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Sega's Takashi Lizuka has hinted that we could well see some of the Sonic's lovable chums in the upcoming episodes of the hedgehog's fourth main adventure. No main characters other that the titular star have been confirmed for the game as of yet*, leading to speculation about inclusions for the likes of Knuckles and Tails. When the question on their appearances in the second episode was posed to the member of the game's development team, Lizuka said, "Fans will be very pleased with the cast in Episode 2."

Lizuka also offered his reasons for the inclusion of an all new Homing Attack for the fast-footed one saying, "I wanted the user to enjoy an easy-to-play feeling by the attack sequence that this allows, and find the fun routes in the air." Also revealed was the inclusion of a cliffhanger ending to Episode 2 for those who collect all of the emeralds throughout the adventure.

The episodes of Sonic 4 are coming together very nicely and we for one can't wait until the first one is released. The inclusion of other classic characters would certainly boost the profile of the long anticipated latest instalment and appeal to fans old and new alike. Roll on the summer!

* It seems as though Episode 1's character list may in fact be set in stone now, following an apparent leak of achievements for the game. One of the cheevs listed is "Golden Flash: Clear all Acts as Super Sonic (10)", which should confirm that Sonic and Super Sonic are the only characters to appear in Episode 1, thus proving right the original announcement about Sonic being the only character - in Ep 1 anyway. The full list of achievements is as follows:

The Story Begins

Clear SPLASH HILL ZONE, ACT 1. (5)

Crush Dr. Eggman

Defeat a boss for the first time. (5)

The First Chaos Emerald

Acquire a Chaos Emerald. (5)

Enemy Hunter

Defeat 1,000 enemies. (10)

Golden Flash

Clear all Acts as Super Sonic. (10)

All Stages Cleared!

Defeat the final boss and view the ending. (10)

Contender

Upload your recorded scores and clear times for all stages. (10)

Ring Collector

Collect all the Rings in 'Special Stage 1%u2032 and Clear the stage. (15)

Immortal

Build up 99 or more extra lives. (25)

Super Sonic Genesis

Acquire all seven Chaos Emeralds. (30)

Speed's My Game

Clear SPLASH HILL ZONE ACT 1 in less than a minute. (35)

Untouchable

Clear the E.G.G. STATION ZONE without taking any damage. (40)