Last time we saw a suitable trailer for Sonic Frontiers was at The Game Awards in December 2021. It has been more than six months since Sega released a cryptic trailer at the end of its Sonic Central livestream. The game would be launched in time for the 30th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, but Sega explained that it has delayed its release to the holiday season of 2022 to give the Sonic team more time to deepen its quality during the development phase. Other than that (and confirmation that Roger Craig Smith and Mike Pollock are repeating their voice roles), we’ve received no major updates since.
In recent livestream on the Sonic YouTube channel, Sonic’s social media manager Katie Chrzanowski said Sonic Frontiers is still scheduled to appear during the holiday of 2022 and that Sega will soon give more news updates about it. However, she did not give a sense of how soon “it will be”.
The lack of updates on any Sonic game can make fans impatient, letting them slap their feet and say, “I’m waiting!” But whether they like it or not, Sega’s silence continues Sonic Frontiers‘Development updates can actually be a good thing. Sure, we only got two trailers in a seven-month span last year, but it’s better than the company advertising it with several trailers and updates before the game’s launch in line with the legendary self known as the. Soundwave Cycle. It’s a pattern that always seems to be repeated no matter how exciting the game may be.
Must turn off quickly
The Sonic Cycle is a meme that satirizes the craze and eventual disappointment that Sonic fans – and journalists, gradually – deal with during the marketing phase of Sonic Game, from the pre-release trailer to its release date. The cycle plays a role in three phases. First, a new game is announced along with preliminary screenshots showing Sonic without any of his friends, raising the hopes of fans and making them claim the game as Sonic’s biggest comeback. In the second phase, more information is released, showing screenshots of Sonic’s old friends, new characters, and gameplay that seems to be the same as it was in the previous entry, striking fans’ hopes. On the day of the game’s release (final stage), journalists write burned reviews about how bad it is, fans are disappointed, and they swear they won’t be fooled again. And the cycle begins again the next time a Sonic game is announced.
One of the first Sonic games to be submitted to the Sonic Cycle was Sonic ’06. Sega raised the game to the maximum as it was intended to be a complete resumption of the franchise. With new character designs and carefully detailed 3D environments displayed in it E3 trailer and new consoles appearing later that year, it was destined to be the perfect 15th anniversary title – or so we thought.
The development team was split in half to work on that game and Sonic and the Secret Rings for the Wii, and the pressure was on to release the previous game before the holiday season. As the devs cracked away, Sega raged up Sonic ’06 even more so. After it appeared, fans clicked on it for its many breaking bugs, inadequate gameplay and disgusting plot – one that includes a sinful scene where the human Princess Elise kisses Sonic to revive him. To put it bluntly, it was dead on arrival because it wasn’t until the exaltation.
In April 2008, Sonic Unleashed was announced where Sega reveals that Sonic would be turned into a werewolf in the night à la Teenage Wolf. Fans thought Unleashed to be a triumphant return for Sonic after the controversial release of Sonic ’06. Thus, the Sonic Cycle was born and is already circulating online.
As the months progressed and more information about the game came along, including familiar gameplay and depictions of new characters, fans began to hit phase two of the cycle. After it was released in November, fans and reporters ruthlessly tackled it over the game’s weak Werehog levels. Not even a nice graphic swell could save it.
Sonic Forces was the newest game to fall victim to death due to excess. Initially, fans were excited to see Classic Sonic return to combat later Generations and the introduction of custom avatar characters (to the delight of Sonic fan artists already creating “OCs” in DeviantArt). But the marketing for the game quickly became out of control, with a steady stream of trailers appearing almost weekly and new soundtracks falling left and right. Sega even went so far as to promote the game at Hooters in Japan, which was a bizarre left-wing stunt. After the game’s release, fans were left disappointed by its faulty writing, the vacant expressions of characters, and a terrible light.
And the cycle continues.
It’s getting slow
That long history leads us to Sonic Frontiers, which had a much quieter exaltation cycle by comparison. With the game’s supposed release window fast approaching, fans are wondering why the extra trailers, soundtracks, screenshots and characters from past games are nowhere to be found.
Sega said it wants to take all the time it needs to develop the game to perfection, which is an epiphany caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It did not mention that it will reduce the number of trailers uploaded to social media and slow down the flow of other information in the months leading up to the game’s release, however. Even if it did, it inadvertently broke Phase 2 of the Sonic Cycle while remaining quiet. Without too many pictures and information for fans to explore, fans are still happily living in Phase 1.
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