Please note that this site is no longer being updated or maintained; as a result, there may be design issues, and links to images and other media may be broken.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.
Paramount has released the official music video for “Speed Me Up,” the theme for the upcoming Sonic movie which was leaked yesterday.
The music video features Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Yachty, and Sueco the Child playing SEGA Genesis and running through 16-bit Sonic themed environments, complete with 16-bit versions of certain in-movie locations, Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik, and loads of visual references taken from across Sonic’s classic games.
Check out in the embedded video below!
Sonic Talk is back with it’s latest (and belated) episode. We originally recorded this in November, but circumstances unfortunately made editing the episode difficult. Nevertheless, here it is!
This month we discuss Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the latest goings on in the Sonic comics, Movie Sonic’s new look, Headcannon’s Vertebreaker Kickstarter campaign, Sonic X’s return to Japanese airwaves, and of course, PUMA’s latest Sonic shoes. Before all that we also talk about some of the sweet new games we played ahead of the holiday!
The Sonic movie could be on track to make at least a modest profit, if this latest box office opening forecast is accurate.
Continue reading Sonic Movie Projected to Open at over $40 Million in the US
Sonic’s Japanese twitter account has announced that the arcade adaption of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is now available at amusement facilities nationwide.
This hopefully means that American and European releases are not far behind!
The arcade edition utilizes a different controls, consisting of three buttons and a special active floor that can detect jumping and running actions.
SEGA’s Japanese Twitter account has revealed the names of for voice actors for the upcoming Japanese dub of Paramount’s Sonic movie.
All of these actors are pretty prolific, with long resumes, although none of them have done voice work in previous Sonic products.
Taishi Nakagawa will voice Sonic, Kōichi Yamadera will voice Dr.Robotnik/Eggman, Yuichi Nakamura will voice Sonic’s cop buddy Tom, and Marina Inoue will voice Maddie. While none of them have ever been featured in a Sonic project before, Yamadera did apparently narrate a Sonic Adventure commercial in the nineties!
Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog will be released in the Americas and Europe on February 14, with the Japanese releasing following over a month later on March 27.
Source: SEGA Japan Twitter
Today, SEGA released the final remix in its Tee Lopes/Jun Senoue collaboration, a reimagining of the track from Sonic 2 8-bit’s opening zone, Under Ground Zone. Go ahead and check it out below!
Sonic 2 8-bit was the version of Sonic 2 released for the Game Gear and Master System, and was a common pack-in for The former. Despite having the same name as the 16-bit version of the game, Sonic 2 8-bit was a completely different total with different zones, including the aforementioned Under Ground Zone. The game can still be bought on 3DS’s Virtual Console.
Nintendo is holding a special New Years eShop sale from today until January 16. Included in the sale are nearly a dozen Sonic titles across both the Switch and 3DS. For the titles on sale and their discounted US prices, check out the list below:
Nintendo Switch
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – $33.99 (was $59.99)
Team Sonic Racing – $19.99 (was $39.99)
SEGA AGES Sonic the Hedgehog – $5.99 (was $7.99)
Sonic Forces – $9.99 (was $19.99)
Sonic Mania – $9.99 (was $19.99)
Nintendo 3DS
Sonic Generations – $9.99 (was $19.99)
Sonic Lost World – $9.99 (was $19.99)
3D Sonic the Hedgehog – $2.99 (was $5.99)
3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – $2.99 (was $5.99)
Sonic Boom Shattered Crystal – $9.99 (was $19.99)
Sonic Boom Fire & Ice – $9.99 (was $19.99)
The sale also includes other SEGA titles, such as the rest of their SEGA AGES line and Valkyrie Chronicles.
In addition to Nintendo’s eShop sale, Sonic Mania is also currently on sale for $9.99 on Sony’s PlayStation Network.
Japanese TV network Kids Station has begun airing reruns of Sonic’s mid-2000s anime, Sonic X. These reruns will include the Metarex Saga, the final season of the show never before broadcast in Japan.
