Sonic Origins Announced

During today's Sonic the Hedgehog anniversary stream, Sega announced Sonic Origins, a new compilation featuring some of the character's earliest adventures! Fans will have a chance to explore the franchise's first games, but there will also be some "fresh content," as well. For those that never played the original Sonic games, or those eager to replay some classics, this should be an exciting offering. Rumors about the collection started to spread over the last few days after some retailers started listing a "Sonic Collection." Now fans have a better idea of what to expect! The following titles for Sonic Origins have been confirmed by Sega:

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• Sonic 3 & Knuckles
• Sonic CD

These four games represent the earliest entries in the main Sonic series. Sonic 3 & Knuckles actually combines two games, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. When Sonic 3 was facing a delay, Sega famously split the game in two, releasing Sonic & Knuckles separately. As a result, fans could only play as Knuckles in Sonic 3 by using "lock-on technology" to connect the cartridges; it was a marketing gimmick, but one that worked on a lot of kids (myself included)! Since that technology is a thing of the past, newer releases have the games together as they were originally intended.

The majority of these games have seen multiple releases over the years, sometimes with improvements. Notably, the Sega Ages versions of the first two Sonic games offered multiple improvements over the originals. Sega Ages added the Drop Dash from Sonic Mania to Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic 2, as well as the Spin Dash to the original Sonic. It remains to be seen whether or not Sega will include these options in the new compilation, or if Sonic Origins will stick to the original releases for each game.

Unfortunately, Sega hasn't released any further information on Sonic Origins, but more information is "coming soon." The publisher will participate in E3 next month, so it's possible that more could be revealed during the show. For now, fans will just have to wait and see what else gets revealed next for Sonic Origins!

Are you excited for Sonic Origins? What do you want to see from the compilation? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!