It may not be the bestSonicgame, butSonic Frontierswas a breath of fresh air for the modern 3D era of the franchise. After years of BoostSonicgames coming out to varied receptions, getting support from a large portion of the fanbase and selling well is better than expected forSonic Frontiers. While parts of the game came out rough, the core ideas of placing Sonic in a giant field and having him fight epic boss battles carried many players through the game. It feels likeSonic the Hedgehogis finally stepping into a new era after the last one overstayed its welcome.
With that said, there’s still lots of room for improvement. A year of post-launch support has been announced to polishFrontiersto a degree and add several interesting features to it, including more challenges and even a story expansion. It’s been years since the red carpet’s been rolled out for a 3DSoniclike this, and combined with the recentHollywood movies andSonic Prime, the brand has a lot of momentum right now. To capitalize on that, development onSonic Frontiersshould wrap up at the end of its announced updates and move on to the next big Sonic title.
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Sonic Frontiers' Updates Can’t Be Too Large
Right now, three main updates are planned to release across 2023 forSonic Frontiers. The first update should come in the first half of the year, bringing a juke box, photo mode, and new challenge modes. A second update will apparently do something special for Sonic’s birthday as well as add open zone challenges and a new kind of Koco, so it’s expected to drop around theoriginalSonic the Hedgehogrelease dateof June 23. The final major update will be a full-on story expansion and new playable characters, but there’s no indication of what this means besides pictures of Amy, Knuckles, Tails, and Sage. It could recount the heroes' interactions with Sage in Cyber Space while Sonic is elsewhere, but fans have high hopes regardless.
They may want to keep their expectations in check, as this expansion probably won’t be more than a few hours long. As is true for most post-launch support in non-service games, the full brunt of development has already moved elsewhere.Frontierscould get more attention than most depending on how many new assets and levels are going to be added, but there should still be a fair amount of recycled content. Managinghype forSonic Frontiers' roadmapwill be vital, and Sonic Team will want to be forthright with its intended scope in the coming months. Development focus has likely gone to the next bigSonicgame, as it should.
The Next Sonic Game Needs To Start Production
RebuildingSonic the Hedgehogafter every major outing has been exhausting for fans and developers alike, and the better-receivedSonic Frontiersprovides a more defined blueprint to move forward with. The five years between an underwhelmingSonic Forcesand a slightly undercookedSonic Frontierscould be sidestepped, but development would need to go full steam ahead as soon as possible. Ideally, by the timeSonic Frontiers' skeleton team is able to rejoin the rest of Sonic Team, plans for the next installment would already be laid out. After that, it’s just a matter of addressing what didn’t work inFrontierswhile building the next game.
The need to move on will keepSonic Frontiers' support short, but much will be forgiven if it’s also sweet. A good send-off would involve allowingSonic Frontiers' new playable charactersto be used outside their expansion’s content. Compatibility with the base game’s map could enable players to make their own fun in the open zones, especially if the other post-launch challenges accommodate them. It will disappoint some, butSonic Frontiers' development should wrap up quickly, allowing the next game to come sooner and turn out better.
Sonic Frontiersis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:How a Sonic Frontiers Sequel Could Improve Upon the First Game
