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Please note that this site is no longer being updated or maintained; as a result, there may be design issues, and links to images and other media may be broken.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.
Four brand new LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog sets have been revealed for release in August 2023, featuring Sonic, Tails and Amy character minifigs as well as a number of game-themed locations.
The new sets follow the release of the Sonic LEGO Ideas package last year, and builds on that scope with new interactive gimmicks and models such as the Tornado plane and a bumper-themed sphere launcher.
You can check out images of the sets below, along with details of each new set. Prices range from $39.99 USD for the Tails’ Workshop and Tornado plane, and scale up to $99.99 USD for the complex Green Hill Loop Challenge set.
LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic’s Speed Sphere Challenge (76990)
Ages: 7+
Pieces: 292
Measurements: The speed sphere launcher measures over 1.5 in. (4 cm) high, 5.5 in. (14 cm) wide and 2 in. (5 cm) deep
3 characters and accessories – The set comes with Sonic the Hedgehog, the iconic Moto bug Badnik, Sonic’s Flicky friend and lots of accessories for role play
Price: 29,99 EUR / 34,99 USD / 24,99 GBP
LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog Tails’s Workshop and Tornado Plane (76991)
Ages: 6+
Pieces: 376
Measurements: The workshop measures over 3.5 in. (9 cm) high, 5 in. (12 cm) wide and 3.5 in. (9 cm) deep
4 characters and accessories – This action playset comes with characters Sonic, Tails, a Clucky, Buzz Bomber and lots of toy accessories for role play
Price: 42,99 EUR / 39,99 USD / 37,99 GBP
LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog Amy’s Animal Rescue Island (76992)
Ages: 7+
Pieces: 388
Measurements: The island measures over 5 in. (12 cm) high, 9.5 in. (24 cm) wide and 6.5 in. (17 cm) deep
6 characters and accessories – The set comes with characters Amy, Tails, Crabmeat, Picky, Pocky and a Flicky, plus accessories for creative play
Price: 52,99 EUR / 49,99 USD / 46,99 GBP
LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic’s Green Hill Zone Loop Challenge (76994)
Ages: 8+
Pieces: 802
Measurements: The primary track assembly with loop measures over 8 in. (21 cm) high, 14.5 in. (37 cm) wide and 7.5 in. (19 cm) deep
9 characters and accessories – The set comes with Sonic, Amy, a Flicky, Becky, Pocky, Pecky, Dr. Eggman, plus Badniks Chopper and Newtron and lots of toy accessories for role play
Price: 104,99 EUR / 99,99 USD / 94,99 GBP
SEGA formally announced the new sets with a teaser video, which you can see on their Twitter channel below.
A new adventure is building! Get ready for the all-new @LEGO_Group sets celebrating Sonic and his fast friends!
Billund, Denmark – April 19, 2023 – Today, the LEGO Group and SEGA revealed a fresh collaboration bringing fan-favourite characters and environments from across the Sonic universe to brick form. With the brand new ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ product range from the LEGO Group, Sonic fans can build, create and play as Sonic, Tails, Amy and Dr. Eggman in beloved levels including Sonic’s Speed Sphere, Tails’s Workshop and Tornado Plane, Amy’s Animal Rescue Island and the iconic Green Hill Zone. The LEGO® Sonic product range will be available at authorized retailers starting in August 2023.
“At SEGA, we strive to create memorable experiences with our licensing partners that fans will cherish for years to come,” said Ivo Gerscovich, Chief Business & Brand Officer at SEGA of America. “The LEGO Group is the leader in play, and the perfect partner to bring exciting stories, iconic characters & environments from the Sonic universe to life in fans’ living rooms globally. Through our creative collaboration with the LEGO Group, Sonic fans of all generations can use their imaginations to play out their favourite Sonic moments, and we can’t wait to see their awesome creations.”
The LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog collaboration features four sets of different sizes and complexity with modular elements inviting Sonic fans to build high-velocity obstacles for Sonic to blast through as he battles the Badniks and rescues his friends. Sonic fans can get creative, construct their own unique courses, combine sets and invent new storylines, or reminisce their treasured memories as they challenge the beloved hedgehog to be the hero of the day.
With all-new toy accessories, builders will have unique role-playing opportunities where they can step into the Blue Blur’s iconic red sneakers and spend time with his famous friends, hang out at the DJ deck, repair the Tornado plane and more fun activities.
