The Sonic Origins games collection is a brand new compilation of four classic Sonic titles—Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2, Sonic CD, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles (which bundles Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles together)—that’s supposed to be sweet and simple. But the Sonic Origins DLC Packs have a complicated structure with pre-order bonuses and various editions that have different pieces of content.
How are the Sonic Origins DLC Packs complicated?
At the bottom of the official website for Sonic Origins is a chart (you can open the image above in a new tab to view it in a higher resolution) explaining the differences between two versions of Sonic Origins as well as three DLC packs whose content partially overlap with those of others.
Essentially, what Sega wants you to do is to pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition at $44.99, which is just five dollars more than the Standard Edition at $39.99. Pre-ordering the Digital Deluxe Edition gets you all of the content (as it comes with the Start Dash Pack) right from the get-go, which includes the main game, 100 bonus coins that you can use to unlock features in the game’s Museum mode, mirror mode, hard missions, and other fairly benign audio and visual flairs.
Where it gets complicated is if you only purchase the Standard Edition without pre-ordering. At that point, if you want some of the content available in the Digital Deluxe Edition, you’ll need to purchase the Premium Fun Pack and Classic Music Pack, whose price tags are still unknown, to fill in the gaps. However, getting Mirror mode and 100 bonus coins is only available by pre-ordering the game, thereby getting the Start Dash Pack.
It is unclear whether the majority of the features as described on the chart are strictly locked behind DLC, as Sonic Origins does have a Museum section where you can unlock content by spending coins earned through missions.
Opinion: Sonic Origins should just bundle everything together by default
Nick writes… There comes a point when the monetization scheme for a game becomes overbearing. Sonic Origins is about nostalgia, a simpler time when all you needed to do is to insert a cartridge into a console and play the game as intended without having to fuss around. That overcomplicated chart looks like the result of some tortured business meeting where the supposed compromise was not including NFTs. Sega, you don’t need to fuss over five dollars. People want Sonic Origins and the last thing they want to do is to jump through hoops to figure out the unnecessary puzzle that is the DLC.
