Sonic Frontiers and Sonic Origins Nominated for Japan Game Awards 2023

The annual Japan Game Awards has officially launched its public voting period to decide which video game should be crowned Game of the Year 2023 – and SEGA’s own Sonic Frontiers and Sonic Origins (Plus) have both been admitted into the final shortlist.

For both Sonic the Hedgehog titles released in the last year to be nominated for the yearly game award is a pretty big deal, and proves just how far Sonic Team has come over the last five years to bring the Sonic series back into the public eye in such a positive way.

Interestingly, Sonic Frontiers and Sonic Origins also cover two distinct eras of the 32-year-long franchise – so whether you prefer Sonic’s modern adventures, or think the blue blur was best back in the 1990s, there’s no reason not to choose Sonic!

It’s a public voting event, so if you want to do your part and help Sonic Team win an award, you can visit the Japan Game Awards 2023 website (Japanese), click the button that reads, “投票する”, and then in the blue search area use the text field to search for either Sonic Frontiers or Sonic Origins Plus by using the following:

  • ソニックオリジンズ – Sonic Origins
  • ソニックオリジンズ – デジタルデラックス – Sonic Origins Digital Deluxe
  • ソニックフロンティア – Sonic Frontiers
  • ソニックフロンティア (ダウンロード版)- Sonic Frontiers (Download Version)
  • ソニックフロンティア デジタルデラックス – Sonic Frontiers Digital Deluxe

Each of the above games have multiple entries relating to their specific console platform, so feel free to pick the version of the game/s you want to win specifically.

When you’ve done that, let Sonic Team know you’ve supported them via their social media channel here.

Good luck, Sonic Team!

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Check Out SEGA’s New AMAZING Sonic-Themed Conference Space!

SEGA’s twitter account gave us a sneak peak inside of their brand spanking new refurbished offices in the Tokyo office, which now have a distinctly Sonical theme!

Sonic Team veteran artist Kazuyuki Hoshino was part of the team working on the project, which includes 6 themed conference rooms along with a space for seasonal artwork to be displayed.

Check out each of the spaces and their unique artwork in the video above!

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HD Offscreen Sonic ‘06 Alpha Footage From TGS 2005 Presentation Released

As bad as Sonic 2006 ended up being, I still have fond memories of the lead-up to the game’s release. Among them, I remember sitting at my desktop computer, watching a poor quality video of a “real time day night system” from the game’s TGS 2005 tech demo, recorded off-screen by the now-defunct game website Kikizo. While the feature wouldn’t make it into the final game, seventeen years later we’ve finally been afforded a better look at the game’s alpha footage.

Kikizo founder Adam Doree uploaded the footage, as part of a wider effort to release the website’s footage at a level of quality the internet wasn’t capable of in 2005. The footage give us our best look yet at Sonic 2006’s 2005 build, including the epic E3 2005 trailer.

Unfortunately, as noted earlier, this footage is still offscreen, but this is likely the best we’ll get until the TGS footage is either leaked to the internet or released officially by SEGA.

You can find the footage for Sonic 2006, and for the “SEGA the Future” presentation it was a part of, at Adam Doree’s channel here, or embedded below:

In addition to the Sonic 2006 footage, he also has footage for Fifth Phantom Saga, a canceled Sonic Team first person shooter. We reported on that here.

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High Quality Footage for Canceled Sonic Team Game “Fifth Phantom Saga” Resurfaces

The mid-2000s were a wild time for games. Technology was advancing at an amazing pace, developers were playing with unprecedented HD visuals and motion controls, and the idea of Sonic Team making a first person shooter wasn’t absurd, but simple reality. Said FPS, “Fifth Phantom Saga,” was initially shown at Sony’s big PS3 reveal at E3 2005, before eventually getting a more in-depth showing later that year at the Tokyo Game Show.

The game would never see the light of day, and very little media from it has ever been released. That is what makes today’s piece of news so cool: high quality off-screen footage of the game’s TGS trailer and Yuji Naka-presented tech demo has been uploaded by Adam Doree, founder of the now-defunct video game website Kikizo. The footage, which was recorded by Kikizo, has only ever been available in low quality until now, due to the limitations of the internet at the time.

