Isolated Island Zone

Thoughts on SOPA/PIPA

2012-01-18T13:45:00.000-05:00

UPDATE 01/19/2012 @ 2:30AM: And the blog has been restored. Hope this post was useful in some way.

--------

The "blacked out" banner used on 01/18/2012

I'm not much of a protester, I suppose it's not in my nature. But I feel like in a gesture of solidarity, as well as the fact that SOPA is every a bit of a threat to me (and not just because I run a Sonic fan-blog), I should do my part no matter how small it may be. So today, I've "removed" Sonic from the header. I'm also going to temporarily remove all viewable posts for the day. I don't know what it can do, but I feel like I should at least do something.

The protest from major websites like Google, Wikipedia, deviantArt, Mozilla, Reddit, The Sonic Stadium, Sonic Retro, and so many others (the last two are major communities for both fans and SEGA) will hopefully send a very clear and powerful message that SOPA and PIPA should not go through. For more information on the bills, Google has a great petition page that one can sign and read up on SOPA/PIPA and why they are such threats to the Internet. Sign it, read it, spread it around.

There are many other pages that people can get information, such as information to contact their representatives. I'm not as articulate as I'd like to be, so I don't think they'll be getting any e-mails/phone calls from me, but I highly recommend looking into it if you feel like voicing your opinion to someone who can effect some change.

For more information on SOPA and PIPA, go here: http://sopastrike.com/. Thank you. The blog will be restored early tomorrow.

--------

While I'm on the subject about this, I figured now would be as good a time as any to comment on something SOPA related that SEGA did last week. It concerns a fan who wrote to SEGA asking about their individual stance when the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) supports SOPA. Unfortunately, SEGA had given an automated response. SEGA soon caught their mistake and hilarity ensues.

I'm certainly glad SEGA caught their mistake, but this doesn't seem any more appropriate than the bot response. The video, while funny, was just a poor attempt at sweeping the real issue under the rug. I think it would be more professional and respectable of SEGA to just say that they can't publicly speak about it, rather than just let their community people dick around in front of a camera for a minute. That's just my two cents though. You can call it "crowd control," but it doesn't address the problem at all, and that's why it bugs me.

Sonic Generations: Impressions

2011-11-11T22:30:00.000-05:00

"The only thing better than Sonic... is two Sonics!" ~Recent TV spot

I'd be lying if I said I was totally excited for Sonic Generations. After the initial announcements and Iizuka's lame reasons for stating why a Wii version was not in the works, I tried to soften the blow of missing out on Sonic's 20th anniversary celebration (and tried to keep my annoyance in check when people constantly told me "just buy a new console and shut up."). I certainly had high hopes that the game would be satisfactory for those that played it, and like Colors from last year, would please the critics and further elevate Sonic's stature back to being respected... even if this meant dipping a little too far into the nostalgia well to win back those "fans" that had claimed to have "given up" (yet they hang around and complain even when they don't play the games...).

Then a shining light appeared... or at least a rumor at the time. The year's worst kept secret, one that kept "accidentally" spilling out on online retailers the world over (or at least in Europe), that a PC version might be in the works. Eventually SEGA fessed up and made a formal announcement, though I've always wondered why they didn't just come out and announce it immediately instead of letting the rumor mill spin a while? Well, whatever the reason, it got me a little hyped up... I own a PC after all, and hopefully it'll run the game...? I remember double, triple and quadruple checking my system specs on my five-year old PC hoping I at least met the minimum requirements and, thankfully, I did.

After a wait that felt like forever just to get the gameinstalled, a lot of swearing and headaches getting it to launch, I eventually got to just sit down and play the game.

I hit the "Enter" key and, much like how Sonic Colors throws you straight into Tropical Resort, Generations drops you into Green Hill Zone Act 1, the "Classic" Sonic stage. And, yeah, I said "Enter" key; I played through this game on a keyboard. But more on that later. The "Classic" style of gameplay is exactly what it says on the tin: it's classic Sonic! The gameplay emulates the original games almost down to the letter. There might be a couple hiccups or oddities in this particular variation, notably Sonic feels slower/heavier at times, seeming to not accelerate as quickly as you'd expect or coming up short on a few jumps, but it doesn't really detract from gameplay (depending on who you ask, anyway). As this is "Classic" Sonic, he only has the Spin Dash as his standard, default attack, and it works quite well. Some have called it overpowered, but it feels just right to me; I think giving it that extra punch helps at times, though it's important to try not to abuse it, lest you send Sonic flying off a cliff (a lesson I've learned the hard way more than once...).

Once that act is cleared, you are greeted with the game's first cutscene, and the plot (what little there is...) is put into effect. It's Sonic's birthday (the "Modern" Sonic), his friends celebrate, giant monster comes shrieking out of a portal, opens smaller portals and drags all of Sonic's friends into them, leaving Sonic in a white limbo. And so begins Green Hill Zone Act 2, the "Modern" Sonic level. This time you are in control of Sonic with all his moves from Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors in effect: the homing attack, the boost, sidestep, grinding, drift, etc. Where the "Classic" version of the level emphasized a little more platforming and the use of physics to get around, the "Modern" level focuses on speed. That said, it's anything but the "boost-fests" people love accusing this style of gameplay for. Sure, you can keep boosting all you want, but that doesn't mean that there isn't skill involved in navigating and completing the levels and earning your "S" rank––it's only a part of that. And in the gigantic, "Modern" levels of Sonic Generations, "boosting to win" is not always the answer (again, a lesson I've learned the hard way).

Both styles of gameplay work well, and it's quite nice seeing how many "memorable" stages have been reimagined for a whole new Sonic era.

The "classic" Green Hill is not a rehash of the original map from Sonic the Hedgehog. It's largely inspired, but has very few similarities in layout with its original counterpart. It does share the common level elements, such as swinging platforms, hidden paths that can be revealed through spinning and "tunnel paths" (for lack of a better term) that Sonic can spin through. It also has a few elements that also remind players of other "Green Hill" levels, particularly the corkscrew tracks from Sonic the Hedgehog 2's Emerald Hill Zone. The original music composed by Masato Nakamura is the default music that plays in all its 16-bit glory; it might have been "remastered," but the track sounds the same.

The "modern" version of Green Hill Zone was a blast to play through once I got used to the controls, and after the rather disappointing update the level received in Sonic Adventure 2, the "new" version created by the current team in the "modern" style is a refreshing and enjoyable update. Green Hill Zone Act 2 feels, in some ways, almost like the tutorial level for "Modern" Sonic. More than any other level I've played through, this was the level that seems to really get players acquainted with almost all of "Modern's" abilities and the control style. There are badnik chains to homing attack, grind rail and wall jump sections, moments when you have to quickly react use Sonic's slide ability to get under tight spots, and even a couple hidden paths that can be revealed if you know where to look (the famous "breakable bridge" section that was shown in all the old demos comes to mind). The "new" level is complemented by a rocking, ska-esque rendition of the classic Green Hill theme.

In just this level alone, there are multiple pathways that one can explore in either the "Classic" or "Modern," and this remains true for the later levels as well. So, in short, it's clear Sonic Team "gets it" when it comes to proper Sonic stage design. Hirokazu Yasuhara would be proud.

In general, I've had a blast playing Sonic Generations, and having recently completed the main "campaign" of the game, I feel mostly satisfied. The keyboard controls I've been using (I do not have a PC controller) took some tweaking and getting used to to get a reasonably comfortable result that won't cause me to develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome at least. It doesn't work perfectly, and I've specifically noticed it's impossible for me to perform Sonic's drift ability (it just doesn't activate), though I've heard a recent patch/fix for this is being taken care of by SEGA, so once I update my copy, I'll give that a go and see how I do with that.

For the moment, I'm currently clearing most of the remaining missions, collecting Red Star Rings and unlocking new music tracks that I can insert into the various levels, missions and boss battles (with some simply awesome results!). The game certainly has replay value almost through the roof, much like Colors did before it. It's nearly impossible to not have to go back to a level and see what little secrets you may have missed on your first run through, and it's genuinely surprising and wonderful to see what SEGA has done to update these various stages.

I've had my reservations about Sonic Generations in the past, mostly due to the marketing and what I felt was pandering to retro nostalgia, but I'll cover those in my full review (which should hopefully be written this month...). In spite of those reservations, Generations has won me over with its incredible level design and the ways in which SEGA and Sonic Team have paid fitting tribute to the Hedgehog's past 20 years.

Sonic Generations is now available in the US for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC digital download. The 3DS version will also be released on November 22. The upcoming review will be based only on the PC version of the game.

20 Years...

2011-06-23T19:32:00.011-04:00

20 years ago, my family and I lived in a small apartment in Brooklyn. My earliest memories are of this place. When I was really young my mother says I enjoyed playing "Shoot the Duck" on Nintendo (aka Duck Hunt). The NES was my sister's system, and we both got quite a bit of mileage out of it. We played a ton of games on there together: Ducktales, Mickey Mouscapade, The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout, the Super Mario Bros. series, etc. Quite frankly, I can hardly remember them all anymore, save for the Mario series and a bit of Ducktales (probably because my sister just has to remind me of the embarrassing songs I made up to go with the game's BGM... I was three, dammit!).

Childhood fandom: Not for resale.

So by the time I was introduced to Sonic the Hedgehog, I was no stranger to the world of video games. I don't remember the timing, I think I was in kindergarten when I discovered Sonic, the cool blue dude who has continued to be a part of my life nearly two decades. It was at a cousin's birthday part, he showed me and my sister Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on his SEGA Genesis, and immediately I was hooked. He punched in the codes for level select and debug so we could play as Super Sonic. It was a blast. I think Chemical Plant Zone was the first Sonic level I vividly remember, and it's still one of my favorites (that music!) I don't really remember much else, but later that year, I got my own Genesis with Sonic 2 packed in for Christmas and so began one nerd's lifelong obsession.

At present, I'm a 22 year old college graduate trying to mentally prepare myself for the next stage of my life. I'm not really going anywhere at the moment, which is probably the only reason I'm finding time to write a blog post celebrating a fictional character's birthday.

I suppose now is as good a time as any for me to answer the question: Why am I still a Sonic fan? It's a good question. Why am I still fan?

The reason is because Sonic was one of the main reasons I even pursued the path I'm on. As a kid, I was so in love with the world of Sonic the Hedgehog, I'd long since wanted to be a part of it–as an artist. It sparked my imagination with vivid imagery and worlds filled with secrets for fans like me to discover. The characters, much like the Looney Tunes of old, were alive to me. This was even more true with the old cartoons (the Saturday morning rendition in particular) and, of course, Archie's comic book series.

As a kid, I went nuts at the idea of there even being a Sonic comic book series; I loved it! My first issue, I will never forget, was issue 27*, which featured a story written by Ken Penders, and illustrated by Art Mawhinney (pencils) and Rich Koslowski (inks), that involved Sonic losing his memory temporarily and being recruited by Dr. Robotnik to seek out and take out the Freedom Fighters. What was really exciting about this issue though, was the preview for Archie's upcoming adaptation of the then brand new Game Gear title Sonic Triple Trouble. I knew right away I would have to get this issue; at the time, I didn't have a Game Gear and was excited to read a comic based on a new game (humorously, I initially called Fang the Sniper, aka Nack the Weasel, "Triple Trouble." I'd like to go back in time and slap myself for that one!). Among the older Archie stories, this Triple Trouble special is still one of my favorites. Actually, I wore out my original copy from reading it so many times, but I luckily picked up a replacement a few years after the first printing (which is now preserved in a polybag, while I just crack open my copy of Sonic Select vol. 1 when I want to review that story. Speaking of reviews...).

*Ironically, I did forget when I started writing. I thought it was issue 29. Doh!

The artist that really blew me away though, was Patrick Spaziante, aka Spaz. His work on the Sonic book over the years, primarily his covers, were such a huge inspiration to me that I always wished I could be like Spaz. I still do. I'm not at that level yet, and I'm convinced that my drawing style is probably headed in a completely different direction from where he is, but I learned some important lessons over the years from artists like Spaz–do what you love. Walk your own path. Above all else: have fun. I learned the same lessons from the Sonic series itself.

Spaz is still an active artist in Archie's stable. And is still putting it down with excellence.

While my dream to be part of this series is still just that, I keep on drawing and keeping up with the comic book series, hoping one day my portfolio is at a point at which I'm satisfied and confident that I can make a worthwhile contribution to the world's most way past cool comic. Hopefully I get to that point soon...!

So that's all well and good, but what about the games?

I still enjoy playing them to this day. Sure, the franchise has seen more than its fair share of low points, it hasn't been all bad. At the very least, I've always managed to have some fun with most of the games I've played. I always try to look at any game objectively, and try to see what it has to offer and whether or not it can stand on its own merits; for me, it's all about the experience, not the hype or the nostalgia. I suppose that's how I've kept myself from getting jaded. If nothing else, the games alone have offered near infinite material for discussion, regardless of where your fandom may lie. You can easily have pages and pages worth of forum topics just talking about the characters. Or maybe you're more technical and want to dig into the guts of the games themselves. Or maybe you want to talk about the comics or the cartoons. Or the music. Or the merchandise. Whatever you dig, there's always something there to talk about.

