February 2009 – Page 2 – The Sonic Stadium

At a recent event in London where Sonic Team’s upcoming Sonic and the Black Knight title for Wii was being showcased, Eurogamer managed to grasp a video interview with Tetsu Katano, who is well known for his work on past achievements such as Sonic Adventure 1 & 2.

In the interview, Tetsu responds to feedback about recent Sonic game gimmicks, his awareness of the criticism and how they implemented into the game. When asked about returning to Sonic’s 2D gameplay, Tetsu let’s us know they do like to target the core Sonic users but it’s under discussion at the moment and he can’t say alot about it. A new game for the hardcore Sonic fans in development, perhaps?

Yuji Naka also had a look at the new game while he was at the event, and explains his feelings on the recent Sonic since he left Sonic Team. Naka-san explains how he is happy to be free to work on new projects now he doesn’t have to work so hard on Sonic. He sees today’s Sonic as one that is breaking out of the mould he made and taking a new direction, and hopes this will be one the fans can enjoy.

You can check out the video interviews here. Yuji Naka on let’s Tap: 0:00-06:09, Tetsu Katano: 6:10 and shortly afterwards Yuji Naka’s thoughts on recent Sonic.

What are your oppinion’s on these statements? Do you like Sonic’s recent direction? Is the TSS front page getting too clogged up with Yuji Naka love? Let us know in the comments.

The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.

xxOLDOfficial News

NYCC: Two SatBK Gameplay Videos!

7th February 2009

Slingerland

14 Comments

GameTrailers.com is on the New York Comic Con show floor and have uploaded gameplay videos of Sonic & the Black Knight. It’s cam footage, but at least it is footage! The first video shows off the intro/tutorial level of the game and the second has a giant dragon boss! There are HD versions of each video over at GameTrailers.

You might still be skeptical about Sonic with a sword, but one thing that you have to be sold on now is the graphics. Even from this cam footage, it is clear that the graphics illustrate what the Wii is capable of, even at high speeds. I have yet to play the game, but I know that I am impressed with the game’s visuals.

I will have an old friend of mine, Keith, at the convention today. He’s going to play SatBK and let us know how it stacks up. From what he hears from other show-goers, he says that it is a mixed bag due to the amount of waggle and jumping. However, he is still reserving his judgment for his run today. I will pass his word onto you guys as soon as possible.

xxOLDCommunity News

BlueTube: Let’s Go to the City with…Sonic?

7th February 200925th February 2009

Slingerland

6 Comments

You might remember my handy guide to Sonic-izing your copy of Animal Crossing: City Folk and how it pointed you in the right direction for Sonic patterns and town tunes. Now, “Secretchaos” has tipped me on something far greater than having Sonic on a shirt or as your town tune. How about…as your neighbor?

Through hacking AC:CF, you can have Sonic as one of your neighbors that annoy you and give you gifts that you promptly sell. It’s one of the tiger models with a face lift, but it’s about the closest you can get to interacting with Sonic.

I’m considering of hacking him into my game, but that means I’d lose Rolf, my tiger neighbor. He’s so badass! I don’t think that I’ve met someone who hates people more than Rolf (he’s up there with Roscoe the Horse). So cynical, so funny.

xxOLDCommunity News

Fanatics: Sonic On XBOX Doesn’t ALWAYS Suck

7th February 2009

Slingerland

8 Comments

Let’s cut to the chase here. I don’t own an XBOX360, but I’d sure as hell love to have one if it was skinned like the one below. Check out the skin job DA user, ricepuppet, gave to his 360 console:

AWESOME. Check out his DA profile for more awesome 360 paint jobs!

But wait, there’s more! EGGMAN-X has some modded XBOX360’s of his own! The one in the foreground is absolutely classy. The second one is cool…if you like Shadow the Hedgehog. I can still appreciate the work that went into it, though.

Dag, yo. On his DA profile, you can also check out his WIP Master System Controller Coffee Table! That’s dedication, kids/

xxOLDInterviews

Community Interview: Super Sonic Knockout!

