Sega announced the bundle nearly a year ago as part of the blue mascot’s 30th anniversary celebration. Sonic Origins was to originally include five games: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. The bundle that’ll ship on June 23, however, will contain just four games: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic CD, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were originally supposed to be a single game but time and financial issues forced developers to split them into two separate projects. Sonic 3 came first in early 1994 and was followed by Sonic & Knuckles in time for the holiday season. The latter game featured a unique “lock-on” pass-through port on the top of the cartridge, allowing you to connect Sonic 3 and play the two as a combined experience as originally intended. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is essentially that combined game and will replace the two standalone titles in the bundle. It’s unclear why Sega elected to go this route instead of ship the two separate games, but some speculate it might have to do with a music licensing rights issue in Sonic 3. Sonic Origins will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch and PC on June 23. Sega is now accepting pre-orders for the standard edition with pricing starting at $39.99. Image courtesy PhotoChanger
