Sonic Origins releases in June with some stipulations

Carving off content and jacking up prices

Sonic Origins got a trailer and a release date yesterday, April 20th. It is a remastered collection of the first three Sonic the Hedgehog games as well as Sonic CD and will release June 23rd. The game also marks the first re-release of Sonic 3 + Knuckles since 2011.

Origins promises new content like an anniversary mode that lets you play as Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles across all three games. By the looks of the trailer, this mode does away with lives, replacing the counter with a “coins” counter.

Alongside the trailer, a website for the game has also cropped up. The site features some screenshots which gives us a bit more information.

A menu screenshot shows that we’ll be getting a boss rush as well as a return of Blue Sphere, an easter egg game which is a collection of Sonic 3‘s special stages. Originally, on the Mega Drive, you needed to attach a different cartridge to the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge to play it. However, Blue Sphere has been made accessible on its own in various collections since.

A different screenshot shows a mission select screen with various challenges across all four games. The only challenge shown off is one to defeat enemies. However, from the titles we can assume they’ll range from ring collecting to time challenges.

Sonic Origins: now with tables

Further down on the website is something a little more concerning: a table with different versions on it.

This table promises a standard edition, a “start dash pack”, “premium fun pack”, “classic music pack”, and a digital deluxe edition. These kinds of tables are usually common for upcoming Ubisoft releases, but it’s a new thing for Sonic.

At the moment, pre-ordering the deluxe edition will get you everything. However, after release we can only assume there’ll be no way to get everything with just the one purchase. Either way, segmenting these additions off into different packs and presenting them like this is only complicating matters.

Less bang for your buck

On top of that is the game’s price tag, sitting at £32.99 for the standard edition and £36.99 for the deluxe. Even with the extra content tacked on, are these four games from the early 90s really worth £30 to £35?

Compare this to Sonic Mega Collection Plus, released on PS2 and XBOX in 2004. The compilation featured 20 games total alongside extra videos and art. The game was also cheaper on release than Origins, retailing at $20 according to reviews at the time.

Whatever way you look at it, it’s hard to ignore that Sonic Origins is offering a fraction of the content for twice the price.

The lack of a physical edition is just another annoyance. I know these companies are really pushing for an all-digital future, but I just don’t want to let go of physical media quite yet.

Between the pricing and the carving off of content to resell in packs, I’m apprehensive about how Sonic Origins will turn out. These games are classics, yes, but should Sega be selling them for so much?

Will you be getting Sonic Origins when it comes out? Or will you be booting up one of the older Sonic collections? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! You can also check out our first look at Sonic Frontiers if you want more Sonic content!

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