On Wednesday June 8th, Nuckles87 and I had just wrapped up a Q&A for binary Domain that ran ten minutes late. Sadly this meant we were late for our preview of Mario and Sonic London 2012. But as we entered the small room, the atmosphere was very jubilant and happy. The main host even ribbed me on my Classic Sonic shirt a few times ($7.50 at your local Wal-Mart kids!). He hadn’t revealed much yet as he just began discussing the newest addition to the series, the London Party Mode.
The London Party Mode is a party/campaign mode separate from the Olympic/Dream modes in the game. Here, there are over 50 events available. Not just Olympic/Dream events, but all new mini games just for this mode! In fact, the majority of the 50 events are just for this mode alone. In the game, your character will be walking around the city of London shown from an overhead view. The main goal is to compete with your friends at winning stickers in events. You can talk to many Mario and Sonic characters who are not in the Olympic events such as Jet the Hawk and get mini-games to play from them. However, when Big Ben’s Bell Rings on the hour it’s time for an Olympic event. Also, new to this mode are bosses. First person to touch a boss (like Dry Bowser) gets to take them on in a on-on-one mini-game solo.
There were quite a few of the four-player LPM events shown. One was called “Tag-O-Rama” a cops-and-robbers style game where two players are cops with a siren on their head and the other two are robbers. (Nack would be so perfect for this game.) You basically chase each other down in a game of tag. Whoever get both robbers, or whichever robber lasts without being tagged, is the winner.
The next game shown was “Collect Toad’s Coins” which is basically self-explanatory. Four players are running around a large maze of the London City Streets collecting coins Pac-Man style and jumping on your opponents to get more coins from them. As you can guess, the person with the most coins at the end is the winner.
Next up was “Break-Neck a-thon” Here, you brutally beat your opponent to the point where you could snap their neck. Killing them inst-OKAY! OKAY! Just kidding! It’s a hurdles style marathon race taking place on the city streets. You have to jump and dodge various obstacles as much as possible as you run towards the goal.
That was the end of our preview of the London Party Mode. Next up, we got to see some exclusive events that were not on the floor. The first was “Ribbon Twirling”. Very similar to the figure skating in the last game. The host played as Peach (Nuckles really wanted Shadow doing it) as she danced and twirled the ribbon to some classical music. Once again, timing and rhythm was key to a good score.
Finally, we got to see a new Dream event. “Dream Equestrian”. A 4-player co-op game in which the players must take a cart of Yoshi Eggs from one area to another. The trick is that they have to turn, jump and do other tricks at the same time. The crew on hand really loved this game despite the fact that they were horrible at it. “There’s a dozen Eggs in the basket when you start. Our best score in the last two days has been three.” They took off! A Koopa wizard was creating hazards for them as they raced along. It didn’t take long before mass Yoshi egg genocide commenced. Sadly, at the finish line there was just one egg left. Despite the fact that everyone had been playing this mode over and over the past two days, they seemed to really be enjoying themselves. With the game over, our Q&A was on it’s way.
The dream events were very popular in the last game, will we be seeing more of that?
Much more. There will be a bigger focus on dream events this time with a larger number of events.
Will the games in London Party mode be different from the ones in the Olympic events?
Yes. It’s almost a separate game entirely. The only similarities is in the occasional Olympics event when Big Ben strikes.
Any new entries to Mario and Sonic’s roster?
No. We wanted to mainly focus on adding new events to the game so the roster is the same as the previous game. You will see some newer NPC’s walking around London that you can talk to.
This seems very much like a “Mario Party” style of game now. Since people love the dream events as well, any chance of a pure, non-Olympic M&S party game?
I’m sure people would love that, but there’s no plans at the moment.
Since Mario and Sonic relies heavily on multiplayer, any chance of an online mode this time?
We will have online rankings, but no multiplayer.
Will the music in events like Ribbon mode change, or remain the same?
It will definitely change depending on what difficulty you play on.
With the Wii U recently announced, what kind of games would you like to make with that style of controller?
We don’t have any plans with the Wii U currently, so we can’t really get into that.
Sadly, our time was over before we got any more questions in. Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics is looking to turn into more of a party game than an Olympics game this year. Also, the new mini-games and events look more fun than ever. The party in London begins this November.
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.
Add one more big piece of evidence to the “all but confirmed” pile. NeoGAF member DrKirby found this bit of evidence of a Sonic Generations Beta registered to Steam earlier today. This helps prove that there’s a PC version of Sonic Generations being tested currently. Of course, until Sega confirms it themselves it still remains rumor for now.
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.
