SEGA doing new 2D Sonic game in HD

By Tom Bramwell Published 9 September, 2009

Project Needlemouse in 2010.

SEGA has announced plans to release a new 2D Sonic game in 2010.

Codenamed "Project Needlemouse", it's in high definition, and while platforms haven't been discussed the HD comment suggests it's for PS3 and Xbox 360.

SEGA hasn't said much about it at all beyond that, although there's a teaser trailer, in which giant words slam into the screen and you get to watch a ring spinning in the air.

Meanwhile, on GameSpot, SEGA of America associate brand manager Ken Ballough added that the game "is that critical first step that brings Sonic back to his 2D roots".

SEGA's Sean Ratcliffe said recently that the company felt repairing Sonic's reputation would take time after a string of unsuccessful 3D games.

Ballough, however, concentrated on the hedgehog's longevity (for better or worse) and also shared his views on the supporting cast.

"Tails and Knuckles, to me, are essential to Sonic," he said, incorrectly on the first count. "They bring the perfect blend of personalities to the mix.

"But those two have had over 14 years to grow. I think Shadow, Silver, Blaze, and Rouge have also been developed really well into interesting characters. I would love to see Tikal developed because I think she could be very interesting as well.

"I think the one character that has yet to find his place is Bark the Polar Bear. I hope he does eventually - it'd be nice to have a cool bear character," he concluded.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (54) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • TheBiGW #1 2 years ago

    Because that's what the Sonic world needs - more terrible characters.

  • wizlon #2 2 years ago

    SEGA: We're going back to Sonic's roots.... and adding in a load of half arsed, un-needed, un-loved characters too. Yes, well done SEGA, that's really going back to roots isn't it, why don't you give him an RPG to run around with and some minigames to unlock while you are there.

  • Ninja_Tino #3 2 years ago

    This sounds like it could be great. The 2D parts in whatever recent Sonic game were great. Hopefully they can expand on this element. The expansion on the characters I do not need. Everyone is a stereotype! SEGA seem to think they've recreated Hamlet. They're just a bit... lame. I'm hoping for lots of levels, very, very few cutscenes, and an XBLA price of 1200!

  • HermitArcader #4 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Eraysor #5 2 years ago

    My only worry about this is that Sonic Team have got so bad recently even this, the only possible true saviour of the franchise, will be rubbish.

  • Retroid #6 2 years ago

    If this turns out to be a "2.5D" Sonic game then it's what fans of the original games have been screaming out for for years! \o/

    Sonic was about the speed, not the steering.

  • matrim83 #7 2 years ago

    This makes too much sense. I wonder how Sega will fuck this up.

    I guess they will find a way.

  • cyacomini #8 2 years ago

    I wonder if this is Sonic Extreme re-imagined?

    [link url=http:// www.lostlevels.org/200403/xtreme01.jpg
    ]http://ww w.lostlevels.org/200403/xtreme0...[/link]

  • Eraysor #9 2 years ago

    Sonic Xtreme was a strange game; it didn't look all that nice either.

  • Antaios #10 2 years ago

    How incredibly hard can it be to just make a decent 2D Sonic game with just the character of Sonic, and perhaps Tails and Knuckles? SEGA be damned, these guys just don't get it.

  • altitude2k #11 2 years ago

    Thank f**k for that....it's about time they woke up and smelled the coffee.

  • Cpt_McOneball #12 2 years ago

    Ken Ballough added that the game "is that critical first step that brings Sonic back to his 2D roots".


    Surely making this game has already brought Sonic back to his roots, and is not a step towards doing so.

  • bad09 #13 2 years ago

    2D sonic?

    Can you hear that? Sounds like a penny dropping over at SEGA. Count me in for project fingermouse!

  • darkmorgado #14 2 years ago

    OH.
    MY
    GOD.

    It only took them around 10 years and god knows how many terrible 3D Sonic games, petitions, universally p*sspoor reviews, constant interview questions and articles to finally realise that perhaps people wanted Sonic to go back to 2D.

