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The new Sonic Rumble mobile game now has a release window of Spring 2025, as confirmed by Sega. The company also revealed a few new modes and features ahead of its launch. It was originally expected to launch at either the end of Winter 2024 or the beginning of 2025.

The global release of Sonic Rumble will bring three new main features. The first of these is a competitive mode called Rival Rank, where players can earn additional rewards. On the other end of the scale, there is also a casual mode called Quick Rumble. While Sonic Rumble will normally be played across several rounds, this mode will allow players to jump into a single round of gameplay instead. Finally, the new Crews feature will allow players to bring their friends along for assistance.

Sega also confirmed that the cast will be gaining additional exclusive abilities. These will be based on abilities the characters are known for elsewhere in the Sonic series. For instance, Amy Rose will be able to stun other characters with her Piko Hammer. Specific abilities for other characters have not been detailed yet, although hopefully we’ll hear more before Sonic Rumble’s release.

Sonic Rumble was announced at Sonic Central 2024, originally with a release window of Winter 2024. It’s a multiplayer party game where players compete against 31 other players in a battle royale consisting of different types of minigame.

Sonic Rumble will release on PC and mobile devices sometime in Spring 2025.

The post Sonic Rumble Will Now Release in Spring 2025 appeared first on Siliconera.

SEGA has officially revealed the first gameplay trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds during Sony's State of Play presentation on February 12, 2024. The new footage showcased transforming land, sea, and air vehicles, well as the long-overdue return of Cream the Rabbit and Extreme Gear from the Sonic Riders series.

While gameplay appears familiar to Team Sonic Racing, the primary new gameplay mechanic involves "Travel Rings," which transport players to a new world on the second lap. According to the official PlayStation Blog, the lead racer will choose the "CrossWorld" all players will teleport to.

Extreme Gear, the hoverboards featured in Sonic Riders, are officially returning after a 14-year absence from the series. SEGA describes the gameplay style of Extreme Gear as "boost-based," though extensive details have yet to be revealed.

Characters will not be tied to a single vehicle but can choose from various customization options, including vehicle parts, colors, decals, textures, mods, and even the interior. Rouge, Charmy, Espio, Storm, and Wave appear briefly appear on billboards, though it's unclear whether they will be playable.

The Transform feature from Sonic & Sega: All-Stars Racing also returns, automatically transforming vehicles across different terrains. During one segment of the trailer, Sonic can be spotted transforming his sports car into a rugged monster truck while driving between the legs of a dinosaur from Sonic and the Secret Rings. You know, the usual.

Before a race, players can equip "Gadgets," which are described as "RPG-like...feature." These are slotted into "Gadget Slots," which increase as you progress the game and provide unique gameplay advantages, such as boosts.

Characters confirmed to appear in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds include:

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Shadow the Hedgehog
• Tails
• Knuckles
• Amy Rose
• Dr. Eggman
• Metal Sonic
• Sage
• Silver
• Vector
• Big the Cat
• Cream and Cheese
• E-123 Omega
• Rouge (featured on billboard)

PlayStation 5 s can sign up to the Closed Network test later this month, which sadly won't feature Extreme Gear this time around.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is set to release in 2025 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The post Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Features Extreme Gear, Transforming, and Cream the Rabbit appeared first on Siliconera.

In an interview with Famitsu, Sonic Frontiers Producer Sachiko Kawamura shared the extent to which the development team went to create countermeasures for motion sickness. She stated that the Q&;A team played a huge part in it and is thankful for their contribution to the game. Additionally, she noted that it was important to take this aspect of the game very seriously, and that the team prepared a lot of different parameters to reduce 3D motion sickness for players. [Thanks, ryokutya2089!]

These are the translated excerpts from the interview about the preventative measures the Sonic Frontiers team took against motion sickness:

I can only thank the Q&A team that tested the game. However, some of them were unable to play the game due to 3D motion sickness.. I thought it would be a shame if countermeasures were not taken, so this is something that we decided to take very seriously.. In the end, we prepared a lot of countermeasures to reduce the amount of 3D motion sickness.

