With their new release, Sonic Superstars, Sega has rejected the sprawling open-world freedom of last year’s Sonic Frontiers and returned to the side-scrolling of old. Like all struggling artists trying to recapture their former glory, Sonic’s caretakers have taken their hero back to his roots.
From a misjudged sword-wielding Sonic on the Wii to the baffling adventures of Sonic the Werehog in 2008’s Sonic Unleashed, the poor old hedgehog stumbled and fell into something of a midlife crisis. But on the games front, even as Mario leaped and sprinted his way gracefully across decades of brilliant adventures, Sonic’s appearances since his 1990s heyday have been … mixed. The sass-spouting hedgehog has also enjoyed a new lease of life on the big screen, thanks to Hollywood blockbusters starring Idris Elba and Jim Carrey.
For the first time since 1992, this month we have seen the release of a new Sonic the Hedgehog game and a new Mario game.
