Sonic turned 15
 

Yesterday was Sonic 15 birthday yet very few people, even on gaming forums noticed it... does Sonic no longer appeal to the gamers?

EDIT:
Like soniclover says: Let's talk about the good times, the oldies but the goodies!

Sonic died years ago.
The sonic that we know today is some sort of look-a-like.

Well, they announced Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the GBA because of the 15 year thing.

I've played Sonic the Hedgehog 1 so much that there's no reason to get it for the GBA for a rip-off price.

Thanks for all the crappy games over the years Sonic. :(

I can see the Sonic image has degradated over the years, he was once my hero... crazy kid stuff but if you think about it it's not so bad. I'd rather have Sonic as my hero than some lame pseudo-satan mettalica dude or whatever.

As for the games... well... yeah most of the newer Sonic games just plain suck ass. The only 'recent' exception I can remember are Sonic Adventure 1 and Sonic Advance 2/3.
The new Sonic Next-gen doesn't seem anything worthy too :(
Sad times indeed and I blame it all on these kids today :p

Yup...pretty much true in my case...For me, Sonic died after the sega genesis era. Now its just a clone-look-a-like of him. Those 2D sonic games bring back so much memories. Ever since the end of the sega genesis, I haven't played a "New" Sonic title except the collection like Mega Collections or Gems Collections. Let us remember that era with those wonderful memories and never forgot that Super Sonic...

So, I'm guessing this is going to turn into another Sonic "mope-fest" like the other thread.

Yep... it looks like that. Let us then praise the good ol' time, the mighty power that is retro and 2D games.
Infact this thread was an effort to see if someone would stand up and defend Sonic but looks like it won't happen... oh well I'm going to sleep, the miserable state that Sonic reached gets me depressed.

yeah the 3D games were a dissapointment (still fun but not quite sonic fun). but the newer 2D sonic games on the handhelds kick ass, definately my favorite game series for GBA:)

Poor Sonic... he's losing his luster.

At least I still have all the genesis Sonic games. I can relish in those good memories.

Why back in MY day I was young and easily impressed by Sonic's one-trick-pony style, and now that he actually has varied gameplay that gets raped by shitty cameras I don't like him anymore. You damn whippersnappers are selling him out and denying me my Burning Rangers and NiGHTS!

...what it sounds like in here. Sonic Team. Give the blue guy a rest and let some of your other IP do the work so Sonic can recover his image.

Sega has shown lately that Sonic doesn't need to be over 18 to be sodomized. His reputation is ruined =(

I could sit here and complain that Sega is 'celebrating' Sonic's 15th birthday with a terrible racing game, a port of the original Sonic for GBA which will most likely turn out broken beyond belief, a platform racer hybrid for PSP developed by the team that made Death Jr and Shadow the Hedgehog 2: Revenge of the Jeep for PS3 and 360, but I won't!

Instead, I'll post screens of my favorite Sonic game, 8-bit Sonic 2. MASTER SYSTEM NOT GAME GEAR BECAUSE THAT PORT WAS AWFUL.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13.../Sonic2002.png
Despite Tails being on the title screen and in the level intros, you couldn't play as him. Excellent!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13.../Sonic2003.png

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13.../Sonic2004.png
Best secret ever, because it was almost impossible NOT to find out about this.

Then there's my second favorite.. uh, .. Sonic 2!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13...c2_special.png
TAILS' ONLY PURPOSE IN THE SPECIAL STAGE WAS TO MAKE YOU LOSE. >=|

Happy birthday Sonic, I know you commited suicide years ago but I'll never forget your fun times!

Yes. This shit is lame because I'm the only one who's not wearing rose tinted glasses of nostalgia. :(

I could write up a post about Shadow the Hedgehog 2: Revenge of the Jeep if you really want!

Uhh Uhh! Does he have a gun in that game?

Congrats, Sonic. Sad that you had to celebrate your birthday from the absolute buttom of the gaming world. Together with games such as South Park Austin and Catwoman:(

Dang! Me too but it will be 16 bits instead:

Sonic & Knuckles
http://home.comcast.net/~grandamchan...icknuckles.gif
Best Sonic ever, I like to play it alone because I don't like Sonic 3 levels that much.

and... Ristar!
http://www.juegomania.org/Ristar/fot...oto+Ristar.jpg
This game is one of the best platformers I've played yet few people know it, even I only knew about it's existence a few years ago with the advent of Mega Drive emulation, I know it's off topic but worth mention and at least isn't crying over Sonic's dead hedgehog body...

oh my god, risar was so awesome, i need to play it again. I was too young to beat some parts of it so i never finnished it.

there was also another platformer with a squirral (?) and you could jump into trees and stuff. Damn cool, anyone know the name of that one?

Never owned a Sega console in my lifetime, but I do remember I used to buy and read Sonic the Comic. That too has disappeared.

The only thing off the top of my head is Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel.

Is that shit even serious. :eyebrow:

no that wasnt it. It didnt have any real weapons, you threw those thngs that squirrels eat.

I only knew about Ristar when playing Shenmue! You know those capsule toys? Well one of them was Ristar, I knew all the other figures (even those character of Sonic Triple Trouble like Fang) but I was clueless about this star dude and his name Ristar.
It still took me a while to find out who he was since I had no internet back then, I only found it out when on Shenmue 2 I refound the Ristar capsule (or did I refound in on Shenmue 1? Can't remember).

Af for the squirrel... Conker Bad Fur Day perhaps?

Sonic was awesome. Seriously. As were Toejam and Earl, Cool Spot, Dizzy, Sparkster and a bunch of other Megadrive mascots. Those were my personal favorites, since I was more of a Megadrive guy. I frowned upon SNES and even ordered a limited edition Sega pack, complete with Shaq Fu Fever CD.

But yeah, dead. Splat. Then again, the same applied with the SNES and their mascots. You can only honestly continue making games with a certain icon in it before you fuck it up. Sonic was great, up until about.. oh, I dunno, Adventure 2. The original Sonic Adventure was great fun, but I always felt like the entire game revolved around mini games (casino, etc) although the story was nice. They went overboard on the facial expressions though.