A new take on the franchise, Sonic Frontiers takes a more "open world" approach to the formula. Players navigate through different environments, which have their own monsters populating the world at large. That said, players can still race through the game at high speeds, as shown in previous trailers.

Sonic Frontiers is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The post Sonic Frontier Developers Took Countermeasures Against Motion Sickness appeared first on Siliconera.

It's Sonic Frontiers release day, and Sega has some advice for people that picked up certain editions of the game or plan to. The official Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter warned players that have the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game to install the included Sonic Frontiers DLC before starting a new game. Otherwise, the included DLC items might not be activated.

Here's the tweet:
https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/1589751188798738433

Sega instructed players to install the Sonic Frontiers DLC included in the Digital Deluxe Edition before starting. If a player installs the add-ons after leaving the tutorial area, the items won't be included in their game. Additionally, it suggests players install the most recent patch prior to installing DLC.

A follow-up tweet noted that the instructions above apply only to the items included in the Digital Deluxe Edition. Future Sonic Frontiers DLC, such as the Sonic Adventure 2 shoes and Monster Hunter DLC, will not suffer such restrictions.

The Digital Deluxe edition of Sonic Frontiers includes an Explorer's Treasure box that contains the following in-game items:

• Amy's Memory Tokens
• A Portal Gear
• Chaos Emerald Vault Keys
• Additional Gloves and Shoes for Sonic

Outside of the game, buyers are also entitled to a Digital Art Book and a Digital Mini Soundtrack with 25 tracks of music. Sega advised Xbox buyers to check the app section of the Xbox Store to the Digital Art Book if they don't see it in their library.

Sonic Frontiers is available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. A "Showdown" launch trailer is also out now.

The post Sega Warns to Install Sonic Frontiers DLC Before Starting Game appeared first on Siliconera.

As Sonic Frontiers approaches its launch date of November 8, 2022, Sega offered another look at what there is to do in the Blue Blur's new adventure. A new Sonic Frontiers "Showdown" trailer the giant enemies Sonic will meet and beat in the Starfall Islands.

Check out the trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Mnp5A5iG4

The Sonic Frontiers Showdown trailer emphasizes Sonic's conflict with a mysterious new group of enemies. A voice exhorts Sonic to seek out the Chaos Emeralds, "tear down the walls between dimensions," and "destroy the titans. Those titans are the various massive-scale foes that Sonic will encounter throughout the Starfall Islands. Some include a fish-like monster that swims through the desert with Sonic hanging onto its tail. Another appears to flee from Sonic while he pursues at speed, running along a "road" that the monster trails behind itself to catch up. Other boss fight mechanics will have Sonic using the environment to set up fight arenas, bouncing off the walls to damage a boss, and employing a powerful speed-attack that leaves afterimages as Sonic attacks from multiple angles.

The trailer also shows glimpses of Sage, the new character connected to the monsters, who plays a major role in Sonic Frontiers. The Showdown trailer concludes with a shot of Sonic gathering all the Chaos Emeralds and using them to transform into Super Sonic to confront an even larger, more humanoid-looking titan.

Sonic Frontiers launches on November 8, 2022 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The post Sonic Frontiers Showdown Trailer Shows Off Giant Enemies appeared first on Siliconera.

Ahead of the Monster Hunter Rise Sonic the Hedgehog crossover event that will bring new cosmetic items, there's special official art. The official Sonic Twitter offered a look at Sonic in-costume with a Palico and Palamute. More notably, the art is drawn by Sonic Team Artist Yuji Uekawa.

The image features the Palico and Palamute in the traditional Kamura Village clothing. When the crossover items appear during this Monster Hunter Rise event quest, the Palico can dress like Sonic and Palamute like Tails. (Hunters also get Sonic-themed costumes.) However, for this Uekawa art Sonic is dressed like a ninja. He’s also wearing Kamura Village gear.

In honor of the #MHRise collaboration, enjoy some new art by Yuji Uekawa! pic.twitter.com/Y2eu1Ak7VA

— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) November 19, 2021

Uekawa’s been working on Sonic the Hedgehog games for years. Most notably, he’s worked on titles like Sonic Adventure, Sonic X, Sonic and the Black Knight, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Uekawa art also appeared in other forms of Sonic the Hedgehog media. For example, some of the designs appeared on covers for the Sonic the Hedgehog comic.

