It's a big year for Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue blur and Sega mascot already got a big-budget movie sequel and is preparing for a compilation game, but the centerpiece of the year appears to be Sonic Frontiers--an ambitious new 3D Sonic project boasting some of the best talent of past Sonic games. Details are scant on the new Sonic game so far, but we expect to see more as it prepares to speed towards its late 2022 release. Here's everything we know, and everything we hope to see, from Sonic Frontiers.

A new "open-zone" Sonic

The new Sonic game appeared to be teasing Breath of the Wild vibes with its first image, showing Sonic standing on a cliffside overlooking a wide expanse of land. That was an indication of this game's direction, which Sega is calling an "open-zone-inspired" approach.

Instead of a series of stages for Sonic to speed his way through, Sonic Frontiers takes place on Starfall Islands. The new area is a vast open-world area consisting of forests, waterfalls, and deserts. An early teaser showed off some of the environments, along with a huge boss encounter. Sega has not detailed how traditional Sonic elements like rings, bonus stages, and boss battles will work within this new context.