When Sega's Hardlight Studio released Sonic Jump last year, I shook my head. Jumping is not the ability Sonic the Hedgehog is known for. This week Hardlight has released endless runner Sonic Dash on iOS. That's more like it.

How do you make a good 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game? You take a bad one and cut away all the unappealing bits. That's exactly what Sonic Dash is — the best bits of the 3D console games, without all the filler.

See Sonic the Hedgehog. See Sonic run. See Sonic run fast. See Sonic spin dash to avoid obstacles and kill enemies. See Sonic collect coins to activate his Dash power, rendering him blindingly fast and invulnerable for a short time. See Sonic clear large jumps using his Homing Attack.

It's a simple formula that works incredibly well for the character. There may be dozens of endless runners out there (five came out this week alone), but there's always room for Sonic. The genre fits him like a glove.

Sonic Dash is also an incredibly pretty game, using assets that look as if they were lifted directly from its console cousins. They're so stunning that you can almost forgive the fact that every time you die you have to wait for what are essentially ads for the game's own in-app purchases before continuing. I came really close to accidentally purchasing $34.99 worth of rings last night while stabbing at the screen to continue.

See? Pretty. I've completely forgotten the complaint from the previous paragraph.

As lovely as it is, Sonic Dash could use a little more personality, perhaps the story mode that made Sonic Jump playable despite the speedy hedgehog misuse. Hardlight promises updates in the app's iTunes description, so maybe there's hope yet.

When I load up a Sonic the Hedgehog game, there are two things I want to do: run fast and kill some animal robots. This'll do nicely.

A video game's opening stage or starter zone has an extremely important role: it sets the tone for the rest of the game. Getting it right is essential. Below, we've collected some of the best-looking and most iconic starting zones, first stages and opening missions.

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Green Hill Zone in Sonic

Central Highway in Mega Man X

Welcome to Rapture in BioShock

Contra III Stage 1

Metal Slug Mission 1

City 17 in Half-Life 2

Make Eggs, Throw Eggs in Yoshi's Island

Comix Zone Chapter 1

Ikaruga Stage 1

Post your picks for the most intense, best made and most beautiful first levels below with visual support.

sources: SEGA Wiki, ThePressStartProject, BioShock Wiki, Primeevi's LP, Gustavo Costa's LP, SectorW, Ericthestickman, VideoGamerParadox, kirgeez

Since Temple Run hit it big, the mobile markets have been flooded with endless runners — games in which the player jumps, rolls, slides, turns and otherwise guides an auto-running hero through treacherous terrain. When's gaming's original running hero going to get his due? According to LinkedIn job listings uncovered over at The Sonic Stadium (via Pocket Gamer), Sonic's endless-running debut may come sooner than we think. Update: Sega has confirmed that Sonic Dash is indeed a new mobile Sonic game in development.

The listings come from SEGA's UK-based Hardlight studio, focused on creating games for mobile and portable platforms. You might know them from Sonic Jump, the level-based jumping game that seemed ill-suited to our hero's particular talents.

Before a hasty revision, each of the four job postings on LinkedIn featured the following company background blurb:

The Studio comprises small, agile teams working on new IP & well-known SEGA IP. Project durations are 5-10 months, building on the success of their first projects on iOS – Sonic Jump & Sonic Dash – Hardlight is now working on some new & exciting projects.

Sega has made it clear that it has big plans for Sonic the Hedgehog on mobile platforms in 2013. Sonic Dash just might be the first taste mobile gamers will get of the blue blur this year.

Of course it could have been some sort of mistake, though it seems unlikely someone editing a job listing would just toss in the name of a non-existent game willy-nilly.

I've reached out to Sega for comment on the listing and future plans for mobile Sonic games. Until confirmation comes, we can all just sit back and imagine a game where all Sonic does is run, run, run.

Update: Sega has confirmed to Kotaku that Sonic Dash is a real thing. Here's the company's response:

"At this time, Sega is able to confirm that we are working on a new mobile game titled Sonic Dash. We have not announced any specific details on the product but we will be releasing additional information on this exciting, new game in the near future."

Mad scientists and evil masterminds are classic villain archetypes, and defeating them is always nerve-wracking. Instead of facing you, they'd rather hide in the shadows and rely on their minions. And when it does come to combat, they usually love to show off their deadliest creations.

We gathered some well-known crazies; a mustache or a white coat seems to be a must-have.

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Dr. Eggman (Sonic The Hedgehog series)

source: Sonic Generations

Dr. Wallace Breen (Half-Life 2)

source: Half-Life Wiki

Professor Hojo (Final Fantasy VII)

source: AshleyCope's fan art on Deviantart

Dr. FunFrock (Little Big Adventure 1-2 / Relentless)

source: The LBA Relentless Movie Project

Dr. Wily (Mega Man series)

source: Dr. Wily Boss Fight In Mega Man 6, splash image by Hitoshi Ariga

Don Paolo (Professor Layton series)

source: Professor Layton And The Curious Village

The Elite Of Rapture Society (BioShock)

source: BioShock Wiki

Albert Wesker (Resident Evil series)

source: Resident Evil Wiki

Professor Monkey-For-A-Head (Earthworm Jim)

source: tuwoa's LP

Make sure to submit below the craziest evil scientists you know with visual support.

The long-teased crossover between Capcom and Sega's iconic characters inches ever closer and each bit of preview art makes fans teases fans with the fact that this mash-up doesn't exist in playable form.

