Posted Sat Jul 23, 2016 at 04:58 AM PDT by Justin Clark
Insert "iwanttobelieve.jpg" here.
Welp, the rollercoaster begins anew, folks. New 'Sonic' game is announced, brief period of hype that "this isn't like the bad ones, we swear", followed by the first signs of trouble ("Sonic's a werewolf!", "Shadow's got a gun!", "Why is he wearing a frakking neckerchief?"), and the inevitable disastrous comedown upon release, promptly forgotten when the next one is announced.
So, here we are, presented once again, after the trashfire that was 'Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice', with two new Sonic titles....and you should absolutely, 100% be hyped about them.
The first title announced is 'Sonic Mania', which will be a sort of 2D Sonic remix where old stages will be redesigned, and bolstered by a few completely new, insane-looking stages. In case you're grumbling about how "just okay" 'Sonic 4 Episode I' and 'II' were, the key factor you should take solace from in the trailer below is the card with Christian Whitehead's name on it. Whitehead is the dude responsible for helping Sega remaster 'Sonic 1', '2', and 'Sonic CD' on previous gen, adding new characters, graphical effects, and fixing glitches. In the case of 'Sonic 2', he even completed and restored the Hidden Palace Zone, which had been famously scrapped from the original game late in production. Apparently, Sega felt confident he could handle a new 2D Sonic on his own. It looks a lot like they were right. 'Mania' is due out on PS4, Xbox One, and PC next Spring.
The other project is currently untitled, going by the moniker "Project Sonic 2017", but basically everybody has been calling it exactly what it looks like: 'Sonic Generations 2'. The trailer doesn't have any true gameplay, just a snazzy CG trailer showing nu-Sonic and old-school Sonic hauling ass towards two city-sized, laser-shooting robots. But then, Sega didn't have to. 'Generations' is basically the game that, for 5 years, has kept hope alive. Because it is a legitimately GREAT Sonic game, where the 2D stages are lightning fast and fun, the 3D ones are cohesively designed in a way depressingly few 3D Sonic games have been, the speaking characters were kept to a blessed minimum, and when the game does stop to let the characters interact the game's goofy sense of humor actually works. Seriously, the post-credit scene, with old and new Dr. Robotnik arguing with himself, feels like something Tim Schafer would write. And Sega is telling us we're getting more of that. Somewhere, someone at Sega is actually listeing to their disgruntled fanbase. And that could be good news for everybody. We'll find out Holiday 2017, when 'Sonic Generations 2', 'Project Sonic', whathaveyou hits on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and, interestingly, NX.
Source: Sega/Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube
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