Welcome to the Archive site of The Sonic Stadium (2008-2023)
Please note that this site is no longer being updated or maintained; as a result, there may be design issues, and links to images and other media may be broken. Links to posts may redirect you to the same article on the current Sonic Stadium website.
Some of you may remember an old book published by ‘Ladybird’ called ‘Where’s Sonic?’ The book was pretty much a ‘Where’s Wally/Waldo’ clone, only it had Sonic characters instead of the mischievous man in the red and white jumper. In the 90’s and to this day these books were incredibly popular with kids and adults. If you were a kid sitting in the back of a car on a long journey, these books were a blast! So a Sonic themed one was a dream come true for lots of fans growing up in the 90’s.
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It’s that time of year when the annual Golden Joystick awards roll around once more, allowing gamers across the globe to vote for their favourite games from the past year in a number of different categories. This year’s awards will be of particular interest to Sonic fans though, as the blue blur’s 20th anniversary title – Sonic Generations – has been nominated not once, but twice!
That’s right, not only is Generations a nominee in the Best Action Game category, but the City Escape level (be it classic or modern!) is also up for a gong as Top Gaming Moment.
If you were one of the many who thoroughly enjoyed Sonic’s time-travelling adventure, then you can place your votes for the game via the following links:
Best of luck to Sonic in his bid for these Golden Joysticks!
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The Crush 40 Facebook page recently revealed the release date for the Crush 40 Live album (currently untitled) as October 3rd 2012, with a release through the Wavemaster record label. The single-CD live album contains tracks recorded at the Crush 40 Live performances in Tokyo in March with the full band ensemble of Johnny Gioeli, Jun Senoue, Takeshi Taneda on bass and Toru Kawamura on drums.
The track listing as stated on the facebook page is listed as:
01. Sonic Youth
02. Free
03. His World
04. Sonic Heroes
05. Open Your Heart
06. Knight Of The Wind
07. I Am… All Of Me
08. With me
09. Never Turn Back
10. Fire Woman
11. Revvin’ Up
12. Watch Me Fly…
13. Into The Wind
14. Rise Again
15. Sonic Boom
16. All Hail Shadow
17. Live & Learn
18. One Of Those Days
19. What I’m Made Of…
The CD is currently up for pre-order on CDJapan for the cost of ¥2,500 ($32 / £22).
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Fancy yourself a piece of merchandise from one of the weirdest Sonic collaborations to date? The Sonic X Hello Kitty plush doll has been racing off the shelves in Tokyo being snapped up by Sonic and Hello Kitty fans alike, and like most awesome merchandise affiliated with our favourite hedgehog, western fans have to shell out big bucks to have goods imported. TSSZ News however are offering one lucky winner a chance to snag one of these plushes, with their Campaign KittyHog ’12 Contest!
Are you disgusted by your elected representatives? Can’t fathom putting Mittens on? Are you just Obummered out? Has your third party withered away from being a once great force in gaming? Allow us to nominate a new ticket: Sonic and Hello Kitty. We want you to promote the Sonic / Hello Kitty campaign. What are they running for? That’s for you to decide. Make a virtual button. Make a campaign poster. Make a Youtube video “ad.” You can even make an attack ad. Not artistically inclined? Write some campaign taglines. The more unique and creative you are, the better.
Full details can be found over on the TSSZ site, with the deadline for entries falling on the 30th of September.
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As Jet Set Radio will see its first release onto the digital marketplace in a few short days (PSN+ users, you lucky gits), this week’s Mash-Up Monday is entirely dedicated to the man responsible behind most of JSR‘s delicious soundtrack. You may also recognize his work in Sonic Rush as well!
Yes, this week, we’ll be looking into mash-ups involving the music of the one and only Hideki Naganuma! We got a total of five mash-ups to celebrate his work!
First up is a mash-up by Seenik09, comprised of Naganuma’s Teknopathic from Jet Set Radio Future and something I’m sure you allmissdearly.