7th February 200922nd October 2009

Slingerland

2 Comments

‘Sup, chumps? You like good fangames? Me too. So, today, I managed to get my buddy VexusVersion (the artist formerly known as “Project ShadowBlaze”) to spill some details on the past, present, and future of his Sonic fighting game, “Super Sonic Knockout.” Amidst the walls of text, you’ll see some awesome new screenshots of the 2009 build of the game, debuting right here on TSS.

Brad Flick: What it do, PSB?

VexusVersion: It’s actually VexusVersion now. The name “Project ShadowBlaze sucks too much.” XD

BF: Fair enough, dawg. So, before we get to what’s new with SSK, there might be some TSS readers who have never heard of it. Would you mind briefing us on what the project is?

VV: Sure! “Super Sonic Knockout” is a platform-fighting styled fangame, which has been in development for over 3 years now. The game is an expansion of my first project, “Sonic Knockout,” which was to get many Sonic characters and have them fight in many places across the Sonic universe. When people think about SSK, the Smash Bros. series is usually the first thing people compare it too, which is funny, because that was never really the priority.

So, I guess that it’s fair to say that SSK is kind of like Smash Bros., but just with Sonic.

BF: Yeah, I’d wager that a Smash Bros. comparison is fair. I had never heard of “Sonic Knockout” before.

VV: That’s probably a good thing.

BF: Haha! Anyway, what is the development history of SSK?

VV: Back in 2005, I almost finished my first fangame project, “Sonic Boom.” I already had an idea for a sequel to continue what I started, only better. On September 23rd, 2005, I officially started programming the new project, titled “Sonic Boom 2.” However, progress stopped for a long time on both titles because of other commitments.

However, in 2006, the first Summer of Sonic event was a few months away and I thought it would be a good idea to try my hand at fangaming once more. I renamed the first game to “Sonic Knockout,” hastily put together all the pieces, rushed the ending, and submitted it on SoS 2006.

BF: S0S 2006 is a blur to me. I don’t even remember there being fangames there aside from BlazeHedgehog’s Sonic 2K6 2D-adaptation.

VV: Well, it was and since that the original was finished, I began continuing work for the sequel, which I renamed to “Super Sonic Knockout.” I think that the first demo was released in January of 2007.

BF: You gave me such a specific date for “Sonic Boom” and for your current project, you say, “I think?”

VV: *shrugs* XD

BF: Speaking of whens, when and what was the last demo that you released to the public?

VV: The last demo I released? That was way back in March of last year. It was a bug-fix of the last beta that I made and was titled “Beta 3.3.” I released the last beta one month before, and I had quite a list of glitches to fix. Unfortunately, I made one new glitch that people STILL mention as if they were the first to find it.

BF: Heh, it’s the Internet. People have a tendency to be complete fuck-ups and not read anything.

VV: I still find it funny, too.

BF: Are you looking to erase that famous glitch in your next demo, along with other developmental strides?

VV: Well, people who have been following the project probably know that I have started a new engine from ground zero, which will eliminate the glitches in the previous builds. I’ve dubbed it the “2009 engine.” The old engine was showing its age. It was built around code that I developed over 2 years ago, so it was unorganized and had a lot of unused stuff. That, and some features had to be cut because they just wouldn’t work.

The new engine solves that though. Basically, everything that I wanted from the beginning is in the new engine, from throws and arial combos to tag-team and multi-stage elements.

BF: That’s the gameplay side of things, but I know that you have a story lined up for this game as well. Are any story surprises going to surface in the next build?

VV: Surprises? I look back at my first game and I see the story as a disaster… it didn’t make a lot of sense. As a result, I’m rewritting the original game’s story and putting that as a secret story in SSK’s “Story Mode.” The improved story should make much more sense than the original did, plus it would help shed some light to story elements in SSK’s story, too.

BF: You ever going to tell me what that damn, red fancharacter is doing there?

VV: You and fancharacters. I swear.

A video package of Beta 3.3.

BF: Sue me. I digress. After you release a demo with the 2009 engine, what are your future plans?

