Sonic is getting a new racing game, but will it have more in common with Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing or the Saturn’s Sonic R?
A new Sonic-themed racing game by Sumo Digital has been rumoured multiple times, with the assumption that it would be a third entry in the Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing franchise – just with more Sonic and less Sega.
The new teaser trailer below certainly seems to suggest exactly like that, but there is an unexpected wrinkle: the logo tease at the end looks very much like Sonic R on the Sega Saturn console.
Sonic R was a race game by Traveller’s Tales (who now make the Lego games) that was released in 1997. It wasn’t very good, but it did feature Sonic and co. racing around on foot.
The teaser clearly implies there will be actual cars in the new game, so it’s hard to reconcile the two. Unless being on-foot is going to be an option of some kind?
Sega’s less mysterious Sonic the Hedgehog announcement (at the SXSW event in the US, where they previously announced Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces) also involves references to obscure old games, with an expanded version of Sonic Mania called… Sonic Mania Plus.
The new version of the excellent original will feature two new playable characters: Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. Both are taken from the obscure SegaSonic the Hedgehog coin-op, although they did cameo in Sonic Generations as well.
Sonic Mania Plus will also introduce a new Encore Mode, which adds ‘new ways to play, and new ways to explore’ for the existing levels. Sonic Mania’s split-screen multiplayer mode will also be expanded to allow four-players instead of just two.
And… that seems to be it. There’s no sign of any new levels, which is very disappointing, and it’s not clear what Sega is going to charge people that already have the original version.
They do have a natty looking retail edition planned though, so we think it’s more just a re-release to appeal to those that never got it, or heard of it, the first time round.
There’s no date for the Sonic racing game, although we’re willing to bet it’ll be out sometime this autumn. Sonic Mania Plus will definitely be out this summer for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Sega’s final announcement at the weekend was confirmation that Yakuza Kiwami 2 will be getting a worldwide release on August 28, so fans in Europe will not have to wait any longer than anyone else.
Like the first Kiwami game (Kiwami means ‘extreme’ or ‘ultimate’) it’s a remake of one of the original PlayStation 2 releases, so if you’ve only got into the series recently it should be a good way to catch up on the story.
As usual though it’ll be a PlayStation 4 exclusive.
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Sega tease new Sonic racing game and Sonic Mania Plus (and Yakuza Kiwami 2)