Sonic Retro forum user Mendinso captured video from the ending of the episode, as well as a high quality version of the show’s end card, both of which are posted below. For his full post, check out the source.
https://youtu.be/L4XeHEpVTKg
Source: Sonic Retro Forum
Step aside, Baby Yoda, because there’s a new cuteness in town! The latest teaser from the Sonic movie’s Japanese twitter account has given us our first glimpse at the long-rumored “baby Sonic.” The teaser features the little blue tike blasting through Green Hill as Sonic Mania’s opening theme, Hyper Potion’s Friends, plays in the background.
Check out the video and CG image of baby Sonic below!
＼シリーズ初‼️幼少期が明らかに⁉️／#ベビーソニック 特別映像💫宇宙最速解禁
日本だけ💨
激レア特典つきムビチケ発売中❗️⭐️全国の上映予定劇場 ※数量限定
特典：ベビーソニックキーホルダー⭐️ムビチケオンライン
特典：ベビーソニック塗り絵詳細➡️https://t.co/OMjTfIzezk#映画ソニック pic.twitter.com/B5vcLcuAMC
— 『ソニック・ザ・ムービー／ソニック VS ナックルズ』公式 (@Sonic_MovieJP) December 26, 2019
Now that we know that baby Sonic is weird, one has to wonder what the character looked like before the redesign.
The Sonic the Hedgehog movie will hit U.S. theaters on February 13, 2020.
Visual effects company Moving Production Company (MPC) has closed down its studio in Vancouver, which was responsible for much of the work that went into the new Sonic movie design. Continue reading VFX Studio That Played Major Role in Movie Sonic Redesign Shuttered
That new Sonic holiday short announced yesterday is out now! If you haven’t seen it yet, you can check it out below:
This short was written and directed by Tyson Hesse and produced by Yukio Kusumoto.
Looks like last year’s Sonic holiday animation wasn’t a one-off, as the Sonic Twitter account has announced a new holiday-themed Sonic short will be released tomorrow at 12 PM EST/9AM PST! Continue reading New Sonic Holiday Animation Coming Tomorrow!
Geoff Keighley, host of the annual Game Awards show, teased in a livestream a few days ago that Sonic may be included in the show in some form when it airs tomorrow.
When asked whether or not the show would include any news regarding the franchise’s 30th anniversary, Keighley said that with the movie coming up they “may do something fun” with the character.
You can check out a recording of the livestream here. Keighley’s comments are at the 12:30 mark.
The Game Awards 2019 will air at 8:30 PM EST on December 12.
SEGA has been releasing a slew of remixes of old Sonic tunes lately. Today, they graced us with a remix of Sonic 4’s Splash Hill Zone medley, composed by Tee Lopes and Jun Senoue.
Check it out below! Is it an improvement over the original? Let us know in the comments!
First4Figures’ latest Sonic PVC statue, which was first teased back in March, finally has a teaser trailer and pre-order date. The statue will be made available for pre-order on December 13 at 9 AM EST, during a F4F livestream. The trailer, posted below, gives us our first look at the colored version of the statue. Check it out below:
A long lost DLC event for the Japanese version of Sonic Adventure has just been uncovered. Moopthehedgehog, a member of the Dreamcast development and homebrew website DCEmulation, found a copy of the game’s 1999 New Years event on an old memory card he ordered from Japan.
When Sonic movie director Jeff Fowler announced that Sonic would be getting a redesign, it wasn’t clear exactly how much work that would require. Many assumed it would require a significant overhaul of the movie’s special effects, and it was recently rumored that the cost of the change was around $35 million. It would appear none of this was accurate, however.
According to IndieWire, the cost of the overhaul was actually around $5 million, and that the only completed Sonic effects were what was shown in the first trailer back in April. IndieWire’s source also said that any rumors of that the movie’s VFX team ‘suffered’ during production are “far from true.”
The reception of the new design has been almost universally positive, so it would appear that was $5 million well spent. Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog is scheduled for release on February 14, 2020.