Monster Hunter Rise is available for the Nintendo Switch, and the Sonic the Hedgehog event DLC will appear on November 26, 2021. The PC version of the game will appear on January 12, 2022. Sunbreak, its new expansion, will appear in Summer 2022 for both platforms.

The post Monster Hunter Rise x Sonic Event Crossover Art Shared appeared first on Siliconera.

At the end of the Sonic Central stream on May 27, 2021, Sega announced a new Sonic the Hedgehog game. There’s no title for it yet. However, the teaser shown during the presentation did include platforms and a release window.

The new Sonic the Hedgehog game will be made by Sonic Team. It will launch in 2022. As far as platforms go, people will be able to play it on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. It didn’t note if the PC version will be an Epic Games Store exclusive like Sonic Colors Ultimate.

You can catch the teaser footage at the 11:50 mark below. It is very brief. Sonic is running through a field, resulting a mysterious symbol. It then announces the year the game will release and its platforms.

The new Sonic the Hedgehog game will debut in 2022 on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. The next Sonic games people will be able to play in 2022 are Sonic Colors Ultimate and Sonic the Fighters in Lost Judgment. Two the most recent releases people can immediately play are Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces.

The post New Sonic the Hedgehog Game Will Debut in 2022 appeared first on Siliconera.

Sega announced more free Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 characters and modes will arrive via an update. The new post-launch content includes new characters, online challenge modes, new music, and accessibility options. The new features will all appear on February 4, 2021.

To celebrate the brand's 30th anniversary, Sega announced multiple characters from the series will return in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. Sega revealed this on February 4, 2021, which is the annual "Puyo Day." As a fun fact, an alternate Japanese reading of "2-4" is pronounced as "Pu-Yo."

Here are the details on what the new update will bring:

• 20 new avatars.
• Four-player online capability with all six challenge modes.
• New tracks for background music, including songs from the Japan-exclusive Puyo Puyo Chronicle.
• Accessibility options for color and vision. These are the same settings from Puyo Puyo Champions to accommodate those who might be colorblind.
• Four new playable characters.
  • Serilly: a mermaid with buff and debuff skills.
  • Rafisol: a mysterious character with the ability to change your held Tetrimino.
  • Possessed Klug: with a skill to set up a T-Spin attack.
  • Yu & Rei: twin ghosts with the ability to remove up to 32 Garbage Puyos.

[gallery link="file" ids="870618,870619,870620,870621,870617"]

Sega promised that there will be more free Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 post-launch updates.

Outside of the game, we also heard about a special Danganronpa collaboration with the Puyo Puyo brand. The unlikely marriage features useful accessories like keychains, pocket mirrors, and acrylic stands.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 and its update are available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. The game will also come to PC via Steam on March 23, 2021.

The post Sega Announces More Free Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 Characters appeared first on Siliconera.

Now that the game is out on consoles, Sega revealed the release date for the Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 PC version. The legendary puzzle combo will launch on Steam on March 23, 2021, for $29.99 USD.

A whole new platform's worth of potential players will soon enjoy some puzzle action with the Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 PC release. The latest entry in the cross-over series features a wealth of content, as there are tons of new and returning characters and modes. For a limited time, the Steam edition will include a pack of rare item cards to give players a power boost. This pack will contain three special cards with items from the Sonic the Hedgehog games. In addition to recent character announcements like Sonic, Sega supposedly has more announcements to come in the future.

The Steam version will include all the same features as the console versions. This will include the all-important four-player online and local play. If you're looking for something more cooperative, you can defeat powerful U-controlled bosses with your friends in the new online co-op mode, Boss Raid. However, if a narrative is more your thing, there's also Adventure Mode with a new story and overworld map. For those who like their party systems, there's also the RPG-inspired Skill Battle mode. And don't forget to brush up on your skills or learn new tricks in the Lessons mode. There are over 150 interactive lessons to help anyone can rise from the rank of newbie to a Hikaru Utada-tier pro player in no time.

