Sonic on Kronos Island, the first Open Zone, from Sonic Frontiers.
The Open Zone,[1] also known as the Open hub-world or the Open World is a recurring game mechanic that appears the Sonic the Hedgehog series. First introduced in Sonic Frontiers, they are vast explorable environments or Zones that offer various gimmicks through which Sonic and others can freely traverse.
Description[]
Taking cues from the open-world video game genre, Open Zones are designed as large areas filled with an interactable environment full of gimmicks, challenges and missions, collectables, enemies, etc. that Sonic and his friends can roam around and explore freely in.[2]
Despite this a huge freedom of movement, the Open Zone differs from the open-world in that story progression is relatively linear at times, and certain objectives must be done to advance the story and access more of the Open Zone.[3]
Game appearances[]
Sonic Frontiers[]
The Open Zone in Sonic Frontiers are the Starfall Islands, a remote archipelago filled with ruins, signs of destruction, and highly advanced technology left over from a bygone civilization. The Islands are inhabited by the Koco, small, playful stone creatures, whom Sonic and friends assist in finding peace. Robots and Guardians created by the Ancients as protectors of the Islands roam freely, attacking anything they see as a threat to their home. The Islands are also home to the extremely powerful Titans, four massively sized robots used by the Ancients to ward off the destructor of their previous home, now lying dormant on the Islands.
While exploring the Islands, Sonic and his friends encounter their allies and their enemies alike. Using the Memory Tokens found around the Islands, Sonic can rescue and stabilize his friends that are trapped within Cyber Cages and converse with them about themselves or the Islands. These conversations often can unlock quests and Story focused quests that open new paths that allow Sonic to explore further within the Zone. They can also interact with the various Koco around the Islands, such as the Elder or Hermit Koco, who can aid them in their quest by strengthening their abilities by retuning the lost Koco and New Koco or trading seeds found around the Islands.
Sonic and friends can also collect a variety of objects that can help them on their quests by defeating enemies, finding treasure spots, or breaking containers. Portal Gears can be used to open Cyber Space Portals where Sonic can collect Vault Keys or Lookout Koco for completing various missions. These objects can be used to unlock the Chaos Emerald Vaults or Trial Towers, respectively. Purple Coins found scattered around the Islands can be used at Fishing Spots found within the Purple Portals, where Sonic can fish with Big the Cat for various collectables.
Challenges can be found around the Islands, which are mini-gauntlets where Sonic and friends must complete the objective in a specific time limit, often rewarding them with a Blue Seed of Defense or Red Seed of Power, filling out the map, and materializing ancient rails that can be used to traverse the islands quicker. These challenges often involve interacting with unique gimmicks or mechanics (such as climbing black walls scattered around the islands with Sonic). Sonic's friends can give him various quests around the Islands, which usually end up allowing him to progress further into the Islands.
Every so often, the islands exhibit a unique phenomena known as Starfall, during which star pieces will fall from the sky for Sonic to collect. Collecting star pieces will activate a slot machine that will award Sonic with purple coins. In The Final Horizon storyline, Starfall is instead replaced with Starfall+, which drops Red Seeds of Power, Blue Seeds of Defense, and Koco in massive quantities.
Rhea Island is unique in that it lacks many of these features, instead being dedicated to hosting six towers that are used to keep The End within Cyber Space. Additionally, Ouranos Island during The Final Horizon storyline lacks Fishing Spots, story quests, and Island Mysteries, instead having five Trial Towers similar to the ones found on Rhea. Each tower hosts complex and involved platforming sections leading to a confrontation with the Master Koco. Similar longer, more involved platforming challenges can be found around the island, and these are often tailored to character-specific abilities. These challenges will often reward the player with a Skill Piece Koco or Map Koco. Several platforming sections with Amy, Knuckles, and Tails are required to complete the storyline, leading the player to a special Elder or Hermit Koco (for Amy), Impact Forms (for Knuckles), and Koco Devices (for Tails), after which they can collect the Chaos Emeralds scattered around the Island.
100% checklist for the Starfall Islands, from Sonic Frontiers.
There are four islands and five large Open Zone areas to explore in Sonic Frontiers: the grassy steppes of Kronos Island (as well as the upper portion of the island where six large towers await, called Rhea Island, though Kronos and Rhea are on the same physical landmass), the arid deserts and canyons of Ares Island, the ruined volcanic landscape topped with ice and snow of Chaos Island, and the dense forests and marshlands of Ouranos Island (where both the original finale and The Final Horizon storyline take place).
