Sonic Origins

Sonic Origins was conceived alongside Sonic Colors: Ultimate (2021) following the release of the 2020 Sonic film. Because the film brought many new fans, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka wanted to make older Sonic games available on modern formats. Iizuka noted that though they are frequently rereleased via emulation, they felt "retro" on modern displays due to their 4:3 aspect ratios; he wanted Origins to modernize them with widescreen support and new features to appeal to both new and longtime fans. Sonic Mania encouraged Sonic Team that there was still an audience for 2D Sonic games and the series' 30th anniversary provided the "perfect" opportunity to develop a compilation.

The compilation was developed internally at Sega, which handled the presentation and consolidation of the included games. The remasters of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, and Sonic CD are based on the remakes made in the Retro Engine released between 2011 and 2013; Evening Star's Christian Whitehead, creator of the Retro Engine, updated it to allow the remakes to run in a compilation. The Origins team prioritized the main Sonic series, so they did not consider including other 2D Sonic games, such as those released for the Game Gear, Knuckles' Chaotix, and the Sonic Advance series. Powerhouse Animation Studios produced the new cutscenes with longtime Sonic artist Tyson Hesse, with a script written by Sonic comic book writer Ian Flynn and featuring arranged music by Sonic Mania composer Tee Lopes.

According to review aggregator website Metacritic, Sonic Origins received "mixed or average" reviews for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows, it received "generally favorable reviews" for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Zoey Handley of Destructoid felt that the compilation was lacking and lamented the lack of more substantial additions, writing: "The whole idea behind the new collection was apparently to 'modernize' the games; moving them into a new engine rather than simply emulating them. If that's the case, why stop with widescreen?" Brian Shea of Game Informer, by contrast, praised the enhancements made to the Anniversary mode, writing, "The Sonic Origins package is terrific overall... Having the best versions of the classic Sonic saga in one bundle is supremely satisfying." Heidi Kemps (GameSpot) and Stephen Tailby (Push Square) felt that while the additions made to the compilation justified the purchase for fans, its lackluster presentation and unnecessary DLC hindered Origins' overall quality.