The creator of the Super Smash Bros. and Kirby series, Masahiro Sakurai, praised the upcoming Sonic Frontiers at Tokyo Game Show. With Tokyo Game Show's return to an in-person physical event, fans could try out demos of some upcoming games from many major publishers and companies. This event also featured many livestreams focused on upcoming games, with Sega revealing a new trailer for Sonic Frontiers, focusing on Sonic's ability to go Super Sonic and fighting off the titans that roam the world.
This event also allowed fans to try a free demo of Sonic Frontiers' gameplay, much like the demos at Summer Games Fest and Gamescom. Impressions of the demo from Gamescom and subsequently TGS have been incredibly positive, with many gamers praising the new open-zone gameplay of Sonic Frontiers along with its fluid combat. This praise was also given by the esteemed creator and director of the Super Smash Bros. series, Masahiro Sakurai, who was in attendance at this event.
The official Sega of Japan Twitter account took a picture of the game creator playing the game, informing fans that Masahiro Sakurai actually stopped by the Sonic Frontiers booth to try out the game. According to a rough translation, Sakurai said that he was thinking of buying the game due to how differently Sonic plays in this game. The tweet then notes that Sakurai said that he will "definitely" buy the game.
Both the Japanese Twitter account and English account thanked Sakurai for the praise, which most likely would have been a huge honor to hear from a creator as legendary as him. Fans were highly pleased to hear Sakurai's praise on the gameplay, with many noting that Sonic Frontiers really could end up being one of the best games in the franchise if a designer like him approved of it. Others joked that Sonic could finally have a new moveset in the next iteration of Super Smash Bros. that isn't just him relying on spin-dashing, as it could now be based on Frontiers and its combat system.
Sakurai himself posted on Twitter that he was excited to attend Tokyo Game Show for the first time in a long time, noting how it's been a while since he found himself in a lengthy line. Some photos of his show the booths that he was interested in trying out, including the aforementioned Sonic Frontiers, but also the Crisis Core remake and display for Street Fighter 6, complete with a statue of Chun-Li.
Sonic Frontiers will launch on November 8 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.