Sega is bringing its speedy blue mascot back to its roots with Sonic the Hedgehog 4, a new episodic, 2D side scroller fans of the franchise have been pining for. And though Sega has been mum on a release date, word from Microsoft is that Episode 1 will launch on October 13.

Sega originally announced the project in September 2009 and slated the game for a summer 2010 release. As enthusiasm for the game grew, the developer decided it would be a good idea to put an extra coat of polish on Sonic 4.


"The additional time will allow the development team to focus on keeping the game high-quality, continuing tuning and balancing of levels and interface and overall maintaining the kind of polish that an important game like this demands, ultimately providing fans with an unrivaled classic Sonic feel," Sega said in a statement, bumping the game to the "latter half" of 2010.

Though Sega has yet to officially make a release date announcement, Microsoft UK PR man Dom Carey said yesterday in a Tweet that has since been removed: "ZOMG! Sonic 4: Episode 1 dates for October 13th on Xbox LIVE. Bring it on Robotnik (*sigh* Eggman)!"

Sonic 4 is being developed for Live, PlayStation Network, Wiiware, and Apple's iOS. We'll keep you posted on official release dates for all platforms.


Sharkey says: Sonic as it should be. Looking forward to this one. As I discovered with New Super Mario Bros., the true classics are still a ton of fun to play.