I suppose that's why I'm still a fan: the conversations I have had, and the connections I have made with others, all because of a mutual interest in a video game. While I can easily say this about any other fandom, of the ones I'm interested in, Sonic always seemed to offer the most, and still has more to give as the years go on and new games and media are released. This blog surely would not exist otherwise.

It's hard to believe it's been 20 years, and it's even harder for me to believe that Sonic has remained a relevant interest in my geeky life for almost as long. It's been a long haul for the blue boy, and the road had plenty of bumps along the way (eight years worth, in fact. 1998-2006), but he's still running. And, honestly, that's all that matters to me. I don't know if Sonic will ever permanently disappear, meaning SEGA goes under and the franchise goes with it, but with the huge following the franchise has gained over the last 20 years along with its rich and diverse history, it'll never truly go away. The fans will keep it alive. I'm sure of it.

Happy birthday, Sonic.

Keep on runnin'.

Sonic still goes on evolving...

-------
Be sure to read BBC's retrospective on Sonic! Check it out here.

Sonic Generations Announced!

2011-04-18T20:56:00.003-04:00

So, for the most part, I've been out of the loop on Sonic related news over the past few weeks. I did manage to catch the Facebook exclusive teaser that featured both the modern and classic Sonic designs running alongside each other. But now, as everyone else on the Internet is already well aware of, Sonic's 20th Anniversary game, Sonic Generations has been officially revealed by SEGA.

Check the trailer:

For the sake of my own sanity, I'm not going to look at the comments. I don't want to relapse to what happened with Sonic 4's announcement.

Together at last! Happy now, fanboys?

So far what I've seen looks promising. It's consistent with SEGA's attempts to merge both the gameplay of the classic Sonic titles, while also establishing a formula for a modern-styled game. But now SEGA's gone a step further, adding the option to play as Sonic in either his classic or modern appearances. What's really interesting is the fact that each version has gameplay totally unique to them; classic Sonic seems to lean towards side-scrolling 2D gameplay, using Sonic's classic moveset while modern Sonic opts for the Unleashed formula, with a mix of 3D and 2D sections and a moveset reflecting what Sonic's used in more recent games. The first level shown in the gameplay trailer is Green Hill, and it seems that Sonic Team is looking to take gamers on a trip down memory lane, going through a variety of levels from across Sonic's 20 year history (uh, do us a favor and leave anything connected to Soleanna out of it though, would you SEGA?).

It'll be interesting to see how Generations develops along the way. The only thing I'm displeased with right now is the lack of a Wii version (I don't own a 360 or PS3), but hopefully Wii owners won't get left out in the cold in the end (no, the new Mario and Sonic doesn't count!). I can't really keep up with the news as frequently as I'd like at the moment, but I'll keep an eye on things.

In the mean time, I'd recommend keeping up with the news at more frequently updated sites, like the Sonic Stadium. Here's some screenshots to whet your appetites.

Also for a random bit of commentary, I'm really digging the design of the Generations logo. It actually looks to take a few cues from the old Sonic box art used in Japan for the Genesis/Megadrive games. It's thankfully less busy than those boxes, but it's a nice little callback to those beginnings.

Shout Out to the Old Earth...!

2011-03-09T09:00:00.007-05:00

I don't know if I've ever made it particularly clear, what with my several failed attempts to actually maintain this thing, but I generally love the music that has been produced for the franchise over the last 20 years. While I do think there are a few soundtracks that are either forgettable or don't really "sound" like a real Sonic soundtrack, I don't want to make that post right now... maybe in a year or so when the feeling to write again has possessed me. I kid, I kid. It might only be a few months. Maybe.

Right now, I want to focus on the positive for a bit and talk about one of my favorite soundtracks: Sonic Adventure. Now I'm usually the first to admit that Sonic Adventure is a game that the years have not been kind to, and I honestly think it's a bit overrated these days. Not quite as overrated as Sonic CD, but it's up there. I've found that it's certainly a more enjoyable experience by comparison at least, and the game is not without its merits, but all the same the game just hasn't aged well. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is a different story.

I think what stood out about Sonic Adventure's soundtrack to me is that it had what felt like a distinctly "Sonic sound". It definitely felt like a step up, a logical evolution, of the groundwork laid by musical talents like Masato Nakamura (Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2), Howard Drossin and Jun Senoue (among others, though according to Drossin the way the music was credited/attributed in Sonic 3 & Knuckles isn't actually accurate) on the Genesis trilogy. Pieces of this evolution after Sonic & Knuckles but before Sonic Adventure can be heard in games like Chaotix and Sonic 3D Blast (the latter of which was composed by Jun Senoue, Sonic Adventure's sound director). The advancements in gaming technology were certainly a big help, especially when SEGA jumped to optical media. The word "consistent" comes to mind. The various artists that worked on this game, most of whom worked on games like Chaotix and NiGHTS into Dreams, really brought their A-game for Sonic's first true 3D adventure.

Today, I only want to talk about one track from Sonic Adventure's soundtrack though. The track of my choice? Tikal's Theme composed and arranged by Fumie Kumatani. Sure, I can talk about how I thought Tony Harnell ripped it on "It Doesn't Matter" or how great I think Jun Senoue's guitar work is, but that seems easy and most people have talked endlessly about his contributions, I'm sure. In fact, I'm finding a lot of my favorite songs off this album were actually composed by Kumatani-sensei (OK, maybe not "Fakery Way," but that song's just freaky!). The theme of E-102 Gamma and "Crazy Robo", the theme of E-101 Beta, stand out to me as two of the strongest examples of her work on just this soundtrack. Individually they're great tracks and really complement one another in terms of tempo. But listen to those tracks back to back and I think you can hear how Kumatani-sensei used the two tracks to tell the story of the two robot brothers. I could go on, but I don't want to get too sidetracked (which is quite easy for me).

So, first off, take some time and listen to Tikal's Theme, embedded for your convenience.

Tikal was a character that was only around for one game. Two, technically, if you count her playable appearance in the VS. mode of Sonic Adventure 2. Though, for her brief story appearance, truly nothing more than a character of the day, she made for an interesting story. It was a mere peak into the history of the Sonic universe, one that didn't really clarify much of anything for the player as far as how Knuckles ended up in the position he was in, or how Angel Island came to be or anything of that sort. It did, however, provide an interesting one-off character who served as a guide for the player and the characters. Tikal was a ghost of the past; trapped in her own despair, she helped our heroes along on their own personal quests all the while cluing them in to the past, as if to warn them that history is doomed to repeat itself if Eggman and Chaos are not stopped. I believe part of the purpose of these flashbacks was to also make Sonic and friends actually try and understand that Chaos isn't all that bad either.

Personally, I think Sonic Team missed a golden opportunity to do something with her story, and maybe answer a few of the questions asked in the beginning and throughout Knuckles's story. Stopping Eggman and Chaos came first. Then again, when I first played Sonic Adventure I was 11. I didn't care. I didn't need much more than that. It was a Sonic game, and, at the time, it was a damned fine one at that (though I've found my opinion has changed significantly in these last 11 years, but that's a post for another time).


Tikal: Sonic's Schala? No comment...

So, yeah, Tikal: cool story, equally cool theme.

But what about it? I think for a game filled to brim with poppy, high energy, modern sounds that range across genres like rock, jazz, rap, pop, etc., her theme just stood out. The mystical, otherworldly qualities of this particular song, tied with the mystery of Tikal herself, is what makes it so memorable to me.

As I think more about Tikal and her story, I'm reminded of Schala from Chrono Trigger. In a weird way, Tikal seems like a Sonic series analog to Schala to me. From the tragic histories of the characters and the fates of their respective civilizations, the Knuckles Clan and the Enlightened Ones of Zeal, right down to the general sound of their respective themes (though let me stress they are totally unique). For those wondering just what the heck I'm talking about, you can check out Schala's Theme here. If you don't know me, I should stress that I'm a HUGE Chrono Trigger fan. While there are obvious differences in the characters' stories and their own motivations, there is still plenty to both characters that cause me to make the connection. None of this, of course, is to imply that such a connection was intentional on the part of the developers. It's just how my mind works. The only time I thought I'd ever speak "Chrono Trigger" and "Sonic" in the same breath would be on a top 10 list; I've played both Chrono Trigger and Sonic Adventure damn near to death, and I'm genuinely interested in this sort of thing so I might revisit this topic in the future, but in the meantime, let's get back to the music, shall we?

So why did I choose to talk about Tikal and her theme? I was inspired to re-listen and re-evaluate the track after listening to a remix on one of my favorite sites: Overclocked Remix. It also got me thinking a bit more about the actual story of Sonic Adventure and the character of Tikal herself. This particular remix was arranged by halc, who I think is primarily known for doing more chiptune based remixes. He's also the director of the soon to be released OCR project, "The Sound of Speed," a remix album for the original Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack! I'm quite looking forward to this one; I've generally loved a lot of OCR's albums projects (with the exception of "Hedgehog Heaven," the Sonic 2 remix album) and the previews I've heard of "The Sound of Speed" have already got me impatiently awaiting its release. Plus, hey, free music is always nice. You can expect me to drop a link to it on here when it's released.

But, anyway, I present to you (whoever's reading this...) halc's remix, "Peacemaker". It's a fine track, and it's largely familiar and faithful sounding to the source, but it's also got a great, jazzy vibe that I think fits the mood of the original perfectly. It's cool, sweet and catchy!

It's a shame post 16-bit Sonic remixes are so rare on Overclocked Remix; it's arrangements like this one that make me wish that there was more. OCR's stable of talented musicians have a ton of material to use for inspiration from the franchise's last 12 years alone. So hopefully this track will open the flood gates for more fan interpretations of later Sonic music! There are a few remixes of later Sonic music floating around OCR, but, like I said, they're rare (I can probably count them on one hand), and the number is practically microscopic when compared to the number of Ice Cap Zone remixes alone!

Hope ya'll enjoyed Tikal's theme and halc's remix, "Peacemaker", as much as I did writing about them!

You can download "Peacemaker" here.

You can also read the respective thread for Overclocked Remix's "The Sound of Speed" Project here.

"Tails" of Archie: A Brief History of Solo Stories, Spinoffs and Adaptations

2010-07-18T10:00:00.028-04:00

I'm running late with this (big surprise), but here we are!

The original intention was to do an issue-by-issue summary and commentary for the Tails Adventure arc of Sonic Universe. However, as I began writing this post, I started getting knee-deep into some of the Archie comic history about adaptations and Tails' earlier solo outings. Instead of trimming it down and getting to what I was supposed to write about... I decided to go in this direction and talk a bit of history instead. Just thank your lucky stars I'm not covering Knuckles... yet.

Anyway, without further delay, hit the jump and let's get things rolling!

Tails' earliest solo adventures for the Game Gear, Tails Adventure (left) and Tails' Sky Patrol (right), released in 1995.

Back in 1995, two Tails solo adventures were released for SEGA's handheld, the Game Gear. You read that right, TWO! First there was Tails' Sky Patrol, a game that wouldn't appear in any form on American (or European, for that matter) shores until the release of Sonic Adventure DX for the Nintendo Gamecube as an extra (along with a handful of other Game Gear titles to be released once more on the Gems Collection). A few months later, SEGA would publish Tails Adventure, and eventually release it to Western terriortories within months of the Japanese release, a traditional platformer set on Cocoa Island before Tails met Sonic. The story begins with Tails taking a nap in the middle of the forest when the island is suddenly attacked by the Battle Bird Armada and the forest is set on fire! Now it's up to Tails, armed with his mechanical prowess and his submarine, the Sea Fox, to rid Cocoa Island of this new threat.

The Battle Bird Armada as they originally appeared in Tails Adventure.

Personally, from what little I managed to play of Sky Patrol, I found it uncontrollable and frustrating. I could barely get through the opening tutorial level before I decided to load up something else. I'm not sure if that says more about me or the game itself, but maybe I'll give it another spin a day (I'm not exactly rushing to it though). Tails Adventure, on the other hand, was a game I remember buying back when I was a kid. I never beat it, and the Game Gear's tendency to suck batteries dry and the use of the way past outdated password-save system didn't help matters any. Not to mention my Game Gear, much like my 32X, is completely out of commission now. However, thanks to its inclusion on Sonic Gems Collection, I plan to give it another go. While not nearly as fast-paced as the regular Sonic series, it's a fun little game that focuses on platforming and using Tails' various inventions to explore the island and defeat enemies.

