Well, here's our first genuine surprise since the official reveal of Sonic 4: Sega, and its cherished Sonic Team studio, isn't developing the game.
Instead, Osaka-based Dimps will be. Best known for their recent work on Street Fighter IV with Capcom (and also for its work on Dragonball Z's cartoon fighters), Dimps will also be known to Sonic fans as the developers behind games like Sonic Rush and Sonic Advance.
Those titles are among the best Sonic games in recent memory, showing that while the blue hedgehog continued to blunder through ill-suited 3D environments, there was still life in the concept of a fast, 2D Sonic game.
Meaning this is a rare example of smart thinking by Sega Japan, realising that if this game had any chance of success whatsoever, it was best to put it in the hands of somebody not only experienced at decent 2D Sonic games, but who also did not have "Sonic Team" on their business cards.