Needlemouse: What The SEGA Blogs You Can’t Get To Say

Right the demand on the SOA comp has crashed the SEGA Blog server, so if you wanted to know whats actually said here it is:

Happy Hedgehog Day!

It was over a decade ago today that this phrase was commonly heard – and with good reason, as it marked the monumental release of a game called Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Now, sixteen years later, we’re back and ready to use it again – because we’ve got big things in store.

As we mentioned over the weekend, we’re turning this week into Hedgehog Week as celebration for the game’s announcement, and for all the amazing work that fans around the world have put in to go above and beyond our challenges. The celebrations kick off today with two pieces of concept art from the first zone, a special giveaway of Sonic 3 signed by one of the Senior Level Designers from the original team, and swag giveaways all day! Then, on Thursday, we’re going to make the internet explode as we announce the real name of Project Needlemouse.

Hedgehog Week Calendar:

• Tuesday, Feb 2nd: Hedgehog Day Celebrations begin! Two new pieces of Concept Art from the first zone, and a Signed Copy of Sonic 3 giveaway!

• Thursday, Feb 4th: The big day! Project Needlemouse’s actual title revealed, and an extra Bonus…

We know a few of you out there are going “But why can’t you just announce the name of the game today?” For you guys: Please trust us when we say that announcing the game this Thurdsay, which will let us do so alongside the bonus, is going to be completely worth the wait. 🙂

Hedgehog Day: Concept Art!

When you’re making a 2D Sonic game, there are some things you’ll almost always need if you want to recapture the feeling of the classics. While momentum based gameplay is a heavy piece of that, the levels themselves also have to exude a style that matches or improves upon what came before them. Often, it is not about attempting to revolutionise, but rather to stay true to the formulas for Sonic’s success that already exist.

The zones themselves – and their environments – do more to immerse players into the world than we might notice at first. Today, we’d like to present two pieces of such concept art, which we hope bring smiles to your faces. Let’s start with a classic:

The Sunflower has long been a defining feature of Sonic’s beginnings ever since it first appeared in the original Sonic The Hedgehog. Along with the Badniks, it returns in the first zone of Project Needlemouse – and, yes, it actually spins.

If there’s one thing we know about Palm Trees, it’s that they tend to hide hidden boxes with power-ups like invincibility. We do not question how exactly such a box managed to find its way to the top of a palm tree, but we do know that finding such boxes hidden in Palm Trees is still pretty awesome. So, consider it official – these guys are coming back, too.

While we know that these two pieces of concept art may literally only be a sunflower and a palm tree, and aren’t exactly the most action-packed pictures you’ve seen this year, they express a spirit of the game that we feel is even more important. From Badniks to Zones, there are some things that mean a lot simply because they exist within a game.

There’s a competition at this point – the reason I can’t post the Blognik version is because of this obliterating the server

The story continues…

Also in celebration of Hedgehog Day, we’ve added up a shiny new piece of flash to our website! We highly suggest checking it out – after all, it includes the first sneak peak music from Project Needlemouse! Oh, but don’t go thinking that’s the big bonus – this Thursday, when everything finally goes out, we’ve got something extra special for you guys to complement the game’s real name.

Until then – awesome job once again on the amazing concept art you guys have sent in! We’re going to feature even more of it tomorrow and throughout the week as we celebrate Hedgehog Week, and the upcoming reveal of Project Needlemouse!

From all of us here at SEGA – Happy Hedgehog Day!

I should point out that the piece of music is only on the SOA site, to hear it go to SEGA.com and then change the country to America (click the flag top right).