Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was first confirmed on February 16th, alongside the announcement of a spin-off live-action series featuring the return of Idris Elba as Knuckles. So far, the live-action franchise featuring James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Tika Sumpter, and Ben Schwartz as the Hedgehog himself has been a smashing success. The first movie became the highest-grossing video game adaptation ever, only to be surpassed by its sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which launched last April. Fans of the Hedgehog also recently got to play Sonic Origins, though our Nathan Birch wasn’t exactly thrilled with the remaster. Sonic Origins does well by Sega’s classics, but only to a point. While the action feels true to the 16-bit originals, an abbreviated list of games, lack of features and archival goodies, and frustrating crashes keep this collection a step short of greatness. Hardcore Sonic fans looking to relive some of the hedgehog’s best games in widescreen HD ought to have fun, but others may wish Sega had reached harder for that shiny gold ring. SEGA is also planning to release the ambitious open world-like game Sonic Frontiers later this year, though Kai’s impression when playing it at the Summer Game Fest was not entirely positive. The various activities in Sonic Frontiers largely feel disjointed from one another so far. There is a large open-world map with safety bumpers in place to keep the player moving forward on one track early on (with hills too tall to scale on one side and endless pits of clouds and open skies on the other). The activities and points of interest feel randomly thrown together without something to really bind them together. As Sonic runs through the valley, there could be bumper pads to launch him up onto an aerial platform that he can explore for additional rings or a grind rail that leads to one of Amy’s Memory Pieces before dropping him back off onto the path he was already taking. If Sonic Frontiers wants to be a unique and memorable experience for grown-up Sonic fans, I do hope that those guiding rails drop away shortly into the experience and Sonic truly has the opportunity to explore those Frontiers with his own two feet.
