Sega has officially taken the wraps off of Sonic Origins, a remastered compilation of four early Sonic games–or five, depending on how you count. The compilation will arrive on Sonic’s birthday, June 23, for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
Sonic Origins compiles Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD. Each game has been remastered, and you’ll be able to play in Classic or Anniversary modes. Classic will be the Sonic games in the original aspect ratio and with the same difficulty you may remember, while Anniversary converts to full-screen mode and offers infinite lives. You’ll also be able to unlock medallions by completing special missions, which can be used to unlock vault content and play special stages.
You can preorder Sonic Origins starting today for $40. Digital preorders will get a bonus 100 medallions, instant unlock of Mirror Mode, and a Letter Box Mega Drive pattern. Should you prefer, you can purchase the Digital Deluxe edition for $45, which adds Difficult Missions, Letter Box, Character and Island Camera options in the main menu, Character Animation in the Music Playback section, and exclusive Mega Drive tracks. You can also purchase the Mega Drive exclusive tracks separately for $4.
This is one of two Sonic games we know are in development, the other being an open-world (sorry, open-zone) Sonic game that was teased alongside Sonic Origins last year. That was given a 2022 release window at the time.
Meanwhile, the movie adaptation Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is now in theaters, which is based heavily on the games in the Origins compilation–particularly Sonic 2 and 3. Reviewer Phil Hornshaw said it in our Sonic the Hedgehog 2 review that it’s more disjointed than the original, but makes up for it with humor and character dynamics.
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