Look. Sonic has been in a rough spot for bloody ages. There's no getting away from that, no matter how fast you can run. SEGA needed to shake things up, lest its mascot spiral further into the abyss. By some miracle, Sonic Team finally realised it needed to buck up its ideas, and the result is the character's best 3D game in a long, long time. Sonic Frontiers finally puts the hedgehog back on the right track, and that's commendable.
We're not saying it's without its flaws; this is a far from perfect adventure, but it lays down a solid foundation that sets us up for some potentially great entries in the future. First and foremost, what the game gets right is how Sonic moves. The open world gives the blue blur lots of room to run, and blasting along super fast is just plain fun. Moreover, his platforming abilities feel tighter and more responsive than in any of the boost-style games, and honestly, that's half the battle won.
Exploring each island and completing small challenges rewards you with new ways to get around. While we don't necessarily like how the floating rails and platforms look, they do make for some satisfying, quick-fire ways of darting around the environments. The overall design emphasises Sonic's speed, and when you hit a good flow, it can feel great.
We won't pretend the game is some glowing, god-given gift, because it isn't. What Sonic Frontiers achieves, however, is a meaningful step forward for a franchise that's been running in circles for years. When everything is barrelling along as intended, it can be highly entertaining. It's an admirable, and mostly successful, attempt to breathe new life into the franchise, and that's surely worth celebrating.
Push Square's Game of the Year list is primarily decided by an internal staff vote. Our community Game of the Year poll is also taken into account. Feel free to agree or disagree with our list in the comments section below.
You can check out all of our Game of the Year coverage by clicking the link.
Comments 57
The poll says it all. 😂
Out of all games I played on PS this year (and released this year) I'd rank it 3rd. First would be Elden Ring and second AI: The Somnius Files 2
Sonic Frontiers getting some well deserved love! Thanks for appreciating the game for what it is! And it’s great at what it is!
It's not a horrible Sonic game. Got my kiddo the Switch version. I think my biggest complaints are the constant pop up notifications stopping gameplay and then the occasional forced camera changes that don't make sense.
The last sonic game I played was Sonic Generations but I am curious about this. I’ll probably pick it up in the New Year.
Great game. My biggest issue with it was by the end Sonic was way over powered and machines were no challenge, next time I'd love tougher enemies.
“We're not saying it's without its flaws; this is a far from perfect adventure, but it lays down a solid foundation that sets us up for some potentially great entries in the future.”
Then why is it in the top 10 of best games of the year? 🤷♀️ I know it’s only a list and it is just for fun, but this top 10 is shaping up so strange with also including a remake of a remaster.
I bought on PS4 and the irregular frame pacing in addition to the 30fps just took the fun out of the game. Got to a part where I was fighting a large enemy on the first island and the weird physics, fast motion and bad frame rate, made success feel more like luck than skill. It also all felt a bit aimless. I've not gone back to the game, maybe if I get a PS5 at some point will try again with improved performance, am sure will be better to play.
I've enjoyed it. But that I'm seeing this game pop up on a few GotY lists is testament to how mediocre of a year it's been for gaming. Lots of good games. Lots of decent/love-it-hate-it games. Very, very few remarkable games.
Maybe just Elden Ring, Stanley Parable, Citizen Sleeper, and MAAAYBE Xenoblade Chronicles 3 were notable at all. Elden Ring and Xeno3 didn't do much for me, personally. Citizen Sleeper I only put on there out of good faith — haven't played it myself. And Stanley Parable was amazing, if only marred by being a kinda-remake. Pretty boring year all around, though.
I'm sure someone will bring up Forbidden West or Ragnarok, given the site. Both of which are fine games. But they only perpetuate the most boring trends of contemporary AAA gaming. Which, to me at least, makes them far from notable. Very expensive, polished, boring games that rub the wrong way.
@Darude84 I believe this game of the year list was voted by the users here on a poll from a few weeks ago. Its not the editors that are picking this list.
@UltimateOtaku91 Thanks, didn’t know that. I must say this would make the presentation a bit confusing, with the writing looking like an explanation of why the game was chosen.
@Darude84 It’s a mixture of staff votes and community votes.
That said I don’t think a game needs to be “perfect” to be one of the Games of the Year.
Every game has flaws, after all!
Sonic Frontiers is the best worst game of 2022. I definitely played better games this year but not ones that I had more fun with. Sometimes pure fun is more important than polish or quality. Sometimes!