The product range from SEGA and the LEGO Group furthers the global companies’ collaborative efforts, following the highly successful LEGO® Ideas Sonic the Hedgehog™ Green Hill Zone set, released in 2021.
“It really isn’t like anything else! The sets offer an entirely new, action-packed play experience,” says Frédéric Roland Andre, Designer at the LEGO Group. “I’m especially proud of the Speed Sphere, as it was quite a challenge to figure out how we would get Sonic to speed up and interact with each course. Sonic is known for his speed and how he runs and jumps through courses, so for LEGO sets inspired by him there was no way we could create a static set, we simply had to be creative and make them as action-packed as possible!”
Let’s roll! The LEGO Sonic The Hedgehog sets are on sale from August 1st, 2023, on www.LEGO.com and in LEGO stores.
To stay current on Sonic the Hedgehog news, follow Sonic on Twitter and Instagram, like him on Facebook, subscribe to the Twitch channel and the YouTube channel. Also, don’t forget to visit the SEGA e-shop at shop.sega.com for products for the ultimate SEGA fan.
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If you’ve been wondering what’s going on with that Knuckles show for Paramount+, wonder no more: Sonic Movie director Jeffrey Fowler has confirmed via his Twitter account that filming of the show is officially underway, with him in the director’s seat for the pilot. Whether this marks the official first day of shooting, or if this is just the first day he can talk about it, is currently unknown. The Knuckles series is supposed to debut later this year.
Interestingly, Knuckles’ iconic Sonic OVA hat is in the photo, meaning it is almost certainly going to be worn by him in the series. According to Variety, the series will see Knuckles “agreeing to train Wade as his protege and teach him the ways of the echidna warrior.” Adam Pally (Wade Wipple) will star alongside Idris Elba, who will be reprising his role as Knuckles.
Edi Patterson, Julian Barratt, Scott Mescudi, and Ellie Taylor will features as recurring actors while Tika Sumpter (Maddie Wachowski) will guest star along with Rory McCann. James Marsden (Tom Wachowski) is not currently listed as a returning actor, so it seems like outside of Wade and Knuckles, the series will focus on a newly introduced cast. Additional casting is expected to be announced at a later day.
The series pilot is currently filming in London using a script from Sonic 2 screenplay writer John Whittington, and will serve as head writer. Brian Schacter and James Madejski have also been confirmed for the writing team.
We’re likely to hear more about the Knuckles series in the coming months, so stay tuned! It’s supposed to release some time this year.
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SEGA Sammy looks set to expand its mobile gaming business very soon, as a fresh report from the Wall Street Journal has revealed that the House of Sonic is nearing a deal to buy ‘Angry Birds’ developer Rovio Entertainment for around $1 billion.
According to the WSJ, assuming the talks “don’t break down or drag out”, the Finland-based mobile game maker could find itself a part of SEGA Sammy’s portfolio as early as next week, citing people familiar with the deal.
Rovio is best known for its fowl-flinging, pig-smashing hit game, Angry Birds, originally released for mobile devices in 2009 and is largely credited as one of the first breakout games for the iPhone and the then-nascent smartphone market. The company has built on the initial game’s success as much as it could over the years, turning the name into a multimedia franchise spanning TV spinoffs and movies.
It seems that, despite Rovio’s best efforts, it reportedly could not replicate the same success as it did with Angry Birds for any of its new IP, which is cited as a reason for the company putting itself on sale and becoming available for acquisition.
Of course, in today’s gaming landscape acquisitions are starting to become commonplace, with Microsoft and Sony getting headlines for its increasing third-party studio buyouts. It seems only natural that SEGA Sammy would join in on the action – and adding an existing beloved IP to its portfolio could perhaps revitalise the Japanese corporation’s performance in the mobile space.
All that said, don’t hold your breath for any Sonic x Angry Birds crossover events just yet. You could probably expect a silly art piece from the official Sonic social media team though.
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After years of development plus a 24-hour delay due to bad weather, the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (aka JUICE) is just hours away from launching and starting its eight-year journey to Jupiter. JUICE will explore the Jovian system, particularly the icy moons of Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, before eventually settling into an orbit around Ganymede in 2034. If successful, JUICE will be the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than our own.
And Sonic will be along for the ride!
