What are you playing?

[marurun]

For all its flaws, Sonic Adventure sticks with me a lot better than any of the 2D titles I played. Sonic has always had some fundamental issues stemming from going real fast, even in 2D.

[REPO Man]

Those issues are worse in 3D. But on the subject of Frontiers, how bad are the bottomless pits of death? 3D Sonic games have a major boner for falling to one's death.

[Raging Justice]

Ugh, why do people take everything so literal and get so easily offended these days? I wasn't "calling to violence". Anyone who literally believes I want Sonic Team dead has a very low IQ. It's like you can't be expressive anymore with your language these days without triggering someone.

There's bottomless pitfalls sure, it's Sonic after all, though running into spikes, awkwardly placed enemies, and obnoxious springs that send you flying backwards irritate me more to be honest.

The emphasis on speed, speed, SPEED is one of the things ruining modern Sonic games, but at least Forces had a certain flow to its level design that facilitated blitzing through levels, not the case with the awkward level designs in Frontiers. Also, Sonic "feels" off in how he moves, but that's true in practically EVERY modern game, but I noticed it more here than in Forces.

Another issue with Frontiers that once again points to how Sonic games have generally lost their way. There's an emphasis now on awkward, melee combat that just had me face palming. Remember when the Sonic franchise were platformers? Now they are melee action games, open world games, speed based games that almost feel like racing games, oh, and I can't forget the Tony Hawk style "tricks" in each game now too

Even Sonic's move set is getting overly complicated now with a bunch of moves, half of which you likely won't even use when playing through the game.

Also, there's pointless RPG mechanics with stats for attack, defense, rings (health), and speed...because apparently Sonic isn't actually that fast after all. These stats are pointless, as they seem to only apply to open world encounters (awkward melee combat) and don't apply at all to the actual levels in the game.

Last but not least, the open world is this bleak place with oddly tranquil music, and drab, dreary colors. Sonic with his bright blue color as well as the bright yellow rings and red springs all look out of place in this dystopian looking environment. It's...jarring. Sonic Frontiers seems to want to tell a more mature story and this bleak world is part of that, but it's still a Sonic game with him doing one liners and being flippant about everything. It's like two entirely different games clashing with each other.

God, I wish Sonic could get back to his roots. Platforming, bright/colorful environments, an upbeat, kid friendly feel, exploration, platforming, instead of blasting through levels like Speedy Gonzalez and engaging in awkward melee encounters, while doing bland, boring, open world stuff. Frontiers is as far removed from Sonic's past as any modern Sonic game I have played. Forces at least had some fun energy to it (and I actually enjoyed the slightly different player Avatar levels), and Generations definitely recaptured some of the old magic, Frontiers though, doesn't even feel like Sonic at all. I don't know what the hell this game is. Bizarrely, it's getting some good reviews from some places, which makes me think that deep down inside, many critics HATE Sonic. The more far removed a game goes from what Sonic was, the better the reviews will be.

[REPO Man]

Well, thank God for ROM hacks and fangames. They had the latest Sonic Hacking Contest last month and the Sonic Amateur Games Expo some time before that. There's also a couple of Taxman-style remakes of the first two SMS games and a Genesis-style remake of Triple Trouble based on the engine used in Sonic: Time Twisted, another great fangame.

[Raging Justice]

To truly show what a sad state the franchise is in today. I'm going to quote a few comments from a gaming site's review in regards to the actual levels in Frontiers i.e. the parts of the game where Frontiers actually tries to feel like a traditional Sonic game. The levels are known as cyber space stages. Keep in mind, the reviewer makes these comments after several paragraphs of gushing over the open world stuff and the new, "mature" story.

"They can be obtained in many ways...like completing the Cyber Space stages. The latter can be understood as Frontiers’ take on special stages due to their relative brevity. These levels are throwbacks to Sonic’s past. These levels, as mentioned before, are brief, usually lasting around a minute or two. While some fans may think that to be too short, I found their lengths ideal since these are not the main game by any stretch. Instead, they’re commemorative side tasks to gain items." - Noisypixel (the site in question)

This is how reviewers view actual Sonic levels now. "Special stages", "a throwback to Sonic's past", "commemorative side tasks" that serve no purpose other than to gain items. It's like he's describing some optional mini-games.

That's depressing.

[Sload Soap]

Sonic Mania is the only non-mobile, non-crossover Sonic game to sell more than 1 million units in the last ten years. So Repo is totally right and gets 20 points for Gryffindor.

[PretentiousHipster]

Ugh, why do people take everything so literal and get so easily offended these days? I wasn't "calling to violence". Anyone who literally believes I want Sonic Team dead has a very low IQ. It's like you can't be expressive anymore with your language these days without triggering someone.

Did you just get TRIGGERED by them getting angry at something edgy bro?!

[marurun]

Ugh, why do people take everything so literal and get so easily offended these days? I wasn't "calling to violence". Anyone who literally believes I want Sonic Team dead has a very low IQ. It's like you can't be expressive anymore with your language these days without triggering someone.

I have no issue with expressive language, but when your language is that explicit it's no longer expressive, it's simply in poor taste.

Sonic Mania is the only non-mobile, non-crossover Sonic game to sell more than 1 million units in the last ten years. So Repo is totally right and gets 20 points for Gryffindor.

Based on data from vgchartz it looks like, excluding PC sales which weren't listed in their database, Sonic Forces sold about 1.59 million units across PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. It sold 234,000 units in the first week alone. Sonic Lost World appears to have sold only .7 million units, but it was only on 3DS and WiiU, neither of which is known for outlandish sales numbers. Sonic Generations, which is a bit older than 10 years, shows about 1.85 million units sold. Sonic Mania has probably sold more copies than any of those individual titles, but it's also a budget release that's gone on sale frequently and also has appeared in double-packs. I'm having trouble finding sales numbers for Sonic Colors Ultimate divorced from the original release, but indications are that it's done well in its re-released form.

Put simply, Sonic is Sega's single most visible property. It has to see releases across every platform in almost every gaming environment in order to keep it in front of the eyes of kids everywhere. That means mobile titles, "classic" style releases, and modern 3D tentpole titles. If Sega removes him from the forefront of fancy 3D releases Sonic loses some of that clout and salability. Even if his AA-AAA titles stink, they still draw attention and keep Sonic in the spotlight as a character. Would it be great if Sega could nail down a more reliable model for 3D Sonic games? Hell yes. But they'd be fools to stop trying, even in the face of bum reviews.

[REPO Man]

Sonic Mania is the only non-mobile, non-crossover Sonic game to sell more than 1 million units in the last ten years. So Repo is totally right and gets 20 points for Gryffindor.

Thanks, but even if I wasn't boycotting the works of J.K. Rowling, I'd identify as Ravenclaw.

[Sload Soap]

I apologise unreservedly. 20 points to Ravenclaw. -20 points from Hufflepuff for Maru's reply.