Sonic Needs to Abandon the Open-World Style of Sonic Frontiers

by

In the early 2000s, Sonic the Hedgehog decided to imitate Mario and venture into the three-dimensional realm of platforming games. Given that both characters were prominent figures in the gaming industry during this period, with Mario achieving significant success due to Super Mario 64, it was a logical move for SEGA to attempt something similar for Sonic.

It’s more critically panned than its counterpart. Compared to even the least-liked 3D Mario game, Super Mario Sunshine, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) has received a lot of criticism. However, the 2D Sonic games have managed to maintain their quality, but they haven’t quite reached the level of adoration that even the least-loved 3D Mario game enjoys.

The situation changed when Sonic Frontiers was released in 2022. Despite not receiving outstanding criticism, it was more successful than most 3D Sonic games. However, its performance suggests that Sonic might benefit from abandoning the open-world concept and potentially returning to 2D platforming.

Sonic the Hedgehog’s Next Venture Should Be Linear Again

In numerous aspects, Sonic Frontiers broke new ground. It placed Sonic within an authentic open-world setting, offering a wealth of activities beyond the primary stages. However, it’s debatable that this aspect of the game is its least robust.

In certain planets, moving across open landscapes can be incredibly challenging to reach Sonic’s destination. Moreover, Sega aimed to encourage players to explore a fresh aspect, causing them to spend significantly more time traversing the island compared to typical Sonic stages.

The quality of the levels remains strong, demonstrating that despite some stumbles along the way, SEGA is capable of creating excellent platforming stages for their famous mascot. It would have been better if they focused more on this aspect. The open-world elements, however, can be tiresome at best and a significant deterrent at worst.

Constantly traversing through relatively monotonous landscapes, aiming to gather approximately 30 objects either from foes or by solving riddles, proved to be a daring move that didn’t quite hit the mark. Despite this, Sega showed ambition and creativity in their endeavor to innovate the formula, drawing inspiration from what has been successful in the video game industry (imagine if Sonic found himself in the world of Breath of the Wild, at least on occasion visually).

It’s incredibly aggravating that navigating through these stages requires such persistence due to their irritating nature. Often, it takes a considerable amount of time to locate a new stage to explore. If you’ve advanced to the segment where you must gather keys from different stages but have either exhausted your options or achieved all possible tasks on earlier levels, finding another one becomes quite challenging.

Games ought to be engaging, but they should test players in ways that don’t frustrate or annoy them. Players of Sonic Frontiers shouldn’t have to spend significantly more time searching for a level than actually playing it. It would be monotonous if a Mario platformer required you to manually hunt for new levels/worlds, and that was the case with Sonic Frontiers as well.

The main concern seems to revolve around the extensive open-world gameplay in this game. While some degree of it might be acceptable, if Sonic needed to explore a wide area, gather items, and complete levels, it wouldn’t be catastrophic. The problem isn’t that an open world exists; it’s that it feels like it’s overwhelming the player experience.

Approximately 20 hours in, Sonic Frontiers may not be a long game, but it’s evident that the developers have strived to extend its playtime. Shortening it and minimizing time spent exploring for the next task would create a more polished, efficient gaming experience.

It’s uncertain if Sega has the ability to pull off what they attempted with Sonic Frontiers. They made a valiant effort, infusing some creative role-playing game (RPG) elements into the game to make it both successful and distinctive. Regrettably, at this point, there is no concrete proof that they can effectively balance all the elements they aimed to incorporate in this project.

1. A return to the roots of linear 2D platforming.
2. Limiting the environment where Sonic exists.

https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/sonic-the-hedgehog-steam-sale-shadow/embed/#

Read More

2025-07-24 00:45