Check out the screenshots below from the Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 PC version:

[gallery columns="4" ids="869465,869466,869467,869468,869469,869470,869471,869472,869473,869474,869475" link="file"]

The Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 PC version will release on March 23, 2021. The title is already available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. We were big fans of the game, which you can check out here in our review.

The post Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 PC Version Dropping This March appeared first on Siliconera.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 had a leg up from the start of the project. It's simple: Puyo Puyo Tetris was already very fun. What do you add? What do you change? There are things that can go wrong along the way, but ultimately there's still Puyo Puyo Tetris in there.

Which is good! Because the things that were added and changed don't really offer a lot.

First, a primer on Puyo Puyo Tetris, in case you regrettably missed the first one! Combining world-favorite puzzle game Tetris with should-be-world-favorite Puyo Puyo, it offers a lot of modes that mash these together in different configurations. Play one against the other! Play both at once on two swapping boards! Maybe even play both at once on one really weird-looking board! Just... play some solo Tetris if you want! The first game did its best to include all the ways you'd want to bring the two together.

This is why Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is in such a tough spot. Including the original's modes is certainly good, and landing on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X means you can pick the game up natively on your new platforms. (Though in our time with the PS5 build, we can't say we're seeing any technical improvements.) But a new game generally needs new reasons to play. The package has a few attempts, but they feel halfhearted and half-baked.

The primary new option here is Skill Battles. In this mode, you'll equip a party of three characters and a few item cards, and use special abilities and puzzle combos to deplete foes' HP. This is a very cool idea! Games like Tetris Battle Gaiden and Puyo Puyo~n showed how cool special abilities can be in puzzle combat. The Japan-only Puyo Puyo Chronicle put RPG elements into Puyo Puyo with solid results. So if the team really committed to the idea, it could carry this sequel.

And therein lies the problem. While it's an interesting concept, the implementation here in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is lacking. The grind to level up characters is long and doesn't feel rewarding. You have to battle — usually other people, as the game itself only offers limited, repetitive options to gain experience against the AI — to even build up your hit points to last long enough to use any skills at all. It discourages experimentation, since every new character you unlock comes in underleveled and hits to your base stats are rarely worth trying something new.

The suite of abilities is uninspired, generally offering the same six minor board clears or stat buffs. Building a team is like building a Magic: the Gathering deck, but all that's available to you is a 2/2 creature in each color and a few damage spells. Grind up your team? Then you get... more powerful very basic stuff. It misses the appeal of a system like this, and it misses it a lot. But at least it's a fair fight, right? The game's producer, Mizuki Hosoyamada, told us that the team put a lot of work into balancing, but in our experience, high-level players are finding the Tetris side of things ludicrously overpowered.

The Adventure mode is back in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, once again offering one-off challenges held together by a quirky story. It's a bit hard to follow and harder to invest any emotion into the twists and turns, but hey: it's there! The adventure map is a lot less linear this time, though really only in presentation. The result is that it's hard to move around and find your next battle sometimes. Thankfully, there's a “shortcut" menu that just lists events in a grid. With how much we just ended up using that, maybe the normal map itself was wasted effort.

As for the battles themselves, there are some quirks. There are some challenges that make you play worse to last longer to get the three-star ranking. There are some difficulty spikes that you can push through by skipping levels after failing, which at least lets you get through it but doesn't feel great. These can be a fun diversion to challenge and build your skills, but the mode as a whole feels disted and unpolished.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 does include some new things in the mix that are a bit more pleasant. There are online leaderboards for single-player modes like Endless. You can customize your avatar and pieces with a lot more visual options, like we saw in the competitive play-focused Puyo Puyo Champions. You can even change the Tetris blocks to look like Puyos and Puyos to look like Tetris blocks! It's thoroughly confusing. Which can be fun once or twice!

And it's charming! It's still very charming. The Puyo Puyo franchise has stuck to a signature aesthetic over the last decade or so, and it works well in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 to both capture the energy of the game and retain legibility of the board in fast-paced play. The character animations are cute. Battle voice clips are still repetitive, but in an endearing way. Tetris may dominate most of the competitive balance, but the sights and sounds are still unrepentantly Puyo.

