Sonic Frontiers

Sonic Frontiers is a 2022 Sonic the Hedgehog game.

Pre-release
Initially teased on the 27th May, 2021 as part of the Sonic Central 30th anniversary livestream, Sonic Frontiers was officially announced on the 10th December, 2021 at the Game Awards 2021.

From the official Sonic website:


 * "An experience like never before, accelerate to new heights and experience the thrill of high velocity open-zone freedom.
 * Battle powerful enemies as you speed through the Starfall Islands - landscapes brimming with dense forests, overflowing waterfalls, sizzling deserts and more!
 * This Holiday 2022 - Speed into new realms."

Sonic Boom and IDW Sonic the Hedgehog comic writer Ian Flynn was confirmed to be working on the story.

Playable Characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Super Sonic

Non-playable Characters

 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Big the Cat
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Sage (first appearance)
 * Koco (first appearance)

Mentioned Characters

 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Rouge the Bat
 * E-123 Omega
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Blaze the Cat
 * Sticks the Badger
 * Tangle the Lemur
 * Metal Sonic
 * Deadly Six
 * Jet the Hawk
 * Tikal
 * Orbot
 * Cubot
 * Babylonians
 * Black Arms
 * Chaos

Gameplay
Sonic Frontiers is the first open-world Sonic game (the developers named as open-zone), and has Sonic exploring open-world landscapes such as grassy fields, ancient ruins, and mountains. Grind rails, Springs, and other gimmicks are commonly found in the open-zone areas, usually to help the player collect “Memory Tokens.”

Memory Tokens are used to be able to talk to characters on the islands, including Sage. Most of these are required to pass on through the game, although the characters can also be found after the game is completed.

Portals can also be rarely found. Portal Gears, which are collected from defeated bosses (referred to as Guardians) are used to open them, and one can access the Cyber Space stages with the portals. These stages are designed after Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary, and a city stage.

When completing certain challenges in these stages such as collecting all Red Star Rings and beating the level in a certain time, the player earns Vault Keys. Vault Keys are required to gain access to the Chaos Emeralds, which are needed to fight the main bosses, the Titans, of the islands. The End, the game's secret main antagonist, can also be battled. Most of the battle is in quick-time events unless the Hard Mode difficulty is set. The Titans are the most powerful bosses in the game, and Super Sonic is required to defeat them. These bosses include Giganto, Wyvern, Knight, and Supreme, the last of which is playable during the fight with the End.

The game is known for having an advanced combat system, with Skill Points gained from defeating enemies and breaking some objects in the open-world. The spin-dash can be unlocked if the player gets an S-rank on specific types of challenges found on most of the Starfall islands.

One of the most notable glitches in the game, the Homing Dash, was officially acknowledged by Sega and given the official name. Due to commonly being used in Cyberspace stages like 1-2, a white asterisk is shown if the player completes a Cyberspace stage using the glitch. Differently colored asterisks were added in one of the game's latest updates, marking other techniques used in the Cyberspace stages.

in March 2023, one of the game's 3 main updates was released, which added a Jukebox that allows players to listen to songs from previous Sonic games, and Sonic Frontiers' main theme, I'm Here.