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Sonic Origins Plus (ソニックオリジンズ・プラス,Sonikku Orijinzu Purasu?) is an expanded version of Sonic Origins released in June 2023 physically and digitally for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles and as a digital-only release on Steam for the PC. Origins Plus adds emulated versions of the SonicGame Gear titles, as well as Amy Rose as a playable character in the main titles. The content introduced in this version is available as downloadable content to digital copies of the original game for all platforms. The addition of Amy was well received, although critics noted sound issues with the Game Gear games.
The "All Clear" save file icon for completed saves with all Super Emeralds now includes Amy with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. She's also included in the Slot Machine Bonus Stage, the "Sonic 3 & Knuckles" ending logo and the rotation animation of the Goal Plate.
The NPC Amy that appears in Sonic's playthrough of Sonic CD isn't updated to accommodate the playable Amy's design, however.
New routes exclusive to Knuckles also appear in the Sonic the Hedgehog CD stages.
All twelve SonicGame Gear titles have been added. Some titles have 2P versions intended for multiplayer play, and each title can have one save state.
Amy and Knuckles can now be seen in the islands of the main menu.
Added a Surprise illustration that can be completed by fulfilling certain quests, usually those related to the new features included in the Plus release. Completing the image rewards 100 Coins and instructions to unlock the Level Select in each game.
Changes[]
Features exclusive to the Digital Deluxe version of Sonic Origins, such as extreme challenges, Mirror Mode, and additional backgrounds are included with Sonic Origins Plus.
Updated the Sonic Team logo to use the same animation from Sonic Frontiers, now with a white background.
The Drop Dash has been fixed in Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to now be able to change directions while in midair, due to the removal of roll jump lock.
Selecting Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 changes the stage title cards back to green, much like in the Knuckles in Sonic 2 lock-on game.
The web manual is available offline in the title screen.
Sonic Origins Plus received "generally favorable reviews", according to the review aggregator website Metacritic.[2]
It was generally agreed by critics that the re-release was an improvement over the original, notably with the added additions. CJ Salcedo of GameCritics highlighted that the Game Gear games serve as a "great history lesson for Sonic fans" and described the collection as a "solid package" despite some presentation issues, giving it an 8.5/10.[5] Jonas Mäki of Gamereactor UK praised the re-release, saying, "This is the best Sonic collection money can buy, and I can even recommend the Plus upgrade if you already own Sonic Origins."[6]
Neil Bolt (PlayStation Universe) and David Flynn (GamingTrend) noted that the addition of Amy Rose as a playable character was one of the main highlights of the collection and made the re-release worth it.[7][8]
One notable criticism was directed at the Game Gear titles' sound quality. Robert Marrujo of Nintendojo noted that, "Game Gear games lack any kind of enhancement and have some audio issues.", but did praise the addition of Amy and Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog CD. Nintendo Life mentioned that the audio emulation for the Game Gear titles wasn’t ideal and noted the overall package felt "thin on content," giving it a 6/10.
Trivia[]
This is the first compilation to feature all twelve Sonic games released for the Sega Game Gear since Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut in 2003, as subsequent versions of that game did not include them.
Curiously, the manual for the compilation refers to the Blue Spheres as "Blue Balls", the original name applied to them during development of Sonic the Hedgehog 3.[9]
For whatever reason, the "Super transformation" notification only appears for Amy when she gets all Super Emeralds.
Additionally, for unknown reasons, it now also occurs for Tails when he gets all Super Emeralds, despite it appearing for when he gets all Chaos Emeralds in early versions of Sonic Origins, prior version 2.0.0.