How Sonic Frontiers REBUILT Super Sonic

Sonic Frontiers has had a month to simmer, but I'd still like to talk about those Super Sonic fights.
This game rules, y'all.

00:00 Intro
02:36 The Buildup
05:15 The Battles
13:25 Critiques and Conclusion

Video Tracklist:
- You May Call Me Infinite (by the London Symphony Orchestra)
- I'm Here (by Tomoya Ohtani and Merry Kirk-Holmes)
- Guardians: First Encounters (by Tomoya Ohtani)
- Titan: GIGANTO (by Tomoya Ohtani)
- Undefeatable (by Tomoya Ohtani and Kellin Quinn)
- Break Through it All (by Tomoya Ohtani and Kellin Quinn)
- Find Your Flame (by Tomoya Ohtani, Kellin Quinn and Tyler Smyth)
- Cyber Space 1-3: Digital Cave (by Tomoya Ohtani)
- Cyber Space 1-7: Time Flyer (by Tomoya Ohtani)
- Theme of Koco (by Tomoya Ohtani)
- One Way Dream (by Tomoya Ohtani and Nathan Sharp)

#SonicFrontiers #Sonic #PurePari

[PurePari]

It's come to my attention that the free updates Frontiers is getting may make some of the points I made in this video obsolete. If that happens, please be mindful of when this video was made. I might also make a follow-up video at the end of the year when all the updates are out, if I think the additions are substantial enough to talk about.

[TheBUCfifty]

In the past, Super Sonic only crashed into the final boss to attack, but THIS is so much better!

[flandechocolate]

Super Sonic using freaking big ass spears to stab Knight and then throw the last one to throw him to the ground is the most hype shit i have ever seen in a Sonic game, i was screaming like a little girl with that.

[JoseFranco-xlpi]

God i don't think I'll ever get over HOW RAW the super sonic battle are in this game. I can't wait to see what they do with the other characters. Hopefully they manage to make battles that go just as hard

[jayjayag]

The only bad thing about the Titan fights is that you can’t do them again


Yet

[ScorbunGame]

Frontiers is the first Sonic game in a LONG time that feels like it isn't completely scared and ashamed to be a Sonic game. This is the game that finally fully embraces Sonic's identity as a series while using the past to propel everything forward instead of using it as a crutch again.

[ALMOSTNKKD]

I wish you mentioned how Sonic's condition was reflected in the Knight fight. Like how if you don't parry and get slammed into the wall, Sonic is somehow tired and he felt the hit. And that Sonic only smiles once throughout the fight. The Cyber Corruption is somehow getting to him through the Chaos Emeralds and I love that

[fireiron]

It’s also interesting to hear Sonic NEED the Chaos Emeralds. It’s rare outside of final bosses

[creativename]

I like how Supreme, who is easily the worst out of the bunch, is still a pretty good Super Sonic boss when compared to the rest of the series.

[A.R.T.]

Welp, Darkspine being the most raw was fun while it lasted. Still think he’s the most violent though so he has that going for him.

[dr.donkey]

The phase 2 transition in the Wyvern fight made me feel more pure joy this year than any other game. I haven't heard music sync that well to a structured boss fight since MGR: Revengeance. You don't just stumble into that either, someone(s) at Sonic Team absolutely gets it, and knows how to harness that mid 2000's AMV energy that Sonic has been missing since SA2.

Frontier's doesn't succeed at everything, it stumbles and falls many times, but you get the sense that Sonic Team is really going out on a limb and trying new things, and I hope they see just how much everyone loves the Super Sonic fights.

[artistanthony]

Super Sonic was actually capable of energy projections and physical combat, Chronicles having those two things together but in Rush Adventure, he could make blue energy shields to deflect objects.

[destroyerkitty]

These fights feel like a direct message. We haven’t had a Sonic boss fight that you could describe as “breathtaking” or one that would make you extremely hyped since maybe Unleashed.
The first Super Sonic fight is a letter to us that says “Sonic is good again, but he’s also COOL again. More raw than it’s ever been in fact.”

[huynhhieu]

Hopefully, SEGA will give justice to Shadow, just like what they have done with Sonic. Man, Frontiers' Soundtrack would also fit Shadow's fight perfectly.

[bluestar]

Influencers and critics bullied Sonic for so many years that Sonic Team grew afraid of trying, so they gave up. The 2010's Sonic games, the so called "Meta Era" was emblematic for Sega's attempt to distance Sonic from it's own past and trying to reinvent it to be more marketable to people who don't like Sonic:

Sonic 4: Proud to be a mediocre mobile game with less content than Sonic 3 & Knuckles and blatant rehash of level tropes.

