Sonic's Limited-Edition 'Birthday Pack' Is Returning For His 30th Anniversary

Already ordered form the sega jp shop

@Slowdive No, no, no, no. What don't developers understand. I don't want a coin. Give me a complete collection of the old 2D games or the old 3D games (the good ones at least). I don't want a coin or a booklet. I want a comprehensive of the good games.

While we're on the subject, we've been waiting on a mountain of Sega franchises not named "Sonic" to make a return for twenty years (or more).

Shining Force (last seen with SF III on the Saturn...and only Scenario 1 of three interlocking Scenarios was localized for the Western market)
Phantasy Star (last seen in PS IV for the Genesis)
Skies of Arcadia (last seen in SoA: Legends on Gamecube)
Dragon Force (last seen on Saturn, and had to be localized by Working Designs)
Tons of IPs have not been seen since Sega left console making with the Dreamcast, and many of those dating back to the Saturn and Genesis (outside of the latter's compilations). Most of their incredible Arcade coin-ops catalog has never come to home platforms.

So cry me a river about how Sonic fans don't get something they want.

Hoepfully we will get some sort of bundle in the UK.

@AtlanteanMan The new Alex Kidd comes out in like, 3 weeks. A new Streets of Rage came out pretty recently, as did a ChuChu Rocket.

Can you please just port Adventure 1 and 2 to Switch now? They've been available on steam for years. I'd take an anniversary pack of that.

I still have my original one I can't believe that it's 20 years old !!!!!

Might have to get this to go with the other one.

Already own...

Sonic 1, 2, 3+ Knuckles
Sonic Episode 4
Sonic CD
Knuckles Chaotix
Sonic Pocket Adventure
Sonic Advance 1-3
Sonic Colors
Sonic Adventure 1& 2
Sega & Sonic All Star Racing

And well over 100 Sonic hacks. At this point SEGA needs to finish the SA trilogy or the Episode 4 Trilogy by releasing all 3 in a nice package.

Still have my 10th anniversary pack from Japan, might have to snag this one as well. I assume the JP sonic colors will play fine on a US switch.

@AtlanteanMan Skies of Arcadia...
That's a name I haven't heard in a while.

I bought the 20th Anniversary edition back in 2016 when I was in Japan for my honeymoon for small change, but this one I won't be able to get, sadly.

Nice one. But I don't want to extra import this from Japan. But I preordered the Launch Edition of Colours for Switch. 39,99€ seems fair to me

so... uhhmm... does it include like any actual games?

@anynamereally Only Sonic Colors Ultimate, sadly. And I doubt that SEGA's gonna add DLC to Sonic Origins down the line, like the rest of the Mega Collection's offerings, a Game Gear Pack, Knuckles Chaotix, and the PC Edition of Sonic R, with the Saturn Edition of Sonic 3D Blast.

@Carck PSO and the original, offline Phantasy Star series based in the Algol star system are two completely different entities. They have some common themes, enemy types, and so on, but the original PS series was single-player with turn-based battles and top-down map views. It can be argued that its arc was completed with PS IV, but given how projects like the upcoming Dragon Quest III HD-2D are breathing new life into retro RPGs, it isn't hard to imagine that the fan response to an Algol series remaster/remake would be very positive as well. The same goes for Sega's other beloved RPG/SRPG IPs.

I had recently been looking into buying the 10th anniversary one from Ebay since I didn't know it existed until earlier this year. I'm hoping this new one doesn't inadvertently raise the price of the old one.

@AtlanteanMan
phantasy star is now an mmorpg, with phantasy star online 2 new genesis slated to release in june. would definitely love skies of arcadia though, one of my fav games of all time

@MysteryCupofJoe this is a publisher decision. And believe it or not people love this type of collectible merchandise. Especially when it come to sega and especially in Japan. Nintendo does this kind of stuff all the time and people love it.

@AtlanteanMan There have been Shining Force games on the PS2 and DS. Plus, the expanded Shining series is still going with Shining Resonance: Refrain releasing worldwide in 2018.

Just Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on Switch is fine please.
Looking forward to seeing Sonic 2022 game!

@RainbowGazelle

Crazy, somehow i never connected them to the past Games.

@RainbowGazelle The games you mentioned may have "Shining" in their titles, but they ARE NOT true Shining Force games in any sense of the term. Shining Force is (or was, sadly) strictly a turn-based SRPG series in the vein of Fire Emblem, where you could recruit and take armies of characters ranging from humans, elves, and dwarves to lion-men, dragons, and even sentient penguins into battle. Genesis players fell in love with its tough tactical battles and the ability to upgrade, promote, and mobilize an entire army. Many characters were either hidden or required specific criteria to recruit. Shining Force and Shining Force II were both fan favorites on the Genesis (there was even a Shining Force CD for the Sega CD, although it had far less exposure).

But the series' magnum opus was Shining Force III on the Sega Saturn. Where the limitations of the Genesis hardware had forced Team Camelot to keep the storylines very basic and simple, SF III wove a complex and immensely entertaining path of political intrigue, and had some of the all-time best and most manipulative villains in videogame history. Released in three distinct but interlocking Scenarios in Japan, it boasted THREE separate armies totaling fifty-one recruitable characters (some of whose availability in a given Scenario could be dependent upon the choices you made in the others), three Leaders each with their own loyalties and story arcs, and roughly 190 total hours of amazing turn-based tactical gameplay across environments as diverse as open plains, volcanoes, treetop platforms, and even trains. The end of Scenario 3 brought all three armies together for an epic (and I do mean EPIC) multistage battle against the ultimate threat. There was even an optional dungeon in the last town where you could acquire the ultimate weapon for each of your three Leaders...that is, if you could defeat the Boss at the end which required often a good hour-plus to fight.

