Sonic Frontiers' Recycled Cyber Stage Layouts Could be Genius

gamerant.com:

One thing that is an important staple to the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is the series' Special Stages. These extra levels serve as a way for players to obtain the mythical Chaos Emeralds, and in many games, these Emeralds are required for fans to obtain the true ending. While Sonic Frontiers features the Chaos Emeralds, it doesn't exactly have Special Stages. Instead, linear levels can be unlocked through progression called «Cyber Space» stages that build up to gathering the Emeralds.

These Cyber Space stages were one Sonic Frontiers' features that didn't get properly explained until a trailer in the June Nintendo Direct showed them off. Hands-on impressions from demos at Sega's gaming convention appearances praised these levels the most. However, loyal fans have noticed that the layouts of these stages are from older Sonic levels. Before re-using old-level designs could hurt the game's budding reputation, Sonic Team has explained the reason for the recycling, and it may actually enhance the experience of Sonic Frontiers instead.

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According to Sonic Team, the reason that Cyber Space relies on old level aesthetics, assets, and even layouts is because the stages are generated based on Sonic's memories. Memories themselves have been scientifically proven to be rather unreliable narrators at times. This doesn't even touch the implied plot of how Sonic's memories may have been altered at the start of Frontiers, which might also be why Cyber Space has mismatched level designs to call back from. Sonic Team's leader, Takashi Iizuka, has said that the levels are made to make the player feel like Sonic does as he runs through the levels, that they've been there before.

The fact that Cyber