Sonic the Hedgehog is returning to consoles in a new 2D adventure. After numerous decreasingly impressive forays into three dimensions this has got to be a good thing. Right?

There’s not much to know about the game at the moment – it’s codenamed ‘Project Needlemouse’, which may or may not hint at what lies in store, HD has been mentioned thus we can assume it’s destined for next-gen console platforms and it’s scheduled for release in 2010. There’s an intro trailer knocking around too, although no gameplay is shown and the only minor revelation is that the new adventure is definitely “built from the ground up”.

Otherwise we’re left to interpret the words of Sega execs; not all of which are wholly reassuring. Take Sega America’s brand manager, Ken Ballough, who tells GameSpot.com:

“Tails and Knuckles, to me, are essential to Sonic. They bring the perfect blend of personalities to the mix. But these two have had 14 years to grow. I think Shadow, Silver, Blaze and Rouge have also been developed really well into interesting characters. I would love to see Tikal developed because I think she could be very interesting as well. I think the one character that has yet to find his place is Bark the Polar bear. I hope he does eventually – it’d be nice to have a cool bear character.”

In other words Sonic’s next outing may yet be populated by a bunch of loosely associated characters that nobody gives much of a stuff about and which, in marketing-speak, are partially responsible for shifting the Sonic ‘brand essence’ away from its ‘core values’ in the first place. Fingers crossed that’s not the case, and that Sega keeps the marketing men away from Sonic’s new game.

Two dimensions, insane speeds, one blue hedgehog – that’s all we want! Okay, maybe we’ll let Tails and Knuckles play too...