Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II has been officially announced and is coming sometime in 2012, Sega revealed today.
In what will be a fairly lengthy wait for an episodic series (as long as we don't use Half-Life as the benchmark), Episode II will be coming more than a year after release of Episode I in 2010. Today's announcement mentions that the physics are being "completely reworked" in this new game, which is very welcome news for those who felt that particular problem plagued Episode I. The game will also see the return of Tails, as the trailer above teases in not-very-subtle fashion.
Those who expected Episode II to be out in 2011 had that hope shot down this past summer. Sega opted to focus on Sonic Generations this year to celebrate the series' 20-year anniversary.
The list of platforms for Episode II includes almost all of the same ones as Episode I -- Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, iOS, and Windows Phone 7 -- along with a new addition in Android phones with an Nvidia Tegra processor. The one missing platform here is WiiWare, which Episode I was available on. There was no mention of it in the press release and it has since been confirmed on the Sega forums (via Nintendo Life) that the game won't be available on Wii.
"[T]he reason Episode I was on the Wii was because we wanted to bring the Sonic 4 saga to the widest possible audience," wrote Sonic 4 brand manager Ken Balough. "Episode II unfortunately will not be coming to the Wii - for reasons most people have probably guessed, but that doesn't mean the SEGA isn't supporting Nintendo platforms, we have a very strong partnership and will continue to do so."