You can check out the footage over at Adam Doree’s Youtube channel, or in the embed below:

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Yuji Naka Admits Insider Knowledge in Square Enix Insider Trading Case

Today in his first trial, former Sonic Team head Yuji Naka admits to having knowledge of unannounced games prior to buying stock in Square Enix partners.

Continue reading Yuji Naka Admits Insider Knowledge in Square Enix Insider Trading Case
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Takashi Iizuka Promoted With New Title in SEGA Sammy Executive Shake-Up

“I’ll have to give myself a Promotion!”

Continue reading Takashi Iizuka Promoted With New Title in SEGA Sammy Executive Shake-Up
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Dust off those maracas, Samba de Amigo: Party Central coming to Switch

A new Nintendo Direct is hitting in just a few hours, but we already have a leak from it, and it’s from a franchise longtime Sonic Team fans should be familiar with: Samba de Amigo! The series is back with a brand new game for Switch, Samba de Amigo: Party Central. The game will release for the Nintendo Switch on June 30 for $39.99 USD. It is unknown if the game will hit other platforms.

Continue reading Dust off those maracas, Samba de Amigo: Party Central coming to Switch
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SEGA Hiring For Sonic Game Development

Just a week after the release of Sonic Frontiers, SEGA’s looking to hire new developers to work on future games in the franchise.

SEGA of Japan’s Twitter account made the announcement yesterday, saying it was “looking for people to work on the Sonic the Hedgehog series,” before linking to a job listing.

Whether this is an expansion of existing development capability, or filling in existing positions, is currently unknown.

via Twitter

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Sonic Team Reveals New Animated Studio Logo

Alongside the latest TGS Trailer for Sonic Frontiers last week, Sonic Team revealed a new animated logo bump. The 5-second clip shows the titular blue streak collecting rings as the trail forms the Sonic Team logo.

In an official blog post on Sonic Channel, producer and creative director Kazuyuki Hoshino optimistically touts the studio’s staff and legacy:

The Sonic Team is full of energy and motivation, consisting of veteran team members, who have been here for a long, long time, and newcomers bringing in their own fresh take on things. These talented groups of people are able to come together to make this team even stronger. We want our fans to know that when they see this logo, they are guaranteed to get a good game from Sonic Team.

This follows Sonic Frontiers’ director Morio Kishimoto hoping that the upcoming game bolsters the reputation of the studio. Confidence in Sonic Team has long been shaky within the fan community and especially outside of it. With Kishimoto approaching Frontiers as a generational shift in Sonic games, there is no time more pivotal for the studio to prove that its internal confidence is justified.

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Kishimoto Hopes Sonic Frontiers Will Take Sonic Team to the Top of the Gaming Industry

Sonic Frontiers’ director, Morio Kishimoto, has revealed in a Tokyo Game Show interview a secret goal of Sonic Team’s when developing the game – to restore the studio’s reputation and place it at the top of the gaming development world.

Continue reading Kishimoto Hopes Sonic Frontiers Will Take Sonic Team to the Top of the Gaming Industry
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New Images of Sonic Frontiers Surface from Japanese Nintendo Direct

In the September 13th, 2022 Nintendo Direct, Sonic Frontiers (seemingly the Switch version) made an 8-second appearance… but only in the Japanese version for some reason. I’ve taken the liberty of cropping and uploading the clip by itself onto YouTube for your easy viewing pleasure above.

Also, it was never shared here, but Nintendo actually uploaded some screenshots of the Switch version on their various eShop pages earlier (such as on the NA page). I’ve placed them below:

We also have a comparison between the Switch version (on the left) and the higher-end version (on the right):

How are you finding the Switch version to be turning out so far? Let us know if the comments below.

Via Nintendo’s Japanese Nintendo Direct website.

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Sonic Frontiers officially revealed; out Holiday 2022, To Be Written by Ian Flynn [U]

As all but confirmed, the newest Sonic game, now officially titled Sonic Frontiers, had its first proper reveal at The Game Awards. It showcased both CG footage of Sonic running from mysterious robotic enemies, and some seemingly in-game environmental shots which definitely take things to a far more realistic art-style again.