Don't get me started on Shadow, Heroes and Adventure 2.

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/6364/sonicadv019ae.jpg
"Haha WHOA, Tails! Where's the toilet around here?"

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/7...lsdunno6ks.jpg
"Dunno Saaawniiiic!"

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/3022/sonicdunno4np.jpg
"WHOA"

I thoroughly enjoyed the Sonic games up to Sonic 3D Blast. To this day though, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is my all-time favorite. Sonic CD was also really good. In my opinion, the series started going downhill with the Sonic Adventure games. They just didn't have the same excitement and sense of speed that the original games had and were known for. I've also tried both Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog recently, and neither of those helped to get me back in the series either.

Although the series has been in a huge lull for nearly a decade now, it doesn't mean that all hope is lost. I'm quite sure that a considerable fanbase still exists, and if SEGA were able to get in gear, they could make it profitable and respectable once again. Just look at the Tomb Raider series. The last few games were horrible but Tomb Raider: Legend is a very nice game and has seemingly given that series some much needed credibility again.

Regardless of the state the series is in now, this anniversary is still meaningful and should be recognized. So, congrats to SEGA and Sonic Team.

I kinda liked Sonic Heroes and it could've been a great game if:
1. You played as _one_ character at a time
2. They removed all the story, like I said somewhere the best story a game can have is "Press start button" story.

JUST WHAT EVERY RPG NEEDS.

Don't know if this would intrest all the fans of the old sonic days but for the recent aniversery they released a papercraft model of Green Hill Zone. Only problem I have is that there is no loops but still very cool.

http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/3...zone5ou.th.png


http://www.sendspace.com/file/ht4y52

THANK YOU.

Devilmaycry. If you really don't want this to be a big mope-fest (oh wait, it already is) then edit your first post and add in "Let's talk about the good times".



Anyways, Here's a great game. Sonic CD...for Japan.

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~pm9m-tkhs/dic/s/soniccd.jpg

The Great Japanese music was butchered to satisfy the American audience (which was a bad idea). The music for the American Version could actually hurt your ears....anyways, the game had horrible bosses.

http://cubemedia.gamespy.com/cube/im...5041904944.jpg

What is this? Seems more like a workout machine ("Egg"-Ups?)

Anyhow, the game had some fun level designs. It wasn't Great game or or horrible one. It was sorta in the middle.

Sonic CD is one of the best reasons why music (in genearl) shouln't be fucked around with in the translation to Japanese to English (or otherwise where aproperate).

Good try :)


Hehe... funny stuff! Where Robotnik BTW? :p


Done!


The european version of the game had the same music than the japanese. Anyway I never heard the music from the US version.

:lolsign:

True... the workbench zone was annoying as hell! The rest of the game was Ok.

Why am I the only one on these boards who actually likes the American soudtrack over the Japanese one?! (Give or take a few songs)

Late reply I know (:(), but was it Mr. Nutz? It was on both Mega Drive and SNES, I think a sequel even came out at some point. You ran about killing off pure evil like walking apple slices and chunks of ice by hitting them.. with.. your nuts!

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/7324/mrnutzgs4va.png http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/8004/mrnutzss3dg.png

I actually prefer the American soundtrack ('sup Sin), and I grew up with the PAL Mega CD version (which like devil mentioned, has the Japanese music). Not that I'm saying the original music is shit, because it isn't. Well, apart from the children giving themselves brain damage yelling out "YAAAAAAAAY!" in the first level.

Well, Collision Chaos for the Japan version won me over. I just thought the Japan soundtrack was well composed and just all around better. The US soundtrack has some good songs in it though. The Japan soundtrack seem to fit the highspeed run "mood" more and considering that some of the US songs actually hurt my ears (Metalic Madness and Boss Themes).

I thought Japan had the better boss themes and the last two levels had more likable songs, but all the level music before then felt horribly unmemoriable or even downright annoying. I would've missed the good parts though had it not been for the Sonic Rush soundtrack.

And thanx Infernal Monkey.

Since you mentioned Sonic Rush...
 

When it comes down to it Sonic Rush was mediocre but lets talk about it none the less.

http://www.cubed3.com/media/2005/Sep...nic_Rush_1.jpg http://guide.supereva.com/console/ph...1133608950.jpg

Just so you guys know, Sonic Rush 2 was announced I believe. No information of it was given though.

On to talking about this actual game. Sonic Rush brought was more platforming and speed (which blend together so well in the Advance titles). The issue I had with Sonic Rush is that it had some bad level designs. Also, I'm not liking the fact that I have to actually do "tricks" to get Sonic to "Rush" as fast as he can go.

As I've said before, the game was mediocre. It wasn't that great. The reason it gets such great scores is because most people hated the Advance titles so when something decent came from Sonic, people were overjoyed.

The music was done by Hideki Naganuma and it was alright. Some songs shined more then others but the music flowed pretty well with the game.

What are you talking about? Sonic Rush was awesome. It had (or has) excellent and catchy music, and the pace of the game is quite nice. It's more upbeat and I'd take it over the 3D Sonic titles any day of the week. And it was challenging, as well.

The only thing that I could see wrong with it (I'm still playing it, mind you) is the horrible dialogue you need to sit through. This thing looks really nice and colourful on a DS Lite, as well.

Sonic Rush is in essence, Sonic Advance 2 minus all the suck. I'd probably argue that the level THEMES are old and shitty rather than the design. I'm fed up of green land -->deserts--->two metal places --> space, Sonic Team look at your Game Gear games and tell me why you gave all the good level themes for all those cheap games.