On the comics side of things, Tails was striking out on his own too! His first solo story was featured in the Sonic In Your Face special issue (which also happens to be the first number 1 special of the Archie series). In this short story, written and penciled by Scott Shaw! (who previously handled penciling duties on the first three issues of the original Sonic the Hedgehog mini-series), our boy is making his way through the Great Forest... to attend a Sonic convention! Robotnik suddenly attacks and Tails is the only one who can stop the mad doctor from hurting any innocents. Next up, in the Triple Trouble adaptation, Tails receives his submarine, the Sea Fox, as a gift from Rotor. Though he isn't allowed to actually leave the harbor (Sally wouldn't allow Rotor to give it the oil it needs to work), Tails can't say "no" to an oil-covered seagull that needs help! Octobot, Robotnik's underwater sub-boss, is capturing aquatic Mobians and roboticizing them for his master! However, Tails, after fueling up the Sea Fox with the oil from the seagull, makes short work of Octobot and saves the day.

In issues 28 and 29 of the regular Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, Tails, angry with Sonic and the Freedom Fighters for treating him like a little kid, hops into the Sea Fox and heads out on a solo adventure. While out on his own, Tails comes across a deserted island where he meets Fiona Fox, his first love. Unfortunately for Tails, this is a trap set by Dr. Robotnik and the "Fiona*" he fell for is nothing more than an automaton created by Robotnik. Tails attacks the doctor out of anger, but is quickly stopped by "Fiona," who attempts to drown him in the ocean, allowing Robotnik ample time to get away. Before "Fiona" can finish our young hero off, she rusts. Heartbroken, the young fox then learns of Robotnik's plans in Downunda and heads out to stop him and his sub-boss all by himself, leaving the rusted "Fiona" behind, as a symbol of his "lost youth."

(*The real Fiona would eventually appear in the Mighty backup story, loosely based on the SegaSonic the Hedgehog Arcade game, in issues 26-28 of the Knuckles the Echidna series. She would later become a recurring character in the comic.)

The Tails mini-series, written by Mike Gallagher and illustrated by Dave Manak, released from December 1995 to February 1996. Covers by Patrick "Spaz" Spaziante.

And so begins Tails' first big solo adventure! A three-part mini-series set in Downunda. Tails would meet the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters, a group of aquatic Mobians trying to keep the oceans clean from Robotnik's pollution; the Downunda Freedom Fighters; Athair, Knuckles' estranged ancestor who tells Tails about his role as the "Chosen One", and do battle with Crocbot, Robotnik's regional sub-boss.

Tails has easily become one of the most dynamic characters in the entire series, growing up from a mere sidekick to a full-fledged hero in his own right (Chosen One, indeed!). Originally, Tails' high intelligence and mechanic skills were rarely, if ever touched upon, probably because it wasn't clearly shown in the earlier games (outside of his repairing the Tornado back in Sonic 2 for the Genesis and his workshop in Tails Adventure). By the 3D-era, the Archie team slowly started working more of that in to his story. He eventually becomes more confident, if not outright cocky at times, capable of holding his own, not needing to rely on Sonic and the others so much. There was even a time when Tails fought with Sonic! He got a few good hits in, too (see issues 178-179, "House of Cards" for all the details). I have to admit, I didn't think I'd enjoy seeing the little furball beat up the real hero, but that is probably one of my favorite stories in recent years!

Tails sucker punches Sonic! From issue 178, "House of Cards Pt. 1". Art by Tracy Yardley!

It's surprising to me that Archie didn't make an adaptation of Tails Adventure earlier. Unless, of course, they consider their mini-series a psuedo-adaptation to the game... even though it had almost nothing to do with the game (outside of starring Tails and having his submarine...). I don't really fault Archie (or, more accurately, its writers) for this. I assume most, if not all adaptations they did, were requested by SEGA to promote current games and to add new characters/story elements to better flesh out the canon at the time or to tie the series closer to the games. As the comic moved forward, this probably became more difficult, and may explain why most adaptations later were relegated to non-canon backup stories that served as advertisements for the games. Let's face it, the Archie Sonic canon is HUGE. The book tends to rely heavily on the readers' knowledge of past issues, so missing one book or more could leave a reader in the dark. Injecting every new character and storyline from the games would do little more than further complicate an already complicated storyline.

That's what makes the new Tails Adventure story arc such a surprising addition to the Archie Sonic mythology. Just last year, Archie managed to tie up a loose end from nine years ago: Sonic Adventure 2. The story was never fully adapted--though Shadow's survival after the battle with the FinalHazard was explained (rescued by a race of aliens called the Bem). Originally running in issue 98 of the regular series, it was a loose short story following Sonic's arrest and escape up until he was chased by the famous truck from City Escape. It took almost 100 issues, one series ending (Sonic X) and a new one beginning to finally bring it to a close (in Sonic Universe issue 2; the story is told in a series of flashbacks told from both Sonic's and Shadow's perspectives while they disarm Eggman's latest weapon). And now, Tails is back in the spotlight, in an all-new story updated to fit into the current canon. It may have taken 15 years to do so... but, hey, better late than never, right? And it's not like Tails hasn't had his fair share of panel time.

While I think the Archie comic has certainly improved over the years in the writing department, I think it still has a long way to go before it's a perfectly accessible comic book series. It's a bit easier these days, thanks to writer Ian Flynn breaking larger arcs into smaller mini-arcs that are easier to digest, but it's just as easy to get lost trying to understand the complex world Archie's writers of the past and present have crafted, with many disagreeing and reshaping the canon as they see fit during their tenure. But when you've got an easy to read, one-off story that doesn't require the reader to be too familiar with the universe, even inviting them in and turning them into fans, there's nothing like it. And even though it's Sonic's series, I think his supporting cast deserves the occasional nod too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get the next issue, I'm terribly behind!

Coming up: The Tails Adventure saga! Until next time, later!

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Sonic! IIZ Turns One!

2010-06-26T14:24:00.005-04:00

(If you can't tell by the title, I've been watching one too many episodes of DBZ lately...)

Art by MRi of Deviant Art.

So, technically, I'm three days late. But on the other hand I'm also about a month early. Why? Because on July 26th, 1991 Sonic sped his way into Japanese homes with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog for the SEGA Mega Drive (aka the Genesis)! Yes, Western gamers, we got Sonic first! So happy belated/early birthday, Sonic!

Truth be told, outside of silently acknowledging the day, I didn't really go out of my way to celebrate. In fact, I didn't even boot up one of the old Genesis games until today (Sonic 3 & Knuckles, in case you were wondering).

However, SEGA appears to be celebrating in style, by giving fans a chance to win a trip to Tokyo. Check out the details here.

Since I don't have much else to say, and with E3 finally complete, it's time to get back to the grind. If you want some kind of retrospective, hit the archives and check out what I wrote the day the blog launched (June 23, 2009) and then check out the superior Gametap retrospective posted on the same day. Also, Rave joined just hours after everything was posted and launched. So, happy belated anniversary to the IIZ! Hopefully we can keep this going for another year (and for that matter, we can continue beyond that). With many of the changes already underway and a new design already in place, we haven't anything new to really spring on you, the readers, at this time. However, be sure to check back next week for the very first comic review!

Until next time, later!

Sonic Colors @ E3

2010-06-15T14:17:00.012-04:00

So E3's in full swing and I'm feeling a little lightheaded from all the excitement of Nintendo's conference, but this is a Sonic blog, so I won't get into that. SEGA has just released another teaser for Sonic Colors, which shows more of what I assume is the opening animation. They have also released some new assets to their Flickr accounts, includng promotional artwork and screenshots for the both the DS and Wii versions. Check it all out after the jump!

If you haven't guessed by now, we just love using this shot every chance we get.

Hopefully some new gameplay videos will show up during this week, but this trailer seems to give a hint of some of Sonic's new Wisp powers. We also get a preview of the new theme, "Reach for the Stars" featuring singer Jean Paul Makhlouf of Cash Cash... an act I've never heard of. Eh, I'll roll with it I guess; I can't say I'm digging the auto-tuned, synth sound to it. It's no "Endless Possibilities" from Sonic Unleashed, but hey, maybe it'll grow on me. Maybe. And "Endless Possibilities" is probably one of my favorite 3D Sonic themes.

Interestingly, the European trailer features an instrumental version of the theme, check it out here.

And finally, some clean screenshots and Wisp artwork.

The Red Wisp is the DS exclusive fire power-up. To quote Rave, "Fireball Sonic confirmed!"

You can see everything at full resolution over on SEGA's Flickr account.

More E3 stuff on the way, I'm looking forward to gameplay footage, which will no doubt make its way to the tubes in the next couple of days. I'm also looking forward to some new Sonic 4 news. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go drool over the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword trailer some more while I wait.

Colorful Commentary: Now in High-Quality!

2010-06-03T21:36:00.005-04:00

Hey guys, Rave here. Welcome to Part 2 of Arun & Rave's Isolated Commentary on Sonic Colors, brought to you by Nintendo Power--"It's So Bad."

Today we'll be presenting our observations of Nintendo Power's 6-page Sonic Color feature, written by Steve Thomason and including a 2-page interview with Takashi Iizuka. The July 2010 issue arrived at New York's Nintendo World store at Rockefeller Plaza a full week in advance of it's June 8th release date. We have Metroidfan19 of NGG (and Diogenes of The Sonic Stadium for finding his find), Doctor Eggman of The Sonic Stadium, and Hero of Legend of Find the Computer Room to thank for the high-quality scans.

The first page treats us to three nice screenshots from the Wii version, including the one with giant sweet delicious donuts. Of particular note is the screenshot showing off the Yellow Drill move in 2-D--a telling indication of the game's platforming depth and particular Drill Dozer inspiration. Neato. The editorial starts off with a brief synopsis of the Sonic franchise: it's been sucking hard. Fortunately, the writer goes on to express hopeful excitement for Sonic Colors, even going so far as to compare it to Sonic Adventure's prerelease buzz. Bold claim, but admittedly a good sign: I loved Sonic Adventure.

Page 2 goes on to describe the defining gimmick of the game--The Wisps--and why it's not a cause for alarm or fan outrage. Steve Thomason compares the Wisps to the fundamental "tried-and-true video game concept that's served fellow platforming icon Mario for years: the power-up." Indeed; the last time Sonic's had multi-colored powerups was in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and that game sufficiently rocked my boxers. He was lucky if he got the speed shoes after that game. Fortunately, Thomason goes on to confirm the existence of 7-8 Wisps throughout the game, each of which are activated with the flick of the Wii-mote and have a gauge at the bottom for a time limit (the Yellow Wisp's limit is about 10 seconds). Now, comparing that with S3&K, 7-8 Wisps could effectively multiply gameplay diversity by a little less than 3 times, and that's saying a lot considering Sonic's previous games. So, all you numbnuts complaining about there being "new characters" ought to shut your faces. Lastly, the page also contains a brief blurb of the DS version's two exclusive Wisps, one of which we've already confirmed as Fireball Sonic. The blurb states that Fireball Sonic can activate mechanisms like a rocket platform (for rockets made of jelly-beans), and it's accompanied by a screenshot of Sweet Mountain zone (ORBINAUT INCLUDED zOMG!!)

Page 3 leaves off from Page 2 with mention of a "minimalistic, lighthearted, and appropriately goofy" narrative instead of a serious storyline involving uncomfortable romances, followed by descriptions of the 3-D and 2-D action. Based on the demo, Thomason notes there to be more 2-D perspective platforming than high-octane 3-D action, with the latter taking place on a fairly narrow path. Pacing doesn't seem to be a problem between the two perspectives, says Thomason, distinguishing it from its recent predecessors. Also mentioned are "tons of hidden paths accessible only with certain power-ups," which sounds really exciting as far as the 2-D segment is concerned. You can collect certain "emblems" buried in the ground, but Sega has not commented on their significance. What is certain is that if you don't time it right, the Yellow Wisp can run out on you and leave you fatally buried; try again! The only other Wisp available for play was the Green Wisp, which teleports Sonic from parts of the level to the next using antennae (Isn't that supposed to be the Cyan Laser?).

Page 4 describes in detail how Sonic Colors is supposed to play in-between levels, making an immediate comparison to Super Mario Galaxy--both span "a number of planets," says Thomason. The story goes that Doc Robotnik pulled all these planets together using a giant tractor beam and converted them into his diabolical planet-sized theme parks. His interest in each of the planets has to do with their individual Wisps, as well as the natural evil doctor instinct of conquering reality and the universe with technology. Interplanetary travel will be governed by a world select map, which revealed eight planets to choose from. Most notable planet? A giant Metal Sonic head. No, seriously. He might as well have just blurted it outright. Bad- to the Ass! But no screenshot. :(

More good news comes from the alleged Casino Night Zone-esque "fantastical" level design--and believe me, that word's been thrown around a lot to describe this game--in reference to the game's Tropical Resort zone. It also looks like Las Vegas in Space. The final boss for this stage is that huge robotic ferris wheel of death we showed earlier in a blurry photo, and the entire boss sequence is conducted in 2.5D. Another welcome shake-up to the boss sequences from Unleashed and Black Knight, and it's sure to be a rousing challenge. Thomason concludes this part of the feature with a brief description of the super candyfied Sweet Mountain, noting the existence of stage-specific gimmicks and a end-zone metal capsule containing trapped Wisps throughout the entire game. Oh, and lastly, he mentions there being no hiccup in frame rate and that the soundtrack is nice, upbeat, and perhaps most importantly: jazzy.

