These Sonic the Hedgehog 35th anniversary cartridges have us pining for gaming’s simpler times
Sonic is back on cartridge with these lovely re-releases to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the original SEGA platformer.
Given the RAMageddon-driven increase in the price of games consoles, along with news items like the GTA 6 physical box containing a paper download code rather than a disc, digging out our retro consoles and chucking in a cartridge feels very attractive. Especially given our old pal Sonic the Hedgehog just turned the grand old age (for an Erinaceidae) of 35.
To celebrate everyone’s favourite collection of blue sprites, Sega is re-releasing the first and second games in the series on limited edition cartridges for the 16-bit Genesis (aka Mega Drive) consoles. The former console giant has teamed up with Iam8bit for the Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 35th Anniversary Legacy Cartridge Collection rereleases that ship in translucent blue and Miles ‘Tails’ Powers orange, respectively.
If you get lucky, one in eight cartridges comes in a Chaos Emerald variant, which are sweet light-up versions inspired by the jewels Sonic and friends sought to acquire in the games.
Iam8bit says: “Our celebration of Sonic’s past collides head-first with the future, and in the wake of all that lightning-fast energy we’ve found fragments of the Emeralds themselves. These special cartridges will feature a unique translucent exterior, housing a Chaos Emerald inner glow.”
The boxes come with a full-colour premium instruction booklet and embellished artwork. Unfortunately, they only seem to be available in the United States right now and so won’t be playable on UK PAL Mega Drives – just the NTSC Genesis consoles. You can pre-order now for $99.
Chris Smith
