SEGA hosted their second-ever Sonic Central livestream today on YouTube and Twitch and showed off new gameplay footage for Sonic Origins and Frontiers. The 10-minute showcase also disclosed information about new Sonic-related merchandise to be released later in the year, as well as a short teaser for Netflix’s Sonic Prime animated series.
SEGA kicked the event off with a brand-new trailer for Sonic Origins, which revealed a bevy of new gameplay options for fans of the Genesis Sonic games to enjoy when the game releases on June 23. Seasoned players can test their skills against a boss rush mode, a missions mode, and a mirrored version of each game in the collection (yes, for the first time in series history, Sonic will be running left to progress). The game will also feature a museum of original game art, sounds, and videos for blue blur enthusiasts to peruse at their leisure.
On the Frontiers front, Sonic Team had a few new things to show audiences: a snippet of the game’s prologue and a first glance at another of the game’s bosses. Fan reactions to the short reveals were decidedly mixed, as many were expecting more substantial information on the game from Sonic’s annual summer showcase.
Although the showcase was decidedly slim in terms of new game reveals, SEGA had plenty of other Sonic content to unveil. Fans were treated to a sneak preview of scene from Sonic Prime, which confirmed that Shadow the Hedgehog will be a featured character in the show. Plenty of new merchandise was revealed to be hitting SEGA’s store page later this year, including HYPE x Sonic clothing, figurines, PEZ dispensers, and “Knuckles-inspired G Fuel” (which unfortunately doesn’t appear to be grape-flavored). Finally, the Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony (with the addition of Sonic soundtrack contributors like Jun Senoue and Crush 40) had its official world tour announced, but tour dates and locations are still currently unavailable.