Canadian game site Console Creatures got associate brand manager Aaron Webber at E3 to sit down and play through the Sonic Generations demo. He went through both classic and modern and showed some never before seen paths and details. Modern almost seemed like a totally different level through Aaron’s run. Check it out.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p0TvWgJW2Q[/youtube]
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.
Sega has announced today that they are currently making a limited run of these awesome Sonic figurines. Only 1,000 will be made and will have a different image in the monitor between the U.S. and European versions. The European version is what is shown above. When and how these will be made available is still unknown. A preorder giveaway? A Summer of Sonic freebie? A Sonic Generations limited edition? I don’t know, but I WANT IT!…..NOW! Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie!
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.
(NOTE: Because this is a Q&A with questions taken from staff from both Sonic Stadium and Segabits, this article will be posted on both sites simultaneously.)
On the Tuesday afternoon of E3, Alex and I got the privilege of seeing the first new footage of City Escape from Sonic Generations played by Takashi Iizuka himself. Seeing little classic Sonic going through the famous SA2 level was a thrill. We saw as the large GUN truck made every attempt possible to run down the roly-poly hedgehog as two new remixes of “Escape from the city” played through both levels. As he played through he told some interesting tidbits including the fact that outside of Green Hill zone, all stages on the 3DS will be different from the HD versions and will have levels based on the portable versions of Sonic’s games. Also voice overs will be done for all nationalities. Not just Japanese and English. He quit the last level as the GUN truck with it’s giant sawblades ran over modern Sonic as he ran out of boost. Here, our Q&A commenced.
There have been some who were wondering why the Wii was not given a port when the 3DS, which has comparable graphics has one. Why not port the 3DS version to the Wii?
The 3DS version is a celebration of Sonic’s portable history. As such it only makes sense that we keep that history on a portable system.
There have been rumors of hub worlds between levels similar to Unleashed. Is this something you can confirm?
Ha, ha. Well, as we’ve said. Classic and Modern Sonic meet through time anomalies as a mysterious force is erasing time. Areas are a wash of pure white. As classic and modern beat these classic levels more color comes into the world. You could say the white space starts as a hub that opens up more as the color comes back in.
Will there be any online features or DLC?
We cannot discuss anything for DLC at this time, but we are planning for online leaderboards.
Will there be more than two acts per zone?
Yes. I cannot give more detail than that at this time, but there will be several acts in each world.
Can you discuss what systems will be represented on the 3DS version such as Game Gear?
Game Gear? (Laughter) No. For the 3DS we wanted to go with systems of more recent memory. So we are more focused on levels from the GBA and DS.
We have seen boss fights with classic Eggman. Will modern Eggman be joining him?
We cannot discuss that due to story elements not yet revealed. I can say there will be remixes of classic boss fights through Sonic’s history.
Since Sonic Colors got it’s soundtrack published onto iTunes, will there be a Sonic Generations soundtrack as well?
(Laughter) Well, we know that Nintendo just announced a 25th Anniversary soundtrack for the Legend of Zelda. We are currently releasing 20th Anniversary soundtracks for many of our older Sonic games. As far as Sonic Generations goes, I cannot confirm anything at this time, but I’m glad your interested.
How early on did you go on the idea for a split between classic and modern Sonic gameplay?
Shortly after Unleashed, we were discussing what kind of game to make to celebrate Sonic’s 20th Anniversary. It was around that time that we decided that classic/modern split would be the best.
How many zones are being planned for the game?
That is something we cannot discuss at this time. (The next day, The E3 Insider magazine said 9 worlds were planned with a release date of October. It was later debunked by Aaron Webber.)
With that, our time was up and we gave our thank you’s and goodbyes.As we I told Mr. Iizuka how much I loved last year’s Sonic Colors. He seemed genuinely happy and pleased by that.I was surprised at how many of our questions we were able to get in as most of the other press was fairly quiet. I will say that neither me or Alex are pleased by the omission of Game Gear levels for the 3DS.
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.
It’s no secret that the Mario and Sonic series of games have been a bit hit on the Wii. With both games selling millions of copies and still not hitting the $19.99 mark, it has shown that the plumber in red and the blue blur have been a huge success together. So how the latest iteration stand up? Quite well actually. On the Wii, the graphics have been slightly improved. The models seem more detailed than last time and the lighting seems better too. There were several new events to try. While me and Nuckles87 did the dream events first, I thought I’d save the best for last.
The equestrian event was well done. I played as Yoshi (who gets to ride someone else for a change) while Nux played as Metal Sonic. You controlled the horse by shaking the wiimote up and down to gallop. Then turned it on the side to turn the horse with button 2 for jumping. This was a bit tricky actually as we’d forget to stop making the horse gallop during tight turns and we both ended up placing near the bottom. It was a decent mini-game though that was well representative of the event.
