Sonic Frontiers, generally speaking, has been a positive step forward for the franchise, making some dramatic changes in an attempt to set the hedgehog on the right path. The game's director, Morio Kishimoto, is clearly in the business of shaking things up, with previous lead roles on Sonic Colours and Sonic Lost World. For the next main entry, it seems Kishimoto is thinking about whether or not to keep the boost mechanic.
Responding to fans on Twitter, he says he's thinking about excluding the functionality from the next game:
He also talks about it here, where the translation says he'd like to "challenge the level design without boosts like the [Adventure] series". In other words, Kishimoto is thinking about a game that swaps out boost for something closer to the Sonic Adventure games.
Boost has been a core part of Sonic titles for a very long time now, with many series fans growing up with the functionality. It allows the hedgehog to race through 3D stages at a blistering pace and knock enemies out of the way. Getting rid of it would be a bold move.
Of course, a lot of design decisions will be made and then changed during a game's development, so who knows what the next 3D Sonic will be like. We imagine it'll at least build upon the more open structure of Frontiers, but beyond that, we'll just have to wait and see.
What do you think? Would you like to see the boost mechanic go away? What do you want the next game to be like? Tell us in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 30
Dropping the boost after Frontiers wouldn't be weird, given it no longer damages enemies as of Frontiers, and is only used for speed and getting from A to B faster. Even then, the boost doesn't actually make you any faster in 2D.
So it's gone from what it was to only actually doing anything in 3D and not damaging enemies anymore.
But removing it would require making traversal of large open spaces speedier. Sure we have the Drop Dash now, so maybe just bring back the Spin Dash?
Only thing the boost really adds now is the air boost anyway.
Well, that will make it more like Sonic Adventure games, were Sonic can reach a higher speed without boosting (still slower than the boost) and maybe they will bring back power ups!
Boost looked cool but wasn't really a fan since it felt very gimmicky and didn't require much from the player!
I really like the boost mechanic myself. It felt great in Frontiers so I would definitely be a bit shocked to see it removed. I don't know, it doesn't seem like it would be a good idea to me but then again I did like the Adventure games too back in the day so maybe after seeing the next game in action I wouldn't be so hesitant.
I feel like there are other parts from Frontiers that would make more sense to change/remove before even touching the boost mechanic though.
Frontiers > Adventure 1&2
Just my two cents, of course, but I’d really prefer more exploration on Frontiers’s systems than going back to Adventure’s.
I mean if they're gonna bring the classic physics and momentum based gameplay back along with the spindash then all good but if not getting rid of the boost will be a disaster
More momentum based movement options with spin dashing and stuff like that I would feel works better with the open world, but I wouldn’t mind them including both options. I don’t hate the boost gameplay as much as the rest of the sonic fanbase seemingly—Generations is by far the best 3D sonic and shows the success of good boost level design.
good riddance . they never got it right again after the first time.
@Haruki_NLI i got a better solution
make another adventure or heroes game & take notes from what those games did . it’s no need to keep spinning the wheel when the franchise had it right before .
Removed - disrespecting others
I love how the Japanese tweet is referenced. I’m like “ah yes, these shapes make sense. Yes, yes.”
@nomither6 Lol. Both Sonic Adventures games were fine, but Frontiers is probably my favorite Sonic title overall. Now, granted, I’m not a huge Sonic fan, so the departure didn’t bother me, but I can say Frontiers was one of the most purely fun games I’ve played in a while and that counts for something for me.
Damn don't play with my feelings like that. I've only been waiting since Unleashed for them to drop the boost system and finally make Adventure 3
@Mauzuri Nah Sonic Frontiers is very good and easily the best 3D Sonic game since Sonic Gen.
I don't mind them dropping boost, I mean we didn't have boost back in our day on the Genesis/Megadrive and didn't have any problem with the best games in the franchise. But... I think navigating the open world would be lethargically painful without it, and right now the air boost is a HUGE part of what makes the platforming work, and the ability to exploit terrain, so the world would need a lot of re-working if they took it out. Given the history of 3D sonic, I'm nervous about making changes to something that's working right now.
I can't help but think this is the Sonic dev's reaction to Forspoken imitating the feel of Frontiers and deciding to nope out before the feel is too tarnished, lol.
