Since the 90’s, speculation as to the future of Sonic the Hedgehog has always been a lively, if sometimes wild, topic of conversation. Fortunately for us, the future looks a little bit clearer as of today. After the double punch of Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces, people have been clamoring for a taste of what’s to come next, which is why all eyes turned to the “Gotta Go Fast” panel at this year’s SXSW.
Once again, Aaron Webber led the proceedings of what has become a yearly function for the crew over at SEGA. Joined by Austin Keys, Tyson Hesse, Jasmin Hernandez, and Sonic Team’s own Takashi Iizuka, the panel spent the next hour going across all aspects of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Some jokes were had, some things were teased, and some pretty swell announcements were made.
Yes folks, Mighty the Armadillo is back.
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Sonic Mania is now older than a month. What was once a pipedream of a brand new Sonic developed by fans has finally happened. David The Lurker, Cinossu, Overlord, Bartman3010 and InstantSonic lend their voices to talk about the Mania and not-so Mania about Sonic’s return to 2D glory before the start of this year’s Sonic Amateur Games Expo and the Sonic Hacking Contest. Music composed by Tee Lopes. Expect spoilers in this one!
On November 7th, 2017, Sonic Forces is slated to be released across the gambit in both digital and physical formats. It seems like only yesterday the cryptic CG trailer was premiered in front of fans, and now we are less than two months away from experiencing it first hand. On Tuesday, the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel revealed something unexpected. It’s not a hoax or an imaginary dream, that is indeed a playable Shadow the Hedgehog in a new Sonic game!
In less than two weeks, Sonic Mania will finally be available to the world at large. Counting down the days has become painful, the question being if there’s a way to make August 15th come any faster. Since no one here at Sonic Retro HQ has the extra eighth Time Stone hiding in a cabinet, we must instead whet our appetites on the teasers SEGA has been releasing.
Yesterday, the official Sonic YouTube account put up a video showcasing, among other things, the brand new Special Stage for Mania. Yes, we get some blue spheres going on, but there’s a whole lot more to it than that.
Inside SEGA’s booth were a dozen demo stations for both Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces making their first and last E3 appearance. Con-goers did their best to pilfer posters given out any way they can. E3 was packed this year due to the convention allowing the public to enter for the first time in years which means the lines were more than double and that means plenty of eager people wanting to check out whats new.
Hit the jump for our thoughts. (Bartman3010 and Neo Hazard)
It’s hard to believe that Sonic Mania is only a short two months away. It seems like only yesterday the game was first announced, a magical look at the Sonic experience that could have been on the Sega Saturn. When the digital pre-order trailer came out a couple weeks ago, some assumed that very little new content would be revealed in the days prior to E3. Yes, we’re a bit late to the party, but SEGA did announce a new level in style: Chemical Plant Zone.
Sure, you’ve watched it before, but there’s no shame in jammin’ out to that Act 2 music all over again. Hit the jump to see what else Mania has been up to as it speeds to it’s release.
What do you do when you have not one but two major releases coming out featuring the world’s most famous hedgehog? You spoil your audience by giving them a ton of information, whetting their appetite for what’s to come. And what better time to do that than at E3?
Slated for release during the 2017 Holiday season, Sonic Forces is the game that has baffled some and intrigued others. During the build up to E3’s opening day, SEGA has been sharing all sorts of new information regarding both Classic and Modern Sonic’s gameplay, as well as the new “Avatar” character. This has culminated in a reveal trailer that not only shows all three gamestyles off, but also reveals a new villainous character in the Sonic pantheon.
Click the jump to read on about Sonic’s latest foray in three dimensional platforming.
After getting a sneak peek during a Nintendo Direct earlier this month, we now have our first full look at some Classic Sonic gameplay in Sonic Forces. And yes, it’s Green Hill Zone again. Though now it’s no longer much of a tropical island and more a grassy field in a desert. Also it has all new music rather than another Green Hill remix, so that’s something.
Forces will also feature Modern Sonic, who’ll play similarly to how he played in Sonic Generations. Plus there will be a third gameplay style featuring the new character that was teased earlier this month.
Neo Hazard takes over the livestream with the Sonic Level pack for LEGO Dimensions. Featuring Bartman3010, InstantSonic and Kat. Check out Neo Hazard’s personal YouTube channel, Neo Reviews!
That swanky looking Sonic Mania collector’s edition is coming to Europe, Sega announced today. It’s exactly the same package that North America is getting, but there are a couple of caveats.
The first being that some might find it a bit overpriced. While the CE retails for $69.99 in the US, it costs a whopping £79.99 in the UK and €89.99 in the rest of Europe. So really you might not be paying much less than if you’d be importing the thing from the US. Secondly, it appears that it’s only available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with the PC version being left out. Which is a bit weird seeing how Sega Europe usually tends to put most of their focus on PC games.
Aside from that, you’re still getting everything the US is getting here. The collector’s edition is now available for pre-order exclusively on Amazon… or at least it was, but it appears to have gone out of stock everywhere except for in Germany while I was writing this article. Seriously:
Welp. Anyway, here are the links to the Amazon store pages in case the CE becomes available again.
- Amazon UK [PlayStation 4 / Xbox One]
- Amazon Germany [PlayStation 4 / Xbox One]
- Amazon France [PlayStation 4 / Xbox One]
- Amazon Spain [PlayStation 4 / Xbox One]
We hope that the collector’s edition will be in stock again later. Hopefully as soon as Sega realises that they might have underestimated demand.
[Source: PlayStation Blog]
Update (10-18-2016) – The collector’s edition is available for pre-order again, unless you live in Spain where it’s not available yet.