Badmitton was the weakest of the bunch. It’s best used with a wiimote/nunchuck, but we were only provided with the wiimotes. Basically, we just swung our wiimotes as the shuttlecock (snicker) came to us. Swing up or down provided different spins on the birdie. Overall it was very dull.
Rowing was mainly a rhythm game. I played as Sonic and Blaze and used the Wiimote like a paddle swinging it down to a rhythm to get the boat rowing faster. Nuckles was way behind, but once he got his stride he beat me. Overall a decent game. Now onto the dream games.
The first was an incredibly fun “Dream Long Jump”. The level is taken from Yoshi’s Story (I thought it was Kirby’s Epic Yarn by the yarn motif in the background, but I’ve been corrected several times.). You start off shaking the Wiimote to gain speed, then press button 2 to jump off. You keep in the air, going forward by bouncing off of clouds and each other. I was Vector and Nuckles was, well Knuckles. I managed to bounce off him and make him fall off the clouds. But once defeated, your opponent can come back as a spiked ball that can knock you off. I was just lucky enough to avoid him and got first place.
The other dream event was “Dream Discus Throw” taken from Windy Valley in Sonic Adventure 1. In this event you actually ride your disc. Collecting rings and knocking into your opponents to swerve them off course. You can also charge and boost into flying Badniks to get rid of them. It was funny to see Dr. Eggman taking out his own robots. Every part of the level seemed intact down to getting sucked up in the tornado. The event ends by landing on a large target where the one closest to the bullseye gets extra rings.
Now onto the 3DS. This demo consisted of several events strung together. The first one being Gymnastics. using the tilt controls I had to keep Amy Rose on the balance board as she did some tricks. I was able to land the tricks fine, but had problems with the balancing. Wario was up next for rowing. This event required me to rest the 3DS on the table and spin the thumbstick as fast as possible. Frankly, it made the event too easy as I beat it by a wide mile.
Next up…Judo! This event was fairly easy but very fun to watch Mario throw Sonic and Tails around. The controls are simple enough. Press several buttons displayed together before your opponent does. Sometimes once, sometimes two or three times in a row. This will then make you character do a Judo move and throw your opponent down to win the match. This would be trickier and more fun in multiplayer than against an A.I. opponent who doesn’t really react in good time.
The last event was speed walking. Yup, I managed to beat Sonic as Mario in a walking race. The trick was to slide the stylus back and forth like a pendulum to the rhythm of some generic music playing in the background. The better your rhythm and pace, the faster you….walk. I can see Sonic thinking “Walking?! Are you @#$%’in’ serious?”
The 3DS version did not keep me as interested in the games as much as the Wii did. This may be due to the lack of dream events in the demo, but the standard events were just bland. The dream events on the Wii however, seemed better than in the winter game. If you have only one version of Mario and Sonic at the London blahdedeblah (stupid long titles) make sure to get the Wii version. It’s just seems to be more fun overall.
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.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQuphp-hQGA[/youtube]
Nuckles87, the cooler than cool T-Bird and I have just finished a behind closed doors look at the City Escape level from Sonic Generations. Playing the game for everyone was producer Takashi Iizuka. There were a few surprises in store.
He first played through as classic Sonic who avoids the street almost entirely. Running and jumping around constructions areas and over rooftops. There’s a more classic version of “Escape from the City” playing with lyrics. (NOTE: Both versions have a brand new remix. Modern version has extra new lyrics.) Throughout the classic level, the GUN truck was chasing little classic Sonic both in and around backgrounds, giving the 2-D levels more of a 3-D look. This truck has a vendetta. He hates Sonic with a passion and want to run him down no matter what. Classic Sonic did ride on a board similar to the ice level from Sonic 3. Unfortunately, he quit the level before getting to the end.
The truck was very persistent, as he then was following Modern Sonic. His level plays very similar to the Dreamcast version as he rides the blade and follows a similar but different path than the original. Much like classic does in Green Hill Zone. The big difference is Unleashed-style gameplay coming into effect. Guess who makes a return to tell you what to do? That’s right. Just like in the original version, Omachao is back. The badniks in both levels are the same mechs from the original SA2 and you homing attack though them in the same way. Along the way, you can see missing posters. I noticed one had a picture of Ray and Mighty, while the other had Bean and Bark. At the end, the GUN truck is chasing you down, similarly to SA2, only this bad boy has friggin’ sawblades sticking out all over! Iizuka died when he ran too slow on the side of a wall and the truck hit him. A good producer, just not so good a player.
Sonic Generations is looking better and better. I don’t think there can be a better 20th anniversary homage to this little blue blur. Now I wonder when we are getting video of Spagonia?