@get2sammyb yeah I think many try to go too deep with things like this, I had a lot of fun with Sonic Frontiers and ultimately that's all games are meant to be. In that regard I can think of very few games I've enjoyed as much this year
I think it has been a bit of a mediocre year overall for PlayStation, not terrible but not surprising to see some games like this on the list. That said, I’ve heard some good (and very good) things about it so I don’t dispute it being here at all.
I loved the pre launch hammering it got, then it started scoring well and everyone went 👀
Looking forward to playing it one day soon!
Sonic frontier is a good game.i been playing sonic games since 1991.glad sonic games is getting the juice it deserves.word up son
Maybe it should have just been reserved to an Honorable Mention status, for all the reasons you point out in the article.
Honestly I’m not even a huge sonic fan but I got this for Xmas and playing it now. It’s not perfect but seriously fun, good job by Sega.
I can see this paving the way for some seriously good games.
uhhh , no sir .
the adventure games , unleashed & generations , heroes , are all better games . frontiers would be the worst game compared to them . i want better and more from sonic because we had better . it’s time to put boosting to rest . sick and tired of it , it’s not good game design or sonic team just can’t make it work anymore
judging 10-7, pushsquare should have done top5 only
I got this one for Christmas and I can confirm that it’s really fun
I found it fun to begin with, but when I reached the third zone I quickly became bored of the gameplay loop. I did have a break from it, but still no joy when I went back to it. I've moved onto Horizon Forbidden West now, so doubt I will go back to it anytime soon.
lol sonic fans are out of control
Are you kidding me? This game is is a beta-test at best. Fans only praising it so high, because it is the first Sonic game in the last 10 years, that isn't a complete disaster. Also, the Sonic fans only really talk about how great the story and characters are, which, tells me that the gameplay hasn't that much substance from begin with. The bar for Sonic games is really low these days.
I'm playing this game at the moment and I meander from quite liking it to hating it. Some of the level design is absolutely brilliant, and then other times I haven't got a clue where the game wants me to go.
I also find one of the big problems with the later maps (not so much the first) is that it wants you to go to very specific places, but there are sometimes only one or two ways you can get there. If you hit a ramp or spring, it'll sometimes send you hurtling 100s of metres in the wrong direction.
Certainly one of my top games this year, but yeah, it sure is divisive.
Still, this is a step up on the Push Square articles that went out of their way to blindly clown on this game even when impressions were becoming more positive.
The opinion on this game is all over the place based on the comments here! it's either one of the best games of the year, a giant pile of rotten filth or 100% pure meh.
@crazykcarter frontiers isn’t a technical spectacle itself neither and plays like a switch/mobile game that somehow suffers from blatant pop-ins and unacceptable loading times for a allegedly ps5 game . the momentum and inconsistencies of sonics movement and how he just comes to complete stops in-air or platforming is pretty mediocre to frustrating too - both unleashed and gens had the best handling for boost sonic , he had weight, and momentum was more noticeable and the platforming wasn’t nearly as awkward . i’m struggling to finish frontiers because it doesn’t grip me and the forced 2D that they still haven’t learned from putting in 3D boost games because they lack creativity and are afraid to let 3D sonic be 3D again is annoying .
despite the adventure games age , they’re still really fun sonic games that better fits his design and lore with great content ; they feel like sonic games and are very original games unlike frontiers that rehashes . it’s not fair to discredit them in 2022 due to inevitable technical limitations , so i’m not judging based on that straw-man argument . besides , it’s been proven last generation that gameplay alone doesn’t single-handedly carry a game if it somehow wasn’t understood already .
“ Generations was decent but something had to change, that linear formula had been done too many times ”
You guys singlehandedly made this an awful list already lmao
All of you dissing on Frontiers fail to realise that for a lot of people it's just super fun to finally FEEL like Sonic. I spent an hour at the start just running around at full speed, exploring the landscape, before even thinking about the objectives. That alone is worth all the bugs and frustrating parts later on. It's exciting to think about how it can only get better from here.
@KingDedede we don’t fail to realize anything . being able to just run around as sonic in an bleak & uninspired open field with sparsely placed assets isn’t enough to say a game is good , it’s just something you like about it .
its still a mediocre ass sonic game .
If a games got enough people to rate it as a top ten game, then it's a top ten game.
Sure, it probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't Sonic, but he's a beloved character who has proven to be really hard to make decent 3d games for. I guess it's a big achievement they've made something the fans are happy with.
Honestly had a ton of fun with it. A bit too short, maybe, but then again it would have gotten repetitive. The third island has some path finding problems…Looking forward to how they build on this!
