Next-Gen Sonic is up and running. Early on the 17th, IGN and Gamespot released game play videos of the next generation Sonic the Hedgehog game, from the Tokyo Game Show. Three short videos of game play show most of what we need to know to get a good idea, along with a few new details.
Yuji Naka revealed that the new game shall be self-titled “Sonic the Hedgehog” to mark the Blue Blur’s 15th Anniversary. There is also a new engine used in this game. The engine called Havok, used in games like Halo 2 and Half-Life 2, is being used for the making of Sonic the Hedgehog. After showing how boxes at different weights move differently, Naka praised the flexibleness of the new engine for allowing simple details like these to be done. Naka-san also said that his theme while creating the games is “What if Sonic actually existed in real life?”. His theme is certainly living it up to what it stands for.
The first video shows Sonic dashing down a road through an very real looking Green Hill Zone styled level, running into speed-ups and bumpers. After doing so, Sonic runs into a few robots, slamming one onto a wall to make way for a route, and repeats this a few times before ending the video near a tree. Yuji Naka points out the level of detail on the trees.
The second one quickly picks up where the last one left off with Sonic, whereas our hedgehog was and is still bashing robots into each other, and even making a bridge fall to a convenient level for the Blue Blur. He then jumps onto ropes, which propels him upward onto a new platform, then finishes up the video with a thumbs-up to the screen.
The final video shows Sonic battling robots yet again, then hopping onto some rails and speeds down them at a quick speed. Landing once again, the player, director Masato Nakamura, uses a debug mode and shows how the camera problem has been fixed. To end, the sky begins to change as if time is passing very quickly, showing the beautiful effects of afternoon, sunset and night-time.
People have been dazzled by the effects shown in the videos already, across the gaming community. IGN says that the game is still in early development, and that many effects are yet to be added, and many enhanced. This is simply a taste of what is coming. On that note, keep posted with SONIC NEWS and TSS for a first class ticket for all that’s coming.