Hey, if Mega Man can take on the World Warriors of Street Fighter and Sonic can duke it out with Mario in their Olympic-themed titles, then why can't this happen, right? Until the two Japanese publishers that own Sonic and Mega Man see the light, crossover fanatics will have to make do with this Archie Comics event. Who knows where would such a game fit in each character's canon? But it would probably be fun to have the Blue Bomber and the super-fast hedgehog explore each other's worlds.

A new trailer appears for PagodaWest Games' Sonic-inspired iOS platformer, Major Magnet, making me wonder if maybe this new hero is the offspring of two older ones. Could Sonic and Robotnik have a baby?

He's got the speed. He's got the body shape. He's got a strong attraction to mechanical devices. Sure, they're both guys, but science is doing wondrous things with gene splicing these days.

Major Magnet is due out in late February. Until then, poke at its new website. Just poke at it.

This is... well, it's certainly something. It's an eighteen-and-a-half minute Sonic fan film, created by the folks at Blue Core Studios.

It's... amazing.

(via NeoGAF)

Sonic The Hedgehog released in 2006 sure is a terrible game. The duo known as Game Grumps learned this the hard way, and broadcasted their experience playing the game for their audience about a month ago.

The original, which you can watch down below, is pretty funny on its own. But it also inspired possibly the silliest Source Filmmaker video (above) that I have seen so far.

Have you guys heard of Game Grumps? Have you heard of JonTron—known for raging against terrible games—and egoraptor—known for his cartoon videos—two YouTubers we've featured here on Kotaku before?

The two have come together to form Game Grumps, playing a lot of awful retro titles (among other games) for the amusement of their audiences. They're great together.

But the reenactment video above by thatscoutisaspy? That's something just as special.

Check out this screenshot for Major Magnet, an iOS platformer hitting iTunes on January 10. What does it remind you of? Can you imagine a blue hedgehog with red shoes running around on it?

The similarities between Major Magnet and Sonic the Hedgehog are not coincidence. The team at PagodaWest Games working on the new game have always held Sega's mascot in the highest regard. They even worked on the Sonic 2 HD fan project, helping smooth out the jaggy edges on one of Sonic's greatest adventures.

That doesn't mean that Major Magnet is a mere Sonic clone. Rather than controlling the game's titular hero with a virtual joystick and buttons, players will manipulate the environment to guide him from point A to point B. In this teaser trailer for the game we see the player turning on and off magnets to propel the good Major along his path.

Major Magnet, or Marv to his friends, is a lovable, bumbling sort of hero, one that takes being affixed to a magnet and launched all over Sonic-esque environments in stride. He's a better man than I.

Yep, the inspiration is clear—that's some quality Sonic homage there.

I've not gotten a chance to try my hand at guiding the Major myself, but I have high hopes for the game. Mobile needs more strong characters and quality platforming games. If a heartfelt nod to one of the kings of console platforming gets the job done, then so be it.

Let's get real: Sonic doesn't stand a chance. Sure, he's fast. You see that energy build-up in the Mega Buster pictured below? That's a recipe for roasted hedgehog, right there.

But, wait, you say! Couldn't Sonic disassemble Mega Man at super-speed before Capcom's icon could even get a blast off? The answers to these questions will hopefully be found in Archie Comics' upcoming crossover which will feature the two long-running franchise heroes. These images in this post—exclusive to Kotaku—give a taste of what to expect.

Longtime comics artist Patrick "Spaz" Spaziante will be handling the cover art for the crossover and he was kind enough to answer some questions about what it takes to draw this clash of the video game titans.

Kotaku: To you, what are the most important elements to emphasize in the two main heroes' characters designs?

Spaziante: For the Sonic side I'd have to say speed, while Mega Man has the power (Megabuster). It seems obvious, but those two elements really do guide how you draw the character in almost every situation, whether it be a fight or a conversation.

Kotaku: Were there any games in particular from the Sonic or Mega Man series that inspired a visual take on the various characters?

Spaziante: With Mega Man, definitely Mega Man 8 and the little-known Rock Man & Forte from the Super NES Era, (a dash of the Rock Man Power Battle arcades series thrown in for good measure). From the Sonic side, we like to keep to the most current designs, basically anything from the Dreamcast era like Sonic Adventure, up to the most current releases like Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing Transformed.

Kotaku: Is there anything you're doing with the art to try and communicate that these are two very different heritages/sensibilities that are clashing in the crossover event?

Spaziante: As much as I would love to explore the different house styles of each heritage, we need to make sure the characters and their universes gel together in the comic seamlessly, so we have chosen a hybrid of the Capcom and Sega styles.

Kotaku: Have you had the freedom to diverge from the way the characters have been visually presented before? What kind of changes have you made?

Spaziante: Yes and no, minor artistic interpretation on my part is allowed here and there, but each company has a set guideline for their characters, and I try not to deviate too far from that. We want to remain as respectful as possible to the Japanese designs, while delivering solid American comic book storytelling. It's a fine line to walk, but Archie has been doing it for quite a while now, with Mega Man for the past few years, and with Sonic for twenty years come 2013!

Kotaku: Which character has won you over while you've been drawing them? Who's an absolute chore to get onto the page?

Spaziante: As I have had past experience with both character groups for many years, (especially Sonic), I'd have to say I am pretty comfortable with both universes. If you are asking for favorites, I'd have to say Mecha Sonic from the Sonic Universe & Bass from the Mega Man Universe. On the difficult side, sometimes ANY character, even one you've drawn many times, can fall victim to "artist block"- so I guess it depends on how tired I am, or close to deadline!