| Cult of Mac

5 blazing-fast reasons you should play Sonic Racing

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5 blazing-fast reasons you should play 'Sonic Racing'
Sonic Racing is arcade-style racing at its best.
Photo: Sega/Apple Arcade

Sonic the Hedgehog knows everything worth knowing about speed, so it’s no surprise that Sonic Racing from Sega is one of the best games on Apple Arcade.

It’s a popular, and available for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. Add some excitement to your weekend by giving it a try. Here are 5 reason why I think you’ll love it.

Sonic the Hedgehog speeds onto Minecraft to celebrate 30th birthday

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Minecraft
Thirty years speeds by, too fast for the naked eye.
Photo: Minecraft

It’s somehow been 30 years since Sega’s rapid blue hedgehog mascot, Sonic, first speeded his way onto the Genesis and into video game history on June 23, 1991.

To celebrate the occasion, Minecraft has released an official DLC pack that lets you play through recreations of some of Sonic’s most iconic levels from the original Sonic the Hedgehog inside, well, Minecraft. It even includes blocky rings to collect.

If you’re a fan of Sega’s iconic spiky mammal, it looks like it’s well worth checking out. This 3D endless runner is all yours for 1,340 coins — or, approximately, $8 in real world terms. Check out the trailer below.

Amazon Prime Video finally embraces in-app purchases on iPhone and Apple TV

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primevideo
Amazon Prime Video is ready to play nice with Apple users.
Photo: Amazon

Amazon is making some huge changes to how it handles rentals and movie purchases for its Prime Video app on Apple devices.

Starting today, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV users can rent or buy movies and TV shows on Amazon Prime Video without being directed to a website first to avoid Apple’s tax on in-app purchases.

New Sonic game speeding onto iOS for Tokyo 2020

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Sonic 1
A sprinter that would put Usain Bolt to shame.
Photo: Sega

Everyone’s favorite blue hedgehog, Sonic, will be hurtling onto iOS for an upcoming mobile game to mark the 2020 Olympics.

Titled Sonic At The Olympic Games, the mobile-only title was announced over the weekend as part of Sega’s lineup of new games to coincide with Tokyo 2020.

Pac-Man on iOS gets a visit from… Sonic the Hedgehog?

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Sonic
An unusual pairing, perhaps. An awesome one? Totally.
Photo: Machinima/YouTube

Everyone’s favorite blue hedgehog (we guess he kind of wins this one by default!) Sonic the Hedgehog makes an unexpected, unlikely cameo on the latest update of Pac-Man for iOS — and it’s kind of awesome.

Taking the form of a special maze, the limited time “Dash Maze” replaces the usual dots Pac-Man has to collect with rings, invisibility power-ups instead of regular ones, and… um… the woodland creatures Sonic usually saves in place of the objects Pac-Man munches. Check out a trailer below.

Deezer for Apple Watch, Jump Legends, and other apps of the week

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It's the weekend -- and have we ever got some great apps to help you fill up the next two days!From nuclear bunkers to photo-editing suites, and Apple Music playlist importers to run-and-gun actioners, check out our picks for the week's most newsworthy apps. You won't regret it!
'Appy weekend everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Happy Sunday everyone!

If you’re looking to kick back and relax, we’ve got you covered when it comes to the apps you need to download to enjoy the rest of your hard-earned weekend — and the 7 days to come.

From nifty adventure games for your iPhone to a great music app for Apple Watch, check out our picks for awesome apps of the week below.

Take Sonic the Hedgehog for a spin on Apple TV

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He's the fastest thing alive!
Photo: SEGA

In some kind of weird time vortex that makes me feel like it’s 1991 again (now if only I could find my original cassette of Nirvana’s Nevermind!), Apple is giving everyone the chance to huddle around their TV set again playing SEGA Genesis classic Sonic the Hedgehog.

That’s because the original platformer featuring everyone’s favorite blue-spined, ring-collecting, chili dog-eating speedster just landed on Apple TV — with sequels Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic CD following later this month.

How two Sonic fans brought an aging franchise back to life on iOS

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Sonic the Hedgehog lives on in iOS, thanks to Stealth and Taxman. Photo: SEGA

In the summer of 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog was, quite simply, the greatest thing Simon Thomley had ever seen.

At the age of 11, Thomley had graduated to the SEGA Genesis gaming console after years as a Nintendo Entertainment System player. Sonic had lured him to SEGA’s system, and he wasn’t alone: The spiny blue speedster captured the hearts of gamers everywhere. By the end of the year, SEGA had sped past Nintendo on console sales.

A series of sequels followed. While many people remember the Sonic games primarily as a relic of the ’90s, they become an unlikely career for Thomley and his developer friend Christian Whitehead. Better known as Stealth and Taxman, they brought remastered versions of classic Sonic games to iOS for a new generation of gamers to enjoy.

“This has always been my hobby, but I’m lucky enough that this has now become my full-time job,” Thomley tells Cult of Mac. The pair brought finely tuned official versions of Sonic games to iOS — although recent turmoil at SEGA has thrown the future of their highly regarded work into doubt.

Speed to the App Store for Sega’s super Sonic the Hedgehog sale

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Sonic 1
Sonic
Photo: Sega

Anyone whose iOS device is missing a certain speedy blue hedgehog can rejoice this week, thanks to a new sale that has seen Sega drop the price of several of its Sonic iOS games.

Currently both Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 can be picked up for just 99¢ each (down from their normal price of $2.99), while Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is now available for free.