Sonic the Hedgehog is currently a prominent character in a fighting game. He’s been in a Super Smash Bros. game three times, making him the most frequent third-party game character to be featured in the franchise’s ever-evolving roster. He’s a mainstay at this point, but he’s the only Sonic character to get that treatment. Shadow, Knuckles, Big the Cat, and others are featured in the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games franchise, but they’re not in the fighting game. They could soon be in a new fighting game for their own franchise, though. It’s been years since there was a Sonic fighter, but that may change.

Sonic the Hedgehog Fighter Game Leaked

According to a new report from ComicBook, Sega is currently looking for people to work on a “3D battle action game.” Interested parties can, according to the report, submit applications to Sega’s second development division, which is where Team Sonic is located in the Sega hierarchy. This development section doesn’t exclusively work on Sonic games, and this 3D game could be something else entirely, but Sonic the Hedgehog makes the most sense.

Sega recently trademarked “Sonic Blitz,” which could be a fitting title for a fighting game. Sonic games are much more frequent now, but they may be working on an alternate title instead of a new mainline Sonic game to follow Sonic x Shadow Generations. Please note that this is a leak and not one that has a lot of weight behind it. Right now, this is all speculative information.

The next Sonic the Hedgehog installment may not come until next fall, so there could be no confirmation on this potential fighting title for a while. It’s also worth noting that whatever Sonic Blitz does end up being could be a mobile game. Sega has been very active on the App Store and Google Play Store recently, so whatever they have cooking may end up being something on a much smaller scale than we anticipate.

What a Sonic Fighting Game Could Look Like

At this point, Super Smash Bros. is the blueprint for a successful fighting game. It’s stood the test of time and reached highs that most fighters, even Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, or even Injustice, have not. To be able to thrive in the genre, a Sonic the Hedgehog fighter would have to be different. The natural inclination is to say that Sega could use Sonic’s speed to its advantage, but making a speed-based fighter would only support Sonic and Shadow for the most part. Most other characters don’t fit that model.

Pokken Tournament, a fighting game for Pokémon, mixed 2D and 3D into its fighting, but that isn’t exactly a super-popular game worth emulating. If Sega wants to do this, they have to do something unique. Maybe that involves making it an open-world fighting game or creating unique fight scenarios based on the characters selected. It can’t just be a Smash clone, as Multiversus unfortunately just learned. And of course, this may all be pointless, but I’d still love to see more Sonic characters as playable characters in fighting games. Knuckles would be a fantastic Smash Bros. character!