Hands-On: Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic is back and ready for action, and he's brought along a new friend for his next-gen debut.

After years of disappointing installments and broken promises, Sega looks to be going back to their roots with the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Sonic the Hedgehog. We recently had the opportunity to play through the latest build of the game and so far the results are looking quite promising. While the game is still in early development, we're wagering that once it launches, you may just be picking bugs out of your teeth - it's that fast.

Sonic's latest adventure centers on a mysterious new world, one ruled over by a beautiful human princess. For ages, the kingdom has protected a mysterious jewel that is encased in a necklace that hangs around the princess's neck. Unfortunately for her, the jewel is a powerful Chaos Emerald. Dr. Eggman, hearing of the existence of the Emerald, soon attacks the kingdom, hoping to harness the power of the jewel for himself. Sonic, hearing of his arch-rival's evil plans, rushes out to save not only the damsel in distress, but also the entire kingdom.