Am I going to have to be the one to bring some hope and life into this thread? I guess I will, since you 16-bit lovers won't.

http://www.consolepassion.co.uk/imag...hog/sonic1.JPG

This is how we all know how the blue blur started. Good times, right?

http://www2.uol.com.br/fliperama/gam...nuckles/01.jpg

By far the BEST of the Sonic games on the Genesis. You still love this Genesis stuff, right people?

http://www.hardgamers.org/s0106/img0...ors-cut132.jpg

Oh noes! It's Sonic from the Dreamcast! Run...run back to your Genesis consoles! Seriously, WTF is wrong with this?!

http://www.ugr.net/reviews/dc/images/sonic2_1.jpg

What's wrong with this one?

http://www.eurogamer.net/assets/arti...3_Screen_4.jpg

Or hell, even this one? What's wrong with it?

The fact of the matter is, most of you (if not all of you) see Sonic as already "dead and buried" since there hasn't been a "good Sonic game" since the Genesis. On the contrary, there have been good Sonic games since that time.
1999 - Sonic Adventure
2001 - Sonic Adventure 2
2004 - Sonic Heroes (not as good as the Adventure series but still good).
2005 - Sonic Rush

http://www.defunctgames.com/blogpic/blogpic039.jpg

Looks like he's still going to me. Happy 15th birthday Sonic! You've been alive since I was 6. :D

Oh, brother. And now people are comin' in here, actin' all pro sayin' Sonic Heroes was actually a good game. Some saving you did for the thread. ;_;

Oh well, at least the 2D Sonic titles haven't been ruled out completely. Now that Yuji Naka has left Sega I really don't know what to expect next, although he was only useful for Panzer Dragoon, really. I sure as hell don't expect another 2D title on a console, but I am enjoying Sonic Rush, and I will probably enjoy Sonic Rush 2 as well.

But this situation is like Chrono Trigger. If they did do a remake, everyone would bitch that it fails in comparison to the original. No matter how good it is, people will bitch. People have grown on games so much over the years that if there's a so-called "sequel" to the game, people seem to disregard it due to it not living up to the original's reputation. Chrono Cross, specifically, did this.

The same applies with Sonic. It's a shame, really, but almost all games which have transformed from 2D into 3D have failed terribly. Sonic, Contra, Castlevania, Toejam and Earl, Dizzy, X-men -- they're still decent games, but nothing compared to what it was like with 2D.

Totally random thought just came zooming past, hey guys. What's weird about Sonic 3, is that whenever I played that game, it rained at my house. And when the price finally dropped (in 1997) and I purchased the game, our house was broken into and it was stolen a week later. I'd only played the game once since buying it, and the day which I played it on, it didn't rain. That was odd as hell. And for some reason, I remember this.

It just seemed like everyone was in the same depressed mood about Sonic being dead. It could've been worse man...I could've said Shadow the Hedgehog was good (well, the theme song and probably the whole soundtrack was but the the game itself wasn't). He didn't fail on 3d, I thought it was very successful with the Adventure series.

So the Sonic the Hedgehog that they're making for the GBA isn't a port of the game, but it's going to be a remake? We'll see how that goes. However I like the comparison between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross here...I completely agree.

There probably will be people who prefer the original over the remake. A good example? Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. While the original from the PS1 was probably preferred, the entire Psycho Mantis area (music, build-up, and fight) completely outdid the PS1 version in my opinion.

Here's a couple of examples for Sonic. Remember when they remade/ported Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 for the Gamecube?

On Sonic Adventure 1, it was done with better graphics, better load times, same music. Now THAT is how you remake a game. Plus they added a mission mode to unlock the Game Gear games (which was frustrating at times because I couldn't even find the missions) and they added a playable character in the Trial section when you collected all the emblems, which was pretty cool that you were finally able to play as that character.

Sonic Adventure 2 on the other hand, was better on the Dreamcast. I noticed they added more of those speed up things on Final Rush (Sonic's last level) and they added more levels to the vs. mode games, plus there was Chao Karate (which I thought was pretty funny). Still, you can't beat the original...being able to play a game that took the Dreamcast's hardware to the extreme and noticing that it slowed down during some of the scenes (up on the ARK for example) just made me realize how special of a game this was. I know it seems weird because I bash Shadow the Hedgehog for the same reason when I bought it for the PS2, but that was because it happened during the gameplay...and I probably shouldn't have bought it for PS2 in the first place.

Yes, like all of you I have my problems with some of the Sonic games. However, I just tend to like some of the 3d ones while everyone else just seems to not like the 3d ones at all.

Hey, don't look at me, I never said that. I just gave an example of how people seem to favor the old favorites over new material popping up.

Hideki Naganuma music OWNZ! At least on JSR it completely owns!
Sonic Rush is mediocre no matter how hard they tried because of the plataform, Nintendo DS must the very worst mainstream console ever, that screen placement is the stupidiest thing ever... unless your face looks like this:
http://i5.tinypic.com/161di07.jpg

^ You've got to be joking, are your eyes and brain even fully developed yet.

The 3D Sonics are an absolute joke. I'm sure i've alraedy explained why they suck in about 1 million other sonic threads here over the years, so I wont repeat myself. I've tried to find the fun, but it's just not worth it. Hell, I enjoyed Ty the Tasmanian Tiger about 100 times more than Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic Adventure 2 is the biggest joke of a game of all time. How someone can put the blame on this downfall on anyone but Sega / Sonic Team just flies over my head, blame the kids? What? Sega are the ones shoving this shit down their throat, they don't know any better.

Anyway, as long as I have my Sonic Mega Collection sex-on-a-disc I don't care about the 3D Sonics. Sonic Rush is awesome too, but the music isn't magical like the old ones. It fits the game ok and is sorta catchy, but the original tunes in the Sonic games up til around Sonic & Knuckles are THE best videogame tunes of all time. The visuals, sound and speed make the classic sonics an orgasm to play!

Shadow da Hedgehog was teh an Awesome game!!!!

http://www.sgppresents.com/images/al...0688.sized.jpg

Advanced graphics

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...gameplay_2.jpg

Stellar new characters!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-Blackdoom.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...c/Doomseye.JPG
(Yes, his Eye actually gets treated as a "new" character as well.)

Ultra cool levels.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...h_gameplay.jpg

And best of all....
http://www.brightblack.net/gallery/d...3/IMG_2367.jpg

Emo Attitude!


