Psssh, I don't care if it's pre-rendered, hand drawn, low res or HD. What gets me is that Sega buys into this mentality that old school Sonic isn't a 'real' game anymore. It only belongs on handhelds (Sonic Rush) or as a downloadable game (Sonic 4). Funnier still is Sega doesn't think they can get folks to buy into a full Sonic game for a full game price, so they're parsing it out into episodes.
If NSMBWii proved anything it's that 2D Mario and (I gotta believe!) 2D Sonic can sell. Not because of production values and such (though it can be nice) but because 2D sidescrolling games still resonate with people. I don't have actual numbers but I'd be willing to bet that even in the downloadable ghetto the Sonic rereleases and games like Splosion Man do well too.

