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Please note that this site is no longer being updated or maintained; as a result, there may be design issues, and links to images and other media may be broken.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.
After Wednesday’s world navigation trailer, today’s new gameplay footage from IGN First shows off Sonic Frontiers’ combat mechanics:
Much like the previous gameplay reveal, the video is entirely show-don’t-tell. Sonic performs homing attack combos on a robot made of several balls, uses his new updraft ability to remove the armor of another baddy before attacking, and shows off a ranged air-kick move that looks right out of anime. Even the sidestep, a move previous Sonic games used to setup quick lane changes in long corridors, has some combat dodging potential here.
The enemy designs have bizarre and varying designs, from bipedal robots that turn into spears, to weird legged stalks with a heavy armor ring around them, to the massive three-armed pillar teased last year. Different enemies are susceptible to specific attacks, and to ascend a titan, Sonic used an updraft around one of its legs to throw it off balance, and needed to wall-run using only blue boost gates and avoiding red ones. Upon reaching the top, Sonic attacks giant spikes on its head to destroy its arms.
While we still have very little context around the game’s upgrade system, rewards for combat, and even its basic premise, today shows off a few new moves added to Sonic’s modern moveset and more variety in combat than previous combat-heavy Sonic games had. Here’s hoping the rest of June brings further revelations on Frontiers mechanics and mysteries.
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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.
This morning, IGN premiered their new Sonic Frontiers footage, noting that the month will see further updates, but for now, we’ve got 6 minutes of edited gameplay footage:
The video shows off Sonic running through the rocky grasslands area we’ve seen, but there’s much more interaction with the environment. In fact, unlike yesterday’s 30 second clip, this one has no combat whatsoever, just world traversal.
Sonic doesn’t have many new moves, but the one that is shown off is the ability to draw circles by running, causing an updraft. Meanwhile, Sonic maintains his standard 3D moveset of running, boosting, grinding, air dashing, air dropping, sidestepping, and wall running for good measure. While Sonic seems to only be able to run (and climb, apparently) on vertical surfaces with a specific glowing texture, he can take rock slopes and ridges with ease by maintaining speed.
If you were worried (as I was) that moving to an open world might mean less actual level design, the video is full of small instances of speed and platforming challenges, be it scaling a tall tower dotted with springs and homing points, or just finding paths made of boost rings and grind rails. There’s even a few simple puzzles thrown into the mix.
Rest assured, we’ll be picking this apart over the next few days, but for now, go enjoy some tranquil vistas at intense speed.
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Now that we’ve had a small taste of Sonic Frontiers gameplay, we can now show you some high-quality screenshots and the logo for the game, courtesy of SEGA Japan.
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Wait, what? SEGA dropped the first gameplay video for Sonic Frontiers today, seemingly out of nowhere. The 30-second teaser finally gives us our first glimpse of what an “Open Zone” Sonic looks like and notes more details are coming throughout June on IGN.
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We’re less than a month out from Sonic Origins’ release, so the final details are now being added to some of the game’s storefronts. Specifically, we now have file size listed on both the Nintendo eShop and Xbox storefronts. Unfortunately, different sizes are listed in different places, which has made reporting on this messier than it really ought to be.
Over at Xbox, both versions of the game are listed at 6 gigs on the Xbox website. If that seems a bit big, that’s because it is: Sonic Mania’s size was less than 400MB, so this is a massive increase in size over that. If you check out the game’s listing on an actual Xbox One X, however, the game’s size is listed as a mere 324.89 MB.
Meanwhile, over at Nintendo’s website, we also have different sizes…between the different versions of the game. The standard version is listed at 3.6 gigs, while the Digital Deluxe version apparently has a size of 7.8 gigs. Finally, we have the game’s Switch eShop listings, which have the standard version at 3.5 gigs and the Digital Deluxe version at 3.8 gigs.
Given the version differences, that difference in download sizes seems a bit…extreme.
Obviously, they can’t all be right. In all likelihood, this will be corrected by the time the game comes out next month.
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Sonic the Hedgehog 2 may be out on Paramount+ and other streaming services, but that hasn’t stopped people from going to see it in theaters! Sonic 2 has made another $10 million globally, including an estimated $3.1 million in the US over Memorial Day weekend, getting it 7th place. Sonic 2 fell behind Everything Everywhere All At Once and Bad Guys, and as also bumped down by newcomers Bob’s Burgers and Top Gun: Maverick.
In total, Sonic 2 now sits at $385 Million globally, including $185.7 million in the US, and $199.8 million in the rest of the world. With Sonic 2 continuing to perform solidly, $400 million is increasingly looking like an attainable goal for its final box office.
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The third Sonic the Hedgehog movie is likely to be released in theaters in 2024, and Paramount is already in talks with a Hollywood actor to play the role of Sonic’s newly-announced rival in the upcoming sequel.
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2022 marks the return of Georgia’s premier SEGA-themed convention, Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam!