Continue reading Sonic Frontiers officially revealed; out Holiday 2022, To Be Written by Ian Flynn [U]
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Long-Lost High Quality ‘Sonic and the Secret Rings’ Gameplay Videos From 2006 Re-Discovered

E3 2006 was a crazy-exciting time for Sonic for a number of reasons, but one of the biggest was the blue blur’s first run on Nintendo’s Wii console. Sonic and the Secret Rings was an interesting new style of platformer, and so there was a lot of interest in its reveal. Now, we’ve managed to find some long-lost videos of the game’s first-ever gameplay from E3 2006 – check them out!

Continue reading Long-Lost High Quality ‘Sonic and the Secret Rings’ Gameplay Videos From 2006 Re-Discovered
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How NiGHTS Won Me Over

NiGHTS into Dreams… is my favorite Sonic Team game. As much as I love running around as the blue blur or slaughtering monsters online in PSO, its their purple androgynous dream jester that I keep closest to my heart. But it wasn’t always that way for me. For years, I just didn’t like it. NiGHTS’ journey to becoming one of my favorite games is a somewhat long and windy one, but something I want to share to help other people who don’t see the appeal understand why this game is so special to some of us. 

Continue reading How NiGHTS Won Me Over
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25 Years of NiGHTS (Part 1)

The History

Yuji Naka (left) & Naoto Oshima (right) during NiGHTS’ development

It all began on a plane ride.

Yuji Naka was traveling between America and Japan constantly to oversee Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s development. All that time spent in the air made him want to make a game about flight. Though the idea had its roots in 1992, it wouldn’t be until after Sonic & Knuckles’ completion in late 1994 that they were able to begin development for it on SEGA’s newly released SEGA Saturn.

Sonic Team’s primary goal with NiGHTS was to get away from Sonic. They wanted a long break from the character, and desired to create something new that “contradicted” what Sonic was. Early in development, they explored military themes, before eventually setting the game in a dream world.

NiGHTS into Dreams had various influences. Its character design pulled from circus characters, and was inspired by Cirque du Soleil’s “Mystére” show in particular, which Naka saw multiple times during his many trips to America. Sonic Team also did a lot of research into dream studies, as well as the work of psychoanalysts like Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Friedrich Holtz. Jung in particular was an influence, with ideas such as his “dream archetypes” and “animus and anima” becoming central to the game. Jung’s ideas are too large for the scope of this article, but Naka does briefly touch on these elements in an interview with TRiPPY, owner of the fan site nightsintodreams.com.

The Release

NiGHTS into Dreams released in Japan on July 5, 1996, with releases following in the US on August 20 and in Europe on October 7. In the US, its release was accompanied by a $10 million advertising campaign, with the usual ads one might expect from SEGA in the 90s. Many copies of the game were sold with the SEGA Saturn 3D controller, which was developed alongside the game because Sonic Team felt the standard Saturn controller with its digital pad wasn’t accurate enough for the game. Some US copies also came with a free pillow as a pre-order bonus!

 Overall, the game was a success, at least by the standards of the SEGA Saturn. It was the system’s best selling game in Japan for 1996, selling 392,000 units. In the US, it was the system’s second best selling game of all time (in terms of dollar sales), second only to Madden ’97. The game was well received by critics, and currently holds an 89% average on GameRankings. It received praise for its visuals, soundtrack, and fluid flight game play, though did receive some criticism for its graphical pop-in and not being “full 3D” like Super Mario 64.

The World

So, we’ve gone over the game’s development and release, but the question remains for anyone unfamiliar with the game: what exactly is NiGHTS? Let’s go over that!

The title character, NiGHTS, is an androgynous being created by the game’s villain, Wizeman the Wicked. Wizeman rules the dimension known as Nightmare. He wishes to destroy Nightopia, the world of dreams, and steal the ideya (human dream energy) of dreamers in order to gather energy and open a portal to the waking world. To carry this out, he created the Nightmarens, with NiGHTS and Reala being his most powerful. But while Reala served dutifully, NiGHTS was mischievous and didn’t like taking orders or agree with Wizeman’s plans, so they rebelled. Wizeman captured NiGHTS, and imprisoned them in a structure called an ideya palace.

Notably, NiGHTS was created specifically by Sonic Team to be genderless, though he/him pronouns have historically been used. The game’s director, Takashi Iizuka, says NiGHTS’ gender is up to the player to interpret, so we’ll be using they/them for this article.

