Mr. Attitude's 'secret' new adventure gets an official announcement from Sega, and it's definitely hitting the Wii!

Sonic Unleashed. Possibly the gaming industry's worst kept secret since Nintendo persistently attempted to deny the existence of Twilight Princess for the Wii. A couple of weeks ago, screens, videos and information were leaked from Sega's press site of a new 3D Sonic title which appeared to be set in the 2D plane (despite the purdy visuals). Today, Sega have finally decided to officially announce the game we all knew about anyway, but with the added confirmation of a Wii version.

In Sonic's latest adventure, Dr. Eggman has broken the world into pieces, and Sonic alone has been tasked with recovering the power of the Chaos Emeralds by travelling across seven continents in order to restore the realm to its former glory. The press release states that Sonic will race across levels during the day and night to save both the world and himself. This is probably referencing the leaked shots of Sonic's transformation into a werewolf, but we'll have to wait and see.

Sonic Unleashed has been built using Sega's new 'Hedgehog Engine', which allows seamless camera transitions from 3D into a 2D plane, and blends a graphically stunning game environment with the classic 2D gameplay of the Mega Drive days. Four new modes will be available, and Sonic will actually be able to fight his enemies in combat, which should add a new level of depth to the Sonic series.

It seems that Sega have finally acknowledged that Sonic just doesn't 'work' in a full 3D environment. After several brilliant 'back to his roots' games on Nintendo's platforms, let's hope Sonic Unleashed doesn't disappoint.

Sega will be hosting a Gamer's Day next month, so expect to find out more about the blue blur's latest adventure then. Sonic Unleashed is scheduled for a release in late 2008.