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Please note that this site is no longer being updated or maintained; as a result, there may be design issues, and links to images and other media may be broken.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.
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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Are you Sonic mad? Are you an Oil Baron? Then you might consider getting yourself this set of wheels, as it’ll be unlikely you’ll see another for a long time! Yes, you’re eyes do not deceive you; on Yahoo! Japan auctions, someone is selling an original Sonic Waku Waku Patrol Car. For a mere 900,000 Yen (about $1,100 or £750) you too can hunt down Dr. Eggman and prevent him from causing more traffic offenses.
For those of your tilting your head in wonderment at what this fantastic contraption is, allow me to explain: this was an arcade machine that featured almost exclusively in Japan; apparently even now there are still some in use in various theme parks across the Middle East. The idea of the game was that you drove around a city in a police car, in pursuit of Eggy himself, occasionally stopping to allow Flickies to cross the road.
According to the auction it’s still functional! However, you can only pick it up in person and it will require 6 people to move it.
So, phone your friends, sell your family heirlooms, and get going on your freighter to Japan!!!
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So I randomly thought of Sonic X, which made me randomly remember digital tv channel Jetix, which I randomly remembered show Sonic X, which made me randomly remember they have a Sonic X website, where I randomly remembered they use to have a Sonic X store on their site, so I went there and clicked the ‘Store’ link. I was randomly taken to a page full of Sonic X items at a site called Toystore.co.uk.
Alot of the Sonic X merchandise I remember seeing at Jetix’s old Sonic X store but unless I’m mistaken a couple of new ones seem to have appeared –
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I have a question for you all. Did you play Sonic Unleashed and wished that you played as Knuckles during the nighttime stages? Well, according to DeviantArt user, gilau, so did Knuckles. In a blur, Knuckles is seen here beating the shit out of the most awful character in the series. Yes, Big the Cat is better than Sonic the Werehog. Allow me to pause as you pick up the pieces of your blown mind.
…
Anyway, thumbs up on the image concept, gilau. Super-thumbs up on the coloring and the whole “dirty draw” look. I’m not quite sure how you made this one, but whatever, it’s cool.
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Sorry about the lack of “Fanatics” yesterday. I’m not going to lie to you…I was pretty hungover and I, how would you say, “couldn’t be arsed” to do it.
Anyway, as a not-fan of SatBK, you might be questioning why I posted this piece up today. One word: lighting. Ihearrrtme‘s work here on the lighting and shading is incredible and deserves recognition. It has even got that next-gen “bloom effect” to it, which is cool in moderation. Ihearrrtme says:
The Tokyo Game Show trailer of Sonic and the Black Knight was so awesome, it inspired me to make this picture! : )
Rarely do I ever add actual scenery/backgrounds to any of my works, because, well… I’m horrible at drawing them. X[ I tried to make it look like the logo image on Sega of Japan’s SATBK website. Blending a few patterns together and adding some lighting/shading effects, I managed to pull it off for once!! : )
Do it again, Ihm.
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This story’s well-under “old news,” but I was just reminded of it when I walked into a Toys’R’Us today. Everybody knows about the LeapFrog, the gaming system for the Dora the Explorer generation. Did you know that Leapfrog has a Sonic the Hedgehog game? Yeah, I bet that you didn’t. Let me fill you in on the details: it totally sucks. It’s suppose to teach kids how to spell, but that goal is mucked up by how much it sucks. Wow, just wow:
Race through four action-packed classic Sonic zones, collecting rings to free Sonic’s animal friends that were captured by Dr. Eggman!
Teaches Spelling: • Consonant and vowel blends • Compound words • Contractions • Plural words
I know that this game is for kids, but I think that it deserves a better effort than the one that was given. Hit the break for a video of this atrocity, shoddy physics and all.
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I’m on an 8-bit Sonic binge as of late, aren’t I? Wait, who am I kidding? I always am.