Man. They really have been listening. Good show, Sonic Team, good show! Take it away Arun. I'm afraid I'm too thrilled to continue.

------

With details on gameplay, level design and the Wisps already tackled, it’s my turn to relay what producer and longtime Sonic veteran Takashi Iizuka has to say. I found this part to be extremely interesting and appreciated his honest assessment of the Sonic franchise as a whole and his explanation for how Sonic Colors will attempt to fix those issues.

As you all already know, the setting for Sonic Colors is an intergalactic theme park (and, no, this doesn’t automatically make Sonic Colors a Mario Galaxy rip-off). While initially planned as a terrestrial amusement park, possibly with more “realistic,” Unleashed inspired levels, the team sought to give Colors a more “fun and fantastical flavor” and to create something “exciting and new and fun.” It’s a refreshing change of pace, and it’s nice to see Sonic Team revisiting the cartoony, lighthearted feel from Unleashed and expanding on it.

Both the Wii and DS versions of the game are being developed by teams involved in the development of Unleashed and Black Knight. Morio Kishimoto, lead designer of the storybook series, takes the reins for the console edition. The DS version will be directed by Takao Hirabayashi, lead planner of Unleashed. I can’t speak for others, but this gives me confidence that the next Sonic adventure could very well be a winner this time around. Call me optimistic, call me a fool, call me Ishmael, but perhaps this could be the “fresh start” Sonic very much needs.

Iizuka goes on to explain the need for past “gimmicks” and how they clashed with the traditional Sonic formula. It was important to have something other than running, so many games came with strings attached. Despite the introduction of the Wisps, gamers should be happy to hear that Colors cuts the fat and delivers a traditional Sonic experience. The Wisps themselves serve more like traditional power-ups, transforming and giving Sonic special abilities which will complement Sonic’s natural moves, to help him get through the levels but never compromise the core experience.

“We wanted to explore ways of adding new moves and new styles of play without sacrificing the traditional Sonic running action, and that led to the creation of the transformation power-up system.”

“When it came time to work out the power-ups for Sonic Colors, I feel we really succeeded in embracing our core concept of ‘100%-pure Sonic-style high-speed action,’ and coming up with new moves that gelled well with Sonic’s core gameplay.”

No word on multiplayer modes… yet. According to Iizuka it’s too early to say, so we can take that to mean a bunch of things, but in the end, it’s not confirmed. Anyway…

Now this is where the interview gets interesting. The DS and Wii versions will have two different stories! While Tails is slated to appear, at least, in the Wii version’s story, Iizuka says that he hopes characters like Shadow and Knuckles will make appearances in the portable version. Unfortunately, Iizuka did not go into detail as to what sorts of differences in the story there will be, though it’s safe to say the premise is the same. It’s a strange decision as far as multiplatform games go, but this, along with exclusive content on both versions, might be reason enough for gamers to check out both versions.

As Rave touched on earlier in his commentary, Colors on the Wii will make use of a mixture of 2D and 3D perspectives, similar to the day stages of Sonic Unleashed. Iizuka comments that by transitioning between these two views they can “present a better balance of speed and action.” The 3D sections will have more of an emphasis on speed and the 2D sections allow “deeper platforming-style action.” Apparently there will be more sidescrolling sections to 3D speed sections, but an exact ratio is not known (NP writer Steve Thomason says that 2D sections made up 70% of the demo he playtested).

Finally, Iizuka gave his thoughts on the franchise up to this point, commenting how many of the recent games did not play to the series’ strengths. However, despite an apparent slump in the franchise’s evolution, Iizuka promises that 2010’s Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (of which Iizuka is the poject lead) and Sonic Colors will be the first steps in “reestablishing the traditional Sonic experience.”

“I’d like to see the franchise evolve with more of a focus on the elements that make Sonic special, as well as the fundamental joys of the action genre, in order to make games that can be enjoyed by everyone from children to serious gamers. I think the next pair of titles, Sonic 4 and Sonic Colors, will be a good demonstration of that.”

And we hope so too, Mr. Iizuka. Here's hoping!

This feature is a basic paraphrase of the Nintendo Power feature; it is not entirely representative of all the feature's content. Be sure to grab your copy of the July issue this Tuesday, June 8th.

Colorful Commentary

2010-06-02T09:00:00.012-04:00

So the Internet's been abuzz today with news and promises of Sonic Colors scans being on the horizon. Over on the Find the Computer Room forums, fellow member shadowthehedgehog entered the fandom limelight by giving a few tidbits from the upcoming issue of Nintendo Power, which has a cover feature on the newly announced Sonic outing. Now that the first images, blurry as they may be, have hit the tubes, it's time for us to throw in our five-cents. That's right, we're splurging on this one.

Take it away, Rave!

-------

Rave: That's right, we're both doing this one. So our first screenshots shows a rather lovely orbital view of Earth from one of the aforementioned space theme parks. Tropical Reservoir Zone, perhaps? It's anybody's guess. We don't know how many zones we'll be getting for Sonic Colors, so it could be something else entirely. Sure looks pretty.

Along with the nice graphics, the layout and POV suggest a speedy Unleashed-HD type of experience as opposed to Wii Unleashed's diluted sense of velocity. That's good, but then it also implies the return of speedy-speed boy Day Stage gameplay with it's frequent strafing, constant speeds, and occasional 2D platforming segments and quick-time events. Frankly that puts me off, but I won't be too much of a fool to dismiss it all together. After all, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really interested in this multi-colored game from left field.

Which brings me to Exhibit B - Giant Food Structures:

I've made my point. Back to you Arun!

-------

Arun: In case you haven't heard, Sonic Colors isn't exclusively coming to the Wii. And, for the record, no you won't be speeding through Eggman's intergalactic theme park on the PS3 or 360. Nope, it's coming to the DS! Take a look!

While the Wii version appears to be based on Sonic Unleashed Wii, it would appear that Dimps is taking the DS rendition into Rush territory. If it wasn't for the title, we'd all be calling this Sonic Rush 3. The tension gauge is back, now with an added slot to equip Wisps. While the shot is unclear, it seems that each Wisp will grant Sonic different abilities, such as transforming him into a fireball (similar to Sonic 3's elemental shields). According to shadowthehedgehog, the DS version will feature exclusive boss fights and Wisp power-ups not found in its console counterpart.

Though, aesthetic differences and console exclusives aside (Oh SEGA, you want every last penny out of us, don't you?), the two games are more or less the same, even following level themes. Running in donut loops not enough? How about bouncing off Jell-O springs?

For some reason, I'm starting to recall the Music Plant zone from Sonic Advance 2. Except with Jell-O.

Personally, as someone who enjoyed the Rush games (the first in particular), I see no problems with Sonic Colors DS going in this direction. Hey, it works. My one hope is that Dimps will reduce the emphasis of mid-air tricks that seemed to plague all their handheld Sonic titles since Sonic Advance 2.

---

Rave: So, just to wrap things up, Sonic Colors for the Wii appears to follow closely in the footsteps of it's older schizophrenic brother Unleashed--but thankfully ditching the schizophrenia--while Sonic Colors for the DS appears to be naught much more than Sonic Rush 3. Seems like a pretty logical progression on both counts, if a little played. We know the same Sonic Team that gave us such stellar hits as Secret Rings and Black Knight is working on this Wii title as we speak, so that may as well be the red flag that signals another mediocre offering from SEGA concerning their mascot. Then again, there's always the chance for redemption. I welcome the prospect of a surprisingly great console Sonic game with the same joy that I do a cheeseburger in paradise. And donuts and jello. So, for that matter, perhaps even the DS version will entertain me better and longer than it's predecessors. In conclusion, both games seem to offer a refreshing return to light-hearted.

Arun: With only a handful of blurry photos and a vague idea of the direction of both versions, it's way too early to tell what SEGA has in-store. I find it interesting that SEGA has based the development of these two games off of two moderately successful versions of the Sonic formula (Unleashed and Rush). This is where I have to applaud SEGA; for once they're not sweeping everything under the rug and starting from scratch again. Also, after being bombarded with news of leaks for Sonic 4 and feelings of apathy until I've played the game myself, it's nice to have something new and interesting to focus on. Maybe the future is looking a little brighter for Sonic.

EXTRA RAVE: Also, Fireball Sonic confirmed:

And yes, that is the "rocket powerup" shadowthehedgehog mentioned. Stay tuned for Part 2, where we'll hopefully have full hi-res scans of the entire feature to talk about.

Images taken from July issue of Nintendo Power supplied by shadowthehedgehog and compiled and edited for this blog by TheRaveMan. Text was co-written and edited by Arun and TheRaveMan.

Questions on Sonic Colo(u)rs...

2010-05-27T11:44:00.003-04:00

Today, on the Sonic City Blognik, the development teams for Sonic Colors were revealed. Sonic Team will be developing the Wii version of the game while the DS version is being handled by Sonic Team in association with Dimps. I can't say I'm too surprised, after all, these two groups seem to always be involved in modern Sonic productions (at least since SEGA went third-party anyway). Why or if anyone would expect anything differently, I don't know, but hey, it's something, right?

Anyway, after reading this announcement I wanted to ask a couple questions about the development and direction. 1) What division of Sonic Team is working on the Wii version? Is it the Storybook team or the same team that developed Unleashed? ...or are they the same and was I the only one who didn't get the memo? 2) Since the boost gauge is making another appearance, how will that be handled? Will it be easy to abuse a la Rush and Unleashed? Or will it be used more sparingly, like in Black Knight?

Next month Nintendo Power is doing a feature on the game, so we'll either get some scans of the article... or wait for somebody else to scan it in and "borrow" them later (hey, don't worry, we'll give credit). I'm sure we'll have more questions once more is revealed about the game. I'm not exactly sure how to feel just yet, mostly because I feel I need to contain my excitement, before I let the "fans" ruin it for me again. But I must say that the game has certainly piqued my interest, if only because of what a (admittedly, pleasant) surprise the announcement was. After all, SEGA and the Sonic franchise in particular seem to have a history of leaks, it's nice to see SEGA announce something when they're ready for once.

Well, that's enough out of me. Until next time, later!

Sonic Colors!

2010-05-26T20:10:00.006-04:00

IT'S TIME FOR A NEW GAME!!!

Cool!

Well, what else can I say? It looks pretty. It sounds pretty. It's got Sonic and Tails hopefully in some swappable co-op deal. Details are details, and you can check them out through this dandy old-timey advertisement:

Color me cautiously interested. I'm still expecting Sonic 4 Episode I to underperform until further evidence to the contrary is provided. It's delay might be a blessing in disguise, and I hope to be pleasantly distracted by this new game for the holiday. It really better not suck. The color-coded powers idea sounds like a winner, but I'm particularly wary about the return of the freaking boost gauge. Seriously, no one cares about going that fast. I haven't played Sonic Rush or Rush Adventure at all since I beat them. Sonic sucks when all he has to his name are going really really fast and having bad or overrated mediocre games. Let's hope Sonic Colors can give him the kind of redefined experience he needs to be critically competent again.

Brief Sonic 4 Recap and Some Spotlights (UPDATED)

2010-04-03T14:47:00.006-04:00

So, just to recap on the current Sonic 4 news:

Guerilla-style footage of every Sonic 4 Episode 1 level (including the ending and cliffhanger) has been leaked by a guy called infinity on Sonic Retro and have been taken down pretty much everywhere
The soundtrack has been leaked as well, and then taken down
Chaos ensues as usual, since people have already downloaded them all and are no doubt using them as talking points

After deep exposure to the radioactive fan fallout, I found myself with only one sentiment to express.

And now, a picture for the theme:

Cheers.

In other way-past cool news, a number of remixed soundtrack tunes have been featured on the Sonic City Blognik, due to sounding awesome. You can find more on YouTube and the Sonic 4 thread on Sonic--actually now it's SEGA--no, wait, it's back to Sonic Retro again. April Fools is trippy. On that note, Happy April Fools and Happy Easter.

Speaking of Sonic Retro, I thought I'd spotlight some of their Sonic projects filed under Engineering/Reverse Engineering, as well as one other from YouTube. First up is Sonic 4 Genesis Edition, which promises to be even closer to the classic Genesis gameplay than Sonic 4 does. The video below shows music remixed by Tweaker and concept images done by Chimpo of Sonic Retro:

Looks all-right so far. The new art style is an interesting choice. It reminds me a lot of an upscaled Sonic Pocket Adventure, which is actually a complement, but it still leaves me wondering how it'll affect the game's overall retro-impression if at all. Judging from all the criticisms Sonic 4 is getting now, I'd anticipate the team would make drastic changes to the level design seen from the leaks. If honest criticism and unmet expectations prompt this kind of fan response more often, I might regard the negative criticisms with less disdain, seeing as how more time would be spent making a game and less time debating about it. Oh, how sweet that would be right now.

