Sonic Frontiers has been out for a while now, and while plenty of players have already finished it and moved on to other things, the Blue Blur’s dedicated fanbase has been hard at work finding new tricks and exploits that somehow make Sonic look even cooler than he already is.
Whether it’s your first time playing through Frontiers or you’re just revisiting the game after the free DLC dropped, the game has no shortage of exciting things you can do. Some of these tricks are harder to pull off than others, but with a bit of practice, you’ll be pulling off these pro player feats in no time at all.
9 Draw An Infinity For Endless Boost
A lot of people might already know about this, but it bears repeating: by drawing an infinity symbol with Sonic’s brand-new Cyloop ability, you will temporarily be able to use Boost as long as you want without worrying about running out of Boost Gauge and being forced to walk the rest of the way.
This is probably the easiest of these tricks to perform, but it still takes a bit of practice to consistently draw the shape right on your first attempt. Master this, and getting around the map will be faster than ever.
8 Drop Dash Up Icy Mountains
The Drop Dash is an ability Sonic has from the very start of the game. You perform it by pressing and holding the jump button after Sonic has already performed a double jump. Once you land on solid ground, Sonic will go spinning forward and can even deal damage to enemies while curled into a ball.
It’s a pretty cool move, albeit one that you probably either don’t know about or do know about but never use. That said, Drop Dashing has a handful of practical uses. Most notably, it’s the only way Sonic can move over slippery surfaces, like the icy mountain peaks of Chaos Island. Try it out next time you visit the location.
7 Stay On Asura After Destroying Its Weak Point
Asura is one of the earliest Guardians Sonic is able to battle. Fighting one usually plays out the same way: you wait for it to slam the ground, you run up its arm, you destroy one of its pointed spires, it knocks you off, rinse and repeat two more times until it’s defeated. Normally this process can be a little time-consuming, but did you know there’s a way to immediately get back on?
When Sonic gets shaken off, he goes into a special animation where he can do almost nothing (emphasis on “almost”). If you Boost back towards Asura, you can actually grab onto the side of its body and climb back up straight away without having to wait for it to smash the ground again. If you’re lucky, your boost can even land you right back on top.
6 Boost Cancel To Maintain Air Momentum
This next trick is one used almost exclusively by speedrunners, or by completionists looking to earn an S-Rank in every Cyberspace level. When Sonic does a Homing Attack, he’ll pop upward a bit. This is great for giving you a second to find the next target to Homing Attack, but it also slows Sonic down a tad. So let’s fix that.
If you press Boost right after Sonic lands his Homing Attack, you’ll cancel the little upwards pop he would’ve normally done, letting you get right back into the action. Who says hedgehogs can’t fly?
5 Do A Rail Launch (And Stick The Landing)
The premise of Rail Launching is simple. Grind rails massively bolster Sonic’s momentum, and Boosting while on a rail multiplies that speed to ludicrous proportions. So what happens then if you decide to jump off the rail after initiating a boost? Simple. You’ll free Sonic from the linear path of the rail and send him flying with tons of momentum in whatever direction you choose.
The hard part of Rail Launching isn’t so much doing it as it is controlling your massive speed with the precision needed to land on a midair platform, or even another rail. Speedrunners are already using this to set new records in Cyberspace levels that are full of rails. Give it some practice, and you’ll be setting your own personal best times very soon.
4 Magnet Dash For Huge Distance
Magnet Dashing is very similar to Boost Canceling in that they both involve the Homing Attack and the Boost. The similarities end there though because to do a Magnet Dash, you’ll want to use Boost to cancel Sonic’s Homing Attack before he hits his target. Doing so will send Sonic flying past whatever he was trying to hit, but with the momentum from his Homing Attack.
The distance this trick covers is absurd, letting Sonic easily skip past entire sections of Cyberspace levels. The timing is the hardest part. Press it too late, and Sonic will just do a normal Homing Attack. Supposedly, Magnet Dashes are easier to do in 2D levels, so hop into one if you want to give this trick a go.
3 Boost Jump Off Uneven Ground
This trick is where things really get interesting. If you have Air Tricks unlocked, you may have noticed that Sonic can really go flying when he Boosts off of a rock or some other patch of uneven ground. Usually, it’s only a small leap, but if you hit one of these surfaces at just the right angle, you’ll get massive airtime, as well as enough momentum to fly to spots on the map that would normally be much harder to get to.
Despite the name of the tech, there’s no jump input involved. All you have to do is boost at the right rock at the right angle. It will probably take you a lot of tries to pull off right, but pro speedrunners are already using it to skip whole small sections of the game.
2 The Massive Height Exploit (A.K.A. “The Hedgehog Space Program”)
If you thought the previous tricks on this list were awesome, you haven’t seen anything yet. The Massive Height Exploit is a trick that, if performed correctly, launches Sonic up into the stratosphere of whatever zone he’s in.
Doing it is simple enough. First, find an enemy and lock on to them. Next, perform a dodge. Then, cancel your dodge into a Stomp attack (which you’ll need to unlock first). Finally, before it has a chance to go off, cancel your Stomp into a Boost. You’ll know if you timed it right when Sonic ascends into a higher plane of existence.
In a surprise to no one, this exploit is very popular among speedrunners, who use it to glitch into Titan Boss Fight arenas way earlier than you’re supposed to.
1 The Infamous “Pinball Skip”
Ever wanted to skip the forced Pinball minigame on Chaos Island? Well, now (with a glitch), you can. The exact process is a bit complicated. It involves breaking a specific crate, quitting back to the title screen during the Pinball mini-game, and throwing Sonic off a cliff once you reload your save.
If you’re even thinking about trying this yourself, looking up a guide is a must. It’s so difficult to pull off correctly that even some speedrunners have trouble with it. Also, keep in mind that this is technically a glitch, albeit one you are unlikely to come across in a regular playthrough. There’s no telling if or when SEGA will patch it out of the game.