Xbox Series X/S Review: Sonic Origins Plus

Does this add-on deserve an A+ or F-?

I reviewed the base game of Sonic Origins back in June 2022 and found that it was a great collection, even if it was missing some classic tunes and had a few glitches with Tails at the time. Afterwards, I did ponder if they would do a “Plus” edition like they did with Sonic Mania, which is exactly what they ended up doing. So what’s included?

Well, you can now play as Amy Rose in all the Mega Drive/Genesis titles and even have her become Super/Hyper Amy and now Knuckles can join the mayhem in Sonic CD alongside Amy for the first time ever. That’s not all, 12 Game Gear titles are included as well as all previous add-on content that launched for the base game.

The Game Gear titles are a mixed bag of quality but they are more good than bad ones here. I am a bit confused why Mega Drive/Genesis versions of Sonic 3D Blast weren’t included and why we got the Game Gear ports of Sonic Spinball and Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine instead of the superior console versions, but that aside it’s a good amount of content added to an already packed collection of Sonic nostalgia.

If you bought the original last year, then you only have to cough up around £9 for the “Plus” content, which is pretty reasonable with what you get. Sadly there are no new achievements to be found for the content, which I wasn’t surprised at as they didn’t do it for Sonic Mania Plus, but it still would have been nice for an extra challenge here.

The Verdict

Sonic Origins Plus adds new characters and a ton of Game Gear games to the collection with decent results. It still would have been nice to see Sonic 3D make the cut, but maybe it might in a future collection. Regardless, it’s a bargain for the price of admission and any Sonic fan needs it as part of their library.

Score: 8.0