As we reported back in 2019, Sonic adorns the spacecraft as part of the logo for one of its instruments, the Radio & Plasma Wave detector (RPWI):
SEGA was nice enough to grant the team permission to use Sonic in their logo after the RPWI team leader, Dr. Jan-Erik Wahlund, requested it. According to Dr. Wahlund, Sonic was chosen due to his many adventures in space, as well as Wahlund and his team’s deep affection for the character. That the spacecraft is called “Juice,” a commonly used word by SatAM Sonic and his assumed name during the show’s Blast to the Past two-parter is purely coincidental.
The launch will occur at 8:15 AM EST and will be livestreamed from the ESA’s website here, or on their Youtube channel here.
The Sonic-adorned space craft will be launching from Guiana Space Center using an Ariane 5 rocket. It’ll be going on a little tour of the solar system over the next few years, using Earth, the Moon and Venus for various gravity assist maneuvers, before eventually passing through the asteroid belt (where it may do a fly-by of an asteroid) and reaching the Jovian system in July 2031. In July 2032, it will do a flyby of Europa before settling into a high-inclination orbit around Jupiter in order to study its polar regions and magnetosphere.
In December 2034, it will begin the aforementioned orbit around Ganymede, before crashing into the moon at some point the following year. That final maneuver may be changed if scientists conclude it may contaminate a liquid ocean.
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This week, Sonic Speed Simulator developer Gamefam has reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board regarding an early 2023 complaint. GamesIndustry.biz reports Gamefam put developer Joshua DeBoer on leave after DeBoer discussed the studio’s salaries with other employees to identify if Gamefam payed below industry expectations for the duties involved.
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In their effort to preserve and document as much from DiC’s Sonic cartoons as possible, Sonic DiC preservationist Fieryfurnace has found never-before-seen early Tails artwork, likely the earliest ever uncovered. The bulk of the artwork is from Yasushi Yamaguchi, who originally designed Tails. Two pieces are some turnarounds from Moore & Price Design, while the final piece is a sketch from US Sonic game box artist Greg Martin.
Check them out below:
Yasushi Yamaguchi:
Moore & Price Design:
Greg Martin
Notably, Yamaguchi’s Tails artwork is less consistent between pieces, and also features a Tails that is far fluffier and furrier than the final design. He gave more details on Twitter:
“These are the earliest character set-up drawings. Since the development period for Sonic 2 was short, we used these drawings as a base and brushed up the design as we created the game.”
This artwork was found in a box of Sonic SatAM pilot material that Fieryfurnace paid to have scanned, and then posted to Twitter. These were the reference materials SEGA of America sent DiC during the development of the SatAM pilot, likely as far back as April 1992. You can find out more about their efforts to find and preserve various materials from the Sonic DiC cartoons here.
They’ve said they will be uploading all future scanned materials to a drop box, which you can find here.
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An obscure arcade carnival game starring one of Sonic’s animal buddies has recently been uncovered: “Air Circus,” starring the seal Rocky. The machine was discovered in a high quality scan of SEGA’s 1994 Amusement Machine Guide, recently uploaded to Retro CDN. The scan also includes a high quality image of Curling Holiday, another obscure machine starring the penguin Pecky that has been known about since at least last year. Check out images of both machines below:
Air Carnival challenges the player to balance beach balls on an air stream coming out of Rocky’s mouth and getting it to float. “Curling Holiday,” a miniature curling game, had two players competing to toss Pecky-adorned curling stones at a target on the table. It kind of worked a bit like air hockey.
The machine was brought to the attention of the wider Sonic community thanks to a topic on the Sonic Retro forums, which was then disseminated to Twitter by Dave Luty.
In addition to these high quality images, someone in the linked thread also linked to a video showing the machines in action that was posted to Youtube years ago. In addition to footage of the two aforementioned games, it also has rarely footage of the game “Sonic Canball” in action!
You can check out the footage in the embed below, or here.
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You probably aren’t surprised, as it happens every year. But still, it’s reassuring to see that, indeed, it’s happening. So, the Sonic Hacking Contest is returning for another year.
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SEGA’s April Fools Day video game, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, has become anything but a joke – with over one million players downloading the title since it launched on Steam on March 31. We feel like that has to be some kind of record, right? Well, if it isn’t, it’s still super impressive!
The news was announced by Sonic Social Media Manager Katie Chrzanowski, who also executive produced the light-hearted detective thriller. Chrzanowski also revealed that the game has been highly rated by those who have played it too, with ‘Murder’ currently sitting at #61 on highest-rated games on Steam of all time.
It’s an incredible milestone for a comical spinoff game made entirely by the US-based Sonic social media team. Of course, while the fact the game is free could go some way to explain its explosive popularity, it doesn’t discount the huge positive reception from all players who have tried it. It’s been warmly embraced by everyone who has taken the time to play it – it’s a great little detective story!