Shadow Generations[]
Shadow exploring White Space, an Open Zone, from Shadow Generations
The Open Zone returns in Shadow Generations, this time taking place in a 3D, open hub world version of White Space.
List of Open Zone areas[]
Sonic Frontiers[]
Shadow Generations[]
Trivia[]
- The Starfall Islands went through many changes during the development of Sonic Frontiers, Kronos Island, Rhea Island, and Ournaos Island were all part of a larger, combined Kronos Island before becoming split. According to Morio Kishimoto, the splitting of the larger Kronos Island into the three separate ones was a somewhat late change in the game's development due to play tester feedback finding the combined island "too big and boring".[4] Despite the splitting, remnants of the combined island remains in the final game.
- In the final game, Kronos Island and Rhea Island are still on the same physical landmass, but are treated as two separate areas, while Ouranos Island was moved to a new map all together. Despite this, they all share the same aesthetic (though Rhea Island and Ouranos Island are somewhat more wooded and marsh-like than Kronos Island).
- In Egg Memo #7, Dr. Eggman claims there are only three islands on the Starfall Islands, seemingly as a holdover from before the splitting of the combined Kronos Island. In The Final Horizon, however, Dr. Eggman and Knuckles state there are four islands.[5][6]
- The ocean around Kronos Island/Rhea Island and Ouranos Island feature outlines where the two landmasses where split from each other.
- A height terrain map of the combined island can be found in the Nintendo Switch and PS4 versions of the game, which can be loaded into the game.
- An even earlier version of the combined island's wind map on the PS4 version shows that a secondary island that seemingly was missing to the leftover version of the combined island.
- Additionally, possibly as a result of the earlier feedback on the combined Kronos Island, the water outline for Ares Island and an early wind map for Chaos Island show that they were also initially planned to be much larger as well.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
| Gallery |
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 Kronos Island, from Sonic Frontiers.  Ares Island, from Sonic Frontiers.  Chaos Island, from Sonic Frontiers.  Rhea Island, from Sonic Frontiers.  Ouranos Island, from Sonic Frontiers.  White Space, from Shadow Generations. |
Open Zone maps[]
| Gallery |
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 A map of Kronos Island, from Sonic Frontiers.  A map of Ares Island, from Sonic Frontiers.  A map of Chaos Island, from Sonic Frontiers.  A map of Rhea Island, from Sonic Frontiers.  A map of Ouranos Island, from Sonic Frontiers. |
Development[]
| Gallery |
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 The heightmap used for the combined version of Kronos Island, Rhea Island, and Ouranos Island, from Sonic Frontiers.  The combined island loaded in-game, from Sonic Frontiers.  An early wind map of the combined island, from Sonic Frontiers.  The water line around Ares Island showing a much larger version of it, from Sonic Frontiers.  An early wind map of Chaos Island, from Sonic Frontiers. |
References[]
- ↑ Fahey, Mike (9 December 2021). Sega Reveals Sonic Frontiers, The First Open-World Sonic Game. Kotaku. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved on 30 June 2024.
- ↑ Stewart, Marcus (9 December 2021). Sonic Frontiers Drops The Blue Blur Into His First Open World Game. Game Informer. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved on 30 June 2024.
- ↑ Sega Explains What Sonic Frontiers’ 'Open Zone' Structure Actually Means - IGN
- ↑ Morio Kishimoto (@moq_46) on Twitter. Twitter (11 May 2023). Retrieved on 15 May 2023.
- ↑ Sonic Team (November 8, 2022). Sonic Frontiers. Xbox One. Sega. Cutscene: The Final Horizon: Side Story. "Eggman: That facility is a kind of monitor that shows the link between the island and Cyber Space. The four rings represent the four islands, and when they're rotating, they indicate the link with Cyber Space is in effect. When a ring stops, it means there's some sort of abnormality in Cyber Space."
- ↑ Sonic Team (November 8, 2022). Sonic Frontiers. Xbox One. Sega. Cutscene: The Final Horizon: Fifth Emerald Found. "Knuckles: Oh no you don't. Sonic handled four islands of this mess. I'm not going down to just one!"