Sonic Lost World News: Release Date Set for October 22

Fans have been waiting for Sonic the Hedgehog to regain the prominence he once had in the glory days of Sega, and perhaps Sonic Lost World will be the game that launches the blue bomber into the limelight once again. The Wii U and 3DS game now has a release date set for Oct. 22, and the game has taken a page out of another critically acclaimed game by trying to get Sonic back on track. Sonic Team Takashi Iizuka has confirmed to Official Nintendo Magazine UK that one of the big inspirations of the game is the monster hit Super Mario Galaxy series, and perhaps they have taken their love of that series a bit too far in some levels:

"With Lost World we wanted to evolve how Sonic works in 3D. When you think about a 3D level, it's still limited - the sides are limited - so we talked about making levels as cubes or tubes. Expanding the sides around 360 degrees enables players to take many paths, not just two or three. We ended up with a tune stage and realized we were a bit close to Mario Galaxy!"

Iizuka is referring to the way that some levels in Sonic Lost World are stretched out and tubular, similar to the way that levels in Super Mario Galaxy were oddly shaped and varied greatly between different worlds. In Sonic Lost World, Sonic is able to sprint through levels on any axis, meaning that players can spend the level upside down or shifting around avoiding enemies and collecting rings. This varied approach allows players to replay levels over again and experience things differently. While some levels will allow players to rotate around like this, others will

Sonic Lost World will have many different worlds, centering on different themes, much like Super Mario Galaxy. One level looks and feels like a classic Sonic level, while a level shown during E3 is candy themed and feature various perspective and gameplay shifts. Players can start off in a side-scrolling area, switch to a rail-sliding section, and then blast off to a more traditional Sonic level structure with loops, springs, and enemies to defeat.

It will be interesting to see if Sonic Lost World can match the success of its inspiration, or if the Sonic series continues to be a mediocre franchise without a strong sense of direction. Look out for more information on the game when it is released on Oct. 22.