In addition to NIGHTS, the game also stars two children, Claris and Elliot. They’re having nightmares over recent real life fears, and suddenly find themselves in Nightopia, where all their ideya, save for their red ideya of courage, are stolen. This is when they meet NiGHTS, trapped inside the ideya palace. Thanks to the red ideya, which only Claris and Elliot possess, they are able to enter the ideya palace and merge with NiGHTS, freeing them for a limited time. The two children then work with NiGHTS to get their ideya back and defeat the nightmaren boss of each world.

The Game

I’ve seen people call NiGHTS everything from a platformer to a flight game, but anyone going in with those expectations will probably be confused. NIGHTS into Dreams is a essentially a side-scrolling score-attack collectathon.  Each level in NiGHTS has four courses (or “mares”), each of which have an ideya to collect from something called an “ideya capture.”

To get the ideya, NiGHTS must collect 20 blue chips, fly into the ideya capture to destroy it, and then bring the ideya back to the ideya palace, which serves as the start and end of each course. Each ideya must be collected within two minutes. If the player runs out of time, NiGHTS is sent back to the ideya palace and the kid must make it back there on their own. If they are caught by the alarm egg, a large floating clock, they get a game over. Once each ideya is collected, NiGHTS then faces the level boss, which also has a two minute timer. To deal with bosses as well as smaller enemies, NiGHTS has two attacks: the drill dash and the paraloop. The drill dash sends NiGHTS drilling into enemies, while the paraloop has NiGHTS flying around an enemy and forming a “loop” with the sparkles that trail them, destroying any smaller enemies caught inside and damaging bosses.

But there’s more to this game than just gathering the ideya and killing enemies. As I said before, NiGHTS is also a score attack game. Doing the bare minimum won’t even be enough to complete the game, since players need a grade of C in all six levels to unlock the seventh level. To do that, one must understand the game’s scoring system.

Nearly everything in this game contributes to player score. Collecting blue chips, flying through rings, killing enemies, and pulling off trick combos after flying through a power ring will all get you points. You can start “links” by linking the collecting of blue chips and rings together, though you have to be fast as links are broken if NiGHTS goes a few seconds without collecting either. Destroying ideya captures quickly also nets NiGHTS a heap of points, though it is after this that the real scoring starts. 

To get high scores in this game, players need to lap a course repeatedly after getting the ideya, netting every point possible until the very last second. Run out of time, and players not only lose NiGHTS, but all of their points, typically leaving them with an F grade for the course. This lends the system a certain risk/reward quality. For people like myself, this is where the game really shines.

Alongside all of this, the game also features an “a-life” system, which is essentially a precursor to chao. All of the levels in NiGHTS are populated by friendly Nightopians, who can be interacted with in limited ways. Both NiGHTS and the kids can hatch them from eggs, and NiGHTS can also hurt them with a drill dash or kill them with a paraloop. Obviously, hurting or killing them will make them fearful or angry with NiGHTS. Meanwhile, killing Nightmarens and hatching eggs will make them happy, causing them to reproduce and increase their population. Aside from giving them different behaviors, this system also changes the in-game music, which changes based on their mood. There are also some special kinds of Nightopians.

Nightopian/Nightmaren hybrids called “Mepians” can also be created when Nightmarens are knocked into Nightopians by NiGHTS. This is very hard to do on purpose, so the couple I’ve created over the years (one of which is in the above gallery) were created by accident. These Mepians will also breed, creating other Mepians as well as, eventually, King Pians (pictured above). King Pians appear purely by chance, and will construct a permanent castle within the level once created. They’ll also attack Nightmarens and any Mepians that attack Nightopians. Overall, a fairly complex system for what can effectively just be background creatures!

The Aftermath

The NiGHTS storybook.

After its release, NiGHTS did stick around as a SEGA IP for a time. The franchise received a now-rare line of plushies, which were distributed exclusively in SEGA’s UFO Catchers, as well as a line of keychain plushies. In December of 1996, a NiGHTS story book was published exclusively in Japan, and in late 1997 the game received a six-issue series from Archie Comics featuring art from Patrick Spaziente.

