Sega has announced that it is delisting digital versions of all the classic Sonic the Hedgehog games. According to a press release published on Tuesday, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD will be delisted from digital game services on May 20.
The company said that all those games are being delisted in preparation for the release of Sonic Origins, which is slated to come out on June 23 — the first time since 1991 that a Sonic game was released on that exact date. However, it was careful to note Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will remain available through SEGA Ages on Nintendo Switch, while the latter Sonic game will still be playable on the Sega Genesis via Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.
The last time Sega delisted Sonic games was in 2010, when it announced it would make games with average or below-average Metacritic scores unavailable to buy new at retailers. The games that were affected by that rule included Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Riders, and Sonic and the Black Knight.
Sonic Origins will feature HD ports of all the four aforementioned games in their Classic and Anniversary formats. Classic Mode will let players enjoy the games as originally intended with a limited life count and a small screen, while Anniversary Mode widens the screen, adds a coin counter, and allows players to control Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles or a combined duo of any of the characters (though not Amy Rose, to the internet’s dismay). It also gives players the ability to use Sonic’s drop dash move, which was introduced in Sonic Mania.
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