@Mauzuri I find that surprising, I'm a classic Sonic fan since 1, but I really really like Frontiers a lot. And thought Forces was pure garbage. Never really cared much for Unleashed.
I think this is the biggest problem with the franchise overall, is even the core fans can't actually agree on what we like. What one loves the other despises. I don't understand how that happened, and can't think of any other fandom that had that happen. It's like we all agree that 1-3+Knux was great, and then after that we split into arbitrary camps of all hating opposite things!
I can agree that Lost World, Forces, and Boom were terrible so we've got that in common But I feel like Frontiers is FINALLY a return to what makes Sonic great: Pinball. The foundation of the franchise they forgot until now.
I haven't played this game yet, but based on my observations on gameplay and world building, it seems like its a flawed game that got a lot right. If they make a direct sequel, I predict it will be an improvement.
@Mauzuri Hah, well there's the pinball machine, but what I really meant is that the entire game is a pinball machine. That's really the design of the original Genesis games, Sonic was heavily pinball inspired (eventually we got the Casino Night levels that took it literally, and the Sonic Spinball spinoff that really leand into it.) But the series forgot that the series was all about pinball for most of the pasty 20 years. That's I think why Frontiers works for me, it finally remembered the game is about Pinball. When you see a speed ramp and grind a loop rail and start pinging off bumpers rapidly traversing a tunnel, only to be launched into the air, speed around a wall climb curve, into more bumpers to ping off, through the speed hoops, to get the prize, it's 100% pinball based. Also fighting the big bosses, even though the attack stages are bland, the controller vibration and rapid attacks is 100% pinball based when a machine goes into a bonus slot and ricochets rapidly off the bands and bumpers, with vibration on the paddles..... it actually gives the same feel as a real pinball machine. I hate the boss battles but love the nod to pinball in them.
Whatever they do with Sonic, it needs to be a pinball machine at heart. 1-3 was. Frontiers is. And I can't think of much in between that remembered that about it. It's the core, and it's been missing. Except generations, but Generations was just 1-3 remix + CD, so it was naturally a pinball machine.
At least we can all agree Steve Urkel is the only real Sonic, right?
We can't talk about Sonic Deviantart though....then we'll be right back into divisive Sonic
I'm fine with this, the boost mechanic has been getting stale imo.
This would definitely be a step in the right direction imo. I always found it much more satisfying to utilize the games' physics and mechanics to gain speed. There's a certain rush experienced when rolling downhill. Similar to skating down a ramp in a Tony Hawk game, riding down a mountain in a snowboarding game, or even swinging in Spiderman. Play Spiderman 2 or the Insomniac titles, then play The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie game and you'll immediately notice something is off. It's because the speed resets with each swing; all momentum is lost. Not fun.
I think they should just improve on the base that Frontiers set and polish that. If anything, just bring back more characters to play as like in Adventure (I see there’s some kind of free dlc in the making apparently)
He left the series in the dust for this mindless boost situation, he knows the series can't be any better, even with fan support, the current game is ok, but at the same time old vets like me will be left in the dust still thinking about sonic adventure 1&2 or sonic 1-3 plus knuckles and what's his peack should be, he knows what to do in his situation, I will leave it at that...
@Coolmusic no it's horrible because sonic is at the point where there is no focus tbh
@huyi: Frankly, Sonic has been without focus for quite a long time now...
I still stand by my opinion.
Kishimoto has been a class act when it comes to responding to fans and even taking some of their suggestions into consideration. He's outright said he's experimenting with ideas for the next game with the free DLC and might even implement momentum mechanics into the game.
Funny how many people in the fanbase was hating on him after Forces, but he seems to actually be quite passionate and wants the series to be the best it can be, but struggled with executive meddling.
Oh pleeease do it! I hate boost so much!
Literally only like the Adventure games and Lost world. All the boost games are trash for me.
@Orpheus79V “ might even implement momentum mechanics into the game”
oh you mean something that’s been a core part of the franchise since day 1 ??
the bar for sonic fans is extremely low
Crash Sonicoot - the Dragon...why not
I haven't played Sonic games in a long time, so no idea what they mean by Boost.
@KidBoruto : This one.
https://sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Boost
@Coolmusic Oh so that's what Boost is! Thanks for the link
@KidBoruto : You are welcome.
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