Preview: IDW Sonic the Hedgehog #9

The latest previews have released for IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog comics, and while we await issue 6 we have details on issue 9. This issue will kick off a new multi-part story entitled “The Battle for Angel Island” and will Sonic and friends taking on a treat to the Master Emerald. Unlike past issues which have been debuting characters one at a time, this issue promises everybody to team up. Interestingly, one cover features Emerl from Sonic Battle and Sonic and Knuckles riding their extreme gear from the Sonic Riders games.

The full solicit can be read after the break.

Sonic the Hedgehog toys now at Subway restaurants


Video credit: Treasure Hunting Sonic [ Facebook | Instagram ]

Sonic the Hedgehog celebrated 27 years over the weekend, and one of the stranger bits of news to come out of the celebrations (stranger than Big the Cat) was that Subway restaurants in the US would have a Sonic themed kid’s meal. Sonic is no stranger to kid’s meals in the US, having appeared as a Happy Meal for Sonic 3, a McDonald’s train car for the Happy Meal anniversary, two waves of McDonald’s LED toys, a Jack in the Box SEGA PC meal, and two Sonic Boom promotions (one for Del Taco and another for Carl’s Jr.).

This latest promotion sees four gear toys that assemble into a weird optical illusion machine. Not as exciting as some past promotions, but still fun to see in action. You can buy them for yourself without the meal for the low price of between $1 and $1.50 each, though the shame in asking a sandwich artist if they have Sonic toys is costly. Trust me.

Thanks to Treasure Hunting Sonic for making a video of the toys in action, you can check him out on Facebook and Instagram.

BREAKING: Sonic Birthday Party RUINED – Silver Sonic MIA and ME Shattered

We just learned some tragic news. As many of our readers know, Sonic’s birthday Party was scheduled earlier today. The blue blur himself invited everybody – friend and foe – or so he thought. Unfortunately due to a mixup with the invites, Silver the Hedgehog received two invites and Sonic received one of his own (for his own party). Why is this? The intent was to invite Silver Sonic! Due to the mistake, Sonic’s old foe was missing in action. If this was bad enough, Knuckles arrived late because on his way to the party he tripped and shattered the Master Emerald, which he was carrying.

Another Team Sonic Racing team has been revealed …Froggy, where are you?

Sonic the Hedgehog turns 27 today! And as part of the festivities, the official Sonic social media accounts have revealed a new Team Sonic Racing team. In our many speculative videos we assumed that the game would be following the Sonic Heroes team arrangements. While they do feature Team Sonic and Team Dark, it looks like Team Rose is returning with some changes. First off, Amy Rose is back. Secondly, BIG THE CAT IS BACK AND HE IS DRIVING A FROGGY CAR! Thirdly, Cream the Rabbit got the boot in favor of four Chao in a car, which is very similar to the Chu Chu Rocket car in Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing.

Overall, it’s a nice addition to the game. Amy was all but assured, but I will admit that I was uncertain if Big would be back. While he is a fan favorite, Sonic Team said in the past that the character had been retired. Guess not! As for Cream, I really do not miss her and I think she would have likely been the least popular racer. The real question is, will we see Blaze the Cat? Female representation is low in the roster, and she’s a popular character that would make for a great racer.

Sonic Mania Adventures Episode 4 reunites Mighty and Ray

Sonic Mania Plus releases next month, and leading up to the release SEGA has been posting a five part animated Sonic series to YouTube entitled Sonic Mania Adventures. The last episode featured Knuckles flinging Ray, and this episode sees where Ray ended up. The new music by Tee Lopes and the writing and directing by Tyson Hesse are top notch and expand on what made the Sonic Mania game such a love letter to Classic Sonic fans. Check the latest episode out for yourself and be on the lookout for the fifth and final episode next month!

VectorMan joins the SEGA Forever mobile lineup

The SEGA Forever mobile lineup has expanded today with the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive classic VectorMan. As with past SEGA Forever releases, you can play for free (ad-supported) on iOS and Android, or go ad-free for $1.99/€2.29/£1.99. As a bonus the SEGA Forever blog has added a special interview with Rich Karpp, the creator, coder, and designer of VectorMan! It’s a great read and here’s hoping these interviews continue as its always great to learn more about classic games from the people who made them.

Also worth noting, this week marks the one year anniversary of SEGA Forever. Since launch the lineup has hit 50 million downloads. We’re looking forward to seeing what is to come!