So it has been a great weekend for the Sonic social team – and all it took was killing off their company’s mascot! Congratulations, SEGA!
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IDW Comics is celebrating five years of non-stop Sonic action by re-releasing its landmark debut issue from 2018 in a special collector’s package.
The “5th Anniversary Edition” reprint of IDW Sonic #1 will, as you’d expect, come complete with all the original stories that published with the original comic’s release, along with a bonus short story and some additional commemorative material. Some of this will include a special look at how the IDW Sonic comics are made.
We’re used to IDW going a little bit variant-cover happy with its releases these days, but on this occasion there will be no less than five covers to collect! Cover A will be a collection of all the first four issues’ connecting covers, with the other Covers handled by well-known artists that have had a hand in the Sonic comic series over the years.
IDW Sonic #1 5th Anniversary Edition: Cover A by Tyson Hesse
Cover B by Tracy Yardley
Cover C by Matt Herms
Cover D by Jennifer Hernandez
Cover RI by Jon Gray and Reggie Graham
The 5th Anniversary Edition should be in stores right now for you to buy (release date 5 April), at a price of $7.99. Solicitation information below.
It has been five years since Sonic the Hedgehog #1, can you believe it?! Five years of friendship, speediness, and chili dogs!
To celebrate, we’re getting the team back together! Join Ian Flynn and Tracy Yardley for a reprint of #1, plus an all-new bonus short story, a look at how the comics get made, and more!
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A unique version of Sonic Adventure, “Sonic Adventure Tournament Disk,” has been uncovered by video game preservationist Comby Laurent. This version of the game was specially made for a Sonic Adventure tournament that ran during “The SEGA Dreamcast Mobile Assault Tour,” a 22 week long American promotion that started on August 23 1999. The Assault Tour was a joint event between SEGA of America and IGN that had two Dreamcast-themed trucks traveling across the US, giving some American gamers their first chance to check out SEGA’s new console.
This version of the game drops players right into Emerald Coast with a fully upgraded Sonic, giving them two minutes to get as many points as possible. Participants could win everything from t-shirts, to Japanese VMUs and Millennium 2000-branded Dreamcast controllers. The top 4 finalists were brought to Las Vegas at the end of the tour, where they could complete for a $15,000 grand prize. The second and third place winners received $5000 and $2500 respectively, while the fourth place winner got some SEGA swag.
While this is mostly notable for being a special version of Sonic Adventure from an obscure part of SEGA’s history, it’s also a very-late prototype build of the game. It’s dated August 10, 1999, just two days before the final build on August 12. As a result, the differences between this build and the final are minor, only lacking music for the DLC and a fully completed European localization.
If you want to read more about this game and the event, or play what those contestants did decades ago, you can find the dump of this unique, once lost piece of history on Laurent’s website, here. You can check out a recording of the game in action in Laurent’s original tweet below:
Tomorrow is the 4th of April. What's on the 4th of every month?
In the meantime, enjoy the Sonic Adventure Tournament Disk prototype and don't hesitate to read the interview of one of the organizers of "The Sega Dreamcast Mobile Assault Tour" event👇https://t.co/klrHQdGsuupic.twitter.com/yNjRvT0kZo
— Sega Dreamcast Info (@CombyLaurent1) April 3, 2023
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According to a rough machine translation, the trademark move was intended for the first update, but was held for additional polish.
ORIGINAL STORY: According to Sonic Frontiers Facts+ via Twitter, a line of code in the latest update shows that holding the rightmost face button along with the L Trigger will cause a spin dash on the ground while holding the L Trigger in the sky will have Sonic coming down with a spin dash as well. This doesn’t appear to work currently, and may only be there for future characters. We’ll probably know more when the second update launches.
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.
In a tweet that went up a few hours ago, Headcannon confirmed that they have contributed to the upcoming new content for Sonic Origins Plus, including Amy Rose’s new sprites and Knuckles’ campaign in Sonic CD.
It's coming – Sonic Origins Plus! We're happy to announce that we’ve once again cooperated with SEGA to update this project; you know we can't resist Sonic! Here’s some of what you can look forward to in Origins Plus: [continued in thread] https://t.co/X46RoXPfsD
Headcannon specifically calls out the work of team members Andy A-Start and DashPadSPD for design and data management in the expansion. In addition to the character updates, Headcannon also supplied additional enhancements which were not specified. Closing out the thread, the team thanks SEGA for their openness to the developer’s feedback and suggestions, and they appreciate the level of trust SEGA put in them.