    I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth - 2D Sonic! YAY! - but Sonic Unleashed showed how they can manage to take a game that would have been brilliant and ruin it through poorly-implemented and badly thought-out gimmicks. His statement regarding the expanded castlist worries me slightly - I fear we may end up being forced to play as certain characters on certain levels, with all sorts of cutscenes between levels trying to expand the "mythology". PLEASE NO 2D FISHING WITH BIG THE CAT! Let's have Sonic, Tails and Knuckles only please! No other stupid hedgehogs, no expanded cast (Vector the Crocodile? Are they on drugs at SEGA?).And while you're at it SEGA, get rid of humans - they never sat well with the Sonic universe.

  • TheTingler #15 2 years ago

    @Eraysor I agree. Sonic Team have already screwed up NiGHTS, one re-imagining of Sonic, the Sonic Wii storybook adventures (after the pretty good Secret Rings they followed up with the atrocious Black Knight), and at least one 2D Sonic game already (Sonic Rush wasn't them and was great, Sonic Rush Adventure WAS them and had loads of unnecessary cutscenes, minigames, level replaying, and irritating characters).

    Sonic Unleashed was where I finally kicked the habit of a lifetime. I was enjoying it, then suddenly found I couldn't progress until I had collected about 30 more of those hidden arbitrary Sun and Moon medals. After a brief search where after a couple of hours of replaying I found about 5, I sold the game immediately.

  • rodpad #16 2 years ago

    Personally I loved the Sonic Adventures on the Dreamcast, however I am much looking forward to this.

  • Waffleaber #17 2 years ago

    I can't tell you how excited/angry I am at this.

    On the one hand this is everything i've wanted for the last decade, on the other i'm sure they'll fuck it up somehow. It's a strange mix of emotions to be sure.

  • StooMonster #18 2 years ago

    Sonic "2.5 D" FTW, side-view, scrolling platform ... if Nintendo can redo Mario so successfully so many times, one has to hope that Sega can too (at least once).

    Super Mario Bros. 4 style rather than Super Mario Galaxy 2.

  • BBIAJ #19 2 years ago

    Bring back Big the Cat!

    "Fwoggy!?"

    *fishes*

  • asharkman #20 2 years ago

    Ha yea exactly, it started out so good, we're going back to our roots then he started waffling on about great characters to include.
    All those characters were included after you started going 3d you dufas.
    Keep it simple, keep it sonic!

  • jamie_fear #21 2 years ago

    I'd really like to see a release of Sonic CD on XBLA.

  • schnide #22 2 years ago

    I started off reading this article with a sliver of optimism. It slowly crumbled as I read on and then this..

    "I think the one character that has yet to find his place is Bark the Polar Bear. I hope he does eventually - it'd be nice to have a cool bear character," he concluded.

    ..took that optimism, kicked it in the bollocks and then insulted it's Mum as it lay crying.

  • Jay-ITFC #23 2 years ago

    "I think Shadow, Silver, Blaze, and Rouge have also been developed really well into interesting characters. I would love to see Tikal developed because I think she could be very interesting as well. I think the one character that has yet to find his place is Bark the Polar Bear. I hope he does eventually - it'd be nice to have a cool bear character."

    Who the F*CK are this lot above.

    2D/Sonic/Tails/Knuckles/Robotnik

    Job done.
    Edited by 1 at 09/09/09 @ 10:09

  • Kikizosan #24 2 years ago

    The only character a Sonic game needs is Sonic...and Robotnik/Eggman, of course.

  • Physically_Insane #25 2 years ago

    Tails and Knuckles are fine. Leave it at that.

  • StueyBoy16 #26 2 years ago

    Fantastic news at last. But people seem to be forgetting who the old and new characters actually are.
    Old characters - Sonic, Tails, Robotnik, Knuckles, Amy, Metal Sonic, Vector, Espio and charmy.
    Anyone after that is just rubbish they added after speaking to focus groups.
    Actually physically can't wait for this!

