Sonic the Hedgehog 2006

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 that was made to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. It was developed by the Sonic Team and directed by Shun Nakamura.

The game shares its name with two earlier video games, a manga, a television series, a comic book series and, of course, Sonic the Hedgehog himself. To disambiguate, the game has been called by a number of different aliases, including "Sonic 2006", "Sonic '06" and "Sonic Next-Gen".

This is the second Sonic the Hedgehog game to get an E10+ rating by the ESRB, the first being Shadow the Hedgehog. Other content rating organizations agreed with similar ratings. The PEGI rating is 12+, while the CERO rating is A.

Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog is a video game starring an anti-hero of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Shadow the Hedgehog. It was revealed at Sonic's inauguration into the Walk of Game. It is the third game developed by Sonic Team USA, and was released in the United States on November 15, 2005.

The game's most well-known tagline is; "Hero or villain? You decide." Others include "Who do you fight when you don't know what you're fighting for?"; "Will he be good? Or evil? No one knows but you"; and "This time... Evil will face Evil!".

Sonic Heroes

Sonic Heroes is a video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is the first multiplatform game in the Sonic series. This is the second game developed by Sonic Team USA. Primary development was done for the Nintendo GameCube. It was then ported onto the Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, and PC CD-ROM using Renderware technology. The title's phrase "Sonic Heroes" refers to the uniting of the protagonists of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

This game also marked the return of many characters from the Sonic universe: Chaotix, a group last seen in Knuckles' Chaotix on the Sega 32X; Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat from Sonic Adventure 2; Cream the Rabbit from Sonic Advance 2; Big the Cat from Sonic Adventure; Metal Sonic, who, prior to this game, had not played a major role in the series for years, last having one in Knuckles' Chaotix in 1995. The game also introduces a new character, E-123 Omega.

Sonic & Knuckles

Sonic & Knuckles is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed by Sonic Team in collaboration with Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994. It is the direct sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which was released earlier that year. The game features unique "lock-on technology" which enables another cartridge to be plugged in via the socket on top.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Sonic the Hedgehog 3, often abbreviated and literally known in Europe as Sonic 3, is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was developed by Sonic Team in collaboration with Sega Technical Institute, and was published by Sega. The game debuted worldwide in the first half of 1994.

The game is closely tied to its direct sequel Sonic & Knuckles, as the two games were originally one until time constraints and cartridge costs forced the game to be split into two interlocking parts. Combined, both games have sold over 4 million copies.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2, or simply Sonic 2, is a platform game developed by Sonic Team in collaboration with Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It released in Japan on November 21 of 1992 and in North America and Europe three days later on November 24. It is the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog and was followed by Sonic 3 in 1994. The game introduces Miles "Tails" Prower as an addition to the cast and a new playable character.

The story follows Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails on their mission to stop the evil Doctor Robotnik from stealing the chaos emeralds to power his Death Egg. Sonic and Tails must defeat Robotnik's army and free their friends.

Six months after its release it had sold around six million copies and became the best selling game on the Mega Drive. The game was compatible with Sonic and Knuckles' lock-on feature which allowed the player to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2 It has been included in a number of compilation packages on a range of platforms; on June 11, 2007, the game was made available on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console, and released for Xbox Live Arcade on September 12, 2007.

Sonic Riders

Sonic Riders is a hoverboard-racing video game spin-off produced by Sega and developed by their second-party, Sonic Team's UGA Division for the Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox and PC. It is the fourth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, preceded by Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic R. The characters race on floating airboards, air shoes and motorbikes powered by air, called "Extreme Gear".

The game was released to start off the 15th anniversary of the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. This game introduces five new playable characters, the Babylon Rogues and the E-10000 series. A sequel to Sonic Riders, entitled Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, is being developed for the Wii and PlayStation 2.

Sonic Mega Collection (Plus)

Sonic Mega Collection Plus is a update of Sonic Mega Collection for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles. A PC version was also released in Europe. This edition includes the addition of six Game Gear games, the two games that were included in the Japanese version only (The Ooze and Comix Zone), new artwork and movies, a new in-game menu, and a mid-game saving feature. It is, however, missing six Sonic Game Gear games that were included (along with the six included in this collection) in Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, but they would later appear in Sonic Gems Collection. In addition, only the Japanese version of the original Sonic the Hedgehog is available. It is the first Sonic game with a 12+ PEGI rating. The PC version was released on March 6, 2007 in North America. The original packaging says CD-ROM, but it is instead a DVD-ROM; it will not play in a CD-ROM-only drive.

The following Game Gear games were added:

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic Chaos
• Sonic Drift
• Sonic Labyrinth
• Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
• Sonic Blast

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is a Sonic the Hedgehog video game. The game is a modified version of the Japanese puzzle game Puyo Puyo. Unlike other games in the series, it takes place in the same universe as the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon.
The game is played with two opponents trying to connect as many chains of four or more similarly colored beans as possible in a large grid. As higher chains are achieved, Refugee Beans are sent to the other side. This can only be removed when a neighboring group of beans is matched. The winner is the one whose beans do not reach the top of the grid. There are various modes that allow players to battle each other in various difficulty settings. These determine speed, the initial number of Refugee Beans, and other various things.