SEGAbits at E3 2018: Team Sonic Racing demo gameplay and developer interview

SEGA had a variety of games on display at this year’s E3, and probably the most interesting one (namely because we didn’t have a Japanese version to compare it to) was Team Sonic Racing. Our E3 reps got a chance to demo the game as Omega from Team Dark and Sonic of Team… well, Sonic of course. Following the demo, lead designer from Sumo Digital Richard Acherki was kind enough to take a few minutes to answer some questions we had about the upcoming game.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 releases September 25 – new editions announced

SEGA has given an official date for the upcoming Valkyria Chronicles 4! The much anticipated sequel will release in the Americas, Europe and Australia on September 25, 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. Also revealed is a new Launch Edition (MSRP $59.99), which in the Americas will include controller skins (not unlike what Sonic Forces included) and in the EU and UK fans will receive a sticker of the dog Ragnarok. Of course, there will also be the beautiful “Memoirs from Battle” Premium Edition (MSRP $99.99) which includes a collectors box, an art book, DLC and a statue of a freakin’ tank.

Pre-order the Valkyria Chronicles 4 “Memoirs from Battle” Premium Edition
PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch

Pre-order the Valkyria Chronicles 4 Launch Edition
PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch

SEGA News Bits: Team Sonic Racing E3 Reveals

E3 is over and on this SEGA News Bits, Barry looks back on what was revealed for Team Sonic Racing before and during the conference. Some new details about the roster, tracks and weapons (wispons?) and more are covered! Stay tuned as we have hands-on impressions SEGA News Bits video coming soon.

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SEGA CD classic Double Switch being remastered by Screaming Villains, published by Limited Run Games

Long teased and finally revealed, Screaming Villains, the developer behind the remaster of Night Trap, will be remastering another Digital Pictures classic: Double Switch! Originally released for the SEGA CD, Saturn, PC and later mobile, the game stars Corey Haim and has the player protecting the tenants of the Edward Arms. It’s a quirky game that plays similarly to Night Trap, though in my opinion is a lot funnier and a bit easier to figure out. The game will release later this year for PlayStation 4.

Sega Blog: SEGA 3D Classics – 3D Super Hang-On Interview with Developer M2

Originally published to the SEGA Blog on Nov 27, 2013 – republished here for archival purposes

We continue our SEGA 3D Classic interviews with Super Hang-On, which appears on Nintendo eShop tomorrow alongside Space Harrier. We’re really excited to get these games out to fans and hope these interviews bring all new insight into not only the creation of the games, but also the finer details inside.

Thanks again to Game Watch and Impress, Okunari-san, and Horii-san for their involvement in making these interviews available to our western audience. Thanks to Siliconera for coordinating with us to help spread the word to SEGA fans across the web. And special thanks to our producer Sam for translating these interviews for everyone’s enjoyment.

If you read and enjoy this interview, please take the time to post a comment and let us know. We’ve got a lot of folks looking on reading the feedback, so don’t hesitate to post!

SEGA Blog: SEGA 3D Classics – 3D Space Harrier Interview with Developer M2

Originally published to the SEGA Blog on Nov 25, 2013 – republished here for archival purposes

We are extremely excited to present to fans a series of interviews on our upcoming 3D Classics on the Nintendo 3DS. The interview originally took place across the Game Watch and Impress website, featuring both Yosuke Okunari from Sega of Japan and Naoki Horii from the developer M2. These interviews show not only the care that went into making the absolute best versions of these titles on the 3DS, but also a lot of the technical challenges in creating 3D versions of our classic SEGA games.

Big thanks to Game Watch and Impress, Okunari-san, and Horii-san for their involvement in making these interviews available to our western audience. We hope you enjoy these interviews and encourage you to feedback with your own questions or comments. Let’s begin with Space Harrier and information on how the project got started…

SEGA News Bits: Team Sonic Racing Gameplay Reaction

Thanks to Shacknews we have gameplay footage of Team Sonic Racing! Coupled with a Famitsu article, we now know a lot more about the upcoming racing game from Sumo Digital. On this SEGA News Bits we discuss the new racers, the team mechanic, the in-game music and more!

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

SEGA and ATLUS announce E3 lineup

SEGA and ATLUS have officially revealed what to expect at this year’s E3! Creative Assembly will be providing a first look at Total War: Three Kingdoms via gameplay presentations throughout the show. Playable on the show floor will be demos of Valkyria Chronicles 4, Yakuza Kiwami 2, Shining Resonance Refrain, and Team Sonic Racing featuring never-before-seen content.

ATLUS will be debuting new footage of Catherine: Full Body and two new ATLUS titles which will be revealed tomorrow!

Read the full press release after the break.