In a bit of an under-the-radar move, Sega has begun a soft-rollout of the new Sonic Jump game on iOS devices. The game, called Sonic Jump Fever, is currently available on iTunes in Canada. While a release date for additional territories has yet to be announced, it would be reasonable to assume a worldwide release to be coming in short order.
Sonic Jump Fever is the sequel to Sonic Jump, a Hardlight Studios developed jumping platformer released on iOS and Android devices some 16 months ago. Sonic Jump, in turn, was based on a mobile game developed in 2005.
The sequel follows the same tried-and-true gameplay mechanics typical in the jumping platformer genre, and expands on the previous games’ clever design and Sonic branding. The new game adds a “Fever” mechanic, in which Sonic and his playable pals can launch into a super-speedy dash appropriate in the world of Sonic.
The game differs from Sonic Jump ($2.99) in that Sonic Jump Fever is a free-to-play game. Additional features include a larger cast of characters, leaderboard and weekly competitions both global and friend-based, and numerous power-ups.
Looks like the same game.
Not saying that is a bad thing but does this succeed the pay to play game or compete with him.
I suppose one would imagine the first game’s sales are inconsequential to Sega at this point. I have no numbers, but maybe the first game is simply not performing, and so they feel no fear in releasing a free version that will steal away these sales?
I’m not sure. I think at this point we can all agree that Sega’s strong suit is actually its business brain. It seems like the company is being run much more effectively these days on the business side, even if the number and variety of games released is much less… inspiring.
In any case, micro transactions, right? Supposedly that’s the way to the cash these days.
I think Sonic Dash did 10s of millions. 🙂
It only work on iOS 7, SEGA frick’n sucks. I cannot afford a new iPhone every couple of years. Make real games. 🙁