Iconic Sega character Sonic the Hedgehog has officially been announced as a playable character for the upcoming Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD.
Sega's official Twitter and YouTube platforms uploaded a new trailer for the upcoming Super Monkey Ball game today that included footage of Sonic in action. Players can unlock the blue hedgehog, among other costumes for the rest of the characters, by playing the game.
Trailer footage also provided insight on Sonic's character abilities, including showing off some of his very impressive stats across the board.
The trailer also showed Sonic in action, rolling around a few different worlds in his own ball. While the gameplay looks the same as the rest of the monkey characters, it appears there'll be one difference. Rather than collecting bananas, Sonic will collect his signature rings.
Fans' reactions to the announcement have been overwhelmingly positive, with many fans who were previously on-the-fence about purchasing the game expressing their newfound interest in buying via Twitter replies and YouTube comments.
The official announcement comes just a few days after a Twitter fan datamined the game's demo and concluded that the familiar hedgehog would be appearing in the game. Though Sega did not immediately comment on the discovery, today marks the official announcement of the character.
This is not the first time Sega has crossed over different characters between worlds in their games, as Super Monkey Ball protagonist AiAi has appeared in a number of crossover games, such as Sega Superstars Tennis. Though Sonic's classic art design and rings are a little different compared to AiAi and his friends, it's clear from the trailer that the hedgehog will fit naturally into the game.
The upcoming game is a remake of the Nintendo Wii Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz title released in 2006. The game utilized the Wiimote as a motion control for the balancing aspects of gameplay. While the upcoming title will not be using motion controls, there are a number of new aspects, including 100 single-player stages, 10 multiplayer minigames, boss battles, and an online leaderboard.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD is set for release on October 29, 2019, for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. A PC version will also be released at a later date.