Shadow the Hedgehog is the best game of the century. It may have horrible graphics, generic characters, sucky level designs, sloppy controls and not have any redeeming qualities but hey....he shots things!...and when you really think about it...does guns, big explosions, and "bad assitude" are the only things you need to care about when making a game, right Sonic Team?

Eh, Sonic Heroes is pretty much the shittiest platform game Sega's made. When the developers completely ignore the complaints and obvious faults of the original Adventure games (horrific clipping problems, busted targetting) then go and create levels that show off these problems even more (RAIL CANYON? AN ENTIRE WORLD MADE OUT OF RAILS TO GLITCH RIGHT THROUGH) and force you to basically walk through the levels because there'll be ten thousand walls to bust down then you know you're playing something special. Right up there with Wayne's World and Ren & Stimpy Veediots on SNES.

I've never played Shadow, but it's probably my goal in life!

http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/ar...3050652904.jpg
"YOU GUYS BETTER HANG ON, THIS IS GONNA BE A BUMPY RIDE"

Hey guys, anyone play Soleil?

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9406/soleil4ev.jpg

It had the coolest, most pointless Sonic cameo ever. He was sitting on a deck chair in the middle of nowhere with sunnies on, sipping a drink.

I've never heard of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger before...

Oh come on, how is Sonic Adventure 2 the biggest joke of a game of all time? Is it because of Shadow? I had my doubts about that when the game first came out too, but it turned out to be a good thing. You were able to play as Eggman, and the music was awesome. When the game first came out, it was actually too fast for me to keep up with. Graphics and gameplay were stunning, but what really kept me was the story especially at the end. There was also Sonic's final boss fight against Shadow at the end of the Hero side of the story...that still remains as one of the best boss fights ever. I once just didn't fight him and kept running to see how long the level lasted...I got around 7-10 minutes of doing ring dashing and running, to see that it stopped looping and you started back at the beginning...problem is...the beginning had already fallen. :D

If you want to talk about the biggest joke of a game of all time...look at games like Shaq-Fu (Genesis/SNES) and Yu Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament (PS2). Sonic Adventure 2? Far from it my friend.

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/2719/infernal3sv.jpg

Actually that cameo is on the back of the box, as well. The funny thing about this game is that I have NO FUCKING CLUE WHERE TO GO after the first trial, and I've been stuck there since oh, only 12 years or so.

I eventually gave up like a real man.

To be honest, Sonic's music really dropped off after Masato Nakamura stopped composing. Even after he quit composing and let the Sonic Team compose for Sonic 3 & Knuckles, they still implemented some of his composing styles which was good. His compositions were just so identifiable and infectious.

I mean, just how everyone knows you're playing Mario when they hear the Main Theme, you know you're playing Sonic when you hear the Green Hill Zone theme.

Ahaha! <3
Sonic's about the only thing I can remember about the game, played it at a friends place a bazillion years ago, hardly got anywhere. I should probably download it.

^Sonic Advance 3's version was just as pimp and you know it.

Also Sonic Heroes wasn't good or bad. It was MEDIOCRE, son. Fanbase pandering! that's IT! It had the most pimp final boss fight of ANY Sonic game (including 3&K, and that says something), but that doesn't save the rest of the game from being a mediocre fest.

Also Shadow's soundtrack was better than the game itself, I agree.

devilmaycry is asslame, son. I like how you continue to exist without brain cells.

Also Super Sonic has a point. This is still a 2-D fanboy retirement/complaint home. Can we find some good please.

YES! mr nutz! thank you! I didnt recognize it at first because I (think I still) have the japanese version. But yeah that's it, thanks infernal.

Yes, sadly it's true. I loved the music in Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and I loved Sonic the Hedgehog 2's music even more (Casino Night Zone and Chemical Plant zone) to the point to where I think Sonic the Hedgehog 2's music tops it in every way possible.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3's music was a little more dull to me though. It just didn't seem to have that great magic of the original. Going on to Sonic & Knuckles, the music seemed to have dropped down even more. I just stopped liking the music more and more.

For me, replay value drops more when the level I want to replay has average/bad music (like Sandopolis for example).

The music in the first two Sonic games were killer. Like, pretty much every stage theme had great music. Sonic 3, however, didn't have as much good music. Hydrocity Zone and Icecap Zone are exceptions though, as well as the Special Stage theme.

After Sonic 3D Blast, though, it seemed as though the music started to take a dip. Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 had decent music, as well as other games like Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters, but the music in the Sonic Advance games and Sonic Heroes are pale successors to the greatness we received in the 16-bit era. Recently though, Sonic music has gotten a bit of a revival. I'm a big fan of Hideki Naganuma, and hearing his Jet Set Radio style in Sonic Rush was a breath of fresh air. Shadow the Hedgehog, albeit a horrible game, had pretty kick-ass music. Sonic Riders even has some good music.

Chemical Plant Zone from Sonic 2 is still my favorite Sonic track of all-time though. I hope for the day that SEGA will release an official set of the music from the first 3 games. If that day ever comes, I'll be the first one in line.

Hey, they're making Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the GBA out of boredom...maybe they'll reslease it on another anniversary where they realize no GOOD sonic games are planned.


Let's take another trip into mediocrity with....Sonic Riders!!!!!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nic_riders.jpg

Average. Average Controls. Average Storyline. Average Graphics. Average Racer. It's suprisingly unfast (Unless you count not constantly running into things because the graphics blend together so much).

Sonic Riders was the typical mediocre game that has your favorite characters in it so it will sell.


...How did they even think of this?
http://ps2media.gamespy.com/ps2/imag...9113452347.jpg


Would it kill them to just make a Sonic R 2...but ya know, this time around they would actually put some "effort" into it. No, let's be "extreme" and make them ride Hover-boards. "Gonna Hit you with Super Sonic Speed"

http://games.kikizo.com/media/sonic_..._sep05/01c.jpg


It's sad when your spin-off games are actually more slighty better then your story-line games. *Shadow the Hedgehog*

Atleast Sega is trying to slowly retire Sonic by coming up with a new character. Look at Mario, this guy is everywhere.

