This weekend’s Sonic panel at the South By Southwest convention was good news all around for fans of the speedy, blue hedgehog. SEGA announced a repackaging of Sonic Mania called Sonic Mania Plus, and also teased a new Sonic racer.
Although Sonic Mania is the highest-rated Sonic game in 15 years according to SEGA, the decision to not release disc copies didn’t sit well with retail fans, and even Mania’s collector’s edition included a download code. The Plus edition disc will be packaged in a special holographic box with a reversible SEGA Genesis cover and will be accompanied by a 32-page art book. There will be new content including an encore mode and new playable characters Mighty and Ray. Sonic Mania existing owners will be able to download an update with the new content when it goes live. The new edition is scheduled to release in summer 2018.
At the end of the panel, SEGA released a small teaser trailer, which appears to be for a new Sonic racing game. This is good news for fans as Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is acknowledged as one of the better Sonic games in recent years, and the kart racing space isn’t exactly booming outside of Nintendo exclusives. The trailer shows what looks to be a vehicle, and “RACING” is spelled out at the end of the video.
Stay tuned for news of a release date for Sonic Mania Plus and new details on the Sonic racing game.