Sega has officially announced thatSonic Originsis set to launch on May 23, 2025. This news was revealed with a trailer showcasing special animation created for the compilation title as well as promising gameplay. The collection looking so sharp may come as no surprise to fans, as Headcannon, one of the main developers forSonic Mania, played a role inSonic Origins' development.Sonic Maniais uniquein that it’s one of the very fewSonicgames not made directly by Sonic Team or any of Sega’s subsidiaries. While this may be concerning for most other video game franchises, Sega made sure its mascot was in good hands.Sonic Maniawas developed by Pagoda West Games alongside Christian Whitehead and Simon “Stealth” Thomley of Headcannon, with the latter two having a history of working onSonicfan games.RELATED:Sonic Origins Leak Reveals Infinite Lives Modes, Mission Mode, and MoreFollowing theannouncement ofSonic Origins, many fans wondered just who was developing the remasters seen in the compilation, and Headcannon quickly revealed its involvement. What once was a one-man endeavor on previousSonicprojects, the company has now evolved into a full team of independent contractors that Stealth personally brought on to develop theOriginsversion ofSonic 3 & Knuckles.
Stealth mentioned in a few posts on social media that the games found inSonic Originsaren’t new to the compilation, but rather enhanced versions of the previous remasters made for mobile devices, including the remasteredSonic CDthat made it onto consoles by itself. However, theCDremaster was spearheadedby Christian Whitehead. The Australian developer stated that his previous work can be found in the collection, but has also said Headcannon has “carried the torch” to finish the Classic remasters by itself.
While it may be a bit disappointing for some to hear that the versions of the belovedSonicgames aren’t new to the collection, this is still great news for some fans. These versions ofSonic 1,2, andCDwere received incredibly well by fans. It’s this positive response that led to the same developers being brought on to createSonic Mania.Sonic Originsalso marks thefirst timeSonic 3 & Knuckleshas been rereleasedin years, let alone remastered, which may excite fans on its own.
Even without fully new ports of these games,Sonic Originsstill has plenty of new features that may keep previous players excited, such as Anniversary Mode with infinite lives, as well as missions and leaderboards. This is also the first time these remasters have made it to consoles altogether, which mayadd to the Classic Sonic experiencein a much better way than simply playing on a mobile device could.
Sonic Originsis set to release June 23 on PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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