But ultimately what you're getting with Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is more of the same things you enjoyed last time. They're very good things! But many players may find that the first game already offered all the high points of this sequel, and that the new modes don't offer very much to rekindle their interest.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 releases December 8, 2020 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series and Xbox One, with a PC launch sometime after.

The post Review: Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 Drops Tetriminos, Puyos on Systems New and Old appeared first on Siliconera.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 will release worldwide on December 8, 2020. We asked the game's producer, longtime franchise director and producer Mizuki Hosoyamada, about the team's development goals and what changes players should expect in the new game.

Graham Russell, Siliconera: When you first began work on Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, what was your first priority? What did you want to see in the sequel that wasn't in the original?

Mizuki Hosoyamada, Sega: The mission was to develop the game on multiple platforms, including new hardware such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. We wanted to release it simultaneously worldwide near the launch of the new hardware, and to create a new game that could be enjoyed by both newcomers and those who had played the previous Puyo Puyo Tetris game, which sold over 1.4 million copies worldwide.

While creating new rulesets, characters, stories, and other new elements of the game, we also incorporated many improvements in response to fan , such as cut-in effects during chains in Tetris and independent online rankings for Puyo Puyo and Tetris, so that more people can play the game.

Adding skills to puzzle gameplay isn't new for either franchise, explored most notably in the Japan-only Tetris Battle Gaiden and the also-Japan-only Puyo Puyo Chronicle. What were the inspirations for Puyo Puyo Tetris 2's skill-based battles?

Tetris Battle Gaiden was released on Super Famicom in 1993, and Puyo Puyo Chronicle was released on Nintendo 3DS in 2016 in Japan and parts of Asia only. If you played those games, you're probably a very core fan of a certain age range. For those who played Puyo Puyo and Tetris for the first time in Puyo Puyo Tetris, these past titles may be difficult to acquire. Puyo Puyo Chronicle has received many requests from Western fans for localization. However, as we were developing the next phase of our business, we made the decision to forego releasing the title in the West.

The "Skill Battle" is not the same as in Puyo Puyo Chronicle, but rather a reworked version of it. Based on the current Tetris and Puyo Puyo game system regulations, we have been working on this game while simultaneously adjusting the balance between Puyo Puyo and Tetris. After 35 years of Tetris and 29 years of Puyo Puyo, I feel that the game's playing skills have improved a lot.

Also, there are 36 professional Puyo Puyo players in Japan and while there is a lot of online play and video streaming on YouTube and other sites, which allows for fierce competitions between expert players, there is also a big difference in the level of play between beginners and experts. By releasing Puyo Puyo Tetris worldwide on multiple platforms, including the latest hardware, we've added a new "Skill Battle" to fill in the gap in skill levels. We thought it should be reworked as a rule, so we decided to push it for Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 this time.

The puzzle genre has never really been known for its engrossing, nuanced plots, but Puyo Puyo Tetris' story is especially silly and the sequel looks to retain that tone. How do you go about writing narratives for a game like this?

In the Puyo Puyo series, there are story sequences called "Manzai Demos" that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike, structured according to the concept and theme of the work. In the previous game, as it was a collaboration between Puyo Puyo and Tetris, we considered the characters and worldview of the previous Puyo Puyo games as well as that of Tetris, and created the story with those in mind.

This game begins with the introduction of a new character, Marle, and it reestablishes the worlds of Puyo Puyo and Tetris, and how they cross paths again. These stories are based not only on the content of previous Puyo Puyo and Tetris titles, but also on the experience of the Sonic Team and Sega's other development processes, the development , the scenario creators, and the IP supervisors who have been influenced by a variety of entertainment, including games, manga, anime, and movies. We got together to discuss the concept, selling points, worldview, and new characters, and created the plotline with these things in mind, while also having everything reviewed by the Puyo Puyo and Tetris teams.

Has the global pandemic caused any significant changes to the game's development as you've worked to complete it this year?

