Sometimes you'd rocket up his torso and he'd suddenly fling you off for no apparent reason, while the red and blue ring fiasco felt a touch imprecise. I bet it makes a great moisturiser too, like snail ooze. Forming a circle of this Sonic guff is great at knocking the buzzsaws into the air and revealing their vulnerable little leggies. hedgehog speed discharge, in a variety of ways for a variety of effects. To defeat smaller enemies that looked like walking buzzsaws required Sonic's magic trail ability, which lets you connect a kind of. You had to dodge red, slide into blue, then make sure to ramp off his arms, land safely, sprint up his torso, hop onto his noggin, and finally dislodge his braincells with a few choice kicks.Īnother fight forced Sonic to think outside of the usual spins and kicks. The boss's arms generated red and blue rings: red pushed you back, while blue boosted you forwards. It was neat! Mainly because the fight wasn't a straight duel to the death but a cleverly constructed platforming challenge too. You'd need to wait for it to slam its arms down, then use them as ramps to propel yourself up to its head which harboured three weak spots. One major highlight came in the form of a Shadow Of The Colossus-esque boss fight with a massive, futuristic robot plucked straight from Destiny. Still, green and grey did surprise more than bore. After a few hours of going fast, I'd want to move on to a different biome, that's for sure. My concern really lies in overall variety namely whether we'll see other types of environments or if green and grey is largely all the game has to offer. And there's a lot of spiraling into the sky as you stumble into floating platforms and curly rails. Granted, they were super simple – and that's coming from someone who's notoriously terrible at puzzles – but will almost certainly ramp up in complexity as you progress. Plus, there's just about enough to keep you occupied, with puzzles dotted around that unlock sections of the map if you complete them. You can now boost in mid-air for nice glides and there's still great satisfaction in stringing together balloon pops, rail-shifts, and platform-hops. Zipping about is a lot of fun, as Sonic's sense of speed outshines a hint of stiffness in his joints. You'll need these to unlock portals to new areas and big doors and to help free your mate Amy from a weird digital cage. Exploration sees you glide across the wilderness and bounce between bitesize Sonic stages, all to get cogs and keys and hearts. Rings and booster pads not only let you traverse things a bit more quickly, but also guide you to the next point of interest. Scan the horizon and you'll spot towers off in the distance with rails and balloons leading up to their summit. The game's opening area is reminiscent of Death Stranding's apocalyptic US, with Sonic giving off the aura of modded Norman Reedus who's been plonked in this sea of green and grey. Occasionally some tinkly piano steps in to fill the void, but for the most part, the atmosphere resembles more of a wilderness than a theme park. The first thing you'll notice when whizzing around is the patter of your bowling shoes or the whoosh as you slap the boost button. And this starts with the music, which – aside from one slice I can't talk about yet – is more melancholic than cheery in fact if anything it's largely non-existent. But from roughly 30 minutes with Sonic Frontiers' tutorial bits and open world introduction, it sets the titular hog on a very different trajectory indeed. Pulsating music helps drive you through levels that spin and twist, as you strive to reach the finish line in as short a time as possible. Traditionally, Sonic games burst with colour and energy. Yes, it's a weird departure for Sonic, but I am here for it. Just seeing it with your eyeballs doesn't do it justice. But having gone hands-on with it at Summer Geoff Fest, I'd like to pose a counter argument: the game needs to be played. The blue hedgehog is back! He goes very fast in his latest instalment, Sonic Frontiers! And lots of fans – naturally – think it looks terrible! The scepticism is understandable.
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