Estimated Release Dates and Box Art for Sonic Heroes Hits the Web

It seems like nobody can wait for the release of Sonic Heroes, as a number of "estimated arrival" dates have appeared online that suggest an early 2004 launch date for the game in the West.

Gamespot kicked things off by publishing a news story that speculates an "estimated time of arrival" (ETA) of January 15th, 2004 for the upcoming multi-platform platformer.

Meanwhile, a listing on Nintendo-centric fansite Cube-Europe points to some more specific worldwide dates: January 30th 2004 for Europe, October 2003 for Japan and November 11th 2003 for Australia. The website did not state where it got these dates from, so it could also be an educated guess, although its US release date matches that of Gamespot's.

Cube-Europe also posted a packshot for the Gamecube version of Sonic Heroes, which you can see above. As with the dates, it could be placeholder, but it looks pretty genuine.

For the record, SEGA's official website still only lists a "first quarter 2004" release window for Sonic Heroes, so until SEGA confirms the above we can treat this as a rumour for now. Gamespot released a small description of the game, which you can read below.

Quote

Sega's legendary mascot makes his historical multi-platform debut, and this time the adventure comes with several all-new gameplay twists. Control 3 playable characters simultaneously, using Sonic's speed, Knuckles' power, and tails' ability to fly as you explore massive worlds. Team-based gameplay lets you as one of 4 teams for a total of 12 playable characters, each with their own unique signature moves. Each team boasts multiple special stages with unique missions, as well as their own story using each character's special powers. Sonic and his friends combine forces to battle the ultimate evil.

We'll update you all on more news on this as we get it.