Sonic the Hedgehog has officially returned, but in the world of virtual reality and cryptocurrency is the blue-haired hero a bit behind the times? There are various new Sonic games already released and others in the pipeline. But if Sega wants its most iconic character to enjoy a successful reboot, it needs to take into account current technology trends and adapt accordingly.
There is no denying that Sonic is one of the most recognizable and iconic games of all time, and Sega is hoping that it can enjoy the same kind of success in the modern era as it did back in the 1990s.
Last year saw the release of two major new Sonic titles; Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces. The former was met with a fairly strong critical reception but the latter was somewhat slated, with reviewers saying it did little to advance the series. Both games drew on many of the features that made the Sega games of old so popular, but neither made good use of the superior technology available today.
Sega needs to look at modern trends and adapt Sonic accordingly. A lot has changed since the release of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991, and the way people play has changed drastically. An example of this huge leap forward is in the fact that people are now playing games online using bitcoin. This list of bitcoin sites suggests that bitcoin casinos are on the rise, with BitCasino and BitStarz being two well-established offerings. Along with paying for things using internet currency, virtual and augmented reality look set to be massive trends in the years to come.
Sega could choose to follow in the footsteps of Niantic, the brains behind Pokémon Go, and look at ways to enhance Sonic using the new technology. Pokémon Go was one of the first games of its kind to put AR to good use, and it was amazingly popular when it was released in 2016. In fact, the game which tasked players with collecting Pokémon in the real world has been downloaded over 650 million times, and has inspired other similar titles like Jurassic World Alive.
Sonic in its traditional sense as a side-scrolling platform game wouldn’t work with AR, but Sega could create some kind of collectible battle game using popular characters from the Sonic franchise. It would also be extremely current if this game was to incorporate cryptocurrency as a way of paying for things within the game.
There is no denying that Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the most influential and important games of all time. But the world of gaming has moved on a long way since its initial release for the Sega Mega Drive.
Now, creating games in the same style as those of over 25 years ago just won’t cut it, and Sega needs to adapt for the modern age. Getting on board with technological advances would be a good starting point, and with the use of cryptocurrency, there could even be some interactivity between the different titles.
Sonic is such an enduring character that the games will always attract players, but to conquer the world again, there needs to be some innovation.