The most notable NiGHTS thing to come in this period, however, was Christmas NiGHTS. Given away for free as a “sampler,” it’s probably one of the most elaborate demo discs ever made. The demo implemented a cut idea from the main game: time activated events. During most of the year, the game is just a vanilla demo of a single level, Spring Valley, but come November 26 it transforms into a Christmas-themed sequel to the original game.

Cover art for the PAL release of Christmas NiGHTS

Christmas NiGHTS has narrated opening and closing cutscenes, fully reskins Spring Valley into a Christmas level, introduces brand new courses in that level, and is full of presents that can be unlocked throughout the Christmas season. Everything from playable Sonic to a score attack mode to karaoke can be unlocked, as well as loads of game art and photos of merchandise. Outside of the Christmas season, it also includes winter skins for Claris and Elliot from November through to February, playable Reala on April 1, and other minor differences in the level for certain holidays.

Despite its success, Sonic Team did not immediately begin working on a sequel. Instead, they began work on another game that utilized a more advanced version of the NiGHTS engine: Burning Rangers. After finishing that game, Sonic Team would also begin developing what would eventually become Sonic Adventure. At one point, they did begin work on “Air NiGHTS,” a potential NiGHTS sequel for the Dreamcast that would have utilized motion controls, but nothing ever came of it.

Burning Rangers was released in early 1998

What came next for NiGHTS? Head over to part 2 of this article to find out.

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20 Years of TSS: The Biggest Sonic Stories of the Last Two Decades

What’s that? You want Sonic the Hedgehog news, sonny? Well, it just so happens that we’ve got a whole LIBRARY’S worth of news stories and features covering the last twenty years! We could tell you when Archie Sonic #117 hit comic store shelves… or we could tell you something interesting instead. How about the biggest Sonic stories to hit the internet since The Sonic Stadium opened its doors in 2000?

Continue reading 20 Years of TSS: The Biggest Sonic Stories of the Last Two Decades
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Takashi Iizuka Hopes He Can “Meet Fans’ Desires” For Sonic 30th Anniversary

Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka wants to make you happy. The guy is clearly working flat out to deliver whatever projects SEGA has in store for Sonic the Hedgehog’s 30th Anniversary, and in a new interview he’s not shy about his intention to to satisfy every fan out there.  Continue reading Takashi Iizuka Hopes He Can “Meet Fans’ Desires” For Sonic 30th Anniversary

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Sonic Team Celebrates New Year With New #SONIC2020 Campaign

Japan is around 8 hours ahead of the UK, which means that as we write this right now, it’s already January 1, 2020 in the country. Sonic Team and SEGA has wasted no time in celebrating the turn of the new decade, with a cool new graphic and a new hashtag campaign that may be used to promote new Sonic projects over the next year. Continue reading Sonic Team Celebrates New Year With New #SONIC2020 Campaign

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Hero of Legend’s Look Back – Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut

This year is the 20th Anniversary of the Western release of the Sega Dreamcast and flagship launch title Sonic Adventure (its European anniversary was actually yesterday)! But, while everyone can talk about the game’s original release until the cows come home, a lot less remembered is its Gamecube/PC port, Sonic Adventure DX. Let’s take a Look Back at it! Continue reading Hero of Legend’s Look Back – Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut

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SEGA Trademarks new potential NiGHTS into Dreams project

It appears Sonic Team’s NiGHTS into Dreams… series may be getting a new entry, if a recent trademark filed by SEGA of Japan is any indication. Continue reading SEGA Trademarks new potential NiGHTS into Dreams project

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Phantasy Star Online 2 Finally Coming to North America for Xbox and PC

Today’s Microsoft press conference had a surprise for long-time SEGA fans: Sonic Team’s Phantasy Star Online 2 is finally coming west, exclusively to PC and Xbox One. The game is scheduled for release in the US and Canada Spring 2020. The game has not yet been confirmed for release PAL regions. Check out the reveal trailer below: Continue reading Phantasy Star Online 2 Finally Coming to North America for Xbox and PC

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Ex-Sonic Team Sonic Adventure Artist Hiroshi Nishiyama Rejoins SEGA

The Official Sonic Twitch channel had a surprise guest appearance last week, as Sonic Community Manager Aaron Webber introduced Ex-Sonic Team artist Hiroshi Nishiyama to the stream, announcing his return to SEGA. Continue reading Ex-Sonic Team Sonic Adventure Artist Hiroshi Nishiyama Rejoins SEGA

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Happy Birthday Naoto Ohshima!


