Three Things I Hope We See for Sonic’s 30th

Man, when you write for a living, it can be hard to get back around to writing the stuff you want to write for you.

And so, here we are, a couple of months after the Sonic the Hedgehog 30th anniversary “Sonic Central” presentation, which I previously gave my reactions to.

But! Turns out I forgot a few things I wanted to say, so I figured going over them here would be a good way to break back into routine. Here’s hoping I’m right.

About the Sonic the Hedgehog 3/Sonic & Knuckles Soundtrack

A lot was said about the Sonic Origins collection, particularly as it seemed like more details kept coming about it. But there is still some mystery.

We know that at the very least, it will contain Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Sonic & Knuckles. It’s those last two I wanted to delve into.

And this is a little embarrassing. This spot was originally about how, if SEGA hasn’t managed to get the whole Michael Jackson/Brad Buxer/whoever else issue sorted out, I would rather they get the legendary Tee Lopes (who provided the soundtrack for Sonic Mania) to do some new tracks, rather than use the stuff they were looking at before whatever other involvement took place.

I mean, have a listen:

It kind of sounds like several people playing over each other, at least to me. Not great. Why settle for mediocrity?

But in putting this article together, I came across what was apparently the original version of the music, as rendered through the SEGA Genesis hardware:

That’s actually not so bad.

So while I’d still ultimately rather have the soundtrack the games released with, I’m going to amend this one by saying “for goodness’ sake, whatever you do, just don’t use the old PC soundtrack.” They’ve gone to the PC version of games for previous compilations, so it’s not unheard of. Sonic the Hedgehog CD on the Sonic Gems Collection being one example.

Code Blue (Blur)

Via Sonic Retro

So, here’s the thing: I kinda suck at most Sonic special stages (save for Sonic the Hedgehog CD‘s), and I haven’t gotten better with age.

This makes certain things, certain very cool and fun things, a bit elusive to me. Things like turning into Super Sonic, or flying through the epic Doomsday Zone at the end of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Even back when the games came out, I had to get my much-better friend to basically run the gauntlet so I could have save files for each character on my cartridge (which I still have to this day).

Mind, I can still play through all the games with no problem, but anything requiring Chaos Emeralds? I’m screwed.

Here is where cheat codes really come in handy, especially as I haven’t seen said friend in years (we’re still in touch online, mind, but that does little good here). With those in place, maybe I won’t have to miss out on some of the best parts of these classic games.

That said, there’s other fun stuff hidden away by codes, too! Sound tests, level selects, debug modes… all accessible through the miracle of codes!

So I’m really hoping that this thing will allow codes (cheat and otherwise) to be used in each game. It’s practically a part of their legacy.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Collection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZtuZ9Bxv-4

I’ve made no secret that Sumo’s Sonic racing games is my favorite series of racing games out there. However, accessing them on modern hardware is a bit limited.

All the games are on Steam, but Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing lacks online.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is available on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S via backward compatibility, but as I’ve demonstrated previously, the Avatar functionality is borked:

And even if it wasn’t, there’s still the matter of the first game, and even then, that doesn’t do PlayStation 4/5 or Nintendo Switch owners any good.

So, the answer is simple: a new release of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed in a collection, optimized for current (and hopefully as a result, future) hardware. Throw in Team Sonic Racing (which is available for current hardware) in there, too, if you’re feeling generous. Or maybe offer a separate bonus pack for those who don’t have it already.

Just the base games, with online functionality and their respective bonuses would be largely sufficient. I know Miis have to stay on Nintendo and the Avatars and Banjo have to stay on Xbox (and please don’t get rid of them), but maybe Shenmue‘s Ryo Hazuki and some of the PC-exclusive characters could finally be brought into the other versions of Transformed? Heck, if they wanted to toy with things a bit, being able to use some Transformed characters in the original game would be pretty neat, even if their vehicles wouldn’t be able to transform.

Or they could go all-out with Sonic racing games. Toss in both Sonic Drift titles, maybe Sonic R and some of the Sonic Riders games, if you really want to go all out. But in my humble opinion, the Sumo All-Stars Racing games should take the lead here. They are two fantastic representations of the genre that don’t get enough love these days, and this would go a long way in righting this wrong.

And that’s pretty much it. This, and maybe giving the Sonic Adventure games the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy/Spyro Reignited Trilogy treatment, but there are enough people championing that cause already that I don’t think I need to say any more.

Thanks for reading!

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David Oxford is a freelance writer of many varied interests. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.