During a SXSW panel today, SEGA announced Sonic Mania Plus, a physical version and definitive edition of last year’s retro-style Sonic game, due out this summer. The publisher also announced that it will be producing an animated short series called Sonic Mania Adventures, which will launch on YouTube later this year.
Sonic Mania Plus will include the original 2017 game along with new in-game content, including two new playable characters: Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel (Sonic Mania originally shipped with three playable characters: Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles). The game will also come with Encore Mode, which offers an “expanded four-player competition mode,” and visual changes to each of the game’s Zones.
The physical version of Sonic Mania Plus will feature a holographic slipcover, a reversible Sega Genesis / MEGA-Drive sleeve, and a 32-page Sonic Mania art book. This package will be available for $29.99. Owners of the digital version of Sonic Mania will be able to download all digital content for Sonic Mania Plus at launch; no upgrade price has yet been announced.
Sonic Mania Adventures is a five-episode series of animated shorts set in the world of Sonic Mania and starring the game’s trio of playable characters—Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. The shorts come from the same creators behind the animation seen at the start of Sonic Mania, including director Tyson Hesse and Sonic Mania composer Tee Lopes.
“When we saw the feedback for the [Sonic Mania intro] animation, which now has over 15 million views across YouTube and elsewhere, we were all very delighted that you all liked it so much,” said Tyson Hesse during today’s SXSW panel.
Last year marked a divisive return for the Sonic series; Sonic Mania—an ode to the iconic hedgehog’s 2D era—met critical and commercial success, while Sonic Forces—the latest entry from the Sonic Team—further solidified the series’ unfortunate reputation as a bad fit for 3D gameplay.
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