Sonic Colours Ultimate: and others

Sega's Copyright law will absolutely stop me.

The world of Sonic has been making significant moves of late, most of which are behind the scenes instead of the in-your-face brashness we usually expect from our favourite anthropomorphic garden rodent. On one hand we have the abrupt firing of everyone who has been part of the Sonic voice cast for the past 10 years (Except Eggman. Guess he finally won his little Sonic rivalry) all in anticipation of some mysterious upcoming TV show called 'Sonic Prime'. And now this week, on the other end, we've got ourselves a brand new Sonic video game getting teased to us through way of awfully vague teaser that is so light on details that I actually misunderstood it. And if that's not enough, a remaster was even announced for later this year because apparently Sega's feeling a bit down about not getting on the Remaster train as hard as they wanted to. (Completely remaking Yakuza 1 and 2 and remastering 3-5 wasn't enough for you guys? 'Kay.) Some older fans may kick and complain about how the Sonic series is played out and the series doesn't mean anything anymore, but clearly no one told Sega because they're just drowning in Sonic content right now!

First there's that teaser trailer; what an absolute bag of nothing that was to go on. It's just a 3d render of Sonic running through a forest before he gets zapped into nowhere land. For that we can at least deduce that Sonic is not going to be conducting his next adventure inside of his normal world, but that means literally nothing right now. The extra splash text in the trailer did little to clear anything up either, merely hyping off the fact that this game will be made by Sonic Team, "the people behind Sonic Generations and Sonic Forces.2 Oh well that narrows it down. I mean, they also made Sonic 1-4, the Adventure Games, The Advance series, 06, Boom and literally every official Sonic game ever made; but at least I know they're on this game now. Here I thought Sega were going to completely shirk all copyright law and give the development to some rando on the street they just happened to pass.

All we have to go on is that date of this mysterious new product, which has been given to be 2022. In my opinion that's close enough for a proper reveal, but I'm not the one who makes the marketing decisions round here now am I? On a more real note, the reveal did let us come to the conclusion that this will likely be another 3D outing for Sonic, so at least we shouldn't be hyped for a Sonic Mania sequel, if that's ever going to hit the pipeline like I desperately need it to. (Please god, where is my Sonic 2d goodness?) Also, with the specific titles they chose to evoke in this trailer, Generations and Forces, we might as well confirm that this is going to be a continuation of that storyline of games; where 2d and 3d Sonic team up for mostly 3d adventures. But that's not all, because rumor has a actual name floating around with this unrevealed project in 'Sonic Ranger'. (Though bear in mind that might just be a development name and would be entirely subject to change if it were.) But if it does end up being called 'Ranger', then I suppose we can expect an entire game of Sonic's struggles against that new powerful Sonic antagonist: Yogi Bear.

Yet as I sat there I only had one thought running through my head: How could the Sega marketing department muddy the waters further in order to ensure no one knows what's coming out for what in the near future? That is their job, isn't it? To make things confusing? That must be the case considering how it wasn't that long at all after this teaser that a full trailer dropped for 'Sonic Colours Ultimate', a remaster, not a sequel, to the 3d Sonic game that made the world go, "Huh, that's a game I guess", Sonic Colours. Idiot that I am, I simply assumed this to be the teased game on account of how this announcement literally followed the teaser, and featured an identical looking Sonic model, and how both seemed to feature similar particle effects. But then a third party helpfully pointed out how Sonic Colours was due for a 2021 release, and so this new 'Rangers' project seemingly has to be something distinct. Maybe. Good lord someone fix this trailer release schedule, it's infuriating!

Whatsmore, this whole debacle pulled me away from the sheer absurdity of the Sonic Remaster choice heading for 'Sonic Colours'. (Which maybe was the point) Apparent confirmations have assured us that there is absolutely a small remaster of the classic games coming soon, so we aren't being completely blindsided in favour of Colours, but that still doesn't justify why the team chose to remaster this of all the 3d Sonic titles out there. If we're talking classic 3D titles that could do with a little fresh coat of paint, then maybe we could focus on the Sonic Adventure series with it's beloved levels and music, as well as the Chao minigame which people devoted hours to. Instead we get Colours, a game who's greatest achievement is being a 3D Sonic game that isn't 06. I'm not saying that Colours is a bad game, it's just heavily forgettable. They could have remaster Lost Worlds and the reaction would be the same, no one was crying for a Colours remaster.

But at the very least this Colours remaster has resulted in one of the most unexpected heel turns I could have ever imagined. Hardly a few months after the iconic voice of Sonic, Roger Craig Smith, was ousted from the role of Sonic, he's been bought back in to voice Sonic for a limited special based on Colours. Now I still don't know what sort of holy task Colours pulled off to be worthy of a small animated video series, but at last it means RCS gets to come back to the role he set the benchmark for. I can't imagine why he was kicked out in the first place, what is this upcoming Sonic Prime series going to even shape up being without that classic wisecracker's voice to give it all oomph and meaning? (and to say "There's no Copyright law in the universe that can stop me.") Them's big shoes that Mr Smith is going to leave for someone to fill, and I think I'm not the only fan who's going to both enjoy and feel bittersweet about this which could very well be his last performance in the Sonic role.

All of these ancillary projects, of course, leave a big question mark over what exactly Sonic's next adventure could be and why it's apparently not enough to dedicate all resources to so they have to bolster fans with a remaster, an animated special, a classic collection and a TV show alongside it. Maybe I've overthinking things and these are just a bunch of separate projects that just all happened to line up next to each other, but if that's the case this sounds like bad brand management to me. I think that Sega have heard the reactions to Sonic Forces and no longer have the confidence in the main team to pull of a big release with the full weight of the Sonic departments behind them, so know we're looking at just a wall of Sonic stuff hitting us that a game can ride the back of, whether it's mediocre or not. Fans took issue with Forces, but if they have everything they could have ever wanted to shut them up alongside this new game, can they really complain even half as much this time around? (As long as we see a return to the horrible Sonic OC's in the next game, I'm happy.)

Sega have always had a hand on how to sell Sonic to the masses no matter where the public perception of the franchise is, so even when I don't understand what they're doing I'm still pretty sure they're on the right track. Sonic Ranger could have done with a more representative trailer so that I actually have something to be excited for, all they've really told us visually so far is that the game won't be in the environment that we've been shown, which leaves just about anything else you could possibly imagine as an alternative. But maybe that's all part of the plan, leave fans guessing and dreaming, I don't know. But if there's one thing I do know it's this; Sonic Colours is not a classic Sonic title which needed renewed attention and no amount of nostalgia-bait trailers will convince me otherwise; Sonic Colours Ultimate indeed...