Sega is rereleasing four of its classic Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis games this summer, remastered and bundled into Sonic Origins. The collection is bringing the original Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD to PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC with new game modes and revamped visuals.
The iconic blue hedgehog has recently burgeoned in the cultural zeitgeist with the release of two live-action film adaptions. Simultaneously, excitement has been growing for the upcoming Sonic Frontiers, which will deliver new combat styles to the franchise alongside open world gameplay, the latter being a first for the platforming series. The three-dimensional Sonic Frontiers is expected sometime in late 2022, but Sega looks to temporarily satiate fans by bringing back the series' original 2D entries from the early 1990s.
Sonic Origins will launch on June 23, 2022, giving players a chance to speed through many gameplay zones as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Each game will be playable in two modes - Classic and Anniversary. Classic Mode displays the titles in their original aspect ratio, and presents the retro challenge with a finite number of lives. Game overs are removed from Anniversary Mode, where the full width of modern displays is used to show even more of the stages. Brand new missions will also let players earn medallions, which can be redeemed to unlock new content in Sonic Origins' vault.
Sonic Origins' art recently leaked on PlayStation Network, raising suspicions that this release date announcement was on the way. Ever since the collection was announced last year as a celebration for the 30th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, players assumed five games were included. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles have been combined in the remaster, emulating the adapter on the original Sonic & Knuckles Genesis cartridge that let the games merge into Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Another novelty in the collection is the inclusion of brand new animated content featuring Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Doctor Eggman, Metal Sonic, and potentially more characters.
The 30th anniversary of Sega's iconic franchise came without a video game release, but Sonic Origins appears to be a worthy celebration of the lightning-quick hedgehog. Sonic Frontiers was meant to release in 2021, but an unfortunate delay caused it to bypass the occasion. Although the timeliness would have been nice, Sonic fans will likely be thankful for a more polished game. In the meantime, Sonic Origins can entice new and longtime fans by bringing the games that started it all to modern hardware in June.
Sonic Origins will release on June 23, 2022 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.