Sonic the Hedgehog (2021 video game)

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ Sonikku za Hejjihoggu) is a platform video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, made as a reboot. It was developed by Insomniac and Sonic Team and published by Sega. It was released Sonic's 30th anniversary on June 23, 2021 for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Sonic the Hedgehog follows the titular character along with his friends, as he fights the evil Doctor Eggman before he can collect all of the powerful Chaos Emeralds.

Due to its lack of distinct title, the game has been referred to by a number of different aliases, most of them coined by the Sonicfandom. Its most popular alias is Sonic '21, and other aliases include Sonic 2021, Sonic: 30th Anniversary, Sonic Switch and Sonic Reboot.

Development
Beginning development after Sonic Mania, Sonic the Hedgehog was meant to be a reboot of the series and was intended to take elements that people had praised in the preceding Adventure titles and bring Sonic "back to his roots." Nothing pointed more to the idea of using this game to celebrate what made Sonic the Hedgehog the "Most Famous Hedgehog In The World" than naming the game after the first in the series. However, instead of keeping things simple, Sonic Team came up with numerous ideas they wanted to include to make the game the ultimate Sonic experience.

The advertising of Sonic the Hedgehog was first announced at the E3 convention in June 2019. At the 2020 Tokyo Game Show convention, it was revealed the game's official title, Sonic the Hedgehog, and announced that it would celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The game was to be available for consoles as well as on the PC.

Act I
In Doctor Eggman's lab, the evil doctor is expressing his plans to collect all the Chaos Emeralds. He reveals that every time he tries to overthrow the planet Mobius, Sonic the Hedgehog always ruins his plans. This time, to stop Sonic from interrupting him, Eggman begins creating a robot called Metal Sonic to distract his nemesis, while Eggman can peacefully collect the emeralds, but to do that, he needs Sonic's DNA to complete Metal Sonic. Meanwhile, in Green Hill Zone, Sonic the Hedgehog is reaching new speeds while being monitored by Tails and Amy in their plane. After fighting off some Eggman robots, they discover the purple Chaos Emerald. Before they can grab it, it gets stolen by Eggman, who escapes. Sonic tries chasing after Eggman, but he flies away into the sky. Tails reveals that he can locate the location of the other Chaos Emerald, the next being in a temple in the Marble Zone. Once they arrive, they are greeted by Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon and Charmy the Bee, also known as Team Chaotix. The Chaotix bring Sonic and Amy inside to where the red Chaos Emerald is, while Tails waits outside staying guard. Sonic grabs the Emerald, but while leaving Tails reveals that there are multiple Eggman robots headed towards Marble Zone. After fighting them off, Sonic leaves, but not before E-123 Omega shows up. After being defeated, while collecting some of Sonic's DNA under the fight, E-123 Omega sends away the DNA to Eggman.

The Sonic team say goodbye to the Chaotix before leaving in Tails' plane. While flying, they get attacked by Eggman drones who chase after them. They manage to defeat the drones, but due to the motors being damaged in battle they have to land in Spring Yard zone to repair the damages before they can keep looking for the emeralds. Once there, they meet Rogue the Bat who can help them find the location for the rest of the emeralds. To get the location from Rogue, she challenges Sonic to a race. If he wins, Rogue will reveal the location, but if he looses, she will keep it a secret. Sonic wins the race, and Rogue tells him that the location of the bright-blue Chaos Emerald and dark-blue Emerald is apparently in the Labyrinth Zone. Meanwhile, Eggman has collected the yellow, grey and green Chaos Emeralds, right before E-123 Omega arrives and brings Eggman Sonic's DNA. Eggman uses the DNA to complete Metal Sonic, causing the robot to spring into action. Eggman orders Metal Sonic to find and destroy Sonic, who is arriving in the Labyrinth Zone. Once there, Sonic and friends are being monitored by Eggman's spies. After collecting the emeralds, he escapes Eggman's robots, right before bumping into Metal Sonic. They have a fight until Sonic looses and Metal Sonic flies away with the emeralds, along with the rest that Sonic had with him, leaving Eggman with all the Emeralds. When Eggman tries to use them all, he realizes that they can't be activated without the power of the Master Emerald, which is placed on Angel Island. Meanwhile in the Labyrinth Zone, Tails discovers the exact same thing, and him and Sonic leave to the Island where their friend Knuckles is protecting the emerald.

Act II
When arriving on Angel Island, Sonic and Tails find Knuckles who doesn't let Sonic take the Master Emerald since it is his sworn duty to protect it. While Sonic is fighting Knuckles, Tails flies his plane and picks up the Master Emerald, causing Knuckles to chase after him. While rushing through the forest to catch up with Tails, Knuckles gets involved in a battle with Eggman's robots who want to steal the Master Emerald. Tails picks up Knuckles so that he won't get eliminated, but instead of thanking Tails for the saving, Knuckles grabs the Master Emerald and jumps off the plane. Once down he meets Sonic who explains that they could work together to stop Eggman. Knuckles is skeptical, but decides to help only so that Eggman won't collect the Master Emerald. Suddenly, Eggman arrives in a mech and steals the Emerald beginning a chase through the different Zones. Sonic, Knuckles and Tails arrive at Eggman's theme park, in which Eggman tries to hide the Emerald. Tails uses some sort of tracking Device to locate the emerald inside a Circus tent.

More TBA.