New Sonic Game? Screenshots, Trailer and Some Very Wild Expectations

Mon, Mar 24, 2008

Fans of a certain blue Hedgehog take note: Germany’s Sega Magazine reports that come November, our favorite chili-dog-chomper might not just be a sideshow attraction anymore — and they have the brand-new, shiny game footage to prove it.

Near as we can tell, the story was first broken last Wednesday on the ESPIOKaos.com Message Board, where member Aisha ClanClan Prower reportedly discovered a massive cache of screenshots, very high-res concept art and the video while browsing an official Sega FTP site. Over the weekend, the snowball of rumor and speculation got quite large, and one gentleman wanted confirmation so badly that he took it upon himself. His fake press release ‘revealed’ the following:

Sonic the Hedgehog returns for a full-blown, action-packed adventure through the desolate and unpredictable World of Mubuz, a world dictated by an evil Dragon Lord, Immarius. Upon entering Muboz, Sonic fights an evil power which turns all the inhabitants into dangerous beasts.

Become Wolf Sonic and fight enemies like never before using rapid combo maneuvers and Ring Energy

Play as Sonic, Knuckles or Tails through 12 packed stages

Extensive 2D gameplay brings the old Sonic back home

Although Sega Magazine retracted this “official confirmation” and fansites like Xbox360Fanboy quickly backpedaled (though apparently not quickly enough) the German publication claims to have sources within Sega who state that:

The following is fact:

1. All assets leaked over the weekend belong to one game: Sonic Unleashed.
2. All assets could be found on SEGA’s FTP, but everything’s got deleted as of now.
3. SEGA plans to show Unleashed at some Gamer’s Day event in May.
4. Unleashed is currently scheduled for a worldwide release in November, right for Christmas.

SEGA is launching SONIC UNLEASHED with a HUGE production budget and it seems not only SONIC TEAM is involved but a very huge part of SEGA’s developer teams including those from Japan, the US and, apparently for the first time, even Europe. There seems to be one clear mission: Rebuild the Sonic brand and prove it could work in 3D environments.

Sega did indeed recently file for the Sonic Unleashed trademark… and given the quality and quantity of these screenshots, it looks like a pretty sure thing to us. But if you’re still not convinced, perhaps this spiffy trailer will make you a believer:

We’ve got no details on the story, and can’t tell you what systems it’s coming out for (Wii seems rather unlikely, as a system that runs at 480p probably wouldn’t spit out those awesome 720p screenshots) but we do know one thing: Team Sonic seems to be taking a page out of The Legend of Zelda’s playbook.