Turns out that rumors that can’t be backed up can actually be true sometimes. SEGA made a Facebook post confirming that the rumor along with this teaser image showing the silhouettes of the six cartoony alien guardians who may be evil. Of course, because Takashi Iizuka is working on this game and he worked on Sonic games that featured evil aliens, these aliens can definitely be nothing else but very evil.

Less than a week ago, Sonic 1 received a Taxman/Stealth makeover for mobile platforms. The updated port has already cracked the Top 10 Paid Apps list in the US for both Google Play and the iOS App Store at #2 and #8, respectively. As we covered earlier, there are a ton of bonus features that more than warrant its $2.99 price tag. We encourage you to purchase the app, which you can find in the links below. After the jump you will also find some screenshots showcasing some of the bonus features (slight spoilers).

Google Play

App Store

Retro user Orengefox posted on the forums his discovery of two Japanese prototypes of Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 on Sega Dreamcast. Both of which have a potential source of content that are missing from the final builds with the Sonic Adventure Auto Demo showing some good promise. The Sonic Adventure demo dates back to October of 1998 shown to press and ran automated showcase of cutscenes, the different characters and gameplay footage running in real time. Back in 1998, this was something to behold for the press eager to turn around any and all information of Sonic’s first true 3D Adventure.

The Sonic Adventure 2 demo dates back to May of 2001, 26 days before it’s release in Japan, and worldwide, which features three levels playable. One for Sonic, one for Shadow and one to showcase the two player mode. Similar to the disc sent out to English-speaking press, this one for the Japanese press.

Already Retro members have gone and dug around and found some notable differences such as this work-in-progress version of the Chao Garden theme (Credit to Retro user evilhamwizard) for the first Adventure title. You will find plenty more in both respective topics such as video footage, unused graphics and more.

[Source: Retro Forums: Adventure 1, Adventure 2]

Cody “Rick ‘Polygon Jim’ ‘Pegleg Jimmy’ ‘Grand Master Jimmy’ ‘PeglegPolygonGrandmasterJimmyJimJimmy’ Fields” Lawrence
April 10, 1992 – May 18, 2013

This is the picture I took the last time I was ever with him. I’m still amazed that he managed to make that domino tower while drunk.

What can you say about Jimmy? He had a goofy sense of humor, hilarious to some, aggravating to others, but I don’t think anyone would deny that he was a man of charisma and fun. He was the most reckless guy I’ve ever met in my life, that’s for sure. He lived and died with the spirit of fucking around.

I’d known Jimmy for a good 5 years. During the lead-up to Sonic Unleashed, he was 50% of the reason I decided to check out Sonic Retro in the first place. Last fall, in the span of about 24 hours, he drove to Louisiana and became my roommate and hang-out buddy. There were ups and downs, but we had the time of our lives. Unfortunately, he couldn’t maintain the rent and moved back to his home in Pennsylvania. My chief concern about it a couple weeks ago was that he and I didn’t get to go see Iron Man 3 in theaters like we had planned… now that he’s dead, I have to get it through my head that I’ll never see him ever again.

Though he leaves this world today, he will live on in the Sonic community through the best hack ever and the phrase “assface Sonic”, which he coined.

Rest in peace, you magnificent bastard.

Read the local news report on the incident here.

Nintendo has also unveiled additional information regarding Game Gear games appearing on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console during their previous Nintendo Direct. While they have mentioned of releasing at least four more titles previously, although the last time they said those games would appear soon was…a year ago. Nintendo has announced that they will be releasing them soon, again, as well as reveal more Game Gear titles which includes additional Sonic games as well as Tails’ second (and last?) game and even Dr. Robotnik’s own “game.”

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• Sonic Blast
• Sonic Labyrinth
• Sonic Drift 2
• Tails Adventure(s)
• Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine

There are more non-Sonic games appearing including Columns, Defenders of Oasis and Shining Force II: The Sword of Hajya. The full list can also be seen on our sister site, SEGAbits.

[Source: Nintendo Online Press Room, SEGAbits]

If you’ve heard of the recent rumblings of the debug mode for the latest Sonic 1 port, you may not be aware of some of it’s hidden features that some of you die hard Sonic fans will get a kick out of. Rolling balls, goggles, animal buddies, unfinished editor features and more await you in this port, and we’ve got a video of almost two hours worth of content.