Naturally, we were affected and our development teams in Japan worked from their respective homes following the declaration of a state of emergency in April 2020. The ban on going into the office in Tokyo was lifted after about two months, but it still hasn't fully been resolved since then. The majority of team have been able to return to the office while taking safety precautions, such as wearing masks social distancing at all times. We are working diligently to develop this project so that we can launch in December 2020. The staff at the Sega of America office in California are also working remotely, so all of us are working hard together to create great games and deliver them to you.

Many dedicated players are inhumanly good. How have you balanced the game to be satisfying to these experts, while still letting new players make it through the campaign and see all the game has to offer?

For super-experienced players, we'd like them to be able to clear the game with a higher score in Adventure Mode and eventually compete against each other in online matches, or aim to be number one in the world in the Endless Mode online ranking. For beginners, we've made it so that even newcomers can complete Adventure Mode as many times as they like, but we thought there might be people who'd still find it difficult. Players can use an Auto Clear function that allows you to skip a stage, and choose to automatically adjust the difficulty level. We're also developing lessons for intermediate-level players to play through so that they can revisit the basic information and discover new things, which may lead to subsequent improvements.

This interview has been edited for clarity. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 releases December 8, 2020 on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series and Xbox One, with a "holiday" release on PlayStation 5 and a PC launch sometime after. For more, check out our preview of the game!

The post Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 Interview: Producer Mizuki Hosoyamada on Sequels, ‘Manzai Demos’ and More appeared first on Siliconera.

Puyo Puyo Tetris was a wonderful surprise. Combining the global favorite puzzle game, Tetris, with what was at the time a hibernating series in the West, Puyo Puyo, brought fun mash-ups to lots of players who weren't prepared for what that would mean.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, by its very nature, can't be that. We know what these games look like when pitted against each other! So the challenge of a sequel is pushing the concept forward. How does Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 do that, exactly?

If you're a newcomer to the franchise, don't worry about catching up! Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 contains all the modes of the original, largely untouched. Did these games change? The game's producer, Mizuki Hosoyamada, said the team listened to fan .

"We have received lots of for our most recent titles, including Puyo Puyo Tetris and Puyo Puyo Champions, which were released worldwide," Hosoyamada said. "We are grateful for the enthusiasm of the dedicated fans of both Puyo Puyo and Tetris. Sega's representatives have been asked to report back to the development team and IP supervisors on what data they have compiled for each region, and we are developing the game with that knowledge in mind."

In our time with the game, we honestly haven't found much in the way of significant adjustments. If you saw Puyo Puyo Tetris and Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 side-by-side, you'd have trouble distinguishing between the two. This is probably a comfort to people who like the game and just want it on their new platforms. If you're looking for huge upgrades or a new coat of paint to justify a new purchase, though? That's not something the game is really interested in offering. Its changes are minor and under the hood.

That isn't to say there's nothing new, though! It's just not in the big main play modes you know. The new game type, Skill Battles, brings progression, customization and unlockables to an otherwise-static Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 experience. Hosoyamada told us the team might have bit off a bit more than it could initially chew with this mode.

"There were so many more things to consider than we previously imagined, such as an easy to grasp UI for the new ruleset, various skill combinations, balancing so that newcomers and veterans could play together, and various other game balancing," Hosoyamada said. "In fact, we were tweaking the balancing until the very end."

The new Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 Skill Battles mode tries to keep players from being overwhelmed. It starts players at low levels with very simple starter skills, like healing or simple board clearing. This helps in some respects. Still, prepare yourself for these early battles to be over before you know it. Since all your characters start at a low level, that means you don't have to take much damage to get knocked out. In most of our early sessions, we were lucky to use a skill at all before one player threw a combo attack at the other and knocked them out. There are some interesting pieces here, and we look forward to sharing our full thoughts about Skill Battles in our review in a few weeks! But the mode takes some time to ramp up.

Outside of Skill Battles, Hosoyamada recommended players check out the more traditional endless modes. These now sport online leaderboards, a change from the first's solo-only marathon play.

"It'd be really great if you could check it out and play time attack and score attack to see how you compare to other players," Hosoyamada said. "I'd also recommend watching other players' videos to study up on tips and strategies."

