Sonic Origins' Different Paid Add-Ons Are Everything Wrong With Sonic Today

thegamer.com:

After various leaks and whispers, Sonic Origins has been confirmed. The game combines the first four Sonic games into one neat little package. Given that we already have Mania, which is essentially an adaptation of these early Sonic games, offering levels and an aesthetic in the spirit of Sonic’s initial titles rather than a like-for-like recreation, Origins seems unnecessary. Mania is incredibly popular and seems to give everyone a taste of the good old days without their flaws, but hey, I’m not a Sonic megafan. Maybe if I was, I’d want the warts and all original, just as imperfect as I remember it. I don’t begrudge Sonic Origins for existing, but I do begrudge the way it exists.

I called Sonic Origins a ‘neat little package’, and that’s true in theory. Like Crash Bandicoot: The N.Sane Trilogy and Spyro: Reignited, it takes the ‘90s mascot’s earliest games and makes them readily available in one place. There are some differences - Crash and Spyro are trilogies, while Sonic offers four games, and as slightly more modern titles Crash and Spyro could have a graphical tune-up without ruining their look - but I understand what this game is meant to be. What I don’t understand is why what is supposed to be a neat, easy way to play the early Sonic games is so unnecessarily complicated.

Related: Sonic Storm Is More Exciting Than Sonic Frontiers

You’d think this would be a fairly straightforward launch. Sonic fans have complained at the lack of good games for over a decade, so with Frontiers just around the corner, reupping some old favourites is an easy way to earn some goodwill. Putting out multiple versions of this collection, none of which have everything on offer, is an easy way to burn this goodwill. In-keeping with the