Sonic Frontiers – the game certainly has some similarities to Sonic Adventure but should it play like it too? (pic: Sega)



In response to a fan, Sonic Frontiers’ director has admitted he’s considering going back to an older gameplay style for a future sequel.



For all its flaws, Sonic Frontiers wound up not only being a legitimately good 3D Sonic The Hedgehog game, but also one of the best open world platformers so far.



Series producer Takashi Iizuka already said that Sonic Frontiers would serve as the basis for the next 10 years of the franchise, and those plans are unlikely to change following the positive fan response and the fact that it’s the best selling entry in two decades.



Sonic Frontiers 2 is likely years away, but director Morio Kishimoto has posited ditching the series’ boost formula, that it’s used for years, and returning to gameplay more in line the Sonic Adventure titles.



For context, the boost formula is what most 3D Sonic games have used since 2008’s Sonic Unleashed, named for how you can hold down a button that makes Sonic boost at top speed through levels.



The Adventure games from the late 90s/early 2000s, however, offered free range movement and no boost button, allowing for more open level design compared to the rather linear levels seen in the boost games.



There remain insistent demands from some fans for a Sonic Adventure 3 and Kishimoto is well aware of that, calling the Adventure series ‘a legend’ in a response to a fan on Twitter.



When asked if there was anything he’d like to change about the boost formula, Kishimoto said (via Google Translate), ‘When I started working on this game, I thought a lot about whether or not it would be possible. … I’m still thinking of trying a Sonic game that doesn’t use boosts in my next game.’




ブーストは、このゲームの制作を開始する時に、ありかなしか、すごく悩んで採用を決めました。次回作では、ブーストを使わないソニックゲームにチャレンジしたいと、今でも考えています。 お気に入りの巨大ボスは、最初と2番目のヤツです。 — Morio Kishimoto (@moq_46) January 23, 2023




もちろん、ブーストの利点は理解しています。ブーストとスピンダッシュの共存も実験もするつもりですので、ご安心下さい。ただ、ADVシリーズのような、ブーストの無いレベルデザインに挑戦してみたい気持ちも私にはある、ということです。なんといっても、ADVシリーズはレジェンドなので