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.
While still in the middle of his lawsuit against Archie comics, TSSZ has learned that Penders is now suing both Sega and EA (owners of Bioware) for copyright claims over stories and characters he created that were re-named and added to the game “Sonic Chronicles”. He also claims that Bioware came to him for help on the game.
Personally while I’m not sure on his legal standings, I’ve both played Sonic Chronicles and read the entire Knuckles series and it’s very easy to see the similarities. If Bioware did in fact, come to him for ideas it does raise some questions. This is starting to become a bit of a “David vs. Goliath story”. We’ll keep you informed as more news on this case develops.
First Article
Second Article
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.
Sega of America has announced details on their latest blog about the Sonic Boom event. The event will include prizes such as T-Shirts and hats. Also, demos of Sonic Generations will be on hand. Folks who want to get in without a ticket will have to wait until others leave in order for a chance to get in. That means those of you without a pass may still have a chance to get in. And the best news of all………..
Continue reading More Sonic Boom Details Announced
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.
Music man of awesomeness Richard Jacques. Composer of well-known Sega games such as Sonic R, Sonic 3-D Blast, Headhunter and Jet Set Radio will be signing at “The Maestros of Video Games” event at Dark Delicacies Books & Collectables in Burbank, California on June 11th. Several other game composers such as Greg Edmonson, Mike Reagan and more will attend for an hour-long Q&A panel followed by a meet and greet signing.
With this news and Aaron Webber mentioning “special musical guests” for Sonic Boom, the chances of Jacques attending Sonic Boom seem pretty high. I’m getting my Jet Grind Radio and 3-D Blast covers ready to sign. Oh man! Can you feel the sunshine? Everybody jump around and get excited!
Source
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.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpA3_-Jn4ss&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Aaron Webber was recently on Gamespot’s Daily Demo. He discussed Sonic Generations for awhile and also talked about the upcoming Sonic Boom event on June 8th at Club Nokia. Some hints of what to be expected include “Musical Guests” and “stars from Sonic’s history”.
As always we’ll keep you informed as more details of this event emerge.
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.
TSSZ news got word from an article in Publishers’ Weekly that a new “phone book” size comic will be coming out called Sonic Legacy. The first 512 page black and white Sonic book chronicling his first two years at Archie comics. These large B&W volumes are similar to Marvel’s “Essentials” series. Due to using black and white newsprint, these large volumes can come out at cheaper prices.
Meanwhile, Sonic Universe titles will be given the graphic novel treatment. Starting with the four-part Shadow saga. There will be extras included in the graphic novels to encourage fans to buy the hard copies instead of digital download. This is great news as these books will be available in standard book stores and not just comic shops. Ian Flynn has stated “And now, some two years after the fact, you know the reason why SU has always have a 4-issue arc format. We’ve been tailor-making this series for GN production from the start.”
Also, the Archives series of digests continue with the Knuckles Archives. Which will feature several of the first issues of Knuckles 32 issue chronicles.
Publishers Weekly Article can be found here.
Sonic Legacy Volume one is due to hit bookshelves in December.
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.
Earlier today, TSSZ reported that the latest issue of Nintendo Power hints at a new Nintendo-specific Sonic game being mentioned in next month’s issue. They don’t go into any specifics, we do know that there’s already a Mario and Sonic preview in this issue so it cancels that out as a possibility. It could be Sonic Generations on Wii, a new 3DS Sonic title, or something else entirely. Guess we’ll have to wait until early June to find out.
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.
From this TSSZ article looks like what could be the first non-final box art for both Sonic Generations and an all-new Mario and Sonic title, Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. If found true, this would confirm the Sonic trailer’s title as Sonic Generations and also confirms earlier rumors of a new Mario and Sonic title.
Stay tuned for more Sonic Generations and Mario and Sonic news in the upcoming weeks leading to E3.
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.
At GDC Nintendo has unveiled that their 3DS virtual console will soon be adding TurboGraphix-16 and Game Gear games to their 3DS Virtual Console lineup. No titles were shown or confirmed as of yet.
Source SegaBits
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.
TSSZ News has reported that Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing will be headed towards iOS systems including iPhone and iPod Touch. The amount of tracks and characters that will be ported over have yet to be determined. Rumors are there may be a Windows Phone 7 port, but it has yet to be confirmed. Here’s Sega’s press release.
LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO (28th Feb 2010) –SEGA® Europe Ltd. and SEGA® of America Inc. today announced that Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing™ is coming to iPhone® and iPod® touch. The mobile edition of this speedy title will include all the familiar faces and events players have enjoyed on other platforms when it drifts onto the App Store this spring.
