We know that Sonic Generations represents a sort of back-to-basics approach, with a focus on classic and modern Sonic gameplay. But is it so back-to-basics that it's devoid of Sonic's extended cast of characters? We asked director Hiroshi Miyamoto if Sonic's friends would show up in the new game.

"We really wanted to encapsulate 20 years of Sonic characters," Miyamoto told Joystiq, "so we've got those really memorable bosses, we've got memorable rivals as well that you can play against; so far we've announced Metal Sonic and Shadow."

In addition to those adversarial characters, "There's many friends in there as well." He added something that almost made us really scared: "We've tried to include as many friends as possible." Oh ...

"They're not playable, but there are many friends." Oh!