Unfortunately, Sega only brought Scenario 1 to Western shores, leaving gamers here with a permanently unresolved cliffhanger (the only reason I ever got to finish the storyline is the incredible translation efforts of the Shining Force Central fan community, who translated and patched all three Scenarios into English for anyone who owns the original Japanese discs). The meddling of Sega's higher-ups was apparently so bad that Team Camelot left the company to found their own studio; they went on to make titles such as Mario Golf 64, among many others.

After that Sega decided to turn one of the most beloved SRPG series of all time into a generic hack-n-slash Action RPG franchise. In most cases even localization companies have shown no interest in bringing them to the West, and that disinterest has been shared by gamers as well. Sega pulled the same stunt with Valkyria Chronicles: Azure and fans immediately made it clear they did NOT want a repeat of the travesty that had happened to Shining Force; Azure promptly headed to bargain bins and Sega smartly responded by making Valkyria Chronicles 4, which was well-received.

All this to say that NO, those "Shining" games are IN NO WAY true Shining Force games. And no one who was fortunate enough to experience those great SRPGs back in the day will ever consider them as such.

@Strictlystyles Those coins or badges that some stores offered for the Mario 3D collection just made me think, "Why not skip that and just add Galaxy 2?"

@MysteryCupofJoe these are not the same type of things so it’s weird you even make it a complaint. Sure, if your asking on its own why don’t you get extra games ok. but to say, instead of a physical pre order bonus just give me more games, is very weird.

They do these things because it’s shown that people love physical pre order bonus’s and collections. To be totally honest I’m buying this new colors specifically for that extra collectible and I’m sure a lot of others are too. If it were just a digital bonus sonic game I wouldn’t care.

P.s. I wish they’d bring the sonic hats back from the original colors pre order

@SmittytheLad
If you stopped looking forward to whatever slop Iizuka puts out maybe they would rerelease SA2 and other things things the sane fans have been wanting for years, the fact they chose to remaster Colors over anything tells you what you need to know, Colors might be a successful selling game but choosing it shows Sega doesn’t give a rat’s ass about following what Activison has been doing despite the insane fans swearing this would guarantee that Sega would remake Adventure. I’ve never seen any demand for a Colors remake or remaster yet Sega going for it anyway says a lot about their decision making

@SalvorHardin I think with the switch hardware and colors being fond in a lot of peoples memories it was a good idea. Colors was just tailor made for a switch release. There’s plenty of time to do SA or SA2(I’d rather SA1) but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re waiting for the right opportunity, especially with those being as core to the sonic franchise as the original 16 bit one are.

I feel old for remembering his 10th anniversary so clearly. ^_^;;

@Strictlystyles I see your point.

I am not saying I want "more game" for every pre-order. I am talking about anniversaries and compilations. Since this is an anniversary, I always relate it to "give me past games to help celebrate the legacy of the franchise" and not just stuff.

If Sonic Colors Ultimate was a brand new game then I would say all the stuff they are giving away is great. But if you are releasing an older game on an anniversary then the best gift would be a compilation.

@MysteryCupofJoe I could understand that if it was a retro title, but a full fledged 3d game with a bundle of retro titles extra is a bit too much to ask, especially when that’s something they could (and are) going to release separately. Plus most people have these games on some platform already, just gimmie the physical items(personally)

Wait so is Colours not coming to Xbox?

I hope it will have all of the characters in that game, including the ones that appeared in the classic Sonic video games, comic books, & cartoon shows.
Here's a list of Sonic Characters we want to see in that game:
Sonic
Tails
Knuckles
Shadow
Rouge
Omega
Amy
Cream & Cheese
Big & Froggy
Espio
Charmy
Vector
Blaze
Silver
Marine
Mighty
Ray
Heavy & Bomb
Fang
Bean
Bark
Jet
Wave
Storm
Tikal
Shade
Chaos
Metal Sonic
Tails Doll
Metal Knuckles
Sticks
Zooey
Perci & Staci
Sally Acorn
Nicole
Bunnie Rabbot
Antoine D'Coolette
Rotor the Walrus
Mina Mongoose
Lupe
Ari
Dulcy
Manic
Sonia
Maria Robotnik (Hedgehog form)
Honey
Breezie
Tiara Boobowski
Emerl
Shard the Metal Sonic
Dimitri
Geoffrey St. John
Hershey
Drago Wolf
Scourge
Anti Miles
Fiona Fox
Julie-Su
Lien-Da
Locke
Razor
Coral
Pearly
Cosmo
Galaxina
Landar
Starla & Daisy
Metal Sonic 3.0
E 101 Beta
G-merl
Mephiles
Infinite
Lyric
Tangle
Whisper
Jewel
Doctor Starline
Rough & Tumble
Slinger
Claire Voyance
Smithy
Chris Thorndyke
Chuck
King Acorn
Vanilla
Queen Aleena
Rosemary Prower
Doctor Eggman/Robotnik
Orbot & Cubot
Scratch, Grounder, & Coconuts
Cluck & Snively
Sleet & Dingo
Decoe, Bocoe, & Bokkun

My heart---- I want it <3 <3 <3