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing puts players on the track and in the shoes of a host of popular SEGA characters, from Sonic to AiAi and Dr. Eggman, each with their own unique vehicle. Players must use their driving skills to dodge their way to a checkered flag in a variety of single-player modes, as well as local multiplayer race and battle modes via Bluetooth™ or Wi-Fi.
For more details about Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing for iPhone and iPod touch, visit www.sega.com
UPDATE: TheAPPera has provided some video of the game in action.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfNVnelkOxk[/youtube]
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, Archie comic has revealed the first cover and info on the Sonic Genesis saga. The comics story appears to be a retelling of the very first Sonic game. Is this an entire reboot of the series or just a short story to celebrate Sonic’s 20th anniversary? Also, green eyes and pot belly combo FTW!
Sonic investigates the strange disappearance of woodland creatures and discovers the man behind IT ALL! What is he hiding? What is the truth that has been kept from Sonic? Where did the army of badnicks come from?
Celebrate Sonic’s 20th anniversary!
It’s an all new beginning!
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #226
SCRIPT: Ian Flynn.
ART: Patrick Spaziante, Tracy Yardley, Terry Austin, John Workman & Matt Herms
Cover by Patrick Spaziante
Shipping Date: 6/15/2011
On Sale at Comic Shops: 6/29/2011
Newsstands: Week of 7/5/2011
Comic, 32 pgs, 40 lb. glossy stock, Full-Color
$2.99 US
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.
It’s been a slow news week, so I thought I’d post this little tidbit.
The March 2011 issue of Nintendo Power has just been released and they have their 2010 awards in. Most of the article covers the editorial awards while one page is dedicated to the readers choice. Sonic Colors (Wii) won for best graphics by the editors, while Sonic 4 won for best WiiWare game by reader’s choice. (The editors awarded it to Cave Story.)
Check out the March issue of Nintendo Power for more awards and an extensive preview of the Nintendo 3DS.
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.
Thank God! For once in my life, there’s no shame in shopping in the Plus section. Sega is bringing it’s Genesis classics monthly to PSN starting with Sonic 1 on March 1st for free with trophies! That is, if you’re a Plus member. Non-plus PSN users can bend over and buy the game for $5 on March 29. Here’s the press release. Click Here to go to the official page.
SEGA Genesis Collection Coming Exclusively to PlayStation Plus Subscribers for FREE!
Gaming has come a long way since it became popular with the release of the Atari 2600. As the industry continued to build steam over the years that followed, we saw some iconic classics emerge. One publisher, SEGA, has definitely had its fair share of games that brought mass appeal in the early stages of gaming.
Whether it was our favorite blue hedgehog or playing couch co-op as two centurions tried to free Zeus’ daughter, SEGA created some of the most defining titles in video game history. Now, the SEGA Genesis Collection is coming to PlayStation Store. Starting March 29, SEGA will be rolling out the SEGA Genesis Collection, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Altered Beast, and more. All six of these titles will be playable on the PlayStation 3 and will include trophies. As a special gift and exclusive offer for our PlayStation Plus subscribers, the upcoming games (an almost $30 value) will be available two weeks early and free for one month each to download. To kick off the event, Sonic the Hedgehog will be available a full four weeks early on March 1 to PlayStation Plus subscribers!
View the full list of titles below (including release dates) and enjoy jumping into some gaming nostalgia.
PlayStation Plus Releases (free)
Sonic the Hedgehog – Available March 1 – April 5
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – Available April 5 – May 3
Streets of Rage 2 – Available May 3 – May 31
Golden Axe 2 – Available May 31 – July 5
Comix Zone – Available July 5 – August 2
Altered Beast – Available August 2 – August 30
Regular PlayStation Store Release ($4.99 each)
Sonic the Hedgehog – March 29
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – April 19
Streets of Rage 2 – May 17
Golden Axe 2 – June 14
Comix Zone – July 19
Altered Beast – August 16
BTW, if you’re a non-plus PSN user, do yourself a favor. Buy Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. For $20, you get over 40 Sega classics vs. $30 total for 5 games. Otherwise, I hope you really like trophies.
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.
IGN has once again gotten an exclusive as they now show the variant cover. With it, Sonic’s sad shock as a still, dead hand lays on the floor. It doesn’t look like Rotors. It doesn’t have a collar like Antione’s. No robotics like Bunnie’s (albeit, that’s only one arm). No gloves like Amy or Tails. Could it be Sally? You’ll have to wait until March to find out.
You can look at IGN’s exclusive cover here.
