Everybody act surprised! Earlier this week, Sega teased us with a list of potential playable characters in its upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog reboot, codenamed Project Needlemouse. As we, and likely the world, predicted, the whole thing was merely a ruse — Sonic will be the only playable character in Needlemouse.
This carefully constructed bit of hype serves one purpose — to try and make the Sonic faithful feel optimistic about the new game. The introduction of rubbish new characters is considered to be a huge part of Sonic’s fall from grace, so this is intended as a bold statement — no silly sidekicks, just pure Sonic.
In other news, Sega has also revealed a classic Badnik for the upcoming game. Concept art for the infamous robotic crab enemy has been shown off, leaving little doubt that Needlemouse is aimed squarely at the retroheads. An awesome sign of future greatness? We can but hope so!
Project Needlemouse Character Countdown – Finale and Concept Art! [Sega America Blog]