The american SONIC the hedgehog site (Link in the “MORE INFORMATION” box at the foot of this page) has undergone a large and interesting update, now including official renders of all of the game’s main stars and fascinating new information about them and the game’s aspects! The new images show Amy Rose (Sonic’s self proclaimed girlfriend), Blaze the cat, Knuckles the echidna, Rouge the bat and E-123 Omega (Special thanks to “Genius Prof Rick” of the SSMB forums for ripping the following renders):
Amy Rose
Blaze the cat
According to the site’s profile on Blaze, she wears a cape around her body to cover up her pyrokinetic abilities (Her fire controlling/manipulating powers) due to teasing about them from when she was younger.
Rouge the bat
Rouge is a special operative for the federal government who loves all things jewel.
E-123 Omega
New character information has also been posted on the site, which also brings up more interesting points about the story. Dr Eggman has apparently created the ultimate contraption but requires one final piece to fully complete it, The flames of disaster which princess Elise of Soleanna holds. So his quest for the completion of his ultimate contraption involves him kidnapping the princess in order to retrieve the power within her, drawing Sonic himself into the fold and prompting him to save her.
Also according to the site (More specifically, Elise’s profile) Princess Elise is a talented leader of Soleanna and the city of water is happy and flourishing under her rule. A full decade before, her father died when his top secret “Solaris project” went terribly wrong. A “Potentially deadly” force resides in her and can only be released by her grief and despair. It is this power that lures Dr Eggman into kinapping her.
In the “GAMEPLAY” and “ACTION STAGES” part of the site, it is stated that action stages can be accessed through the portal in town. It is insinuated that the action stage portal may be activatedby talking to people around the town. There are 11 action stages and 100 side missions to carry out within them which may require certain abilities that must be purchased from the town shops. Chaos drives (presumably the items that used to pop out of GUN robots in the Dreamcast/gamecube title Sonic adventure 2/Sonic adventure 2 battle) make a comeback and are gained from destroying enemies. The character “Absorbs powers” but the extent and nature of these powers is yet to be revealed. “Light cores” are also gained from destroying enemies, yet again, their exact nature other than bestowing “Powers” are currently unknown.
Also, at the end of each action stage, “A fierce boss” shall be waiting for you. Completion of action stages earns you precious money in order to purchase new abilities.
SEGA’s site proposes a christmas 2006 release date for SONIC the hedgehog in Europe. The USA release date has been proposed as “Fall 2006”.
Thanks to SSMB member “Thunder” for the tip off!