That's probably one of the worst ways somebody could have put something. If Sega wanted Sonic to retire, they wouldn't keep making Sonic titles. It's that simple. Or did you forget the whole "Sonic to debut on the PS3" thing.

Same applies for other companies, I guess. Ever noticed how Crash Bandicoot is sort of, well, dead? That's because it is. A bunch of spinoffs and Naughty Dog have moved on with Ratchet & Clank among other things. Croc is also dead, even though it had a sequel; it retired and didn't make a bunch of crappy spinoff titles in the process.

Speaking of spinoffs:

I always thought that Shadow the Hedgehog was a spinoff. It's basically a black Sonic with guns (WHY WASN'T THIS A HUGE HIT IN AMERICA THEN). I haven't played Shadow but from what I can tell it's pretty much a joke.

Technically, Shadow the Hedgehog was a spin-off, but it does still follow the Adventure Storyline and it was the closest thing you had to a "Sonic" adventuring game this gen.

It was a hit with the youngesters though (I'm guessing one's who only limit themselves to Sonic crap so they don't know better game exists.

I still to this day can't understand why Sonic Team decided to drop the original Sonic Theme from Sonic 3. The theme they replaced it with isn't nearly as good.

Speaking of Sonic 2, shortly after Masato Nakamura's departure to go full-time in leading his J-pop band Dreams Come True, he released a promotional song to go with the album which was made using the Ending Theme music in Sonic 2.

Wikipedia says the title of the song is "Sweet Dreams", but I can't find a song by that title on their entire discography. :(

EDIT: Turns out "Sweet Dreams" isn't the correct name of the song. The correct name would be "SWEET SWEET SWEET" and it's featured on Dreams Come True's "The Swinging Star" album. I'll try and get a copy and upload it here to see what you all think. :)

Mp3 of the Ending Theme included.

I think the only reason they make new characters is to give Fchan some new threads. Oh hey, Sega's releasing 'Genesis Collection' later this year for PSP and PS2, guess what one of the games is! Yes! Home Alone!

...

So Sonic Team. Where's a new Chaos Angel. Or Sunset Park Zone. Those levels were pimp.

I remember that theme. I love that. I hope you can get the album. I'm really curious to see how it sounds. Does he do songs without words at all in some of his songs for the band?



While I'm here. I guess I'll throw in the Advance Series. One at a time though.


First on the list, Sonic Advance

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...dvance_Box.gif

Okay, so it wasn't anything new. All the levels were basically less glamorous versions of the Genesis levels. Nothing in Sonic Advance was new. It was the most Generic Sonic game ever created.

http://www.ntsc-uk.com/reviews/gba/SonicAdvance/05.jpg

What exactly were the reasons people turned off from the first one? It was slow, I know that. They should have had faster acceleration for the characters. Other then that I liked it. It had some nice music but wasn't anything too great.

http://www.cyberconsolas.com/scripts...s/SONIC3-B.jpg

The Special stages for it were very hard though. Enough to make you throw your gameboy. :(

All in all, it was average but when it first came out I had a blast with it.

Such a huge waste of talent, get that guy back doing the games damn it! Though I can't really imagine Shadow holding guns riding past on a bike while his music plays.

That game was also waayyy tooo easy. I fell asleep on the second act of the ice level, woke up, and found that I was at the boss.

It's that sad.

It was platforming heavy though. Even though it was easy.

Sonic Advance 1 was the best out of the Advance series in my opinion. Why? It was the easiest one to find the special stages and get the chaos emeralds in. In Sonic Advance 2, you had to complete the level finding 7 star coins (which got very annoying), and then you would go on to the special stage. If that wasn't bad enough, if you failed in the special stage...guess what? You have to find those damn coins again. What's even worse is, you have to get every chaos emerald with ALL the characters in order to unlock the final story. Sonic Advance 3, I just gave up trying to go for the special stages and just went through beating the game. I don't want to look for 10 chao in 3 different levels. At least in Sonic Advance 1, all you had to do was find a spring and you could go to the level.

I think that's why I liked Rush more than Sonic Advance 2 and 3. It was easy to get to the special stages, plus if you screwed up...you could do it more than once if your bar was high enough.

On to the music in the Advance series. It's not as memorable as the music on the home consoles but I'll point out some that are worth mentioning.

Sonic Advance: Secret Base Act 2, Egg Rocket Zone (this is one of the best songs out of the entire Advance series), Special Stage, X-Zone, X-Zone final boss.

Sonic Advance 2: Leaf Forest Act 1, Techno Base Act 1, Egg Utopia Act 1, and Act 2, Extra Zone

Sonic Advance 3: Boss

The Sunset Hill music from Advance 3 didn't impress me much. I dunno, there was just something about all four variations of it that didn't sound right. Nice try on using the Green Hill music, but it just didn't work there.

I can't really say a whole lot about Sonic Advance 3 tho, because I've only beaten the game. I didn't collect all the Chaos Emeralds (in fact, I didn't even get one) so I can't make any final verdicts on it. So far, the best one in the series had to be Advance 1.

Sonic Advance 1 had the most plain levels though. The Special Stages for the game were also very hard.

I could atleast get through the Sa2 ones. I didn't consider the coin finding hard (because I easily found the locations of them via FAQs). I loved Sonic Advance 2 (yeah, I said it). It was a fast, fun, and simple It was exactly what I wanted from a Sonic game. The Act 2 versions of all of the songs were also great as well and fit the speedy mood. Sonic Advance 2 was the peak of fun from the Advance series. The levels were fresh (Techno Base, Sky Canyon, Music Plant) then Sonic Advance 1.


Sa3 was sonething different though (did many people even play this?). The Team Up combos were annoying. My biggest Peeve with the game is that it didn't have automatic level selection. You had to go all the way back to the beginning of the map just to change characters (it really got tedious and slowed down the game a bit).