VV: I plan to continue working on SSK and to make sure it gets done and done right, of course. I’m also helping STi work on Sonic Firestorm, working on zone backgrounds. I’m also going to be working on refining my art skills, so I’ve always got something to do.

BF: I know what STi is, but again, some people might not. What is it?

VV: Sonic Technical Institute is the formerly named “Sonic Cage Dome Technical Institute.” We work on SSK and Sonic Firestorm, two popular fangames. If anybody wants to join our team, visit our website and inquire. Make sure that you have skills!

BF: Mad skills?

VV: Sure.

BF: Well, I’m done here. Say “hi” to your mother for me, ok?

VV: …ok? XD

xxOLDOfficial News

Yuji Naka Dances Around Michael Jackson Theory

6th February 2009

Bolt

5 Comments

Is that Morph you’re holding there, Mr. Naka?

What is it with all this Yuji Naka talk lately? We may as well rename ourselves to ‘Naka News’ from now on. Gaming website Kikizo managed to catch up with the man behind such masterpieces as NiGHTS and Burning Rangers for a short interview on his new company, Prope. Looking pretty swarve, Naka turned up to the interview suitably dressed with ‘Let’s Tap!’ figurine in hand all set to promote his new game- however, Kikizo had other ideas in mind.

Naka was asked a series of questions consisting of his opinions on SEGA leaving the hardware market, what his current relationship with SEGA is at and why his socks are the colour orange. They even threw in the question always on a Sonic fan’s mind, did Michael Jackson really compose the music to Sonic 3?

Naka slyly replied:

Naka: [laughs] It’s best that you ask Sega!

Kikizo: Well, er, it was your game, Naka-san… nobody at Sega would even know any more…

Naka: It’s a mystery [laughs]. This information is on a need-to-know basis! [laughs more] One day, when the time comes, I will give you the information!

The inevitable question regarding Naka’s company ‘Prope’ (pronounced Pro-Pay for all those wondering) developing a character based game similar to Sonic quickly came around, to which Naka confirmed that the title has spent a very small time in development and he cannot confirm whether or not the idea will be approved by SEGA. He’ll tell media when the time comes.

You can read Kikizo’s interview with the man himself on their website here. Oh, and if you are still wondering on the question of his orange socks, they’re to match the Prope company logo which is reminiscent of the US orange Dreamcast logo colour. Awesome.

Source: Kikizo.

xxOLDOfficial News

Yuji Naka Meeting UK Press Today, Will Announce Let’s Tap

3rd February 20093rd February 2009

Dreadknux

10 Comments

As we write this, print and major online journalists are most likely awaiting (or on their way, no thanks to the snow) to become an audience with Yuji Naka, famed programmer of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Now the leader of part-SEGA funded studio PROPE, he will visit the European headquarters of the publisher to talk about Let’s Tap. So it can be assumed there will be a European release.

From what we gather, there may be some announcements or two on top of this, but it’s not certain whether said news will relate to the inevitable EU release of the future tapping game or be something else entirely. Other high profile SEGA games, such as Madworld and Sonic and the Black Knight, will be playable for the press today as well, so you can expect some previews appearing in your favourite magazines soon, along with interviews of Naka-san.

Unfortunately, TSS couldn’t make the trip today – we’re washing our hair. But keep an eye out as we will be on the trail for all the news that trickles out of this very exclusive event.

xxOLDOfficial News

Limited Edition SEGA LP for Australian ‘Mega Drive Ultimate Collection’ Pre-orders!

3rd February 2009

Bolt

13 Comments

Free!

Hands up who can remember when our friendly neighbourhood SEGA Community Manager (and head of the Sonic Wrecks Website) ‘AAUK‘ announced in the ‘SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection‘ topic of SSMB that SoE were planning on printing some exclusive SEGA blue Vinyl Records? Who couldn’t help but drool over the very lovely classic SEGA themed record sleeve and disc? So, which of you remaining happen to live in Australia? If your hand’s still up, you’re in luck.