Video game legend and former Sonic Team character designer Naoto Ohshima turned 54 today. Ohshima is best known for designing Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman, as well as directing Sonic Team classics like Sonic CD, NiGHTS into Dreams and Burning Rangers. After leaving Sonic Team following the completion of Sonic Adventure, Ohshima formed Artoon, where he would go on to create Blinx the Timesweeper (an attempt at creating a platforming mascot for the original Xbox) and act as a producer for a few Yoshi games.

These days, Ohshima serves as the Vice President of Arzest, a Japanese video game studio he helped form after leaving Artoon in 2010.

From all of us here at the Sonic Stadium, happy birthday Naoto Ohshima!

Check out some art from Ohshima below:

Naoto Ohshima Concept Art. Source: Sonic Retro

 

Sonic’s original design. He could throw items from his ears. Source: Sonic Retro

Dr. Eggman’s original concept art, when he was originally proposed as a game protagonist. Source: Sonic Retro

Dr. Eggman concept art from Naoto Ohshima. Source: Sonic Retro

Ohshima designed NiGHTS. Back in 2017, Ohshima posted this new piece of art of NiGHTS on his Twitter.

Blinx the Timesweeper concept art from Ohshima’s Twitter account

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Various Sonic games for Xbox 360 are on sale worldwide for up to 50% off

Microsoft just held their weekly sale and among the games on sale are a bunch of Sonic’s titles for Xbox 360 for up to 50% off. While the games below have their US prices listed, the sale should be available worldwide and presumably the same discounts should apply. The sales for these games below shouldn’t require XBL Gold as well. Continue reading Various Sonic games for Xbox 360 are on sale worldwide for up to 50% off

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Sonic Generations Finally Hits Xbox One Backward Compatibility

About friggin’ time!

Microsoft held their second episode of Inside Xbox yesterday, in which they share a behind-the-scenes look at the company’s inner workings, and today’s livestream held a special announcement regarding backward compatibility on Xbox One.

The gaming giant revealed that a handful of backward compatible Xbox 360 games will become Xbox One X-enhanced, a beefy update through which last-gen titles receive a substantial performance boost on the most powerful home console on the market, after the presentation. Among them is none other than Sonic Generations, which also means that the 20th anniversary title celebrating Sonic’s history has also been finally retrofitted for the Xbox One family of systems as of today!

Episode 2 of Inside Xbox also revealed a ton of new original Xbox games being added to the backward compatible library, including SEGA’s own Panzer Dragoon Orta.

Now that leaves only Sonic Unleashed and Sonic ’06 as the remaining mainline Sonic games to become Xbox One backward compatible… I’ll certainly be keeping my fingers crossed.

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The Spin: How SEGA is Ignoring the Middle Children of Sonic’s Legacy

2010 was the year Sonic the Hedgehog came back. Yes, we all heard the stories about how the franchise had declined not long after the jump to 3D, how gaming news outlets and critics even now would begin their pieces with some variation of “Sonic has had a rocky history,” and how every new Sonic game released around the “dark ages” period couldn’t shake off the dreaded “Sonic Cycle.” Continue reading The Spin: How SEGA is Ignoring the Middle Children of Sonic’s Legacy

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Super Sonic DLC to Remain Free for Sonic Forces Forever

Crisis averted!

Last month, the long-awaited inclusion of Super Sonic had finally come to pass for Sonic Forces, but there was a nasty catch: the Chaos Emerald-powered hedgehog would have only remained free for a limited time.

Continue reading Super Sonic DLC to Remain Free for Sonic Forces Forever

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Super Sonic DLC Crashlands into Sonic Forces, Free for a Limited Time

A series staple since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 over twenty-five years ago right up to the recent Sonic Mania, either earning the seven Chaos Emeralds or clearing the game’s story often yielded the highly coveted reward of Super transformation. From there, simply collect fifty rings mid-stage, transform, and blast off with ring-fueled invincibility and faster speeds.

While oddly absent from the game’s initial release over a month ago, Sonic Forces is finally bringing in this long loved franchise staple at long last as free downloadable content… unfortunately, with a catch that is already drawing community backlash.