Yeah, I'm still looking. I was able to hear a 30 second clip of the song and it sounds awesome. I'm not sure if he does instrumentals, I'll just have to pick up the whole abum then. :)

I still feel Advance 3 is underrated. Largely because

a)It had to pick up the trash from Advance 2
b)Two words: HEROES BACKLASH. While the fanbase was hating on Heroes, Advance 3 comes out with a partner system and everyone cries "HOLY SHIT NSTANT PHAIL" without giving it a chance.

Also I found the special stages for Advance 1 a complete bitch and 3's were a joke (minus number 7). Finding the chao was the real excuse for tag team actions, and they were useful. Best of all once you found the damn chao you didn't have to do it again, even if you failed to complete the stage!

Advance 3 has Chaos Angel, which is quite simply the BEST 2-D STAGE SINCE LAVE REEF! Complete with the best act mixes and everything! Argh, why the hell is that stage so underrated?!

It's not. Sonic fans all around only mention the Advance series just for that level. Chaos Angel Zone is about the only thing Sonic fans talk about (without spitting) on the Advance series. If anything, the level would be closer to being over-rated.

I like both Sonic Advance 2 and 3. Shame they are on Gameboy Advance... if they were on XBox or any other console (but preferibly on Xbox since I have one) they would be the best Sonic games for years to come. Yes I know I can play it on a GC with a GBA Player, but I expected it on XBox in 720p and GC/PS2 on 480p (I say 480p on these console because I think they can't output 720p, I'm not underrating them!)

Huh. Never heard about that. Everytime I mention Chaos Angel elsewhere one person agrees with me and another 5 say "What's that? Didn't play Sux Advance 3 long enough to play it" I think I'll need to ask around some other Sonic boards.:doh:

I'm maintaining a sonic site that gets millions of hits and a forum with a thousand members (not counting forum resets) and I don't remember anyone ever mentioning Chaos Angel Zone.

There was a Cosmic Angel in Sadv1 which had nice music but aside from that, I don't even remember anything similar.

Really? The Gamefaqs community mentioned it a lot. Chaos Angel Zone was popular there.

By the way, did anyone play Sonic Battle for the GBA?

I did, not on a real GBA but on VisualBoyAdvance (yes I mean ROMs). I've finished it twice but the game is kinda hard. But not a that bad fighter... could've been a lot worse.

Now there's one thing I don't understand, how are we supposed to play that on a GBA? With that tiny screen and unconfortable shaped controls (it's a portable console afterall) I doubt anyone could really make it, at least without a lot of retries.
I've used a MS Sidewinder + 17" monitor for the first run and a 82cm TV for the second go and I still found it hard to locate the enemies sometimes!

Now I would love to see someone do it in a 2" screen :biggrin:

^That's why I'm not bothering with a Micro. EVER.

I wasn't refering to a GBA Micro but to a normal one, of course the micro is even smaller... I just can't for the life of me see (literaly!) how can one play on these screens.
I remember back then when I played with a borrowed Gamegear, I was 11 years old with the freshest eyes you can get and still after 2 hours I'd always get a massive headache.

I know im new around here but thats why they made that gameboy player for the gamecube so you don't have to kill your eyes.


dame those small screens!

Yeah but using a Gameboy Player won't rise the game resolution, it'll still be a 160 lines game instead of 480.

true but its better then nothing.

Ok everyone,

I was finally able to get my hands on that song.

I've uploaded both the Sonic 2 version, and the Dreams Come True version so you guys can compare.

Masato Nakamura actually sings a bit in this. Not bad in my opinion.

Check it out. :)

That's pretty cool! I liked hearing the theme done vocally even though I don't know what they're saying hehe. Thanks for sharing this! :)

The Vocals really bring out the "soul" portion of the song. I still like the original better (because it doesn't have 'lyrics' I can't understand).

I'd check out his band, if on the off chance they perform some songs without lyrics at all. :(

Hey guys, Sonic isnt so dead at all: Sonic Rush is great, much more better than Advance titles, give a try...

Still, my favorite Sonic of all times is Sonic and Knuckles.

I know there's an english translation out there somewhere, sung by Dreams Come True as well, but, obviously, like the original Japanese, it seems to e rather difficult to find. Possibly more so.

Sonic still appeals to me. I'm buying a new Dreamcast off Ebay and also Sonic Adventure. I'll pick up Sonic Adventure 2 when I can find a good deal on it as well. As a kid, I never owned a Genesis but I did play Sonic 1 and 2 nearly all the way through several times, and they were some of my favorite games.

I think there are several extremely memorable "scenes" in videogamedom, and the killer whale chasing Sonic in SA1 is definitely beyond a shadow of a doubt one of them...

http://www.sega.com/gamesite/sonicne...full/index.php

Yeah, because I'm an asshole and the 2-D Sonic fanbase is pissing me off, I'm going to necromance this thread!

Have a look at that site, listen and tell me how awesome that soundtrack is going to be. If it's one place Sonic Next won't fail, it's the soundtrack. (Also help plz. Can anyone rip those off the site?)

Done and done. =o Third song reminds of Goldeneye 64 at the start.

Song 1

Song 2

Song 3

YOU ARE MY HERO INFERNAL.

Appearantly the script of Sonic Next got leaked. I heard that Sonic dies in the game

Ouch. I bet all the jaded Sonic haters would cheer.

Oh, and about the ripped music infernal, Sega's site has it at a wrong pitch (the song's slightly slower). Any way to speed it up to the appropriate pitch?

So, it turns out that Sonic is copying off of DBZ then eh?

Silver must have come back in time to bring Sonic a deadly disease antidote. But then again, they wouldn't blatantly plagiarize that far, would they?

IT'S OVER 9000000000

also, you have the ugliest avatar I've ever seen lol

Since like 1992, yea.

BTW, the game script:
http://www.sonic-cult.org/newsx/fullnews.php?id=119

My soul weeps. :(

I meant full out storyline wise. It's a little too directly like DBZ this time.

I don't think that resurrection is such a typical DBZ motif that you could call it a direct ripoff. I'm pretty sure there are tons of games and anime which feature resurrection.

