The long awaited Sonic Mania inspired LEGO Ideas Sonic the Hedgehog set has both been revealed and released! The set has changed quite a bit from the original pitch. Gone are the Hard Boiled Heavies, Flicky birds and Death Egg Robot. As such, the Sonic Mania presence is pretty much gone, making this a Sonic 1 set. The set is available now at the LEGO online shop as well as in physical LEGO stores, and retails for $69.99.
Paramount and SEGA’s 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog will be seeing a 4K + Blu-Ray + Digital re-release to coincide with the upcoming sequel. Dubbed the Bonus Stage Edition, the boxed set will include the previously released comic book, as well as mini posters, what appears to be a collector card, and an outer box and a mini CD sized Steelbook case. The set will release March 15th, 2022 and the sequel is due out April 8th, 2022. You can pre-order it now here.
Revealed today is an officially branded Sonic the Hedgehog HORI Switch Split Pad Pro, and guess what… you can pre-order it now! While Mario and Pikachu seem to have all the fun when it comes to branded Nintendo controllers, it’s great to finally see SEGA and Sonic stepping into the ring. The split pad retails for $59.99 and is said to release at the end of January, 2022.
In the past we talked about the SEGA Astro City Mini, a mini console designed to mimic SEGA’s Astro City line of arcade machines that comes packaged with 37 SEGA arcade games. Well it looks like SEGA is ready to release a new successor, named the SEGA Astro City Mini V. As the name implies, the main difference between the original mini arcade cabinet and the new one is that the SEGA Astro City Mini V system has a vertical (aka portrait) screen. Another major difference is the larger emphasis on third party games instead of SEGA’s own arcade titles, including games such as Raiden, Truxton (aka Tatsujin), and Gunbird. 22 games have been revealed for the SEGA Astro City Mini V, which can be viewed under the read more tag below.
Five more SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive games are being added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service. These five games are Altered Beast, Toejam & Earl, Sword of Vermilion, Thunder Force II, and Dynamite Headdy. Out of the five games, Thunder Force II is probably the most notable, as it was skipped over in favor of its two sequels Thunder Force III and Thunder Force IV with stuff like the SEGA Genesis Mini or the SEGA AGES series, until now. All five games are the same across every region, and are available now for anyone that uses the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack Service.
Longtime readers of SEGAbits should know by now my love for Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. I’ve written about it a lot, so much so that each one of those words is a different article. So it pleases me to write about it AGAIN to share that Discotek Media will be releasing an SD on Blu-Ray release of the series, meaning the full series in standard definition on two blu-ray discs. But that’s not all!
SEGA has announced that the company will be partnering up with Tesla to bring the original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) to Tesla’s in-car gaming console for older and newer models. Passengers will be able to play the classic title that started it all on the SEGA Genesis in all Tesla models around the world via the built-in display screen in conjunction with a handheld controller connected through the car’s USB ports. Here is the press email description on the Sonic the Hedgehog x Tesla partnership:
“Get ready, Sonic fans! SEGA has just announced a partnership with Tesla to bring Sonic the Hedgehog 1, the game that started it all, to Tesla’s in-car gaming console for both existing and new models. Passengers turn into players as they race at lightning speed across classic zones to defeat enemies on a mission to save the world from the evil Dr. Eggman, all in the comfort of their own car!
SEGA is excited to partner with Tesla to bring this iconic Sonic title to their extensive gaming library. Sonic the Hedgehog 1 will be available in all Tesla models around the world via the built-in display screen in conjunction with a handheld controller connected through the car’s USB ports. Now no matter where you travel, Sonic can come along with you!”
Let us know what you think about the Sonic the Hedgehog and Tesla partnership on the comments below!
[Trailer edited by Bofner]
The SEGA fan translation community has been on fire recently with fan translations and they seem to be getting bigger. For example the recently fan localized Sakura Wars GB: Go Forth, Young Cadet! even restored cut content that didn’t make it in the Japanese release.
Now some of the people that brought you that are back to release their most ambitious localization to date: Bulk Slash, a title praised for its presentation, soundtrack, gameplay, replayability, and its graphics. The localization team not only translated all the text, but also had voice actors come in and dub the game. For a fan localization project, this is pretty major.
