#Which game is the real Sonic Adventure 3?

[polling-sonic-fans]

Thanks for the anonymously submitted poll?

Polling Sonic Fans for their opinions on all manner of things. Share good questions to indicate what you want asked. Submissions open.

[heroes-rise-again]

(edit: some of my tags were remooved after I hit post so to summarize the missing tags: I rambled more and was sick more and ended up just wanting people to enjoy the iteration and reiteration of Sonc Honk and his Fronds and the world and story they live in)

sonic character analysis is like fighting over which spiderman is the objectively correct one. sonics is superheroes in the way where everyone thinks they know their guy better than anyone else and we are all WRONG

[starsopinions]

The Minecraft movie........

I've been playing Minecraft for as long as I can remember. My brother and I would spend hours on Hypixel, our survival world, and building escape rooms for each other (the exit would no doubt be behind a painting). As a movie fanatic, a film about Minecraft sounds like such a fun concept with great potential yet from the look from the teaser trailer it seems like all that potential will remain unused.

Link to the trailer if you haven't seen it yet!

Plenty of people have already commented on how it looks, which let’s be frank, is terrible. This post, however, is not about the look but the story so here is a summary: The set design is quite nice except it does not look like any Minecraft biome. The people look extremely out of place, especially Steve who is supposed to be part of this world. Last but not least, there are moving, working windmills. Anyone who has played Minecraft will probably feel the same way about this, which is not happy. This is the main problem, the makers have maybe watched 1 Let’s Play. They don’t know the Minecraft experience. They haven’t played hardcore survival and felt the pain when you die because your elytra breaks, they have never gone mining at 2 am on a rainy night or have built a beautiful base they a proud of.

Which brings us to the soulless plot. For anyone unfamiliar, this is what Warner Bros. describes it as: “Four misfits—Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, Henry, Natalie and Dawn—find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like Piglins and Zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve. Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.”

That made me throw up in my mouth a little. Minecraft is such a fun and unique game and this is what they come up with? Minecraft is a game about being creative and there are literally endless possibilities. This plot has nothing to do with the actual game and could be applied to any video game. Speaking of other games, it hasn’t escaped anyone’s notice that this is the exact plot of the movie Jumanji.

I’m secretly hoping they pull a Sonic and fix the movie at the last minute but I don’t think that is realistic. I don’t think all is lost though, Emma Myers (who plays Natalie) is, in my opinion, a great addition to the cast and is funny and talented. The rest of the cast isn’t much to write home about, unfortunately. As stated before, I do think the set has a cool look to it, it is just a shame that it doesn’t look like Minecraft.

Here is what I would do if I were in charge:

Firstly the whole cast is going. I would make it an animated film, Minecraft isn’t a realistic game and it doesn’t come across well in live-action. Steve and Alex would be the main characters.

The movie would have an entirely different plot and would either focus on Steve and Alex trying to defeat the Enderdragon for the first time, etc. (I think this is a bit basic but sometimes less is more)

Or it could be about the lore of the Enderdragon, Endermen, Ghasts, etc. and what happened to them and how they ended up where they are. There are so many theories about this online and it’s a side of that Minecraft hasn't been explored yet.

Another option could be about the villagers and pillagers. It would be cool to see more of their history and maybe Steve meddling to make peace or something in that direction. Think about how cool raids could be in movie form.

(see how I just thought of 3 way more original and fun plots off the top of my head when the writers couldn’t think of a singular one in months)-

A MUST for me is the classic Minecraft music. It should be in the trailer, in the movie, it should be everywhere. It is so nostalgic and everyone who has ever played Minecraft knows how iconic it is. (not saying it is not in the movie right now, I obviously haven’t seen it yet but wanted to include this point)

I think it could be cool if, for example, Steve would find a new biome or a new item and then we would get it in the game in an update. It would show a real connection between the movie and the game which is missing right now. (again not saying they won’t do this but I’m not getting my hopes up)

Besides all this, it would be amazing to see jokes and references to the actual game. Think forgetting to set your spawnpoint, inventory being full, etc.