Headcannon was responsible for bringing Sonic 3 & Knuckles to the Retro Engine in Sonic Origins’ initial digital release. While our staff has had very positive experiences with collection, some members of the community and members of Headcannon itself have expressed dissatisfaction with its technical shortcomings.
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Following several other major publishers, IGN is reporting that SEGA too will not be exhibiting at E3 this year. It has been a trying year for the ESA and partner ReedPop as the two attempt to revitalize E3 following several years of cancelled and online-only shows. With this announcement, all three console platform holders, as well as Ubisoft and Tencent, have bowed out of the expo. With so few companies willing or able to commit to the event, it’s unclear if the show has a present, much less a future.
While SEGA may not be at E3, there is still the possibility for other announcements this Summer. Both SEGA and Atlus have previously been a part of Summer Games Fest, and there are already a number of known SEGA and Atlus projects looking to launch this year and beyond: Hyenas, Endless Dungeon, Samba de Amigo, and Like a Dragon Gaiden (plus multiple updates to existing Sonic games).
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.
Sonic will be appearing in the upcoming Samba de Amigo: Party Central, along with a couple songs and a location from the franchise.
Party Central’s base game will feature the songs Fist Bump and Escape From the City. It will also feature City Escape as a location, where Samba can dance alongside Sonic himself.
Check out a screenshot from the Sonic stage below:
This isn’t the first time the two franchises have crossed over: being a Sonic Team-made IP, Sonic’s got a long history with the series. Sonic music appeared in the original game and it’s expanded Japanese-only expansion, and the Wii version did one better by actually bringing in Sonic and featuring Green Hill as a location.
Given that Party Central will feature DLC, it seems likely that the game will get more Sonic content in the future.
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.
Sonic Origins Plus, which has been the subject of two increasinglyrevealing leaks, has finally been officially announced. This new, expanded version of Sonic Origins will include playable Amy, add Knuckles to Sonic CD, add emulated versions of Sonic’s 12 Game Gear titles to the museum, and will also include all previously released Digital Deluxe content. It’ll release on June 23, in time for Sonic’s 32nd anniversary, and Sonic Origin’s own 1 year anniversary.
Sonic Origins Plus will release both physically and digitally for $39.99, with the physical edition including reversible box art and a 20 page art book. Current Sonic Origins owners can have all the new DLC for $9.99.
This announcement came via a trailer, which you can watch below:
Here’s a quick look at the physical packing, reversible box art and artbook from the trailer:
Check out screenshots of Amy, Knuckles in Sonic CD, and some of the Game Gear titles below:
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Sonic has a pretty long history with Nintendo. The franchise first went third party on Nintendo platforms, and has stuck close to the company’s hardware ever since. This held true even during the Wii U era (easily Nintendo’s most difficult time in recent memory), giving the dual-screen console and the 3DS a variety of Sonic exclusives, ports and retro titles.
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The company shared the news on its official Japanese Sonic Twitter account, pointing to the game’s recent accolades with the “Japan Game Awards 2022 Future Category Winner” and “Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2022 Best Action Adventure” award wins.
We crunched some numbers and calculated that Frontiers is just 400k units away from surpassing Sonic Heroes to become one of the best-selling 3D Sonic the Hedgehog games ever. That’s very exciting!
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Spring is almost here, and with the promise of a new season comes some brand new Sonic the Hedgehog content to enjoy! As we reported earlier this week, Sonic Frontiers is set to get its first free content update for 2023 in just over a day’s time. So we thought we’d do something to celebrate the occasion!
That’s right, we’re introducing some new Limited Edition Achievements for the Sonic Community! These will all be Sonic Frontiers-themed, and available to all users who play the new DLC pack (and contribute to the Sonic Stadium forums) until the end of the month.
Each Badge will relate to one of the new modes or features found in the upcoming Sights, Sounds and Speed DLC pack. To earn these Badges, you will need to play or complete the relevant mode, take a screenshot of your handiwork and post it on the Sonic Stadium Forums to share with the rest of the Sonic Community.
