I don’t like making this review. Sonic is my second biggest interest, and I went into this update optimistic, as I had enjoyed the base game, and the tech that was being added, such as Spin Dash, really rejuvenated my hype. This could, and should have been the ending Frontiers deserved, but it’s focused on being the 3D Sonic equivalent of Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels far too often. The result is a product with ideas that I like, that dies by 1,000 cuts. Right out the way, playing as Sonic’s friends in 3D for the first time in 17 years is good. Amy is outright fun to use for once! Tails’ cyclone boost is absurdly fun, as is Knuckles’ infinite glide when you get used to it. Sadly, they don’t START this fun. You’re given these characters without the ability to so much as attack, cyloop, or parry initially, and their stats are the bare minimum too. It’s less than reassuring to start with Knuckles and Amy, two canonically extremely strong characters, only to be unable to fight effectively with them. Tails also cannot homing attack despite the lock on reticle, though his cyclone boost allowing him to fly whilst gaining speed offset that for me. Aesthetically, I find the DLC flounders when it promises “new areas,” only to be greeted with a reskinned Ouranos Island with blocks everywhere. Musically, it’s fundamentally a Sonic game, so it still hits. Sonic’s gameplay is akin to the Rhea Island tower climbs of the base game, but without checkpoints. Many of these towers are the equivalent of playing Getting Over It, as they are as challenging as they are frustrating, and you’ll often see progress vanish before your eyes. The second tower forces you to reload your saves if you fall, as blocks you homing attack to climb literally do not respawn. Similarly, the guardian design is less than enjoyable here, as though they’re reskins of what was in the base game, many have their HP inflated like the artwork many a fetishist within this fanbase draws, and demanding grueling reaction time. These fights would be fine in a game with the combat system to accommodate them, but Frontiers’ combat is not that, as it’s very mashy, designed that even the lowest common denominator of player could enjoy it. That’s fine, but not in the case of bosses like this. Cyberspace stages are shockingly highlights. After being so inconsistent in the base game, they were highlights here due to branching level design, demanding objectives and ranks, and a general encouragement of tech. So, full marks. Where I found the game to unfold was the trials. After you complete a tower as Sonic, you’re asked to complete a trial of the Koco, and there is a bizarre juxtaposition between an extremely precise cyloop trial, and being given 10 full minutes to defeat a single Ninja guardian. Where this killed me was the final one, which asks you to play the first three islands’ Super Sonic bosses in succession, without ring refills or checkpoints, with only 400 rings, minimum stats, and a shortened parry window. As these bosses literally spawned rings mid fight before, it’s just conflating removing convenience with an idea of challenge. I’m not against difficulty in Sonic or other games; my favorite 3D game is literally Unleashed, and I am a hyper-aggressive Mega Man speedrunner, but I draw a line at gating your game’s ending behind content which demands inhuman levels of precision and frame-perfect play for about 15 consecutive minutes. I drew the line here, because I was not going to make fights like these, ostensibly HIGHLIGHTS of the base game, with Knight’s fight being my favorite in the series, into something I hated for sake of seeing some alternate ending. I walked away from the base game enjoying it in spite of its rushed ending, and went into this optimistic. I leave this DLC dropping it because what it asks of me, as a player, does not respect my time and mistakes difficulty with tedium. I know I’m close to its finish line, but am I going to waste my entire day morphing into a cynical hater of fights I loved in the base game because the game asks me to employ speedrunner tactics to win, as someone who, while good at Sonic, just wants to beat the game? No. It’s just so many little paper cuts of inconvenience that stack, converging into some massive, origami buster sword that disembowels you by the end. Maybe I’ll go back to it and finish it, but it certainly won’t be today. I’m past the point of saying I need to complete media I’m miserable with for sake of personal pride, and I’d rather dedicate myself to difficult games that, while punishing, respect me as a player, or in general, games that give me joy. Here’s to hoping Superstars washes this bitter taste from my mouth in 2 and a half weeks. Cheers.