General SEGA fan site ‘SEGA Nerds‘ reported today with some exciting news for any Aussies planning on purchasing the upcoming SEGA Mega Drive and Arcade collection title available for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 late this month. Website ‘JB Hi-Fi‘ is offering one of the very limited edition six track 12″ records with every pre-order of the game made on their website, while stock lasts, that is.

I’m sure many Australian fans are going to be picking this up quicker than you can say ‘SEEE-GAAA‘, so you’d better be quick! SEGA fans elsewhere in Europe can keep their eye on the official SEGA Blog for news of that competition in which AAUK is also giving away a couple.

You can check out the original SEGA Europe blog post regarding the Limited Edition Vinyl here and Australians can head over to JB Hi-Fi and lay down their pre-order here.

Source: SEGA Nerds.

xxOLDArticles

A Guide to Sonic Merchandise Part 2: The Fighters Franchise

3rd February 2009

Adam Tuff

9 Comments

Although the West seems to be getting its fair share of merchandise nowadays, it wasn’t always that way. Sure, in the early 90’s us Americans and Brits were treated to a whole load of Sonic and Tails plushes, a couple of different comic series and the odd figurine now and again, but once we hit 1995, the widespread interest in Sonic seemed to die off. The West was pushed into Sonic-merch limbo until 1999 when Sonic Adventure came around. This was not the case over in Japan…

Continue reading A Guide to Sonic Merchandise Part 2: The Fighters Franchise

xxOLDCommunity News

Sonic the Snowhog

3rd February 20097th November 2009

Shadzter

10 Comments

As anyone in the UK will know, it was a very white day yesterday with the blizzard that arrived in the morning, and what better way to have fun in the flakey weather than to draw Sonic in the snow? After 2 attempts this is what I ended with – it only took 10 minutes but I don’t think it came out too bad and I labelled Sonic’s name under it too just in case people in the area didn’t recognise it right away.

I originally planned for it to be bigger and use all of the patch of grass but I slipped and fell on my arse while ‘drawing’ the first attempt to which some guys nearby laughed at, oh well it was worth it to immortalize some hedgehog love outside my block of flats. After 2 hours nobody trampled it so I assume it’s got some fans. Some people in the surrounding blocks of flats should have a good view of it.

You can see more of my pics and the members of the SSMB’s pics here.

How was your snow day? Have you done anything Sonic related in/with the snow today? Let us know in the comments.

xxOLDCommunity News

Fanatics: Continuin’ the Sonic CD Tangent

3rd February 20096th February 2009

Slingerland

3 Comments

More awesome Sonic CD art. This piece is by liquidshade and it’s a beauty. He actually talks at length on his process, so I’m going to be lazy and copy-paste:

The characters took ages to get right, then I had to outline them, then I had to re-outlight them because I wanted the lines alot thicker, but in the end I’m satisfied with that thick black outline and cel-shaded look. I was gonna try soft shading, which probably would have gone better with the un-cel-shaded background, but that just looked a bit tacky. When I used to buy the British Sonic the Comic as a kid, they always did Amy with her spikes up, like I’ve drawn them here, but on more recent investigation into official pics, old-school Amy’s spikes are actually more like Sonic’s, and are only up in one particular pic, where she’s with Sonic. The poses in that pic are similar to how Metal Sonic is holding her though, so I figured they’d be better like that anyway. Speaking of Metal Sonic, that’s probably the best pic of him I’ve ever done, and all his awkward shapes and limbs ain’t easy to draw. I’m not 100% happy with Sonic’s pose, but I suppose it’ll do. The background only took the last 2 days to do, and even though that rough look and technique isn’t normally me, I think in the end it came out rather well. I used screenshots to get those Palmtree Panic cliffs just right.

The only critique that I have for it is that the color of Sonic’s mouth and belly region look sickly. Otherwise, it’s bitchin’.

