Sonic Frontiers Reviews

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.

Open world Sonic should have happened a long time ago. One can only hope that they decide to give it another shot. Should that ever happen, we can just hope that they learn their lessons making this one. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a new Sonic game or are interested in a light single player experience, you could do worse than Sonic Frontiers. You could probably do better, but you could definitely do worse too.

Worlds are colliding in Sonic the Hedgehog’s newest high-speed adventure! In search of the missing Chaos emeralds, Sonic becomes stranded on an ancient island teeming with unusual creatures. Battle hordes of powerful enemies as you explore a breathtaking world of action, adventure, and mystery. Accelerate to new heights and experience the thrill of high-velocity, open-zone platforming freedom as you race across the five massive Starfall Islands. Jump into adventure, wield the power of the Ancients, and fight to stop these new mysterious foes. Welcome to the evolution of Sonic games! Reviewed on the Nintendo Switch.

There's something to love here, despite the messy open world.

Sonic is back in action in this latest addition to the franchise. Sonic Frontiers promised to introduce a new format and this review for the PS4 version will take a look at its potential, where it hits but also what it misses and should this article recommend this game?

Sonic slides into a new entry that brings us back to basics in grand fashion. While not perfect, Sonic Frontiers is exactly what the franchise needed.

Sonic Frontiers has been out a short while and it's a rather divisive game so here are my thoughts on Sonic's open-world adventure.

Sonic Frontiers has tight controls and a surprisingly good story, but graphical and pacing issues can drag the experience down. In spite of some missteps, though, Sonic Frontiers suggests that the Blue Blur may still have a bright future.

As a kid, Sonic was the greatest. Mario was for nerds, and real gamers preached the way of the Blue Blur. Sadly, reality didn’t agree and Nintendo’s Mario emerged the victor of gaming’s bloodiest console war, absolutely crushing Sega and Sonic under his brown heel. Ever since then we’ve been subjected to terrible Sonic games, each one making a mockery of a gaming icon’s legacy. Even the bright light of Sonic Mania was dimmed by the subsequent release of Sonic Forces. But that was al...

Sonic Frontiers gets the most important thing about the Blue Blur right, and some other things, too.

Sonic Frontiers is a hugely ambitious new direction for the series that comes close to hitting on all cylinders. The different islands are all expansive with a ton of places to explore and routes to get there, some less obvious than others. It feels weird to appreciate the story in a Sonic game, but this one is well presented with excellent voice acting that sells the dialogue, and the music can stand with the best of the series. Even though the controls can sometimes feel frustrating in the 2.5D sections, it's never enough to kill the momentum, and when you finally dial in to what's expected the area is cleared and it's back to the exploration. There's a mystery at the heart of the Starfall Islands and it's got Sonic's friends trapped within, but a cocky and determined hedgehog is more than a match for whatever may be happening there. But first there are a couple hundred areas of the map to explore, tricky routes leading to memory tokens, enemies and mini-bosses to test new combat skills on, and maybe a few koco to rescue. Whatever happened on the Starfall Islands seems to have taken place centuries ago, so it can wait just a bit longer for Sonic to bounce, dash and rail-grind his way through every challenge Sonic Frontiers can throw at him.

The music is certainly more subdued than in previous Sonic games, though the vocal tracks that play during the numerous Titan battles are extremely hype-inducing. The fishing theme is a true lofi banger, and though there aren’t necessarily as many immediately memorable tracks as in previous Sonic games, everything fits the atmosphere and environment of Frontiers.

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.

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Sonic Frontiers is a fascinating move into open world for the Sonic franchise. It's frequently flawed, and doesn't always match the heights of Sonic's best games. But the fact that it occasionally does reach those highs, while offering a totally new experience, is pretty impressive, and leaves Sonic Team with a strong foundation to improve upon.

Sonic Frontiers is a triumph for the series. Sure, it might be a little prickly around the edges, but overall this is a great experience from start to finish. Director Morio Kishimoto and Sonic Team should be proud of what they’ve accomplished. It’s proof that even after 30 years, the Sonic series can still be taken in new and exciting directions, and SEGA can now build on this new game's foundation. Sonic Frontiers provides one of the most enjoyable 3D Sonic experiences of all time, and we're excited for what the future holds for the blue blur.

Sonic Frontiers is a welcome surprise in 2022. It brings an engaging pseudo-open world, thrilling combat, and a deeper story than you may expect. Some of the platforming can feel janky for a few moments, and a somewhat lack of fast travel does aggravate, but this is one of the best adventures this hedgehog has been on in years.

Sonic Frontiers succeeds in finally making Sonic truly work in 3D without many of the problems that plagued past titles. While it's far from perfect and could have used more polish, it's a fairly impressive game that offers up most everything fans could want.

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.

