Two New Sonic Games Announced, Seek to Recapture the Glory Days
Sonic Mania focuses on reimagining classic levels, while a new Sonic adventure features both retro and modern versions of Sonic.
Sega announced two new Sonic games at its San Diego Comic-Con party to celebrate the blue hedgehog's 25th anniversary. The first game reimagines iconic levels from Sonic's past, while the second is an untitled game that stars classic and modern versions of Sonic in a new adventure against Eggman.
Sonic Mania is a 2D platformer that features visuals and gameplay reminiscent of the classic Genesis games. It revamps zones and acts from Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Sonic & Knuckles, in addition to introducing new ones into the fold. Players who attended the Sonic party had the opportunity to try it out for themselves.
The game is developed by Sega of America in collaboration with PagodaWest Games. Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley, the people behind the remastered Sonic ports on mobile devices, are also helping with development. Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka says that we'll learn more about the game later this year.
"Sonic Mania was born out of our fans' love of the classic Sonic 2D platform games,” said Iizuka. "This type of collaboration is a first for Sega and we hope everyone will be both surprised and delighted by this title. Sonic Mania has been a passion project for the entire team and we look forward to sharing more details about it later this year. Having the game actually playable at the event itself tonight was testament to the dedication of the team behind it.”
Sonic Mania releases for PS4, Xbox One, and PC in spring 2017.
The second announcement was a new adventure helmed by the Sonic Team that features both classic and modern versions of Sonic, much like 2011's Sonic Generations. No title has been revealed, but we do know that it's coming holiday 2017 on PS4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo NX.
On top of all this, Sega made two additional announcements. Mobile game Sonic Dash has passed 200 million downloads and will receive a special in-game event that adds the Green Hill Zone and Classic Sonic as a playable character. The event only lasts a week, but players can unlock both the classic level and character for use after the event. Its available on iOS, Android, Amazon, and Windows Phone devices.
The animated Sonic Boom series' second season was also announced, and party attendees were given a sneak peak at what Season 2 has in store. We'll learn more at a later date. The next Sonic Boom video game, Fire & Ice, is set to release September 27 exclusively on 3DS.
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