#Games, Features

TSS REVIEW: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Mobile (Dash/Crash)

1st February 20098th November 2017

Slingerland

1 Comment

Everywhere you look, classic Sonic games are on things that go beep. With the success of Sonic 1 Mobile, with its sales exceeding 8 million units, SEGA thought it would be a swell idea to port Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to mobile phones as well. Since Sonic 2 is so damn big, it was released in two parts, Dash and Crash. My mobile provider recently put up Crash, so I gave it a spin in order to make my intended Dash/Crash, 2-in-1 review. The verdict? It’s Sonic 2 and good. Big surprise. I’ll keep it brief, kids. Continue reading TSS REVIEW: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Mobile (Dash/Crash)

xxOLDCommunity News

Make Your Own Fangame with a New Build of Sonic Worlds

1st February 20094th March 2009

Slingerland

8 Comments

We have a community project over at Sonic Fan Games HQ that’s not a fangame, but rather, the essential tools for you to create your own. Yeah, it’s something manageable and not a community game, which never see development past the first stage (if even that far). Making an engine is one of the most tedious parts of the game creation process, especially with a Sonic game, so Worlds provides a pre-made engine with a basic set of objects and features in order to allow designers to mainly focus on level design. Due the collaborative nature of this project, everyone can freely use this pre-made engine, modify it and submit additions to the official releases to enhance the quality of the engine. The engine is created in the Multimedia Fusion 2 software.

The engine has been used a countless number of times since its initial release in mid-2007. It was debuted alongside the release of Sonic Nexus’ second demo at the 2007 Sonic Amateur Games Expo. The engine has become incredibly popular for fangamers and you can see many YouTube videos whoring it out. Yeah, the downside to a engine completed for the public is that there’s only about one good project for every dozen or so. Still, when you get a good project, it is good.

Here is the entire list of improvements, with authors cited, to Sonic Worlds:

Ceiling Landing – If Sonic hits a curved ceiling at a high enough speed, he’ll “land” on it and continue run on it. (Damizean)
Peel Out – This has been set so only sonic can do this action (look in Actions [10] Peel Out) (APPO)
A save point – This saves all the data such as ring count, what shield you had etc.. so that at the beginning of the app if you press continue all of this will be loaded (AZU)
Checkpoints – Not the same as a save point as this only places sonic at the last checkpoint you ran through and doesn’t hold ring count, or what shied you had, just position (APPO)
Protection shield – Sonic can be hit a number of times before loosing his rings (AZU)
Magnetic shield – Rings are attracted to sonic when in frame also sonic does an extra jump if you press jump in the air again (NITEMARE & APPO)
Flame shield – Makes sonic immune to fire and also allows sonic to do a little dash forward if you press jump again while in the air (APPO)
Water shield – Stops sonic from drowning and does that bounce thing if you press jump again in the air (APPO)
Boost pads – gives sonic a boost as he runs over them (APPO)
Water slides – sonic slides down them (APPO)
Drowning – If sonic is underwater for to long the music will change and a warning will flash above sonic if he doesn’t manage to get air, sonic will drown (APPO)
Air bubbles (under water) – Gives sonic air if he’s drowning (APPO)
Water run – the ability to run on water at a fast speed (AZU & APPO)
Breakable Rockswall – When jumped on or rolled into destroy and produce

I hope you fangamers create a nice, solid product out of what is provided for you. Study how these gimmicks and badniks are programmed so that you can create your own, thus making your game more original!

Click here to get the .mfa file of the latest Sonic Worlds build!

EDIT: Link updated to a site that didn’t exceed bandwidth!

xxOLDCommunity News

Fanatics: A New Take on the Special Stage

1st February 20096th February 2009

Slingerland

8 Comments

Today’s featured fan-work is the winner of the mini-game contest over at Sonic Fan Games HQ. LarkSS made this special stage without even thinking that he would win, but he ended up running away with the entire thing. The stage’s premise is to get from point A to point B without falling into the bottomless pit below. There’s a strict time limit, so collect the blue spheres scattered across the stage to gain boost energy. Here’s Lark’s record setting run through his stage:

The minigame has a sweet, 80s vector look that I absolutely love. It’s like colorful version of Metal Gear Solid’s VR Missions.

Download the special stage in normal resolution. (7z file)

Download with high resolution (recommended). (ZIP file)

Z is jump and X is boost.