A SEGA Master System hack, Sonic 2 LD, a title playing on Retro’s HD Sonic 2 remake, by doc eggfan at Sonic Retro is probably my favorite project at that forum. The project’s goal is to take the Sonic 2 levels for the Genesis and put them in the Sonic 2 Master System ROM. A novel concept, considering that I’ve always wondered why SEGA made different levels for the Master System version (aside from making Aqua Lake Zone, aka “the best zone ever” – ride that shuffle beat).
Doc Eggfan recently released a new screenshot of his work-in-progress, 8-bit Emerald Hill. Hit the break for the screenshot. Warning: Contents May Be Awesome. Continue reading Fanatics: Sonic 2 LD
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The final boss battles of Super Sonic & Knuckles meet in this work by Mit-Man. Dr. Robotnik’s final mech at the Doomsday, the Death Egg, and Hyper Metal Knuckles are being destroyed by our powered-up heroes…in space! The Mit-Miester comments:
[T]he pictures depicts Super/Hyper Sonic and Super/Hyper Knuckles defeating Robotnik’s final robot form and Hyper Mecha Sonic. They didn’t do it at the exact same time like this in the game, nor was Knuckles in space, but hey, it’s a cool effect I think that I incorporated into the picture, that sums up the ending quite well.
This piece was submitted for the Black Knight art contest, but was rejected. If this piece was rejected, then the art that was selected better be the fuckin’ bomb, because I’m really happy with Mit’s work.
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Hey, do you not want to be a loser? Then, check this shit out. Indigo Rush tipped us on a sweet Sega Genesis tribute album, called “LOSER,” and I’ve been listening to it for the past few hours. I can officially say that it’s badass and you’ll like it.
The album contains an amazing number of tracks, 39 total, of classic Genesis tunes. A majority of the tracks are Sonic tunes, but Phantasy Star, Ecco, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Altered Beast, and more are remixed for your listening pleasure, too. Man, there’s even an awesome Lemmings remix!
There are a few duds on the album that suffer from poor instrumentation, execution, “playing it safe,” or all of the above, but most of the songs are quality remixes. If you want to just skip to the Sonic songs, the second-best Sonic is track #23, Casino Night Live. It’s the classic Casino Night melody played by a small jazz combo with some great solos and improvisation. As indicated by the word “live,” it’s also performed by real instruments, so the lead trumpet doesn’t sound like a bunch of FL Studio turd. The combo is tight, clean, and extremely talented.
While that song is pretty wicked, I did say that it was “second best.” Track 34, simply called “Sonic,” is the best song on the album. This near 8-minute, not safe for work epic features many Sonic songs back-to-back. The catch here is that there are two guys rapping over it and it’s the best thing that you will ever listen to this year. I’m dead serious. I laughed for about an hour, showed it to all my friends, laughed some more, and made this post. If you don’t have time to check out the entire album, do yourself a favor and at least listen to track 34.
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A few weeks ago, SSMB member, Inferno, created a thread to reminise on the joyous feeling we all had when we learned that Sonic was in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The topic came at a time when people wanted to kill each other, because critics were slamming Unleashed. A perfect time for good vibes.
DeviantArt user, musetrigger, had posted this over 14 months ago, but I had just found it yesterday. Notable features of this work that I fancy include Sonic’s overt sense of attitude, the detail on Mario’s beaten face, and the phrase “nothing fan-fiction about it.” Rather appropriate, considering that I said that to my friends upon Sonic’s announcement.
“Now, nobody has to write Mario vs. Sonic fan fiction. People can just play Brawl now, which is 1,000% more entertaining.”
“What about the Olympic Games?”
“That’s only 300% more fun. Still a good margin, though. Wait, who the fuck would make a fan fiction about that?”
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If you remember the sad news about fellow Sonic fansite Sonic Yoda closing down, then this will certainly brighten up your day. Lewis, aka Hairyman/Sonic Yoda, has decided to do away with the Sonic side of things and focus on the whole of SEGA, with new website SEGADriven.
