Oh. Dear. God. Could it be true? Or is this just a dream? Sega is actually listening to what the fans want ? With no were-hogs included?

This title, labeled as "Project Needlemouse" as of now, is going to be the "first step that brings Sonic back to his 2D roots," says Sega of Amerca's Ken Balough. Balough continued saying, "Many liked the daytime stages of Unleashed, but wanted to see a game that plays purely similar to the early games of the Genesis."

For one I am very excited about this. It's been years since I've played a Sonic the Hedgehog game, the last being Sonic Adventure when the Dreamcast launched. And every year since then, as I watch Sega release a new Sonic game with some lame gimmick attached, I wonder to myself when they will "get it" and return the series to it's roots and more importantly, return it to a state that fans actually want to pay for it.

It looks like 2010 will be that time.

Below we have the first teaser trailer for the game that gives no actual game-play but promises speed, an all new 2D adventure built from the ground up, and all in glorious HD.

**UPDATE -- Fellow Crave writer Joey Davidson passed these concept snapshots my way to share with you guys. Check them out, they come for www.needlemouse.com and are obviously Sonic environments (the loop-de-loop kind of tips you off).