The event, which began back in 2014, is dedicated to celebrating everything SEGA and Sonic the Hedgehog celebrates the company’s eclectic video game history, playing host to industry figures (such as Sonic Adventure voice actor Ryan Drummond) and prominent creators in the fan community.
Pledge levels include virtual attendance for those who can’t make it in person, all the way up to event sponsorship.
At current time of writing, the event has just passed the 50% mark to reaching it’s goal of $7,500.
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Everyone’s favourite Iblis Trigger Disaster, Sonic The Hedgehog (2006), has made a surprise re-appearance on the old Xbox 360 Marketplace game store. It’s not forwards-compatible with Series X/S consoles yet, but it’s dirt cheap so get it while it’s here!
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And sure, that’s all well and good, but if you’re like me, these releases aren’t about the movies, they’re about the special features, and according to the iTunes listing (when viewed within iTunes), there are some solid bonuses here, including deleted scenes, a behind the scenes featurette, Q&A with Sonic’s voice actor Ben Schwartz, and most significantly, a new animated short!
UPDATE: A brief clip from Entertainment Tonight shows off quality animation, and a non-Elba voice voice swap for Knuckles:
A small part of the Sonic Movie 2 shorts was revealed. The animation quality for this is honestly incredible! I seriously hope the Knuckles show is up to this quality! The voices for Tails and Knuckles are different, but nothing too distracting. pic.twitter.com/5kj0rutHtD
— Sam Procrastinates (@SamsProStation) May 23, 2022
No word yet on if these will hit Paramount+ or the disc release (it probably will, but we don’t have confirmation), so keep an eye out, and once again enjoy that one scene where Knuckles misinterprets a lighthearted thing in a deathly serious manner.
Thanks to tailsBOOM! for the news tip and Shigs for the video link!
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It’s been a little while since our last, proper box office update! Sonic rushed passed $350 million earlier in the month, but I didn’t run it because I wanted to wait until we got the international numbers…which skipped a week unfortunately.
But we’ve got the international numbers, and the latest US weekend numbers, and despite it being out for nearly two months now, it’s still going surprisingly strong! Globally, Sonic 2 has now passed $375 million, putting it more than $55 million ahead of its predecessor. That number includes $181 million in the US, and $194 million internationally. In the US, Sonic 2 has remained in the top 5 for the past three weekends, with the movie remaining in third place during May 6 and May 15 weekends, and falling to fourth place this weekend. Sonic 2 has demonstrated some remarkable staying power, sticking around even as most of its other competitors have fizzled in the wake of Doctor Strange 2’s release, earning another $20 million in the US in the process.
This is, notably, the last weekend before Sonic 2 hits Paramount+ and Epix broadcast channals, so this may be the last major box office jump we’ll be getting until its Japanese release this summer. At $375 million, Sonic 2 is now just $25 million away from $400 million. Can it reach it? Maybe. Not everyone has Paramount Plus, and if Sonic 2 can continue to make a few million in the US and a few million over seas every week for another month, that will add up. The big wild card, of course, is Japan.
While Japan can be a major market for movies (Jujutsu Kaisen 0 made $100 million, and Fantastic Beasts 3 made $30 million), Sonic has never been an especially popular character there. Couple that with the original’s $1.5 million total gross there (albeit, released in the middle of a lockdown) and its hard to expect much from the movie there. I would certainly expect Sonic 2 to easily beat out its predecessor in the country, but it wouldn’t expect anything on the level of $25 million.
Since this may be my last box office post for awhile, I guess I’ll end this with my own personal expectations for Sonic 2’s future. I think its going to gross another $10 million globally outside of Japan over the coming weeks. I think its total Japanese gross will be $5 million. That would put Sonic 2’s total global box office at $390 million. While that’ll still be well short of the highest grossing video game movie (Warcraft’s $439 million), that’s still a really good haul. Its no wonder Paramount seems to be betting so big on Sonic.
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While many were happy that Sonic Mania developer Headcannon was involved in Sonic Origins, it seems that their contribution was in the Sonic 3 & Knuckles remaster work itself and not the overall package. In fact, their part in remaking the game appears to have been contracted entirely separately from the context of Sonic Origins. In a thread, the studio’s official Twitter clarifies:
To address a misunderstanding regarding Headcannon's involvement in #SonicOrigins– We DID NOT work on Origins itself, nor did we do any additional work on Sonic 1, 2, or CD. We were contracted to build a Retro Engine version of S3&K as a separate project from Sega's Sonic Origins
But as was previously announced, Origins has features beyond the original Retro Engine remakes, such as its story mode, the coin system, mirror mode, the Museum, and… whatever classic mode is (be it the emulated originals or just letterboxed). Even Mission Mode, which features scenarios outside of the original games (like modified level designs and Knuckles in S3K Death Egg Zone), was developed by a team in SEGA as Headcannon further explains:
To further clarify, as it's been asked, yes, this includes Mission Mode. Sega's team developed the missions, as well as Boss Rush, Mirror Mode, etc internally. The only distinct mode that Headcannon created was Blue Spheres, and its implementation into Origins was handled by Sega
There are a couple of consequences to this separation of development. It does imply that SEGA has a team that has done work within the Retro Engine, developing small level and gameplay modifications, as well as hooks from these modifications to the external launcher (I.E. replacing lives with spendable coins). It also suggest that the versions of the games are otherwise the same Retro Engine versions previously released (hence no Knuckles in Sonic CD).