Source: IndieWire
PUMA, the company that has been making Sonic-themed footwear for the last few years, has revealed a a brand new pair based on their RS-X³ model. The shoes will be released on November 21 and sold for $120 USD.
They’ve also revealed new Sonic-themed clothing, including a t-shirt, hoodie, beanie and shoulder bag. While prices for these items are not currently known, they are expected to be released in February 2020.
Source: Sonic Team Argentina (fan account) via Twitter
A little over a week after is started, the kickstarter campaign for Vertebreaker, the next game from Sonic Mania developer Headcannon, has been canceled.
Continue reading Headcannon’s Vertebreaker Kickstarter Cancelled
Sonic Racing was one of the first titles announced for Apple Arcade, a subscription service exclusive to Apple devices meant to provide mobile gaming experiences free of loot boxes and microtransactions. As one of the service’s premiere exclusives, does Sonic Racing make good on Apple’s promise for better mobile gaming?
Ever since the cancellation of Archie’s Sonic book and the franchise’s move to IDW, one aspect of the old comics has remained in limbo: the status and future of Archie Sonic’s supporting characters, the Freedom Fighters…until now!
Continue reading Ian Flynn Pushing To Bring The Freedom Fighters To IDW Sonic
So, with Apple Arcade launching today, we’re finally getting our first in-depth looks at both Sonic Racing and Chu Chu Rocket! Universe. With no official footage being released, we decided to record our own footage of these games.
It should be noted that both of these games are being recorded off of an iPhone 7, which could only achieve medium graphical quality for either game. This footage is not representative of how the games will look on more advanced hardware.
For Sonic Racing, I recorded the tutorial and a few races in the default vertical orientation, before later recording some footage horizontally. Check them out below:
I actually found it more difficult to play this game with the landscape orientation. Here’s hoping the Apple TV version has controller support:
For Chu Chu Rocket! Universe, I recorded the opening minutes of the game, including some bits of story mode, then recorded another puzzle separately to show off how arrows are selected (and because it was the first puzzle I had some trouble with).
You’ll find those recordings below:
Be sure to stick around for more news on these and other games!
Two Sonic Team franchises have launched new entries today as part of Apple Arcade’s launch line-up. Sonic Racing brings a version of Sumo Digital’s Team Sonic Racing to Apple’s platforms, letting players race as a variety of Sonic characters in a team-based racer. Chu Chu Rocket! Universe brings back the classic puzzle action of the Dreamcast original, where the player has to direct mice through a course to their rocket ship, without letting the cats eat them. Both games were made by SEGA HARDlight, the same developers behind the Sonic Dash games.
Apple Arcade is a subscription-based game service for Apple platforms, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Macintosh. For $5 a month, you gain access to every game on the service, without needing to deal with ads, in-app purchases, or other kinds of micro transactions. Every game on the service is exclusive to it, so it’s unlikely these games will be appearing on other platforms (or at least mobile platforms) any time soon.
If you want to try the games now, you can take advantage of a 30-day free trial after downloading iOS 13 for iPhone. Unfortunately, only iPhone users can currently access Apple Arcade, as the updates for Apple’s other platforms are arriving until September 30.
UPDATE: We have been able to confirm that both games boast controller support, including support for PS4 and Xbox One controllers. To sync a PS4 controller, hold the share and home buttons to put it into pairing mode. For Xbox One, hold the sync button. Afterwards, each controller can be linked to your iPhone from the phone’s Bluetooth menu.
SEGA has also released a trailer showing off both games, which you can check out below:
SEGA showed game play from three new events in their Tokyo Game Show livestream earlier today. Twitter user SonicWindBlue ripped the footage and posted it to showcase the new modes.
Two new dream events and a new retro event were shown. To see the footage, check out SonicWindBlue’s tweets below:
https://twitter.com/sonicwindblue/status/1172886849972506624?s=21
The Highway Chase Mini Game was last new gameplay showcase we got. #MarioandSonic #SonicNews pic.twitter.com/vfHDuHobYq
— SonicWindBlue (@SonicWindBlue) September 14, 2019
If you want to watch the Japanese-language livestream, you can check it out in the embedded Youtube video below. The Mario & Sonic stuff starts at around the two-hour forty-minute mark:
Every year, SAGE gives Sonic fans around the world a stage to show off their game programming and design chops to the community. This year will be no different, and they’ve dropped a little trailer to whet our appetites for what this year’s exhibitors have in store. Check it out below!
