Sonic Frontiers review – wild, weird and a bit broken

Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X; Sega
The open-world adventure is brilliant in terms of input and response at the expense of any discernible logic

A few years ago I wrote an article about how the original Sonic the Hedgehog games are examples of incorrect game design" in that they break a lot of the rules laid down by that pesky genius Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Super Mario. To my horror and frustration, a lot of Sonic fans interpreted this as a criticism of Sega when it was anything but, and my Twitter mentions were a no-go zone for several days afterwards.

So it is with some trepidation that I give Sonic Frontiers a three-star rating. But bear with me: you should play it. You should take a risk. It's ridiculous and a bit broken, but it reminds me of the era in which Sega flourished; when Mega Drive TV commercials had kids screaming Sega" at each other in school playgrounds; when its games were part of the Saturday morning miasma of cartoons, wrestling shows and poorly translated manga.