Now they're just beating a dead horse with a stick. If they really want to revive Sonic, they should.
- Find a new use for speed.
- Kill. The. Cast. (Sonic's friends suck, and they will likely be in this game)
- Let America & Europe call the villian Robotnik again. (It's just a better name)
- Characterization (Just who is Sonic the Hedgehog? Who are his friends and enemies? Why are they his friends and enemies?)
I think you'll find that the reason Sonic is failing is because he lacks a solid engine, there is no consistency between titles, speed has been overplayed, exploration has been destroyed (and what little exploration is left is avoided out of fear of bottomless pits), Sonic is too fast to make a whole game out of 10Km long daytime stages (hence, the Werehog), the actual alternative gameplay styles are too different and forced upon the player, the camera can be shakey, the pacing is bad, much of the actual action is automated by loops, boosters, grind rails and QTEs, there is far too much filler material, and the development team are too lazy to make one single, brilliant gameplay style so they seperate important elements of Sonic, like speed and platforming, into different gameplay styles.
People are just using characters/voice acting/regional inconsistency/plot as a strawman for all of Sonic's real problems, which go far deeper than "why isn't he called Robotnik anymore?". One thing I will agree with is finding different uses for Sonic's speed. In the originals you needed to build speed to overcome loops, break through walls, move a nut upwards by running on it (Metropolis Zone), travel through time, spin a switch that makes platforms appear (Marble Garden Zone), spin a machine that makes Sonic go upwards (Lava Reef Zone), and run up the inside of a huge hollow tree (Angel Island Zone). Now, not only is speed given to you far too easily via a fast accelerating rate, boost button and boost pads, but there's also no use for it. In the originals, you had to earn speed, and get rewarded for it.
Back on-topic - the game is made by the same guys who made Outrun Arcade 06, as well as Superstars Tennis, so I trust them to make a mean crossover racer. The only thing I fear is that they could make those loops automated, like those sucky twists and turns on Rainbow Road (both DS and Wii), which would suck hard donkey scrotum.
I also hope they don't use the Seaside Hill music from Heroes for that Sonic track. I raged hard when I heard that crap on the Green Hill stage in Superstars Tennis instead of the classic GHZ tune, and I expect to be compensated in full with more rocking Sonic tunes, like Green Hill, Emerald Hill or Emerald Coast. Of course, they could just do a SSBB-esque MyMusic system to satisfy everybody's tastes.