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 cover to Sonic #225 has finally been revealed. IGN got the scoop on start of the “Genesis” saga which will play out over the summer. We can see Sonic and the Freedom Fighters running past what looks like a new, giant Death Egg! As they say in the youtubes “consequences will never be the same!”
You can find the cover here!
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.
Some of you may recall a Sonic Retro forum goer by the name of Sammybeany and his colorful opinions on the Sega community event held back in November. You may also remember the infamous clock he received as a gift for attending that he was not too happy with. Well, he sold that clock on eBay which was immediately purchased by Ben Kalough, another Sonic fan who was at the event.
After purchasing the clock, he sent it along with some candy and a card back to Sega. Sega has written an article all about it on their official blogs which you can find in our link down below. They seem to have a good sense of humor about the whole situation. Let’s hope they put as much effort into improving Episode 2 as they do joking with their critics.
Click on the photo to see Sega’s blog.
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.
Sorry for the messy header. Kinda hard to put that all in.
While on my break at work, I headed next door to Toys R’ Us to look around. Found out there is a two day sale going on. Including some Sonic stuff.
First off is a $15 gift card when purchasing Sonic Colors DS.
Second is 25% off all Sonic merchandise in the store. (Not including games and DVDs.) For those interested, this also applies to Mario and Pokemon merchandise. This includes Sonic toys, walkie talkies, MP3 Players, Digital Cameras and Earbuds.
Sale is U.S. Only and is only good through Saturday so hurry!
Sale Ad can be found here.
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.
Tyson Hesse who does the hilarious strip Boxer Hockey has put together another another hilarious Sonic comic. This one dealing with Sonic Colors. Where does he get the ideas for these drawings?!
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.
Hey folks! Jason Here.
Well, the contest has been over for a week now and to help build suspense I’ve delayed up till now before telling you the winners of this fine art contest. It had absolutely nothing to do with me being too lazy and playing too much Goldeneye and Rock Band 3 to be bothered putting this up. Honest! All entries were looked over and judged by yours truly.
Anyhoo, for each category I’ll be showing the winners and the runner ups. What do the runner ups get? The knowledge that if that jerk hadn’t entered the contest too, they’d be the winner! Each winner must PM me your address so I can mail your art out to you. The winning art should be sent out by the end of the month. (Hey, it’s Christmas time folks. I ain’t makin’ any promises here.)
Now, onto the victors!!
Category 1: Shades Fan Art (Prizes = Page 13 of Sonic Eggs issue 2 and Knuckles art by Spaz)
Winner – Smash
Most of my Shades fan art came with him in Vanilla’s dress. I guess people like seeing him that way. This made me laugh as I wondered why Cheese was so ticked off at him.
Runner Up – Super Sonikku
What looks cute and cuddly to others looks scary to Shades.
Category 2 : Funny Fan Art (Prizes = The two pages that make page 11 and a page from Sonic X )
Winner – Nemain
Rouge learns the nightmare of cosplay.
Runner Up – Rabbid A
Rabbid A gives us this rendition of a not so happy Sonic being forced into Shades dress up party.
Category 3: Writing Contest (Prizes = Page 14 and a page of Ron Lim art from a Knuckles comic)
Winner – Mimi
Mimi won with her last minute comic. Very funny stuff.
Runner Up – Fairfieldfencer
This one’s for the comic book fans. May make it into an Egg Whites!
My entry for Category 3, based on the opening page of SU: #21.
Panel One: Same as SU: #21:
Panel Two: Visually the same as SU: #21 with different dialogue.
Zone Cop Ship: Dr. Nega! This is Nurse Ratchet of the video game villain asylum! Nurse Clank is at the gun and will not hold back!
Panel Three: Visually the same. Different dialogue.
Dr. Nega: I’LL NEVER GO BACK!!!!!
Panel Four: Exactly the same as SU: #21.
Panel Five: The two ships fly opposite each other and the Zone Cop Ship is panicked as it looks down at the fallen capsule that has dropped in a pond and has fizzled out of existance.
Zone Cop Ship: Darn it! His scheme succeeded!
Panel Six: Inside Dr. Nega’s ship. Nega is sweating and wiping his forehead with a relieved smile.
Dr. Nega: Phew! There was no way I was taking that suppository!
Congratulations to all the winners!! To the runner ups, ooooh! So close!
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.
Youtube user “TrippyFeline” has put up the first footage of Sega’s Sonic Colors Premiere Party at Bryant Park. Among the sights seen are Sonic riding a Zamboni and some concert footage of Cash Cash including a stripped-down version of “Reach for the Stars.” Frankly after hearing it, I can kind of see why Sega had them use auto-tune.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6nsiXWre4g&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]
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 Colors DS demo has finally hit American shores through the Wii Nintendo channel. So you folks who have been patient all weekend can finally try it out!
