Sonic the Hedgehog fans have had to wait quite a long time for information regarding the next main entry in the series. At the recent Sonic Central event, Sega finally pulled the curtain back on the next mainline Sonic game, which has no official title but is rumored to be called Sonic Rangers.
While almost no details for Sonic Rangers have been revealed as of yet, Sega unintentionally revealing the game's title has all but confirmed a slew of leaks that date back to as early as August 2020, detailing an open-world, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild inspired take on the Sonic the Hedgehog series. With that in mind, here is a breakdown of all of the leaked information regarding Sonic Rangers that has circulated online so far.
The Leaks
The very first Sonic Rangers leak comes from an anonymous 4Chan user who reportedly play-tested the game. In their post made on August 7, 2020, the user claimed that they had played a demo set in a "gloomy" open-world that was inspired by Breath of the Wild, with puzzles similar to the Korok Puzzles required to unlock Korok seeds in that game. The leak also describes robot bosses which, when defeated, grant Sonic one of the Chaos Emeralds, which allow him to transform into Super Sonic when all seven are collected. This leak did not shed light on any story details and claims that no returning characters other than Sonic were present.
This next leak once again comes from 4Chan, this time from January 7, 2021, exactly five months after the first leak regarding Sonic Rangers. This post also refers to the post under this title, and claims that the user had played two 20 minute long demos of the game focused on the game's open-world and bosses. While this post mostly repeats what the previous post revealed about the game, but with more context. This post also reveals that Sonic Rangers will utilize an RPG-like leveling system, with a skill-tree that can unlock abilities such as the "Spin-Cycle," a move that triggers Sonic to circle a group of enemies before defeating them. This appears to be the circular trace that he performs in the Sonic 2022 teaser trailer revealed during the Sonic Central live stream.
This leak also revealed that certain portals will allow Sonic to travel to "Cyber-Space," which also seems to be referenced in the 30 second teaser trailer by flashes of purple pixelation appearing around Sonic as he runs through the forest. These levels apparently recreate the gameplay styles of Sonic Generations and Sonic Colors, likely referring to the "Boost gameplay" style that returned in Sonic Forces. This leak also reveals that Roger Craig Smith provided voice acting for the game, which is strange considering the voice actor announced his departure from the role later that month before then announcing his return not too long after.
The Evidence
The final leak (so far) comes just minutes after the airing of the Sonic Central live stream and before Sega itself leaked the Sonic Rangers name for the game. This is, of course, yet another anonymous 4Chan post. This post comes with a tinge of cynicism, claiming that the game featured "Ubisoft towers with annoying ass Korok rip-offs," corroborating the previous leaks that claimed that the game would feature puzzles similar to Breath of the Wild's Korok puzzles. This leak references a "ghost girl" character, which the previous leak also briefly mentioned, as well as portals that lead to "Unleashed-style levels." It also referenced the leveling system that the previous leak mentioned.
While most video game leaks from 4Chan are generally considered to be falsified given that the website allows users to comment anonymously with little repercussion for spreading misinformation, these Sonic Rangers leaks are a special case given that all of them mention an open-world, RPG style Sonic the Hedgehog game under the title "Sonic Rangers." The similarities between the leaks makes them a little more believable.
It seems almost impossible to deny at this point that at some point in 2020 Sega held focus testing sessions for the next Sonic title which allowed players to play a vertical slice of the game. While fans' opinions are mixed on how Sega will execute an ambitious Sonic game like this, a sentiment shared by all of these leaks is that the game definitely needed more time, with some of the leaks claiming that the demos were very underwhelming. Hopefully by the time we see the first bit of gameplay for Sonic Rangers the game will be in good shape.
Sonic Rangers is currently in development for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.