Look, it's no secret: Sonic's games have been rough for years. Save for Sonic Mania, the highest rated title in the franchise in nearly two decades, the series has seriously struggled to resonate with critics. The fans are definitely a little friendlier towards these titles, and they sell well regardless, but it seems SEGA wants to change Sonic's fortunes when it comes to reviews.
With Sonic Frontiers giving the series a fresh start with an open world structure, the publisher is shooting for the stars, targeting high scores to potentially boost sales. As reported by VGC, SEGA Sammy's top suits were recently asked whether the team has internal targets for review scores.
CEO Haruki Satomi and CFO Koichi Fukazawa confirmed this to be true: "We have set internal targets, as the correlation between the scores of external evaluation organizations and sales is high in Europe and North America," they said.
Continuing, the pair says SEGA is building Sonic Frontiers to a high standard in order to receive high scores: "If the game gets a high score, it can become a must-buy game, and possibly generate synergy with sales, so we are currently working hard to improve the quality of the game toward its sales for the holiday season".
The game is scheduled to release later this year on PS5 and PS4, and as mentioned, takes the action to a sandbox setting. We've only had the smallest of glimpses so far, so there's still plenty we don't know about how the game will play. It's encouraging that SEGA is striving for a higher quality this time around — we certainly hope the hedgehog catches a break.
Are you looking forward to Sonic Frontiers? Do you expect it'll score well when it arrives in the coming months? Spin into the comments section below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 40
What a pointless statement. It’s hardly like you try to make a crap game.
I’m pretty sure all devs target high scores 🙄 and breaking news…high scores potentially boost sales!! No s*** Sherlock!
So their other games were aiming for low review scores?
If so, congratulations!
I'm of the opinion that a lot of the modern Sonic games get an overly hard time by review outlets. They're not modern classics for sure, but even Sonic Forces is a solid 7/10 game with very exciting platforming and a real sense of speed.
My point is, I hope they don't chase the "high metacritic" nonsense and end up delivering something that isn't fun...
I like Sonic 06, so I think I’ll probably like this regardless of how good it is.
So... were they not aiming for high review scores with Sonic Boom? Because that would explain a lot actually.
I'm certainly rooting for this game. Sonic Generations and Lost World were the last ones from the actual Sonic Team I really enjoyed. Their problem is mostly just that sometimes they get in their own way with a mechanic/gimmick that is unneeded.
Unleashed had the werehog...thing. Forces had the not fun to play as custom character. Generally if they just focus on normal Sonic gameplay that's good enough for most fans it seems. Hopefully they take that approach with Frontiers.
I want to believe.
I mean, I’d like to put a Sonic game in my top 10 list for the year. I’m pretty sure the last time a Sonic game would’ve hit my top 10 would be… in 1994… maybe….
That statement is bewildering yet also clarifying.
It can't be THAT hard to make a good Sonic game can it? They always feel like low budget games that somehow weren't low budget.
@Nightcrawler71 @nessisonett you're forgetting the article from a few weeks back about devs that specifically make cheap crappy non-games whose sole purpose is to give out trophies.
Step #1. Make the game fun.
@pip_muzz forces is mega hot garbage
@Korgon i mean , 2D sonic wasn’t fun to play in generations either . so hopefully they just focus on 3D i.e 2022 and stop using 90s nostalgia as a scapegoat in replacement of evolving and renovating a franchise
and i hope they aim for a sonic game to finally look better than unleashed and is finally faster than unleashed , but i ***** doubt it
Nah, that's a recipe for failure. Worrying about what a reviewer is going to say can lead you to implement some of the most generic ideas, and focus on the most superficial aspects.
Make a game that you enjoy and are proud of, and that your fans enjoy. Screw everything else.
That sounds a lot like a delay to me....
@nomither6
I actually thought both the 2D and 3D levels were great in Generations personally but to each their own. As long as Frontiers doesn't have nonsense like the stuff I mentioned then I think they will be fine.
Hope it's nothing like sonic forces that game was just awful
Not that I don’t want the game to be good, but it breaks me that there’s the idea they need to make Sonic open world to do it.
The Sonic formula of 2D sonic is inspired by pinball. It has always been pinball. Everybody loves pinball. Translating a pinball-concept platformer from 2D to 3D should not be so difficult it takes 30 years of failure to still not get right, while producing werehogs instead.... Colors got the closest so far.
@Richnj I don't believe in games designed for Metacritic, but if I were making a game and my choices were "try to do what Sony does", "try to do what MS does", "Do what Nintendoes", or "Follow the same process we did with Boom, Forces, and Fire & Ice".....I vote for Metacritic mediocrity! I mean it can't get worse!
