It only seemed like yesterday I played Sonic Frontiers for the first time. IGN wasn’t expecting it to be a hit. GameStop. Critics. People who hated Sonic O6. I just had the Wii can’t say I feel the same way unless its that infamous scene on YouTube. It should’ve been Amy.

I had hopes from Day 1. Other didn’t. Now we’re here. 

The minute Super Sonic fought Giganto I knew this was a hit.

So the Ancients are aliens from SPAAAAACE! They were bullied by a Giant Moon. Not making that up. They moved to Earth and just happened to bring the Chaos Emeralds with them.

Now they never said the Ancients created the Chaos Emeralds. And I wouldn’t call it their first rodeo. The Chaos Emeralds are known for traveling to different parts of the galaxy as seen in Sonic X. Sonic sent the emeralds in SPAAAAACE while he was Super Sonic in Season 3.

I think they did it this way to keep that mystique if that makes sense. I mean the Master Emerald was on Earth prior to the Ancients arrival. Maybe the Master Emerald drew the Ancients to Earth through the Chaos Emeralds. And they’re all relatives of Chaos. Cousin once removed.

Long story short The End wiped them out but got sealed away in Cyberspace.

The rest moved to Angel Island then the Master Emerald turned them into Chao. 

The Echidnas weren’t just killing Chao. They killed Chaos’ family.

Sonic Frontiers is a Sonic game but it also takes elements from Breath of The Wild and Shadow of The Colossus. All completely separate games.

Sonic’s friends get trapped in Cyberspace. Sonic ends up on Starfall Islands. Now he gotta save his friends. Find the Chaos Emeralds. Destroy the Titans. Get corrupted. And tear down the walls between dimensions. Rinse and Repeat. 

Where have I heard this before?

Out of all the Islands in Frontiers, Chaos Island is my least favorite. Cool name bad layout. I barely know where I am. I gotta get from point A to point B. Them Koco missions aren’t it. And it was a golden opportunity to expand on the lore. I mean C’mon. Chaos Emeralds. Master Emerald. Missed opportunity. Better luck next time.

Knight made up for it. I can’t express enough how much I love playing Super Sonic. Long overdue. He’s been on the sidelines for too long. At first he’s attacking you with a sword. Then I took his sword and sliced him in Half. 

I know this payed homage to Dragon Ball Z but once Knight exploded I instantly thought of Power Rangers.

Despite all the spectacle, long upgrades, and amazing battles. What brought it all home is the father-daughter relationship between Eggman and Sage.

I never thought this happen. Eggman is a crazy, sadistic, all-evil Mad scientist. Blew up half the moon in Sonic Adventure 2. Weaponized Wisps. Captured animals. Eggmanland. Split the Earth in pieces. Unleashed Dark Gaia. Unleashed Chaos. Almost doomed all of humanity. And was willing to wipe out time and space just to win. All of existence including his crazy self. 

Then Sage came along. So far all of Eggman’s creations failed him. She’s completely different. Whole game he’s stuck in Cyberspace. He has Sage take his place as an antagonist to Sonic. He relies on her. Treats her like his own daughter. 

She started out as the average AI. Eggman tried to hack the Ancients computers but Sage ended up trapping him in Cyberspace as a safety measure. Once she integrated with Cyberspace, Sage grew in many ways than you can imagine. 

Throughout the games Eggman took nothing but Ls more times than he can counts. Mainly because he’s a villain and he’ll always lose. With that said all his machines end up backfiring on him or pull a Neo Metal Sonic and lock him up in the basement.

Sage is quite the opposite. Fills him with a sense of pride.

Once The End breaks free from Cyberspace. Tails, Amy, and Knuckles free Sonic with the power of friendship. Eggman forms a truce with Sonic out of respect for Sage. 

Ouranos Island kicks things up a notch at least for a little while. Favorite island music in the game then Kronos came out of nowhere as I explore more of the island. C’mon Sega. You had one job. Please create another patch for that particular bug among other things. Like the bootleg Blood Moon. Release it around one of the dlcs we’re suppose to get like playable characters and a new story with a real final boss that actual establish themselves as a force to be wreaking with.

Speaking of which The End is a MOON! Its basically Galactica with a MOON dialoguing!

Say what you will bout Supreme. Least favorite Titan. Put up an almost decent fight. Went down in a five piece combo in the first 5 mins and didn’t want anymore issues for the rest of the game. I basically beat the Titan out of Supreme. King of the Cowards.

Come to think of it there’s a strange aura whenever there’s a enemy in the open world or Sonic’s Cyloop that bears a resemblance to the Phantom Ruby. Even the energy around Sage is almost the same as Infinite.

I don’t see Sega bringing him back. Maybe in a future game they’ll say that The End and The Phantom Ruby are one of the same. Just a theory.

Morio Kishimoto and Sonic Team put out that we was saw in the final boss wasn’t its true form. It depends on how you see it. Like Ray from Ghostbusters taught he saw the Giant Marshmallow Man ready to destroy the world. That’s how powerful it is. Doesn’t change the end result. 

I thought it sound like Eggman for a sec. Amy? Bit of both? 

