Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition Review: Some Direction is Better Than None

In June 2023, Sonic Frontiers received DLC called the "Sonic's Birthday Bash" update. It added a full jukebox of iconic songs from throughout Sonic history, special timed score challenges to unlock the Spin Dash, and turned the Starfall Island into a birthday celebration fit for the blue blur.

Now, in June 2026, SEGA has not just updated the game, but re-released it in the form of Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition, just in time for the series' 35th anniversary. Exclusive to the Switch 2, it bundles together all the game's previous DLC in a format designed for Nintendo's newest console. It's all here, from the starter package originally given away for preorders to the massive Final Horizon DLC that made Sonic's friends playable and even added an alternate ending. Yes, the Sonic Birthday Bash update is here, too.

And that's about it. It's just Sonic Frontiers for the Switch 2. But of course, as every game and its mother is being given a Nintendo Switch 2 edition right now, you might be wondering. Why is Sonic Frontiers being given such a strong title of "definitive edition?" Is there any new content at all? Is it worth purchasing at a price point of $50 USD? Don't worry, dear reader. I dove into Cyberspace to find out.

Sonic Frontiers on Switch: The Story So Far

Part of the reason I decided to write about the definitive edition of Sonic Frontiers is because I'm the exact audience it was made for. I adore Sonic Frontiers, and it's my personal fave Sonic game of all time. Frontiers came out at the tail end of the Switch's lifespan, and it was one of the many games that signaled how far behind it had fallen in performance. It was playable, but that shouldn't be what the Sonic fans on Nintendo's side of the market have to settle for. It ran at 30 FPS and would dip regularly. Practically everything was at the lowest resolution Sonic Team could get the Switch to run. Detailing like grass and plants would appear underneath Sonic's feet and nowhere else.

One of the first things I did when I got my Switch 2 was run Sonic Frontiers to see if it got a boost. Oh, it did. The frame rate dips were rarer, but the tricks Sonic Team used to optimize it were like a big stain on the otherwise serviceable white walls: obvious and irritating. I had been wanting a Switch 2 edition of Frontiers ever since, so here I am.

The other reason I'm writing this is that my findings are... intriguing.

The New Horizons

The only real new thing that Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition offers is the choice between Performance Priority Mode and Graphics Priority Mode. From what I've found, which modes you use will really depend on your personal preferences. Not just because that's what the modes are there for, but because the only real thing you'll notice, unless you really care about graphics, are the frame rates.

Performance Priority Mode, in my opinion, steals the show for the definitive edition. By sacrificing some details of Frontiers' environments, the game runs at a very stable 60 frames per second. The only time that I've had frames drop on this setting was on Chaos Island when riding on that one bird enemy, but only on the world and not Sonic himself. Playing on Performance Priority Mode feels great when I'm beating down bad guys and running aimlessly around the Starfall Islands. It's insanely smooth docked.

Honestly, I can't really tell what Graphics Priority Mode changes when docked. Everything more or less feels the same when I switch between the modes except for the fact that Graphics Priority Mode runs at 30 frames per second. And the black screen that flashes when the modes load. The change in frames can be felt, but I wish the same could be said for the world at large. Cutscenes look better, but apart from details like Chaos Island's lava or ice, I don't think you'd notice which mode you're playing on most of the time. This is because, sadly, outside a few things like character models, the game still runs at the original Switch game's resolution more or less.

Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition seems to be designed to favor handheld play. Performance Priority Mode and Graphics Priority mode still use the same frames, but they were considerably kinder on my Switch 2. When I picked it up to play handheld for a while after playing docked, I could hear my Switch 2's fans. That's never happened to me before. If you're looking into getting this version of Frontiers, playing it on the go is probably what you're after anyway, so that's probably for the best. Playing it docked is still a treat of its own, though.

Throughout the entire game, the boss fights rise to the challenge they represent and look great. I'm sure that's thanks to the tricks Sonic Team used to use the wide-open maps while still keeping the titan battles contained to the arena. Cyberspace for some reason looks the best, especially docked. It might be the lack of bloom effects on the Nintendo Switch 2 version compared to others that the finer details, like the CRT filters and hologram effects in the background, come out a bit more. It made me appreciate these bite-size levels in a whole new way I never had before.

What blew me away the most about Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition was the fact that it fixes the biggest issues with the game's pop-in. I repeat. Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition fixes the pop-in. It still happens with smaller objects like an abundance of plants or rings after a certain distance, but every important rail, platform, and enemy all appear with no trouble. You have to go considerable distances to make them vanish.

The lack of pop-in is amazing for Frontiers' exploration and progression, because now you don't have to run around just hoping the rails you need to progress show up. It's there waiting for you if you happen to be even a fair distance away. It might be the feature that really makes this version of Frontiers the definitive one. Unfortunately, that's because it's only available here with no chance of it moving to other versions anytime soon.

Looking Down

Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition isn't without its flaws. There are a few strange glitches that somehow came up with this port, and they mostly appear in the cutscenes of all places. Sonic's friends are left without their in-between animations and will just turn plainly in one direction to the next. Tails' characteristic tails will stand still when giving him his Memory Tokens, and sometimes they'll stop swaying in cutscenes, too. The pop-in might have left the islands, but now it can be found in the cutscenes instead. I've also run into a few instances of glitches occurring when switching between performance and Graphical Priority Mode as well.

As much as the lack of pop-in with important set pieces is incredible, it's still graphically behind the other versions by a large margin. It's hard to say that the definitive edition deserves that name when the texture compression is obvious all over the map compared to playing on PC or PS4. Yes, graphics are purely cosmetic, but when that's an entire selling point in a port implied to be above the other versions, things like this are worth scrutinizing. Especially when the other selling point hardly makes a difference when the DLC it bundled in was free from the start.

With all that in mind, the only real benefit of this definitive edition would be to be a way to own the DLC physically, but as it is on a game key card, we can't have that, either. Apparently, making it so you can see which island I'm on when you see me playing Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition on your friend list was more important than a complete physical package.

As a Switch 2 version, Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition delivers on an experience that matches what the Switch 2 is capable of and what Sonic Team felt like fixing. It's in the same boat as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on the same console in terms of graphical quirks, which says a fair bit. Between the two, some shadows might flicker, some objects might've been taken out for file size or compressed, some objects might only fully render when you get close or after the cutscene starts — but for what it is, they work and look good.

Frontiers is far crunchier than FF7 Rebirth, though, which might make or break it for some. For me, being able to run past fields of grass instead of having them appear below me is far better than it was before considering Frontiers' heroic story full of world building, and Performance Priority Mode feels so good that I'll likely be coming back for more.

If you don't have Sonic Frontiers already on the Switch, this is the version you definitely want to get. Considering it's been four years since the game came out, though, there's a high chance you have it already and don't want to pay full price for only a slightly prettier, glitchier game. There's a small market for this game, but if that happens to be you, you'll at least enjoy what it offers all the same.