It’s June, and you all know what that means! Yep, it’s Sonic’s birthday this month! 30 years ago, Sonic the Hedgehog was released on June 23rd.
Originally created to be a competitor to Nintendo’s Mario, the speedy blue blur would go on to become one of the most beloved, hated, and memed characters in the world. There’ve been many peaks and valleys for the series, including the dark age between 2005 and 2010 after Yuji Naka departed from SEGA and Sonic Team during the production of the infamously bad 2006 reboot, commonly referred to as Sonic 06. But now we all have a reason to rejoice!
An HD remaster of Sonic Colors was all but confirmed when the voice-over company behind the German dub accidentally leaked the Sonic title in a list of their new projects. Now it’s official. Sonic Team has announced the first game they are releasing to celebrate the 30th anniversary: an HD remaster of the 2010 Nintendo Wii title, Sonic Colors: Ultimate.
Since the September 2020 Mario Direct, fans had speculated that SEGA would announce a collection of 3D Sonic games similar to Nintendo’s Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which was made to celebrate Mario’s 35th anniversary. At the time, the hopes and rumors made perfect sense. With the exception of the most popular titles such as Sonic Adventure 1/2 or Sonic Generations, several Sonic games have been generation-locked to the game console they were originally released on, namely Gameboy Advance, Wii, and DS titles. Sonic Colors was one such game.
Sonic Colors was well-received during its initial release back in 2010, and I sure enjoyed myself plenty despite some of its near-cringe lines in the English script. The new HD version will come with a few enchantments, including new game modes, new music, and 4K support on PS4 and Xbox One. Extra-large clobbering with everything, anyone?
Along with Sonic Colors: Ultimate, Sega also teased a new animated series taking place on the Wisps’ home planet, titled Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps. The first episode is due out this summer!
It’s going to be a joyful blast reliving the game, which was regarded as the title that pulled the Sonic franchise out of its dark age. The only complaint is: where is the original theme song?
Sonic Colors Ultimate will be released on September 7th, 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Epic Games.
Happy 30th Birthday, Sonic!