Wow! What a night at the Game Awards! That one game won, and that lady got an award too! Okay, we don’t care about the awards. It was a trailer show, and Sonic fans had a plate full of footage to sift through! On this SEGA News Bits Live, Barry analyzes the trailers for Sonic Frontiers and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 the movie.
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The expected and anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie trailer debuted at the Video Game Awards, and it largely delivers! Sonic, Tails and Robotnik are all on display sporting refined designs thanks in large part to the movie not starting production with that wonky early design and Jim Carrey finally truly looking the part. What more, we get a look at Knuckles and hear more Emerald Hill Zone music. All-in-all, an impressive trailer. Though, the big question I have is will we return to Sonic’s world and explain that whole owl versus echidna thing? I guess we will find out on April 8, 2022.
We finally received news at the Game Awards with not only the announcement of the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie trailer, we also got a quick look at Sonic Frontiers which is set to be released this Holiday 2022 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Here are the details on Sonic Frontiers:
“Worlds will collide in Sonic the Hedgehog’s newest adventure. An experience like never before, accelerate to new heights and experience the thrill of high velocity open-zone freedom. Battle powerful enemies as you speed through the Starfall Islands – landscapes brimming with dense forests, overflowing waterfalls, sizzling deserts and more! Planned for Holiday 2022.“
According to Game Informer, Frontiers is an open-world game developed by Sonic Team Japan and led by Sonic Forces/Sonic Lost World director, Morio Kishimoto. Sonic embarks on an adventure to the Starfall Islands, a collection of forests, deserts, waterfalls, among other biomes. It’s unsure what to expect, but based on the trailer, Sonic has some titanic opposition standing in his way. Ian Flynn has also been announced that he will pen the story for the title.
Hit the jump to check out the screenshots.
The Sonic movie twitter account dropped a poster for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and revealed that the first trailer debuts at the Game Awards, tomorrow December 9th at 8pm ET. The poster actually reveals quite a bit! Tails will be taking a co-starring role and the iconic red biplane will be making the jump to the live action movie series, though whether it is christened the Tornado remains the be seen.
On top of a Sonic Frontiers reveal, the Sonic movie twitter account has been teasing that something, likely a trailer, is releasing soon. Shortly thereafter, Colleen O’Shaughnessey revealed that she will be returning to voice Tails in the movie. Colleen has voiced Tails in a variety of media, including Sonic Generations, Mario & Sonic 2016 and the Sonic Boom franchise.
When the Sonic movie was announced, it appeared to be a solo endeavor for the blue blur. That is, until WE REVEALED that Tails was returning in a mid-credits scene. Colleen returned to voice the more realistic CG Tails, and with the reveal of the movie sequel Tails took a larger role working his way into the logo. Some fans speculated that a larger role meant Tails would be recast, but thankfully Colleen is back. We can’t wait to see and hear more of Tails, and we are likely to be seeing something real soon!
With 2021 nearly over, SEGA seems to have one more reveal up their sleeves. During the past few days, hints have been dropped pointing to a Sonic reveal at the Game Awards which take place Thursday, December 9th. The most overt clue was the official Sonic Twitter account tweeting to Geoff Keighley about getting some extra invites to the event.
Less overt clues include the expansion of the Sonic Steam page from 34 to 35 games, despite only 34 being publicly available and SEGA registering the domain name frontiers.sonicthehedgehog.com. While it is unknown just how much will be revealed, at the very least I’d imagine a trailer and website and some placeholders for online stores. Only two more days, fellow Blues (that’s what we Sonic fans call each other).
On the recent Virtua Fighter esports Official Broadcast, Seiji Aoki provided new information on the next upcoming downloadable content for Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown.
The upcoming downloadable content will be collaborating with the Yakuza series celebrating the series 16th anniversary featuring 650 items, 19 costume types, 19 costumes of the iconic characters from the Yakuza franchise such as Akira Yuki with Kazuma Kiryu clothes. The DLC will also feature 20 BGM from the Yakuza series, 20 Virtua Fighter 3 BGM (Arranged), and new 40 stamps.
The Yakuza Collaboration DLC pack for Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown will be released on December 8th for $10.
