The Ultimate Celebration of Past and Future is nearly here as Sonic goes back to his retro roots.
Experience the ultimate celebration of past and future in Sonic Mania, an all-new 2D Sonic adventure running at a crisp 60FPS with HD retro-style graphics. Multiple playable characters give you the ability to go explosively fast as Sonic, soar as Tails, or power through tough obstacles with Knuckles’ brute strength.
You can re-live the Sonic of the past with an exciting new twist on classic zones while fighting against new bosses and Dr. Eggman’s evil robot army. You can also go head to-head with players in Competition Mode or play in Co-Op Mode with a friend.
Sonic Mania finally has a release date after being delayed earlier this spring. Fans of rolling around at the speed of sound can pre-order Sonic Mania for PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch or PS4 through their system’s digital store for a suggested retail price of $25.99 Canadian (prices vary depending on region).
Originally revealed during the Sonic The Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Stream last winter, Sonic Mania is the first original 2D Sonic title since 2009’s Sonic Colors for the DS. Co-developed by Sonic Classics port master Christian Whitehead, HeadCannon, and PagodaWest Games, Sonic Mania reimagines classic zones while introducing powerful bosses and pixel perfect physics.
To celebrate the reveal of Mania’s release date SEGA has released a special animatic short featuring the three playable characters – Sonic, Tales and Knuckles. This short has quite a few hidden easter eggs: my favorite being the numbers/letters on the elevator. Is this SEGA acknowledging that Sonic 4 Episodes I & II are no longer considered canon?
Sonic Mania is available for digital pre-order right now but the game will release in a limited physical Collector’s Edition as well.
SEGA has released a brand new gameplay trailer for the upcoming retro inspired Sonic Mania, showcasing the first footage of Green Hill Zone Act 2 as well as our first look at the “Heavy Gunner’ boss from Holywood Act 1. New mechanics are also on display such as Sonic dashing across burning logs and more!
Will Sonic be able to defeat Eggman’s new arsenal of “Hard Boiled Heavies”? Only time will tell but you can get a head start by watching the Blue Blur take on the first heavy – the Heavy Gunner – in this brand new video.
Sonic Mania will be released on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and Windows PC this Spring to celebrate 25 years of attitude. Development of this brand new blazingly fast entry is a collaboration between SEGA, Christian Whitehead of Sonic iOS fame, PagodaWest Games and HeadCannon.
SEGA is officially returning to the PAX West show floor later this month with a line-up of upcoming titles. Attendees won’t have to scheme with Dr.Eggman to get their hands on the latest the publisher has to offer as multiple titles from Sonic Team, Creative Assembly and other SEGA developers will be on hand.
Playable titles include Amplitude Studio’s Endless Space 2, Headcannon / PagodaWsrt’srecently revealed Sonic Mania and Relic Entertainment’s Dawn of War III.
It looks like SEGA fans, like myself, will have a lot to look forward too from September 2nd thru the 5th. Here are the official descriptions of each title from SEGA:
Endless Space 2
Endless Space 2 is a turn-based, 4X space-strategy game that launches players into the space colonization age of different civilizations within the Endless universe, following the award-winning original Endless Space. Endless Space 2will feature eight playable major factions, each with their own asymmetrical gameplay, storyline, spaceships, heroes and technologies.
Developer: Amplitude Studios / Publisher: SEGA of Europe
Platform: PC / Release Date: 2016
Sonic Mania
Sonic Mania is a completely new title and plays homage to the iconic Zones and Acts from previous classic Sonic titles by adding in new elements and Easter Eggs that will surprise and delight players. Additionally, it adds in never-before seen Zones like the recently debuted Studiopolis level along with three playable characters and new enemies into the mix. Sonic Mania is being developed by PagodaWest and Headcannon along with Christian Whitehead. Head of Sonic Team, Takeshi Iizuka and SEGA of America are offering development support. Sonic Mania will be a digital download and will be available for PlayStation® 4, Xbox One and PC in Spring 2017.
Developer: PagodaWest and Headcannon / Publisher: SEGA of America
Platforms: PlayStation® 4, Xbox One and PC / Release Date: Spring 2017
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III
In Dawn of War III you will have no choice but to face your foes when a catastrophic weapon is found on the mysterious world of Acheron. With war raging and the planet under siege by the armies of greedy Ork warlord Gorgutz, ambitious Eldar seer Macha, and mighty Space Marine commander Gabriel Angelos, supremacy must ultimately be suspended for survival.
Developer: Relic Entertainment / Publisher: SEGA of Europe
Platform: PC / Release Date: 2017
To say that I am prepared to visit SEGA’s booth is an understatement. As one of the gaming staples of my formative years SEGA has held a special place in my gaming heart. I’ll be sure to bring you as much coverage as I can from their booth as possible!
During the San Diego Comic Con SEGA held a 25th anniversary party for their iconic mascot Sonic The Hedgehog. The publisher held a multi-hour live stream on Twitch and it wasn’t without its share of gaffs and errors. Audio would periodically drop out, there was a persistent hum during early sections of the broadcast and one of the surprise reveal trailers had to be played twice because the in-person audience in California couldn’t actually see the video.
Sonic Mania is a brand new 2D entry in the franchise inspired by the classic Genesis titles being developed by SEGA of America in collaboration with Christian Whitehead (aka TaxMan), who handled the iOS ports of various classic Sonic titles. Sonic Mania will revisit classic zones like Green Hill Zone from Sonic 2, Sonic 3 and Sonic CD but it will also introduce brand new acts and levels.
Here is Sonic Mania’s debut trailer:
“Project 2017” is an upcoming console Sonic title aiming for a holiday 2017 release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo’s unrevealed NX platform. Details on the game is very scarce aside from the game’s tagline “Join The Resistance”, a brief debut trailer that appears to carry a darker narrative tone than some contemporary Sonic titles and the appearance of “Classic Sonic” from Sonic Generations.Sonic Team has said this is not Generations 2 and that it is not a direct sequel to any other game in the Sonic franchise.
Here is the debut trailer for “Project 2017”:
If you missed out on the 25th Anniversary party for Sonic The Hedgehog and don’t want to watch the entire live-stream Jim Sterling has compiled a super-cut of some of the more cringe worthy moments.
The jokesters over at NeoGAF have already coined this live-stream as the successor to Konami’s disastrous E3 2010 presentation. All of this resulted in sets of hilarious gifs, wonderful photoshops and pages upon pages of complaints about the event.
Technical glitches aside, from a content perspective I think SEGA nailed it with the quality of their reveal trailers & seeing Crush 40 perform live was a nice treat.