SAGE, or the Sonic Amateur Game Expo, is an online exhibition held every year by Sonic Fan Games HQ. The expo gives creators a chance to show-off Sonic fan games, hacks, and original games inspired by the franchise. SAGE 2019 is being held on September 27th through October 4th.
A new entry in Sonic Team’s long-dead Chu Chu Rocket franchise made a surprise appearance in an Apple press release today: Chu Chu Rocket! Universe.
The game is being developed by Hardlight, and is slated to come to the Apple Arcade service, a video game subscription service for Apple Devices that will let subscribers play a variety of games for $4.99 a month on iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs and Macs. It’s important to note that Apple’s press release specifies that it is a “mobile and subscription service” exclusive which doesn’t necessarily rule out console ports of the game, although devices that support Apple Arcade are the only confirmed platforms.
The game has 100 3D puzzle courses, and features gameplay that appears pretty faithful to the Dreamcast original: direct your mice to rocket ships without letting cats devouring them all. Chu Chu Rocket! Universe is slated to launch alongside the debut of the Apple Arcade service on September 19. Chu Chu Rocket! won’t be the only Sonic Team series hitting the service either: as we reported earlier this year, Sonic Racing will also be coming to Apple Arcade.
The Dreamcast original was the first game on the system to feature online play, so a sequel being announced a day after the system’s 20th anniversary is neat timing. This will be the first new entry in the franchise since the Dreamcast game was ported to iOS and Android back in 2011.
Nothing else is known about the game. Check below for a screenshot and game play footage:
20 years later… it’s time to go ChuChu crazy all over again! 🐭🐭🐭
With new 3D puzzles to explore and the frantic multiplayer you all know and love, ChuChu Rocket! Universe will be launching its way onto @AppleArcade soon! #AppleEvent📱 pic.twitter.com/l3IaFRqFqi
— SEGA (@SEGA) September 10, 2019
Back in 1999, SEGA was on the ropes. Their 32-bit console, the SEGA Saturn, had been a failure everywhere but Japan. The SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis was long dead. The arcade market was struggling. Japan was in the midst of a decade-long depression. The SEGA Dreamcast was its last hope at remaining a contender as a console maker.
Of course, we all know how that went by now. The Dreamcast struggled in Japan, initially selling out when it launched on November 27 1998, but then failing to meet subsequent sales targets. The Dreamcast had a record breaking launch in America, where it sold 500,000 units in just two weeks. The system also did very well in Europe, where it managed to sell 400,000 units in about 5 weeks. Unfortunately, this success would not last, and on January 31, 2001, SEGA announced that the system would be discontinued.
Despite its short life, the Dreamcast has become something of a cult hit among hardcore gamers. It saw many acclaimed releases, like Soul Calibur, Skies of Arcadia, Jet Grind Radio, Grandia 2, and Shenmue. It pioneered console online gaming, becoming the first system to feature a built in modem, which allowed many developers to inject online functionality into their games, including DLC, leaderboards, and online multiplayer.
Around here, the system is probably best known for being the machine that powered Sonic’s first true 3D outings, permanently changing the franchise forever.
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the system’s iconic 9.9.99 US launch. Do you have anything memories of that launch? Or the system? Or its games? Feel free to share them in the comments below!
This won’t be our only Dreamcast article marking the occasion. Keep an eye out for a few more articles over the next month!
Video game art dealer Cook & Becker have announced that the next reprint of the Official Sonic the Hedgehog Art & Design Book will feature 32 pages of new content from Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces, and Team Sonic Racing. First released in 2016 as part of Sonic’s 25th anniversary, the book originally only went as far as releases from that year.
