Sega will delist classic Sonic games ahead of Origins

By Cristina Alexander April 26, 2022

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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Cristina Alexander

Gaming/Mobile Writer

Cristina Alexander has been writing since 2014, from opining about pop culture on her personal blog in college to reporting…

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Sonic Superstars found great new ways to freshen up the classic 2D formula

Sonic runs through a level in Sonic Superstars

Sonic Superstars is the latest in a long line of 2D Sonic titles, and it’s doing what it needs to stand out. Co-op, Emerald Powers, and a set of all-new levels are not just great back-of-the-box features for a game like this -- they also make this a Sonic game that feels a bit different than all of the other 2D Sonic titles that have come before it. And after going hands-on with Sonic Superstars at Summer Game Fest Play Days, I can say this evolution is promising.
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Although I didn’t get to try co-op, I saw how the different playable characters could change the game experience, how Emerald Powers enabled Sega to go bigger and bolder with level design, and how this game’s boss fights are already some of the best in the series. If Sega can deliver on all of its promises with Sonic Superstars, this could be the greatest advancement of the 2D Sonic formula in a long time.
More than Mania
In 2018, Sonic Mania perfected the classic 2D Sonic formula with its excellent level design, silky-smooth controls, and boatloads of callbacks and fan service that only served to enhance the experience. It’s hard to do better than almost perfect, so my feeling has been that if Sonic were ever to return to 2D outside of a direct Mania follow-up, its developers would have to go for something that looks and feels a bit different. That’s why I’m glad to see that series publisher Sega and Fantasian and Balan Wonderworld co-developer Arzest made some bold creative decisions with Sonic Superstars.
At its core, Sonic Superstars uses the same level-based platforming formula as most 2D Sonic games, so it’s not reinventing the wheel in that aspect. Thankfully, running and jumping feel great, thanks to excellent momentum-based gameplay that rewards skilled play with exhilarating speed. The first significant difference is how much Sonic Superstars emphasizes its distinct playable characters. Right now, we know that you’ll be able to play Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. During my time with the game, I only had a chance to try Knuckles and Sonic.

Each character has distinct abilities and a slightly different game feel. Sonic’s faster and can Drop Dash to get a massive speed boost, while Knuckles can glide and climb over vast expanses of levels. In the final release, I could see myself playing each level four times to see how the experience varies from character to character.
While Sonic has had multiple players before, Emerald Powers feel wholly original to this game. Emerald Powers are special abilities that will allow Sonic and his friends to interact with levels in different ways after they collect a Chaos Emerald. In the four stages that I played, I could use the Water Emerald Power to climb up waterfalls as any character. That’s a relatively straightforward interaction, but it highlighted these stages’ solid level design. The best Sonic levels are big, multilayered affairs where players have lots of opportunities to go fast, but also must deal with unique stage gimmicks.
The four Sonic Superstars stages I tried fit that formula and felt like they had a bit more verticality than the series’ pixel-based 2D titles. Emerald Powers enhanced how much I could explore, and in turn, I was typically rewarded with coins, a medal, or a new elevated path to progress on. The routes these Emerald Powers can open up then pair well with each character’s unique abilities. I managed to make my way up to a point where I could glide over a lot of a level with Knuckles, gained enough speed to clear certain obstacles as Sonic, and came away happy that the game enabled me to do that as both characters.

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Multiple Sonics fight a robot in Sonic Superstars.

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The news comes from this year's Summer Game Fest kickoff stream and it's notable considering that Sonic Frontiers was a no-show at the event's 2022 stream, despite teasing it beforehand. This year, though, Summer Game Fest made up for that by nabbing the surprising reveal.

Gaming

Sega is acquiring Angry Birds developer Rovio for $776 million

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Sega Sammy Holdings, the parent company of game developer and publisher Sega, has announced its intention to acquire Rovio, the Finnish studio behind the Angry Birds franchise, for $776 million.
This acquisition was spearheaded by the Sega Europe branch of the company, which has also acquired game developers like Creative Assembly and Amplitude Studios. This seemed like a surprising acquisition when the reports about it first emerged, but Sega confirmed the deal and revealed its reasoning for it in a press release. Namely, it says that this deal will allow Sega "to further strengthen its position in this fast-growing mobile and global gaming market."

Sega loves the extremely strong foothold Rovio has in the live service mobile game space thanks to Angry Birds and its game operation platform Beacon. Because of this, Sega can bring many of its series to mobile with the help of Rovio, while Rovio can "expand its platform outside of mobile gaming" with the help of Sega. The press release also makes it clear that Sega and Rovio will continue pushing the presence of Sonic the Hedgehog and Angry Birds, respectively, outside of gaming and can exchange notes and work together as part of that process.
Expect Sega franchises on mobile and Angry Birds back on console eventually, with many more multimedia projects for both happening along the way. Now, the $776 million acquisition needs to be approved by regulators worldwide, which Sega and Rovio expect to be done sometime between July and September of this year. It remains to be seen if it runs into the same kind of scrutiny as Microsoft's attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard.