Sonic Frontiers is the first real open-world Sonic game; however, Sega marketing has called it an open-zone game. It features several islands that act as hub worlds for Sonic to explore. These islands are very different from the worlds seen before in Sonic Adventure and Sonic The Hedgehog 2006. Each one of them are absolutely massive and filled with secrets, enemies, grind rails, and the famous loops that Sonic is known for running around on.

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Moving around at the speed of sound, Sonic The Hedgehog is still the fastest living creature and can even upgrade his base speed as players progress through Sonic Frontiers. However, with each of the islands being such a vast play area, players may want to get from one side of the map to the other a bit faster. In this guide, the various methods of fast and quick travel will be explained, as well as how to activate them.

Grind Rails

As players explore each of the islands in Sonic Frontiers, they will come across map challenges, represented as red question marks on the map screen. These challenges, once complete, will reveal a new section of the island on the map screen.

Each marker will have a nearby mini puzzle to complete --it could be to do a set amount of damage before the timer runs out or reach all the checkpoints. Whatever task is presented, completing them will reveal more of the map. Some signposts may require Sonic to return at nighttime in order to complete them.

Once the challenge is finished, players will receive an item to upgrade Sonic's abilities, along with a set of new ramps and grind rails. These new modes of traversal will join up with the previous or next map challenge on the island. Finishing several on a row will allow smooth, fast grinding between the signposts, which is very handy for moving between areas within the island.

Switch Map

After defeating the first boss on Kronos Island, players will find Sonic sent straight to the next island regardless of the amount of completion on the first island. Once in this new area, the game does not make it clear that travel back to Kronos is indeed possible. There are some tips beginners will find handy to get better at playing, but traveling back to unfinished maps will allow players to finish off side quests and get any collectibles they missed along the way.

At any time on an island, travel back to one of the other areas is possible. In order to go back to a previous map, players must first navigate to the pause menu. On this menu, the bottom left will now display Switch Maps. Pressing the corresponding button next to Switch Maps will bring up the available islands Sonic can travel to. Select one of the islands, and the game will teleport him to the desired map, provided it has already been visited.

Elders

During Sonic's journey in the strange lands within Sonic Frontiers, he will meet the tiny creatures called Kocos. These tiny stone-like critters are scattered in every nook and cranny on all the islands and are very similar to the Korok seeds from Breath of the Wild.

It turns out that these Kocos have gone missing and should be returned to Elder Koco. In return for bringing back the lost Koco, Sonic will receive an upgrade to either his speed or the number of rings he can carry.

Elder Koco has a counterpart Hermit Koco -- if Sonic can find him, he will boost offensive and defensive stats in exchange for attack and defense seeds found when puzzles are solved, or enemies are defeated. These two Koco have another bonus in the form of becoming a fast travel point. Should players locate Big the Cat in the fishing area, they can fish for various items, two of which are scrolls.

The two scrolls are for Hermit Koco and Elder Koco; finding both will unlock their fast travel feature. When both scrolls have been found, any Hermit or Elder Koco will be able to be used as a fast travel point via the map screen.

The tab that reads All Icons at the top of the screen will need to be changed to Fast Travel before it can be used, so press the button to change the icons displayed on the map to fast travel, and then Sonic can teleport to the Koco icons on display.

Fishing with Big is a random affair, so a few attempts may be required before the scrolls are found. Be sure to collect purple coins while exploring the islands, as these are used in exchange for a shot at fishing.

Portals

Across the islands, players will come across portals. These massive ancient statues will at first require a portal gear to activate them and access the cyberspace area within. These cyberspace stages are classic 2D or 3D Sonic stages, each with its own challenges that will reward players with vault keys.

To use the portals as fast travel points, players must first reveal 100% of the map they are on. To reveal each section of the map, every map challenge puzzle must be completed. The portals are handily scattered across various areas of the map, so getting across the island should be a breeze once the option to use them as fast travel points has been unlocked. Like the Elder Koco method of fast travel, on the map screen, swap over from All Icons to the Fast Travel tab to select the fast travel to portal option.

Sonic Frontiers is out now for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC.