In what little ofSonic Frontiershas been shown, the community is buzzing at the prospects of the ambitious title. Sega is keeping most of its cards onSonic the Hedgehog’s next adventure close to its chest, but it has spoken about a few things though, like how Sonic’s movement will work.
While fans got a sneak peek at the game in 2021,Sonic Frontierswas officially revealed at The Game Awards 2021. While the trailer lacked formal gameplay, Sega did show a sizzle reel of open environments, or rather, an “open-zone"Sonicgame. A game of this caliber seems like the perfect way to have celebratedSonic’s 30th anniversary in 2021, but having learned from its past mistakes, Sega held the game back to ensure its quality. Infamously, Sega rushed outSonic the Hedgehog 06’to meet the series' 15th anniversary.
RELATED:Sega Confirms Sonic Frontiers Missed 30th Anniversary to Ensure Quality
In an interview with GamesRadar’s Josh West, Sonic Team’s creative officer Takashi Iizuka provided some new information onSonic Frontiers, particularly how Sonic’s movement will work. According to Iizuka, figuring out how to translateSonic’s speed and combat abilities into larger levelswas one of Sonic Team’s greatest challenges duringSonic Frontier’s development. The solution, apparently, was to expand on Sonic’s moveset. “With Sonic Frontiers, we’ll introduce new combat styles to bring Sonic’s signature dexterity onto the battlefield, and the new exploration options obviously play into his iconic speedy nature,” Iizuka explains.
As West mentions in their write-up, Iizuka is being very particular with their words here, in order to not give too much away. They do not disclose what any of these moves look like or how they work, though fans can probably imagine some of the changes that are required to get Sonic to work fluently in open 3D environments.
The last major shake-up in Sonic’s movement came with2013’sSonic Lost World, giving the player much more control over their speed through the implementation of a “run” button. More generally, Sonic has used the boost formula for the last 15 or so years, with games likeSonic Lost Worldbeing an outlier.
It should not come as a surprise that Sega ismodifying Sonic’s movement forSonic Frontiers. Considering Iizuka refers to both Sonic’s combat and explorative abilities, chances areSonic Frontierswill have a variety of new features that allow players to maintain their speed while either fighting or going off the beaten path.
Where someSonicgames have faltered in the past is either not being fully designed around new mechanics, or simply not doing enough with them. From what Iizuka says, though, it seems like Sonic Team has things under control.
Sonic Frontiersis in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
