As 2023 marches on and many different gaming companies make their plans for the year known, Sega seems to have one clear goal in mind when it comes to its mascot. ManySonic the Hedgehogproducts are focusing on one character in particular, and that’sAmy Rose; Sonic’s self-appointed girlfriend. With the way things are going, the pink hedgehog is set to get a bigger celebration than any of Sonic’s other friends.
Starting withSonic’s25th anniversary back in 2016, it became a tradition for Tails and Amy to celebrate their own anniversaries in the years after. These anniversaries are marked by the games that they first appeared in, which areSonic 2andSonic CDrespectively. Tails and Amy’s 25th anniversaries were rather small as they only dealt with celebratory merchandise collections. However, Tails' 30th anniversary was more poignant as it also saw the release of many products that focused on the fox. Now Amy’s 30th anniversary seems to be going even bigger than that.
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Amy Rose’s Return as a Playable Character
While Amy has been around for most of theSonic the Hedgehogfranchise’s run, it’s surprising just how little fans get to play as her beyond spin-off titles. Despite being the female lead of the series, Amy hasn’t been playable in a main series game sinceSonic 06. However, just as she and her Piko Piko Hammer turn 30, it’ll be her turn to smash robots once more as 2023 restores her playable status across the board.
WhenSonic Origins Pluslaunches on June 23, Classic Amy will be made playable in all four classicSonictitles, includingSonic CDwhich celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. This is the first time fans have ever been given a chance to play as Rosy the Rascal in these games officially, which is definitely worth celebrating. However,Origins Plusmight not be the only time the pink hedgehog will be made playable this year. With the recent Sights, Sounds, and Speed DLC forFrontiers, new files added to the game seem to suggest thatAmy is a newSonic Frontiersplayable charactercoming in the third update later this year. Suffice to say, Amy fans have quite a lot to look forward to.
What Amy Fans Should Expect Going Forward
Looking back on 2022, there was plenty of new content made for Tails, but this may have gone under the radar as the fox has been part of almost every adventure Sonic’s been on. In comparison, now that things have switched to focus on Amy, the special treatment is far more obvious after she’s been pushed aside for years. While fans asked for Amy to be playable, not many would have expected it across five games in the span of a year. EvenThe Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega’s surprise April Fools' game, puts some spotlight on her as the game takes place on her birthday.
There are even more chances for Amy to shine later this year asSonic CD’sanniversary keeps the party going until September 23 at the very least. This is ample time for a new merchandise collection on the official Sega store and an official IDW anniversary special comic to be announced in the interim. Already,Sonic Primehas been confirmed to release more episodes this year, andAmy’s ownSonicFortune Card deckwill be available for purchase in October.
Truly, Sega’s star of theSonicseries this year is Amy Rose. While it was perfectly reasonable forfans to expectSonic CD’sanniversaryto get at least a small nod in the franchise’s plans, not many fans would have guessed that Amy would be recognized on this scale. Amy has needed her time in the limelight for quite some time, so this amount of attention isn’t at all too much, but completely deserved. It only serves as a great example of what’s to come, as Sonic Team focuses on more characters than justSonic the Hedgehoghimself.
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