Digital Foundry, the internet’s prominent game graphics and performance testing site, recently went hands on with every major console version of Sonic Frontiers, including the Switch and each major hardware step of the Playstation 4/5 and Xbox X/S/One.
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With Sonic Frontiers’ release inching ever closer, SEGA has yet another sampling of the OST, this time highlighting Ares Island, and an interview with the man behind this and many other modern Sonic soundtracks.
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After much anticipation, today marks the release of Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Divergence, a Knuckles-focused animated short announced during the most recent Sonic Central presentation.
The short focuses on Knuckles in an introspective moment as he contemplates his own isolation. With surprising directness, the story ties itself to the events of Sonic Adventure, as well as the precursor civilizations that exist on the fringes of Sonic lore. For Sonic continuity buffs, the short certainly suggest that the tendrils of the Starfall Islands have a very wide, very old reach.
As with Sonic Frontiers proper, the short was written by Ian Flynn with consulting from Evan Stanley, with the animation itself handled once again by Tyson Hesse and Powerhouse Animation Studio. Dave Mitchell returns as Knuckles, though with significantly more nuanced dialog than in his prior performance in Team Sonic Racing. And to round out the veritable who’s who of official Sonic projects, Tee Lopes composed the short’s original music.
Divergence gives a much heartier taste of Sonic Frontiers’ story than Prologue: Convergence and plays into the tone that Frontiers on the whole has established. This isn’t pure goofball Knucklehead, but the short strikes a balance of not being overly serious either. It builds itself upon the existing Sonic world, both classic and modern, while seeding Frontiers’ own mysteries.
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Closing out their pre-release coverage of Frontiers, IGN returns this morning with one additional preview of the game’s PC version, including details on general game progression, the “Memory Tokens” to collect, Cyber Space level motifs, and some fresh footage of the game’s third island.
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Somewhere among the many farming games, the 3000 hours of Persona games, and revisionist history PAC-MAN, we got a few more details on Sonic Frontiers:
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A number of outlets seem to have additional gameplay footage following Sonic Frontiers’ appearance and hands-on impressions at Summer Game Fest. The footage itself looks to be samples for use with video impressions (such as NintendoEverything’s Hands-On), but the clean five minutes of footage has also surfaced (via SEGABits):
Among new views of the opening area, Sonic deals with a few more significant combat encounters that vary quite a bit. Sonic performs homing-attacks on a bipedal blade-wielding enemy, and counters its defensive move with some sort of rapid swing to get behind it.
In the following encounter, Sonic fights a towering drill enemy, breaking its lower segments and avoiding a spinning ring the enemy uses like a hammer. In both scenarios, a little white line (like some sort of spider-sense) appears to show Sonic when an enemy is about to unleash an attack. Further, both victories earn Sonic a “gear” that we’ve come to understand help unlock the more traditional stages in the game. A mysterious voice (not Amy) states “Use the gear as you have done before.”
A later encounter with a smaller enemy shows a distinct counter move, where after fighting a red ring-shaped enemy, it begins spinning like a top before Sonic deals a finishing blow with a cinematic kick.
Previously unseen world elements include platforms that elevate when you hit them with homing attack and a field full of monolith-style upright tablets. We previously saw changes in time of day and weather, but those features of the world are really highlighted here, with Sonic approaching the blade enemy as rain pools in the arena. Later, Sonic navigates floating platforms as the sun sets in the background. We’re also reintroduced to the large tower that Sonic scaled in the first IGN footage, but this time, Sonic runs further up one of the spires at the top to show off the scope of the land past distant cliffs.
Sonic Frontiers is still months away from release, and while this drip feed of info about this new play style has been frustrating, this new footage has a few small bits to be optimistic about if you’re looking for more involved combat and bizarre places to explore. Keep an eye out here on Sonic Stadium, as we’ll be rounding up the many hands-on impressions coming out of Summer Game Fest soon.
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If you hadn’t caught it, the official Sonic YouTube channel teased bringing the Sonic Vtuber models stateside in the form of a Tails “streaming” series, TailsTube. The first episode premiered today, and it came with some answers to a longstanding question in the modern franchise.
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The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
UPDATE Oct. 27: Additional commentary-free footage of Mirage Saloon, Tails, and Knuckles has been added to the original story, courtesy of Polygon and GameSpot.
At the 25th anniversary party, the debuting Sonic Mania trailer confirmed that Tails and Knuckles would be returning as playable characters for the retro celebration title. Today, we finally have footage of the pair, along with the reveal of a brand new desert-type Zone, seemingly inspired by the cut Desert Dazzle stage from the Sonic CD remaster. Continue reading UPDATE: New Sonic Mania Footage Reveals a Familiar Desert Zone, and Tails and Knuckles Playability
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SEGA showed off a very tongue-in-cheek infomercial two weeks ago for the Collector’s Edition of Sonic Mania, which starred familiar faces such as Aaron Webber and Kazuyuki Hoshino. Fans of old loved the nostalgic infomercial parody advert for parodying the original Sonic 2 commercial… which was also a parody of infomercials in itself. The rabbit hole gets so much more nauseating from there…
If you were interested in the filming process behind the Mania infomercial, then have no fear: Sonic’s got you covered. Check out the behind-the-scenes below!
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It’s been two years in the making, but Sanzaru Games’ Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice for the Nintendo 3DS is finally upon us. Having launched for the Americas just yesterday, the third installment of the spinoff series will be arriving in Europe this Friday while Japanese hopefuls will have to wait another month. Promises were made about the game shaping up to be better and faster-paced than the preceding Shattered Crystal, and according to most critics, Sanzaru certainly delivered.
You can check out the launch trailer above, as well as a review roundup below!
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Sonic Paradise member Alpha3 was lucky enough to come across a Sonic Cosmo Fighter Galaxy Patrol arcade machine while on holiday in China earlier this year, and has kindly shared some gameplay footage on YouTube for all to see. Continue reading This is What Sonic Cosmo Fighter Galaxy Patrol Plays Like
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Want to see what the amazing Sonic Generations Collector’s Edition contains? Well, let us give you a little tour! TSS’ very own Dreadknux was invited to SEGA’s offices to film an unboxing video. He clearly loved the package, and for those of you in the US this might be the closest you can get to one so be sure to give it a good watch. Continue reading Watch Dreadknux Unbox The Sonic Generations Collector’s Edition
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Over the weekend, we discovered the first footage of Sonic Advance 2! We suspect this video was taken during one of the recent Japanese events that showcased the new GBA game. It shows Sonic darting through the first Zone, Leaf Forest, and features new enemies, faster gameplay and new running animations. Continue reading Watch the First Sonic Advance 2 Footage Here
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