But I doubt that most sonic fans are intelligent enough to think over DBZ, and they'll probably make the whole game sound like a Dragonball copy - IT HAS TIME TRAVEL TOO! SHADOW IS LIKE VEGETA! RESURRECTION OMFG! - and so on.

When are we going to get a side scrolling sonic for a next gen console? You remember when they revived Contra for PS2 and made it a side scroller with spiffed out 3d esque graphics? Why not sonic?

Think about it. Side scrolling Sonic and Tails without any stupid Knuckles/Shadow/Hedgehog #1/Cat Thing #4 and no fucking guns.

Knuckles was okay, but they should have stopped there. I absolutely hated Big the Cat and his god damned fishing levels. I kinda liked E-102 β though. It was pretty cool playing as a robot. That's the only time any Sonic character should have a gun.

YES! nice to know im not the only one that wants one.

Hmm, if you are all dying to play side scrolling Sonic in 3D, isn't there this game called Sonic Rivals for PSP? I've only seen a few videos, but it seems like the closest thing to old school Sonic...

Wow, I can't believe it's that old.

Actually, I'm sure there's a ton of people who want an all out console 3D sidescrolling sonic (much like people wanting that in a mario game, unless you count Super Paper Mario).

Then again, I don't even know if they can actually make good Sonic games anymore so I don't know if that would even be better then the typical Sonic crap being shoved out. Looking at the mediocrity that is Sonic Rush (even though everyone ate it up).

They need to work on good level designs. Sonic games haven't been doing that right (one of the major follies in Sonic Rush, Heroes, and Shadow).

...bad level design? In a 2-D Sonic. HA.

I thought the only 2-D Sonic with crap level design were all the late game Game Gear ones (Sonic Blast, Sonic Labrynth). You have a point with Shadow and Heroes. Even the abysmal Sonic Advance 2 had level design that suited its purpose well (HOLD RIGHT TO WIN ZOMG), even if you were aiming for the 7 special rings by the time you perfected their locations.

Someone on this board said Advance 3 was "Mario on fast forward" rather than a Sonic game, and that still boggles me to this day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM7TDIjvGIE

I'm impressed. I don't know why, but I just am.

The music was added, btw. The cult has the original video but I can't freaking find it.

EDIT: Found it. But I'm not hotlinking, just go to their site and look it up under their upcoming stuff.

Looks pretty cool. I like how they brought back the killer whale from SA 1. And you get to ride him this time. :D

One thing bothers me though. Was that a gun he was holding in the last few seconds of it?

No. He wasn't holding anything, unless you count Princess Elise somewhere close to the end.

Ohh... I see. Didn't notice the head and two legs before. Thank god.

Did anyone encounter a glitch in either Sonic 1 or Sonic 2 (I think it was Sonic 1 because I don't think Tails was trailing along with me) in the levels that were like pinball machines where you turned into a giant coin? I did that once - jumped up into the wall and turned into a coin. I could move right/left but that was about it, then I died and went back to the last start point as normal Sonic. That was the weirdest console glitch I've ever encountered...

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a big sonic fan, but I'm pissed off in a similar way to all the other old schoolers here (although I confess I found parts of sonic rush to be 'cool' GASP!). The last game I played through was shadow the hedgehog although that made me crack up how one minute they'd try to be hardcore then the next you could just imagine where the censor had stepped in, As for this new xbox 360 sonic game looks like some kind of frecking final fantasy sonic crossover! With a dash of shadow part2 I guess -_-

Am I the only one who's noticed on the later games especially on nintendo that the levels (like most on sonic advance 3) look more like something out of a mario game? While we're on the subject of Mario I think SEGA for some reason at about sonic adventure 1 felt they needed to make sonic talk to compete with mario64 and also make him sound 'cooler' when they done the complete opposite >.>

Lastly going a little fanboy here I'm amused no-one's even tried mentioning the now totally fucked up game storyline! What is there now 10 alternative story arcs? -_-

...these Sonic Advance 3 = Mario's levels have got to stop. Where the hell do these people get this from?

And I also like your bitching about the plot--"ZOMG SONIC HAS A PLOT NOW IT'S ALL DOOOMED!" "I can't make sense between two universes so IT'S ALL DOOMED!"

T.V shows/comics don't count in Sega canon, so come back when you sound a little more objective and less 2-D fanboy, kthnx.

It's hard to say exactly what causes the mario comparison it's a lot of little things I guess like those tiny crumbeling platform parts or the games where you only spin using a seperate button even on a jump, I wasn't saying it's bad it just seemed out of character from the series (then again so was the "lolz! I have big gunzzz!!!).

Also don't mistake me as completly into only the 2D games and having read every story ever made, because they're quite frankly not worth the effort, all the different storys just make whatever storyline there was pretty much redundant every time a new wave of games get brought out. I just feel if they're going for the fmv crap they should try and keep some kind of history going, what's left of sega in it's attempts to keep sonic 'cool' just seems to keep rewriting everything about the universe but the core gameplay.

I think the Sonic/Mario comparisons root in the fact that both of them are being whored out on extreme levels. Mario is featured in NBA and DDR games while Sonic 1 is being re-released the 52nd time.

^I was specifically referring to Sonic Advance 3, not Sonic as a whole.

I'm not even sure where you get the fact that Sonic is trying too hard to be 'cool'. That's ALWAYS how he's been, he's always been designed to appeal to the cool crowd since 1991, and that probably won't change. If it's anyone who tries too hard to be cool, it's Shadow. (I mean, who the fuck says "I'm the coolest!" when they're getting their ass kicked?!)

I saw the preview trailer for the new Sonic game and then I saw Shadow in it and I weeped for a moment...

Sonic used to be fun before they decide to give him "Street Cred"
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/images/050314.jpg

I haven't kept up with the new Sonic developments because the recent games have been such a dissapointment that it's been hard for me to care. Tell me if I'm right or wrong on the following.

The XBox360 and PS3 versions of the new Sonic are the same, which is also the one in the linked video.

This Sonic takes place in a world that is closer to resembling ours.