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It’s a weird time to be a person who engages in…any sort of media. From reboots, to unprecedented crossovers, to entire works of media built around meta commentary, the modern media landscape is unlike anything humankind has experienced before.
That of course, means that Movie Sonic’s original design popping up in a Disney movie reboot of Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers that’s also got meta comedy and also acts as a spiritual successor to Roger Rabbit is a thing that just happened that’s surprising, but not that surprising. “Ugly Sonic,” as he is apparently called, has been confirmed by multiple reviews of Rescue Rangers. The character, which will be voiced by Tim Robinson, will be more than a background cameo, and has at least some dialogue in the movie. According to one reviewer, Ugly Sonic works the convention circuit, and says to Dale “The internet saw my human teeth and burned the place down.” Well…he isn’t wrong!
The movie will hit Disney+ later this week on May 20.
And yes, this means Sonic has four separate voice actors right now.
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UPDATE: We now have confirmation that this video is 100% official, and was posted on the official Korean Sonic the Hedgehog Facebook page.
While we don’t quite know this video’s origin, we do know this Korean language version gameplay video shows off some significant features in Sonic Origins the reveal trailer didn’t share:
We are marking this as rumor purely because it isn’t through official or confirmable sources at this time, but every other aspect of this looks pretty authentic. Treat this as we have high confidence but not 100% confidence in this. The button layout in the videos use ABXY, so the footage itself was taken from a Switch, an Xbox, or a PC.
While those who have played the other Retro/Star Engine ports will be quite familiar with some of these features, this gives a very brief overview of ones not present in the original 16-bit releases, including the Drop Dash and Super Sonic in Sonic 1, Tails as Knuckles’ sidekick in Sonic 2, and the prototype Hidden Palace stage connected to Mystic Cave.
Further, the video shows off a bit of the game’s interface, including Missions. In one, the player has to collect 50 rings in 50 seconds as Tails in Palmtree Panic, and another puts Super Sonic in Metropolis with a similar goal (but with the challenge of your rings being slowly depleted). In both cases, the stages are modified from their original 16-bit versions, changing formations of platforms, rings, and blocks. The rank letter in the top corner (shown in previous official screenshots) updates in real time, letting you know how well you’re performing.
If those bonus missions or getting to team Knuckles with Tails on a console platform gets you excited, Sonic Origins releases June 23 with these and many other announced features.
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SEGA Sammy has reported that the Sonic the Hedgehog game series has sold a total of 5.8 million units worldwide in the past fiscal year (ending March 2022), an increase of 30% over 2021 on the back of new release Sonic Colors: Ultimate.
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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.
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.
Today’s the day, IDW Sonic fans! Modern Sonic is back for Free Comic Book Day 2022 with a brand new story meant to serve as part of the lead up to issue 50. The story features Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles in a new adventure!
Both US and international fans can find participating comic book stores here. The comic features writing by Ian Flynn and art by Adam Bryce Thomas.
For those of you who can’t make it, don’t worry: a digital copy should be officially available in a few weeks on Amazon via Comixology! This was the case last year, anyway.
We’ve got the cover and synopsis below, but first, a brief PSA: although the comics are free, stores do need to pay for them. So if you can, try to buy something while your there! Maybe a comic, graphic novel, or manga. Lumberjanes, Atomic Robo and Mamo are personal favorites of mine! Invincible is also great if you don’t mind a lot of gore.
Anyway, on to the cover and synopsis:
Sonic’s racing into a brand-new adventure with his best buds (and co-stars of the hit new movie) Tails and Knuckles by his side! But Sonic’s not the only super-speedster in town . . . Get caught up with everything you need to know about Sonic’s evil counterpart Surge before she and Sonic go head-to-head in the epic issue #50, a story years in the making! Exclusive Original Material Rating: All Ages
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Today, in an announcement that the event will be partnering with IMAX, Summer Game Fest released a brief compilation trailer featuring a number of upcoming and released games. Among them was Sonic Frontiers, but before anybody gets too excited, no, it isn’t new footage:
At this time, we don’t exactly know if this is being shown as a confirmation of some games that will be there or to highlight games previously part of the Game Awards/Summer Game Fest ecosystem, so for the time being, we’re reporting this as rumor until we hear explicitly that it will be present. Other games shown in it include the already-released Elden Ring and Tiny Tina’s Wonderland, as well as the yet-unreleased One Piece Odyssey.