I liked the game even got the plat but this was def not one of the ten best games of the year not even close. By the third island you’ve seen it all and it gets super repetitive,the story is laughable,the cyber levels are jokes with mediocre controls and the world is barren with no cool discoveries. I would give it a 6.5 maybe a 7 and no more and def wouldn’t say it was one of the e top ten games of the year especially the seventh best game like come on. Not even thinking hard about it I can name ten games better than it like GOW,Elden,HFW,GT 7,Marvel Midnight Suns, Pathfinder WOTR, AI nirvana initiative,Plague Tale Requiem,Dying light 2 and Stray. Hell I can keep going really with COD MW 2,Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands,Sifu,Sniper elite 5 heck I’ll just stop now comment is getting too long lol I made my point about it’s comical to call this game the seventh best this year
I was so mad when I saw this was on the list. I briefly considered sabotaging the poll and giving this game minus points. Being locked in the dungeons of Push Square HQ would be a small price to pay for our dignity.
But seriously though Sonic fans you gotta stop.
Got this for Xmas but not started it yet due to GOWR (almost there), I will always have a soft spot for Sonic since the Master System days so really looking forward to checking this out! Does it feature the Green Zone music though?????
You love to see it! Some folks would say Sonic Frontiers is mediocre. I say if this is mediocre then Ragnarok was below average!
Yeah it has some problems but overall it's a great fun Sonic game. Personally it's my 3rd favorite game of the year and I can't friggin wait for the new playable character updates!
@Korgon lol are you serious? Sonic Frontiers doesn’t do one thing better than GOW and it’s comical to suggest so. I heard sonic fans were crazy and slightly delusional but this comment was even crazier than I expected. I know sonic games are usually horrible anymore so a mediocre one like frontiers must seem like hitting the lottery but don’t kid yourself it’s still a below average game with tons to improve
Ok now this is getting ridiculous 😂 this game in a GOTY list really is a bad joke lol
@dark_knightmare2
Sounds like you never played Frontiers and just assumed it's bad because it's a Sonic game. (Don't worry, your not the first nor will you be the last. Maybe consider not judging a book by its cover though in the future.)
I would at most call myself a casual Sonic fan. I have only played a handful of the 3D titles throughout the series lifespan but that really doesn't matter anyway. Frontiers is a great game.
Ragnarok is good too but for me at least the bad pacing, BOY combat and poor puzzle design held it back for me. Frontiers lacks in polish for sure but it's better paced, doesn't overstay its welcome, and for the most part succeeds in what Sonic Team tried to do with this title from a game design perspective.
Oh and it's soundtrack? That's not even up for debate. Sonic Frontiers absolutely does that better than Ragnarok at least. 😄
As Sonic fan since I played the first game at my cousin's house way back on Christmas day '91 or '92, it's good to get a great game in the series again. Before Frontiers the last one I really got hooked on was Generations, which is right there with 2 as my favorite entry in the franchise.
@Korgon Yeesh.... Your comments are hard to read.
The cringe is too high. Frontiers is mediocre. It has bad pacing, ok story, boring combat, terrible pop in & the puzzles are lacking. The soundtrack is pretty mediocre too. Saying people that don't like the game haven't played it is a weak excuse. Also shows you just accused Dark nightmare without actually reading his comment. Frontiers dropped to $30 after 2 weeks for a reason. A lot of people have played it. You can like a mediocre game without trying to discredit good ones (GOW:R). Don't try so hard. 🤣
@NintenGuy
I'm not sure where I was bringing down any game but okay. I literally said I still liked Ragnarok. Just I liked Frontiers better is all. Sounds like your trying a bit too hard yourself. 🤣
And as for the soundtrack debate I don't know I don't think I've heard a soundtrack with so many great songs since Persona 5 but if your cool with just Godof War 2018 again with a few more songs here and there then good for you.
@Korgon Your literal first post....
" I say if this is mediocre then Ragnarok was below average!"
Please stop. You're embarrassing yourself.
@NintenGuy
...I mean yeah. I was saying if Sonic Frontiers is considered mediocre then Ragnarok is below average which is not true of course. Sonic is great and Ragnarok is great too just not as great in my opinion.
Did you have a bad Christmas or something?
@Mauzuri
You know that's a good point. Zero has an awesome ost as well. I haven't gotten to Kirby or Xenoblade yet but I plan to at some point.
I personally still liked Frontiers ost a bit better but Zero is really close too.
@dark_knightmare2 ignore him. The fact that your first sentence states you platinumed the game and his first reply to you was that you never played it shows where he's at. The kid is all over the place. His mental gymnastics are comical. Lol!