  • Eurolamer #27 2 years ago

    Dear SEGA,

    NO ONE, R-E-A-L-L-Y, NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY AS FIZZY THE MERECAT, MUNCHY THE RING WORM, RUBBLE THE DUNG BEETLE ETC ETC ETC.

    GIVE US:

    1) Sonic.

    2) Eggman/Dr Robotnik.

    3) Excellent, compelling, brainteasing, awe inspiring level design.

    4) NO F*&KING GIMMICKS (That includes weapons, werehogs, superfluous characters etc)

    That is all.

  • darkmorgado #28 2 years ago

    FIZZY THE MERECAT, MUNCHY THE RING WORM, RUBBLE THE DUNG BEETLE ETC ETC ETC

    I LOL'd.
    Hard

  • Malek86 #29 2 years ago

    The Sonic Cycle in full force again?

  • metalmike25 #30 2 years ago

    Why don't they track down all the team members who worked on Sonic 2 and let them make a game?

    Also Bark the Polar Bear sounds like the greatest character ever never mind in a Sonic game!

  • drunkendisco #31 2 years ago

    WHO THE F*** IS BARK THE POLAR BEAR!?!?!?!

  • Retroid #32 2 years ago

    "NO ONE, R-E-A-L-L-Y, NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY AS FIZZY THE MERECAT"

    I might want to compare him though.

  • covfan #33 2 years ago

    I really wish they'd do a remake of the Sonic Adventure games for the PSN and XBLA. Probably the only sonic game in 3D that was any good and even the extra characters were tolerable in it.

  • SeesThroughAll #34 2 years ago

    Just remake Sonic 2 in HD... ok?

  • gelf #35 2 years ago

    For those that are wondering Bark the Polar Bear was in the AM2 developed Sonic the Fighters and later a hidden character in Fighters Megamix....he wasn't interesting in either...

    They should just stick with Sonic Tails and Knuckles, with them all having the same/similar levels only altered by their different abilities. Also they need to get the pacing right, something Sonic Rush for all its plaudits also got wrong. The original sonic games weren't a complete mad dash and actually had some slow platforming sections in them.
    Edited by 3 at 09/09/09 @ 11:24

  • spammage #36 2 years ago

    Dear SEGA,

    Please don't do a SEGA.

    Regards

    Lapsed SEGA lovers the world over.

  • greenllama88 #37 2 years ago

    I love it when a new sonic game is anounced, purely becouse these coments threads on how Sega are going to F*ck it up always make me laugh so hard that I cry... happy to say this one didn't dissapoint...

  • LazyDan #38 2 years ago

    BEWARE! Anyone with a clear enough memory to remember when Sonic Unleashed was first announced will remember that this is exactly how that game started. It was just Sonic on his own, in 2.5D and was going back to Sonic's roots, gameplay-wise. It was all going well, people were excited for it, it looked like a genuinely decent offering.

    Then they added werewolves.

    It's unfair to suggest this was the sole reason it turned out to be mediocre, but a lot of people disliked this feature both when it was announced and when it was released. It was certainly the start of the game's downfall and the sharp loss of interest.

    If the same doesn't happen with this game, I'll eat my hat. Sonic and the Secret Rings was meant to finally be a good Sonic game, as was Sonic 06 on the 360/PS3, as was Sonic and the Black Knight, as was Sonic Unleashed...

  • Ryze #39 2 years ago

    Hopefully this one will have GAMEPLAY.

    I didn't used to just sit and watch Sonic charge through the levels while holding right on the D-PAD, eventually getting to a bottomless pit where I die if I don't press jump at the right time.

    Just play Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and copy that with new levels and bosses.

  • Canyarion #40 2 years ago

    "It'd be nice to have a cool bear character"

    Sounds like The Simpsons' Poochie the dog.

    I have an idea for a good Sonic game. You play as this SEGA developer and you have to collect Sonic characters. There are at least 150 of them and they can fight eachother!

