Sonic is coming to Sydney week, not only to celebrate the launch of Sonic Origins Plus, as well as Sonic’s 32nd birthday, but also to launch a brand new speedrunning competition, the Sonic State of Origins Plus Clash. Run by AusSpeedruns and Five Star Games, the competition pits the best Sonic speedrunners from NSW and QLD against each other at Fortress Sydney on Friday 23 June.

NSW will be wearing blue, with Sonic representing them, as they field Werster (c), 3Pills and LaceyStripes. Queensland’s team consists of Raikou (c), Stylonide and The8bitbeast, wearing red and adopting Knuckles as their mascot.

It all sounds like the kind of shenanigans Sonic himself would be down for, but it’s all also for a great cause too. All parties involved in the event are donating proceeds to Cure Cancer, an Australian charity who Australian gamers may be familiar with through their gaming arm, Game On Cancer, which aims to support early-career cancer researchers.

The Clash itself will consist of 8 events designed by Werster, captain of NSW, and can not only be simulcast across the Twitch AusSpeedruns channel , but tickets are also available for attendees for $10 on Eventbrite.