Once again, Sonic's going back to basics.
Last year's Sonic Frontiers released to disparate reviews - from one star to 9/10 scores - and a division in the fan community. Sometimes a gamble pays off, and sometimes it doesn't - but it's hard to say what exactly happened with Sonic Frontiers. It seems to be both a success and failure.
However, Morio Kishimoto, the game's director, has said that the future of the franchise might be going back to its roots. He was asked on Twitter whether or not there would be more games like 2010's Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - a game that took the series back to its 2D origins after over a decade of 3D titles.
His response was the following: "(Sonic 4 is) a Sonic game made by Dimps. In addition to 3D Sonic games, Sonic games also have side-scrolling Sonic games, so please look forward to them!"
That's the rough translation, at least - we'll embed the tweet itself below:
In the years immediately preceding Sonic 4, releases in the franchise tended to be 3D - from 1998's Sonic Adventure, to 2003's Sonic Heroes, to 2008's Sonic Unleashed.
Sonic 4's return to traditional gameplay was well received by critics, as was the more recent Sonic Mania (originally a 2D-centric fan project before Sega made it legit).
However, Sonic Frontiers took the 3D Sonic model to another level, with its vast open world and somewhat gritty subject matter.
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There were also plenty of homages to the 2D era, with the occasional camera angle shift and mini games that took us right back. But the overall game was a reinvention of the Sonic franchise. A reboot to keep Sonic relevant in modern times.
Kishimoto's words make us wonder what's to come. We previously assumed that the future of Sonic would be more in line with last year's Frontiers, but maybe this isn't the case. Will Sonic go back to basics in his next release? Time will tell!
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Ben Huxley is a freelance contributor to Radio Times, with bylines also in TechRadar, WhatCulture, GAMINGbible, and Live Science. A writer of fiction, too, he has a few short stories published and a novel on the way. He has a BA in English Literature, and an MA in creative writing.
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