The emphasis with the new site, as is the same with The Sonic Stadium, is to look at the great things SEGA has accomplished and positively report on upcoming news on the latest titles. There will also be features on classic consoles, merchandise and company history, with plenty of writers already on board – including yours truly.
I’ll be writing a few pieces for the SEGA site, as I’ve always dreamed of running a SEGA fansite alongside TSS. SEGA have provided us with a truckload of entertainment, from the 1990s to the present day with Yakuza and Valkyria Chronicles. I’ll make my mark on the site itself tomorrow, when I discuss the PlayStation 3 tactical RPG in more detail. Because it sure does deserve more love.
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Merchandise time! These are Sonic the Hedgehog cufflinks that you can now buy from UK fashion shop NEXT. And as you can see, they’re not exactly of the highest manufacturing quality. But that’s what makes them so great.
Costing £12, you’d expect them to probably be painted by someone whose experience isn’t just Colour By Numbers. Of course, it was most likely coloured by machine, but it still doesn’t really excuse that Sonic looks like he’s thrown up on himself, or painted half his muzzle blue. A sign of the blue blur’s deteriorating mental health in his old age, I guess.
Retro stuff is insanely popular in Blighty, and various games shops have recently caught on by selling ‘retro Sonic merchandise’ such as plushies and bags. We’ve covered these before in past articles. NEXT has been getting into the act with T-Shirts, but this probably marks a concerted effort to sell/market even more Sonic merchandise in the future.
As far as I know, if you want to get your hands on this awesome-but-terrible collectable, it might be wise to snoop through the NEXT Catalogue or via their website, as they didn’t appear to sell these in their stores. If anyone’s seen these in NEXT shops, do let us know.
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Do you love Sonic the Fighters (Sonic Championship)? If not, HOW DARE YOU. There was a hotel on a hockey trip that had a Championship machine and I would waste so many quarters on smacking Amy’s head as flat as a pancake. I’ve since gotten to relive that novelty over and over, thanks to Sonic Gems Collection. The game still holds a special place in my all-time favorites, despite being a shallow fighter, as it has an art style and charm that most fighters lack. I absolutely melted when I went over to DeviantArt and found this picture at left by darkburraki. She comments:
I now await for this deviation to get a bajillion favorites just because it has Sonic on it.
Hell, darkburraki, I think you should get a bajillion favorites for including Honey, a character not even included in the game. As usual, click the thumbnail for a larger image.
EDIT: Whoops! We accidentally called DarkBurraki a guy. She is, obviously, a She. Which, given that she’s not a guy, would narrow down her gender a bit. Sorry about that, and thanks for letting us know about that blip, best-buddy “Leedz”.
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January 8th’s 9th’s featured player is my main man, Amesuki, and his glorious return to the fangaming scene. He has returned to shed some light on new details of his fangame, Sonic Chase, formerly known as Sonic Mayhem 2. Sonic Chase is an 8-bit, Game Gear adventure, something that is rarely seen in the fangaming scene. Did I mention that there’s a demo?
Amesuki is planning on making a staggering 25 zones for Sonic Chase. A number that is down from his originally planned 35, but it’s still a feat nonetheless. He is also trucking along in order to finish this game in time for SAGE 2009. He might be the only person there with a finished game!
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Sonic Retro member, SeanieB is looking to make another great resource in the Sonic community in the form of a comprehensive and active Sonic music archive. SB comments:
I’ve seen several pages stuffed into the side of less than awesome Sonic sites, collecting the music for the games, but generally unorganized, without album art/information or any real discussion of it at all.
Thus I came up with the idea to start a Sonic music archive, the go to place for Sonic tunes.
A place dedicated to the archival and discussion of Sonic tunes? Sign me up.
SeanieB is looking to launch the site within the coming months and needs the community’s support in filling the database as far as it can get. He is interested in MIDIs, VGMs, MP3s, and remixes. Check out the thread here to see what he is currently looking for.