Can it? ...
Though I'm troubled by "high scoring games sell better, so make the game score high!" When the focus is on "how can we increase the game's sales potential" instead of "how can we make the game not suck!" and the only place of intersection is "if reviewers think our game doesn't suck, it might sell better!" I do worry about the design process
I guess it’s easy to be cynical when they say stuff like this (I’ve already been beaten to the punch multiple times above) but I suppose it’s a good sign?
@Bentleyma You sir have my respect! Sonic 06 was fun, from what little I got to play.
What does that even mean? Were they just wanting their sonic titles to not do well?
Focus on making a fun game that's not broken on release.
Ah, I thought they were aiming for low review scores. Thank you for clearing that up, Sega!
My absolute most wanted game this year!!!
And I really hope, it will get fair scores at the end. I know how unfair sites can be about Sonic games. Keep that in mind pushsquare.
@Rural-Bandit that's real nonsense. If you didn't play the Sonic games, don't talk so offensive about them.
@pip_muzz thank you for your words. You are absolutely right.
@Bentleyma you are not alone. I know the game is flawed, still, I enjoyed it.
Big promises, but we'll have to see.
We have seen zero gameplay of it, it's been in development for what? 4 or 5 years and is supposed to come out later in the year.
I reserve judgement for when i see it. Commercial reviews don't matter though. It matters that they deliver a satisfying game for the fans.
Seems pretty simple. Just make a new version of Segagaga for all audiences and make it all about Sega needing to raise the notoriety of their ips (and to get high scores on their future games) to keep the company afloat. Art imitates life…or is it life that imitates art?
@Bentleyma
There's so bad it's good games and then there is Sonic 06. How do you actually put up with that?
@PegasusActual93 Thing is I know it’s bad, but there’s just something about it I like. 🤷
We all know it's going to be a disaster, like every 3D Sonic game released to date.
In other news, the sky is blue and water is wet
@lolwhatno that's a good point. Your comment is Much more insightful than the content of this article 😂
@Bentleyma could it be the (failed) ambition behind it and how it was set to be the biggest sonic game ever ?? that’s why i like it . i love that all the characters are in it & they’re all on their own paths within one big story .
plus the graphics and style of the game is badass to me . wish they’d bring that sonic design back
@nomither6 I think you've actually summed up why I like it pretty well. I much prefer the Sonic games that are grander in scope. I like that it has RPG elements too, what with the story, town exploration, NPC's to talk to, shops and side missions that are effectively side quests.
@Bentleyma exactly , i thought i summarized it enough but i like it for the same reasons as you . the town , rpg elements , etc all that to make the game seem as grand ever . it’s a shame upper management ruined it (let’s continue to forget about the sonic kiss 😂)
Part of the problem with the titles that flopped is that they went through tremendous development hell. Sonic 06 was originally being developed for all 3 consoles at the time-- the Wii, the PS3 and the Xbox 360. When Sonic Team realized that the Wii was going to be underpowered, they had to scrap the Wii version. That's when the development team for Sonic '06 actually split into two teams-- one working on Sonic '06 and the other team working on Sonic and the Secret Rings instead. I believe that was also around the time Yuji Naka left Sonic Team, which also must've been a blow to the game's development for sure.
In Sonic Boom's case, Sega hired Big Red Button to do the game. It was originally titled Sonic Synergy, and if my memory serves correctly, they were developing it for all modern consoles. Then Sega told them to do it only for the Wii U, which (again) was drastically underpowered. So Big Red Button had to scale back the game a lot and remove a lot of the features and assets from the game just to get it to run at all on the Wii U.
It could be argued that had Nintendo just released normal consoles with next-gen specs, like the other two console makers, things would've been easier for those games specifically. It could also be argued that had Sega just given Big Red Button the freedom to take as much time as they needed and make the game for other consoles instead, they would've had a better game with Sonic Boom.
Sonic Forces was not a bad game, so I don't understand the mindset that it was. I own it and have played it.
I also feel like Sonic routinely just gets a bad rap in general, because it's Sonic the Hedgehog and it's Sega. Most of the casual market today wants a serious, gritty game with realistic graphics, a complex story arch, and adult themes. They also want either first-person shooters, a new Grand Theft Auto, or battle royale games. As somebody that doesn't find those type of games appealing, that sucks for me-- but I fully acknowledge that's just the way it is now. Platformers aren't really the go-to genre anymore, and they're certainly not where the money is for game studios.
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