"Sonic Battle'' Ships for the Game Boy Advance

CALABASAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 7, 2004--THQ Inc. and SEGA(R) of America today announced that "Sonic Battle" for the Nintendo(R) Game Boy(R) Advance is now available at retail outlets across North America. Coinciding with SEGA's new "Sonic Heroes" console release, "Sonic Battle" will benefit from Sega's multi-million dollar "Sonic Heroes" marketing campaign.

"We're thrilled to be working with SEGA to bring another high quality handheld title to Sonic fans, building on the continued success of the Sonic brand," said Peter Dille, senior vice president, worldwide marketing, THQ. "Game Boy Advance owners are in for another action-packed Sonic experience with this year's offering."

"With THQ's handheld publishing expertise, we have had tremendous success leveraging the Sonic brand on the Game Boy Advance platform," said Hide Irie, President and COO, SEGA of America. "We're pleased to bring 'Sonic Battle' to the expanding Game Boy Advance marketplace."

About "Sonic Battle"

In "Sonic Battle" for the Game Boy Advance, players can enjoy both single and multi-player gameplay modes -- Story, Challenge and Battle -- as well as five multi-player Mini Games. Players will also have the ability to fight as one of eight characters (plus two hidden) including Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow. Sonic fans will be able to select one of eleven arenas (plus one hidden), set the rules and customize attacks. In Story mode, players can develop their own AI fighting partner. "Sonic Battle" also features four-player battles using the Game Boy Advance(R) Game Link(R) Cable.