Whether you have the U.S. or Europe demo, give us your fastest time in the comments or just say how you are enjoying the game.
UPDATE: Get it while you can, because this demo ends on Nov 7.
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.
Some of you may have seen these covers during the NYCC coverage, but we thought we’d like to share more info in closer detail. (Plus, it’s about dang time we started doing these.) Straight from Archie comics own website come previews of upcoming Sonic books for January 2011.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #221
“Changing Tempo”: Sonic’s eager to hear the new sound of Mina and her band – but will he like what he hears? Tensions are running high, and that’s before an evil presence starts lurking in the shadows! Then, in “Second Impressions,” Nicole and Espio deal with the fallout from the Iron Dominion invasion- along with a surprise third party!
SCRIPT: Ian Flynn
ART: Ben Bates, James Fry, Terry Austin, John Workman & Matt Herms
COVER: Ben Bates
Shipping Date: 1/19/11
On Sale at Comic Shops: 1/26/11
Newstands: Week of 2/8/11
Comic, 32 pgs, 40 lb. glossy stock, Full-Color
$2.99 US
SONIC UNIVERSE #24
“Treasure Team Tango” Part Four: The wild grand finale to our craziest story yet! Four teams vie for the precious Sol Emerald! Will Team Rose help Blaze save her world? Will Team Dark beat them into submission? Will Nack’s “Team Hooligan” cash it in, or will the Babylon Rogues beat them to it? You can’t miss this blockbuster conclusion!
SCRIPT: Ian Flynn
ART: Tracy Yardley!, Jim Amash, Phil Felix and Jason Jensen
COVER: Tracy Yardley!, Jim Amash & Ben Hunzeker
Shipping Date: 1/5/11
On Sale at Comic Shops: 1/12/11
Newstands: Week of 1/25/11
Comic, 32 pgs, 40 lb. glossy stock, Full-Color
$2.99 US
SONIC SELECT #3
The highly acclaimed Sonic Select series of graphic novels returns with a vengeance! Inside you’ll find three epic tales: “Battle Royal,” where the Freedom Fighters throw down against the Chaotix, “Brave New World,” the series changing fan-favorite, and “Return of the King,” the story that set off the “World Tour Saga”! All that and more!
SCRIPT: Michael Gallagher, Ian Flynn
ART: Patrick “SPAZ” Spaziante, Sam Maxwell, Dave Manak, Nelson Ortega, Jim Amash, Rich Koslowski and Barry Grossman.
COVER: Patrick “SPAZ” Spaziante
Shipping Date: 1/5/11
On Sale at Comic Shops: 2/9/11
Soft Cover, 6″x9″, pgs, glossy stock, Full-Color
$11.95 US
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.
Hey folks!
Since there hasn’t been too many entries yet, I’ve decided to extend the contest to October 30th. In addition, there will be extra prizes added to each category! Now with 70% more Knuckles! Finally, with images of your prizes as well!
Category 1 will receive an art piece of Knuckles and the Guardians done by none other than Spaz himself! At least I think it’s him. He autographed it and Penders said it was, but it doesn’t quite look like his work.
Category 2 will receive an extra page of Yardley art. This one being from Archie’s own Sonic X comic!
Category 3’s secret prize is revealed to be a page of Rom Lim art (sorry XP) with Knuckles, the Chaotix, Mammoth Mogul and Enerjak! Instead of having to split the prize if you enter on your own, you keep both pages. Otherwise the author decides who gets what.
Didn’t hear about this contest? Find out more on this page.
Remember, you now have until Oct 30th! More details, images and a video to come soon.
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.
Sonic Paradise has reported that Sega of Spain has gone back on their comments on Sonic Anniversary and retracted their statements. Here is a loose translation.
On the last day of Gamefest 2010, some board members attended the event Sonic Reikai to realize that this time Sega’s booth was in charge of a woman, and that the statements to the press about the game had changed.
Also confirm that is indeed Urretabizkaia Izaskun female (probably a she), the official in charge of the said retracted earlier claims that “could not” say anything about the next Sonic Anniversary. What is striking however, was not even consulted directly by the specific title.
More details can be found here.
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.
Courtesy of Gamespot
Gamespot has an exclusive Sonic Colors trailer with that Sweet Mountain music (like grandma and grandpa used to play) and all new levels shown including Sonic… SWIMMING underwater?! (Well, spindashing around anyway.)
You can find it here.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zzoA1pOLf4[/youtube]
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.
On the Sega.com boards, Sonic 4 community manager Aaron Webber (AKA Rubyeclipse) has mentioned that there will be special shoutouts and nods to multiple purchasers of Sonic 4 for different consoles.
