I'll say bluntly that this will not be an unbiased review. If this were unbiased, I'd be rating this game more around a 7 or so, but screw it.
I've read every single Sonic comic book. I've consumed most Sonic medias. I can say without a doubt this game is some of the strongest Sonic's ever been written with. From the amazing character interactions, the really cool world building, and cranking the shonen inspirations Sonic's always had into full force had me the most joyous I've been at the series in so long. There is no bad line, no bad scene, nothing at all where I am dissatisfied with the story besides clamoring for more. This is also raw, unfiltered fanservice to continuity buffs like me. Referencing Shadow the Hedgehog and Riders casually, directly addressing the issues with Tails' characterization since Unleashed, and directly canonizing characters like Tangle and Sticks who are outside continuity characters made me lose my MIND.
Helps the game's really fun too. Combat's about as ideal as I'd like a Sonic game to be: High speed, but not too complex. There's obviously broken moves like the Sonic Boom and its upgrade but these moves are fun precisely because it isn't balanced. You're Sonic the Hedgehog, the only thing stopping you are the Titans. The Titan fights are so amazing I can't even begin to start gushing about them. This is what I've been clamoring for with Sonic boss fights for ages because even the best ones in the series are just fine. These though? Awesome.
Movement is really weird to get used to at first but the ability to freely customize your controls and how they handle does a lot (except the unfortunate systems cursed to have the game crash when attempting to use the options menu). There are some weird quirks though like homing attack being only able to be on visible things which makes trying to hit some stuff awkward, Boost around Lv. 20 Speed flinging you into the air if you so much as brush against a rock which makes Cylooping a walking only ordeal, Boost no longer being invincible which makes my muscle memory scream, and most bizarrely the sheer lack of air control outside of the air boost which gets not very precise at higher levels.
The problems in this game are all really weird little quirks. The previously mentioned control quirks, the fact the game slowly becomes more 2D dominant the more you go in with the game trapping you in fixed 2D camera angle spaces if you so much as land on the wrong place, the pinball minigame being too long and feeling too heavy, the level design in Cyberspace sometimes being at odds with the control scheme, the entire 4th island basically being false advertising, and more minor inconveniences that either had me tilting my head or chuckling at how they decided that was a good idea to keep in the game. Depending on the person, they're either negligible or can really pile up so your mileage may vary. My annoyances were mostly paved with being a ginormous fan of the writing and presentation, but I am only one guy.
I'm really eager to see if they decide to keep perfecting this formula and I eagerly hope they make a Frontiers 2 to iron out all the kinks found in this game. More specifically, I am so excited to see Ian Flynn take the reigns for story and see what he does with this series in the games themselves. You could make the perfect Sonic game if you improve on the formulas lain out here with level design catered for the controls and cutting all the weird stuff out of the game. If they don't learn from this game at all, I'm going to drown everyone who worked on this game in my tears.
I've read every single Sonic comic book. I've consumed most Sonic medias. I can say without a doubt this game is some of the strongest Sonic's ever been written with. From the amazing character interactions, the really cool world building, and cranking the shonen inspirations Sonic's always had into full force had me the most joyous I've been at the series in so long. There is no bad line, no bad scene, nothing at all where I am dissatisfied with the story besides clamoring for more. This is also raw, unfiltered fanservice to continuity buffs like me. Referencing Shadow the Hedgehog and Riders casually, directly addressing the issues with Tails' characterization since Unleashed, and directly canonizing characters like Tangle and Sticks who are outside continuity characters made me lose my MIND.
Helps the game's really fun too. Combat's about as ideal as I'd like a Sonic game to be: High speed, but not too complex. There's obviously broken moves like the Sonic Boom and its upgrade but these moves are fun precisely because it isn't balanced. You're Sonic the Hedgehog, the only thing stopping you are the Titans. The Titan fights are so amazing I can't even begin to start gushing about them. This is what I've been clamoring for with Sonic boss fights for ages because even the best ones in the series are just fine. These though? Awesome.
Movement is really weird to get used to at first but the ability to freely customize your controls and how they handle does a lot (except the unfortunate systems cursed to have the game crash when attempting to use the options menu). There are some weird quirks though like homing attack being only able to be on visible things which makes trying to hit some stuff awkward, Boost around Lv. 20 Speed flinging you into the air if you so much as brush against a rock which makes Cylooping a walking only ordeal, Boost no longer being invincible which makes my muscle memory scream, and most bizarrely the sheer lack of air control outside of the air boost which gets not very precise at higher levels.
The problems in this game are all really weird little quirks. The previously mentioned control quirks, the fact the game slowly becomes more 2D dominant the more you go in with the game trapping you in fixed 2D camera angle spaces if you so much as land on the wrong place, the pinball minigame being too long and feeling too heavy, the level design in Cyberspace sometimes being at odds with the control scheme, the entire 4th island basically being false advertising, and more minor inconveniences that either had me tilting my head or chuckling at how they decided that was a good idea to keep in the game. Depending on the person, they're either negligible or can really pile up so your mileage may vary. My annoyances were mostly paved with being a ginormous fan of the writing and presentation, but I am only one guy.
I'm really eager to see if they decide to keep perfecting this formula and I eagerly hope they make a Frontiers 2 to iron out all the kinks found in this game. More specifically, I am so excited to see Ian Flynn take the reigns for story and see what he does with this series in the games themselves. You could make the perfect Sonic game if you improve on the formulas lain out here with level design catered for the controls and cutting all the weird stuff out of the game. If they don't learn from this game at all, I'm going to drown everyone who worked on this game in my tears.
Reviewed on Nov 11, 2022