The event is scheduled for Thursday, June 9 at 11 AM PT, 2 PM ET, and 6PM GMT, and will be available streaming and in IMAX theaters in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada.
This is the second time Frontiers has been given a significant spotlight within the broad Keighley-sphere. Late in 2021, The Game Awards premiered a teaser trailer that partially revealed the open world nature of the game alongside a trailer for Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2. SEGA’s remained tight-lipped on the game (despite a handful of leaks), and we’ve yet to see any actual gameplay footage of the Holiday 2022 title. Sonic’s presence at Summer Game Fest should hopefully clear up a few more lingering questions about the title.
Thanks to Dodger24848 for the news tip!
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This morning, Netflix After School released a new sizzle reel for upcoming animated kids and family shows, with a brief (very brief) bit at the end featuring Sonic Prime:
Sonic content begins at 1:48
The scene shows off Sonic running in Green Hills (featuring rings and Sonic running in his figure-8 style). He mugs to the camera, delivers a line about how cool he is, and… that’s kind of it for now.
It’s not a lot to go on for now, but the performance sounds Roger Craig Smith-like in voice, but with a little bit of Ben Schwartz delivery. It plays up Sonic’s ego a bit (which isn’t a facet they play up much in the games, but shows itself prominently in Sonic Boom and the movie), but this is inferring a lot based on a single line. Hopefully this means that we’ll be getting a full trailer in the near future.
Netflix also appears to have updated its website with some more details. As you can see from the screenshot above, the new voice of Sonic is Deven Mack. A range of new voice actors are also listed, none of which appear to be connected to the current video game acting cast.
More details as we get it. Thanks to Lemanic for the news tip!
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For as polished as Sonic Unleashed’s graphics are, its biggest visual flaw is its framerate. The Xbox 360 version played at a mostly steady 24-30 (capped) FPS, while the PS3 version was worse for wear despite an uncapped framerate that would bring the game up to 48FPS on occasion, but dropping to 24FPS or below ruining the flow of the game.
In many ways, the game’s graphic-intensive “Hedgehog Engine” was a bit too ahead of its time. It couldn’t keep a steady 30 FPS on the most powerful system of that era. It would take 2011’s Sonic Generations to iron the kinks out. While the Werehog levels weren’t affected too much by the framerate, several daytime Sonic levels dropped frames horribly. Jungle Joyride became a slideshow at times. Now, in 2022, Sonic Unleashed’s full potential has been unlocked thanks to the Boost Mode on the Xbox Series S/X, bringing the game to a steady 60 FPS.
To me, this brought the game from a guilty pleasure to a legitimately good Sonic title. Sonic’s daytime levels run as smooth as silk, giving you better handling and control. Even the Werehog levels feel less cumbersome as Sonic now feels faster and more responsive. There seems to be less blur as well. The high framerate allows for a faster response time. I can honestly say I was actually enjoying the Werehog levels for a change.
That doesn’t mean the game’s old flaws aren’t still present. Medal collecting near the end game is still soul-crushing, the Werehog levels are still a bit too long, and having the camera suddenly change position when you’re balancing across a steel beam is still as irritating as ever. That said, if you love this style of Sonic gameplay, it’s never looked or played better than it does on Series S/X.
The Series S/X boost mode also improves other Sonic titles as well. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed gets a 60 FPS boost, and Sonic Generations runs at both 4K resolution and 60FPS.
To see Sonic Unleashed in action on the Series S/X, check out our gameplay video below.
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Sonic 2 has officially surpassed its predecessor at the global box office, logging an estimated $323 Million by the end of Sunday. Of that amount, $160 million is from the US box office, meaning that Sonic 2 has also beaten Sonic 1’s record-setting $149 million and become the highest grossing video game movie ever in the US.
In the context of the overall 2021 box office, Sonic 2 now sits at number 5 globally, after falling behind Fantastic Beasts 3, which now sits at $329 million. This largely comes down to a lack of release for Sonic 2 in China, where FB3 has made $17.5 million, as well an overall stronger performance internationally. In the US box office, Sonic 2 now sits in second place, after surpassing Uncharted, leaving it second only to The Batman, which sits at $369 million.
So what’s next for Sonic 2 at the box office? That’s going to depend on a few factors, including: how well it can weather the release of Dr. Strange 2, how well its Japanese release does this summer, and whether or not it can secure a release in China. Dr. Strange 2 ought to be huge, as the year’s first MCU movie and the first summer blockbuster, so its quite likely it will at least lead to a reduction in the number of screens showing Sonic 2. Sonic has never been all that big in Japan, the first movie only made $1.5 million there (albeit in the immediate aftermath of the global COVID-19 lockdowns), and Sonic 2 is getting a very late release there. Finally, China has been far less open to western movies compared to two years ago.
