Welcome to the Archive site of The Sonic Stadium (2008-2023)
Please note that this site is no longer being updated or maintained; as a result, there may be design issues, and links to images and other media may be broken. Links to posts may redirect you to the same article on the current Sonic Stadium website.
If you want to know what’s happening in the world of Sonic the Hedgehog, then you’re in the right place! The Sonic Stadium’s News section is your first stop for all the latest information. Whether it’s news about video games, comics, TV shows or even movies, we have you covered!
Forget March Madness: the Sonic community’s own utterly inconsequential, completely-for-fun single elimination knockout bracket tournament, “Metallic Madness,” is currently underway over on Twitter. The annual “tournament,” which initially started back in 2016, pits 64 unique entrants across four different categories until only one remains. After going on a one-year hiatus, it was brought back – with last year’s victor being IDW’s Whisper the Wolf, who defeated Agent Stone to become “Queen of the Ring.”
This year’s four categories are: Games, Universe, Comics, and Community. The tournament is set to run until April 3. If you want to vote, head over to Metallic Madness’s Twitter account, here.
This is where the bracket currently stands as of this writing:
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The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The latest in Just Toy’s line of Craftable Sonic action figures have just popped up on Amazon, with this latest series featuring modern versions of the Sonic cast. Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy and Tails are all available, complete with their own “scenes” that can be combined into one larger scene once all of the characters are collected and assembled.
However, if these interest you, be forewarned: these are sold in blind boxes, meaning you can’t be sure which ones you’ll get when you order them off of Amazon. The characters are sold for $11 a piece, and you can pre-order them here. They are set to ship next week, on March 23.
Check out images of the toys in the gallery below:
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The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
That Tails statue First4Figures revealed last week is now officially up for pre-order, with a special “Early Bird” discount that will run from today through April 16.
The available models, as well as the early bird and regular pricing, are listed below:
The base model without any bells or whistles, priced at $475/$500.
The Exclusive Edition. Gives Tails second hand with a wrench that can be switched out, and the base glows. Priced at $480/$510
The Definitive Edition. Adds three wisps to the exclusive edition version. Priced at $535/$570.
The pre-order pages also have a lot of photos of the Tails statue. You can catch them all at the pre-order link, but we’ve got a gallery with images of all three statues below:
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As a longtime, adult Sonic fan, I am often jealous of the toys kids get these days. Why couldn’t we get the anthropomorphized Sonic truck hauling a chest full of giant medical supplies?! Or the rideable Sonic car?! Or the Sonic-branded Sonic tool set in a rolling suitcase…?
Wait what?
Right, okay, enough with my schtick. So these things exist:
Sonic if he crossed over with Pixar’s Cars, apparentlySonic’s carsona as a baby.I don’t know who asked for a Sonic toolset, but here it is
These appear to be part of a line of officially licensed Sonic Prime toys, though the use of the license doesn’t seem to extend much beyond “slap Sonic Prime renders on various otherwise unrelated kids toys.” The toys are manufactured by Dede, a Turkish toy company, and as such are currently only available on Turkish websites. The site with the widest selection is Dede’s own online store, Fen Toys.
Now, you may be looking at these and thinking, “wait, did they just take some generic toy truck and slap Sonic’s eyes on it?” and…yes! Yes they did! All of these toys are essentially just variations of existing non-licensed toys, with the Sonic medical tools truck being based on this Medical Set Truck toy. Looking around the website, that’s true for all of these, and they’ve also done this for other licensed characters like Spider-man and Mickey Mouse. Nevertheless, this is Sonic merch, and most importantly weird Sonic merch, so we are obliged to cover it.
So here’s a gallery of every single Sonic toy Dede is selling:
Sonic Medical Set TruckSonic Road SetSonic My First CarMy Sonic Doctor Set SuitcaseMy Sonic Repair Kit LuggageSonic Medical BoxSonic Tool BoxSonic Repair Set Truck
Yeah, I am pretty jealous of the Sonic toys today’s kids get. But I also feel kind of bad for Sonic merch collectors, because there’s more of it then ever, and anyone who wants a truly complete collection needs to buy rebranded stuff like this.
Nevertheless, if anyone has ever wanted a Sonic branded set of medical tools in a little plastic rolling suitcase…it is a good time to be alive.
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May 2023 marks 30 years since the launch of the UK-based Sonic the Comic, and to celebrate this milestone, the Sonic the Comic Online team are crowdfunding to host an event in York, UK.
