Sonic X Shadow Generations remaster set for Autumn 2024 release

SEGA has announced a remaster to the 2011 hit Sonic Generations, titled Sonic X Shadow Generations. The remaster is obviously tied to tie in with the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie, which will prominently feature Shadow the Hedgehog. The remaster is being described as an “all-new collection” and will feature a new Shadow story campaign featuring new powers and abilities in stages from his 2005 solo game and 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2. The original Sonic Generations experience will also be present, with newly remastered stages, upgraded visuals and a promise of new bonus content.

The game is due out this Autumn for PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series consoles, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Xbox backwards compatibility update brings new SEGA games and Sonic FPS boost

Xbox has made a major update to the long thought to be dead backwards compatibility program, with 76 new games added and FPS boost for new and existing games. Of interest to SEGA fans, titles from the Xbox and Xbox 360 days are making the leap to the Xbox One and Series consoles. These games include: Binary Domain (Xbox 360), Gunvalkyrie (Xbox), Otogi: Myth of Demons (Xbox) and Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors (Xbox).

Several Sonic titles, as well as the aforementioned Binary Domain, will see a framerate boost via the FPS Boost feature. So expect a solid experience when playing Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Generations and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.

[Source: The Verge]

Sonic Generations will be free with ‘Games with Gold’ on March 2020

While most of you guys on here probably already own multiple copies of Sonic Generation, you can pick up a free digital version if you own a Xbox console with Xbox Live Gold through Microsoft’s ‘Games with Gold’ program.

Xbox One

  • Available for the whole month – Batman: The Enemy Within – The Complete Season (normally $14.99)
  • From March 16 to April 15 – Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (normally $19.99)

Xbox 360

  • From March 1 to 15 – Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (normally $39.99) (plays on Xbox One)
  • From March 16 to 31 – Sonic Generations (normally $19.99) (plays on Xbox One)

To be quiet honest, its surprising that we haven’t had a ‘remaster’ or ‘re-release’ of Sonic Generation on current generation consoles. Especially on Nintendo Switch considering that the original never came out on a Nintendo console (handhelds don’t count).

Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka promises “The next big year for Sonic is 2021”

Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka is making the news because he was asked at E3 when the next big year year for Sonic will be, considering that 2017 had us get not only Sonic Forces but Sonic Mania as well. He said:

“2017 was a big year for Sonic,” Iizuka says. “The next big year for Sonic is 2021. That’s the 30-year anniversary for Sonic. We are now preparing.”

When asked if 2021 will bring a game like Sonic Generations, that came out in 2011, Iizuka said “maybe”. What if he is throwing us a curve ball and is actually working on a Sonic Adventure remake? Or would you rather have Sonic Generations 2?

[via: Gamer Informer]

What is the best 3D Sonic the Hedgehog video game?

Sonic the Hedgehog launched in glorious 3D back on the Dreamcast (at least officially, there where other attempts prior) and since 1998 it seems that the blue blur has had some trouble really defining what a 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game should be. We have went from the Adventure style games to the boost gameplay that we know now.

But what is the best 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game? 

To me this is hard to answer, like the retro Sonic the Hedgehog games that first came out all had a feel and flow to them, but the 3D ones seem to be all over the place. Even Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 are completely different in tone. For me, it has to be Sonic Adventure and that probably has to do with nostalgia, the fact that I preferred the flow of the game compared to Adventure 2 (letting you pick who you wanted to play instead of forcing you to switch between characters).  Is Sonic Adventure perfect? Nah, but no game is. I will also like to give a special shout out to Sonic Generations, which I enjoyed quite a bit. What about you?

Sonic Generations and Panzer Dragoon Orta to join Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Program


Xbox One continues to expand its Xbox and Xbox 360 backwards compatible titles, this month they will add Sonic Generations and Panzer Dragoon Orta (best looking Xbox title)! Both are great games and glad they get to be played on new consoles.

Sonic Generations is out today and even playable in 4K if you have one of those fancy Xbox One Xs. As for Panzer Dragoon Orta, that one launches on April 17th! There are still plenty of great SEGA Xbox and Xbox 360 games that need to hit the Xbox One, including Jet Set Radio Future!

