I tell you what, there must be an atmosphere of moderate unrest in the marketing department over at SEGA of America right now. As if recognising (quite justifiably) that the fifth or so repackaging of the original series of Classic Sonic titles might be a hard sell – especially one that has been mired in controversy recently over the, perhaps inevitable, reveal that Sonic 3 and Knuckles won’t have its Jacko-curated soundtrack – they have put together a new featurette to promote Sonic Origins.
And fair’s fair, it at least looks rather nicely presented, even if the main course itself is at the end of the day reheated goods. Like a Rustler burger. Moderately edible and satisfying enough, but a bit soggy and depressing to look at and leaves you wondering why you bought it in the first place.
Let’s take a look at the trailer
Before we analyse it, I’ll first let you actually watch the thing. Please partake:
In the trailer, we get a closer peek at the selection of fancy bells and whistles the game is using to effectively sell you products over three decades old. Aside from the retooled visuals and music we’ve already been shown, the UI and menu system are highlighted. It looks very dashing, with clean transitions and a stylish colour palette. Your chosen game is represented by one of a series of islands, rendered in some gorgeous 2D/3D art, and there are a host of additional modes, like Boss Rush and Mirror Mode (which do exactly what they say on the chili sauce tin) to choose from.
Sonic Storybook series
Perhaps most tantalisingly, there’s a ‘Story Mode’ option. This strings together all the included titles in chronological order, and will treat you to a handful of brand spanking new animated cutscenes a la the intro to Sonic Mania. It’ll let you experience everything in one sitting, and based on the snippets we see, the man himself Tyson Hesse might be involved in some capacity. He never takes a break.
Other niceties include a Museum, which lets you peruse all the character art you’ve seen a billion times before, and a massive carrot-dangle in the form of a ‘Premium Menu’; which, courtesy of Tails, the trailer is not forthcoming with the details about. Sneak peek of Frontiers? Uncensored Rouge, ahem, secret tapes? Dr. Eggman’s diary? Could be anything! You too can find out, for the simple payment of forty-odd dollars.
How about you? Has this trailer convinced you to pick up Sonic Origins? Let us know!
Via, YouTube.
