Fifteen years and still running somewhat strong. That's the case with Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog, introduced on the Sega Genesis so long ago and not really losing that much speed since. He's first been seen in a series of platformers that have since become the stuff of legend for Sonic Team, and then went on to other genres, including party games, racing games, and oddball titles such as Sonic Spinball. However, lately, some people think he's been losing speed, what with the lackluster spin-off Shadow the Hedgehog and the somewhat average Sonic Riders. Fortunately, things look to be picking up with the next-gen Sonic platformer that Sonic Team's working on.

This is the first Sonic game that isn't based in his almost-unliminted universe. No, this time, the game takes place in the realm of Soleanna, a human-populated fantasy-land with fantastic settings, almost like a tropical island. While he's on the island trying to take it easy for awhile, Sonic runs into a human princess by the name of Elise, a kind and gentle person who begins to befriend Sonic. But suddenly, Dr. Eggman (Robotnik) shows up and kidnaps Elise, attempting to use her to overtake the land of Soleanna along with his mindless droids. Sonic finds himself speeding into action in an effort to save her, along with the help of another mysterious hedgehog who calls himself Silver- and has a mind of his very own.

The game kind of works in a similar formula as Sonic Adventure did, separated into two kinds of stages. The first involve visiting local towns, where you talk to the townsfolk and gain access to sub-missions that will help move the story along. I kinda thought that Sega would do away with these and instead just deliver a straight-forward Sonic action game, but at least they did away with the "find the gems" sort of stages that plagued Sonic Adventure 2. Once you get through the Town stages, you then take part in the Action stages, and here's where the meat of the game shows itself off.

Sonic the Hedgehog features some massive environments that could take hours to run through, even though the levels are supposed to be completed in a matter of minutes. Last year's teaser video and Tokyo Game Show footage showed off what Sonic Team had in mind with the design, and, thus far, it looks to be paying off for them. Ledges, walkways, and huge, lumbering dangers are all about, with multiple paths to be followed in order to get from point A to point B. Sonic can ride rails, spin along high-speed ramps, or run along a path where water-based walls are about to come crashing down on him. The variety looks like it's going to pay off in this department.

And yet, despite the next-gen looks of the game, which are coming together nicely, the game retains a feel similar to that of older Sonic efforts. Sonic is able to spin dash, grind, bop enemies with homing attacks, and gain access to helpful power-ups, just like in previous games. Here, however, the enemies look much more realistic. Huge, lumbering droids with powerful attacks are just waiting to be blown to bits, and Sonic has to work quickly in order to dispatch them. I guess Robotnik's robot producing department picked up on scale.

Probably the most noteworthy addition to this new chapter in the series is Silver, a strange, silverish hedgehog who uses a different technique all his own- the power of telekinesis. With this mind-bending power, he is able to launch objects at enemies instead of jumping on them, and can also work his way around a level by bending down rails to launch him into air, or creating his own platforms so he doesn't need to bother with finding a way around. It took a little getting used to playing with Silver, as he brings a new technique not really explored before in the Sonic universe. Still, it's a fascinating addition.

The early demo (about 40-50 percent complete) we played showed a bit of promise with Sonic Team's design ideas, although we still ran into a few snags here and there with the frame rate. Sometimes the game would have a problem with its camera system that would force us to accidentally walk Sonic off an edge and into an empty abyss below. There's also slight problems with the navigation in terms of jumping from platform to platform because of this system. Fortunately, the team's still got some work going into it, so the final product should still shine through, as long as we get a capable, working system.

Along with Sonic and Silver, the game will feature several heroes and foes from Sonic's past, including such likely faces as Amy, Tails, Knuckles, and Metal Sonic among others. Their inclusion will come in handy for the new multiplayer mode being included in the game. Up to four players will be able to take part in Sonic's shenanigans, although we haven't exactly been told how yet. Will co-op be involved, with team ring collecting? Or perhaps we'll see a versus mode where he (or she) who has the most rings wins? We'll find out soon enough.

Sonic the Hedgehog still has a little work to go before he completely convinces us that he's ready for the next-gen scene. However, more effort is going into this game than previous ones, and the promise is certainly there, as long as it's backed up by the hard-working Sonic Team. We'll let you know when the game arrives for PS3 and Xbox 360 later this year if it's still got the "sonic boom" behind it, or if it's just another let-down. So far, it's kind of hard to tell. Even Silver probably couldn't tell...and he has telekinesis.