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Now, some would call me out on bias due to me being a pianist, but I would sometimes find myself enjoying piano renditions of Sonic tunes as some of the best things ever. So, for this week, that’s exactly what we’ve got for you!
One of a team of two, this week’s guest on the Sound Check has been covering Sonic music for quite some time already! They’ve been featured once before on Sound Test Saturday as well! With EspioKaos’ MIDIs, this man has breathed new life into old tunes through one of my favourite instrumentations around, and together they have brought over 50 tracks to the table! So, please welcome to the Sound Check from Sonic Paradox…
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While Sonic has made several TV appearances in several different cartoon incarnations ranging from good to terrible (we’ll let you decide which is which), none have been quite as intruiging as what is set to hit Japanese TV later this year.
Aoi Sekai no Chushin de (translated as “In the Centre of the Blue World”) is a manga retelling of the story of the console wars with a fantasy twist created by Anastasia Shestakova and illustrated by Crimson. While the green-light was given for the anime back in March, this information has gone mostly unnoticed on Western shores.
The story re-imagines the real-life console wars as a fantasy tale — the Segua Kingdom is locked in an age-old war with the Ninterudo Empire for dominance of the land of Consume. Segua now finds itself on the defensive, but an unlikely hero has risen in the form of Gear, a boy who brags about his breakneck speed. Gear helps turn the tide of the war.
At present it looks fairly unlikely that Aoi Sekai no Chushin ne will be officially affiliated with any of the companies the story is based around, however it will probably garner the attention of both SEGA and Nintendo fans worldwide.
See how many references you can spot to SEGA and other videogame IPs in the character designs below!
Thumbs up to Soniman on the SSMB for spotting this!
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Multiplayer gaming. A wonderful gift as well as a terrible curse, it can bring out the worst in people no matter the genre: racing, parties, co-op, and in today’s case, fighting.
In games such as the Super Smash Brothers franchise, sore losers can and will go out of their own way to blame their loss on all sorts of things, whether it be Smash Balls and various items (of which I would imagine all players agreeing to beforehand), “distractions”, “not being at their best”, and other excuses.
Now, what if it were to happen in-game?
As Tigura21 demonstrates, the world of Brawl is now divided over whether or not the usage of items should be banned from here on out; Smashers such as Sonic and Marth give their separate views on this issue. What sparked this debate, you may ask?
Well, it all began when the Cracker Launcher item was working a little too well…
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To those unknowing, The Community Spotlight is that time when TitansCreed interviews individuals or groups who have made a mark on the Sonic community.
For this round, TitansCreed sheds the spotlight on Jamie Egge Mann and Tanner Bachnick, renowned as Discoponies and Tanner of The Sonic Show!
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Something has found Planet Wisp… And it’s damn addictive to listen to.
PSY’s phenomenally popular Oppa Gangnam Style crosses with Planet Wisp Act 2 from Sonic Generations!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YuoctVo1qU
HEEEEEYYYYY, SEXY EGGMAN~!
Thanks to Faseeh for the tip!
Found an interesting mash-up somewhere on the web, or have one of your own? Send it over to vizardjeffhog@sonicstadium.org!
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What you see above is a newly released trailer for the Sega Heritage collection and with it comes some new information which some of you might find interesting. That being, each game comes with some ‘bonus developer interviews.’
At 0:40 the trailer cuts to Mr Iizuka along with the tag line ‘bonus developer interviews.’ along with what appears to be concept artwork for Jet Set Radio. No specifics have been made yet as to how long each interview will be or if there are any other surprises to be found in the re-release of SA 2.
A release date of October 2012 was also included, but no specific date provided.
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Our own Jay Egge Mann (aka Disco Ponies) of The Sonic Show is battling against popular videogame radio show VGM:Awesome and well known member of the First4Figures community, JonoD (aka Cobraroll) to see who is the ultimate fan.