Of course, there's not a lot of action yet on the pre-release leaderboards. (Not that we're complaining! It's sort of fun to be first. Even if it's just for a bit.) Still, these do go a long way to making Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 a good Puyo Puyo game and a good Tetris game! That's a welcome development for those who want the traditional styles included in the same package as the special crossover mixes.

The story mode, Adventure, may not serve as a huge draw for a game known for its multiplayer. It has educational value, though! It helps ease players toward learning new skills in many ways. The development team balanced heavily toward letting you get through with one star without too much effort. Achieving higher ratings, on the other hand, takes some doing. A warning, though: while these goals usually involve playing the game at a higher level, some are about achieving higher scores before defeating the opponent. This means you occasionally need to play slower and use less impressive combo attacks to keep the game going long enough to get that point counter up.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 releases December 8, 2020 on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series and Xbox One, with a "holiday" release on PlayStation 5 and a PC launch sometime after. Stay tuned for our full interview with the game's producer, Mizuki Hosoyamada, later this week!

The post Preview: Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 Adds Skill Battles to a Familiar Mix appeared first on Siliconera.

The above is a speed run for Sonic the Hedgehog 4's Splash Hill Zone - Act 1 stage, performed by Paraxade0 who Sega credited in a post on their blog after they noticed his run. Episode 2 of Sonic 4 doesn't have a locked release date yet.

The post A Lightning Fast Sonic 4 Splash Hill Zone Speed Run appeared first on Siliconera.

Sonic Free Riders will Kinectimals and Dance Central as launch titles for Kinect. Their controller-free hoverboard racing game is also slated for November 4.

Players control their hoverboard in Sonic Free Riders by standing straight and tilting right or left to turn. You can use your arms to grab rings and throw weapons at other players. Sonic Free Riders s two players at home and eight online.

Like other Kinect launch titles, Sonic Free Riders will retail for $49.99.

The post Sonic Free Riders Ready For Kinect Launch appeared first on Siliconera.

There were two places E3 attendees could try out Sonic Colors for the Wii. The first was at Nintendo's booth, where one demo station was set up. The second was at Sega's booth, where multiple demo stations where available and you could get a stuffed Wisp for testing the game. Guess which one I went to when I decided to try out the game. (Hint - my cat ended up getting a souvenir because of it)

Sonic Colors feels somewhat similar to the classic Sonic games, despite the fact that you're switching between 3D and 2.5D perspectives. Sonic is still racing around environments as quickly as he can, trying to defeat enemies and stop Dr. Eggman. This time, Dr. Eggman is trying to make a huge, outer space amusement park and is capturing aliens called Wisps to help him do so. Sonic and Tails head into space to the in-development park to destroy his plans and free the Wisps.

I didn't get to actually really use any super special Wisp powers while playing the demo of Sonic Colors, but a Sega representative did educate me as to how the Wisps and colors aspect factor into Sonic Colors. Different color Wisps have different abilities that Sonic can tap into. I found a number of white Wisps, and when Sonic collected/freed them, he got a speed boost. I also learned that yellow Wisps would allow Sonic to dig into certain areas where he could see something secret or extra special.

I found the Wii version of Sonic Colors pretty fun. It almost reminded me a bit of Sonic Unleashed, except I actually enjoyed Sonic Colors and only tolerated Sonic Unleashed.

My favorite part had to be the boss battle that I got to experience. There was a large, circular eye-thing, with rotating platforms all around it. While it was presented in a 2D perspective, it still had a 3D appearance. It also reminded me of boss battles from the classic Sega Genesis Sonic games. Sonic had to leap onto platforms, then double jump so he'd be spinning when he'd hit the boss. Three hits did it in, and brought me to the end of my time with the demo.

I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked with Sonic Colors, because it seemed to be pretty popular among Sega booth visitors, but I did enjoy the time I did get to spend with it. It seemed reminiscent of the classic Sonic games that I used to adore, and not like some feeble attempt to make Sonic more of a Super Mario style hero. I only wish I'd had a chance to try the DS version as well, while I was there.

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