Sega has announced the retailer-exclusive pre-order bonuses for Sonic Lost World, both in-game bonuses that will help you make your way through the game. One of them is causing a bit of a stir, though, causing Sega to respond with assurances that it won't sell extra lives.

A pre-order at GameStop includes an in-game Omochao RC gadget, which helps you catch rings when playing the co-op mode. The more contentious offering is the one at Amazon: 25 extra lives so you have more of a cushion to take risks. That raised some concerns about game balance--either making it too hard to do without the extras or too easy with them--along with the notion that Sega could sell extra lives akin to a microtransaction-based model.

Sega's Aaron Webber told Kotaku that selling extra lives "will never be a thing in a Sonic game. The extra lives are a way to let you have a bit more fun being reckless if you want to be."