On the whole, $350 million is looking like a plausible final tally for Sonic 2, a really good number but one that falls well short of the current global video game box office record holder, Warcraft and its $439 million. Though without China, which made up more then half that number, that was always going to be a difficult number for Sonic 2 to beat.
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Since 2020, I’ve played (to my knowledge) every Sonic crossover collaboration in a mobile game. I beat up Mad Max rejects as Super Sonic in Fist of the North Star, I summoned Sonic as a demon in Shin Megami Tensei, and had an epic battle with my wallet in Cookie Run: Kingdom. However, of all the mobile games I dipped my foot into, only two ever took hold for more than a month: Ulala Idle Adventure, and KartRider Rush+. KartRider’s Sonic content has been broader and more involved than any of the other games I just mentioned, but if you want to get started with it, knowing where to find all the Sonic content is tricky (and potentially expensive) business.
[UPDATE] As of May 5, Tails and Chao are now available via the Monthly Pass, and the Dr. Eggman event has started. At this time, there are no future Sonic collaboration content updates we are aware of. However, if any do happen, we will update this article.
What is KartRider Rush+?
KartRider Rush+ is a mobile version of a very popular Korean kart racing game by Nexon (who you might know as the publisher of MapleStory). It features a cartoony style, a variety of game modes, a lengthy story mode with English-dubbed voice acting, and is free to play without timer restrictions. However, as it is a free to play game, many cosmetics, including many of the Sonic cosmetics, are only available if you pay for them. The game has gacha systems for certain cosmetics, but not for any of the Sonic content.
This is not an exhaustive tutorial of the game, but this guide will cover how to access the Sonic content, and how much it will cost.
What can I get for free?
Until May 10, you can redeem this code for Tails Headgear (a Tails face that hovers over your head, a Tails license plate, and a Chao license plate. To enter it, go to Settings (gear icon) > Account > Voucher Code. Passwords are region-specific.
EXPIRED: Until May 3, you can redeem this code for a free Sonic backback and “headgear” (a Sonic face that hovers over your head). To access code entry, go to Settings (gear icon) > Account > Voucher Code. Passwords are region-specific.
Until May 31, you can complete missions to collect “Sonic Letter Shards.” These shards can be exchanged for a Sonic aura, a Sonic Skateboard, a Ring Headgear, a Sonic Driftmoji (special effects that appear when you drift), Sonic Balloons (which are consumable when you equip them in item races, so be aware), and Ring decorations for your character’s home. The missions are daily, so you will need to play multiple days and complete them multiple times to collect every item.
The missions can be accessed from Events > Sonic Collection. The rewards can be accessed from Banquet > Sonic Collection.
Until June 16, you can unlock Sonic himself as a Kart (and a Sonic face mask) by completing special missions that will reward you with “Nitro Shards.” The mission screen then lets you convert a small number of Nitro Shards into a larger number of Ring Shards (yeah, I know, it’s bizarrely indirect). And as you collect more Ring Shards, more rewards unlock. Some missions repeat daily, and some repeat weekly.
At this point, I want to bring up that many collectables in this game are time-limited. I was annoyed by this at the beginning, but the game will throw a lot of time limited karts and clothes at you, so don’t take the limitation too seriously. By the time one free kart expires, you’ll have a different cool free kart to play with. Items list the number of days they’re available, or “Perm” if they permanently stay in your inventory.
Three tiers of unlocking Sonic are 30 days, 90 days, and permanent. If all you want is to dip into the game for free, try it out, play as Sonic, and then drop it, then 30 days might be good enough. Only you yourself know if it’s worth coming back every day to creep towards unlocking Sonic permanently.
This Sonic event can be accessed from the Sonic the Hedgehog icon on the main menu.
Until May 31, you can earn Dr. Eggman (Racer) as part of the “[Dr. Eggman] Secret Base” event. By completing missions, you’ll be able to flip over up to two of the cards on the grid and get rewards, including a Knuckles License Plate, Shadow/Tails/Sonic/Chao decals, Sonic balloons, and a 30-day unlock of Dr. Eggman himself. If you flip over all 20 cards, you’ll permanently unlock Dr. Eggman.
You can access the event via Banquet > [Dr. Eggman] Secret Base from the main menu.
Until May 31, you can earn Chao (Pet) as part of the free monthly Activity Pass. By completing weekly quests, you’ll earn Pass Points that increase your Pass Level (100 points per level), and unlock new rewards at each tier (up to Lv. 80). You can earn a 7 day unlock for Chao at Lvs. 2, 40, and 60. At Lv. 80, Chao unlocks permanently. At Lvs. 5, 25, 45, 65, and 77, you’ll earn Tails Balloons.
You can also earn a time-limited version of Tails (kart) at Lvs. 10, 30, 50, and 70, each adding 7 days and letting you play as Tails for free up to 28 days. You will need to purchase the Honor Pass in order to unlock him permanently (more below).
