Long-awaited and still incredibly mysterious, Sonic Frontiers is the latest major game to star Sega's iconic blue hedgehog. Though there's still a lot unknown about the long suspected game, it's the next big 3D entry in the series, which could bring both pros and cons. For as exciting as Frontiers looks, perhaps another 3D game isn't what Sonic needs to stabilize the franchise's reception.
Sega has tried countless different ideas for 3D Sonic over the years, but none of them have been near as hailed as the 2D entries in the franchise. In fact, the best 3D Sonic games have ties in some way or another to the classic sidescrollers. Here's a closer look at why Sega should maybe have held off on Frontiers and instead prioritized Sonic Mania 2 or a similar game.
Sonic made his big jump into the third dimension with Sonic Adventure, though more pedantic fans might argue Sonic 3D Blast. Though Adventure and its sequel were well-received, they had issues bringing the franchise's fun to 3D. It was only downhill from there, with the 3D games getting worse and worse. This eventually culminated in such horrendous titles as Shadow the Hedgehog and the even more dreadful Sonic the Hedgehog 2006.
The main issue with many of these games is that they didn't capitalize on what made the 2D games work, with the gameplay's focus on speed being the only real mutual resemblance. On top of that, jumping into 3D brought all kinds of programming and mechanical issues. Many of these titles were rife with glitches, bugs and other technical problems more at home in dollar store shovelware games than Sega's mascot franchise. After a deluge of mediocre to awful games, the Sonic franchise's star has more than fallen years ago, with even diehard fans ambivalent about giving an experimental new 3D game a fair chance. There's still one avenue, however, that's pretty much a surefire success route for the hedgehog to run through.
When people think of Sonic the Hedgehog more positively, they think back to the classic sidescrolling 2D games on the Sega Genesis and other classic consoles. These games are considered classics for a reason, as they stood out among the slew of platformers at the time to create an experience that combined platforming, pinball and pure, exhilarating speed. Because of how beloved this formula still is, Sonic Mania, a modern game made in the style of these Genesis-era titles, was such a resounding success among fans and critics alike. It's worth noting that Mania, a fan-made game that eventually absorbed into Sega's official franchise anniversary celebration, was a much bigger critical and financial success than the middling Sonic Forces, a 3D game that flopped at the retailers.
The second that Sonic Mania was as big as it was, Sega should have fast-tracked a sequel or another game in the same vein. Many fans want to revisit these old levels in a new way, and a Sonic Mania 2 would be a great way to keep that 16-bit feel and aesthetic alive. Likewise, 2D sidescrolling Sonic games, which are universally loved far more than almost any of the 3D games, don't have to stay attached to this retro aesthetic. Even as Sonic's 3D games began to get worse and worse, he still had several great sidescrolling spinoffs, ironically on handhelds made by former Sega rival Nintendo. The Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush games on the GBA and DS were 2D/2.5D sidescrollers like the classic games, but they were not 16-bit or nostalgia pandering in the same way as Sonic Mania. Doing a big-budget version of this might be the way to go in the future, keeping the franchise close to its successful roots while still keeping it modern.
The aesthetics could remain 3D, forgoing pixelated or old-school graphics. Instead, the game could plop the modern Sonic designs and voice actors into a game where the levels are purely on a two-dimensional plane. In doing so, a modern and thus "important" tone could still be kept without sacrificing what's made the franchise work so far to stay relevant. So far, however, there's been no word on a project like this, be it a Mania sequel or simply a collected compilation of the Advance or Rush games. Sega seems to be hedging their bets on the upcoming Sonic Frontier being a hit, but if it, unfortunately, follows the path of the other 3D Sonic games, the company should consider sticking to their past to give Sonic a successful future.