The Kickstarter has already surpassed more than 200% of it’s original goal, and is set to include a host of events including art classes and tutorials, competions, Q&A sessions with US artists from the IDW comic such as Tracey Yardley and Reggie Graham. There is also an opportunity to meet some of the original team behind the comic such as Nigel Kitching, Richard Elson, Ferran Rodriguez, Debra Tate, Lew Stringer, and Richard Burton. In addition to this, a special convention issue of the comic will be produced as a commemorative item.
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As bad as Sonic 2006 ended up being, I still have fond memories of the lead-up to the game’s release. Among them, I remember sitting at my desktop computer, watching a poor quality video of a “real time day night system” from the game’s TGS 2005 tech demo, recorded off-screen by the now-defunct game website Kikizo. While the feature wouldn’t make it into the final game, seventeen years later we’ve finally been afforded a better look at the game’s alpha footage.
Kikizo founder Adam Doree uploaded the footage, as part of a wider effort to release the website’s footage at a level of quality the internet wasn’t capable of in 2005. The footage give us our best look yet at Sonic 2006’s 2005 build, including the epic E3 2005 trailer.
Unfortunately, as noted earlier, this footage is still offscreen, but this is likely the best we’ll get until the TGS footage is either leaked to the internet or released officially by SEGA.
You can find the footage for Sonic 2006, and for the “SEGA the Future” presentation it was a part of, at Adam Doree’s channel here, or embedded below:
In addition to the Sonic 2006 footage, he also has footage for Fifth Phantom Saga, a canceled Sonic Team first person shooter. We reported on that here.
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The mid-2000s were a wild time for games. Technology was advancing at an amazing pace, developers were playing with unprecedented HD visuals and motion controls, and the idea of Sonic Team making a first person shooter wasn’t absurd, but simple reality. Said FPS, “Fifth Phantom Saga,” was initially shown at Sony’s big PS3 reveal at E3 2005, before eventually getting a more in-depth showing later that year at the Tokyo Game Show.
The game would never see the light of day, and very little media from it has ever been released. That is what makes today’s piece of news so cool: high quality off-screen footage of the game’s TGS trailer and Yuji Naka-presented tech demo has been uploaded by Adam Doree, founder of the now-defunct video game website Kikizo. The footage, which was recorded by Kikizo, has only ever been available in low quality until now, due to the limitations of the internet at the time.
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A few months ago, we reported Sonic toys suddenly arriving in Burger Kings in Spain. At the time the full scope of this promotion was unknown, but we now know this won’t just be confined to Europe: these toys are now available in the US!
Twitter user @TheSpeedSpirit broke the news revealing that he picked up two toys, including an Amy-themed puzzle cube and a miniature Sonic basketball game with Sonic & Knuckles hoops.
The other is more unique, I thought it was frisbee lol 😂 Instead, you flip Sonic over and it’s a game of basketball. You shake the toy to drop the ball (a Chaos Emerald) into a Sonic or Knuckles themed hoop. Gonna keep my eye out for the others (and any promos) pic.twitter.com/2JFbEDbriS
A total of six toys are available. In addition to what SpeedSpirit posted, there’s also an Eggman fidget spinner, and other toys themed around Sonic, Tails and Shadow. Check out an image featuring all of them below:
There’s no telling how long these toys will be available, so if you want them you might want to swing by a Burger King at some point in the next few weeks.
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The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Model maker First4Figures has revealed that it will be producing a brand new Tails statue from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The figure will be made of resin, feature a Modern Tails design with a Miles Electric-themed base, and will go live for pre-orders on March 14.
Unveiled via teaser videos and social images on the company’s Twitter channel, F4F is also announcing a special promotion on the upcoming product. Any customer who has already ordered a Sonic product directly from the company will be eligible for a $35 voucher off the price of the Tails statue (although there is currently no price on this new model… we’re bracing our wallets…).
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The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Shadow fans, rejoice! According to IDW Sonic comics writer and artist Evan Stanley, SEGA has established some revised guidelines on how to work with the moody anti-hero, opening the door for Stanley, Flynn and co to further develop his character arc in the future.
Addressing questions about the “red tape” around writing for Shadow, Stanley revealed on Tumblr that the guidelines have become a lot clearer in recent times, allowing more freedom for writers looking to flesh out his character on paper.
We’ve gotten some clearer, more workable guidelines for how to handle [Shadow]! I had very little trouble writing his part in the upcoming issues, and SEGA’s notes actually feed me up to write him more how I’d like to.