To access the Pass and Quests, go to the Pass icon on the main menu.
What do I have to pay for?
As of May 1, unlocking all available Sonic content costs a flat sum of $39, and requires actively completing missions and quests throughout the month.
If you want to unlock Tails (kart) permanently, he is available via the monthly Glory pass for $2.99. Once you pay, you immediately get a 7-day Tails unlock. As mentioned above, you need to complete weekly quests to gain Pass Points, gaining one level for every 100 points. Once you get your pass to Lv. 80, Tails will unlock permanently.
To access the Pass and Quests, go to the Pass icon on the main menu.
Things get a bit more involved from here on out:
Until May 31, you can unlock Knuckles and several other cosmetics via Red Star Ring Packs, which have a set price. The packs can be accessed from Banquet > Red Star Ring Pack.
Pack A is $8.99 and contains a different Sonic aura,Shadow balloons, some items, and a single Red Star Ring.
Pack B is $8.99 and contains a Dr. Eggman mask, a Shadow license plate and decals, some items, and another Red Star Ring.
Pack C is $17.99 and contains Knuckles (who is a driver, not a kart), Knuckles balloons and decals, and one last Red Star Ring.
To unlock Shadow (Kart), you’ll need the Red Star Rings from all three packs above. This puts Shadow’s price at about $36, though you’ll also get Knuckles and all the other Red Star Ring accessories and items.
Until May 31, you can unlock Dr. Eggman’s Egg Booster (Kart) by collecting ALL the other characters (which adds it to that $36 price tag to get Shadow and Knuckles, the temporary versions of Sonic, Tails, Chao, and Dr. Eggman are enough to unlock their part of the list). You can also earn 1up balloons, a Sonic avatar frame, a Knuckles glove on a wand, and a Sonic Team title on the path to completion.
The Egg Booster event can be accessed from the Final Battle vs. Dr. Eggman icon on the main menu.
Summary
I’ve personally spent more time in this game than I spend with many other full priced games I’ve purchased, and in that sense, I’ve felt justified in buying the Sonic cosmetics. However, I know not everyone is willing or able to simply spend $36+ on a mobile game. Hopefully this guide has helped anyone interested in the collaboration understand the costs involved, what you can get for free, and if the economics of this game are worth it to you at all.
For those who are interested in looking at the content but not buying or playing it, Sonic Stadium will have coverage of all these collaboration items on our YouTube channel as the event progresses. We’ve already started with Knuckles, Shadow, and the driver cosmetics:
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The second Sonic the Hedgehog Movie is absolutely jam-packed with references to the games and even a nod to one of Ben Schwartz’s previous shows, Parks and Recreation. In addition to these, there are a plethora of movie references and tropes featuring throughout the 2-hour run time. While some of these are very obvious (such as Officer Wade Whipple’s referral to Ghostbusters’ infamous candy Kaiju, The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man), some will only have been spotted by the most avid movie buffs! Below are our 7 favourite subtle movie references in Sonic’s latest cinema outing…
Be warned – movie spoilers ahead!!!
Klaatu Barada Nikto!
Before Knuckles makes his appearance through the ring, Dr Robotnik welcomes the three nameless warriors with the very strange greetings of “Klaatu Barada Nikto!”. Classic sci-fi fans will know this as the famous phrase that originated in the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still – uttered to pacify the giant robot Gort and prevent him from destroying the world. Ironic considering the final act of the movie!
That Slide
Sonic sets about trashing the Wachowski household minutes after Tom and Maddie depart for Hawaii, starting with a slide into the living room with his back to the camera. Those with a keen knowledge of 80’s coming-of-age flicks will recognise this as a homage to the underwear dance scene from 1983’s Risky Business performed by a young Tom Cruise, in which Cruise’s character Joel has also just been left home alone in his parents’ house.
Witching Hour
Margaret Hamilton, the mother of Hamilton Meserve, plays the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.
When Robotnik returns to Earth at night and confronts Sonic in the Wachowski house he threatens Sonic, finishing his line with “…AND YOUR LITTLE DOG TOO!”. The quote references the threat given by the Wicked Witch of the West to Dorothy in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. The threat is often used as a trope when a villain wants to prove how evil they are.
The name of the Wachowski family dog? Ozzy, of course.
Cast Away
Robotnik’s descent into complete madness when he is exiled to the Mushroom Planet is staved off when he creates a replica Agent Stone out of, well, a stone. This bears semblance to 2000’s Cast Away, in which Tom Hank’s character Chuck creates an inanimate companion, Wilson, from a flotsam Volleyball after being marooned on a remote uninhabited island.
“It’s derivative!”
Knuckles and Robotnik’s navigation through the Labyrinth Zone sees the two antagonists chased down corridor by a huge boulder. While this has most certainly become an adventure movie and video game trope, the idea originated in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first Indiana Jones movie. The trope doesn’t go unnoticed by Robotnik, as he says “I refuse to die like this; it’s derivative!”
