In the wake of Sega announcing Sonic Origins‘ release date and pre-order details, studio Headcannon has confirmed that it has been involved with its development. Specifically, it assisted with remastering Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles.
This is welcome news for fans as Headcannon had previously co-developed 2017’s Sonic Mania, a retro throwback to the classic era of Sonic games made for the franchise’s 25th anniversary. It’s widely considered to be one of the best Sonic games in recent history, if not the best.
Headcannon was also a co-developer on the mobile remasters of the first two Sonic games and assisted with pre-production on the mobile remaster of Sonic CD. As Headcannon itself says on Twitter, its work on Sonic 3 “completes the official “Remastering” of the mainline classics and marks our fourth time out with Sonic the Hedgehog.”
All four of these games are what’s included in Sonic Origins, with this marking the first time Sonic 3 & Knuckles has seen a re-release since the Steam version in 2011, over 10 years ago. The collection will boast new content as well, like new animations, and the option to play all the games with infinite lives.
Despite an initial warm reception to the announcement, fans expressed frustration shortly after in response to all the additional DLC and confusing pre-order chart. Plus, the Steam version is using the unpopular Denuvo DRM software.
