Sonic Lost World May be the Darkest Sonic Yet

The ERSB have released their rating for upcoming Wii U exclusive Sonic Lost World, and it’s almost surprising what they found.

Although it still managed to get a 10+ E for Everyone rating, it’s in the description that things seem to take a turn for the more adult. While some of these phrases might not have batted an eyelid in a kid’s product thirty years ago (and even then, it’d be pushing it), by today’s standards they’re positively vulgar.

In this action platformer, players control Sonic the Hedgehog as he attempts to stop an evil villain’s plans. As players zoom through fantastical landscapes, they collect items (e.g., gold rings and power-ups), avoid hazards, and use spin attacks to defeat robotic enemies; enemies break apart amid colorful explosions. During gameplay, characters sometimes use aggressive language (e.g., “You’re going home in a box,” ‘I’m going to skin you alive,’ and ‘I long for death’s cold embrace.’). Cutscenes also depict laser fire and explosions, as well as dialogue that references violence (e.g., “I’ll get fat from eating your black hearts,” “One second you’re contemplating genocide,” and “As long as I can still strangle a Zeti, my hands are fine.”).

While some games try and ditch the concept of “lives” entirely, using euphemistic words like “goes” or “attempts,” it seems Sonic will be entering a world that’s going firmly the other way. There’s going to be real peril in Lost Worlds, and the new enemies will seemingly represent that peril, in their speech if not in their appearance.

By the way, you get three guesses as to who the “evil villain” referenced in the first sentence might be.