Sonic Frontiers: PS5 Review 

Developed by Sonic Team
Published by SEGA
Platform: PS5

How do you keep a franchise like Sonic fresh?

At its heart, the game's simplicity - race through zones, collect rings, defeat baddies - is what endeared it to so many generations when it began. And through the years, the series has gradually complicated itself and moved away from the mechanics of its success.

The latest iteration throws in an open world into the mix, and the results are kind of invigorating.

As Sonic, you have to explore the mysterious Starfall Islands to collect the Chaos Emeralds after Sonic and his friends are separated when falling through a wormhole. It's a simple hook and one that lends itself to an intriguing mix of island hopping and Sonic basics.

While comparisons to the seminal The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild are inevitable, Sonic Frontiers proves to be a heady mix of exploration and speeding about. It's more successful than not, but at times, the open world mechanics feel a little messy and not quite moved into the mix very well as you wander about defeating enemies and opening portals to further levels.

There's a feeling of repetition of progress - defeat some robot guardians, get some gears to power a portal and then move on. It's all reasonably executed, but it's not entirely the freshness you may have been expecting from a franchise looking to mix things up - albeit hesistantly.

Yet as a whole, the game works in ways you'd least expect.

There's a thrill to the return of the world of Sonic, and if Sonic Team can handle the next steps well and learn from a few of Sonic Frontiers' missteps, the game's franchise could hurtle toward brilliance.