In celebration of Sonic's 35th anniversary, a whole bunch of Sonic games are coming to PlayStation Now next month.
Sega's first Sonic Central stream took place today, bringing with it a tonne of Sonic-themed announcements including new games and cameos in existing properties. One of the smaller announcements during the show is that Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces, and Team Sonic Racing are all hitting PlayStation Now on June 1st. PlayStation users with a PlayStation Now subscription will be able to download the titles free of charge next month.
Both Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces were released in 2017, with one of them much more critically accepted than the other. Sonic Mania is more of a traditional Sonic game, channeling the Sega Genesis style of gameplay with more of a focus on fast-paced platforming. Rather than being developed by Sonic Team itself, Sonic Mania was a passion project led by a team of developers who had previously worked on Sonic fan games.
Sonic Forces, on the other hand, is Sonic Team's official release of 2017 and is a lot more controversial. Many consider the game to be an unofficial sequel to Sonic Generations, featuring familiar gameplay that sees the player switch between 2D and 3D. However, the game drew plenty of attention due to its character creator which allowed the player to create their own character and play as them within the Sonic universe.
Team Sonic Racing is the most recent Sonic title to be heading to PlayStation now next month and is exactly what it says on the tin. The game plays like your average kart-racing title but manages to set itself apart by having teams of racers instead of competing individually. The game has almost two-dozen tracks, some of which have been ported over from other Sonic racing games including Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.
In case you missed the stream, you may be pleased to know that Sega has also announced both Sonic Origins (a collection of older Sonic titles including Sonic 3 & Knuckles) and Sonic Colors Ultimate, a remaster of the original Sonic Colors released for the Wii. Sonic Colors Ultimate will release on September 7th while Sonic Origins' release date is still to be confirmed.