7. Sonic Frontiers
2022’s Sonic Frontiers is one of the most recent games on this list, and it takes the series in a slightly different direction, drawing inspiration from open-world games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Sega apparently wants it to be a foundation for the future of the franchise, and while it’s not the most lived-in open world, Frontiers giving you a vast map to run around as the world’s fastest hedgehog isn’t a bad pitch for what’s next. Some of the Sonic series’ most frustrating moments come from feeling restricted when you just want to run wild. Frontiers feels like letting your dog out into an open field, free to run to their heart’s content. The puzzles you solve, the enemies you fight, and the collectibles you find are just extra.