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Hey, let’s all grill out, celebrate “No Drama ’09,” and watch the live performance of “Sweet Sweet Sweet” (or “Sweet Dreams,” whichever you prefer) by Dreams Come True. This song should be familiar to all of you, as it’s the instrumental and vocal version of the Sonic 2 epilogue music.
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We are leaving DeviantArt territory for January 7th and are now hitting up OCRemix for some Sonic tunage! Jose the Bronx Rican, a key remixer on the Stree Fighter II: HD Remix soundtrack by the OCRemix community, tackles Sandopolis and succeeds in creating a smooth, jazzy, Middle-Eastern piece. Jose comments:
“After varying degrees of success working on HD Remix and “Freshly Baked,” I learned enough about my soft studio to gain confidence in creating decent tunes in far less time than usual (though still looking for better sounds on the cheap). This is the result. The bare-bones WIP Dave heard way back at Baltimore Meet ’07 was finally worked on again, and, a month later, it’s finished.
I’ve been dying to do another Sonic tune. “Sand in My Shoe” is unapologetically 80’s: an R&B sound inspired by England trio Loose Ends, specifically their 1986 hit “Stay a Little While, Child.” I emulated that song’s style of production. Its middle-Eastern influences, “Lawrence of Arabia” vibe and irresistably incessant 808 drum loop I thought were perfect for an arrangement of Sonic & Knuckles’ “Sandopolis” BGM. Every little thing programmed and mixed in FL Studio.”
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Visitors of Sonic Retro might have noticed frequent downtime in the past couple of weeks. Well, to remedy that, Scarred Sun, one of the admins at Retro, has a plan: give her money. Give her some damn money. She’s good for it, trust me.
The donations will move Retro off of CulTNET, thus keeping other CulTNET sites online if Retro happens to go down again in the future and could possibly make the site faster. If you like Retro and/or CulTNET, you’d be a fool to not donate to one of the most important communities in this dark, dark corner of the internet dedicated to a blue hedgehog.
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January 6th belongs to Hazard the Porgoyle (What in the blue hell is a “porgoyle?” Fan characters just get weirder and weirder.), because he absolutely dominates at Sonic art. The two pieces that I’d like to display here are absolute gems, giving moments in Sonic history a new perspective, literally. The top one at right here is a rendition of a boss in Death Egg, act 2. You all recall this encounter, I’m sure. Use gravity to make the spike tanks hit the giant egg ball, rinse repeat, get owned by the giant Egg Mech. It’s a wonderfully drawn scene from the game that someone could mistake for an HD remake of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Hazard comments:
Sonic doesn’t seem too concerned about Eggman’s new devious machine as he checks his glove cuff. Well, he’s done this stuff enough, right?
The second piece follows a similar style, but of a bit more esoteric moment. Sure, most people can recall that boss fight from Death Egg, but how many of your friends owned Game Gears and experienced Sonic: Triple Trouble? I know that most of us at TSS and SSMB have. The photo at right is a scene from Sunset Park’s famous train boss. I can hear the song now…
Check out Hazard’s DeviantArt profile for awesome renditions of moments from Sonic games, including boss fights from the Adventure and Advance series!
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Mecha Madness, a well-off Sonic fangame by Streak Thunderstorm, has a new demo for everybody to play. Check out the bitchin’ gameplay in a video that Streak has provided for TSS above.
Mecha Madness differentiated itself from the pack with its “metal” (like the music) feel, widescreen presentation, emphasis on fighting with a combo system, and stunning backgrounds. This new demo presents improved framerate (for some computers), new visual effects, a new boss AI engine for multiple movement routines, and the release of the full combo level. The full combo level’s release will allow players to try out the extended combo system, making Sonic more destructive than he was in the past demo.
