The Nintendo Power article on Sonic and the Search for SEGA's Sanity is
in the wild, and we can confirm that:
"Each stage has multiple branching paths and searching for townsfolk and treasure chests provides an element of exploration that recalls Sonic’s early Genesis days."
Which means that...
Jul 19 18:56:48 <Rolken> also how many hours to the first "returning to his roots" pr quote!?!
Jul 19 18:57:10 <mike89> returning to his roots? with a sword? I don't think even sega PR could spin that far
Jul 19 18:57:12 <Stefan> 48
...
Jul 21 19:53:38 <Doduo> ”Each stage has multiple branching paths and searching for townsfolk and treasure chests provides an element of exploration that recalls Sonic’s early Genesis days.”
With the final answer clocking in at 48 hours and 56 minutes, Stefan is the winner of the latest TSC contest to determine how much SEGA fails! His prize is a bump in TSC fame and social status and an insertion into SkyL's next fanfic. Give him a round of applause!
edit: Also, to clear up some misunderstanding... we're scheduled to get three primary Sonic games in the next year.
Fall 08 - PS3/360 - Sonic Unleashed on the "Hedgehog Engine"; all the screenshots and videos so far are this version
Fall 08 - PS2/Wii - Unleashed lite, with the same motifs but different level design by Dimps and worse graphics
Spring 09 - Wii - Sonic and the Black Knight, the sequel to Secret Rings with waggle swordplay