‘Definitive’ has to a great degree lost its meaning when applied to video game releases, but even in that faded context, Sonic Frontiers: Definitive Edition has some real cheek using the word. This Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game includes most of the DLC released for Sonic Frontiers and certainly improves on the troubled technical performance of the original Nintendo Switch release. With that said, I hope for Sonic Frontiers’ sake that this is, in fact, not the definitive release of the game, as it has quite a few problems of its own. I’m not in a position to say if this could have been better, but I can say that it should have been.
Sonic Frontiers first released in November of 2022 across a number of platforms, including the Switch. Due to the mixed response to 2017’s Sonic Forces, Sonic Team decided it really needed to shake things up for the next entry in the series. Frontiers does that by moving to more of an open world concept, complete with a map covered in markers and points of interest for you to check out. The traditional Sonic 3D stages are still in the game, but they’re now presented as a kind of abstract challenge where you’re trying to complete targets in order to earn keys. You can then take those keys back to the open world and use them to progress. Eventually, you fight a big boss, and then you’re off to the next large map.
To even enter those challenge stages, however, you’ll need gears. You can find gears by battling enemies that are scattered around the map. That’s not all you’ll find by exploring, though. You’ll also find all kinds of other pick-ups and collectibles that can be used to upgrade Sonic’s capabilities in various ways. Oh, and some extra music tracks. Those are nice. Anyway, lots of goobers to collect. You’ll get some by solving little puzzles, others by solving little platforming challenges, still more by doing timed challenges, and so on. You’ll also need to put in a little work to uncover the map itself by stopping at certain places and performing some kind of task. There’s a lot to keep you busy in Sonic Frontiers, and much of it comes in bite-sized form that makes it easy to zip from one thing to the next.
I think this is actually a pretty good idea for a 3D Sonic game, and I’ll admit that I’m actually rather fond of Sonic Frontiers despite its faults. But let’s talk about those faults, because they could be the difference between you enjoying the game or not. First, the world design accommodating all of these challenges and puzzles feels like it isn’t trying very hard. There’s very little rhyme or reason to the placement of things in any of the maps, and it makes it feel like someone just dumped a bunch of garbage out into some pre-built landscapes. I also think the game somewhat overstays its welcome. You’ll likely start finding the tasks repetitive well before the story wraps up.
There’s a greater emphasis on combat in Sonic Frontiers, and this too gets repetitive and often goes awry. While you’re constantly unlocking new moves and abilities for Sonic, many of which are meant for battle, it never stops feeling like you’re just mashing the buttons and dodging or parrying where needed. Sonic’s homing ability can sometimes get you into trouble as well, particularly when it’s time to fight. It’s just all a little on the clumsy side, even if it’s ultimately workable enough to pass. The big bosses in this game are really huge and usually require you to do some climbing, and that can get frustrating as well sometimes. The whole game just feels slightly undercooked in that usual 3D Sonic manner.
All of this is true of every version of Sonic Frontiers, and it’s probably worth mentioning that there have been performance issues with all of them so far on top of that stuff. The original Switch version was by far the worst of the bunch, with a struggling framerate that even at its best didn’t hit very high numbers consistently. It also lacked a great deal of visual detail, and suffered from a lot of pop-in. In short, this was a pretty good candidate for a Switch 2 glow-up. SEGA once again has opted to not offer an upgrade path for existing owners, though you can transfer your Switch save data to this Switch 2 version. If you want to enjoy the benefits of Sonic Frontiers: Definitive Edition, you’ll have to shell out the full price no matter what.
Okay, the Definitive Edition. I first want to say very clearly that this is in fact a better way to play the game than the original Switch version. Mostly, anyway. If you’re sitting there looking at the two of them on a shelf for roughly the same price, you want the Definitive Edition. That’s about everything nice I have to say about this Switch 2 version’s technical performance. You can choose between two graphical settings here, and they’re both quite rough in their own ways. Oh, and you can also look forward to a healthy amount of loading. It feels just as long as the Switch version, if not worse.
At any rate, you’ll have to choose your poison. In Performance Priority mode, you get a targeted 60 frames per second, and it at least did a decent enough job of hitting that target that the game felt very comfortable for me in motion. It is not consistent, though, so if that’s something that bothers you, be careful. The problem with Performance Priority mode is that the resolution and visual detail take a big hit. Indeed, the variable resolution sometimes got so shockingly poor that I had to double-check that I was not in fact playing the Switch version’s handheld mode. Pop-in is very obvious too, and when you’re running fast, that can combine with the low resolution and blurriness to make it hard to see what’s going on. It’s one of the worst Switch 2 native games I’ve seen yet in this regard.
Okay, so perhaps the Graphics Priority mode is better? Higher resolution, more visual detail, and as long as you aren’t moving, it looks fairly solid. Unfortunately, the trade-off here is in the framerate. It targets 30 frames per second, and if it could reliably stick to that number, it might be worth the deal. Alas, it’s unstable, and when things get busy, the framerate can feel very uncomfortable. It also doesn’t solve the pop-in problem completely, but even the PlayStation 5 couldn’t manage that, so I wasn’t really expecting that. Ultimately, after swapping between these two settings many times, I settled on the Performance Priority mode. The framerate boost is meaningful here. I just wish the sacrifice wasn’t so significant.
Sonic Frontiers is an ambitious game with a lot of rough edges, but it’s one that I enjoy. Sonic Frontiers: Definitive Edition offers a graphical boost over the original Nintendo Switch version and includes much of the DLC from the get-go, and in that sense, it’s at least an improvement. Still, neither of its two graphical modes really get the job done as well as you might like. Either way, you’re making some kind of heavy compromise that affects the gameplay. Considering the lack of affordable upgrade options here, it’s really hard to recommend this to anyone but new buyers who are locked into the Switch 2 ecosystem.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch 2
Review Copy Provided by SEGA
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