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YouTube user, sphereballs, takes the January 5th spotlight today for his Sonic remixes. His remixes are not like the ones you would here on OCRemix, though. These two songs that he made take all 7 tracks from both the Japanese and American soundtracks of Sonic CD and mix them all into epic song. The zones that he has done thus far are Wacky Workbench and Tidal Tempest. Be warned, they are awesome. Tidal Tempest is above, hit the jump for Wacky Workbench. Continue reading Fanatics: The Best of Both Soundtracks
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I noticed something on this here front page. There are some days were there are just no stories whatsoever, leaving you feeling empty inside. To rectify this void, the “Fan Spotlight” is now renamed “Fanatics” and will be a daily community feature now. There are so many fans and so many works of art, so I think showing off an artist/fangamer/ROM hacker/remixer a day is the right move to make.
January 4th’s spotlight shines on DeviantArt user ThePepster. His piece, simply called “My Best Flash Sonic Drawing,” showcases a classic Sonic figure dashing at the speed of sound past a group of rings.
The Pepster describes his process: “I was fooling around with Flash and I’ve had quite some experience now. But getting used to the Wacom tablet is a pain in the ass! So I decided to do what I do best, draw Sonic on paper. But I then decided to scan it and trace over it by using the line tool in Flash. And from there, I went crazy with gradients and all that fun stuff. Then, I used Fireworks for the motion blur.”
His choice to use the “American” Sonic, with the single set of spines, is something that I do not see often, so I like this piece because of it.
(Click the image for a bigger view.)
Ah, that’s more like it. After a few weeks of Unleashed drama, it’s nice to get back to why I still hang around this community. In fact, I should just go back to community reporting altogether. The crusading and potshots are getting old. You should feel that way by now, too.
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Without sounding too much like TSSZ, ArchAngelUK of Sonic Wrecks (and awesomely enough, the Community Manager at SEGA Europe) has talked about his future regarding his involvement in his personal comic website. Apparently, things are going pretty well at his job, and the prospects could be further Community involvement with Sonic Team themselves.
I’m very much aware as I slowly inch my way up the totem pole and come into contact with more and more senior Sonic/SEGA peeps that my role in SW may have to end or I’ll have to take a “less prominent” role lets say as it may end up being a bit of a conflict of interest. I’m kinda tollerated atm, because I’m not that well known and kinda kept at arms length from Japan – I would scare them franky – but if things like my reports back to Sonic Team (I fed back on Unleashed in a major way both personally and your general feelings and it was definately looked at and noted by the team) are successful I’m gonna get more and more shall we say ‘noticed’.
Pretty awesome news for our pal Kevin, eh? If things get super-serious though, his ownership of Sonic Wrecks (which has always been a good source of comical entertainment for me… because of the comics, not that… never mind, I’ve done it now. Coming soon on another fansite – “Svend Joscelyne calls Sonic Wrecks a joke”, sigh) could be in jeopardy. It seems that if it ever comes to that, AAUK will pass the torch in some way to Echo Hawk, which would make sense really by all accounts.
We’ll keep an eye on this with baited breath – we heart Sonic Wrecks and the Kevster, and it’d be a shame to have another community website go down. We need our anti-TSS! We co-exist! This cannot come to pass.
In other news regarding this, sounds like Sonic Team are being a bit more open minded with comments from the community. It may be a by-product of the young, new development staff that actually want to embrace the fans. We all know that Hashimoto-san is desperate to make a Sonic game everyone can enjoy, and I sincerely hope that he can be successful in making one from learning from Sonic Unleashed. Although let’s just hope the community comments sent his way were more in the form of TSS’ recent review rather than Youtube.
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You may have seen TSS Staff member Slingerland’s earlier article regarding GameTrailers nominating Sonic Chronicles in their Biggest Disapointment of 2008 category.
Well now, Videogamer.com have made a list of their Top 10 Nintendo Platform Exclusive’s of 2008 and Sonic Chronicles has been given 4th place. Boom Blox made it to 3rd, Zack and Wiki 2nd and Professor Layton 1st. Sonic Chronicles managed to beat the likes of first-party Nintendo titles Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros Brawl. Wow! In Videogamer.com’s top 50 games across all platforms Sonic Chronicles made it to a respectable 43rd place.
