Sonic Frontierswas announced a year ago with a rather vague teaser trailer. Fans would have to wait until months later to see their first glimpse of what the game would truly be like, and the reveal may have been worth the wait.Sonic Frontierswas shown at The Game Awards to be what Sega has been calling the first “open-zone"Sonicgame, which takes inspiration from open world games likeThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, Sega has yet to reveal proper gameplay for the title.
This has left fans wondering just what kind of experience they’ll be in for with the nextSonicgame. While there are some core facets that make the franchise what it is, fans have come to expect a variety of different gameplay styles from the blue blur. Sega has also emphasized that theopen-zone nature ofFrontiersmay be carried to future titles, which has made players question just how Sonic’s famous speed will play into how the game works.
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Sonic Frontiers' Fast-Paced Gameplay
One potential approach that Sonic Team could take towardFrontiers’gameplay is to take notes directly from the success ofSonic Unleashed.Unleashedwas most famous for being the first game to feature the “Boost” mechanic that would be carried onwards togames such asSonic Generations,Colors, andForces. This let players use rings to fill up a gauge that would allow fans to press a button to have Sonic run at breakneck speeds.
How the Boost-driven gameplay could be applied to an open world-like setting would require the game to be completely in 3D. However, that isn’t new ground asSonic Unleashedwould give fans some open spaces to quickly pick paths to explore during its “daytime” stages that would serve as a blueprint for “open zones” almost perfectly. For any diehardSonic Unleashedfan, a game like this may seem like a dream. However,Sonic Frontiersshouldn’t be afraid to take it slow, either.
How Sonic Frontiers Can Benefit From Slower Gameplay
While some fans may enjoy the idea of aSonicgame featuring the same fast-paced gameplay asSonic Unleashed, not allSonicgames need to be that fast to be enjoyable. There’s one title inSonic’shistory that makes this point rather clear on its own, and that wasSonic Lost World.Lost Worldsaw Sonic traverse across the Lost Hex at a much slower rate than previous releases, but it more than made up for it by giving players tons of space to explore on every level.
In exchange forUnleashed’sBoost speeds, players were given a run button that - while slower - offered tight and comfortable controls. Players could run anywhere at a pace that could be switched on a dime to avoid stage hazards. The run button also doubled as a parkour button when players got near walls and ledges in the natural environment, which opened up just where fans could take Sonic immensely. This could handle abig concern withFrontiersin that it’s possible that making Sonic run too fast will lead to players running out of space very quickly in a way that sacrifices some speed for control and exploration to save on space.
However, there’s no reason whySonic Frontierscan’t allow these gameplay styles to meet in the middle. The location the nextSonicgame has been said to focus on is the Starfall Islands, which have been described to feature many different biomes.Sonic Team could easily focusonLost World-esque parkour and speed on land, whereas when players want to move to a different island or zone, they could run across the water surrounding the islands in a high-speed segment similar toUnleashed.
While this concept may sound great for someSonicfans, it’s purely speculation due to the lack of gameplay footage available. Players will need to wait and see just how Sonic’s speed is used in the next game in future updates. Luckily, Sega has stated thatSonic Frontiersnews is coming soon, so hopefully, fans won’t have to wait much longer to understand just what this “open-zone” game has in store.
Sonic Frontiersis set to launch in holiday 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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