Next is Sonic Classic, a truly ambitious looking homage to the classic trilogy brought to you by Hez, otherwise known as HezMan2000 on YouTube. You've got all original zones with redone classic music, some new tunes, and an overall Sonic CD influence in the menus and sound effects (also Super Peel-Out). Judging from the time attack video, there are 7 original zones starting with Hazel Hill and ending with Cyber City (totally Sonic CD alliterated), as well as time attack trials for all of Sonic 1's zones. Check out more at the Sonic the Hedgehog Classic thread, which has a number of development screenshots, 5 or so video samples, and a downloadable demo.

Up next is Sonic CD 2, which is being headed by StephenUK @ Sonic Retro. Not too much to say about this one, other than he's thinking of implementing a dynamic season device into the game a la Mega Man Zero 4 and/or the Oracle of Seasons. Best of luck to his project, as I'd be very interested in playing it.

Now we're talking. This is Sonic Boom, and it's a fan-game that'll blast your balls off. Right away, you're greeted with a gritty YM2612 remake of the game's namesake, followed by some totally radical Duke music to accompany your supped-up Sonic running, fly-kicking, double-jumping, and ground-pounding through a dark metallic factory. By the way, when I say fly-kicking, I mean to say the devs behind the game actually retooled the standard homing attack to be a snazzy mid-air flying kick, and if that's not enough awesome to rock your ass, the next two acts feature fully Genesis-remade tunes from the Mega Man X games. Holy shit, you just crapped your pants, because you know that's the coolest thing you've ever heard. The game is remarkably fast, but the controls are so tight, you're fully immersed into the experience, and the level design is pretty much yours to dominate. Check out the official thread here.

Okay, now this last one isn't based in Sonic Retro, but rather on YouTube, and it's being worked on by a fellow fan from Brazil: LtheHedgehog. The story with this particular fan-game is that it used to be a rather standard, albeit promising 2D Sonic game using graphics from the Advance games and various techniques and stage gimmicks from the 3D games, like Unleashed: ground-pounding through crates, body-diving through a chasm to collect rings, and locking on to pulleys and manuevering in mid-air using the homing attack. All in all, it looked pretty promising, as he made some interesting design choices in some of the levels. Then, after many months, came the update video you see above, followed by some more videos showcasing 3D models cast in 2D as well as a brand-new theme song. The song was great, and it was one of the strongest grabs for me by the project as it stands now. It sounds that awesome, and there's supposed to be a better-sounding version coming soon (but really, what sounds better than retro music done right?). Also, the cel-shaded model for Sonic looks clean and beautiful.

There are many more ambitious fan projects to check out, but I'll be here all night doing features on them, so I encourage you guys to find some really good ones for yourselves and post them in the comments section below. Try searching for Needlemouse: The Emerald Hills for starters.

NEWSFLASH: This whole leak business appears to be coming to a head. PartnerNET, the game development service provided by Microsoft for their Xbox360 platform, has been shut down. This is where the leaks have been coming from, although now it seems the game in its current form is also available to PS3 developers on PSN. Seems SEGA has decided to finally nip the problem in the bud already.

Speaking of which, in a rather belated move to preserve company-fanbase relations, Sonic Retro admins have removed the Sonic 4 discussion thread and will reward any further discussion of the game with a permanent ban. Says Scarred Sun on the matter, "Don't fucking test us," and "You fuckers fucked up BAD." Tweaker says some words about how valuable their relationship with SEGA is and why they decided not to act sooner on the leaks within the forum.

So, basically you decided to act now to stem the rabid fandom and leaking over this game? Geebus Christus, you guys took your damn time. Was it too much to restrict the posting of leaked videos at least? It's not like there weren't already over 600 pages of discussion on the game without the help of condoning released footage of the game. I can understand Tristan posting it all, since he takes it upon himself to report on every little thing that happens as editor of TSSZNews, but Sonic Retro? Seriously? You'd think you could've done more earlier to prevent this sort of thing from happening, like banning the user infinity from posting illegal PartnerNET footage. Sure, he could've taken it somewhere else, but at least it wouldn't be fucking Sonic Retro.

God. It's like they ask for it until the limit has been breached, and THEN the shit has hit the fan. Good job, Retro admins. Way to have your priorities straight. I'll give you guys some credit, though, since you actually took time to do something about it (after the fact).

A Word to the Fans

2010-02-07T00:19:00.006-05:00

(WARNING: This post contains language that may not be appropriate for younger readers or the over-sensitive. If you are one these, leave now or continue at your own risk. We here at the Isolated Island Zone are not responsible for any physical or emotional damage incurred as a result of reading our blog. If you don't like it, don't read. Simple as that. Good day.)

You know, I'm a fan of many things. I don't even hide my fandom. Case in point, I have this blog. I have my real name on it. I link to it in my profile. I've drawn Sonic in my sketchbook every now and again (I've been ridiculed for it too, but it's not like it makes up much of my sketchbook, so I don't care). Like I said, I'm perfectly comfortable with my own fandom. Want to know what I really have a problem with though? The Sonic fanbase. You see, I'm not embarrassed about liking Sonic. I'm embarrassed at the thought of being associated with a bunch of morons made up of people who either: A) Can't think for themselves and blindly buy every with Sonic's face on it; or B) The jaded, can't be pleased, classic fan-brats who bitch before they've even played the damned games.

I don't know about anyone else who actually reads this blog (all three of you), but I know I was excited to see the Sonic 4 announcement. The trailer, for what little I got to see of the actual game in it, is still exciting to watch. Just as exciting as when Sonic was announced as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. You know what's better than that? SEGA actually following through on all their "return to roots" promise they keep going on and on and on about release after release after release. Sonic '06 was promised as a reboot to the franchise. We all know how that turned out. Sonic Unleashed? As good as it was, it wasn't really THE revival the series was looking for (it did show that SEGA could craft a good 3D adventure at least). So, now SEGA sits down and decides to give something the fans have been clamoring for for the last 16 years. And here comes Sonic 4.

Like I said, I am excited. Rave is excited. Many are excited. Hell, my sister is excited and she doesn't even like Sonic. And who wouldn't be? Classic, side-scrolling, momentum based gameplay. Parallax scrolling backgrounds. The story taking place after Sonic 3 & Knuckles. But, as usual, there's a few people who just have to ruin people's fun. These same people who did nothing but put on the same damn record for so damn long complaining about everything that's wrong with current series and demanding SEGA return to classic-style (2D) gameplay. Ingrates. You've seen barely five seconds of gameplay footage and just a lot of teasing on SEGA's part and you're already pulling the "Ruined FOREVER" lever before you've even PLAYED THE FUCKING GAME. BWAH! Sonic's design isn't retro enough! SEGA lied to us! The grass isn't the right texture! Grass? GRASS?! REALLY?!

You want retro? Fine! Here:

It don't get more retro than this, folks.

SEGA is bending over backwards to give us a quality console Sonic game. Making it downloadable and episodic? Perhaps not the greatest idea, but if this means SEGA can actually craft and bring up the overall quality of the game this way, then let them try it. The gameplay is exactly what many have been asking/begging/hoping for for a long time. SEGA makes it all come true, and what happens? People are pissing all over them for trivial reasons when they have nothing to go on. They're just being a bunch of spoiled brats whining and moaning for absolutely no reason. I'm just... disappointed. That's all. SEGA is making an effort to please people and they get about as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield did. This just blows my mind... nah, scratch that. It BLASTS my mind (tell me someone got that!).

The nitpicking just doesn't end. People don't even seem to care about the gameplay. They just want their duck to look like their ideal duck. Even if the one SEGA is offering looks, quacks, walks and happens to be a duck. ...and that looks just as stupid typed out as it did in my head. But... the point I'm trying to make, without repeating myself, is let SEGA work. Be patient. Just wait and see. Now, if the game is broken beyond repair and the game is either unplayable or just plain not fun for some reason, we'll have something justifiable to complain about. None of this nonsense about the art style or grass. But you want to know how and when we'll be able to air our gripes about the game? WHEN IT FINALLY COMES OUT AND WE'VE ACTUALLY PLAYED THE FUCKING GAME!

Now, can we all just move on, be civil and wait? No? Fine... In closing: SEGA, just keep doing what you're doing. Work hard and put every bit of effort into this game you are promising. Do what it takes to make this one of the best Sonic games yet. Hell, try and shoot to make this even better than Sonic 3 & Knuckles. No pressure though. Remember: The possibilities are never ending!

Thanks to Rave for the images and for doing a bit of proofreading.

Condolences for a Young Boy

2010-02-05T15:28:00.006-05:00

I was searching YouTube for some general Sonic pictures in preparation for a blog post I wanted to do. They were mostly Sonic & Mario pictures, but I'll get to that later. I came across this picture of Sonic holding a Wiimote and Mario standing next to him; the quintessential game industry rivals.

But they're not who I want to talk about now. No, I want to talk about little boy named Hunter Addison Vongphrachanh, a talented hardcore videogamer and avid fan of the Italian plumber in blue overalls (and quite a lady's man, too!). He was born in the year 2000 to Tamara Vongphrachanh and a loving family with two siblings, Casey and Alexis (I don't think the father's name was listed). He was the cutest little lady's man this side of the US, and when he wasn't whispering sweet-nothings into the ears of captive chicas, he was beating 15-year old kids at videogames. Yeah. If you can't guess from the picture, he's six years old in that. He was five when he achieved victory. What a champ.

Hunter passed away four years ago under undisclosed circumstances. His mother made a memorial page for her beloved son, and many friends and family contributed to the page their condolences and images representing what he loved best: Mario, Sonic, videogames, and Dr. Thunder cola. Man, with a name like that, I'd drink it. Dr. Thunder sounds so much more awesome than that Dr. Pepper junk.

Normally I would've went my way looking for other images, but I decided to stop and read the page on a whim, and much of what I read simply touched my heart. I'm just a young guy going to college, relaxing at home when I'm not studying, and spending most of my time talking with people on the internet about mostly trivial stuff, but stuff I love nonetheless. Other times I'm working out, playing videogames, or making pizza with my brother on the weekends. I spend most of my time at home, and I'm no saint, not really religious, and not exactly the best guy around; no one special. But all I had to do was stop for a moment to develop a soft spot for this kid and their family's horrible loss. I can only barely imagine the pain they've had to suffer, but I know if it happened to me, I would never be the same.

What really got me were the mother's poems, and they remind me of my own mother and how much she cares about me and my brother. They're a clear, honest expression of how she can never be happy without her son. A parent should never have to suffer the death of their children. That is the most crushing sorrow a human being can experience, and my heart goes out to her and her family. There's nothing anyone can say to comfort her except that we hear her grief and that we're with her. She's not alone, and neither is her family.

Now, why I am posting this here of all places? Make no mistake, I'm not doing this as some sort of high-and-mighty display of piety meant to shame everyone who dared going looking on the internet for stuff about videogames or Sonic the Hedgehog. That would be asinine and annoying. Rather, I'm doing this because I simply happened to find the page by blind chance, and so I wanted to write about it. If anything more than that, it's to appeal to everyone's empathic side for a moment, putting aside things we normally gripe about or take for granted, like every single petty rant, diatribe, and flame war that's been had over characters like Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario, Star Fox, and Master Chief over the many years that have passed. The people we argue with, agree with, ridicule, hate, love, or simply can't stand are as much people doing the same thing you're doing: spending time on the internet talking about what you want to or engaging in sporty debate. More to the point, some of those people, no matter how much they get on your nerves, are probably kids like Hunter.

Well, ok, frankly I'd put Hunter a step higher judging from his memorial page information. Some kids are just spoiled rotten, and even I've been guilty of that behavior sometimes. Embarrassing.

So, all I'm asking is that you take some time to think about your own parents, your siblings, and all those kids that are "ruining Sonic the Hedgehog", and remember Hunter. It won't make people stop debating or arguing, but then that was never my intention in the first place. Free speech is everyone's right, and a powerful tool of communication. I just thought I'd use it at least once to acknowledge this family and encourage other people to offer their condolences and keep this kid's family in their minds and hearts, as well as others who've suffered like they have. Thanks for the time, guys, and stay tuned for more Sonic news and news-musings in the future. Peace.

Here's the memorial page: http://hunter-vongphrachanh.memory-of.com/About.aspx

PS: Sorry if I bummed you guys out, but that's life. Stay tuned for more enjoyable buffoonery as the story of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 develops.

A Refreshing Return to Form (And Whining)

2010-02-04T22:53:00.008-05:00

I haven't been this elated since when they first announced the game. TL;DR, it just looks great.

But you know you want to read more, right? This is my first post in like, what, 6 months now? Longer? (Sawwy Arun; I been vewy bad)

VEWY BAD!

Anyways, enough of that. On to the news of the howa!

(Man, I'm really likin' those wubbayous)

So Arun's already got you guys up to date with the latest, but I'd like to recap exactly what we know so far about the game, and what to expect from here on out. First thing's first, though:

(Pssst. The image leads to Destructoid)

PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING THE HELL OUT OF THE GAME. WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT?

