SONIC FRONTIERS

Developer/publisher Sega (Sonic Team) Format PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series Origin Japan Release Q4 2022

The reveal trailer may have given little away, but those rolling green hills sure look pretty, as Sega’s long-standing mascot goes open world. Ordinarily, this would be cause for concern: it’s fair to say Sonic hasn’t adapted to the third dimension to the extent Mario has, his particular set of skills seemingly best suited to linear 2D obstacle courses. But elsewhere this issue we examine how indie open-world games have started to focus on traversal, and with Square’s Forspoken and now this, it seems bigger studios are following suit. The acid test will be how it feels when the Blue Blur is invariably forced to slow down.