I enjoyed the cutscene more than the boss itself. Seeing Sage help Super Sonic tank a blast from The MOON IN SPAAAACE! Sage pulls a fastball special throwing Super Sonic at high velocity. Kinda like what Giganto did in his base form but wound up putting a hole through The MOON!

Yet it was not enough. Sage had to sacrifice herself to save the world. To save her dad. To stop The MOOOOOOOOON!

Sonic reunites with his friends. Hugs Amy. High Fives Tails. He and Knuckles did a Fist Bump. 

Eggman. Boy. On one hand Sage accomplished her mission but Egghead took a huge L. 

I knew she wasn’t dead btw. AI is hard to kill especially Sage. Like Ultron said what doesn’t kill you just makes you stronger. 

Eggman recovered Saga on the Ancients computer in one of the post credit scenes. It even showed the Symbol from all of Frontier’s marketing. Honestly I have no idea what it means. One things for sure Eggman got what he wanted. The Titans. Ninjas. Squid. That giant Beetle at Ouranos. Knight. Giganto. With Sage at his side they’ll rule the world. Like father and daughter. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Shadow’s gonna be pissed.

SHADOW: EGGMAN HAS A DAUGHTER NOW?! EXPLAIN!

I can’t help but think of Maria from SA2. Eggman’s cousin that he never met. He mentions her in one of his memos from Big. It recontextualize Eggman’s character just a little bit. I don’t think he’ll be redeemed. If anything it just makes him even more dangerous than before. Like Kingpin from Daredevil. Maybe Bowser.

Crazed maniac but you understand where he’s coming from for the most part. Thanos was wrong.

Wished Charmcaster got the same treatment after Ultimate Alien. If things turned out different she and Gwen could’ve been good friends. She killed Ben, Gwen, and Kevin once to resurrect her dad. No excuses there. Post UA was the perfect opportunity for her to turn over a new leaf. 

Omniverse had other plans.

Ian Flynn did state that the comics are supposedly canon to the games. Like Frontiers takes place after whatever arc they’re on now. It’s All Connected. He’s basically the Kevin Feige of Sonic The Hedgehog. Stared his career as a writer on the Archie comics to the IDW series. And now he’s writing for the games. I knew I heard Sonic say Tangle back there.

Before I wrap things up I wanted to briefly touch on Sonic’s friends. Amy always had a crush on Sonic. She wants him to acknowledge her as an equal. Maybe something more. After seeing the Kocos basically restage their creator’s death it caused Amy to rethink her entire outlook. She wants to share her love with the rest of the world as least that’s what I figure.

Knuckles is a lone wolf. Guardian of the Master Emerald. Protector of Angel Island. Or so he thought. Sage did a 180 on him in the prologue. He never had to rely on anyone else before. Sure he had help a couple of times but he’s never been put into this kind of predicament. His fate is in Sonic’s hands. They are rivals through thick and thin. Butting head ever now and then.

Exploring Ares Island Knuckles found a temple similar to the ruins of Angel Island. Flashbacks to Sonic 3 and Knuckles. After witnessing a flashback of The MOON decimating The Ancients. They never stood a chance. It makes Knuckles ponder a minute. Sonic’s usually says something cool but this time he just said nothing. He knew it wasn’t the right time.

It was then Knuckles opens up about his outlook on life. He always thought he was destined to guard the Master Emerald forever. But he overlocked one small detail. No one assigned him that responsibility. He brought it on himself. Now with a new sense of clarity he can return home for a bit and explore the world. Becoming a treasure hunter again. Meet Rogue. Let’s be real that big emerald ain’t going nowhere. Chaos is probably watching it right now. He and Tikal did make a brief appearance in the Knuckles prologue. He got options. Sonic Adventure 3 anyone?

Tails is a very interesting case. Boy went from stopping Eggman from bombing Station Square to cowering in front of Chaos 0. He even broke the 4th Wall during his breakdown. I’m so inconsistent! 

His arc is pretty straightforward. Stop being inconsistent. Go on his own for a while. And become more like pre Sonic Adventure Tails. Maybe take inspiration from one of his variants in Sonic Prime. Nine.

Overall Sonic Frontiers is a huge win for Sega. Sonic fans included. Sonic Team found their flame. The cast found their flame. Roger Craig Smith found his flame. Sonic hasn’t found his footing since Unleashed and Black Knight. They thought everyone wanted random jokes. Don’t take it seriously. But the more they deviated from what made Sonic special the more they alienated fans of the series. Old and new. The Meta era never worked in the long run.

In light of the success of the Sonic movies, what does work is the characters, story, and the mechanics that go with it. It lead to great finales. Level designs. Replayability. Frontiers already proved what the franchise is capable of. 

They just need to stay consistent. Innovate. Improved on the foundation. Increase the standards of Frontiers with the sequel. Elevate it.

Thank you Sonic Team, Sega, and the legend Morio Kishimoto for this amazing gem. I had a blast. Even got some snazzy footage from my Xbox.

I like to see more spinoffs centered on other Sonic characters. Silver deserves the spotlight. 

Heck resurrect Sonic Riders. Remasters of Sonic Adventure 1/2. More remasters in general. Mainly from the 2000s. 

Fingers crossed we get Sonic Adventure 3. One can dream.

This is Ruben Comics. Signing OFF!!!