There is another Sonic game on the Gamecube which is (vastly?) different and whos atmosphere is more like the old Sonic games.

You lose, 2-D fanboy. Sonic has always been about "street cred" since 1991.

You're wrong on one account--the Nintendo Sonic is on the Wii. And why does setting even freaking matter? You're all like "Sonic's trying too hard to be cool so he's lame now" but that's what he's always been doing. LET FRIGGIN GO of 1994 and move on if Sonic doesn't interest you anymore. It swear it's turning into a goddamn mopefest again.

You could totally rail grind with your Soap shoes way back in Sonic 1, yes.

Actually I was talking Sonic's attitude: the "blue dude with a tude" jabber is just as "forced cool = lame" as the whole "This is tight!" Sonic right now.

I bet if Sega came up with Soap Shoes in 1991 Sonic would be all over it.

Fail. Around the 1st few games they made him more out to be a surfer. Even in the cartoons, he had more of a surfer/chillback attitude.

Now they're giving the Sonic guys Guns and Vehicles? Big difference there...

I like how you confuse Shadow with Sonic. Shadow has guns. No wait, Shadow HAD guns. Sonic never has, never will.

And the chillback attitude was the "cool" thing to do back in 1991. Nice try though.

Yeah! I use to love the old Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog show. It was really light hearted and I'd always run home from school to catch it. It also made me want to eat chili dogs. :D

I never really saw the old Sonic as having a surfer attitude. In fact, he kinda imitated/mocked it a few times in AoSTH.

Furby, when you're talking about the first few games, do you mean the Adventure series?

Yeah, Shadow carried the "loaded clip" but they still tied in Shadow to the Sonic the Hedgehog Series.

In 1991, that was the scene but so was the grunge thing.. You don't see SONIC THE GRUNGER!

Sonic> yeah, they made the cartoon around the sametime that they made the 1st few games. I'm linking the 2 together but they ran side by side..

Let compare again:
Sonic 1: blur in blue, blue dude with a 'tude, etc
Sonic now: IMA ROLLIN AROUND WITH THE SPEED OF DA SOUND, GOTTA FOLLOW MY RAINBOOOW

Sonic 1: evil doctor who turns animals into robot slaves
Sonic now: I AM THE EGGMAN, THATS WHAT I AM, THE EGGMAN, YES, I'M THE EGGMAN THE EGGMAAAAAN, OH YEA DOO DOO DOOOO

Clearly there's some basic level of difference in the amount of "street cred" they force in the games, isnt there?

Oh, and thats another good point: back then, they concentrated on making a good game, and sold it with "street cred". Now they concentrate on forcing "street cred" INTO the game, and sell it with the name established by the revolutionary original series. Notice how "making a good game" is noticably missing in the process, too.

LMAO, that's not the Sonic theme! That's Sonic Adventure 2 1st part of the 1st level, City Escape, theme. But yeah the Sonic theme ain't any better.

You got it right this time, that's indeed SA2 Robotnick theme.


Not only is missing in the process as it's missing on the game as well!
I've also replayed SA1 recently after a few years of not having touched it. Back then I was new to the 3D games (skipped the PSX/32bit gen) and I was amazed with the game, fast forward a few years to 2006 and playing it again with 3D games experience shows me that the game was very poorly done... and I'm not even mentioning SA2 and stuff like Shadow.
Just plain sad. (mopfest here we GO!)

Wow... o_o those last 2 posts were so true and that's not even going into stuff like what nationality knuckles theme music is supposed to be. I think you just killed the thread between you or at least added fuel to a flamewar... :annoyed:

Haha, that reminded me that Knuckles is the original "gangsta" of the new-gen sonic crew. His levels were based on "treasure hunting", and he had RAP AS BACKGROUND MUSIC. Shadow is just the emo angst person with guns and warthogs, and the quirkly named Silver is a wigger.

By the way, notice all the different colored hedgehogs? The next sonic characters may be:
- a rabid red hedgehog with mental disorder, called Spaz the Hedgehog (blatantly stolen from the Jazz Jackrabbit series, since people playing Sonic games are way too young to remember that game)
- a hippie light green hedgehog
- a purple sonic recolor named "Shitglove"

And by 2009, we will have SONIC RANGERS!

lol I seriously hope you're wrong :D Sonic already gets mocked for it's quite obvious link with dbz with the 7 gems and turning gold... or was it 14 going by S&K? I bet even sega doesn't know any more

The delightful Sonic Underground cartoon already had two of those pretty much covered!

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/3...ground2be4.jpg

Wow, cant believe I missed that out. (Actually I can, and I'm glad I didnt remember that show.)


Someone needs to do some FANART!

Mopefest thread again *sigh*

I think I'll put the hedge on the backburner and enjoy OUR THE Nintendo for a while.

By 2009? Are you sure you didn't meant... NOW!

http://i7.tinypic.com/4i3hizc.png

GO GO POWER RANGERS!!

First, I think that the old Sonic was way better than any new Sonic that has ever come out could dream of being. The good things if any about the new sonic are the story lines and they manage to somewhat capture the sense of speed quite well.

Not only the storyline but Sonic games continue to have really good music...even if the games turn out to not be that great. (Ex: Shadow the Hedgehog).

Sonic Heroes. No.
Shadow the Hedgehog. No.
Sonic Rush. No.
Sonic the Hedgehog. Time Travel woes = noes.

Sonic Heroes. Not so much.
Shadow the Hedgehog, I don't remember enough from that game.
Sonic Rush. Not really, I wanted to go faster all the time. The boost mode speed wasn't fast enough after playing Sa2.
Sonic Next-Gen. Horrible. I remember when somebody said that they probably added Mach-Speed areas because the normal stages were so slow. I'll believe that.

The Mach Speed areas weren't so great with the sense of speed.

The only real sense of speed you got from Sonic Next-Gen was going through automatic sequences such as loops or running down a building. Never by playing the actual game though.

Hey, I used to tape that shit! It was on like, what, 6:30am? What kind of kids time is that?

Sega, more new characters doesn't mean better game.