Sonic Colors: Simple kid friendly storyline that doesn't take itself seriously to appeal to folks who hated Sonic Unleashed.

Sonic Generations: Decent game, saved by the PC port. A celebration of Sonic's history that is afraid to acknowledge its past beyond Chemical Plant. Seriously, there's a cutscene where Robotnik asks who are Sonic's friends, and Eggmans straight up states "They are insignificant".

Sonic Lost World: Another (flawed) attempt to make Sonic more like Mario, ignoring Sonic was created and originally marketed as the anti-Mario.

Sonic Boom: Major attempt of rebranding of Sonic. Who knows what would have happened if Boom Rise of Lyric has succeeded? Remember when Sega at this time called Modern Sonic "Legacy Sonic"?

Sonic Runners: Strangely good mobile game with good gameplay made by Sonic Team. Soundtrack has no right to be that good. Completely ruined by always online DRM, the pay to win roulette, and the 2.0 update that made it more grindy.

Sonic Runners Adventure: Take Sonic Runners and stripes it of all its charm. There you have it.

Sonic Mania: cool game that wouldn't have existed if wasn't for the fans and Iizuka supporting it. Still too reliant on nostalgia and thus doesn't an identity of its own.

Sonic Forces: Parody of a Dark Era Sonic game. Another nostalgia pandering.

Team Sonic Racing: Racing game without the mecanics and character roster of the previous modern Sonic racing games. Soundtrack at least was good, but it arguably the worst of the three recent racing games.

The Meta Era was marked for Sega's to kill Sonic's identity and reshape it to be a generic platformers mascit who could be marketed to the broader audiences. It was an era marked for nostalgia pandering because it was easier to sell merchandise of established tropes such as Green Hill than create new stuff. The Sonic Movie original design would have been the final nail in the coffin. And don't be fooled, Sega and Paramount knew Sonic fans were gonna hate it, but didn't expected to *everyone* to hate the design!

I think the Movie design was the first instance that showed to Sega that people DO care about Sonic's identity, and how reboots like Sonic Boom were destined to crash and burn regardless. And with Sonic Movie 2 bringing more elements from the games and being a bigger success, I think Sega is finally understanding the appeal of Sonic IP. This is why the success of Sonic Frontiers is significant, it is s genuine attempt to try to evolve the games and return to the ambitious storytelling format of the Dark Era.

The Giganto's theme even says "Running from the past is a losing game, It never brings you glory, Been down this road before, Already know the story" Sonic Frontiers is not just a game, it is a open letter to the Sonic fanbase that says "I hear you, and I agree". This is why there's so many references in dialogues and Egg Memos, it is not just the characters talking about the previous adventures, it is Sonic Team embracing EVERYTHING Sonic related, after a decade of pretending they never existed, that Sonic's larger cast of side characters are "insignificant".

[SabeNo-rhmb]

I honestly don't want to go back to any of the old Super Sonic fights we got in earlier titles thanks to this. They're no longer the same now. Like, this game shows off all of Super Sonic's capabilities (many of which I didn't even know he had), and shows just how powerful the form actually is/has become. This is way better than just ramming people.

[UnifiedEntity]

This game really made the expression "running circles around you" an actual offensive and utility it fits sonics personality, and what he'd actually say

[wwg]

I love that Sonic is back and theyre finally moving forwards with characters.

[terrakage]

15:30 Actually, they kinda do this. When you are below 100 rings and reach a cinematic cutscene (that isn’t super sonic taking damage) you a refilled back to 100.

I think leaving rings out of the fight is fine imo. It really adds to the intensity watching the ring count drain. Honestly I want the ring count to be a much more important thing to keep an eye on. Adding rings mid fight to me would lessen the intensity. At the very least if it is ever added must be rewarded when the player accomplishes a tricky move.

I’d rather be like, “oh shoot, I have a one minute time limit” than “oh no, I have a one minute time limit, let me grab some rings”

Or even a boss mechanic where sonic loses rings faster by having his energy drained or lose a few rings on powerful hits not avoided or defended properly.

Also with that said I REALLY want to see a Super sonic vs Super shadow fight now in this format. Imagine the sheer spectacle.

[Naruku]

It is good to finally be able to make use of Sonic's base moveset and have it scaled up to Super Sonic levels. It makes unlocking skills have a secondary layer to show that you can also use them and amplify them with Super Sonic.

Also I love Sonic's smirk against Giganto at the smart, He's like "This ain't gonna go like last time"