Sonic the Hedgehog is a platform video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series in 2026. It was released on June 23, 2026 for Nintendo Split, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It is a reboot of the Sonic the Hedgehog series and completely resets the continuity. The game received generally favourable reviews from critics who praised the game's unique level design, plot, graphics, and soundtrack.
The game received a sequel in 2028, which reintroduced Sonic's best friend, Tails as a second playable character.
Plot[]
The game begins with Sonic going for a run across Spring Valley, but his peaceful run is interrupted by a robotic version of himself called Metal Sonic, as well as a few other robots, being controlled by a mad scientist called Dr. Robotnik, who seems to know Sonic. After defeating his metal doppelgänger, Sonic finds that the robot's power source is a powerful gem called a Chaos Emerald. When he picks up the emerald, it gives him a slight flashback of his past.
Sonic goes the way that the robots came from and finds a metallic looking facility with the same symbol as the robots. When he goes to that facility, he battles Dr. Robotnik, whom he jokingly calls Dr. Eggman. Sonic discovers that Eggman is using the Chaos Emeralds to power a doomsday device, so he decides to collect them before Robotnik does.
Sonic goes across the world to find the Chaos Emeralds. He goes to many areas, fights many robots, and receives many flashbacks. He eventually discovers that he has a link to the Chaos Emeralds' power, known as Chaos Control, that's why he is fast. He is eventually captured by Eggman and taken to his base.
Eggman tries to get Sonic to tell him his connection to the Chaos Emeralds, but he eventually controls them to give him more power, becoming Super Sonic, a yellow version of himself with more power, such as flying. He eventually defeats Eggman, who is arrested and taken to jail. Sonic goes on a relaxing vacation, but eventually gets back up to go for another run.
Gameplay[]
Sonic the Hedgehog is a platformer-open world hybrid, with elements from both genres, similar to the fan game, Sonic Storm. While the stages are large, open, easy to get lost in, and have many collectibles, they are mostly about simply getting to the goal and revolve mostly around momentum, containing many platforms for Sonic to go on, enemies to destroy, and traps around the stages. Returning from Sonic Frontiers are the collectible orbs that allow Sonic to enter special stages, which are very similar to the boost-to-win playstyle from the 2010s, but Sonic always runs and cannot stop.
Development[]
After the release of Sonic Frontiers and the film, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic Team wanted to make a game that would define the rest of the entire series, so they decided to start the Sonic the Hedgehog series from scratch, with a fresh new start for the 35th anniversary. They decided to make the gameplay a cross between their latest title, Sonic Frontiers, and the series-defining platform games that came before.