For years, I thought an open-world Sonic game couldn't work. I thought the clash between Sonic's high-speed thrills and slower-paced exploration would be too strong.

So trust me when I say this game's amazing. The open zone segments wonderfully combine exploration of a sprawling map and conquering a series of linear platforming challenges. The Cyberspace stages, while not as good as other modern Sonic levels, serve their purpose perfectly as bite-sized challenges that break up the normal pace of gameplay just enough. The writing is easily the best it's been since Unleashed (I love Colors as much as the next guy, but its dialogue is something straight out of a bad Nicktoon). The music...well, it's a Sonic game. And of course, the Super Sonic boss fights perfectly encapsulate everything I love about this franchise. Frontiers is pure Sonic euphoria, and (at the time of writing) easily my favorite Sonic game ever.

And it has Big the Cat. What more could you possibly ask for?