Speaking of Achievements, we know that since we launched the new system in mid-2022 there have been a lot of questions about how it works, what kind of badges you can earn, and a lot more besides. So we’ve taken the time to create a Site Guide on the Sonic Database that fully introduces the Achievements System and all you need to know about it. You can find it here:
That Database record will also contain links to other records that list special Badges you can earn, as well as legacy SSMB Awards from yesteryear (if you’re curious)! If there are any more questions about how the system works, please feel free to let me know and I can update the Suite Guide to account for any missing information.
Events Calendar
You might have noticed on the SSMB that the Calendar section has had a bit of a facelift. That’s part of a recent site software update that changes the focus of the section from less of a ‘calendar’ and more of an ‘Events’ portal. The front page of the Events section will now show an at-a-glance view of all upcoming occasions, but if you like you can switch it back to a traditional Calendar view too.
We also took the opportunity to tart up the Events widget, found in the sidebar on the Forum homepage and elsewhere. You can better see what’s coming up in the month ahead, and we’re always adding new Events so that it doesn’t get stale and empty. We encourage the Community to also create Events to help populate the Calendar with us – you get Achievement Points and Badges for contributing, and you also get a warm glow of satisfaction for helping your fellow Sonic fan know when the next major game anniversary will be. Give it a try!
Personal Discussion is No More
A quick update on the Personal Discussion forum – in our last update post we announced that this forum would be closed down at a nearby date. Due to certain events that have taken place this week, the moderation team has decided that the closure of the forum is long overdue. So if you no longer see the forum where you would expect it to be… that will be why. It’s kaput.
Why has it been shut down? To recap, the site staff spent some time re-assessing the kind of discussion and content that we would like to see and encourage on the Sonic Stadium and its forums, and we found that topics of a deeply personal nature – many of which veered very closely to sensitive and borderline subjects – are themes that we no longer have an appetite for hosting on our community. We want to be a positive, encouraging space for people to come together and talk about their favourite things, but at the same time we can not be a destination where community members end up therapising one another.
Sad topics (a significant person’s passing, or a newsworthy tragedy, for example) will of course continue to be allowed in the General Discussion forum. But topics of a deeply personal nature, of the kind previously fit for the Personal Discussion forum, will no longer be permitted. For various reasons, we also cannot move certain topics from the Personal Discussion forum into a new ‘allowed’ destination. Thanks for your understanding on this.
Coming Soon
I have to say, I’m enjoying finding the time to post site updates on here once again. This is starting to become a monthly thing, isn’t it!? Maybe we can make a habit of this. Anyway, I wanted to round things off with a notice that I’m still working on a number of further updates to the site, including slight design tweaks to make the user experience a little cleaner, and some new features that I hope you’ll love.
But the headline here is all about the Achievements, and I want to get into the habit of offering more seasonal/exclusive Badges to encourage community discussion and connection. Stay tuned for more in the coming month/s!
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The first free content update for Sonic Frontiers will arrive on Thursday March 23, according to a reveal made via SEGA’s official Sonic the Hedgehog newsletter bulletin.
Originally announced in December to promote a slate of upcoming content for 2023, the “Sights, Sounds and Speed” update will include some bonus quality-of-life features for players dashing around the Starfall Islands – including a Jukebox feature, Photo Mode and some additional challenges.
Later in the year, Sonic Frontiers players will be able to enjoy even beefier updates, including a birthday celebration and additional Story chapters involving new playable characters.
Are you looking forward to the imminent update? Let us know in the comments below!
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It is turning into a surprisingly active year for Samba de Amigo. In addition to the brand new game announced last month, the ever-impressive Dreamcast community has released an English conversion for the system’s Japanese-exclusive expanded version, Samba de Amigo Ver. 2000. This conversion was put together and released on Github by dukeblooder. You can find the patch over at Romhacking.net, and find instructions and additional information on the conversion here.
This conversion isn’t a translation, per se. Instead, dukeblooder has simply replaced the Japanese original’s text images with their English equivalents from the US/PAL versions of the 2008 Wii release. This method was able to convert most of the game into English, though it is constrained by some limitations. The internet page is still in Japanese, the results screen for the “Love Love” mini game is still in Japanese, and the Volleyball mini game voiced instructions were removed. Despite that, this game is now fully playable to English speakers for the first time ever. The game is playable on an emulator, and should be playable on Dreamcast hardware, though we haven’t tried that out yet.
CD Romance posted a tweet showing off the patch in action:
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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 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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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.
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.
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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![Spin Dash Coming to Sonic Frontiers? [UPDATE: Kishimoto Confirms It Is]](https://archive.sonicstadium.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/frontiers-rev2-895x375.jpg)