Continue reading Super Sonic DLC Crashlands into Sonic Forces, Free for a Limited Time

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Sonic Talk 49: Unstoppable Forces vs. Immovable Objections

Sonic Forces has come and gone and the Sonic Talk crew of Jason, Alex, GX and special guest (and occasional header artist) Cory Holmes weigh in on the game. We go in and critique every detail of this new 3-D outing from Sonic Team. Is it as good as we’d hoped or as bad as we feared? Listen in to find out. Continue reading Sonic Talk 49: Unstoppable Forces vs. Immovable Objections

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Sonic Forces demo now available on Switch and PS4 Japanese Digital Storefronts

If you’re a Switch owner who’s been wanting to try out the upcoming Sonic Forces game, today is your lucky day: SEGA has released a demo on the system’s Japanese eShop.

Continue reading Sonic Forces demo now available on Switch and PS4 Japanese Digital Storefronts

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Sonic Team Details Sonic Forces on Switch: 30fps and 720p in all modes

New info on the Switch version of Sonic Forces has emerged from an interview DualShockers did with Sonic Team.

Continue reading Sonic Team Details Sonic Forces on Switch: 30fps and 720p in all modes

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Morio Kishimoto is Directing Sonic Forces, No Boom Sonic, Will Be At E3

The director behind Sonic Colors and Sonic Lost World will be taking the helm once more for Sonic Forces, it has been revealed – and if you were hoping for that ‘third playable character’ to be Boom-universe Sonic, prepare to be disappointed. Continue reading Morio Kishimoto is Directing Sonic Forces, No Boom Sonic, Will Be At E3

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HQ Gameplay Video and Screenshots of Sonic Forces Released

As promised, Sega have uploaded the HQ gameplay of Modern Sonic that was shown last night at SXSW onto YouTube for all to see. Also we have two high-quality screenshots straight from Sega to share as well!

Continue reading HQ Gameplay Video and Screenshots of Sonic Forces Released

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Shun Nakamura is The Producer On Sonic Forces

If Sonic Forces is leaving you with a bit of a Sonic ’06 vibe, what with it’s burning, apocalyptic cities and all, it shouldn’t surprise you. After all, the producer of Sonic Forces is none other than Shun Nakamura, the director on Sonic ’06 as well as Samba De Amigo, Billy Hatcher and The Giant Egg and the well-reviewed, but often overlooked, Rhythm Thief & The Emperor’s Treasure. Nakamura himself posted his involvement on his Twitter account.

This news comes just shortly after the game’s title reveal as well as the announcement that Tomoya Ohtani will be composing the game’s music. An official gameplay reveal video is expected to arrive sometime tomorrow.

Sonic Forces is due on Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One this holiday season.

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SEGA: Project Sonic 2017 Will Introduce a New Character and a New Gameplay “Component”

SEGA held a livestream event to celebrate the recent launch of Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice in Japan, with series director Takashi Iizuka in attendance among others playing the latest Boom instalment and the upcoming Sonic Mania. However, a pair of bombshells has dropped since the event, this time concerning the far-flung Project Sonic 2017 launching next holiday season.

With translations provided by Source Gaming’s PushDustIn, it is confirmed that SEGA has plans to reveal “a completely new character in Project 2017.” We also now have a better idea of the gameplay, which is expected to follow the formula established in Sonic Generations with classic 2D and modern 3D levels – however, a “brand new component” is also going to be introduced.

Continue reading SEGA: Project Sonic 2017 Will Introduce a New Character and a New Gameplay “Component”

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UPDATE: Sonic CD Becomes Free-to-Play on iOS, Forces Users to Pay to Remove Ads

UPDATE: SEGA has reached out to us with their statement on the error, telling us that the issue has been resolved!

As part of a special promotion, Sonic CD is now free with ads (regularly priced at $2.99) from the App Store. For players who previously purchased Sonic CD, ads were mistakenly added to their game. This was not intended and the issue has now been resolved. Players will need to update to the latest version of Sonic CD (2.0.1) on the App Store. We apologize for the error.

Original story continues below.

Continue reading UPDATE: Sonic CD Becomes Free-to-Play on iOS, Forces Users to Pay to Remove Ads

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