Geez, I mean seriously. We've seen not five seconds of actual gameplay footage, and people have already managed to eternally damn any prospects of the game being worth a damn. What for? Green eyes. A lot are crying that it's not black. In fact, most are pretty much crying that the 3D Sonic model is the worst thing since sin, mostly on the basis that SEGA promised a Genesis game with most all the fixings of retro Sonic games.

Oh, what? Beautiful multi-layered scrolling backgrounds aren't enough? How about confirmed for Wii and iPhone? Smooth motion? No, SEGA's obviously ruined everything, even the power sneakers they said they would include in the game, which we haven't seen since Sonic Adventure 2. Totally ruined. FOREVER.

I swear, I was physically exhausted after spending so much time at the SEGA Sonic 4 subforum. It was mostly a bunch of paranoid fans whining and getting all griefy over the apparent possibility that Sonic definitely won't have that red spinny running motion or the figure eight from Smash Bros and CD. Yeah, I'll be fair and admit that excluding those visual staples would actually be stupid of Sonic Team, but that's also why I think it is, in fact, in the game already. We just didn't see it. And even if it isn't, who's to say that it never will, even if it doesn't appear at first? That's the same argument I pose when people complain about the ferschliggin Sonic model. Really, ask yourself: what's to stop SEGA from even considering offering the skin as optional DLC? Hell, it might not even be that. Maybe Sonic will temporarily regress in age and turn back into the chubby Sonic we all know and love as part of a plot device, but all of that is besides the point. We're getting Sonic the Hedgehog 4, so quit bitching.

Then there are those who still remain understandably cautious about getting excited for disappointment. That's about all I'll say about them: it's understandable. But it's still not worth ignoring the events of last year till today concerning SEGA's marketing of this game. SEGA have clearly taken this project more than seriously. They've done so much to connect to the fans via their American blog site, the forums, Twitter, Facebook, you name it (actually I think that's all of them). They've gone back to badniks, to momentum-based speed you have to earn, to strictly 2D-perspective gameplay, and even to Mega Drive chiptune-esque music. They understand what we want. They also understand what kind of a fanbase they're dealing with: anywhere from kids to teens to young adults. The kids recognize the new-model Sonic for the most part, so it only makes it easier for them to take the trip back to the past with all the jaded and old school fans as long as they're not to pricky about it.

Don't get me wrong, though. SEGA's not magically become the model third-party company because of a great and sincere marketing campaign. They still have their history, and I'm not particularly thrilled about their association with Zone40. It just seems like now they're doing something about fixing their tarnished image, and that's a great thing. And they're done it in the most gutsiest move I've seen them do since their original guerilla advertising for Sonic 1: by working on Sonic the Hedgehog 4 across downloadable episodes that are just about as big as your regular Genesis game. Just think about that a moment. Everyone's been asking for that, whether they are jaded Sonic/SEGA fans or not. Also, that's probably going to be a big package, perhaps even bigger and more epic than Sonic 3 and Knuckles, and that's my favorite Sonic game of all time.

So, what do we know about the game, and what can we expect? Well, we know it's going to be released on all major consoles and iPhone as downloadable episodes. We know Sonic is going to be the only playable character (yet another major concession to the fans), but there likely will be other NPCs like Tails and Knuckles. We know he's going to fight Robotnik exclusively, unless they wanna throw in a new robot or upgrade one of Sonic's metal iterations. We know the first zone will be called Splash Hill Zone (last I heard), and it looks much better than I ever expected. So far, it's totally faithful to the Genesis visual style and stage mechanics, most likely. We know that Sonic 4 will appropriately leave right off from where Sonic 3 & Knuckles left off, which may or may not indicate the function of the game as retconning other games like 3D Blast or the early handheld games. Finally, we know there's going to be power sneakers, spin-dashing, and the homing attack, which I'd be interested in seeing how they incorporate it into the dominantly Genesis-themed Sonic 4. Anything else we'll be finding out from here till June or July.

My only hopes for this game, besides it being totally awesome and fun? Hope it isn't much like Sonic Rush.

And It's Official...

2010-02-04T12:59:00.008-05:00

Today is a good day to be a Sonic fan. Why? Well, look above. That's right, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, otherwise known as "Project Needlemouse," is on its way! I'm also excited because all fears can finally be put to rest, Wii users! Despite all the talk of "HD this" and "HD that," SEGA hasn't forgotten us (yet)!

The trailer doesn't offer much, beyond teasing a portion of what appears to be the first level and a look at Sonic himself. Which is all good in my book. I'm looking forward to what else SEGA plans to reveal in the coming months. One thing to note, that the game is indeed a downloadable. ...Why, I'm not sure, but according to Ken Ballough in an interview with Gamespot:

It's also a promise to Sonic fans. We're going to deliver a Genesis-era Sonic game as if it were created today that goes to the core of what classic Sonic fans desire. This means [the fan] gets to judge us on our work each step of the way, and we plan on delivering that goal in a big way.

The episodic approach does still strike me as strange, but this is probably SEGA's way of not making a downloadable ridiculously expensive (also, they're vaguely following the logic that Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were one game split, why not do it here? ...I have no comment for that one). But, it also shows that SEGA does, in fact, care. Hopefully THIS will be THE game to bring back Sonic's mass-appeal he held in the 90's. This shouldn't just be for the gamers who grew up with Sonic, nor should newer fans feel excluded. Yes, I said it. What I care about, mainly, is that SEGA can finally shut up some fanboys and return Sonic to full glory. ...Also, I'm hoping that the care and love they promise that is going into this game, will rub off onto future entries in the series (come on, SEGA, you can make a good 3D game!).

And, with that said, here's the trailer:

The game takes place after the events of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, so I'm interested in seeing where this fits into the larger Sonic (game) canon and what this means for everything that came after Sonic 3. Check out some concept art and keep watch of everything that's going on by checking out SEGA's blogs and the OFFICIAL Sonic the Hedgehog 4 website.

Until next time, later!

Speed is something that is not given; but rather earned through dedication. Speed is not found by simply pushing a boost button, but by building momentum. It is the reward for skill in the face of difficult challenges – this kind of speed is the most exhilarating, not only because it is fast, but because of the pure perfection such speed exemplifies. This is the truth of the original Sonic games – and this is the truth of Project Needlemouse.

~From SEGA's blog.

Banjo and Kazooie Guest-Star in ASR?

2009-12-18T02:03:00.003-05:00

Looks like it...

Banjo-Kazooie will be racing alongside Sonic and friends exclusively in the 360 version of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. It makes me wonder if the Wii and PS3 versions are looking at exclusive guest racers too.

In an old leaked document (SEGA, tighten up your security!), the possibility of console exclusive characters was discussed. Ratchet and Clank were considered for the PS3 version, but that apparently didn't go through (according to the document, anyway). There was a little note that mentioned the possibility of characters from "Rare or Fable universes" (obviously referencing the 360 version, though the document is specifically about SEGA and Sony/SCEA). This leads me to think that SEGA got the OK for Banjo-Kazooie from Rare and Microsoft early on, and they started exploring possibilities for other consoles. Welp, here's hoping Mario is included on the Wii version... though I won't get my hopes up too high.

Sonic VS. Mario

2009-10-13T13:44:00.004-04:00

(Please excuse the lazy image I literally just threw together, but I don't have time to worry about whether or not it looks good. I just needed something to put up quick, so cut me some slack!) Last night on the Gadget Show, a show based in the UK, had a feature on Sonic VS. Mario. Both sides had pretty good arguments, and I especially liked what they did with the Sonic segment.

You can check out the video and results here.

But there can only be one. Unfortunately... our boy (that's Sonic for those not quite on the uptake) didn't win the battle. His greatest downfall is the poor reception most of his recent games have gotten, which is where Mario completely outclassed True Blue (the judge citing recent endeavors such as Mario Kart and Galaxy). Oh well, can't win 'em all, right Sonic? Though I will say this: considering I've been told the UK is "Sonic country," I find it funny he still lost out over there in the end.

In other news... I need to find some time to sit down and put together some content (how many times have I said that now? ...is anyone even reading this thing?), but now that I'm at mid-term, I have to focus more on school first. Hopefully I'll get something interesting up by the end of the year... Well, until next time, later.

Project: Needlemouse

2009-09-09T15:46:00.007-04:00

An interesting development has occured today. SEGA clearly can't keep quiet about a Sonic title long enough. What am I talking about? Check out Gamespot's interview with Ken Ballough, SEGA's associate brand manager to learn more about it.

The trailer itself doesn't really yield anything outside of it being an all-new 2D adventure for consoles and that it was built from the ground up. OH, and I forgot to mention the classic "SE-GA!" opening from the original Genesis titles. While details are largely under wraps, it seems SEGA has caved into fan demand for a 2D side-scrolling adventure similar to the original Genesis games. One question that comes to mind is "Who, exactly, will be developing this title?" My guess it that it might be a collaborative effort between Dimps and Sonic Team (a la the Advance and Rush titles), but it's possible that it'll be Sonic Team only.

Gamespot is listing the game as coming out to multiple platforms: 360, PS3, Wii and PC.

One thing I'm a little on the fence about though: while I am excited to see a new Sonic adventure, especially a console game done in the style of the classic Genesis title, I'm bothered by Mr. Ballough's wording.

Old-school Sonic fans have long asked to see Sonic return to a more 2D style of gameplay. Many liked the daytime stages in Unleashed but wanted to see a game that plays purely similar to the early games of the Genesis. Project Needlemouse is that critical first step that brings Sonic back to his 2D roots.

That's all well and good, but does this mean that more Sonic games will go the 2D route instead? Honestly, I hope SEGA hasn't given up on making a GOOD 3D game yet, as I feel they are definitely close to accomplishing that if they just give Sonic Team more time. The game is slated for a 2010 release, so I'll be interested in hearing more about the game's development in the coming months. I'll probably add some extended commentary later in the week about the interview*.

*I also had some other content to work on for this site, but given that school is now in full effect, I have put more time into my schoolwork than my blog... Oh well, just because we didn't update last month doesn't mean we're dead... yet! That reminds me though, I'll need to get ahold of Rave and see if he'll have the chance to throw something up here in the future (Yo, Rave, where you at?!).

EDIT (09/10/2009): It appears the concept art is actually from a fan-game which happens to also have the "Needlemouse" handle attached to it. I'm a little disappointed actually, but it would be great if SEGA were to go in a similar direction for the art style (though it might just add to the confusion!). Anyway, I'm pretty interested in the Needlemouse fan-game and it'll be interesting to follow that in addition to SEGA's new game. The guys on the project sound pretty humble and like they have a great respect for the series. Anyway, read their press-release: http://www.needlemouse.com/ . It seems they've also got a message board set up. While I haven't joined yet, I'd love to check it out sometime in the future. Good luck to Jono Forbes and Matt Schoen, I'll be looking forward to the demo in the future!

Sonic 10th Anniversary Booklet

2009-07-24T15:25:00.008-04:00

So, before I get things started, I gotta give a shout out to the GagaMan(n) over at SEGA Memories for linking back to us. And I didn't even ask him! I meant to... I just didn't get around to it. I was just browsing SEGA Memories and just happened to notice we are now in their links section! That just brought a smile to my face and put me on a bit of a high. What? Yes, I'm that pathetic and it's a clear indication I need to get out for more than just running down to the local comic book shop to buy the latest issue of Sonic Universe and whatever graphic novel that catches my eye at the time. But, hey, I'm happy, so who cares? We're nothing special yet, and I can't really promise that I can send back a ton of traffic to SEGA Memories yet, but we appreciate the plug in the sidebar, man(n)!

And now, back to your regular scheduled blog post...

Remember back in 2001 when SEGA was building up Sonic Adventure 2 for the Dreamcast and Sonic's 10th Anniversary? SEGA struck a deal with SOAP, a shoe company famous for making shoes that allow one to grind on rails (SA2 was the first game to feature this ability and it's been a staple ever since), and gave the blue blur a new pair of kicks for his 10th birthday. It also introduced a dark hedgehog, who we've all come to know and love (or, for some, loathe) as Shadow the Hedgehog. It was also Sonic's LAST appearance on a SEGA console and would later be relaunched a year later on the Nintendo Gamecube as Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.

Sonic sporting his 10th anniversary SOAP shoes.

Yup, when it first came out, SA2 was something special. I remember counting down the days until it dropped. I eventually managed to get it about a day before official release at a Toys 'R' Us, and immediately rushed home to play. Man, talk about a great way to spend the summer months! I was a little disappointed, initally, that I couldn't get the Birthday Pack because that store just didn't seem to be getting them in. But I didn't have much to complain about, I had a BRAND NEW SONIC GAME TO PLAY! I eventually found the Birthday Pack at a local Best Buy and bought three of 'em... for three cents total. Yeah, this special little package only cost a penny, and now I have three of these beauties sitting on my bookshelf. I'll probably get some pictures of the set up and put up a track listing for the CD in the future. But, for now, I've decided to scan the entire booklet, so let's take a look at that, shall we? Click the images to see them in their high res glory.

Not much. You?

