Sonic Frontiers developer Yuki Takahashi has revealed that the game was likely Sonic Team's last chance and that they all felt a "sense of urgency".

Although Sonic Frontiers eventually ended up being one of the better-received and best-selling 3D outings in the Hedgehog's line-up, things didn't always look that positive for the Blue Blur. Before release, fans were heavily critical of the lack of momentum, the open-zone design, and even how much older Sonic sounded compared to previous games.

Despite a lot of skepticism about the new direction Sonic was being taken in, Frontiers eventually won fans over and shone a bright light ahead for the hedgehog's future 3D games. That's an especially good thing for the game's developers, Sonic Team, as a recent interview shared on Sega Japan's website has revealed that it was basically the team's last shot at making a big Sonic game.

Frontiers was indeed sonic team last gambit on big budget title. pic.twitter.com/43DQ5GFPl8

— Ace super💥 (@super_ult) February 29, 2024

As highlighted by Twitter user super_ult, the interview dives into the development process of Sonic Frontiers, with one question honing in on the open-zone design and how it was conceived. In response to the question, background artist Yuki Takahashi was brutally honest about what the change of direction meant for the game and how much of a struggle it was during development.

Takahashi said, as translated by DeepL, that Frontiers took around five years in total, and that a prototype for the open-zone design was created that wasn't yet "satisfactory" in terms of its graphics and gameplay. Takahashi then noted that the team was developing the Hedgehog engine at the same time as the open-zone gameplay, as well as adding in features needed to fill out the gameplay.

The most interesting part of Takahashi's response is when he says that the team acknowledged that, "if we fail here, there is no way out" and that they were filled with a "sense of urgency". This seems to confirm that Frontiers was Sonic Team's last chance at making a big-budget Sonic game after the mixed response to Sonic Forces.

"The team was like, 'We have to create something new! If we fail here, there is no way out!' We were filled with a sense of urgency.

Of course, that's not what ended up happening and Sonic Frontiers managed to pull through its stressful development and come out on the other side while shining a bright future ahead for the rest of the series. Let's just hope that Sonic x Shadow Generations can keep up that momentum.

Posted: Mar 07, 2024 2:44 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.thegamer.com/sonic-frontiers-developer-interview-fail-here-no-way-out-last-chance-worry/