After the Sights, Sounds, and Speed update for Sonic Frontiers, fans of the lovable hedgehog have a new way to tackle the Cyber Space missions from the base game. Before, you could get an S-rank in a stage, or maybe look for all the Red Star Coins, or grab a set amount of rings, all in the name of earning some Chaos Emeralds. With the update, now you can only worry about the first part.
The name of the game is simple. Blast through a set amount of stages and earn nothing short of an A rank. But even if you know these stages, you’ll want to take the chance to prepare yourself.
Starting The Challenge
Selecting the challenge is the simplest part. Once you start your game from the opening menu, it will be one of the selectable modes, just under Battle Rush.
As the title update explains, in this mode, you have to aim for an A-rank or above if you want to keep playing. That’s where the challenge comes in.
Getting The Right Rank
You earn a letter rank at the end of each Cyber Space course. This is exactly like the main game, as these are the same Cyber Space tracks you were already racing along. Do notice there’s a difference in the end screen from before, though; there are no extra objectives that can be crossed off. Every related collectible has been removed for this mode. No Red Star Coins, No Vault Keys, and while you can still collect Rings, they will now be completely worthless outside of taking damage from an obstacle. The only thing you can do is earn a letter rank, and it’s now more important than ever.
The ranks you can earn are C, B, A, and S. Whatever you do, never get a C rank. The challenge of needing at least an A rank is a little bit misleading, but that doesn’t mean you can be completely okay with earning B ranks. Always aim for A and especially S ranks. You will need S in every course for the secret reward.
Pay Attention To Both Timers
In the base game, you always had a timer above you while you were running through Cyber Space. There are two timers in Challenge mode, one for the time of the current track and one that combines your full total during the Challenge run. If you can remember the time for S-rank in the base version, you can use that to gauge how well you are doing for the current track. Note that your rank is actually based on the combined time during Challenge mode, so the difference is already made for you in case you use the combined total instead.
If you haven’t already mastered the Cyber Space racetracks in the main game, you may want to go back and practice. The hardest part of this challenge is if you have even a minor failure.
How Does The Scoring System Reward And Punish You
As stated already, the description of how to earn further tracks is a bit misleading. Take a look at the above picture and notice that while there were a few B ranks, the overall rank rating was still an A, which meant the Challenge course for Ares Island was unlocked. In other words, you just need to do good enough overall to earn an A rank, and this will be enough to earn the next set of challenges. Perfection is only needed for the extra surprise.
Every time you finish a track, you get the prompt to either continue or replay. If you are going for a perfect, you should replay if you do not earn an S-rank. It’s a trickier question for those who only want to earn the rest of the challenges. Say you earned two A-ranks in a row, but the next track is a weak spot for you, and you ended up earning a B. In a worry, you hit replay. — thinking that you’ll only replay that last stage, but that’s not how it works.
If you hit replay at the end of any of the courses, you restart the entire set of challenges. Only restart if you were going for full perfect or if you get a C-rank. C-rank is an effective way to tell you did not do well enough to earn an overall A-rank; it’s a black mark against your score.
Practice Makes Perfect
Do yourself a favor. Go back into the main game, preferably a completed save file, and learn the ins and outs of every single Cyber Space stage before you attempt the Challenge. Ignore the rings, the coins, everything except for the fastest way for you to earn an S rank. While A is acceptable, learning the method for S on each course is still recommended; that way, if you happen to slip up at one point, you still have the chance of earning an A.
Cyber Space stages were divisive in Frontiers; many fans found some of the controls wonky or the speed unreliable. With Challenge mode, you now have to worry about those issues even harder. But you still have all the time you need to go fast. Replay the course by themselves in the main game, and then use that knowledge of S-rank clears to discover the secret at the end.