Once you have decided who’s side you are on, you can tune in at 8pm UK time at The Sonic Show Live channel.
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Pax Prime, it’s one of the largest public video game events of the year, most studios have a booth there and theres usually some big announcements. So it’s a little strange how things have been a tad quiet when it comes to news regarding anything Sega related eh?
That said however, reports from several sources at Pax have slowly started to come in, specifically regarding Sonic Adventure 2 and a number of interesting tid bits of information have come to light. Hit that read more button to find out what.
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Welcome back to Sound Test Saturday! I’m glad just about everyone appreciated the Sonic Paradox Remix Shorts and the work that has been poured into it! On behalf of the team, I wish to thank you all for the warm reception and support of the album!
Now let us return to our previously scheduled programming, and give the rest of the community a bit of focus, shall we?
Today, four remixes have been picked out for you all! True to today’s theme, only some of the most thrilling and spine-chilling of tunes have been picked out!
For Act 1, we return our attention towards a drummer who premiered on Sound Test Saturday with a most righteous cover of Hydrocity Zone Act 2! This time, with a groovy drum cover for the introductory act for Planet Wisp from Sonic Colours, we welcome back the one and only funkflash!
I had no words for this drum cover at first. Planet Wisp is one of my most favourite tunes out of the entire franchise due to its beautiful melody being handled by a piano, and hearing funkflash play along with the Act 1 track has rendered me speechless. While I love the original on its own, funkflash here has basically nailed the smooth feeling of Planet Wisp and, essentially, remastered the piece through his drumming prowess. Excellent, just as last time!
It reminds me of the last time a musician’s take on Planet Wisp was featured on the site… Similar feelings have been experienced.
In any case, let us turn our attention to Act 2 with a collaboration between Joshua Taipale and alexlp2k10 (or General Offensive! on Soundcloud) that is guaranteed to blow your mind!
For Underwater Maze Escape, here’s their take on Lost Labyrinth Zone Act 3 from Sonic the Hedgehog 4!
If Lost Labyrinth didn’t leave much of an impression on you for its music, it damn well should now, because this is one of the most righteous takes on this track ever! Incorporating a bit of Ancient Maze of Mystery (LL Act 1), Josh and Alex have done an amazing job at remixing this one together, with Alex handling the electronic tunes or Josh providing some breathtaking guitar magic. I oughta play this tune over the stage and see how it goes! Definitely one worthy of your playlists!
Act 3 now, and it’s one that definitely fits this week’s theme! Essentially breathing new life into Hydrocity Act 2 from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, HeroBoy1092 turns this midi into a piece worthy of Sonic Generations!
With an entirely different approach on the track, here’s a Modern remix of Hydrocity Zone, for your listening pleasure!
I’ve never heard Hydrocity being played like this. Remixes I’ve heard, though great, were still somewhat close to their source material, but this right here is definitely one of the greatest interpretations of the piece ever. I can see Sonic going all over the water with this song: sliding down the slides, running, even surfing despite the are being confined! Kudos to HeroBoy for remastering an ish midi into something grand!
Speaking of Sonic Generations, we oughta wrap up this week’s playlist with a music video! So how about a cover of… Owl City’s Fireflies?
Released on the eve of the 20th Anniversary title’s release, Golden Rings is both a parody and a homage to Sonic the Hedgehog and his legacy. Some will get a good laugh while others feel like this track truly hits home.
Shadowlink4321 once again takes the stage while Tigura21 of Smash King fame handles the music video! Roll film, and have a good week everyone!
(Those who prefer it without autotune may find it absent here, with Shadowlink4321′s vocals intact!)
Be sure to return next week for the next instalment of The Sound Check! We’ll be with Dr. Mack Foxx as he speaks of his and EspioKaos’s Sonic Piano Reduxes!
Found an interesting cover, remix, or original tune somewhere? Have something of your own? Be sure to send your findings and wares over to me at vizardjeffhog@sonicstadium.org!
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