Sonic Studio creative officer Takashi Iizuka said that he wants fans to experience an “all new style of Sonic action adventure” in Frontiers, the hedgehog’s highly-anticipated title for the upcoming holiday season.
In an newly-released interview with Gamesradar, the long-time Sonic admin entertained a number of new concepts for the blue blur, like “new combat styles” and “exploration options”, but reassured familiarity with the reprisal of Sonic’s signature speed and characteristics.
Frontiers aims to deliver on the full potential of next-gen consoles
One of the biggest takeaways was that Sonic Frontiers has been developed with next-generation video game consoles in mind, with the game being developed from the ground up, contrary to efforts committed in previous Sonic games such as Sonic Forces. With the new hardware, Iizuka believed that native next-gen games like Frontiers will deliver a “high-fidelity, high speed and high energy” experience.
We’re excited to bring the game onto next-gen consoles, as both the visual and technical gameplay elements will be elevated on the newest platforms. As games are beginning to be released natively onto next-gen, it’s exciting to be a part of the wave that will really deliver on the full potential of these consoles – high-fidelity, high-speed, and high energy games.
Takashi Iizuka, Sonic Studio creative officer
An all new style of action adventure for the blue blur
It was also expressed by Iizuka that the development team is challenging itself to bring something never done for the series before, all while developing the scale the so-called “Sonic universe,” though the full scale of the “universe” – should it be fully open-world – was not elaborated further.
With Sonic Frontiers, we are challenging ourselves to deliver an all-new style of Sonic action adventure. We’re once again expanding the Sonic Universe, bringing in new environments and additional features, to create a totally new type of open-zone experience.
Takashi Iizuka, Sonic Studio creative officer
As much as Frontiers aimed to reign in a new experience, the officer reassured that the hedgehog’s ethos and essence will remain the same. Iizuka believed that it was important to ensure a semblance of continuity and uniformity of his speed and characteristics.
We pay extremely close attention to getting all the little Sonic details right to make sure that Sonic’s signature speed and characteristics remain consistent across every gaming iteration.
Takashi Iizuka, Sonic Studio creative officer
New options and features in Frontiers
The officer lastly commented that Frontiers will bring a number of new combat styles for Sonic’s signature moves to expand the gameplay. It lined up with unsubstantiated rumours that suggested Sonic would be able to unlock new moves based on the amount of experience points collected.
With Sonic Frontiers, we’ll introduce new combat styles to bring Sonic’s signature dexterity onto the battlefield, and the new exploration options obviously play into his iconic speedy nature.
Takashi Iizuka, Sonic Studio creative officer
Sonic Frontiers is expected to be released this winter season for current and next-generation PlayStation and Xbox platforms, Nintendo Switch and Steam.
