Sonic the Fighters

Known as both "Sonic the Fighters" and "Sonic Championship", this arcade spin-off of the Sonic the Hedgehog series pits the blue hedgehog and his friends in a martial arts tournament.

Arcade

Xbox 360 Games Store

PlayStation Network (PS3)

Overview

Sonic Championship (known both in Japan and in later releases as Sonic the Fighters) is a 3D fighting game developed by Sega-AM2 and released by Sega for arcades (running their Sega Model 2 hardware) on June 1996.

A fighting game spin-off of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Sonic Championship pits eight characters from the series' universe (including two new ones: Bean the Dynamite and Bark the Polar Bear) in a martial arts tournament to determine who gets to claim the eight Chaos Emeralds (to power Tails's single-seat ship) and stop the plans of Dr. Eggman (who has built a new Death Egg sometime after the events of Sonic & Knuckles).

A port of the game was included in the 2005 Sonic Gems Collection compilation for the GameCube and PlayStation 2. A high-definition port was released digitally for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 28, 2012, adding online multiplayer and the option to play as both bosses and new hidden character Honey the Cat (who was incomplete and dummied-out in the original version).

Both Bean and Bark are playable in Fighters Megamix as unlockables.

Characters

The base version of the game features eight playable characters and two unplayable boss characters. While most of these characters have previously appeared in the game series, two of these characters (Bean and Bark) were created for the game.

The 360 and PS3 versions of the game made the two bosses playable and adds a new hidden character: Honey the Cat.

Sonic the Hedgehog - Can transform into his invulnerable "Super" form in the final boss match through specific requirements.
Knuckles the Echidna
Amy Rose the Rascal (misnamed "Amy Rosy the Rascal")
Miles "Tails" Prower
Fang the Sniper
Espio the Chameleon
Bean the Dynamite
Bark the Polar Bear (misnamed "Bark the Polerbear")
Metal Sonic (final boss) - Only playable in the 360 and PS3 versions with a cheat code. Both human players cannot play as Metal Sonic at the same time.
Dr. Eggman (bonus boss, also called "Dr. Robotonic" and "Dr. Robotnik" in-game) - Fights in a mech suit. Only playable in the 360 and PS3 versions with a cheat code. Both human players cannot play as Dr. Eggman at the same time.
Honey the Cat (hidden character) - Added in the 360 and PS3 versions with a cheat code. Based on Candy from Fighting Vipers. Unlike other characters, she has an alternate two-player outfit rather than a grayscale version.

In addition, the original version of the game includes incomplete characters that cannot be played or fought under any official circumstance. Along with Honey the Cat, these include characters from the game's cutscenes: Dr. Eggman (suit-less and in a UFO), one of his robot minions, and "Rocket Metal".