Sonic 06 is back on Xbox Store and is £3.39 more than it’s worth

If you’re something of a Sonic historian, you’ll likely know that Sonic ’06 is known as a bit of a low point for the Blue Blur.

The game – which was apparently inspired by the superhero films of the early 00s uch as Batman Begins, for some reason – was a failed reboot for the mascot. Hamstrung by appalling loading times, terrible camera system, a stupid story, nasty voice acting, myriad glitches, and baffling controls, the game has become infamous for just how bad it was.

Sonic 06 was one of a couple of Sonic games delisted from digital stores over 10 years ago, in a vague attempt to rescue the icon’s reputation. Sonic 06 disappeared along with Secret Rings, Black Knight, Unleashed and Riders: Zero Gravity. Can you spot a theme?

Now, though, the game has oddly returned to the Xbox Marketplace and is available to purchase digitally… for £3.39. That’s not a lot of money, sure, but we’d argue it’s about £3.39 more than it’s worth.

If you did want to play the game, though (and why would you?) you’ll probably be devastated to learn that the 2006 version of Sonic The Hedgehog is not backwards compatible with either the Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S generation of consoles. That means, if you want to experience this tragedy given video game form, you’ll need an Xbox 360 to play the title one.

If you have the correct hardware, and are keen on putting yourself through a few hours of painful tedium, you can pick up the game via the Xbox Marketplace.

There’s no word, of course, on whether we’ll see the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD return to digital storefronts. Sega announced that it would be delisting all the classic games on May 20, as a pretty sly way of making you buy its upcoming collection of retro titles, instead.

If you do want to wash the taste of Sonic ’06 out of your mouth with some classic Blue Blur, you will be able to pick up all the games being delisted via the Sonic Origins compilation on June 23. It will run you $39.99/£32.99, and it’ll release on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.