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"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.