On November 2, you’ll be able to play the Wii U and 3DS game Sonic Lost World on your PC. Despite the loss of the second screen, the PC version will include “full controller support, Steam Achievements, Cloud Save, leaderboard functionality, interchangeable keyboard prompts depending on whether you play with controller or mouse and keyboard and widescreen and high resolution implementation.” Plus, it comes with the Nightmare DLC, and costs $24.99 ($5 less than the Wii U version).
If you pre-order Sonic Lost World on Steam, you will also receive Sonic and All Star Racing Transformed.
Sonic Lost World received mixed reviews after its release in 2013, receiving a 63 on Metacritic. This game is not the first Sonic game to appear on Steam. There are over a dozen already available (on PC only—sorry Mac users). And it doesn’t sound like SEGA is slowing down.
“This is the latest in a string of high quality PC ports of past SEGA titles that we will be building on in the coming months and years,” said John Clark, VP of Commercial Publishing for SEGA Europe.
Hmm. Lost World’s successor, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, was plagued with bugs on release, it and has the honor of being the worst game I have ever personally reviewed. If John Clark’s above quote is suggesting that Rise of Lyric might be next, I must admit I am interested to see what, if anything, they try to fix in their new port.
It’s worth mentioning that it is pretty unusual to see Wii U or 3DS games ported to other platforms. Both the Wii U and 3DS offer game creators the opportunity to integrate unique dual-screen features into their designs. What this means is that if you’re designing for the Wii U or 3DS, you have a tough decision: use the second screen effectively and create a great Nintendo experience, or make the second screen largely superfluous, and leave yourself open to ports.
This decision has had a negative impact on the Wii U since its launch, which is really lousy. The second screen is pretty awesome when used well. But few major developers want to bother with the second screen when they’re already planning on releasing to other single-screen consoles. It has had less of an affect on the 3DS because there is less console competition in the handheld market.
