A new Sonic title, Sonic Athletics, has been revealed, but before you either pee your pants with excitment, or panic that SEGA’s going to ruin your childhood again with another shoddy 3D title (which ever emotion you usually go through at a Sonic game announcement) this is not a standard Sonic game for a home console or handheld.
Sonic Athletics is to be a new ‘attraction’ at Tokyo’s Joyopolis, which (if you don’t know) is more than your average arcade – it’s more of an amusement park, with rides as well as gaming machines spread across three floors of SEGA fun.
Anyway, Sonic Athletics, judging by the CG mockup and the photo of the game, is pretty big as it’s setup in its own closed-off area.
Playing as either, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, Metal Sonic, Silver and Blaze players actually run on treadmills set in front of screens – which show your character’s race progression. So, yes, the faster you can physically run, the faster your character runs.
A dodgy Google translation indicates that the game is recommended for people who need exercise:
“It is recommended for those who lack of exercise usually feeling! !”
So there you go. If you happen to be in Tokyo, had a few too many burgers and need to go jog it off – then head for Joyopolis. The game costs 500Yen per play and there is a height restriction of at least 110cm – that’s about 3ft 7 inches in old money.
Sonic Athletics is due to open Thursday 25 April.
[Source: Joyopolis, via Sonic Stadium]