Sega making 'all new' 2D, hi-def Sonic game for 2010

by Randy Nelson on Sep 9th 2009 12:05AM

Just hours shy of Sega Dreamcast's 10 year anniversary comes word that Sega's iconic mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, is due to make a return to his 2D roots in a new game planned for 2010. Currently going by the codename Project Needlemouse, the game will be high-definition and is "built from the ground up," according to a report by GameSpot.

The site spoke with Ken Ballough, associate brand manager at Sega America, who said, "Old-school Sonic fans have long asked to see Sonic return to a more 2D style of gameplay. Many liked the daytime stages in Unleashed, but wanted to see a game that plays purely similar to the early games of the Genesis. Project Needlemouse is that critical first step that brings Sonic back to his 2D roots."

In late July, Sega America marketing VP Sean Ratcliffe admitted that core gamers have lost a fair massive amount of faith in the Sonic franchise, saying that, "The quality is something that will be fixed over time." Here's hoping that the Project Needlemouse announcement is a sign the repairs will be made sooner rather than later. Check out the teaser (complete with ye olde "SEGA!" chorus) after the break.

[Thanks, Shadsy!]

Source

Tags: project-needlemouse, sega, sonic, sonic-the-hedgehog

Reader Comments (196)

There is a god.

Also, Beyond Oasis 2, please. Thanks.

The Legend of Oasis be that game.

Ordered. Thanks for the info.

AMEN TO THAT! About time Bring on the Sonic I know and love!

OGMMOG OGMGOM O!M!!! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!~!!!oMFEOG YES YESY EYS YEYSY EYSEYESYSEYESYSEYSEYYESYESYSEYESYESYESYSE YEAWGH YEAGH YEHAY HEYAHD HEYAYHD YEHA YEAY yHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEYTYESYESYYEEYSYESYESYESYEYSYESY YESYEYSYES OMGOM OMGOM OMGO MGOMGOMGOMGOGMO!MO!M!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES! YES! OMG YES SEGA YEAH YEAH SEGA GO YEAH YREAS YES YESY YES YESY EYEYAYH YEAH YEHAO MGOM GOJMGOM OGJ>.....ok i'm done now.

Now that I got that out of my system....

1. Must have ONLY sonic, tails, & Knuckles as playable characters.
2. Must have amazing catchy music.
3. I love SEEEGGGGAAAA!

Finally Sega has seen the light and decided to stop dicking around with Sonic. Sheeesh The games were great in 2D but when they tried to revamp him to this new dang fangled 3D realm of gaming its almost like he tripped over a banana, grabbed a bottle of jack denials, and been on this drunken stupor for over 10 years now.

Some franchises can convert to 3D with ease, some can't, I'm glad Sega can finally see that sonic was not one of them.

FINALLY! i still go back and play the first couple Sonic games to this day cause they were that addictive. Sonic Rush was the best Sonic game in years and if they can do that on a home console count me in right now.

Oh this would be even better news if they were making it more 3D in nature!

I'm kidding!!!

Lately, Sonic has really been one of those games that really jumped the Shark.. Ferret, Water buffalo, penguin, mud skipper, octopus, Cabibara, wombat, ... (List of other furry cute animals that had no business begin in sonic.)

http://www.needlemouse.com/ epic

amen brother

This has potential.

No Humans or cities, please!!!
Just the good old sonic stuff!

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 4 SONICTHEHEDGEHOG4!!!!

Please God; Yuji Naka save us!

wOOt Sonic 4! You can tell Im please, right?

please dear god! NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo....?

2D and HD? hmmm...

Laul, everyone read this wrong. Atrimus was saying "NOOO" at the recent sonic stereotype, then going "oh, 2D and HD, it may not be bad."

Just trying to do my fellow Joystiqers a service.

+'d to right the wrong.

"The quality is something that will be fixed over time."

So, this game will stink but the next, next, next Sonic game will be great?

SONNNNNIKUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!

There fucking better be a chao farm!!!!! I still play Sonic Adventure because of it!

Oh, and while I'm asking for the impossible, include Dreamcast VMUs with the Sonic Adventure chao game on it please. :)

chao farm lol

Will up down left right hold A press start still work?

19, 65, 09, 17

4,1,2,6

Nytro, don't forget to hold A and keep pressing Start.

Why, why must you tease us Sega? I see a teaser like that complete with the all too classic "SEEEEGAAAAAAA" intro and I'm all giddy. Then I remembered that the last few tries at this re-re-re-un-reinventing of a mascot has fallen flat on its face (Sonic Rush is great though.)

Oh well, we'll see if this works. The silhouette doesn't sit well with me though. It's like he's wearing a sombrero or something.

Fear not, my son:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/Gravekeeper/Sonic%20Art/Sonic1HD.jpg

(Source: Gravekeeper on Kotaku)

I think this could be really successful if they release it as a downloadable title for the PSN and XBLA.

May the Genesis Gods bless this.

Sonic was part of the 8-bit generation. You never played the original Sonic games on the Master System?

If you lived in North America, the only Sonic game for the Master System was Sonic 1, which came after the Genesis version. And it had limited distribution. It wasn't easy to get, hence why the North American version going for insane prices on eBay.

If you'll excuse me now, I'm gonna go hug my Dreamcast and Mega Drive and punch a Nintendo fanboy in the cocyx

Now now. Nobody likes an asspuncher.

P.S: - i'm also well aware of the comedic irony of having Mario as a profile picture...

@Mr Mobius: Because the Genesis Sonic games were the best. Why WOULDN'T we want another game like that?

Ouch.

Why dont you just make a 3D game that works

cause it won't work

Because the best thing about Sonic is the speed and quick gameplay. That doesnt really work in a 3D environment.

So you're the one who keeps telling them that. Thanks, thanks a lot.

I dunno, I didn't think Sonic Adventure was that bad, aside from the secondary characters like that big purple thingie and that stupid fishing mini-game I had to do with him.

Whatever I enjoyed Sonic and friends,(I thinks that's what its called)......well this better be cheap and cost $10

Sonic Adventure was great, but the rest have been lackluster at best and Shadow The Hedgehog at worst.

Which one was the Sonic Dreamcast game? I loved that game like I hadn't loved a Sonic in years. That could just be me looking at it through rose colored glasses though (I was much younger in those days).

I think Sega has Bandai syndrome with the Sonic franchise. They are completely incapable of making anything great out of their first party IP's, and it almost isn't even worth trying anymore. I hope this game can turn it around for them, but the comment about the quality scaling up over time has me worried. The guy isn't exactly exuding confidence.

BananaBoat, both Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 were on Dreamcast. Both were excellent and still are today.

Believe it or not, I love the Biggs the Cat games from Sonic Adventure 1.
I just love fishing.

I liked Sonic Adventure 2: Battle for the GCN, it wasn't mind-blowing, for the record, but I actually did enjoy some of the music and it did feel fast-paced at times.

Ending pissed me off though; LET'S PLAY MUSIC REALLY LOUD OVER THE CHARACTER VOICES, NO SUBTITLES.

I have no idea what the ending was to this day.

I'm 17. I completely missed the 2D Sonic craze. However, after listening to the Sonic 3 soundtrack on repeat on my Zune a few times, I'll be excited for some new 8-bit music, and I'll be excited for my fellow gamers as well.

So let me get this straight; You listened to midi tracks, from a game that you never played, multiple times on your headphones?

Why would you want to do something like that?

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Sega making 'all new' 2D, hi-def Sonic game for 2010

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