While exploring the islands of Frontiers you collect little Korok-like critters called Koco, but unfortunately, they only function as a currency for leveling up, and nothing else. In a cruel twist, Sonic Frontiers even has a voice line where Sonic says, “I wonder if there’s a Chao Garden around here?”Įven if you don’t use “Chaos” specifically, Sonic Frontiers has another cute little creature it could put in its place. Now looking forward to the release of Sonic Frontiers, a feature like the Chao Garden would have perfectly reinforced the overall message and vibe of the game at large. The Chao have continued to appear in references and artwork even if the Chao Garden hasn’t. It helped break up the flow, and fans loved it so much because of how much fun it was to simply interact with the charming little Chao. The Chao Garden was a surprisingly deep piece of side content that, integrally, provided a break from the action and intensity of Sonic Adventure. Essentially the Chao were virtual pets, and players could discover these hidden gardens that let players hatch, name, and interact with the adorable creatures in a variety of ways. The Chao Garden was first introduced in 1999’s Sonic Adventure, but it would only be iterated on over a couple of entries, with the last proper version of the mini-game appearing in Sonic Advance 2. Sonic Frontier’s core design feels like it was tailor-made for a Chao Garden, and it’s a huge missed opportunity that the game could have really capitalized on. Strange one-off mini-games often get in the way of exploration, but this could have entirely been avoided if Sega had chosen to bring back one of the biggest fan-favorite features of the series: the Chao Garden. Part of what makes Sonic Frontiers so fascinating is the laid-back almost “chill” feeling of its gameplay which puts a major focus on simply running around and exploring. Sonic Frontiers feels like the breath of fresh air the long-running franchise needs, even if it still has many problems.
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