  • Sunyavadin #41 2 years ago

    ABOUT BLOODY TIME WE GOT A 2D SONIC.


    Now, here's hoping hey bring all those characters in so they CAN KILL THEM OFF HIDEOUSLY AND PERMANENTLY in this instalment.

  • KrissAkabusi #42 2 years ago

    NiGHTS in HD too please, with only the flying bits, none of the other bollocks that ended up in the Wii-make. Sega are insane though. They fuck everything up.

  • FenderMaster #43 2 years ago

    Please PLEASE don't follow the Sonic Rush template! They were okay, but not a patch on classic Sonic games, they focused far too much on speed, and seriously neglected platforming/exploration. Level deisgn was far too rollercoaster like, and the zones all felt the same, just with aesthetic changes.

    edit

    hmm... just seen the teaser site, http://www.needlemouse.c om/, the art direction and platform design is a little worrying, and the trailer shows sonic as a blue blur, much like Sonic Rush.... yeah, I still think Sonic Team will fuck it up
    Edited by 2 at 09/09/09 @ 19:06

  • Kami #44 2 years ago

    BEWARE! Anyone with a clear enough memory to remember when Sonic Unleashed was first announced will remember that this is exactly how that game started. It was just Sonic on his own, in 2.5D and was going back to Sonic's roots, gameplay-wise. It was all going well, people were excited for it, it looked like a genuinely decent offering.

    Then they added werewolves.

    This, multiplied by billions.

    I remember Sonic of old, and I love Sonic of old, but I have had my heart broken too many times now by pretenders trying to be something they're not. Again, the idea of going back to 2D should fill my heart with joy and I should be dancing around the street in nothing but clingfilm and a melon baller, but all I can think about is, "... and they'll cock it up."

    In a previous life, I would have hoped for this game to be amazing... but the hope died with Unleashed, and there's no longer anything left spare for this reboot.

    Sorry SEGA. Too little. Too late.

  • SG #45 2 years ago

    "Tails and Knuckles, to me, are essential to Sonic," he said, incorrectly on the first count. "They bring the perfect blend of personalities to the mix.

    I think Shadow, Silver, Blaze, and Rouge have also been developed really well into interesting characters. I would love to see Tikal developed because I think she could be very interesting as well.

    "I think the one character that has yet to find his place is Bark the Polar Bear. I hope he does eventually - it'd be nice to have a cool bear character," he concluded.

    He ALMOST had it. 2D Sonic - whey hey, didn't take too fucking long to figure out. Now WHEN are we going to see a Sonic game with just the 3 original characters? Sonic 3 & Knuckles was the highest point in the entire history. Go back to that an work from there.
    Edited by 1 at 09/09/09 @ 16:02

  • StueyBoy16 #46 2 years ago

    Why do SEGA seem to think that speed was the most important thing in the old Sonic games?
    They say people liked the daytime levels in Sonic Unleashed. Who exactly?
    They were just terrible horizontal on-the-rail levels. There were no levels in the originals where you just held right on the dpad the whole way through. The platforming was much more important.
    Ideally I would like to see 2D gameplay exactly like in the old games but with beautiful SEGA-style 3D graphics.
    I just hope they make the music as much like the old stuff as possible.

  • henza #47 2 years ago

    Just as long as Dr. Robotonik ISN'T called bloody Mr Eggman, I'll be a happy lady. And hopefully Sonic won't have annoying American voice. I liked him silent.

    Sonic 2 is quite possibly the greatest game ever made. And everyone seems to forget how good Sonic 1 was on the Master System! It was brilliant! Jungle level was a pain in the arse near the end if I remember rightly.

  • THATinkjar #48 2 years ago

    2D. HD. 'nuff said.

    See you in 2010, Sega.

  • sega #49 2 years ago

    The problem with Sonic isn't just that it needs 2D gameplay. Sonic Unleashed was on the right track, but the whole Warehog stuff wasn't. It's new playable characters that are a big part of the problem.

