While the iconic and well-loved Super Mario franchise is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2020, 2021 is very important anniversary for another popular video game mascot. 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, and it looks like SEGA wants to pull out all the stops for Big Blue. And one of the ways it plans on doing that is with a new anniversary encyclopedia exploring the lore of the franchise.
The new Sonic the Hedgehog encyclopedia, aptly named the Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia, is a $50 hardcover book that will delve into the lore and details of every Sonic game over the last 30 years. The encyclopedia is being written by Ian Flynn who is currently the head writer for the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series from IDW Publishing, and has an extensive background working with the Sonic IP having written various comics, episodes of Sonic Boom, and some of the stories for the video games themselves.
Unfortunately, while the item description for the encyclopedia mentions that it will explore the lore within the Sonic the Hedgehog games, it doesn't go into what exactly that includes or how it's presented. The product page on Amazon shows the cover art of the book but none of the pages inside. So it looks like fans will just have to speculate if their favorite obscure Sonic character will make an appearance when it releases on June 1, 2021.
The Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia is but one of many big Sonic the Hedgehog announcements SEGA has in store for the Blue Blur's 30th anniversary. While there hasn't been any news as to what all these announcements could entail, Sonic fans will likely be happy that their favorite Hedgehog is getting the spotlight in celebration rather than the condemnation of a poorly received game.
The reason for SEGA's lack of Sonic 30th anniversary announcements comes primarily due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, SEGA had planned on giving new details about future Sonic the Hedgehog projects at a panel at SXSW. Unfortunately due to the pandemic, SXSW was cancelled and thus SEGA's plans were put on hold for the time-being.
It's likely that SEGA was planning on providing details for the new Sonic the Hedgehog game that was announced at SXSW in 2019. This could either be good news or bad news depending on what style of game SEGA decides to go with. If it's developing a 3D title, players may be a little hesitant to celebrate after being stung by Sonic Forces. However if it's working on a 2D game like Sonic Mania, this could be a wonderful 30th birthday for gaming's favorite hedgehog.
The Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia will release on June 1 2021.