The 8th Wonder
During the fight between our heroes and the Death Egg Robot and shortly before the destruction of the biplane, Robotnik begins to mockingly swipe at Tails as he manoeuvres around the mechanical juggernaut. This is of course a tribute to the 1933 classic King Kong, in which the final scene sees the colossus batting away attacking Curtis Helldiver biplanes.
Home Run
The second Sonic movie ends where the first started in the Green Hills baseball field, with our protagonist getting his wish of having others to play with. After Knuckles’ “Power bump” that sees him hit a home run, a familiar horn riff plays as declares his conquering of the bases. Soundtrack enthusiasts will recognise this as the theme to 1983’s The Natural, Barry Levinson’s love letter to one of America’s favourite sports.
Have we missed any subtle movie references in Sonic 2? Let us know in the comments!
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Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka has spoken out against publisher Square Enix over the release of Balan Wonderworld, claiming he was removed from the project as director months before the game’s launch – which led him to sue the Final Fantasy company.
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We reported in February that GE Animation, amongst their fantastic line up of plushes of supporting Sonic characters, were planning on producing a stuffed toy of Sonic Adventure fan favourite Tikal.
The plush joins recent releases that have included other characters that have seldom seen stuffed toy incarnations (either recently or never), such as Emerl, Mephiles, and E-102 Gamma.
Stay tuned for more merchandise news!
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If you wanted any of those older digital releases of Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knckles, and CD, you might want to get them soon, because most of them are getting delisted on May 20. This news comes via a press release from SEGA, which confirmed the delisting of these games across all platforms outside of the Nintendo Switch and mobile.
Specifically, every individually released version of Sonic 1, 2, 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic CD are all getting delisted from Steam, Xbox, Playstation 3 and Playstation Now. The SEGA AGES releases of Sonic 1 and 2 on Switch will remain, as will Sonic 1, 2 and CD on iOS and Android. The 3DS releases have yet to be specified, but with that digital service ending next year they likely aren’t bothering with it.
Sonic Channel released a somewhat more detailed list of what was being delisted, though while they say Sonic CD will be among the games getting delisted, it’s not on the list. This is likely just an oversight. You can find that here.
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For those who couldn’t make it to the cinema to see the second Sonic the Hedgehog movie (or those who can’t wait to see it again), you don’t have long to wait until it is available to stream!
There is currently no infomation as to when the movie will be available in other territories, but stay tuned for news as it comes!
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One fan project I’ve been quietly following for awhile has been Team Sea3on’s fan-made third season of Sonic SatAM. I’ve long felt confident they’d eventually deliver something, as the Sonic SatAM community, while small, has been consistently delivering solid fan efforts for years, including the long running web comic this show is based on. Regardless, it’s pretty awesome finally getting to see what they’ve been working on, and as I’d hoped, it’s way past cool.
What’s even cooler is who they got to sing Sonic SatAM’s iconic theme song, The Fastest Thing Alive: Crush 40’s Johnny Gioeli! You can check out the trailer, as well as a clean version of Gioeli’s song, below:
For direct MP3/FLAC download of The Fastest Thing Alive, or for more information on the project and how to support it, or for the Season 3 web comic this is based on, head to their website here.
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Another week is in the books for Sonic 2, and it looks like it’ll be adding another $53 million to its box office total. This includes an estimated $15.2 million at this weekend’s US box office, though the current Sunday numbers are an estimate and could shift. Despite earlier estimates showing Sonic 2 retaking the top spot in the US, that has instead gone to Dreamwork’s The Bad Guys, which made $24 million. Sonic 2 took the second spot, putting it ahead of Fantastic Beasts 3, which made $14 million.
This puts Sonic the Hedgehog 2 at $288 million globally, making it the fourth highest grossing movie of 2022 so far, putting it just ahead of Fantastic Beasts 3 ($280 million) and well behind Sony’s Uncharted ($392 million). Both of these movies benefit from significantly higher grosses in international markets, including a release in China (something Sonic 2 doesn’t appear to be getting).
In the US alone, Sonic 2 is now effectively tied with Uncharted, and will almost certainly pass it on Monday. Sonic 2 has made $146 million in the US, putting it just $3 million behind the original’s total US box office.
In fact, it now seems quite likely that Sonic 2 will at least match the $319 million box office of the original, if not surpass it. As I’ve said before, a lot of this will depend on how well its able to retain theater goers from week to week. It has been losing between 40-60% of audience from week to week, which is about on par with the first movie. Sonic 2 had a bigger opening though, and its unlikely to suddenly have its time at the theaters cut-off by another global lockdown like Sonic 1 did.
Sonic 2’s greatest obstacle may simply be theaters dropping it in favor of upcoming summer blockbusters, like Doctor Strange 2, which opens May 6. It is already down 449 theaters from its peak in the US. That number will get lower in the coming weeks.