In their review Videogamer.com gave Sonic Chronicles a great score of 8/10, the game was praised for it’s graphics and combat.
Do you think the game deserves such high respect? Discuss over at the SSMB topic.
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Are you cool like me in getting a copy of Animal Crossing: City Folk (or Let’s Go to the City for some of you) for Christmas? If so, you must have considered letting your Sonic fanboyism spill into the user created aspects of the game. The Sonic Stadium is here to help, by providing you some catchy town tunes and patterns to design at the Abel Sister’s shop.
When it comes to some town tunage, your best resource is the database at Animal Crossing Community. If you simply search “Sonic,” you can get 85 Sonic songs, even some from Sonic Unleashed, like the Rooftop theme at Spagonia. Green Hill shows up a few times, along with other classic themes, but “Open Your Heart,” “Live and Learn,” and songs from Sonic X are also in the database. My personal favorite town tunes are the “Sonic the Fighters” theme and “Toot Toot Sonic Warrior.”
With these links, you should be well-equipped to start a Sonic fashion trend in your town (which is probably named either “Pooptown,” “Buttville,” or “St. Fart” from my estimation). If you have an awesome pattern or song for Animal Crossing and you would like to share it with us at TSS, drop me a PM and I’ll totally:
a) Put it in my town
b) Fan Spotlight it
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Considering that I (yes, me) was excited for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood and was absolutely surprised at its mediocrity, it came as no shock to see it nominated for GameTrailers’ “Most Disappointing Game of 2008.” GT nominated it for Bioware’s inclusion, as they have a reputation as THE studio for RPGs, along with a tedious combat system, unimportant story, and irrelevant dialog sequences to name a few reasons.
Although GT gave the nod to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the most disappointing game, which was definitely earned, Chronicles nomination should be a clear enough indication that things need to change.
Nobody knows what to really do. If Bioware, a company with a quality reputation, could not pull off a Sonic game worthy of the franchise, I cannot imagine who can.
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Hey, chumps, it’s Christmas! I just wanted to stop by and wish all SSMB members and TSS readers a happy holiday season. I haven’t been around here, the forums, or my own websites as of late, because everybody is being an asshole about Sonic Unleashed. It was a nice, well-deserved break after finals week and telling you all to shut the hell up about reviews. With a clear head, I’m ready to head into the holidays with good spirits and I am willing to share my cheer with all of you, even the people that I cannot stand.
To the Sonic Stadium staff… Merry Christmas.
To the staffs at Sonic Retro and SFGHQ… Merry Christmas.
To the supporters of my gradually disappointing skit on The Sonic Show… Merry Christmas.
To Jay DiscoPoines, who airs my gradually disappointing skit on The Sonic Show… Merry Christmas.
To the beer that Dreadknux and I plan to have together in the future… Merry Christmas.
To Blast Processing… Merry Christmas.
To TJ Davies and Richard Jacques… Merry Christmas.
To my mom, who laughably (yet, lovingly) assumed that Sonic Unleashed and/or Sonic Chronicles would make “good” Christmas gifts, since I am a Sonic fan… Merry Christmas <3.
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Yahtzee’s right, you know. Aaaaand, hilarious while doing it.
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UK retailer Gamestation have slashed the price of SEGA and Bioware Nintendo DS RPG game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood in half to £14.67 with the VAT reduction knocked off. This is likely to be be part of their Christmas Advent sale they’ve been running this month where a new game gets reduced to half price every day up until Christmas.
I don’t know when the offer ends but it’s likely to be Christmas Eve. If you were holding back on picking this game up because of the price (ya cheapniks) then now is a good time to go get it. The half-price deal is in-store and online.
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This was very kindly made for The Sonic Stadium by Adamis Fox. Words just don’t do this picture justice, because it’s the cutest thing we have ever seen. Enjoy.
