Editorial: Paging True Sonic Fans

tsfWhy do people in the Sonic community take such offense to low review scores?  Anything 69% and lower is like a kick to the nuts to some.  I’ve seen people react like the reviewer had just murdered their parents.  While video games are an expensive endeavor, cashing in at $50 or $60, that doesn’t seem to be the point of contention with the “true Sonic fan,” which, by the way, is a derogatory term to the lot of us here.  The “TSFs” are more concerned with the reputation of their furry, blue idol than whether or not it’s worth a purchase, rental, or pass.  They probably have already bought the game and have beaten it three times over before the review is out, so they could care less for a recommendation.

It begs the question: Why do the TSFs care so dearly about other people’s opinions, especially the dissenting ones?

The TSFs have played the game and absolutely love it, so what does it matter to them that everybody else hates it?  If I could capture one of these creatures, put on a lab coat and study its ticks, then I would know the answer.  Sadly, it remains a mystery why these embarassments of Sonic fandom do what they do.  We can only assess from the asinine things that they post in forums and comment boxes.

A recent trend in the community is this obsession with whether or not a reviewer finished the game or not.  While I agree that a reviewer should play the game thoroughly, the need to 100% complete a game is asking too much.  How many review sites finished Grand Theft Auto IV before reviewing it?  I doubt that any of them did.  Most times, if you’ve seen first half of a game, the second half is bound to be similar.  Does IGN’s Matt Casamassina have to play the final moments of Black Knight?  Would the game’s true ending redeem all of the game’s shortcomings?  I highly doubt it.

A much more prominent argument of the TSF is the necessity to call people out on their preference to the classic titles, going as far as stating that the Genesis Sonic titles “suck.”  It’s always amusing to read that comment, as it lacks any context whatsoever.  Without Sonic’s successful Genesis days, which were popular for their innovations to platform gaming and contrasting attitude to Mario, the new-generation Sonic wouldn’t exist.  By referring to those games as “absolute crap,” one basically erases Sonic’s current lineage of games.  Sonic would be lost in the 16-bit generation, like Bubsy, Sparkster, and other attitudinal, platforming mascots.

What’s funny about the TSF’s cries for respect to the new-generation is that us editorial folk have to love every Sonic game.  When the TSFs preach that to us and follow up with “the Genesis games suck,” they’re contradicting themselves.

The “classic backlash” from the TSFs could also be attributed to the perspective of the authors of the Sonic-related articles and reviews.  The people who are articulate enough to write for these “important” websites are in their late teens and beyond.  Most of us are in our twenties.  As a result, we grew up with this character.  It’s something that has to be understood by the chronic complainers.  When they’ve reached a point in their life when they’re old enough to have a firm grasp on their respective languages, they can write articles about how Sonic Unleashed was a triumph of this generation for TSS, IGN, or some other video game website.  Secondly, the “too old for Sonic” argument doesn’t really work.  The charm of the character is supposed to appeal to everyone, regardless if you’re 12 or 40 or whether or not the game is “designed for kids.”

Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion.  If IGN does not like the game, that’s their prerogative.  If you like the game, then that’s your prerogative.  Telling a site how to do its business is an exercise in futility.

Not everybody is going to be happy with Sonic all the time.  One cannot coarse a fanbase so large to think uniformily.  So, if you like Black Knight, then good for you.  Don’t go looking to pick fights with the opposite viewpoint, because nobody wants to see that.

Better yet, nobody cares.

Brad wrote this review not in defense for IGN or review sites, but for the sake of peace and sanity.  Picture credit goes to “Sonic-Fan-Rater” at DeviantArt.

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247: A Number to Remember

If you thought that the last teaser was ambiguous, this one won’t help you much. The number “247″ is expressed many different ways while the mystery character’s silhouette tosses an apple in the background. The end of the video says that we’ll find out more on March 12th.

Also, I love Engrish. “What’s mean 247?” Bahahaha…

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Watch “Sonic Shorts: Volume 5!”

Front paged on Newgrounds is the fifth installment in Sonic Paradox’s “Sonic Shorts” series, a flash comedy series with plenty of inside jokes for the avid Sonic fan.  This episode jams twenty-one shorts into one fun package.  The menu is really fuckin’ awesome to watch, too.  I just about died at the “lol jetboots” portion of the menu.  Who at SEGA came up with those damn things?

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The new meme of 2009. Right here.

Skits include another trip to the Olympic games, why Sonic can’t swim (again), a peak into the lives of badniks, Sonic’s reactions to people confusing him as Shadow, and the destruction of Sonic X.

Chris Thorndike should get his own TV show.  Srsly, guys.  Srsly.

Watch Sonic Shorts: Volume 5!

Learn more about Sonic Paradox!

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The Secret of Wacky Workbench

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Wacky Workbench might be one of the more annoying, if not incredibly unique, stages of the Genesis-era Sonics, but it has reasons to keep coming back. For me, it is the catchy music (both soundtracks, mind you), but now, it’s this secret that I found in a video yesterday. I revisited the ol’ bouncin’ factory to find this secret room for myself.

Basically, all you have to do is use the level select code (up, down, down, left, right, A/Space) and go to either the past or bad future of Wacky Workbench. Then, make your way to the bottom path immediately to find a hidden room within the wall of a quarter pipe.

The room in the past has an angel statue. If you jump onto her, she spouts out an endless supply of rings. In the bad future, there’s an AWESOME Robotnik statue that you can blow up. However, once you do so, spike bombs will plummet from the ceiling and make you go “ouch.” If you’ve discovered this secret already, good for you. I haven’t, so deal.

Continue reading The Secret of Wacky Workbench

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Interview: Sonic XG’s Christian Whitehead

If you’re not involved in the Sonic fangaming/hacking community, or even the fan community at large, you might have heard of or seen either Sonic XG or Retro-Sonic at one point or another while perusing forums and websites. Both titles are not only fantastic re-creations of classic 2D-Sonic, but they are influential to others wishing to do the same. At the 2007 Sonic Amateur Games Expo, both of these titles were among the best of the lot, but were each lacking in a department that the other excelled in. XG had extraordinary graphics and design. Retro-Sonic prided itself on its far-superior engine.

Soon after, these projects combined to form a fangaming juggernaut. The perfect Sonic engine and the definitive fan-sequel to Sonic 3 & Knuckles merged to become “Retro-Sonic XG.” However, the buzz was short lived. The RSXG team, Christian Whitehead (Taxman), Euan Gallacher (Sir Euan), and Joseph Waters (Nitemare) are rarely heard from and thus, XG gradually vanished… until today.

The creator of the Retro-Sonic engine, Whitehead, re-surfaced when it was announced that my Sonic project, Sonic Nexus, would also be using the engine, thus creating the “Retro-Sonic Series.” The 2008 demo of Nexus motivated Whitehead to construct a brand new version of Retro-Sonic, one that would optimize the development of both games. After the successful launch of Nexus’ demo, Christian retuned to Retro-Sonic XG. Now that months of work has been put into the title, he’s ready to unveil new information and screenshots with the world. Click the image thumbnails to make them full-size.

BF: Welcome to the TSS Interview of Christian Whitehead, Christian Whitehead.

Christian Whitehead: Thanks?

BF: OK, let’s begin with the question that is on every RSXG fan’s mind.  The project has been out of the community’s conscience for the past year or two.  Nobody knows if it’s dead or alive.  When you joined the Nexus team, that raised further suspicions that you had left the project.  Could you assure the readers and the community at large that RSXG is alive and well?

CW: Yes, I can.  As most people know, a fair portion of development time in 2008 was spent creating the new revised edition of the Retro-Sonic engine, along with the RSDK and the 2008 Nexus demo. Before then, I had already converted a fair portion of the assets from Sonic XG into the 2007 version of Retro Sonic. While most people will groan at yet another engine change, this is the definitive change, and has already increased the productivity on the RSXG project. 2009 will be the year of Retro-Sonic XG though, as part 1 is slated for release, much in a similar vein to how Sonic 3 was released before Sonic & Knuckles.

BF: Part 1, eh?  So, we’ll see 6 of the 12 zones in Sonic XG this year?

CW: Yes. Rather than putting out another 1 level demo of Final Fall, I wanted to finish a ‘complete’ work of sorts… and half a game is a more realistic target to keep us motivated.

BF: That’s an idea worth stealing, if you’re a fangamer.

CW: Haha, yeah. Even as half a game, there will be a lot of content.  The aim is the same scope as Sonic 3, in terms of level sizes, bosses and the like.  Which I guess makes sense, since RSXG is a sort of spiritual sequel that picks up where Sonic 3 & Knuckles ended.

BF: Yes, RSXG does what a lot of “Sonic 4″ fangames wish that they could do, in my opinion.

CW: And there are a LOT of those.

BF: Tell me about it.  Now, after Nexus’ release, you talked about the new Retro-Sonic Development Kit (RSDK).  How does the new RSDK benefit the development of XG?

CW: One of the big benefits, I reckon, has been the improved stage editing tools within RSDK. It’s now much quicker to setup tile mappings and stuff, so the process of building all the level set pieces is much less tedious. The updated scripting system, ‘TaxReceipt,’ is also more powerful than before, which makes for some cool cutscenes, graphical effects, etc etc. We’re aiming for a level of graphical quality on par with the 32bit Sega Saturn.

BF: Excellent!  We talk about the RSDK, because we’re plenty familiar with it and how it works.  However, readers might not understand what we’re talking about.  What exactly is the Retro-Sonic Development Kit?

CW: Basically, the RSDK is a suite of tools that I created to design content for the Retro-Sonic engine. There are visual editors for Stages, Parallax, Tiles, Objects, etc. In addition there’s text based scripting with syntax hilighting and other additional setup menus for stuff like stage ordering and resource management. Since everything is scriptable, it’s actually possible to make games other than Sonic, too.

BF: I’m totally making a Socket fangame after Nexus then.

CW: Socket?

BF: Shitty Sonic clone with kickass music.

CW: Haha! Man, there’s a new Sonic clone discovered every minute isn’t there?

BF: Yeah, I should start ripping backgrounds from it and editing them to match my foreground tiles.  Nobody will notice!

CW: They will now.  You just said so.

BF: Well, damn.  Let’s move on from my flub and talk “Part 1.”  What are we going to see?  Levels, characters, features?  Give us the low down!

CW: Well, without giving too much away, you’ve got the standard triple threat of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles as playable characters.  There will be 6 zones: Final Fall, Peak Panic, Wood Works, Palm Paradiso, Scorched Spire and Robotic Resort, two of which some some keen players might recognize from their previous incarnations as Retro-Sonic levels. Also, the 7 chaos emeralds make an appearance, which means Special and Bonus Stages.  Finally, plenty of bosses will be ready to attack and a data select menu will save your progress.

BF: When part 2 is released far down the road, will players be able to merge their Part 1 data with Part 2’s data to make a SUPER game?

CW: Definitely, although to make it simpler, we’ll just provide the full game to download and players can just use their existing save file to continue where they left off.

BF: So, players will have to manually copy their data into the new EXE?  Sounds simple enough. Do you think people will manage to fuck that up?  Haha…

CW: Anything’s possible, haha.  I guess we can make an installer… but most people dislike that.

BF: Usually.  Everybody at SFGHQ hates that shit.

I’ve heard rumors that all the level art is completed.  Is it true that you’ll have to do no more graphical work for levels? I ask, because the level graphics always seem to be the hardest part for fangamers and hearing that all the level graphics are done will be a great sign of RSXG’s progress.

CW: Yes and no.  We have graphics for all the zones, but I guess things always get tweaked or updated as you go, due to new ideas that might come up or tile considerations due to the change from MMF2 to Retro-Sonic. But overall, yes, level graphics aren’t too much of a worry now.  In fact, it was one of the great benefits of the merge to me.

BF: It was a good choice.  Retro-Sonic got what XG lacked and vice-versa.  Who initiated the merger and were the level graphics a main reason that you decided to go along with it?

CW: Well, I was the one who extended the offer to Euan and Joseph. I was really impressed with the graphics, presentation and the overall feel of the game. They were paying attention to little details that I, up until that point, hadn’t had a chance to do in Retro-Sonic. I thought, “I should really be doing that!” Then, I considered that I’d only created graphics for about 3 of the Retro-Sonic levels and how much more work it’d take on top of all the other stuff I was doing. The merge just seemed like a good idea to me at the time, and when we had discussions about it, everything just seemed to click.

BF: What was the thought process behind joining up with the guys and I on Sonic Nexus?  Months before the release, I was as surprised as people were on release day on the news that Nexus and Retro-Sonic were joining forces.  You and Damizean were talking without my knowledge, as I never even considered asking you due to the XG merger.

CW: Haha, the fact you guys were considering using the Torque game builder? XD

BF: Oh…right.  Well, it looked like a good idea at the time.

CW: No, seriously… Torque?  XD

BF: It’s in the past. What’s it like working for two projects anyway?  Besides that fact that it is time consuming and probably sucks at times.

CW: Well, for one, I guess, it has been one of the main driving forces that made me do a final restructuring of the Retro-Sonic engine! At least that’s over and done with, but it keeps things fresh for me too, I suppose. If I get a creative block or am bored with one, I can switch to the other. :P

BF: Fair enough.  So, back to RSXG.  I remember seeing pictures of old builds that had appearances from classic Sonic antagonists, like Nack/Fang and Metal Sonic.  Are they still hanging around and/or other villians coming to the party?

CW: Well, everyone’s favorite Egg Garden boss will make a comeback… does that count? Seriously though, in terms of actual “intelligent characters” no, but there may be a few cameo appearances from a classic boss or two. ;)

BF: Coo’.  Well, I’m out of questions.  Do you think that I missed anything?

CW: Yeah, we’ve covered all that there is to know.

Visit the Retro-Sonic Homepage

Visit the old Sonic XG Homepage

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Sonic Megamix Un-Canceled

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Sonic Megamix, the most well known Sonic ROM hack, has returned to the public spotlight with a post by, community oldbie, Stealth at Sonic Retro. Stealth revealed that the drama that resulted in the project’s cancellation months ago was a complete misunderstanding. Therefore, it was only canceled for three days and the once Genesis, now Sega CD project has had work done on it since being resurrected. When Stealth finally revealed that Megamix was not dead a few days ago, he and other team members brought videos with them to show the amount of progress that they have made in private.

Despite publicly announcing Megamix’s return, Stealth did lay some ground rules that I certainly approve of.

With that said, you know how I feel about my projects, and this is no exception. It never has been, less of Tweaker’s over-zealous promotion. I am protective, and I will remain so. We will do what we please with this project, and on a time-table of our own choosing. Requests and questions about release dates are annoying and pointless. There will be no further demos, or even “private” beta-tests. Fact is, Megamix was supposed to end development with “version 4″ (at a later point in time), until this mess happened. There is no way we can possibly make another non-final release and keep it substantially fresh. Trust me – you’ll thank us when you have much more to play with all at once than one level at the end of the game and a couple of menu text changes

(…)

Finally, and this is important, we reserve the right to halt completely at any time. We owe a debt to no-one, and we don’t have to publicize any newer builds. All we ask for is some decency and respect. Don’t launch into actual complaints about how we choose to handle our business. Don’t rip us off solely for the sake of riding off Megamix fame. Also, don’t go asking for or looking for things that don’t belong to you. If we hear about the leaked material, or see it being spread/used, that’s it. If you want to do our jobs for us, we just won’t, and when you can’t handle it, you’ll only have yourselves to blame.

The videos below showcases Megamix’s progress since its move to the Sega CD. The game is not only “Sonic CD” smooth, but now has CD audio, composed by DM Ashura of DDR fame. Megamix’s design continues to, in my opinion, bridge the old and new styles of Sonic. In addition to the classic Genesis presentation, new moves, such as the homing attack, and a higher emphasis on speed make their mark.

Now, if only the level design wasn’t so masochistic.

Visit the official Megamix thread at Sonic Retro.

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A View of SatBK’s Back Side

DVD Smith tipped us on the back cover of Sonic & the Black Knight right when pre-order copies of the game rolled into the GAME store that he works at in the UK. He snapped us a picture of the back and even got a close-up on the text.

Sonic’s pose on the back is pretty cool. Click for larger versions of the images.

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Fanatics: artificialCHAOS’ Colored Pencil Sonic

Whoa.  This kid, artificialCHAOS,  is only 13 years old and he drew this awesome Sonic art with colored pencils.  Like with the pastel Sonic work, I’m blown away with work like this one.  Also, nice pose!

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SatBK Minigame @ Neopets Showcases New Trailer

The Neopets site has a new flash game that’s SatBK themed. As Sonic, you’re a knight in training. Use the arrow keys to deflect apples thrown at you to win yourself a new trailer of Sonic & the Black Knight, which features more gameplay footage and shots of Sonic & Compant decked out in their new armor.

Alternatively, you can just watch the video below and skip the game.

Special thanks to our new friends at Sonic HUB!

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Speculation Nation: What is “Project RINGO?”

First, we get shakey mushrooms and now we get some silhouette juggling an apple (which is “Ringo” in Japanese, by the by).  I don’t know what to expect from this new teaser site after the 8-bit mushroom made way for a blatant Mario rip-off with dick jokes.  I think it’s safe to speculate that we’re getting a platforming game out of this deal.

The teaser page is a little flash ditty with the cartoony silhouette tapping its foot to an upbeat tune.

Check out Project RINGO.

[Source: SegaNerds via Kotaku.]

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Fanatics: Sonic Playing Sonic

This picture has been buried in my DA favorites for a while now (since 2006!), but I still wanted to show it off to you.  It’s by dark-kelsk and is a 3D scene of Sonic playing his Mega Drive and is picture perfect.  The detail on the furniture and the Mega Drive is great and the lighting throughout is spot-on.  The Sonic model is pretty badass, too.

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Contest: Wear Papercrafts, Be A Tool

That’s right.  I’m paying you to be a huge tool.  Here’s the scoop, readers:

  • Go to the U.S. Black Knight website
  • Find and print a papercraft knight helmet (sword optional).  Be sure to pick your favorite helmet.
  • Assemble the papercraft
  • Wear the papercraft
  • Do something absolutely stupid for comedic effect (i.e. pose, pose with complete strangers, make silly faces, wear a popped-collar shirt)
  • Take a picture of your tool action
  • Send it to: thesonicstadium AT gmail.com
  • Win $10

Simple enough.  Be silly with paper knight helmets on and send in a photograph.  The person who looks like the biggest tool wins.  Pictures are due by February 21st.

I’ll be waiting.

EDIT: OH MY GOD PSYGUY I LOVE YOU.  VISIT FIREBALL20XL.COM.

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New GT Trailer: Sonic & Shadow Duel Once More

Maaaaan, back when Sonic Adventure 2 was the shiznit, Sonic and Shadow were all like “faker” and “NO U” in some jungle.  The dialogue was so bad, that it was awesome.  Then, Sonic and Shadow went at it as the island that they were on exploded.

If you have ever thought to yourself that the fight would have been better with swords, your wet dream has come true.  GameTrailers’ new SatBK trailer has some footage of the duel between Sonic and Shadow, amongst other things.  The trailer showcases more environments, gameplay, action sequences, and the storybook cutscenes (which are less low-budget than Secret Rings, by the way).  You also get to see more of these graphics that all of these news folk are raving about.

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Scavenger Hunt!: Find Classic Games and “Starfish Head”

On the U.S. Sonic and the Black Knight website, you can engage in some fun and find surprises while you wait for Sonic’s next non-canon trip to Arthurtown.

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The site is VERY flash heavy, so make sure that you have the latest updates.

Anyway, there are 4 references to classic SEGA games on the Black Knight site and I’ve given away two in Wonderboy and Alex Kidd.  Can you find the other two references?  First one to find them gets a shiny, red ball.

Secondly, Silver, who shall always be referred to as “Starfish Head,” is confirmed for this game through the site’s “papercrafts” section.  You can print out paper versions of Sonic & Co.’s armor.  Starfish Head has some slick gear:

If you ever wanted for someone to question your sexuality, then print this out, fold it up, and wear it to school.  Then, at dinner, your dad will regret not making you play contact sports and/or not beating you enough.  Good times.

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A Sampling of SatBK Previews From Across the Web

You’ve read TSS’ Comic Con impressions and you’ve read some semblance of an article on IGN AU yesterday.  Now, check out some previews that I have picked out for one reason or another.

Kotaku

From the title and opening paragraph of this incredibly brief preview, it didn’t look like Jim Reilly was too excited about another Sonic game, especially one with a sword.  Despite first impressions, he turns around in the end by saying that he would have “obviously loved to play [the game] more.”  He said that the game is done and probably won’t undergo any more changes.  He is concerned about stage variety (which was a problem in games like Super Mario Sunshine – what with all the tropical shit) and the game’s difficulty, as it was too easy.  He did play the first level, though, so take that comment however you want to.  Reilly notes that the sense of speed and controls are the game’s high points.

If you’re still on the fence about Black Knight, especially if your age happens to be 20 and over, Reilly’s closing remark might be of help: “It’s clear from not only playing this, but talking to the Sega people as well that this game, and series, is for a different, younger generation of Sonic fans.”  Now, if you’ve come to the realization that this game is not designed for you, then you can stop complaining about it and ignore it.

Official Nintendo Magazine

ONM loves how we are finally given full control of Sonic on the Wii.  They relish in the lack of “race car” controls and welcome the simple concept of walking backwards.  ONM comments on how agile and stylish Sonic is while he swings his sword around.  Overall, they are pleased with this demo copy.

Still, even with the solid play-through that they received, they have the right to be pessimistic.  Sonic has had many proclaimed “returns to form” that have failed to deliver on more than one occasion.  I think that their advice is wise.  I’m not ensuing to that you be entirely downtrodden on this new game, but I wouldn’t run around saying that this game is going to kick the biggest of asses either.

IGN

Matt Casamassina feels better about Black Knight than most people would suspect (you know, since it’s IGN and “biased” or something).  He spent hours playing through the final build and gave the most detailed previews of them all, so I’d read it, despite some people’s outrageous and unnecessarily aggressive opinion of the site.

Matt comments that SatBK has more in common with Unleashed than it does its prequel, Sonic and the Secret Rings, thanks to the control scheme.  You can move Sonic freely with control stick movement, but when going backwards, the camera will not turn around.  The camera, when walking backwards, in SatSR was a huge problem, in my opinion, so it’s sad to not see that corrected.  Matt closes his section on the controls and gameplay by describing Black Knight as an “action racer.” He says that you’ll be using your sword a lot and he describes the control scheme in detail.  The impressive part is the B trigger, which iniates a bullet-time lock-on system.

Just like with my buddy, Keith, the sheer amount of remote waggle starts to wear on the player and Matt wishes that there was an alternative control scheme.  There are tons of enemies and they pop up incredibly frequently.  At least they look really pretty!

Oh, and a potential “sad face moment:” “we have yet to encounter any trademark loop-de-loops or corkscrews.”  🙁

Critic Consensus

Things are looking up for the upcoming adventure, but they are reserving their full judgment and excitement for when the game ships next month.

As somebody who thought Sonic and the Secret Rings was a decent outing, I like hearing about improvements made in Black Knight.  My only concern is whether or not the sword creates a whole new set of problems.  While ironing out the old, SEGA and Sonic Team might overlook a problem with the new.

Remember, kids, we’re talking about the previews here.

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Fanatics: Pastel Sonic

Morita919hk’s DA profile has a lot of cool stuff, but this picture is my favorite out of all of them.

It’s a picture of Sonic drawn with hard pastels.  When I see Sonic art done in a medium like watercolor/paint, acrylic, or pastel, I always think that is so much cooler.  No offense to computer artists, of course.

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Fanatics: Black Knight Action Figure

Today’s featured work comes from SomaKun, who took a Sonic action figure that he found a few years back and sculpted a gauntlet and sword for it.  An incredibly impressive feat here, as I thought the gloves and sword were actual accessories to the figure.

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NYCC: SatBK Impressions From My Buddy, Keith

The hustle and bustle of the New York Comic Con is over and my buddy, Keith, finally sent me back his impressions of the game.  Nobody here at TSS is anywhere close to New York, so this reach-around method of getting some semblence of a “TSS Preview” will have to do.  Keith is an old friend of mine from grade school and we were teammates on many a hockey team.  He moved out to New York a few months ago after he graduated.  When it comes to his Sonic background, he hasn’t played a game in the series since the Dreamcast launched with Sonic Adventure 1.  I told him to rent Sonic & the Secret Rings before heading to the event and he thought that it was an “O.K.” game.

The second entry in the Storybook Series of games takes Sonic and plonks him into the land of dragons, knights, and the round table.  Keith’s first impression of the game is Sonic’s inclusion.  He couldn’t get his mind around why he was playing as Sonic and not as somebody else, as it’s not totally clear why.  He mentioned “Wonderboy,” since one of his favorite games is Wonderboy in Monster Land, as an alternative, but that’s another discussion.  One factor contributing to the game’s identity crisis is the yellow fairies.  Instead of rings, you collect yellow fairies, which then get converted into rings.  Why not just make them RINGS?

With Secret Rings fresh in Keith’s mind, he got a good comparison of how the two control.  Black Knight showcased the superior of the two control schemes, but it wasn’t without a few drawbacks.  Black Knight ditches the on-rails shenanigans of the previous title and opts for a Nunchuk+Wiimote system.  The “A” button acts as jump and the sword swinging is assigned to the waggle function, similar to Twilight Princess.  While it’s nice to get that big “A” button in on the action, Keith said that he got wanker’s cramp after his time at the Black Knight kiosk.  He noted, “Sonic slicing things at high speeds is cool, I guess, but it wears on you after a while.  Not mentally…physically.”

As I mentioned before, this game is no longer on-rails and you can move Sonic forward and backward as you please.  Despite having freedom of motion, the levels on display were rather linear and forced the player into playing how the designer intended you to.  Granted, he got to play one of the earlier levels, but I can wager that the rest of the game will follow suit.  To make up for level linearity, you can go back and complete different tasks within each level.  Let’s hope that the controls are good enough, so that “complete the level without taking a hit” isn’t next to impossible. In addition, SatBK has a deep, RPG system, similar to Secret Rings, and a multi-player battle mode.  Keith didn’t get to experience the latter.

Remember when I asked everybody to “place their bets?” Well, Sonic’s pals are back masquerading as other Arthurian characters.  Seriously, Knuckles better say something totally stupid.  I bet people who make “YouTube Poop” are wishing the same.  The difference this time is that you will be able to play as a few of those characters, but Keith said that the SEGA rep at the kiosk did not disclose who.

To end on the highest of notes, Keith was impressed by the graphics.  As a frustrated Wii owner, he really thought that Black Knight’s graphics were some of the best on the system.  There was no hiccup or lag during his experience to boot.

Well, that’s it for Keith.  Feel free to accuse him of not being a “true Sonic fan” or some other bullshit that you kids like to hurl at people who have a shred of dislike for anything Sonic related.  You guys always preach “open-mindedness,” but you totally contradict yourself when you shut others down.  If you post any of that crap in the comments box, I will delete it, because it’s not relevant to discussion.

This is your warning.  We are changing the air in the community and it starts now.  Everybody is welcome to their own opinion.

 

 

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Fanatics: Amy Unleashed

Brainiac the Hedgehog from DA put this picture on his profile back on Halloween of ’08, but I just found it and I think that it rules.  I don’t know how he did it, but here it is:

Take away what you will from this fantastic edit of this infamous Sonic Unleashed snapshot.

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NYCC: Two SatBK Gameplay Videos!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Fanatics: Sonic On XBOX Doesn’t ALWAYS Suck

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

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

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

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

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Community Interview: Super Sonic Knockout!

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

Brad Flick: What it do, PSB?

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

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

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

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

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

VV: That’s probably a good thing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

VV: *shrugs* XD

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

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

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

VV: I still find it funny, too.

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

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

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

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

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

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

VV: You and fancharacters.  I swear.

A video package of Beta 3.3.

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

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

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

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

BF: Mad skills?

VV: Sure.

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

VV: …ok?  XD

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Fanatics: Continuin’ the Sonic CD Tangent

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

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

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

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

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

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Make Your Own Fangame with a New Build of Sonic Worlds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Fanatics: A New Take on the Special Stage

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

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

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

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

Z is jump and X is boost.

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Fanatics: Ride Them Badniks ‘Round and ‘Round

It’s kind of hard getting a daily article in when the site that you write for goes down for entire days at a time.  :s

Anyway, now that I’m actually into TSS, check out some damn art by gsilverfish.  It was made for the GHZ art contest, but was an hour late and not entered.  I hope a TSS front page feature is enough of a consolation, Mr. g.

Sonic CD is my favorite Sonic game.  Shock.  I know that people in the SSMB are discussing how overrated it is, but fuck ’em.  Not only is this picture set within Sonic CD, but it just has an undeniable charm to it.  The colors really pop with some excellent shading techniques and seeing Sonic ride on the back of a badnik is awesome.  Also, +10 points for the use of that wacky flying jet-ski that Robotnik is riding.

Nice work, g.  I hope people in the comments section will talk about your art and not about Sonic CD.  *wink wink everybody*

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Fanatics: Sleep Well With Metal Plushie

Dude, where did I go?

I’ve been battling bronchitis and I really, really, didn’t feel like writing anything for the front page.  Nothing.  Sonic news has been pretty dull anyhow, since SEGA has turned all of its attention to the success of House of the Dead: Overkill.  Well played, SEGA.  Anyway, on to fan-made things that make you go 😮 …

DeviantArt user, Zero20-2, made a plush Metal Sonic doll.  Yep, it’s awesome.  Cuddle with it as you hum the tune(s) to Stardust Speedway and drift off to Dream Land.

You want to know what’s more awesome?  Zero20-2 made an entire set of Sonic plushies!

E-123 Omega PlushieEggman Plushie

Blaze the Cat PlushieAmy Rose Plushie

Sonic PlushieWTF AWESOME WIZEMAN

There’s more art at Zeros 20-2’s DA page, including more plushies, awesome NiGHTS and Sonic drawings, and a whoooooole lot of fancharacters.  Oh, fancharacters, how ridiculous you are.

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IGN Takes Yet Another SEGA Compilation For A Spin

IGN has a preview of the upcoming (and umpteenth) compilation from SEGA, Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, up on its website.  Despite the game having the infamous “butt Sonic art,” the previewer, Ryan Clements, is all smiles about this upcoming batch of 40 Genesis tiles on one disc.

Ryan notes that the game features a filtering system in the game selection menu.  You can arrange the titles by genre or your personal rating, thus putting all of your favorite 16-bit adventures at the top of the list.  It looks to be yet another winner for SEGA, as it continues to rehash its back catalog until the end of time (and by back catalog, I mean Genesis games.  My homebrew-enabled Wii can’t emulate a Saturn, SEGA.  A little help here!)

Ryan does not touch upon the “hated” (I guess?) upscaling filter that makes all the games “HD.”  Don’t worry, because WorthPlaying.com has some “HD” screens of Sonic 2 and they are awful.  Let’s sneak a peak at the legendary special stage:

segamegadrive_ultimatecollection_053

Aw, man, who wiped their nose with the Sonic screenshots again?  Wait, nobody did?  Well, shit.

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eBay Watch: Giant F&%kin’ Sonic Statue

Who would buy this statue?  Most likely, somebody at TSS (and by somebody, I mean DiscoPonies), so that’s why I’m telling all of you broskis.  eBay user, Luxmans40, is selling this magnificent specimen, starting at £500. Considering that Luxmans40 states that this thing normally goes for £1200, £500 is a steal of a deal.

Check out the specs on this bastard:

Figure Height: 186 cm

Base Height: 25 cm

Total Height: 211 cm

The figure was only open for photo purposes, so it’s guaranteed to not have any residue on it from a confused furry on a Saturday night.

WHAT MORE CAN I SAY.  YOU WILL LOVE IT. APPARENTLY.

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Fanatics: Rockin’ Rusty Ruin

rustyruinPlug plug plug.

My main man Hunter Bridges just dropped a sick Sonic remix over at the Sonic Nexus blog, dudes.  This new remix is a part of the second soundtrack of the game, the “Retro Remixes,” which consist of taking classic Sonic songs and remixing them into the style of the Nexus zone.  The 8th zone, Wicked Works, is very groove heavy with guitars chugging along, so the Retro Remix had to follow suit.  Hunter remixed Rusty Ruin from the Genesis version of Sonic 3D Blast and well…just listen to it.

It’s in the media player at the top of the Nexus page.  It’s track #11.

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Fanatics: True Chaotix

Don’t you tell me that this isn’t cool!  SFGHQ member, Ironrind, posted this yesterday in the General Fangame Discussion forum and I j’d in my p.  He explains his concept:

This is still an early protype, but the idea is that each act is broken up into three ‘tracks’. Scattered throughout each track will be buttons, switches, doors and various types of gimmicks which link all tracks together. I plan to design most of this game in a team-based fashion simular to Knuckles Chaotix.

Visit the True Chaotix thread.

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Fanatics: Incredible Darkspine Sonic Art

We’re on a Super Sonic tangent in honor of Sonic’s latest lulzfest of a super form.  The previous, and first, entry in the “Sonic Storybook Series,” Sonic and the Secret Rings, brought us a form that we’ve given the name “Darkspine Sonic.”  ShadoHejjihoggu has created an amazing blotch rendition of this super form and it’s incredible!  Check out the laundry list of  materials that ShadoHejjihoggu used to make this piece:

Tools:
Watercolor Paint
Prisma Color Pencil
Prisma Lightfast Pencil
Salt
Rubbing alcohol
Que Tip
Paint brush
Colorless Blender, with brush tip
Watercolor Prisma Pencils
Cheap Ballpoint pen
Sketch book paper

Nice work, Shado.  Send some more in, will ya?

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BlueTube: Americano Funky Action

A Japanese commercial for Sonic Spinball.  Priceless.  Why are the Sonic commericals in Japan so badass?

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Fanatics: What I’m Made Of

With Sonic’s new super-form revealed, let’s take some time to reflect on some “super” moments from the past.  Metal Sonic’s return in “Sonic Heroes,” a game that I really enjoy for some reason, was nothing short of awesome.  BlazeTBW captures the moment Metal goes berserk and becomes an “overlord” in his piece “Fight with the Overlord.”

BlazeTBW drew this work for the Black Knight contest and didn’t win.  Like I said with a previous rejected entry, the ones that were picked must be amazing if they didn’t accept this one.  BlazeTBW sketched the work in pencil and uses her Wacom tablet, Photoshop, and Corel Painter X to color and detail the whole thing.  She thinks that it is her best Sonic work to date and I certainly agree.

My own take on this work relates the expressions on Knuckles and Tails’ faces.  I like to think that they aren’t grimacing over Metal Overlord and his ability to “ownz jOO,” but rather, why they don’t get a super form, something that we all questioned within the community when Heroes’ ending was revealed.  Look at Knuckles, he’s so mad about not getting his super form!  Haha…oh, I’m getting sidetracked.  Nice work, BlazeTBW.

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