Shadow the Hedgehog could be coming to Sonic Frontiers, according to hints by the developers

The ultimate lifeform could still make his way into battle

Sonic Team recently announced that Amy, Knuckles and Tails will soon become playable characters in the latest Sonic game, Sonic Frontiers, and this has led players to speculate about the game’s future. While other characters were shown in the trailer, so far only these three characters have been confirmed for the roster. Sonic Superstars launches on October 17, and these three, alongside Sonic will be playable right from release. But we wanted to know if more characters were in store for either game.

GLHF sat down with Sonic Superstars producer Takashi Iizuka and development producer and character designer Naoto Ohshima, to talk about all things Sonic, including Frontiers and the upcoming Superstars. One of the most interesting things at Sonic Team is the switch between having a whole host of playable characters, to focusing on just Sonic. With Superstars pushing the multiplayer aspect it feels natural to have four characters right at the start. But will there be any more?

Sonic Superstars will mark a return to the 2D Sonic formula when it launches this October / Sega

We asked Iizuka-san why Sonic Team decided to change direction, from the huge roster of 12 characters available in Sonic Heroes to just Sonic in other games. “What we were hearing from Sega of America and Sega of Europe was that fans were saying ‘Why do we have to play as all these other characters? I want to play a Sonic game, why can’t I just play as Sonic?’” Iizuka explains, “We have all these people that just want to play as Sonic so that’s where Sonic Generations and Sonic Colors came from.”

“We’re at an interesting change now, where people who have been playing as just Sonic for a long time are now saying ‘I want to play as these other characters, I want to play as Shadow. Can you put these other characters in?’ and that’s where we’re at now.” Despite the clear demand from fans to be able to play as Shadow again, we haven’t seen him as a playable character since he had his own campaign in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), or in the downloadable DLC for Sonic Forces in 2017. He’s had a long hiatus, but will the most requested character be getting a comeback?

Shadow the Hedgehog could be making a comeback in Sonic Frontiers / Sega

Well certainly not in Superstars. Iizuka-san made it very clear when pressed that Shadow will only appear in the modern Sonic games, and as Sonic Superstars will return to the 2D formula, Iizuka-san doesn’t want him appearing in the ‘classic’-style games. However, the way the question was answered led me to believe that Shadow will be making a comeback at some time soon, and with the new characters it could likely be in Sonic Frontiers.

Whether he’ll be playable or not is a different question, but we’d love a new set of side quests where you challenge Shadow, if just to hear his classic one-liners again.