Once thought to be an April Fools joke when it was announced, Shadow the Hedgehog is now available on PSN in Japan. It’s being released as a “PS2 Classic”, meaning it’s just the PS2 version running in an emulator. Do note that this was easily the worst version, so it might be best to get the game for Gamecube or Xbox instead. Or you can just ignore it and forget that it ever existed like I did until just now.
The classic hasn’t been announced for release yet in the US and Europe, but it can be bought using a Japanese PSN account for 1,200 yen.
Character swaps aren’t exactly a rarity when it comes to Sonic hacks and mods. Especially recently with the PC version of Sonic Generations allowing modders to swap Sonic’s model with pretty much every other character in the game. But on the Xbox 360 and PS3 these mods don’t appear quite as often, mostly because hacking a console game means doing things Microsoft and Sony don’t want you to do which means you’d probably get banned from Xbox Live or Playstation Network for doing so. So it’s a good thing one of the people that actually bothered to hack Sonic 2006 made good use of it:
This video actually has been up since March 22nd, but… yeah, I don’t have an excuse for not covering this earlier. That doesn’t mean there’s not news about our favorite new playable Sonic character though. The video’s creator, Melpontro, has now started a show page for the videos starring Pelé the Beloved Dog, with there already being three more episodes. Be sure to read the descriptions:
Sonic Heroes, one of the games that according to some started the wave of bad games in the Sonic franchise, is now available on the Playstation Store in Europe for £7.99/€9.99 for the Playstation 3. This was released along with other PS2 games under the PS2 Classics label on SEN. Note that these games (Including Sonic Heroes) didn’t get the HD treatment certain other “classics” like the God of War or Sly Cooper franchises got. These are exactly the same as the original versions, with the resolution being upscaled to what you have in your PS3 settings.
So yes, this means it’s the worst version of Sonic Heroes. And no, this does not mean that Sonic Adventure 2: Battle will be getting a re-release. Also, the file size is 4.5 GB, so if for some reason you actually want to buy this game make sure you have enough space on your PS3’s hard drive.
We’ve seen glimpses of the Genesis and Dreamcast Era stages, leaving just one era to explore before Sonic Generations sweeps its way to consoles globally in a few weeks. Tonight, IGN has fired the last shot courtesy of Sega with the debut of the Modern Era trailer.
Disappearing as quickly as it arrived, German gaming site Giga.de posted up a video I’m guessing they weren’t supposed to – a 28 minute playthrough of the upcoming Sonic Generations, coming across the globe in the early days of November, 2011. Featuring Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary, and City Escape, the video also includes extensive footage of the hub world and the glorious Metal Sonic boss fight. Sure, everything they are saying is in German, and it was taken down probably because of an embargo (which means this video here might disappear later on), but in the words of Retro admin Cinossu, “boy is it a lovely 28 minutes.”
Although it should be obvious, this video is chock-full of spoilers. So if you want to stay completely in the dark, you’ll want to avoid the video and everything else below.
With a supposed embargo on Generations information lifting today, we have the first trickle of information in the form of a three and a half minute video from German site GamePro showcasing some of the currently known stages from the console version of the game.
Those worried about Sky Sanctuary lacking the signature elements of the original stage, like bubbly bouncing clouds and the ominous launch of Death Egg through the clouds can breathe a sigh of relief. Although still a different take from the original stage with a more heavenly tropical feel, the soul of the original Sky Sanctuary is still there as Sonic bounds on the clouds. Check out all those alternate paths in the Classic version of the stage!
The video also features looks at Green Hill, Chemical Plant and City Escape. Green Hill now features collectible red rings, Omochao hint bubbles, and additional prompts on screen when Modern Sonic is performing tricks. We also get a view of the Chemical Plant “hub world”, featuring Modern Amy.
After the small bits and pieces of information that have trickled out over the last couple days concerning Sonic Generations, Sega today decided to be nice and show off even more new juicy tidbits, straight from the source. Put together in a trailer showcasing the world of Classic Sonic, we not only get to see the now-familiar footage of Green Hill and Chemical Plant, but the final stage connected the first era of Sonic the Hedgehog – Sky Sanctuary. And yes, you can hear the music.
Someone flipped the switch a little too soon again.
Some users are reporting quite a few new shots of Sonic Generations appearing on Xbox Live that probably shouldn’t have gone live yet. Yet others are reporting seeing the usual shots of Green Hill Zone. Either way, you all win. Aside from the above of Modern Sonic death racing Shadow on an unknown stage–the ARK?–echoing Classic Sonic death racing Metal Sonic, we also get to see the Death Egg Robot fight Classic Sonic will take part in, showing a newer spin on the boss.
Planet Wisp is also shown, looking just a tad crisper than how it appeared in last year’s Wii title Sonic Colours and a shot of Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic interacting in the timeless “mirrored reflection” pantomime.
Tokyo Game Show is about to go down in Japan, but Nintendo yesterday held a TGS Kickoff conference which brought with it a trailer of the 3DS version of Sonic Generations giving viewers a chance to see Green Hill, Mushroom Hill, and the Special Stage in motion. Listen to that Sonic Heroes Special Stage remix.
Pictures released also include glimpses of Casino Night Zone, additionally confirming that players will be challenged by Metal Sonic in a race to the death within the neon lit gambling city, a change from the console version which features the race in its famous Sonic CD setting, Stardust Speedway’s Bad Future.
For Americans, Sega confirmed that the tentative retail date of Nov. 1 is when the PS3 and 360 versions of the game will be arriving for consumption. The fate of the Nintendo 3DS title isn’t so clear, as it has been given a more ambiguous release of Late 2011.
With signs that the game isn’t quite complete in the trailer itself–Modern Sonic’s Mushroom Hill is still using a recording of the original zone’s music from Sonic & Knuckles and fans have noted that Classic Sonic brings up homing attack reticules–this isn’t terribly surprising, but a positive sign that Sega and DIMPS are working to make the portable version of the game more than just a quick cash in version.
Let’s start by raising the major spoiler flags. Unless you don’t care at all about the plot or seeing how the final boss of the game looks like or is named, turn back right now. Everyone else, let’s press on.