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This is some very sad news. Sonic Yoda, the website that always took a light-hearted, optimistic view of the Sonic franchise, has closed its doors today. The webmaster, Lewis ‘Hairyman’ Clark, has stated that he simply cannot be optimistic about the series anymore following the release of Sonic Unleashed. Before you start, the chap played both current gen and Wii/PS2 versions. Apparently, what he saw and felt doesn’t resonate with what made him a fan of the franchise in the first place, so has decided to bow out rather than continue his fansite.
To be honest, I’m feeling sort of the same really – Sonic’s 20th Anniversary is fast approaching and what we have to show for it are a decade’s worth of games that range from average/fun for a bit to utter tripe. It’s a far cry from the sublime character and level design seen in the 16-bit era, and the situation is compounded by the splitting of the fanbase. Instead of going back to its Mega Drive roots like they probably (read: very much) should, the introduction of the modern Sonic fan has meant we now have a pocket of fans who want the games to stay in this downward spiral of mediocrity. Apparently ‘classic’ play is backwards thinking – nobody wants unique level design and original badniks, unpatronising stories and green hills, while we should embrace evolutions of the series such as broken cameras, boring enemy designs and apocalyptic monsters.
Enough about my ranting though, this is Lewis’ time to speak out. The Sonic Yoda website has been replaced with a page that details why he’s taken the sad decision to drop out of the fanbase:
I cannot continue this hobbie of mine knowing what Sonic has become. When I play Sonic games today, I have to force myself to finish them. I don’t enjoy them anymore. There’s no love in my relationship with the little blue guy. What’s made this worse is the release of Sonic Unleashed; another game which promised so much more than it could deliver. I’ve got to face the fact that Sonic will never be what I loved as a child. Werewolfs, multiple characters, ridiculous speed, guns, the end of the world and Eggman are all things I don’t want to see anymore.
What annoys me more about this than anything is the excuses that SEGA make. Whenever an interview occurs or a public statement is made, they’re always hiding the fact that they don’t know what they want Sonic to be anymore. This results in heavy rivalry in the fan community because people are told to like one thing when others grew up with another. The fans are confused and angry and all they want is a classic Sonic game with well designed, platform-based levels with multiple routes, lots of colour, happy music and Sonic as the only playable character going head-to-head with Dr. Robotnik.
The webmaster will start a brand new website called SEGADriven, which will be similar to another pet project of his, MegaDriven, only it will cover everything SEGA. A good idea, given many people look at Sonic games and judge SEGA as a whole by it. I mean, Valkyrie Chronicles, Yakuza 3, and Mad World to name a few awesome modern SEGA titles. Oh, and The Club. Why did nobody care about that game except for me?
From 2002-2008, Sonic Yoda has been one of the small sites that made it big; an unassuming fansite that didn’t quite get the attention it deserved, but to be honest never really wanted it. It was happy to simply tell the world about Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the best platforming franchises ever created. And it’s fansites like these that have the charm and charisma to stay the distance. We can’t all be fans of the same thing forever, and it’ll pain me to say ‘so long’ to Sonic Yoda. In honour of your retirement, we offer you tea and something to eat. Rest in peace.
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Oh for God’s sake! First it was Shadow and all the shooting action, then we had Silver and his mind-moving stuff, and just recently we had to put up with a Werewolf… and NOW we get Chess in our Sonic games? This is unacceptable! This new game is just going to throw out the classic Sonic gameplay for Bishop-takes-Knight action. What has the world come to? SEGA, what are you thinking?
… Seriously, this is freaking awesome. German game maker Gaya Entertainment are creating these official Chess boards, complete with Sonic themed pieces that just melts the heart. It’s OK, adults who grew up with Sonic (and non-Sonic fans/classic fans), you can show this to all your mates and actually be cool because it uses the whole retro style to Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy. The chess board is 47cm x 47cm and the pieces are about 6cm in height, and made from PVC.
