Sonic Lost World came as an unexpected surprise during Nintendo’s previous Direct event just before E3. With a future lacking any real strong third party for Nintendo’s home system, hearing the news that an exclusive new Sonic adventure was heading to Wii U and 3DS was certainly encouraging to hear. Its initial trailer and screenshots too, helped boost confidence that this could well be a platformer to rival even that of Nintendo’s portly plumber. Of course at the time this was before we knew anything about the next Mario title.

So you can imagine my confusion and slight concern  when I say that Sonic’s new adventure actually looks to offer a more interesting experience than the tried and tested, formulaic-looking Super Mario 3D World. That is in no way an insult aimed at either title though. Both games look like exceptionally good platformers and I can’t wait to play both, it’s just that 3D World appears to be taking the safer route which is disappointing especially when you consider the revolutionary changes made with Super Mario 64 and the epic Galaxy series. Sonic Lost World on the other hand looks to be doing exactly that by breaking new ground and offering plenty of new ideas for the series.

Three stages have been shown at E3 for Lost World, each offering three very different styles of gameplay. The first (and the stage that has seen most publicity) focuses on groups of planetoids which Sonic can run all around and launch between using giant springs. Immediately you’ll begin to think Super Mario Galaxy when seeing screens or videos, and while it’s clear of the influences here, the game still manages to maintain its own sense of character. The way Sonic moves, his speed and the returning badniks all help try and at least distance it from all the Mario Galaxy comparisons received - and to be honest how is being likened to one of the best games of this generation a bad thing?

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