
You've got to hand it to Sega. They could have just made one simple announcement that Sonic the Hedgehog would be the only playable character in Project Needlemouse and won over critical and fan favor in one fell swoop. Instead, they trotted out the rogues gallery of annoying playable characters that have polluted Sonic's games over the last few years, striking two characters off of the list each day. Thus, today's announcement holds even greater weight, since there was a chance, be it ever so slight, that Amy or Big the Cat would serve as the game's protagonist.
Not only are we blessed with the knowledge that none of the annoying new characters will sully Sonic's next adventure, but we've also been graced with the first concept image for Project Needlemouse too, showing a contemporary take on one of Sonic's oldest and weakest enemies. Project Needlemouse is due this year on unspecified platforms, though it has been stated that the game will be in HD.