* Anyone who picks up two or more versions of the game will be included in a special sticky thread to be posted here on the SEGA and Sonic 4 Forums. This will be a sort of MVP list that will document all of the fans out there who went above and beyond to help support the game. This list will also be posted on the SEGA Blogs and featured on the Sonic 4 website via the blogs feed.
* Those fans who have both the consoles and the determination to grab three versions of the game will receive placement on the forum list, a digital bucket of cute fluffy kittens*, a special call-out on the SEGA Blogs and the Sonic 4 website’s news feed, and special placement in one very cool spot, to be revealed! (As soon as we finish unloading the kittens.)
* Finally, any die-hard collectors or supporters who have already decided that they plan to grab a copy of every version of the game will be featured in all of the above, and will also receive a special thank you shout-out, on video, from both Ken Balough and myself, which will be featured on the SEGA Youtube page and posted all across SEGA’s realms here on the internets. (Rumor has it that interested parties may also request that Ken present his thank you in Spanish, and he will actually do so. Es loco!)
As someone who will be buying multiple versions for “a-hem!” professional reasons. I.E. to make a multi-console comparison article, this makes for a nice show of support.
Source.
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.
Kotaku’s own Stephen Totilo got his hands on the multiplayer part of Sonic Colors recently. While he seemed to really enjoy his time with the game, he also revealed some very interesting new information.
— There are 21 Sonic Simulator levels total.
— Due to the simple backgrounds, they can run at 60 fps.
— The speeds of these levels can be adjusted. However, it is not clear if that is the speed of your time limit or the speed of the Sonic bots.
— This was the final build of the game.
The entire article can be found on Kotaku here.
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.
TSS forum member speedfreak has found a new video of Sonic 4 Splash Hill with the latest build on it. In it, we can briefly see the world map Aaron Webber has been eluding to. We also get a clear video of the latest build which is played with no homing attack made. (Not sure if it was intentional or the guy just really stunk at playing.)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9QGKwJSk6k[/youtube]
Here is a snapshot of the world map. Just what is that shaded area to the right? The possible start of Episode 2? If so, then that could mean the episodes can be locked on to one game. That’s just speculation of course.
Thanks to speedfreak for the youtube link and Core for the image.
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.
According to this link from IGN, Sonic 4 will be out as soon as next week. Here’s the breakdown of the prices and release dates for each console:
- iPhone on October 7th ( Across all territories. No price mentioned as of yet.)
- Wii Shop Channel on October 11th (15th in EMEA countries) for 1500 points.
- PlayStation Network on October 12th (13th in EMEA countries) for $14.99 / £9.99 / €12.99 / AU$19.95
- XBOX Live Arcade on October 13th (across all territories) for 1200 points.
Start buying those point cards, kids! We’re only two weeks away!
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.
Hey folks!!
Well, there’s no Sonic Eggs comic this week, but Kichi is working hard on them as we speak. This week, you’re getting something better….
Tracy Yardley art!! It’s time for you to show off your creativity and sense of humor. Sonic style!!
We got three separate contests for three pieces of art. Let’s look at the categories.
Category 1 – Shades Fanart
Winning Page = Page 13 “The Hedgehog’s new clothes”
Draw me your funniest art of our resident sissy clone to win this page of Shades in his Sunday best.
Category 2 – “Two for one” Funny fanart
Winning page(s) = Page 11 “Ms. Manners”
Although this was only one comic strip, it was on two pages so the winner is getting two pages of art!! Just draw me a very humorous piece of Sonic art. Keep it funny, but also, KEEP IT CLEAN!
Category 3 – “Writers deserve love too.”
Winning page = Page 14 “Playing God and Playing Favorites” and a bonus secret prize.
For this page you can do two things. Either write me a funny short story containing 300 words or less, or make a funny comic strip. Either one can win! If a friend does the art, you must share one of the prizes with him. (It will be mailed to one address though.)
RULES – Contest is open to U.S., UK and any country where it’s allowed. Winners will receive their art page in a plastic sleeve for extra protection and it makes it easy for posting on a wall. Only one entry per person for all three categories. That means if you go for the Shades art, you cannot enter for the other art.
Winners will be PM’ed and shown here on the front page you must enter by 10/15/10 and I will decide the winners the following week. Winners will be decided not only on skill, but humor and creativity. So you can draw like a toddler but if it makes me laugh, that counts.
Entries must be posted in the categories shown in Sonic Showcase here on SSMB, or on Sonic Eggs Universe forum. at Emerald Coast Comics.
So do your best and have fun!!
….And yes, I’m keeping the other pages so nyaah!! XD
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.