@dark_knightmare2
Ah I didn't read the comments before your response to mine. I apologize for thinking you never played it. It just sounded that way from your response to my comment. Sorry about that.
Instead I'll just say I respectfully disagree and leave it there.
The constant irrational hatred and meme-ing of Sonic is just exhausting at this point.
Sonic Frontiers is a good, solid, and fun game with a unique spin on open world design. That's more than a lot of games that released in 2022 can say.
It definitely deserves it place in a top 10 of 2022 list. The fact that any write-up on it has to effectively walk on eggshells and mention for the upteenth time that the game isn't perfect and Sonic team has had serious blunders in the past is cringeworthy. Just let the game exist.
@greengecko007 “ The constant irrational hatred and meme-ing of Sonic is just exhausting at this point. “
and the constant stream of mediocre aka BAD sonic games is even more exhausting ; if you’re not really a sonic fan than you clearly wouldn’t understand . sonic team decided to meme first so we’re reacting to it , but we’re the problem ?
“ Sonic Frontiers is a good, solid, and fun game with a unique spin on open world design.”
it absolutely isn’t , and it’s a shame that there always has to be that crowd of people that always has to give a participation award instead of wanting something to be better LIKE IT USED TO BE , instead of encouraging it to continue to be mediocre . y’all use the “it isn’t perfect” as an excuse, scapegoat , and euphemism, to overshadow the fact that the game is MEDIOCRE . just tell the damn truth , perfect is always gonna be subjective but it’s not hard to see the countless flaws in a game and see the bad .
@Korgon the soundtrack doesn’t fit the game at all , it’s not bad songs , it’s just out of place. it’s like putting michael jackson’s music in a horror game . frontiers tekken soundtrack is bizarre , that’s what people mean by the soundtrack being bad . hell , sonic doesn’t even fit in his own game .
it’s a weird game in a bad way. even sonic 06 had a better blend of sonics world and lore .
@nomither6
I can't disagree more. The open zone section songs all fit the areas well. (I really liked how they added in more and more instruments to the theme after collecting each emerald. Nice touch there I thought.)
The Cyberspace levels all had great thumping beats that felt perfectly paced with each stage except the heavy drifting stage. I forget it's stage number but that was a bad stage overall I'll admit.
As for the boss themes, I mean yeah the sudden switch to heavy butt metal definitely came as a shock but a welcome shock and they fit the sheer absurdity of it all! If the whole game was full of music like the boss fights I'd feel differently. Thankfully that isn't the case though and instead we got a great, fitting, varied soundtrack out of it.
Removed - inappropriate language
@nomither6 The best I can gather from all that is you're a lifelong Sonic fan and don't want him in an open world game.
Sonic Frontiers doesn't need to be coddled to be considered a good game. It isn't my favorite 3D Sonic game, but I also don't see Adventure 1 & 2, Heroes, Unleashed, Generations, and Colors as being on a much higher level. In fact, I'd rate several of those lower than Frontiers.
@greengecko007 wow that’s really what you gathered ? it actually has nothing to do with sonic being open-world at all ; that was the least of my complaints actually , and the only criticism i had about the open-world was simply the world themselves . even an open-world green hill would’ve been a better design and gameplay choice than what i’ve seen so far . green hill has a huge background in all versions of it that shows that it’s much more to it than a side-scroller , so it’s actually baffling they didn’t just make open world versions of zones from classic sonic games .
i could go on , and i could’ve directed a way better game than frontiers , like many sonic fans could .
and what game would you rate lower than frontiers ? colors and forces are the only boost games worse than frontiers . both games releasing at a time when sonic was already in a bad state
hell , what’s funny is that i didn’t even mention colors , lol! that’s just how forgettable & mediocre it is , even forces is more memorable because of how bad it is while colors is “just there” . didn’t even bother replaying the “remaster” because the wii version was an already incredibly boring 2D slog as is ; never could finish it .
Im wading in on this.
So I got frontiers for xmas, I was unsure about it from all the mixed reviews, so far I am pleasently surprised, I am not noticing pop in but I did change all settings to performance mode which doesnt seem to suffer the same issues as fidelity mode (graphics or what ever its called).
I am a life long sonic fan but I can tell you now im one of the franchises biggest critics when it comes to the 3d games (honestly I think the last 3d game that was much fun was generations).
That being said, im taking the game as what it is a breath of fresh air on what I think has been a poor year for games.
Maybe everyone else should have a look at it that way too (just my opinion)
@RogerRoger Nice one buddy, I started it this morning, there is some decent music so far and it is a fun game, those inflatable electric dudes are a pain though!!!!
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