In this ‘MegaDriven’ game of chess, Sonic is the King (ironic being that the piece can only move one space at a time), Amy the Queen, Tails the Knight and Knuckles is (bashing) the bishop. Master Emeralds take the role of rooks, and to avoid using all those other shitty characters the Pawns are all rings. Wonderful. Missing Dr. Robotnik in there, would have been cool to have seen him in his Egg-o-matic and some classic badniks as the opposing side, but this is more than enough for me.
I’m not even kidding when I say this is probably the best thing SEGA have done with the Sonic franchise in a decade. Does Amy actually seem cuter to you in her Sonic CD outfit there or is that just me? Sonic looks so cool. Sigh.
If you’re as eager as I am for this (it might really be because I used to play Chess as a kid rather than the design), Gaya are selling this next February/March for 39.99 Euros.
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No walls of text here. GameTrailers puts its opinions out to the public in their video review of the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed. If there is one review site that I respect the most, it’s GameTrailers. Although I don’t see any bias or “good/bad” review sites, GT has always seemed to be the tops. Aside from the obvious visual aspect of their reviews, I like their snappy, yet detailed, criticisms.
Next week, be on the lookout for a returning Sonic Stadium feature, “The Spin,” which will discuss why the community is embarrassing when it’s spurred by the media.
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This piece is by DeviantArt user, NinaUsagi. She got the idea for this piece while playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s Classic Mode. There is always a “metal” opponent in your way to Final Destination and when she was presented with the task of taking down “Metal Sonic,” something clicked in her head. She thought, “what if the green “!” box from Mario 64 made Sonic the actual Metal Sonic and not a silver skinned one?” Well, check out the resulting artwork…
Do you or somebody you know want to be featured on TSS’ front page, send a PM to Slingerland or Dreadknux to get yourself in the fan spotlight.
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‘Tis nearly the season to be jolly, and what way to count down the days until your favourite yearly holiday than with a Sonic themed Advent Calender? Not much good if you’re on a diet, mind you, with a Christmas themed chocolate behind each door!
I picked one up from my local Games-X-Change store in Bolton (the UK) for a mere £1.99. I asked if other stores in the chain are selling the same, and apparently they are. If you have a Games-X-Change store nearby, it’s worth checking out!
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Do you live in the U.S.? Do you own Sonic Unleashed on Wii? Tried out the variety of control schemes but still not satisfied? Well your local Circuit City are selling an awesome, super cool, limited edition version that supports the Wii Balance Board where you can make Sonic run with your very own two feet and use new all powerful sumo wrestling attacks as the Werehog. Or so it would seem anyway…
The ad is of course an error on Circuit City’s part. Do people even check these things before they are printed? Come on Circuit City, it’s nearly Christmas so get your act together!!
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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.”
This story’s well-under “old news,” but I was just reminded of it when I walked into a Toys’R’Us today. Everybody knows about the LeapFrog, the gaming system for the Dora the Explorer generation. Did you know that Leapfrog has a Sonic the Hedgehog game? Yeah, I bet that you didn’t. Let me fill you in on the details: it totally sucks. It’s suppose to teach kids how to spell, but that goal is mucked up by how much it sucks. Wow, just wow:
I’m on an 8-bit Sonic binge as of late, aren’t I? Wait, who am I kidding? I always am.
Hey, do you not want to be a loser? Then, check this shit out. Indigo Rush tipped us on a sweet Sega Genesis tribute album, called “LOSER,” and I’ve been listening to it for the past few hours. I can officially say that it’s badass and you’ll like it.
Sonic Retro member, SeanieB is looking to make another great resource in the Sonic community in the form of a comprehensive and active Sonic music archive. SB comments:
Hey, chumps, it’s Christmas! I just wanted to stop by and wish all SSMB members and TSS readers a happy holiday season. I haven’t been around here, the forums, or 
UK retailer Gamestation have slashed the price of SEGA and Bioware Nintendo DS RPG game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood in half to £14.67 with the VAT reduction knocked off. This is likely to be be part of their Christmas Advent sale they’ve been running this month where a new game gets reduced to half price every day up until Christmas.
