Sonic Origins
Image: Sega

After what felt like years of having to make do with just a single image to promote the launch of Sonic Origins, the game is finally in the hands of Switch owners. Pooling together the classic 2D Sonic titles, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, the game is a commendable compilation that newcomers in particular would do well to check out. But could it have been more?

In its latest technical analysis video, Digital Foundry puts Sonic Origins under the microscope, and while it concludes that the game is "good", there are a few glaring issues that prevent it from being a true must-buy experience.

Primarily, Digital Foundry points out that the games included are rendered using a bilinear filter, which effectively results in a slight softening of the pixel edges. It notes that while Sonic Mania includes various filter options, Origins is stuck with an anti-aliasing option that actually results in an image that looks even worse than the default.

Unfortunately for Switch owners, the other major drawback with the compilation is specific to Nintendo's hybrid system. The front-end (i.e, the main menu) runs at 30fps with blurry, muddy visuals, which compared to the 4K resolution and 60fps frame rate you'd see on the likes of PS5 and Xbox Series X, is a severe disappointment.

There are also other errors to note during menu navigation, including typos in the museum section and incorrect track names. The actual games fair much better, however, with each running at 60fps with additional options including widescreen anniversary mode and mirror mode.

Having said that, there are a few bugs that should be highlighted. The most egregious is specific to Sonic 2 (and we noticed this one straight away): Tails will often get stuck in the level as you race ahead, and you can hear the irritating 'bwoop' of his jumping constantly until you reach the end goal. Elsewhere, in Sonic 3's Marble Garden Zone, it's actually possible to outrun the camera and die, which is frankly ridiculous.

Check out Digital Foundry's video below for a more in-depth look into Sonic Origins, and make sure to let us know in the comments if you've found anything untoward about the game in your experience!

[source youtube.com]