You have a number of ways for trying out the debug mode yourself. First start a “No Save” game and choose a character. If you have a controller plugged in you can use the traditional method of entering the cheat codes (Up, Down, Left, Right, Hold A + Start) or on the touch screen, after selecting. Otherwise, on the touch screen, tap the letters S-E-G-A in that order and listen for a ring chime. Then hold two fingers on the bottom of the touch screen. When the title screen appears, slide both fingers to the top of the screen to enter the level select.

Here you can enter the sound test for some additional cheats.

04, 01, 02, 06 – Obtain all emeralds

01, 09, 09, 01, 00, 06, 02, 03 – Debug mode.

To activate debug mode tap the GUI in the top left corner of the screen.

Shattering any sort of barrier from the 1990s, SEGA of America, SEGA Europe, Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe GmbH have announced that they will be partnering up to bring some major Sonic love to the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS over the coming years.

What does this mean overall? Nintendo is set to get three big Sonic titles exclusively to themselves, with two confirmed as the recently announced Sonic Lost World and Mario and Sonic at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The third title has yet to be announced, but it would be hardly surprising if it was next year’s yearly big title.

This doesn’t mean non-Nintendo gamers are out of luck. Sonic will continue to appear on these, though it may only be through smaller digital titles, such as the recently released remastered Sonic 1 on iOS and Android.

[Press Release]

We also got one other intriguing piece of information…

Iwata has revealed that Nintendo & Sega have entered into a “worldwide partnership in the Sonic franchise”, and as such, Sonic: Lost World will be exclusive to Wii U and 3DS owners. No date was revealed, but November seems a safe bet based on past years.

Iwata also announced the already widely-expected Mario & Sonic at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. This looks to be largely the same as the previous instalments in the series, with the usual array of regular and Dream events, and is also coming out on Wii U and 3DS. No date was announced for this either, but expect it before the Games start in Feburary 2014.

[UPDATE: It's now on the Google Play store.]

Ever wondered when Taxman and Stealth’s Sonic 1 Retro Engine remaster would be made available? Next week? Next month?! Well, in fact it is actually hitting both the iOS and Android as soon as today or tomorrow depending on your region and platform. Most regions should be seeing the iOS port as soon as right now, or at least tomorrow. As for Android, according to Taxman on the Retro Forums he says, “Thursday 16th PST for Android, US & Canada so you’ll have to wait a bit longer sorry.”

In the meantime, there has been some light shed on some of the differences and new features the port has. Such as Time Attack modes, remastered music, spin dash feature, slightly updated boss patterns, smoother motion in the Special Stages, and unlockable characters? Perhaps there may be more surprises in store, but the wait for this release is just about over, depending on where you are.

Check out some of the features shown below with images taken from staff member TimmiT.

Sega Sammy released their financial reports for the company today, and it turns out the company did rather well. Of note, the company posted a net profit of ¥33.5 billion, or about $331 million, which is an annual growth of 53.3 percent. However, Sega Sammy’s operating profit decreased year-on-year by 67.3 percent, down to ¥19.1 billion ($189 million). Majority of this was through the sales of “investment securities” and transfers of employees’ pension benefits.

That’s all well and good if you’re financially oriented and looking to invest in Sega, but you’re here for game sales number to shamelessly slap people on message boards with! While physical retail game sales were down, causing the company to consider refocusing efforts more toward smartphone and digital titles, Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed zoomed across the finish line with 1.36 million units sold globally. No platform-by-platform break down was provided, but that’s still a rather strong number for the shape-shifting kart racer.

On top of that, Sega broke down plans for the 2014 fiscal year, saying that they plan to ship 11 games on PC, 7 on Wii U, 7 on PS3, 6 on 3DS, 5 on Vita, 4 on Xbox 360, and 2 on PSP.

While no doubt at least one of those will be a Sonic title of some sort on nearly every platform, what surprises us more is the PSP still getting some love. Keep on trucking, little guy!

For a more thorough breakdown, hit up our sister site SEGAbits. She’s just as pretty as we are, promise.