The book, like Sonic, is bilingual. No habla español, though.

When it all started. This booklet features some really nice concept art.

When Sonic made the big time. We're talking Sonic & Knuckles and various spin-off titles!

The Saturn days, featuring Sonic Jam and Traveller's Tales Sonic R and Sonic 3D Blast. Also, the beginning of the end with SEGA's last first party Sonic titles: Sonic Adventure, Sonic Shuffle and Sonic Adventure 2. Following this, SEGA has now gone third party, with their mascot and various other IPs appearing on every major gaming console to date.

Various bits of Sonic-trivia. Fun stuff!

My favorite part of the booklet. One of the many Sonic origin stories created for the original Japanese canon when the first Sonic was in development. Apparently there are two other origin stories, but the booklet, sadly, doesn't have anything on them (anybody else know anything about the other "episodes"? Chime in!).

A couple shots of the various merchandies released over the years. Including clothing, backpacks, soup (I remember that stuff!), the MTV special, and the Archie comics!

And, finally, the booklet comes to a close featuring character model sheets from the past and the present Yuji Uekawa style. It's true, Sonic still goes on evolving, and we're glad True Blue's still around.

I didn't scan the front/back covers mostly because I thought they weren't as important as what was IN the book. Plus, the front cover is embossed, and I just don't see that scanning well. I hope SEGA does another book like this in the future, maybe a large 20th Anniversary book with a more detailed history and interviews and the like. I would love to see that; hell, I would love to MAKE that. It probably won't happen, but a guy can dream, right?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little feature. I don't know what my next move will be just yet, but hopefully I'll have some exciting/interesting content up in the future!

AMV: Rewriting SEGA

2009-07-13T21:06:00.008-04:00

OK, I know, this is a total filler post, but I swear I'll lay off linking to YouTube videos after this and get back to putting proper content onto this blog, but, for now...

Rave had linked to this video on the Find the Computer Room forums the other day and I was blown away when I saw it. Amazing editing and a great story. Using the amazing Fullmetal Alchemist theme "Rewrite" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation, editor mtarzaim has put together a great video about SEGA and their iconic mascot, Sonic.

The translated lyrics work so perfectly in telling the story of SEGA's rise, subsequent fall and the eventual revival of Sonic (credited in this video largely to Nintendo) and the SEGA brand altogether. Even the ending song's lyrics (T.M. Revolution's "Heart of Sword" of Rurouni Kenshin fame) work on some level when you apply what they say to Sonic himself. The only thing wrong with this video was that it came out before Sonic Unleashed was first leaked/announced; I would have loved to see some footage from the first trailers in this thing. Ah well. Nitpick, nitpick, nitpick. The whole video is kind of a crash course on the history of video games, with a focus on SEGA and Sonic, along with a bit of Mario/Nintendo thrown into the mix (just before the chorus we see Sonic overtaking Mario and ultimately the two former rivals running side-by-side). This video just made me smile.

This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite AMVs I've seen in a long time. I haven't kept up with AMVs in YEARS and stopped making them a long time ago partially because I didn't have the proper equipment and started losing interest as a result. That's not to say a little film doesn't play out in my head when I hear certain songs, but it's sure been a long while since I've really played with any video editing software...

Anyway... I need to start putting together more content (and probably get in contact with Rave...) for this blog. Hopefully more interesting stuff will be coming this way before the summer ends.

4Kids Redeems Themselves...

2009-07-10T00:11:00.008-04:00

Wow. Who saw that coming? I spotted this bit of news over on AnimeOnDVD's forums. Well, I was surprised, I can tell you that much.

It seems that 4Kids is currently working on releasing Sonic X UNCUT finally. To prove they're not just pulling people's legs and watching as they cling to false hope, they put up the above clip in Japanese, with English subtitles. It would seem that these episodes will be streaming online, either on YouTube or on 4Kids' website (or both). I don't know if this means that uncut DVDs will also be released in the near future, but keep your fingers crossed Sonic X fans. As of right now, there's no word on when they will start streaming the episodes. The clip they posted is described as a "work in progress" but I think we can expect something by the end of the year.

Also, as of right now, there is no word on whether or not an "uncut" dub will be produced (similar to the canceled Shaman King and Yu-Gi-Oh! Uncut projects from several years back). If you're wondering why I would say "uncut" I mean to say "more true to the original Japanese script". If the show does get a new DVD release, maybe FUNimation (4Kids' distributor) will produce a new dub, just as they did with Shaman King and Yu-Gi-Oh! Uncut. That's just speculation though; when more information comes in you'll see a new post about it.

I have a few things to say about the show, but I'll leave that for another post. Enjoy this teaser in the mean time.

EDIT: According to Sonic Stadium, fans outside the US are blocked, for some odd reason, from seeing any of 4Kids' Sonic X videos (probably others too).

Wherefore Art Thou... Mighty?

2009-07-02T00:00:00.005-04:00

A rumor I've seen here and there (I really wish I knew where the hell this originated from*) that makes absolutely no sense to me is that the reason Mighty the Armadillo will not be returning to the Sonic is games is because his creator left SEGA and took the rights with him.

*If anybody has ANY clue where this started, let us know!

... what? Is it just me or is this just total bull?

I call BS for the simple reason that Mighty is still a regular character appearing in Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic. Really, what other reason do you need? Archie's comic is a LICENSED SEGA PRODUCT with every issue put under review by SEGA before seeing publication. If SEGA really no longer held the rights to the character, they would have had him wall-kick his way out of the comic for good. Since this hasn't happened, it safe to say that Mighty the Armadillo is 100% © SEGA.

Now that that's out of the way, a short little history lesson about everyone's (all three of you ) favorite armadillo. Jokes about obscurity aside, Mighty is practically unknown, if not almost completely defunct character. His only exposure following his last game appearance (in 1995, Knuckles' Chaotix) is probably through fan art and the aforementioned Sonic the Hedgehog comic book. Other than that, there isn't a whole lot to say about him.

Mighty first appeared in 1993 in a little known arcade game called SegaSonic the Hedgehog. He is one of the playable characters, starring alongside Sonic the Hedgehog and Ray the Squirrel, another one-off character that only appears in the comics now. The arcade game was released in Japan and saw extremely limited release in the West (as far as I know).

A flyer for the arcade game from Japan, complete with Engrish. From Sonic Retro.

In the game, Sonic, Mighty and Ray are captured by Dr. Eggman and taken to his island, where they bust out of Eggman's prison and traverse the island to escape. The game is controlled with a trackball for movement (meaning it is the first Sonic game to feature an isometric perspective, not Sonic 3D Blast) and one button used to jump. It was originally slated to be released on the Sonic Gems Collection (Gamecube, PS2 [in Japan and Europe only]), a compilation of obscure, "rare" Sonic games, but was left out because of issues emulating the trackball control scheme (why the joystick wouldn't have made a good substitute I'll never know).

Mighty's next and, as of right now, final game appearance was the only 32X Sonic title, Knuckles' Chaotix. In this game, he is again captured by Dr. Eggman, but is one of the playable characters that can be set free from the "Combi Catcher" (a UFO Catcher used to select partner characters). He joins Knuckles the Echidna, Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee as they try to put a stop to Eggman's world conquering schemes. Due to the fact that artwork for the game is featured in Sonic Gems Collection, it's possible Knuckles' Chaotix was meant to be included... but was left out for some unknown and, dare I say, stupid reason. It was a great platformer, and sort of lives on, in spirit, with the Gameboy Advance game Sonic Advance 3, but that's it. Personally, I'm still waiting for Chaotix to hit the Wii's Virtual Console. Yo SEGA! What's the damn hold up?!

In 2004, Sonic Heroes (Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox) was released and the Chaotix came back from obscurity, appearing as a private detective agency. Team Chaotix was made up of Espio (speed), Vector (power) and Charmy (flying). Whoa, wait, what?! Where's Mighty?! Unlike his teammates, it would seem he was not so lucky. But since Sonic Heroes features teams of three, it would be redundant (as if Heroes isn't redundant enough) for there to be either two speed or two power characters on the same team, just to have all four together. Also, the player already plays through the game four times (once for each team) anyway, and since there isn't a whole lot of variation in levels or gameplay, it would just be forcing the player to play the same game again on another difficulty setting. Unfortunately, Mighty just had no place. And that still seems to be the case as Mighty and his buddy Ray the Squirrel have yet to make any more appearances in the games.

Luckily, the good folks at Archie still remember these unsung heroes as they regularly appear in the Sonic comic. Mighty and Ray are members of the Chaotix, Knuckles' version of Sonic's Freedom Fighters. There was even a three-part backup story in issues 26-28 of the long since dead Knuckles the Echidna solo series showing the story of the arcade game in a series of flashbacks while Mighty goes looking for Ray on Robotnik's abandoned island prison (with Nack the Weasel's sister, Nic... don't ask).

Mighty (bottom right) and Ray (top left) fighting alongside the Chaotix and Freedom Fighters. From issue 177 of the Archie comic. Art by Tracy Yardley!

Other obscure SEGA characters like the fanged sniper, Nack the Weasel, Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite (from Sonic the Fighters, an arcade fighter featured on the Gems Collection) also make somewhat regular apperances in the comic. Nack as a bounty hunter for hire who often manages to be a nuisance to Sonic and any of his other targets. Bark and Bean are mercenaries, currently on Mammoth Mogul's pay roll (Mogul is an Archie exclusive villain who might actually be a bigger threat than Robotnik himself!).

It's great to know that these characters have, at the very least, not been forgotten and still show up in current Sonic media, even if they don't get to share the spotlight in the games themselves. Maybe one day they will, or maybe they'll stay on as Archie exclusives. Who knows? The possibilites are never ending...

With that, I must bring this rather long winded, if not poorly written article to a close. I leave you with a great piece of fan art I found on Deviant Art, modelled by Chris "Artguy/Supernerd" Phyffer:

Chris does some great work, 3D AND 2D. He also did this amazing 3D remake of Sonic 2's ending! Yes, I know, both of these works are old as hell, but I'm still using "we just started a week ago" as my excuse until it's no longer allowed.

IIZ Trax Select #1: Green Hill Zone

2009-07-01T01:48:00.003-04:00

I hope this isn't considered a "filler post" or anything, but in all honesty, this is sort of a "feature," if you will, that I thought I'd do should I ever get this blog thing up and running (because we all know how difficult that is [/sarcasm]).

I like music. Plain and simple. Funny that seven years ago I'd be saying the exact opposite. But, to be honest, I never really hated music. I just didn't listen to the radio or "real music." My favorite way of listening to music was always sitting down and playing a video game. Or, better yet, plugging in a game and going to the sound test menu (when it was available) and just selecting which song I'd like to listen to and let it play for as long as I wanted. I finally started listening to "real music" sophomore year of high school, as it provided some sort of escape from boredom during the school day.

With that said, I kinda wanted to do a "favorite game tracks" sort of thing with this blog, in addition to talking about all the other stuff Rave and I are likely to talk about. So I present to whoever is actually reading this: "IIZ Trax Select," our way of celebrating the music of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. I've spelled it as "Trax" as a sort of nod to all the "Vocal Trax" albums that have been made for the games since Sonic Adventure (though they started spelling it that way with Sonic Heroes and on).

So here's the first pick (thanks to YouTuber TrueSonic1 for uploading; I'll be uploading all songs personally from now on):

I was wondering what song to kick this off with, and I ultimately decided "Why not start from the beginning?" and picked the classic Green Hill Zone tune for the first pick. Cliche? Yes. But even with that in mind, it's still one of the most memorable and infectious songs of the franchise. I love loading up Sonic 1 and just zipping along the first three acts of the game and whistling along to this tune. Everytime. Can't hate. Don't hate.

I'll be honest though, Sonic 2 was my first Sonic game, so looking back, I don't think the original Sonic the Hedgehog is the absolute best of the Genesis games. It was a great start, and set the foundation for a run many thought would last forever. Has Sonic lost some speed these days? That's really a matter of opinion. For me, the franchise has never really hit rock bottom. Many will say that Sonic '06 and Shadow the Hedgehog are the lowest of the low points the franchise has seen, and I'd agree with the former to a degree, but I haven't actually played it. I've seen enough to be able to say with certainty that it actually looks awful. And I'm a Sonic nut, so for even a mainstream Sonic game to look unappealing to me in almost every way is just crazy (the music was sick though). Though, who knows? I might actually manage to squeeze some fun out of it, even with my predisposition that it probably is every bit as bad as people say. Shadow on the other hand is a spin off, and it's a decent game (I've played it A LOT), and while I hardly think it's the best of the 3D games, it's really hard for me to walk away hating it (I honestly think critics were extra harsh on Shadow).

Putting that aside though, there are some Sonic games with a less than memorable score, and the franchise has plenty of stand out tracks that easily outweigh all the weaker ones, but I think Green Hill Zone will always be the song most associated with everyone's favorite Hedgehog.

EDIT: As a bonus, I'm including the remix of the Green Hill Zone theme that was featured in Sonic Adventure 2 for the Dreamcast and Gamecube.

