The Sonic Frontiers demo from this weekend’s Summer Game Fest event in Los Angeles starts with a short cutscene. A bewildered Sonic the Hedgehog finds himself on an unfamiliar island, separated from his friends Tails and Amy. A talking drone gives Sonic some cryptic direction about collecting goobers to save his friends, or something. While they chat, we inexplicably cut to an extreme-closeup of Sonic’s hands. After a few quips and some light exposition, I gain control of Sonic and slam down on the turbo button, which I refuse to let go off for the entire length of the demo. Moments later, I try to run up a stone staircase but instead get launched into the air at a 45, then watch as Sonic helplessly tumbles down a cliff while the screen fades to black. I didn’t play nearly enough to decide whether or not this is a good Sonic game, but it is certainly a Sonic game.