Probably the best Sonic has been for a while, with open zones that make for scrappy fun and incredible frustration in your hunt for the Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic Frontiers has some noticeable issues, but it still manages to be the best 3D Sonic entry in years despite this. Players can expect a fresh new take on the franchise featuring plenty of gameplay variety and a somewhat intriguing story. Series fans will love this game and it should be recommended to anyone who's looking for an atmospheric action platformer.

Sonic Frontiers is an ambitious step for the franchise that succeeds in some areas while falling into the same pitfalls as before. On Steam Deck, the experience can be a mixed bag and definitely could use some further optimization.

Sonic Frontiers is a brave new direction for the series, but this first ‘open-zone’ entry misses the mark by quite a margin. Traversal and combat annoyances plague the experience from start to finish, while structurally the game offers up very little variety, instead leaning on repetitive fetch quests that get exasperating after the first island. As far as the Switch version goes, it’s quite comfortably the worst option available to fans, with graphical compromises that make it impossible to recommend if you're able to play it anywhere else at all. If you’re going to get this game, we implore you to try it out elsewhere.

Sonic Frontiers takes on the open world genre with not much grace. There’s a lot of stumbling around and that’s likely due to a lack of budget, but this is also a great starting point for Sonic. I think large scale maps like this can work with our blue hedgehog, but it needs a lot more than haphazardly tossing stages and their mechanics out and about. Sonic Team also needs to know that it’s okay to let the player sink or swim—the whole point of going ‘open world’ is giving players freedom and when you try to railroad them by giving them the answers and keys to all the game’s challenges at the door, there’s not much left for the player to uncover on their own.

Following a film that broke records for video game adaptations and a decent compilation celebrating his 16-bit glories, the stage has been warming up nicely for Sonic the hedgehog’s big comeback. Yet as the headline act, Sonic Frontiers is a risky one.

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.

Very few successful gaming franchises have had a history as tumultuous as Sonic the Hedgehog. Back in the 90s, the series could rival the Super Mario Bros. franchise in terms of quality, creativity, and popularity, but the jump to 3D graphics proved to be troublesome for Sonic Team, as very few modern Sonic games can be considered to be as good as the first three entries in the series. Solid titles like Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations are only a drop in the ocean of the series, which is filled with mediocre titles that could have done much better with a proper, more focused direction.

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.

It is safe to say that Sonic Frontiers is one of the most anticipated games of the year. This is the blue blurs first big title since Sonic Forces almost five years ago. During his gaming hiatus the speedy little hedgehog has been on a roll with two highly successful movies, and as a result, Sonics profile is the highest it has been in a long time, so this title is a bit of a big deal.

Sonic Frontiers takes an all-too-ambitious approach to reimaging the 'hog in an open world setting. The result is a Sonic who is far too sluggish to control across a wide range of dull combat, exploration, and platforming challenges.

Sonic Frontiers pulls off its open-world debut with grace, but some old habits remain.

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.

It feels as though there are more eyes on Sonic Frontiers, the blue blur’s latest outing, than ever before. The announcement of a more open-world-adjacent formula was met with feelings of trepidation and uncertainty. Is Sonic Frontiers a shot in the arm for the series, or is it more of the same?

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 marks a bold new direction for the series, meshing traditional Sonic action with an open-ended approach to progression and exploration across its semi-open world.

After 23 years of 3D Sonic adventures, we all know how we feel about them; some love them, some demand they be launched into the sun. Regardless of your opinion on the 3D games, it was clear that, after the disaster that was Sonic Forces — a game many consider one of his worst ever — something drastic had to happen. After five years (the longest the series has ever gone without a new mainline entry), Sonic Team is taking a gamble by moving Sonic into an open world, and we're happy to say the gamble paid out.

Super fast gameplay that translated pretty well in an open-zone environment.

“Sonic Frontiers is loaded with downright puzzling design decisions, making for 2022's most bizarre game.”

Even with these positives, however, it doesn’t feel like enough to really save the game and turn it into something special. While many gameplay issues could be changed in the future via patches, currently, the core gameplay experience just isn’t fun. All the ideas are there, but they aren’t executed to their fullest potential.

Still, 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.

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.

Even if you’ve set high expectations for Sonic Frontiers, I feel like the game should have no trouble meeting them. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that Sonic Frontiers serves as one of the most refreshing entries the franchise has seen in years. If you’re on the fence, let this serve as an encouragement to check out the game. It’s well worth it, and then some.

I love Sonic games. They’re cheesy, over the top, crammed with heart, and tons of fun. That being said, they’re not always… good? But I love them anyway. Sonic Frontiers is a perfect Sonic game. It tugs at your heart strings, it’s a blast to play, and it’s peppered with moments of intense frustration and grief. Whether Frontiers is a good game, as well as a good Sonic game, is a more complicated matter.

In many ways, Sonic Frontiers feels like a concept for the future of the franchise rather than a fully realized experience in its own right. The game’s disparate elements often push and pull against each other, but there’s still a good time to be had, even amid that friction. I’m excited to see what Sonic Team can do with this formula if they hone it down and focus on what works.