As much as I hate to admit it, I’m a sucker for bells and whistles, and any chance to play some of my favorite games ever with new features, tweaks and quality of life upgrades will never fail to pique my interest. From real-time strategy games of the late 90s to MMORPGs of the mid-2000s and recent hits like Apex Legends, Alex has spent his life trying to find a better multiplayer game than Halo 2. Dig that game out now and all the new bits (such as Metal Sonic, in-game time travel and, ahem, Amy Rose) look a little less shiny, but are surprisingly innovative for the series. Still, it was starting to show its age, at least until a recent downloadable port, rebuilt for modern consoles and mobiles, is the game that actually plays as well as you remember. It’s a snapshot into a time before buzzwords like Blast Processing changed the way we see the world; and to think the Nobel Committee continues to look down its play sonic games nose at Sega for that innovation. Instead of trying to roll together everything anyone had ever liked about a Sonic title, Colors was fast, tight, and offered variety via well-placed power-ups and environments built around high-speed thrills.

We can say that it’s relatively rare for such a new game to get such a big price cut, unless the game is terrible — which Sonic Frontiers is not. If there’s a Sonic fan in your life who’s on the fence about the new game, this would be a thoughtful, and relatively inexpensive, gift. Considering the game just came out on November 8, we were expecting to have to wait at least a few more months for such a substantial price drop. At present, only the PS4 and PS5 version are on sale, however, so Xbox and Switch fans will have to wait for another opportunity. However, it’s safe to say that the logo is difficult to read. While it certainly looks like ‘Zap’ more than it does anything else, if that is to be the game’s actual logo, it doesn’t exactly do its job well considering that no one can quite work it out.

• Cultured Vultures is a pop culture website established in 2013 covering all things gaming, movies, and more.
• First, the graphics aren’t antialiased very well, leaving a bit of a grainy look to almost everything in the game.
• It also explains why Sonic doesn’t need to go super to beat him anymore – not only is he stronger now, he’s actually facing a less powerful foe.

Sonic Frontiers is a delightfully weird and experimental evolution of the Sonic games so many of us grew up with. Still, I largely enjoyed my time running around in Frontiers, making it feel like a very promising first attempt at what could be a bright new era for Sonic and friends. Running around at the speed of sound might be a mantra of the fleet-footed hedgehog, but Sonic Frontiers is at its best when you’re given time to simply explore. The music is calming and also solemn at times–even if it knows when to burst into life with a punk rock energy–and there’s even a fishing minigame that lets you earn rewards while slowing down the pace a step further. It’s easy to fall into a zen-like flow as you traverse each island, rattling off objectives as you happen upon them. There are frustrations that arise and break the flow, whether it’s a middling mini-boss or a struggle with Sonic’s floaty movement, and it’s a big departure from what Sonic fans are used to.

Sonic & All-Star Racing Transformed

@XxROTSA2xX Do you think that Sonic Frontiers is like a reboot? I’d like the open zone to be more Sonic with the typical animals, robots, music and strong colours. There are many Sonic characters but at least Tail and Knuckles should be playable next time.

How about NOT locking the true final boss behind hard mode?! @karlhendrikse Why does it need to be the greatest game ever made in order for someone to enjoy it or play it? I’m not trying to convince you or anything, I just wonder why? There’s a lot of good games that aren’t the greatest games ever made or even called such, one that comes to mind is the infamous series.

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The fact that the very first Sonic game is so high up on this list so many years after its release speaks to its quality and also the struggles that Sonic has had matching his early outings in later releases. It remains a ridiculous masterpiece; colorful, fast, and full of an attitude that just wasn’t found in platformers at the time. As an anniversary game goes, you can’t really beat Sonic Generations as an idea.

Sonic runs in many different directions and defines himself in many different ways. Five years have passed since Sonic’s last jaunts were released. Due to that time gap, Sonic Frontiers not only marks the latest entry in the franchise, it also provides an increasingly elusive glimpse into the current direction of Sonic.

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The most important relationship one can have in this life is with their own children and that’s true even for Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik. Cultured Vultures is a pop culture website established in 2013 covering all things gaming, movies, and more. An almost peerless classic and the second best Sonic game ever, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is only surpassed by one nearly perfect game. A versus puzzle game, the point of Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine was to match four beans of the same colour together. Beans could join together in any shape, so long as they were connected in any of the four cardinal directions.