Whereas in the past, SEGA’s strict guidelines surrounding Shadow only left enough room for comic authors to write him in as a rather two-dimensional character, there now seems to be an active interest from the Sonic Brand team to make the Chaos Controller more understood. Stanley recalls a recent situation in a separate Tumblr post about this and how SEGA’s change of heart has opened up doors for the character.
Shadow being more understood is precisely what happened. I’m reminded of a scene in an upcoming issue where in the original draft Shadow acted without explaining himself, only giving an aggressive, confident response to his team-mates. This isn’t how I would have liked him to handle the situation. But in previous issues, this is how I’ve been asked to write him… so that’s what I did.
So you can imagine my delight to get the script back from SEGA with the request to have him instead explain his reasoning when it makes sense to do so and to showcase his intelligence, pragmatism, and capacity for strategy in the future. Not only does this make him much more workable within storylines, it helps make it clear that his “pride” is, from his perspective, a non-judgemental statement of fact and not an ego trip. It’s also an honest reflection of reality– 99 out of 100 times he really IS that good.
It all sounds really promising, and hopefully this will mean Shadow will have the space to grow as a character and not just be some grumpy git without much of a motive anymore.
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Sonic the Hedgehog’s silver screen adventures just keep on winning, as the 2022 Paramount movie sequel ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ took the prize of ‘Favourite Movie’ at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2023.
The live-action movie, which pits Sonic and Tails against Dr. Robotnik and Knuckles, beat out Hollywood rivals such as ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, ‘Black Adam’, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and others to win the award.
It’s no surprise that the movie won the hearts and minds of kids worldwide, with the movie grossing over $400 million at the box office since its premiere last year. Let’s hope the awards keep on rolling for Paramount and the Sonic movie team!
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The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The latest fan poll for the Japanese Sonic Channel’s ‘Isekai Ohgiri’ fantasy artwork series has launched, and is currently asking the community which character they would like to see paired with Silver the Hedgehog – Elise from Sonic The Hedgehog (2006), or Merlina from Sonic and the Black Knight?
As with previous polls, the winning character will feature in a special art piece alongside a second pre-determined character (in this case, Silver). Both will be placed together in a surprising and interesting new scenario that fans will have never seen before.
Not many details are currently being shared as to what that Silver x Elise/Merlina scenario will be, but machine translation on Sonic Channel’s social media post suggests a sporty theme, with Silver perhaps playing the role of coach.
This poll in particular is significant because both characters have only had minor roles in the Sonic game universe, and have not had much representation outside of their respective games since. Elise in particular has never had the 2D Uekawa-style treatment, so that might be fun to see.
Fans have until Monday 6 March at 12:00 Japan time to vote for their favourite to win. Best of luck to all concerned!
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Today in his first trial, former Sonic Team head Yuji Naka admits to having knowledge of unannounced games prior to buying stock in Square Enix partners.
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The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
IDW is set to re-release its popular Sonic 30th Anniversary special book later this year, with a paperback edition titled “Sonic the Hedgehog: Seasons of Chaos”.
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The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Sonic Forces Mobile will get Prime-flavoured once again next week, as a brand new character event takes place that will see players racing to win a custom “Boscage Maze” Sonic.
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The artwork that has graced the covers of the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog series has been nothing short of spectacular – and the piece to be used for issue 59 is no exception!
Artist Natalie Haines has chosen to put down the digital pen in favour of the brush, to create this spectacular 3′ x 2′ acrylic on canvas piece.
Haines took cues from Renaissance masters, citing on Twitter it had always been a hope to create something in a more academic style.
I took lots of inspiration from classic paintings, and also specifically from “The Fallen Angel” by Alexandre Cabanel for Shadow himself.
Natalie Haines
I think we can all agree this piece is nothing short of spectacular!
IDW Sonic the Hedgehog issue 59 will be available from the 29th of March 2023.
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The next wave of the fantastic JAKKS Pacific Sonic the Hedgehog figure line have already been spotted in the wild!
The 10cm series sees both Super Silver and Jet the Hawk join the lineup, with their first JAKKS incarnations appearing alongside another classic Sonic, and a Modern Tails with the Miles Electric pad.
The wave 12 mini series is also set to continue adding Badniks to the range, including Newton.
Stay tuned for more JAKKS Pacific Sonic news!
Image credit: @Sokosokovia on twitter
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A rare English language version of the sit-in arcade game SEGA Sonic Cosmo Fighter has been dumped and released to the public. It’s not currently playable, but fans can download the ROM in anticipation of the game being operable on the MAME emulator when it is net updated.
The ROM dump was provided by Twitter user “IAMAMAZING100” (which is, actually, an amazing name), who has reportedly been in possession of a legitimate SEGA Sonic Cosmo Fighter arcade cabinet since June 2021.
While there is currently no way to play the ROM once downloaded, eager Sonic fans have taken to run the file through audio software regardless to see what happens… and surprisingly enough you can hear the voices of Sonic and Eggman as the game runs.
SEGA Sonic Cosmo Fighter was already an incredibly rare piece of Sonic (and arcade) history, due to its extremely limited Japan-only run in the early 90s, but the fact that a legitimate English language version exists has been something of a legendary find. The fact that we have a dump that may soon be playable will go a long way for arcade game preservation efforts.
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Solicitations for IDW Sonic Issue 61 has come through the wire, and while it doesn’t give us an awful lot of information to go on, it does suggest that this book will mark the end of the long-running Urban Warfare story arc.
The complete, three-line synopsis can be seen below. Story is being written by Evan Stanley, with lineart by Adam Bryce Thomas.
This is it! The end! (Of the arc, that is)
Everyone is focused on the command tower: if that goes down, the city will fall.
But are 3 teams enough to stop something it seems even Dr. Eggman can’t control?
No cover has yet to be revealed, but we do know that Mauro Fonseca is lined up to handle Cover A duties, with Miles Arq and Nathalie Fourdraine pegged for Covers B and RI respectively.
The release date is currently set for 24 May 2023, but knowing how IDW is with keeping to schedule we should expect that release to be delayed over the next couple weeks.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Have you ever wanted to read someone’s fortune, much like Amy Rose in Sonic CD? Well, soon you will be able to do just that – with a canonically-accurate and fully-featured fortune card deck styled just like Amy’s!
The Official Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy Rose’s Fortune Card Deck product will feature a full-blown set of 78 cards, each with unique and custom artwork of major and minor arcana designed to suit Amy Rose’s own set seen in Sonic Origins. There will also be a 128-page booklet with exclusive Sonic artwork, explanations for each card, and instructions for different spreads so you can be on your way to become a fortune-telling maestro in no time at all.
You can see a selection of sample art for some of the cards below, via Barnes & Noble’s website listing. The card deck will be made available for purchase on 10th October for $24.99.
Here’s the full listing from Barnes & Noble, with more details on what’s to come.
Give your fortune-telling practice a supersonic boost with this official deck from the massively popular Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. Each card features original, never-before-seen artwork directly from Amy Rose’s Fortune Card Deck!
Featuring deluxe, custom artwork of Major Arcana from Amy Rose’s Fortune Card Deck directly from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe, this deck gives fans a new way to power up their love for the series. Containing both major and minor arcana, the set also comes with a comprehensive guidebook explaining each card’s meaning, as well as simple spreads for easy, speedy readings. With Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy Rose’s Fortune Card Deck, fans can foresee the future and read Fortune Cards just like Amy Rose.
Packed in a sturdy, decorative gift box, this one-of-a-kind Fortune Card deck is perfect for Sonic the Hedgehog fans and fortune-reading enthusiasts alike.
THEMED DECK: Immerse yourself into the world of the massively successful video game, Sonic the Hedgehog, with this collectible Fortune Card deck and guidebook featuring Major Arcana straight from Amy Rose’s Fortune Card Deck!
ORIGINAL ART: Features 78 cards and a 128-page booklet with custom Sonic the Hedgehog illustrations and never-before-seen artwork
GUIDEBOOK INCLUDED: This unique deck includes a guidebook to help fortune-reading practitioners of all skill levels perform fun and informed readings
OFFICIALLY LICENSED IN-WORLD DECK: Created in partnership with SEGA, this deck gets the Sonic seal of approval! This is the only officially licensed recreation of Amy Rose’s Fortune Card Deck.
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SEGA Japan’s official Sonic the Hedgehog portal, Sonic Channel, has released a brand new piece of artwork for its monthly ‘Sonic Pict’ series – and as usual it’s packed full of cuteness. For February 2023, the scene is of Classic Amy baking some cookies in her kitchen, with Little Planet looming outside in the background.
If you wait here at this time of year, maybe that blue hedgehog will come back to see you?
Amy, who works hard at making sweets, wants to say a few words of thanks
Give a wonderful gift to your loved ones with your feelings
What a ‘sweet’ message (get it? Oh, never mind). See if you can spot the ‘Future’ and ‘Past’ cookies, as well as a little cameo from a certain purple cat’s best friend…
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The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
