At The Game Awards in December, Sega fully unveiled Sonic Frontiers, which, with its open world setting, is going to try and reinvent the long-running platforming series in drastic fashion. Series fans are obviously excited about the direction the upcoming game’s taking, and it seems Sega, too, has big ambitions in terms of what it aims to do with it.
Speaking recently with GamesRadar, Sonic Team’s creative officer Takashi Iizuka said that with Sonic Frontiers, the studio is pushing itself to do something completely new, echoing similar statements from last year. He said, “With Sonic Frontiers, we are challenging ourselves to deliver an all-new style of Sonic action adventure. We’re once again expanding the Sonic Universe, bringing in new environments and additional features, to create a totally new type of open-zone experience.”
Iizuka went on to add that the development team is looking to “take Sonic to the next level”, adding that improvements and additions made to the game’s combat, movement, and of course, its open world design will contribute to that.
“We focused on bringing Sonic to the next level and ensuring that he’s fully represented as the character that fans know and love while still making his new form exciting,” he said. “We pay extremely close attention to getting all the little Sonic details right to make sure that Sonic’s signature speed and characteristics remain consistent across every gaming iteration. With Sonic Frontiers, we’ll introduce new combat styles to bring Sonic’s signature dexterity onto the battlefield, and the new exploration options obviously play into his iconic speedy nature.”
Sonic Frontiers is due out this Holiday season for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.