The video game Sonic Frontiers has only been out a few days, but there’s already mods to change up gameplay. Why play the latest Sonic game as, you know, Sonic the Hedgehog when you can be Pikachu instead? Instead of a spiky blue hedgehog, complete those missions as an electric yellow rat. YouTuber Peter Knetter tries out the mod in the video below and keeps up an amusing running commentary about the game as he casually drowns, presses the wrong button, and kicks the stone children following him around. Whether or not it sells you on playing the actual game is debatable, but it is still a fun watch.
The game is Sonic’s first foray into open world design. Without the story’s context, the action and quests in this video all seem somewhat confusing. Pikachu races around collecting rings and punching things. His children, which just keep multiplying, look like stones with tiny legs and silly headwear. The look of Pikachu himself varies widely from moment to moment. As Knetter points out, he’s quite thicc when he runs, that yellow behind bouncing wildly. And then there are glitchy moments where his dimensions are all wrong.
Knetter didn’t build this mod but does share a lot of video game content on his YouTube channel. He clearly has a preference for Sonic and Pikachu, but this is the first crossover we’ve seen. He also modifies game controllers, including a cardboard version of a Gameboy that still plays and a GameCube controller that is also a sandwich.
There’s been a lot of other cool video game mods recently, including the ability to play Stray as Garfield the cat and a 2D version of The Simpsons: Hit & Run that looks more like the actual show. The wildest may just be a fighting Baby Yoda in Star Wars Battlefront II.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.