Be sure to check back here for the final Sunday box office numbers. We’ll update the headline numbers accordingly!
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With Lee Majdoub’s performance as Agent Stone in the Sonic the Hedgehog movies winning the hearts of die-hard fans around the world, it’s no surprise that there is a tonne of adoring fan art of Dr. Robotnik’s coffee-serving sidekick. But Latin American artist ‘Lanth’ took things one step further by inserting a cartoon version of Stone into SEGA’s ‘Sonic Mania Adventures’ animation series.
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Hoy all, it’s been a VERY busy week for video content on Sonic Stadium, and while we used to simply round up everything we’ve been doing on Twitch, we’ve been pushing forward on getting more YouTube content together, and we’d like to highlight that too! Here’s our inaugural This Week in Video!
Sonic Talk Podcast – Sunday, Apr. 24 – 4PM PST / 7 PM EST / 12 AM GMT
It’s nearing the end of the month, and thus it’s time for Nuckles87, Shigs, and GX to round up everything in Sonic news this month in a brand new Sonic Talk podcast! Expect plenty of Sonic Origins discussion this week.
Almost Every Sonic – Tuesday, Apr. 26 – 4 PM PST / 7 PM EST / 12 AM GMT
On Tuesday, Almost Every Sonic returns, and will be checking out the Sonic events in KartRider Rush+ on mobile. We may also return to Sonic Speed Simulator to check in on its latest updates, time permitting.
SegaSonic Radio – Friday, Apr. 29 – 4 PM PST / 7 PM EST / 12 AM GMT
As always, GX is digging deep to find plenty of great SEGA and Sonic music for SegaSonic Radio. It’s the weekend, so chill and enjoy some Sonic hits!
On YouTube
Our biggest project is that we’ve finally uploaded our ENTIRE 30 episode backlog of SegaSonic Radio!! You can check out the entire 2021/2022 series thus far via this playlist, or just start from our latest episode here:
We’ve got plenty of gameplay uploads this week! To start, Nuckles87 played Sonic Venture, a very impressive fan game demo made entirely in the PS4/PS5 game creator Dreams!
In Roblox, GX took a look at both the Nickverse Sonic 2 event and plenty of Sonic Speed Simulator.
Nuckles87 also spent some time in Sonic Dash and Sonic Forces: Speed Battle for the Sonic 2 movie events, and brought us gameplay footage of Movie Tails and Movie Knuckles:
Starting next week, we’ll be uploading the archive of another of our streaming series, Winter Wonderworld, where GX begrudgingly plods his way through the entirety of Balan Wonderworld. Each in the nine-episode series will go live Thursdays at 12:00 PM EST.
We’re also preparing to upload our entire backlog of Almost Every Sonic. If you like Sonic longplays, obscure games, and weird mobile crossovers, stay tuned over the coming weeks!
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Following the success of its 30th Anniversary limited edition print run, UK-based Moor Art Gallery suddenly dropped a new collaboration with Sonic Team artist Yui Karasuno last night. This new release is a four-piece set of numbered art prints, featuring Sonic, Super Sonic, Knuckles and Dr. Eggman drawn in an incredibly cool ‘sumi-e’ art style.
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If you’ve shelled out for the Switch Online Expansion Pack for the bonus retro games, Sonic Spinball, Shining Force II, and Space Harrier II have been added to the Genesis app. To coincide with this update, Nintendo released a brief gameplay sample of each:
There have been plenty of collections and re-releases of these games, but let’s be real, the true hero of these releases is the rewind. Sonic Spinball is hard. It’s not very long, no, but have you ever made it to that final stage? It’s absolutely insane. So if you’re already invested in the pack, why not just boot it up and cheat your heart out? I won’t hold it against you.
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A few weeks ago I said Sonic 2’s long term success would hing on whether or not it has legs. Well, it looks like it has legs…at least in the US, where the box office weekday dailies for Monday through Wednesday show Sonic 2 either beating or rivaling WB’s Fantastic Beasts 3. As we reported a few days ago, Sonic 2 beat FB3 on Easter Monday. It has since gone on to barely lose on Tuesday, making $3 million to FB3’s $3.2 million. Yesterday, it squeaked by FB3, making $2.2 million to FB3’s $2.1 million.
Box Office Pro is projecting that Sonic 2’s wins over FB3 are likely to continue, as they see it taking the top spot next weekend, not only beating FB3 but also Dreamworks’ The Bad Guys, which opens this weekend:
Weekend Box Office Forecast: THE BAD GUYS, THE NORTHMAN, and MASSIVE TALENT Take On SONIC 2 and SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE in Post-Easter Frame
Of course, while BOP’s projections have been relatively accurate, they are usually off a bit in one direction or another, so Sonic 2’s return to the top spot isn’t guaranteed. Sonic 2’s overall success will also depend on its international performance, which currently sits at $112 million.
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