It's a great throwback to the original. Sonic Adventure 2 was the 10th Anniversary Sonic game, so it's actually rather appropriate that the classic Green Hill Zone level was included as an extra. Never mind it was a supreme pain to unlock, it was a great first attempt at turning a classic level into a modern 3D level. Unfortunately, the camera didn't work particualrly well, but it was still a nice extra and pretty fun. It's a shame we haven't seen any more classic levels remade in more of the modern games yet, but hopefully we'll see some in the future.

It's Half-Past One

2009-06-30T01:38:00.000-04:00

What the hell am I still doing up? Well, for the most part, nerding it up on Sonic trivia over at the Sonic Jam wiki. You might be thinking, "Well, what's so interesting about Sonic JAM? It was just a compilation game with a 3D world interface." Yeah, but this cleverly named wiki page is actually just a hub for EVERYTHING you'd want to know about Sonic the Hedgehog... at least as far as the games go. You'll have to look elsewhere for that SOA-Archie trash and the long-since defunct StC crap.

I jest! Comic books are the shit, man! I really want to get my hands on them like 10 years ago, along with a Genesis and a handful of games I never played growing up.

But more on my tragic life and comic books later. Right now, let's check out the Sonic Jam wiki. Bookmark it, save the pages, preserve the contents in .doc format (not like I don't do that to everything), because the makers of this Wiki have a pretty sweet gig going on. If you haven't already dived in take a look, here's what you'll find:

First thing you see are three banners for three different archives of the site: South Island Stories, which is a collection of (almost!) all of the manuals and other related items for each games spanning from the Master System to the current-gen consoles. It also has bits of the story from games like Sonic Battle and the Adventure games. While most all of the japanese manuals I've tried to download are unavailable at the moment, this section is basically meant to represent the consummate chronicles of the Sonic games continuum, whether they agree with each other or not (with the Sonic OVA as an honorable mentions!). There's even a section that discusses which games are most likely to be canon and which are not, and it's pretty detailed.

The second major archive is Angel Island Interviews, and it's got--you guessed it--just about every interview with SEGA/Sonic Team-related personnel from 1991 up until now, including this Mr. Kanata guy I've never heard anyone talk about at all. Who's he, you say? The director of the original Sonic Team around the time of the Mega Drive games? Whoops! Yeah, uh... I guess he's important, right? Right. I haven't gone through this section in it's entirety, as I'm not a full-fledged child of the night; more like a novice owl. But you go ahead! You've got nothing better to do, right? Sleep? Sleep is for wusses and babies. You don't need sleep, fight it!

The third and final archive of the wiki is more or less a compendium of every single nerdy forum discussion with pretentious primary-schoolers and bored, lonely college screwups talking about every single thing that's wrong with Sonic games now and how to improve them using the Mega Drive/Genesis games as a collective lithmus test. See, I'm not a failure. I know what a lithmus test is, and I spell it "lithmus" instead of "litmus" because I'm not a loser who debates about videogame structure and concepts. Nope.

Yeah, I'm being a funny dick. I'm just full of wit and sarcasm.

Honestly, though, it looks like a really cool, well thought-out, and thoroughly researched deconstruction into what made the Mega Drive games kick so much ass back in the day and in the here and now. Furthermore, it delves into suggestions into what Sonic Team may do to improve and so revive the respect and dignity of their team and the Blue Blur himself. I haven't read it yet, but so far it sounds like the same crap I blather on about over at the Find The Computer Room forums (Hey man, shameless plug!). Regardless of your opinion on this whole meaningless shindig, I highly recommend you check it out and submit your comments in the spirit of good discussion if you consider yourself a fan of Sonic. Note I didn't mention any black-and-white nonsense about "true fans" or not. A fan is a fan, and a fan is a person too.

Didn't think about that, did'ja, ya presumptious jerks? Eh? Ehhhh?!

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call all 10 of you jerks. My apologies.

There's actually another site I've come across that reminds me very much of this one in intent and content, but with a slightly different aim: to discuss the ideal, universal identity of Sonic the Hedgehog and the many denominations of fans and enthusiasts for him and his parent company's divisions: Sega of America (The Western side that ruined everything), Sega of Europe (the side that doesn't matter), and Sega of Japan (God). Yeah, that's right. Sega of Japan is collectively a representation of God because they made Sonic first. It's true. Agree or die by negative labeling.

Ya know, I've gotta be pretty scatterbrained to not mention anywhere the name or URL of the site in the paragraph where it's invariably the subject. You'd think I never took college writing class, but the sad fact is I did. Skipped over the first required class because I payed off the admissions manager, and now it started to show. Shame on me. Well anyways, here's the second site I was talking about: Concept: "Mobius". It's a really slick site, and upon clicking on the link you'll be greeted with a badass anthro-character with the power to generate obscure symbols in his hands.

Pffft. Amateur n00b recolor.

The site is hosted by TechnoGuild, which is "an exclusive 'think-tank' community for artists, writers and designers who have a main interest in the science and technology found in genres such as Sci-fi and Anime," and their purpose is as "a community for people who want to develop new concepts, sharpen their creative skill, and strengthen their intellectual prowess, regardless of theme or genre." Sounds pretty spiffy, if you ask me. Like, if YOU were a member, I'd think you were the shit. Whoever drew that whatever-it-is up top certainly is, I'll tell ya that (she goes by Shanella).

Well, that's all I've got to offer for tonight. Or this morning, as it were. It's a very, very early morning. o.o; G'nite, guys!

My First Blog Post!

2009-06-24T01:02:00.000-04:00

So Arun told me about this Sonic fanblog he was starting up, and seeing as how we're already collaborating on something Sonic-related, I figured, "Why the hell not?" I love to talk. Here's my chance.

As you've already read from the title, this is my first blog post. I'll say it again:

I now have a blog post.

It sounds like I'm a proud owner of a sign meant to ward off travelers from bogs, but the bloody sign-maker blundered into mispelling the damned 3-letter word beyond all epxections. "Beware of Blogs."

Feeble attempt at humor aside, I'm a huge fan of Sonic, and I'm also a recent newcomer to the fandom that is fascinated with SEGA. My fandom literally started some time in the past year-and-a-half, going from Tails to Sonic. I dunno how I got to Tails, but being that he's such a cute bastard and I have a friend who loves him, I eventually got hooked. That's how I remember becoming a fan for the first time. From then on I picked up a Genesis emulator and went nuts with all the awesome Sonic games to play, although I still haven't gotten fucking Knuckles Chaotix to work. Did you know Metal Sonic's in it? I didn't. I hear he turns into some giant red demon Metal Sonic as the final boss. Good shit, I'm getting on that game soon.

Now that's not to say I never played the Mega Drive in my youth. There was that one time I watched my brother playing Sonic 1 (probably Sonic 2) on the neighbor's system for like about a level or two. Eh... that doesn't count as playing, but that's most of what I did when I was 4, or 6, or something. Besides that, I was raised on mostly Super Nintendo, then N64, then PSX, and it pretty much stopped at PS2 and GameCube. Yeah, I haven't taken the dive into the next-now-current-gen on the basis that I'm an insufferable spendthrift. Either I wait for a nice price drop, finish all the games I've got so far, or get a job. So far I'm gonna stick with playing games and doing something interesting with my time 'till the next college semester. Chyeah. G'luck with that, Rave.

Have fun at Isolated Island Zone (TM)!

Gametap's Sonic Retrospective

2009-06-23T14:27:00.000-04:00

This was put up earlier in the year. Yeah, I know, I know, I'm slow for not getting up sooner. But I wasn't working on this blog back then. Cut me some slack. Embedded the entire playlist; hopefully the formatting doesn't get screwy. Compared to the one I wrote (first post), I thought this was a great retrospective. Not like IGN's shitty overview of the series (which actually amounts to Sonic 1 was the only good Sonic game. Seriously.) Gametap's retrospective was well researched and seemed to, more or less, be quite respectful towards the series and property without saying anything particularly negative about, well, anything really. The game's may not be perfect, and do warrant some criticism (though I tend to only see the fans bitching like they know better), but some of the hate directed towards the franchise is just ridiculous.

Azure Blue World...

2009-06-23T14:10:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to start this thing forever, but hey, why not start now? On Sonic's birthday (and Shadow's too!)? Yeah, I know it's ridiculously nerdy (if not plain silly) to celebrate a fictional character's birthday, but what kind of fan would I be if I ignored it all together?

No, I'm not one of "those people," the so-called "true fans" who either live and die by the Genesis classics only or the irritating as hell "I'M A TRUE SONIC FAN BECAUSE I BLINDLY LOVE EVERYTHING SONIC'S FACE APPEARS ON!!!" I guess if you had to call me something, it might be well-informed fanboy. Too much? I have my insufferably nerdy moments too (believe me), but I try not to let that take over too much...

Anyway, enough about me, this is SONIC's day, isn't it?

18 years ago today SEGA launched its "Mario-killer" on the SEGA Genesis (or the Mega Drive for the European/Japanese fans) to much acclaim. A franchise was soon born and Sonic soon started blazing through from sequel to sequel, quickly becoming video gaming's superstar icon. He even managed to overshadow MICKEY MOUSE at one point! Seriously, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG was more recognizable than MICKEY MOUSE (HOW I don't know, but that's what happened)

Sonic kind of hit a rough patch in the 32-bit age, with Knuckles stealing the spotlight on the 32X (in some ways, I don't think Sonic was too mad given it WAS the 32X we're talking about here) and the only thing close to a mainstream game was Sonic 3D Blast on the Genesis and Saturn (the latter version came about due to Sonic X-Treme's untimely cancellation, a decision that led to the Saturn's demise). He made due with Sonic Jam (the first of many compilation games) and Sonic R (a racing game, but not the first) but was soon redesigned and relaunched in a big way in 1999 (for the US) with the Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure. 2001, Sonic's 10th Anniversary, was SEGA's last year in the hardware game and thus Sonic's departure from first-party mascot to third-party licensed property, but he went out with a bang with Sonic Adventure 2. The following year, many believed hell had actually frozen over because Sonic started showing up on NINTENDO consoles (starting with the re-release of Sonic Adventure 2 and also Dimps launching the Sonic Advance series on the Gameboy Advance).

Many like to say that Sonic is either dead or is really having a rough time (read every freaking review since Shadow the Hedgehog and you'll see what I mean), but it can't possibly be that bad. 2003/4 (depending on your region) saw the release of Sonic Heroes, Sonic's first multi-platform game (Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox). 2005 gave Shadow his time to shine in a spin-off game that used guns (a game many hate, some love and others think it was OK). 2006 was sort of the "dark period" because of the release of the unfinished, unpolished next-gen title SONIC the Hedgehog (or Sonic '06). But, at least from my perspective, after a rough three year period of decent to terrible games (unfortunately, I'm glossing over most of the great handheld games just to get through this brief and shoddy history lesson. Gametap did it better...), Sonic is slowly getting back on track. Sonic and the Secret Rings for the Wii was declared by many to be the best 3D Sonic game ever (considering the act it was following, it couldn't be too hard for it to be better). Later that year, of all the things we would have expected to happen, Sonic appeared alongside Mario for the first time ever in gaming history... at the Olympics. Well, beggars can't be choosers, but it was a start. 2008 was called "the Year of the Hedgehog" (technically the year of the rat, but we all know how touchy Sonic gets about being called a rat) with just a slew of great things to come. Sonic guest starred alongside Metal Gear Solid's Solid Snake in the Wii platform-fighter Super Smash Bros. Brawl (boasting speed that put Captain Falcon to shame), following up later in the year with his big console comeback Sonic Unleashed, for the 360, PS3, Wii and PS2, a game some feel (or maybe it's just me...) that things are finally looking up for the hedgehog, even if the critics will continue to hate. BioWare even jumped on board to create Sonic Chronicles: the Dark Brotherhood for the Nintendo DS, Sonic's first RPG. 2009 saw the release (so far) of Sonic and the Black Knight, a game, like Unleashed, many either love or hate (hate mostly being directed towards the concept: Sonic uses a sword).

Now it's summertime, but what's next for the blue blur? Archie Comics continues to publish their comic book series (holding the record for the longest running comic based on a video game) with the regular monthly series and the new Sonic Universe series (I'll probably be doing write ups on the first four issues soon!), and SEGA has announced Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (why not just "SEGA All-Stars Racing" I'll never know) which puts Sonic behind the wheel again and will have him race other SEGA characters like Tails, Dr. Eggman, Samba De Amigo, and many others (to be released 2010).

So Sonic has turned 18 (Shadow's 8), the franchise has seen things both good and bad, and while Sonic may never quite achieve the kind of superstar status he had when I was a kid, he'll still hold the top spot for me. Personally, even though Sonic Unleashed wasn't a perfect game, it was one of the most polished efforts to be released in years and with a lot of smart decisions being made in the course of its development, it was easily a step forward in the right direction. I see this trend continuing in the future and maybe one day we'll have a game that perfectly blends the speed and platforming we once saw in the Genesis classics.