[Via: Sega Driven]

Sonic Generations “Unleashed Project 2.0” project cancelled

unleashed project

Bad news for people looking forward to the Sonic Generations Unleashed Project 2.0 mod, as it has been announced that the project has been cancelled. The project’s former head, S0LV0, has announced that she is stepping down from her position and canning the project as a result. According to her via a TwitLong post, it was due to a lack of passion on her end causing a lot of stress, and being unable to pass the workload onto someone else.

So, here it is. I can’t begin to express how sorry I am about this, but I’m cancelling Unleashed Project 2.0. For a long time I was really passionate about it, and I felt I had something special to share with people by working on it, but that passion is gone. I know of no one I could pass the workload onto, nor do I plan to release my “completed” work as none of it is fully polished. I’m sincerely sorry to those who were looking forward to it, but I hope you’ll understand by this far into my post that it was extremely unhealthy for me.

The project itself was designed to replicate Sonic Unleashed levels, including bonus and DLC stages, using the PC version of Sonic Generations as a base. Though intended to replicate levels, some designs were changed as a form of compromise due to technical limitations. Ultimately the project was ambitious, with over 30 levels planned for the Unleashed Project, with the ultimate goal to expand Sonic Generations with a DLC-esque experience and a way to re-introduce Sonic Unleashed levels.

As for any hope of Unleashed Project being revived in the future, it may be a possibility. Former head DarioFF may return as the head of the project, expressing interest in reviving the project. Whether or not it will happen remains to be seen.

Sonic Hacking Contest 2016 Goes Live

shc2016_sonic

The 2016 Sonic Hacking Contest site is live, with 54 different hacks and mods to download and play! It is a yearly contest where members of Sonic Retro and Sonic Stuff Research Group show off their mods and ROM hacks. No account is required to play or download any of the hacks. Voting on entries requires a Sonic Retro or Sonic Stuff Research Group account to vote on the community trophies. You can also check the schedule for near-round the clock streams from folks like SomeCallMeJohnny, MegaGWolf, RedHotSonic and many more!

Downloading hacks are open until Sunday the 13th. Some mods you’ll encounter include ROM hacks of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic Pocket Adventure as well as mods for PC versions of the original Sonic Adventure DX release, Sonic Generations and Sonic Lost World. Check them out today!

Casino Nights DLC now free to all Sonic Generations owners on Steam

sonic generations casino nights dlc

In a surprising announcement at the end of this week, Sega has made the Casino Nights DLC free to anyone who owns Sonic Generations on Steam.

The news was revealed rather quietly a couple of days ago in a post to the Sonic Generations page on the storefront:

We are pleased to announce that from this point onwards, the ‘Casino Night’ DLC will be made available to ALL current and future Sonic Generations customers at no additional cost.

sonic generations casino nights dlc table

The Casino Nights DLC allows players to experience a pinball map based upon the beloved stage from the Sega Genesis classic Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

This is definitely a welcome surprise for a game released nearly 5 years ago. Naturally, some Negative Nancies in the comments on the post were immediately asking for a refund if they had purchased the DLC in the past. Even if they did so years ago.

The DLC itself has been met with many negatives reviews on Steam from buyers who did not read the description before purchasing it. Many seemed to blindly buy the package, thinking that they would be playing the classic original stage instead of brand new content inspired by it. We here at SEGAbits understand the issue for these Steam users: a one sentence description is a lot to sit through!

Have you played the Casino Nights DLC? Will you be downloading it this weekend to check it out? Let us know in the comments!

SEGA News Bits: Sonic the Hedgehog turns 25 years old

Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th anniversary officially kicked off on June 23rd, which was of course the release date of the eponymous game that started it all. In this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry look back on 25 years of Sonic by spin dashing through all the main series Sonic Team developed console games. There are quite a few to get through, so consider this more of a SEGA News Smörgåsbord. Why are you still reading this? Click play and enjoy!

What are your favorite Sonic games? Let us know the comments below and like always thanks for watching! If you like our SEGA News Bits videos, make sure to subscribe to us on our YouTube channel.

Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle launches with exclusive shirt

HumbleBundleSonicHumble Bundle has just launched its Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle which will include a wide arrange of Sonic games for PC including retro and more recent titles.

This is what you get in the Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle.

Pay $1 or more:

  • Sonic the Hedgehog (SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive)
  • Sonic Adventure DX 
  • Sonic 3D Blast
  • Sonic CD

Beat the average (right now $9.00) also unlocks: 

  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode I
  • Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive)
  • Sonic Adventure 2 + Battle DLC 
  • More games coming soon

Pay $10 dollars and also get: 

  • Sonic Lost World
  • Sonic Generations + Casino NiGHTS DLC
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode 2
  • Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Plus Metal Sonic & Outrun and Ryo DLC)

Pay $35 bucks and get: 

  • Exclusive Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle Shirt

If you have never used Humble Bundle, the way it works is that its all tiers. So if you pay the $35 dollars for the exclusive Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle shirt, you also get all the games in the package. All games redeem on Steam.

What are your guys thoughts on this Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle? What tier is everyone picking up? Let us know in the comments below.

Sonic Generation PC mod let’s you play as Mario

Well, I think saying that it only lets you play the game as Mario is short changing the PC mod being titled ‘Super Mario Generations’ by its creator. The mod also brings new bosses, new hub world NPCs, and of course Mario but with new improved animations.

Got to hand it to fans who continue to make mods for Sonic Generation, I love this sort of stuff even if it does have Mario in it (not that there’s anything wrong with Mario).

Find out more via Sonic Retro or Moddb page!

SEGA teams up with GameSessions to offer PC rental and game trials

GameSessions
Seems that SEGA has teamed up with GameSessions, a PC rental and game trial company that allows gamers to ‘try it before you buy it’ motto. Users will be able to try and even rent the game, if the player chooses to buy said game they will receive a Steam code to download the full copy and also transfer their progress.

“Partnering with GameSessions gives us access to a delivery mechanism we’ve not previously had access to and allows players the unique opportunity to try SEGA products before purchasing. The partnership will allow SEGA to reach more players in emerging markets such as Brazil and Mexico, where there are a large number of committed PC gamers and this represents a fantastic opportunity to reach new players and audiences.” – Peter Chan, Business Development Director of Technology and Services at SEGA

Some of the game’s that are now available on the services include games like Football Manager 2015, Company of Heroes 2, Sonic Generations, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.

“We are delighted to have SEGA on board with such high quality games. GameSessions’ unique technologies let you start playing sooner, benchmark your hardware against available releases, and then let you purchase instantly whilst keeping your saved progress right through to receiving the final Steam copy. Our experience is that quality content like SEGA’s will encourage many trials and subsequently, monetize strongly.” – Ed French, GameSessions CEO

[Via: MCVUK]

Opinion: What Modern Sonic can learn from Classic Sonic

ClassicSonic
Like most long suffering Sonic the Hedgehog fans I have a love/hate relationship with the Sonic series. For every step forward Sonic takes, he takes two steps backwards or worse. I’m sure we call all agree, we’d like to see our beloved Sonic series shine again. Unfortunately we don’t all agree on how to achieve this goal. By creating various ‘generations of Sonic’ with a variety of differently play style,s SEGA have built a polarized, multifaceted fan base who all want something different from the series. From classic Sonic fans who like 2D side scrolling to Adventure fans who enjoy a varied play styles and a story driven experience and not forgetting the Rush fans that just want a good bit of fast.

Is any one group of the Sonic fan base more correct than the other? No, of course not- it takes all sorts. Though I do love the classics, I am no stranger to the modern Sonic games and I believe both have plenty to offer. I enjoy both Sonic Colours and Sonic Generations. I routinely return to Sonic Rush and it’s incredible OST. I spent an unhealthy portion of my teenage years in a stuffy dark bedroom playing the Sonic Adventure titles.

So is it possible to cater to the entire multifaceted Sonic fanbase? Probably not! But is it possible to create a Sonic game the majority of us can enjoy without it being a bloated hot mess? Maybe! Here are some of my suggestions.