    When people play a Sonic game, they want to play a Sonic game. He's such a great character - one of the best designed characters in video game history (maybe THE best). This means you don't need to introduce a ton of other average characters - there's nothing to make up for. Just give us Sonic, some amazing interesting and fast levels (maybe some Sonic CD style time travel again) and you have yourself a great Sonic game. It's that easy!

    I think Sega are worried about the games being repetitive but that doesn't have to be the case. Mario Galaxy, for example, is just a platform game where you only play as Mario - it's interesting because of great level design. Create a variety of interesting stages for Sonic and Sega are laughing. And by interesting this doesn't mean warehog stages - it means clever obsticles that make use of Sonic's speed and abilities.

  • FenderMaster #50 2 years ago

    why does everbody keep saying it's the reject supporting cast that made the new sonic games such failures? Sonic's problems run much deeper than some unlikable characters, and overwrought stories about ansty super beings, old legends, and romance between anthropomorphic needlemice and humans...
    Edited by 1 at 09/09/09 @ 19:26

  • CaoSlayer #51 2 years ago

    The cycle starts again.
    [link url=http://p ics.fort90.com/forum/sonic_cycle.jpg
    ]http://pi cs.fort90.com/forum/sonic_cycle...[/link]

  • Kami #52 2 years ago

    why does everbody keep saying it's the reject supporting cast that made the new sonic games such failures? Sonic's problems run much deeper than some unlikable characters, and overwrought stories about ansty super beings, old legends, and romance between anthropomorphic needlemice and humans...

    Again, plus a billion here.

    I have no problems with the supporting cast - actually, I am rather fond of BiG and Froggy and believe they are underrated and should have their own special fishing game. Some of them suck - Silver was a complete waste of time - but the woes of the franchise are not down to the additional cast.

    Partly the game mechanics have never been resolved, collision detection is always iffy in Sonic games and its worse in 3D. There's too much emphasis on speed and grading, when that only serves to rush players through content they could otherwise actually enjoy. The controls have been a bit silly. The scripting has been DREADFUL, seriously whoever writes the scripts for these games needs to be purged from the world with fire. The unnecessary gimmicks, to try and keep up with Mario and true evolution of his games, have been woefully misjudged and poorly implemented.

    It's a case of K.I.S.S. - keep it simple, hell. Give us a proper well-designed 2D world that actually lets you have multiple routes and paths through dependant on character and I think people might even warm to the cast.

    The problem is, people have been doing this in flash games for years now. SEGA are well late to this party, we knew Sonic worked better in 2D long ago.

  • Quak #53 2 years ago

    They did this last time with Sonic.

    "We've listened to the fans and are taking Sonic back to his roots. Just pure Sonic fun is what people have been asking for, and that's what we're going to deliver. BTW here's a new character - his name is Silver and he can move stuff with his mind!".

    FFS Sega. How hard can it be to just listen to what people are actually saying?

    Fuck the other characters. Just put Sonic in a 2.5D game with HD graphics and have him run from one side to the other in the fastest time. Do that and nothing else. Stop coming up with stupid gimmicks. Fucking LISTEN.

  • Jelly_Head #54 2 years ago

    @StueyBoy16 Fantastic news at last. But people seem to be forgetting who the old and new characters actually are.
    Old characters - Sonic, Tails, Robotnik, Knuckles, Amy, Metal Sonic, Vector, Espio and charmy.
    Anyone after that is just rubbish they added after speaking to focus groups.

    You think those are the "old characters"?? Permit me to give you a quick history lesson...

    Sonic The Hedgehog (i.e. the very first Sonic game) - Sonic
    Sonic CD - Sonic
    Sonic The Hedgehog 2 - Sonic & Tails
    Sonic The Hedgehog 3 - Sonic & Tails
    Sonic & Knuckles - Sonic, Tails & Knuckles

    To be honest, in terms of playable characters, I though they jumped the shark with Tails (aka "Miles Prower", FFS).
    Edited by 1 at 10/09/09 @ 14:10