Breakdown
- Shadow the Hedgehog gets his own year from SEGA
- This includes a custom motorcycle and appearances in Sonic's mobile games
- This will culminate in his appearances in Sonic 3 and Sonic X Shadow Generations
SEGA has announced Fearless: Year of Shadow, a new promotional campaign that will celebrate Shadow the Hedgehog before he makes his film debut in Sonic 3. The character has always been well known amongst the Sonic fandom, but he’s about to get more exposure than ever and fans are pumped.
According to SEGA (via VGC), this celebration of Sonic’s rival will include a motorcycle themed after the one he rode in his solo game. Fans will be able to check out this motorcycle in MotoGP Fan Zone this weekend in Austin Texas, though Shadow himself won’t be appearing.
In addition to the motorcycle, Shadow the Hedgehog is also set to feature in Sonic Dash and Sonic Forces, giving mobile players some fun variants to play as. Players will be able to unlock and use the following versions of Shadow in these mobile games: Super Shadow, Vampire Shadow, Sir Lancelot, and Dragon Hunter Lancelot.
Just in case fans are surprised to see “Lancelot” in the mobile games, this version of Shadow appeared in Sonic and the Black Knight. That was a Wii exclusive that hasn’t been referenced in years, so SEGA are really digging deep for the Year of Shadow.
Celebrating a side character like Shadow the Hedgehog would have been weird if he wasn’t going to be appearing in the upcoming Sonic 3 movie, which comes out this December. Shadow is also set to play a huge part in the upcoming Sonic X Shadow Generations, a remaster of the 2011 original with a new campaign featuring, well, Shadow.
Besides the upcoming film, Sonic X Shadow Generations is set to be the biggest part of this “fearless” year for Shadow. The fact that SEGA are crafting a whole new campaign for Shadow, complete with references to his poorly received soli game, is something fans never expected to see.
Shadow the Hedgehog will make his film debut in Sonic 3, after appearing in the post-credits of Sonic 2. Fans will be able to use Shadow in Sonic X Shadow Generations when it comes out this year on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC.