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Stop the presses!
It’s only been a month since the animators and voice actors over at Sonic Paradox released the karma collector-themed Vector’s Knickers, and tonight, the crew has unveiled a brand new spinoff series to the popular Sonic Shorts Volumes collaborations. Sonic Seconds!
Check the first volume of shorts out below, as well as credits, links, and important details regarding upcoming projects.
Continue reading Sonic Paradox Debuts “Sonic Seconds,” a New Series of Shorts
Among the bevy of VGM cover artists I follow on the web, one standout artist in particular shines with his rock/metal arrangements of classic gaming themes in the form of “GaMetal.”
Week by week, Jonny Atma wows the scene with all sorts of fantastic VGM covers featuring his trademark solos, covering nearly every song under the sun from the popular to the obscure, and fan-favourites from the Sonic series is no exception. While he has covered a handful of tracks from the franchise in the past, Atma wrapped up the month of February with not just one, but two remixes of some of the best boss tracks Sonic the Hedgehog has to offer.
Continue reading GaMetal Unleashes a Double Whammy of Sonic Boss Theme Covers
Sonic Triple Trouble had all the makings of a fantastic 2D Sonic adventure, but—shackled by the 8-bit restrictions of the SEGA Game Gear back in 1994—fell short in a number of ways by no real fault of its own.
Enter Noah Copeland, in collaboration with Overbound Game Studio (the same team of fans responsible for Sonic Time Twisted), who seeks to correct this injustice with a question:
“What if [Sonic Triple Trouble] became a Genesis/Mega Drive game?”
Continue reading Sonic Triple Trouble is Getting a 16-Bit Makeover in a Fan-made Remake
Sonic the Comic, the UK fortnightly comic that ran from 1993 and continues in web form as Sonic the Comic – Online to this day turns 25 years old this year, and fans are planning a celebration of that milestone.
Sonic the Comic Online Editor Mike Corker is hoping to see the event come to life pending a successful Kickstarter campaign in the form of a day-long celebration of the comic and everything that made it memorable to fans 25 years after it’s creation. Fans will have the opportunity to meet special guests, including the fan artists who continue the comics legacy, with backer perks including a T-Shirt with artwork designed by Richard Elson to commemorate the event.
The event will be held on June 3rd 2018 at the FAB cafe in Manchester.
With a modest goal of £1000, the Kickstarter is currently at just under £400, with funds contributing to venue and equipment hire and special guest costs.
Source: Kickstarter
Over the years we have seen some absolutely amazing Sonic the Hedgehog cosplayers (including hundreds of original costumes at Summer of Sonic), but as far as size goes, this is definitely the biggest, in both name and nature! Continue reading Amazing Big the Cat Cosplay Debuts at Katsucon
We can all talk about the wonkiness of ‘My Saturday Morning Apocalypse’ adventure Sonic Forces all day long – perhaps never as concisely as our expert TSS Review, of course – but seeing its physics baked into another Sonic game really hammers home some of the gameplay issues that were prominent in the 2017 release. Continue reading This Sonic 2 Hack Adds Forces Physics, Works As Well As You’d Expect
“Find the computer room!”
“Aha!”
“To get through tight spaces, press the Circle button to slide!”
It’s been a long time coming, but if you’ve been itching for more Sonic Shorts Volumes, you’ve certainly come to the right place… if you’ve been expecting something much greener and scalier! Much like the Knuckles Briefs, the animation team at Sonic Paradox has come back together again to deliver more raucous laughs and satirical pokes at the Sonic franchise in a new specially themed shorts collection, this time shining the limelight on everyone’s favourite crocodile, muscle, and karma collector. Behold…
…Vector’s Knickers.
Continue reading Sonic Paradox Returns With “Vector’s Knickers” Animated Shorts
Building on the success of last year’s event, Sonic Hacking Contest 2018 has already been formally announced! This gives another year for budding Sonic game hackers to strut their stuff and impress everyone with their skills!
The contest will take place between Monday November 26th and Sunday December 2nd, with the main hacking contest and the Hack Expo along with other events and streams to be announced. The initial deadline for submitting playable builds will be October 28th. Those participating in the contest will then have until November 4th to refine their entries, while those just in the Hack Expo will have until November 11th to do so. This gives just over 9 months to get your game ready for submission!
To continue with the high standard of 2017, the quality control criteria are still in place, as are the regular rules. You can read this information, as well as the awards up for grabs and the current judging panel, with the full announcement on Sonic Retro while the website is still being constructed. Please note that these can be subject to change closer to the time of the contest, so be sure to keep up to date if you’re interested.
Write those dates down if you want to participate yourself, or if you want to try them out when the demos are made public. And good luck to everyone who does end up putting their hacking skills to the test!
Source: Sonic Retro
What do you do when a friend organises a house party that requires every person to produce a three-minute Powerpoint presentation about a topic they are passionate about? If your answer is anything other than ‘talk about the philosophy of Shadow the Hedgehog’s morality in the Sonic series’, then you truly need to step your game up, my friend. Continue reading Someone Makes a Shadow the Hedgehog Presentation for a Party, Becomes Legend
Just in time for Christmas, Sonic 3D Blast: Director’s Cut has been put onto the Steam Workshop for everyone to play.
While it may seem like it ought to be another run-of-the-mill mod, there’s one factor that makes this project stand out; this was done by Jon Burton, founder of Traveller’s Tales and programmer on the original Sonic 3D Blast itself way back in 1996!
Over the past year, Burton (via his Youtube channel Gamehut) has been revealing coding secrets and tricks on Sonic 3D Blast and other classic TT games many would recognise, and as part of that he took it on himself to do some tweaks to the game to make it an overall better experience. Here’s a list of some of the modifications that this contains;
This game is a patch for the mod-friendly SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics, so make sure you own that before trying it out if you’re interested. The patch can be downloaded here on the Steam Workshop for free.
If you’ve ever been curious as to how a developer would improve their work in hindsight, or just fancy playing Sonic 3D Blast in a way you never have before, this is something you might want to try out for yourself!
Source: Jon Burton (Twitter)
For its fourth year running, our friends at RadioSEGA are holding their annual weekend-long WinterFest event, with fans all over the SEGA community coming together to celebrate good music, raise money for Special Effect, and walk away with some sweet prizes!
Just like last year, RadioSEGA hosts and guests from across the community will be hosting the festivities over the next three days, including yours truly. Read on after the jump for the complete schedule and on how to win a coveted limited edition pressing of the Sonic Mania soundtrack!
Continue reading Check Out the Schedule for WinterFest 2017 at RadioSEGA, Starting Today!
After a week of high quality Sonic hacks being put up against the keen eye of the community and the judging panel, the winners have been announced for this year’s Sonic Hacking Contest! Here’s a full list of all the winners announced on Sunday night.
Continue reading Winners Announced for Sonic Hacking Contest 2017
The entries for both the Sonic Hacking Contest and the Hack Expo have now been revealed.
With the new quality criteria in place this year, twenty four entries have made the cut for the main event and are now competing to be judged as the best games for this year. The contest entries are as follows;
● A Generic Sonic 1 ROMhack by CHRdutch
● A Rushed Sonic Hack by Unlimited Trees
● Achi (AKA another trend in gaming that is slightly annoying and ultimately pointless) by Natsumi
● Classic Pantufa the Cat DX by VAdaPEGA
● Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine – DX Edition by RadioShadow
● Heroes Mod Loader & Tweakbox by sewer56lol
● Metal Sonic Rebooted by Lone Devil
● Mr. Cat’s 16 Day Challenge by Mr. Cat
● SADX Lantern Engine by SonicFreak94
● Sonic & Ashuro by Ashuro
● Sonic 1 – Comet Edition v2.1 by BCasais
● Sonic 1 Back to South Island by PineappleArse
● Sonic 1 Dragon Edition by DragonWolfLeo
● Sonic 1: Colors Edition by campbellsonic
● Sonic 2 for PC & New 3DS by Clownacy
● Sonic 2: Zen Island by Yoshister
● Sonic 3 Chaos Adventure by Jdpense
● Sonic Chaos Quest Ultimate by Narcologer
● Sonic Double Dash by SteamPoweredPixel
● Sonic Egg Factory ReMastered by FoxConED
● Sonic Halloween by CamManS5
● Sonic Legacy by GammaV
● Sonic Redux (Character Demo) by InvisibleUp
● Tails Adventure X-L by lordxernom
In addition, twenty three further hacks will be available to play during the Hack Expo. These will not be judged formally, but they’re still held to quality standards so should be fun and interesting showcases of what you can do just by hacking regardless. These games are as follows;
● Sonic the Hedgehog Bania: Gold! Edition ~ Promotional Demo by Royameadow
● SADX Physics Swap Mod by MainMemory
● SA2 Physics Swap Mod by MainMemory
● Mario Mania by metalkingboo
● Sonic.EXE Mania by haloarbiter117
● Spider-Hog Mania by PotterAndMatrixFan
● S3K/SKC Random Special Stages by MainMemory
● S3K Mania Special Stages by MainMemory
● SADX SMPS Mod by MainMemory
● Mania SMPS Mod by MainMemory
● Mania Random Bonus Mod by MainMemory
● Sonic 2 Fine2uned by Clownacy
● Sonic: The Return of Shadow by JoenickROS
● Sonic 1: Terra Night by SonicBurst
● Sonic’s Fun and Easy Adventure by Novedicus
● Sticks by Slashy
● Sonic Limbo by lordxernom
● Aurora Garden (Sonic Mania) by AeroArtwork
● Sonic 3D Blast Director’s Cut (BETA) by gamehut
● Super Sonic & Hyper Sonic in Sonic 1 by Clownacy
● Sonic Lost World – Snowball Joyride by Dario
● Sonic Generations – Classic Green Hill Zone Forces WIP by TwilightZoney
● World 1-1 in Sonic Mania by AeroArtwork
The hacking contest and the expo will start on November 20th, at which point all games listed here will be put up on the official website for the public to play. The events will last through to November 26th, and the winners will be announced at 8pm on that day.
Here’s an official teaser trailer for the event to give a taste of what’s in store for then. This same channel will also have a live stream for the premier of the event.
If you’ve entered the competition or the expo, then I hope your hack manages to capture the excitement of everyone who plays it. If you’re going to play the entries when they become available to download, I hope you have fun with them!
Sources: Sonic Hacking Official Website, Youtube [redhotsonic]
Saturday 21st October sees the UK’s more cozy Sonic convention, Weston Super Sonic, hit the Grand Pier in Weston Super Mare for its fourth year, with special guests Ferran Rodriguez of Sonic the Comic, and Tom Fry and Kieran Gates from the Sonic Mania team.
Established in 2014 by Claire Cameron and Jonathan Dixon, Weston is a convention in the more traditional sense, featuring artists, merchandise vendors, panels and cosplay in a 200-person seaside venue. As in previous years, The Sonic Show will be in attendance live-streaming the event. It’s always a good time, so be sure to stop by and check it out.
On the other hand, if you’re attending in person, feel free to say hi to the TSS crew if you see us!
The event begins at 11am UK time (GMT+1), running until 6pm.
This year’s Sonic Hacking Contest has opened its gates for would-be game hackers to show off their skill and creativity once again.
Running from Monday 20th November to Sunday 26th November, the Sonic Hacking Contest pitches the most cool and unusual Sonic game hacks the community has to offer to the public and judging panel in order to see which ones stand out as the best of the pack.
Alongside this will be a number of side shows such as the usual Hacking Expo that allows entrants to cut loose and show off, and other events to be announced closer to the contest period. There are some pretty notable attendees to be seen during the Interactive Contest Week, with confirmed streamers including SomecallmeJohnny, MegaGWolf, AntDude and many more to be revealed.
In order to provide a better experience for those playing the hacks, this year will introduce Quality Control Criteria that every hack has to meet in order to qualify for the contest. Essentially, make sure your hack is of a good standard before submitting. Joke entries aren’t allowed in the contest, but as long as it meets the QCC it can still be put forward for the Hacking Expo.
The deadline for preliminary submissions is October 29th. Following this, contest entrants will be allowed to refine their builds until the final build upload deadline of November 5th. If you are entering your hack into the expo and not the contest, the deadline for refinement is November 12th instead.
If you wish to read more about the contest or submit your own work, the Sonic Hacking Contest now has its own dedicated website. Because of this, any downtime issues that were experienced in the past should be mitigated. Please note that you need to have a verified Sonic Retro or SSRG account to submit entries.
The team behind the ambitious Sonic 2 HD project have revealed a new trailer, sporting two new zones and a demo release.
The fan game, which was revived back in 2014, has seen sporadic updates via the development journal run by the team over the years – but there has been no playable version of the project since the alpha release in 2012.
The new trailer shows off the previously playable Emerald Hill Zone in action once more, alongside new additions Chemical Plant Zone and Hill Top Zone. The trailer ends promising fans a new playable build will be available September 30th for download. You can check it out in action below:
Will you be revisiting Sonic 2 in high definition later this month? Let us know your impressions below.
Well let me tell ya somethin’ brother!! I was at Venice beach pumpin’ iron when I heard someone listenin’ to a podcast! It had these three nerds, Jason, Alex and GX, all talking about that new Sonic game, Sonic Mania and heapin’ a bunch of praise on it! Jason was reviewing that new Sega game, Yakuza Kiwami and giving his hands on impressions about Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. They also talked a bunch about all the news on Sonic Forces and reviewed some of the latest episodes of Sonic Boom! Continue reading Sonic Talk 47: Sonic Mania is Runnin’ Wild!
It was only a matter of time before someone managed to completely misread the sprites in Sonic Mania and create a brand new character out of it. We just didn’t think it would happen so soon! One player in particular has captured the hearts and minds of the Sonic community by epically misinterpreting one of the bosses. Introducing ‘Omelette’ / ‘Eggette’ / ‘Ovoid Robotnik’! Continue reading Meet Omelette, Sonic Mania’s Accidental New Boss Character
While Sonic Mania is taking many gamers back in time to the nineties, much about the Sonic hype experience is very different to that enjoyed some twenty-plus years ago. One of the biggest changes to the gaming experience has been the emergence of social media, which allows developers, critics and fans to react and interact in a way that simply did not exist back when Sonic was rocking in 16-bit. Continue reading Sonic Mania: The Twitter Experience
A twitter user by the name of Jojo has discovered that if you open up the Genesis/Mega Drive stand of the Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition statue, there is an actual LED light in the display! (NOTE: Doing so would void any warranty you might have on it.) What’s more, you can make it work! The tiny circuit board for the “SEGAAA!” sound includes two holes marked “LED”. All you need is a bit of copper wiring and a screwdriver. You can check how he did it on Jojo’s Twitter page, but man! What an easy mod! It makes you wonder though. Sega seemed to back out of the LED light working at the last minute. Why?
It’s been the lifelong dream of many Sonic fans to work at SEGA or with the Sonic brand in some official capacity, and in many ways, Tyson Hesse has achieved it.
Back when Archie Comics still published their Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe serials, Hesse was brought on board during the later years as one of many great artists behind each carefully crafted page. His beloved take on Classic Sonic soon led to him pencilling the unfortunately ill-fated Sonic: MEGA DRIVE comics, and later directing not only the animation for Sonic Mania‘s preorder trailer, but the official opening for the game as well.
However, there was a time before all of this, a simpler time, when a certain Boxer Hockey wove a masterpiece of a tale – a dramatic epic with running, giants, robots, chases, escapes, True Love, miracles, and finally…
…magical kitsunes and rock-hard fist-nipples.
For Mania Week’s Freak-Out Friday, we take another look back at Hesse’s legendary Sonic’s Adventure, as animated by Bocodamondo back in 2012. Enjoy!
A Facebook user by the name of Devin Super Tramp who describes himself as a ‘stuntman’ has uploaded a rather amazing video to show his excitement for Sonic Mania, dressed Sonic, he runs through the countryside and performs a number of Sonic inspired stunts and acrobatics through trees, walls and even some old ruins, as he rushes to rescue his Amy Rose. Continue reading Sonic Stuntman In Parkour Panic Rescue Act 1!
“Porta Vista,” “Checkpoint,” and “Time Trials.” Hyper Potions have become synonymous with promotional Sonic music over the past year, and their contributions to the brand have finally reached a head with Sonic Mania‘s release tomorrow on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
The opening animation to the highly anticipated throwback to the classics (of which you can read our TSS review with Svend and Adam here) was accompanied by Ian and Kevin’s newest nostalgia-inducing single: “Friends.” The full version of the track made its debut alongside the opening’s unveiling, and today, it is now up for grabs on digital markets such as iTunes and Google Play.
Continue reading You Can Now Download Hyper Potions’ “Friends” from the Sonic Mania Opening
We’re just one last, impossible weekend away to Sonic Mania, so I feel it’s only appropriate to highlight one celebrated aspect of the game: its music! The news of Tee Lopes’ hiring as Mania‘s composer was met with widespread acclaim across the Sonic community, and over the past year, we were gifted with a number of his contributions to the soundtrack.
For the occasion, I am bringing back Sound Test Saturday and have catalogued one remix for every Zone confirmed by SEGA in Sonic Mania, as well as a few bonuses! Don’t forget to support and follow these artists in the links provided below. Now, enjoy!
Continue reading Sound Test Saturday: Pre-Mania Launch Edition!
On Thursday, July 20th in the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront, I witnessed a concert by Sonic fans, for Sonic fans. A rocking music extravaganza with trumpets, saxophones, guitars, drums a keyboard and a lot of passion. It’s obvious that Shoto Nakama wanted to create something special and he truly has.
It started off with the usual stuff. Sound tests, followed by a ton of trailers. There was a funny moment as I watched Jun Senoue hanging out on the side, head-banging to his own tune, “Infinite’s Theme”.
The first song off the bat is of course, “Green Hill Zone”. The saxophone and trumpets really added a jazzy vibe to this classic tune. The video screens off to the side were showing off the original classic along with a bit of the level from Generations. Next, we go from the first Sonic tune, to one of the newest, Studiopolis! It’s cool hearing an instrumental version of a tune almost entirely programmed digitally and it’s done really well.
Next up, the lead singer, Dave Ross came onto the stage along with Crush 40’s own Jun Senoue. Now this was a rock concert! “Live and Learn” was the first tune up and they really rocked it. Dave shows a strong passion in his singing and a great range as well. Especially since the next song up was “Believe in Myself”. A song originally done by female singer Karen Brake, was sung by Dave himself and he did a surprisingly faithful version.
I gotta say this about Dave. He really knew how to work the crowd and was full of energy. When he wasn’t rocking out onstage, he was constantly jumping off the stage and running around into the crowd, giving out high-fives and making damn sure that the audience was having a great time.
Next up was “Endless Possibility” which must have been a favorite for the band as it was also the encore of the night. Dave was incredibly into it and seem to really love the number. After that, it was “Reach
For The Stars”. It was great hearing a number normally done mostly in chiptune and tonebox done with full instruments and vocals. Another great highlight of the night. They followed that up with “Escape From The City” which Dave seem to take as something he wanted the audience to do as he jumped off the stage, running around the large crowd. After fooling around for a bit and having Jun do a VERY short guitar solo, they went into “It Doesn’t Matter”, a song that fit Dave’s vocal range very well. The concert wrapped up with another performance of “Endless Possibility”.
All in all, this was a fantastic concert. The people onstage were full of energy and passion for the music they were playing and that passion was absorbed by the crowd watching. Dave Ross had a great vocal range and the performance of a true rock star. They asked if they’d like to see this concert tour close to a town near you. Hell yes, I would! I’ve seen a lot of Sonic concert performances (mostly Crush 40) and this was by far the best one. If they turn this into a full tour, don’t miss it!
SEGA have announced today a wealth of events to be held at the San Diego Comic-Con! To complement the already announced “Behind the Scenes” Sonic Mania panel, the five day convention will also play host to the “Sounds of Sonic” music extravaganza, which will take place at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront, and include a suite of music performed by Shota Nakama, creator of the Video Game Orchestra, and Sonic Team composer and Crush 40 guitarist Jun Senoue. Continue reading Sounds of Sonic Music Event Set For San Diego Comic Con
Join Alex, Jason and GX as they discuss all the happenings at this year’s E3. Alex and Jason were at the show and they discuss their hands-on with Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces, their time at Sonic Revolution and Alex’s first trip to Disneyland. We also talk about ARMS, Sega Forever, Sonic Runners Adventure and more! It’s out most jam-packed podcast yet, so listen in and enjoy!
For those who do not know, June is known to many as PRIDE month. A month where people unite to promote, stand up for and celebrate the rights and history of LGBTQ people. You may wonder what this has to do with Sonic the Hedgehog, so please let me explain. Continue reading Being LGBT in the Sonic Community ?️?
A new album from the re-arrangement masters, OverClocked Remix, has just hit the interwebs. There’s a special reason to run out and get this one, because this latest release focuses on the past 25 years of Sonic the Hedgehog. Just in time for the blue blur’s birthday! Continue reading OverClocked Remix Releases New Sonic Anniversary Album
Following Sonic Mania‘s success at E3 (and nominations for multiple awards at the event) come the revelations of more of those involved in the game’s development…and it really is a who’s who of some of the most prominent talent in the Sonic the Hedgehog community! Continue reading Additional Members of Sonic Mania Dev Team Revealed
Mere words cannot do justice to this cover by self-proclaimed “World’s Okayest Violinist and Master Otamatonist” Mklachu, but never in my life have I needed something so much and never known until I received it.
Continue reading Sound Test Saturday: Super Sonic Racing – Otamatone Deluxe Cover
It’s been all quiet on the Weston Super Sonic front, but that looks like it’s about to change! Weston Super Sonic is back for another year, this time the event will be held Saturday October 21st.
However, it needs your help to become a reality, the organisers have launched a Kickstarter in order to help secure both a venue and a wide variety of special guests for this years event.
The Kickstarter goal is £1000 and tickets for the event are available as pledge rewards, other rewards include goody bags, T-shirts and pin badges.
Source: Weston Super Sonic Kickstarter
Right now, Archie Sonic is much like Schrodinger’s Cat. Until we get an official confirmation, he is both cancelled and not-cancelled. In this week’s Sonic Talk, we discuss Sonic’s apparent comic cancellation and what this means for the future of non-game Sonic media. We also discuss what recent games we’ve been playing and the flat level design of the Green Hill Zone in Sonic Forces. All that, and more so stay tuned! Sadly, this was recorded just before the news broke about the third character. Continue reading Sonic Talk 44: Schrodinger’s Sonic
Disclaimer: The views in this piece may not reflect the views of TSS or other writers on the staff team. The intention of The Spin is to promote debate and discussion of an issue or something that’s happening in the fandom or the world of Sonic.
So when I said in my last article that…
“I’ve seen the footage from SXSW, and the Nintendo Direct, I have a few things to say, mainly on what bugs me about Sonic Generations 2 Sonic Forces so far.”
I didn’t think that it would take less than 2 weeks before Sega did something that would mean I felt it necessary to actually talk about these things.
Chart-topper Bruno Mars has produced a great number of worldwide hits since his solo debut in 2010, including songs such as the beautiful “Just the Way You Are,” the way too relatable “The Lazy Song,” and the unreasonably catchy “Uptown Funk” with Mark Ronson. His music videos on YouTube alone continue to gather millions of views as a testament to his talent, and his recent “24K Magic” is yet another example of that.
Turns out that “24K Magic” also mashes incredibly well with the classic Chemical Plant Zone theme from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Who knew? Mashup artist BotanicSage certainly caught on to it, and you can jam to this delicious combo in the video above!
Found any other interesting Sonic music mashups out there on the web? Maybe you have one of your own you’d like to share? If so, you can reach us via any of the following and see your choice on the next Mash-Up Monday:
For fans living under a rock, Sonic Time Twisted is an unofficial Sonic the Hedgehog game that has been in development as a pet project for 12 years. But unlike a lot of fan game projects, this one was finished!
To celebrate today’s release of the long awaited project, we sat down with the creator to discuss what is needed to push through to the end of such a long running piece of work. Not only that but we also discuss our thoughts on the finished project and if it is worth your time downloading! We also discover that the OST features a track very similar to another fans work in 2010, what does our (half hearted) investigation discover!?
We also cover the last weeks news in Sonic (oh my did a lot happen this week!).
Have you played the game yet? Let us know what you think in the comments!