Cook & Becker hinted at this last week, leaving many to speculate that Sonic Mania would be receiving its own art book. However, according to the company’s twitter account, there would not have been enough content from the game to fill out its own art book, so they decided to update their 25th anniversary art book instead.
The updated book can be pre-ordered off of their website for $39.99 (plus $12.50 for shipping), and is currently scheduled to ship sometime in November.
They released some samples of the new pages, which you can check out in the gallery below:
A SEGA site for the upcoming Tokyo Game Show lineup includes sample imagery that appears to show the total character roster for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Continue reading Mario & Sonic 2020’s Complete Character Roster Appears To Have Been Revealed
Comic books, especially Sonic comics, traditionally have major events, special stories, or cool covers every 25thissue. By the looks of things, IDW’s iteration of Sonic looks to continue that tradition with this new cover from Tyson Hesse featuring every major character from the series. Hesse has done work on various Sonic comics in the past and recently directed the Sonic Mania Adventures animated web series.
There’s no solicitation to go with this one. Check out the cover below!
IDW has released three-page previews of their next few upcoming Sonic comics through Apple Books. Both Sonic the Hedgehog #20 and Tangle & Whisper #2 now have previews available. Sonic #20 will be released later this week on August 28, while T&W #2 is coming next Wednesday.
Check out the previews, covers, and solicitations for the issues below:
“Crisis City, Part 2”! When a powerful ally succumbs to the Metal Virus, Omega and Sonic stand alone against an infected city. And even if they can save the remaining civilians from the zombots, will they be safe from Sonic?
The conclusion of the Crisis City storyline, but not the Metal Virus saga
If Tangle and Whisper know they’re being led into a trap, the imposter they’ve been chasing can’t get the drop on them, right? Who is this mysterious imposter, why is Whisper so adamant about taking him down, and will Tangle be able to help-or just get in the way? Find out in “Ambush”!
Back at E3, SEGA hinted at a new “retro mode” for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, but wouldn’t clarify anything beyond the brief clip we saw in the E3 trailer – today we finally have clarification! 10 events in the game will have alternate “Classic 2D Events” that utilize retro sprites and graphics, and take place during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics!
Continue reading Mario and Sonic Go Old School in New Retro Olympic Events
It’s that time of year again: summer vacation is drawing to a close and kids are getting ready to back to school. With a new school year, comes news products, and this year SEGA has several new pieces of merchandise for Sonic fans, for sale at a few different retailers. Continue reading Sonic Now Has Back-to-School Merchandise
Today marks 30 years since the SEGA Genesis (known as the SEGA Mega Drive elsewhere, the name was changed in North America due to trademark issues) made its debut!
This name would turn out to be quite fitting, as the SEGA Genesis became the system that would not only make SEGA and many of its franchises household names on the continent, it would also serve as the birth place for the company’s most successful character: a blue hedgehog named Sonic!
For years, anyone wanting to own Sonic Boom on physical media have had to deal with piece-meal releases, whether it’s America’s two meager 8 episode volumes, or the UK’s more substantial 13 episode volumes. According to a new Amazon listing, it looks like those days might be finally coming to an end, with Sonic Boom Season 1, Volume 1, coming courtesy of NCircle Entertainment.
Slated for release on October 1, the two-disc volume comes in two packages: a $25 version bundled with Sonic & Eggman action figures made by TOMY, and a $15 version that just has the show. The first volume comes with 26 episodes, which covers half of the first season.
You can pre-order the DVD here. You can check out the included figures, DVD arc, and a list of included episodes in the images below:
The episodes are listed out of order on the back.
Currently, there’s no word of when (or if) the second volume is coming. Given that this isn’t the show’s first DVD release, it’s probably only a matter of time.
Sonic the Hedgehog recently made his appearance in an action-packed episode of OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes, in which the nods to Sonic the Hedgehog history came thick and fast! Here is our comprehensive TSS guide to the many references contained in the episode!
Warning – MANY spoilers ahead!
Continue reading The Best References In OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes – Let’s Meet Sonic
