SONIC Origins Plus is finally here, giving more people than ever access to some of the best games from the series.
The 2D Sonic games are beloved by all Sonic fans, while the 3D games can have a mixed reception.
The iconic Ice Cap Zone music has changed.
Sonic & Knuckles is the game everyone has their eyes on, as it has been missing from Sega collections for years.
This is because the original game contained licensed music from someone that was rumoured to be Michael Jackson.
Sonic Origins Plus adds in new tracks to replace the licensed music, allowing the game, which is often considered the best in the series, to return to collections.
For 2D Sonic fans, Sonic Origins Plus is the best way to play the original games, with new animations, quality of life improvements, and resized for modern TVs.
The team even added new playable characters, including Knuckles, Tails, and Amy to all of the games, allowing people to play this way for the first time.
However, before evaluating Sonic Origins Plus, it’s important to compare it to the original Origins.
Released last year, this package came with the same four classic 2D Sonic games, and all the playable characters aside from Amy.
However, when Sonic Origins was released, it was slammed by fans and critics alike.
This is due to the way that the DLC was launched, with Sega removing improvements to the game, and attempting to sell them separately.
The main menu hub world was locked behind an additional paywall, and so were the cutscenes made specifically for this release.
All of these were ready for the game’s launch, but removed from the standard package in order to be sold separately.
There is an upsetting trend of this inside the gaming industry, where content is stripped away in order to make more money.
This can be seen in Diablo 4 removing cosmetic items and charging substantial amounts to purchase them.
It’s also been seen in older games like Asura’s Wrath, which made the true ending DLC, and Mortal Kombat X, which sold its gruesome fatalities as DLC.
The Plus package includes all of this DLC that should have been in the original game, alongside 12 lacklustre Game Gear ports.
These have been ported exactly as they were on the original hardware, which includes the tiny cropped screen and some game-breaking lag.
If you own Sonic Origins, Plus will cost you £10 ($10) more, but the truth is it should be free.
Those who invested in the original game with all of its many flaws, should be rewarded for their loyalty in the face of these greedy practices.
This would help Sega earn back the goodwill of fans who felt burned by the missing features from the original.
Instead, Sega has continued on its path of charging for disappointing features which could have been added to the original.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
