sonic title in years. Sonic Frontiers also holds the record for most number of concurrent players of a Sonic the Hedgehog title on Steam, surpassing its predecessor, Sonic Mania, as well as also receiving positive reviews from users that had played the game. Despite the reviews from critics, player reception is, in contrast, much better. Due to selling over 3 million copies throughout December 2022 and afterward, Frontiers had become a critical success factor for both SEGA and Sonic Team!

Take a look at these amazing tidbits:

Sonic Frontiers’ Official Website: There is also a webcomic prologue titled Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Convergence on this site as well. 

Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Divergence: A 6-minute prologue of the game’s events featuring Knuckles the Echidna.

Sonic Frontiers – Launch Trailer

The boss battle of the first major boss of the game

A sneak peek of Sonic Frontiers‘ theme song, I’m Here

A sneak peek of the first boss’s theme song, Undefeatable, included with lyrics. View the voice cast of Sonic Frontiers on behindthevoiceactors.com!

All photos courtesy of Sonic Frontiers