The fleet-footed hero has fallen on hard times recently. …okay, when we say "recently," we're talking about a looooong span of time.

Some say that in order for Sonic to reclaim his former glory, he simply has to return to his roots. And that's exactly what we'll get with Sonic Generations , the new entry from Sega that will allow fans to sample both classic 2D and modern-day 3D environments.

Sega has revealed a release date for North America and Europe; November 1 for the former and November 4 for the latter. The 3DS version still holds a vague "late 2011" date but the console fans don't care, do they? We keep rooting for the blue streak to clamber back to the top of the gaming mountain; to re-solidify his place amongst the highest echelon of gaming icons. Maybe Sonic Generations is just what we need to remind us that yes, at one point in time, Sonic ruled .

For more on the game, check out our preview .

Related Game(s): Sonic Generations