At Sega’s San Diego Comic-Con party last night, two new Sonic games were announced, in celebration of the franchise’s 25th anniversary.
Sonic Mania will be a 2D platformer, and a unique one at that – the game will “revamp zones and acts from Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Sonic & Knuckles.” The game’s development team includes fans who have been making 2D Sonic games for years, like Christian Whitehead, along with “retro specialist” Headcannon Games and the creators of Major Magnet, Pagodawest Games.
Players at the Sega party had the chance to try out the game themselves – there’s no direct reports from those lucky fans yet, but the fan response on Twitter has been a pretty strong one.
Sonic Mania will drop sometime during spring of 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and it feels a bit strange to not include the Dreamcast on that list.
Also announced was Sonic Generations 2, which, like Sonic Generations, features “both classic and modern versions of Sonic.” It seems like Sonic Generations 2 isn’t quite the official title yet – but it’s so catchy, we might just stick with it. The game will be out holiday 2017 for PS4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo NX.
It’s nice to see Sonic again in his own game that doesn’t consist of him battling it out at the Olympics with Mario & friends, and what’s coming down the pipe looks appealing to new and old fans alike.