And lastly, I NEED to see Minecraft YouTuber's references. I think they might do this, I’ve seen multiple YouTubers talk about the movie and I know Mumbo visited the set, so there is a possibility. Minecraft has one of the biggest YouTube communities, not referencing it would be a missed opportunity for sure.

I don’t think this movie will be especially bad, from the looks of it, it’s going to be a whole lot of meh. I do want to say that I have not seen the movie yet as it isn’t out yet, this means that a lot could still change (please please please). I will be in the cinema on April 4th with low expectations but high hopes, I have never wanted to be wrong more. Let me know what you think and thank you for reading all the way to the end <3

As always, this is MY opinion. Feel free to disagree but remember: It is a game about blocks, it's not that important (she says after ranting about it for like 2 hours lmao).

[mewharley]

it's so wild getting into Sonic little by little and seeing the posts about it on Tumblr without much context ????

like I've only read the idw comics, played the first 3 games, saw like 10 minutes of sonic boom years ago and the rest is Tumblr osmosis

and the most relevant or wildest stuff I've learned is:

sonic was a werewolf (werehog) at some point???? (game????) which was referenced in the idw comic

the whole sonic and the black knight posts ??????????? I'm SO lost (another game ????? an AU made game ????)

the whole thing with shadows backstory which i already read two years ago 💔 but still don't have the whole context so for now he's just a random dude that sometimes appears, he's serious, he's powerful, but I haven't seen a lot and i have no context, like what does he do with his life ??? does he just wander around ??? where does he live ???? same with sonic but at least he likes to run everywhere and go anywhere and helps people, but shadow ??? dude what's your purpose in life ?????

I THOUGHT ROUGE WAS A VILLIAN ???? I mean she's a thief but still ????

knuckles is *not* as beefy as he was in Sonic Boom ???? he's so scrawny ?????

Amy's love for sonic IS NOT a secret ?????? at least in the idw comic

Tails and Sonic are actually brothers 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 i thought they were just best friends and he was his sidekick but didn't expect it to be referenced so explicitly ��🥺🥺🥺 (idw comic again, idk about other media)

fuck the chaos emeralds in the first games, I gave up trying to get them (only got them in the first game)

are the chaos emerald like the dragon balls? do they randomly hide in the world after "being used" or what ?????

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY KIDS WITH THE REST OF THE CAST??? HOW OLD IS EVERYONE ELSE???? is sonic freaking 15 ????? older? Tails is a kid, Charmy is a kid, Cream is a kid, what's up with that? (at least Cream lives as a kid and Charmy seems to act as a kid, but Tails?? baby noooo 🥺🥺🥺, he's smart, I love him)

First sonic game I played was sonic adventure 1 GameCube version about 3 years ago, but it was so weird, random and hard that i dropped it quickly... but apparently it's one of the best Sonic games ???? so ????? (will definitely try again later)

the sonic franchise and its fandom knows no "cringe" and I admire everyone for that 👊😔, it's just so positive I love it, they're just.. free

haven't tried but I already know i won't be able to draw the characters hahaha, they're just SO dynamic that drawing them all stiff would look weird 💔💔💔💔

are there humans or not in the sonic world???? wait is eggman a human? what's up with sonic adventure having humans? (as far as I remember, I might be confused) do other games have humans? I know sonic is in the human world in the movies but ??

silver my beloved, I've only known him from the idw comic but if anything happened to him i would kill everyone in this room and then myself

for real, the characters are so likeable so far, I love sonic he's cool, a good lad, he's cocky but he like he's right, you know? and he helps everyone and he knows he's cool and and and I love him

so this is my sonic journey

very interesting

[blazehedgehog]

What do you think of the idea that YouTubers in the 2010s are the reason Sonic had/has a bad reputation?

It's really stupid. Completely unfounded.

You know why Youtubers in 2010's felt that way? Because a lot of people outside of the Sonic fandom felt that way.

I was in high school when Sonic Adventure 1 came out. I got my Dreamcast for Christmas in 1999. Purely by surprise, my brother sent me $200 for Christmas that year after not hearing from him for a decade. I was living in Colorado, and we'd had a white Christmas, meaning the roads were too slick to drive anywhere on December 26th. But I knew I wanted that Dreamcast.

The local Wal-mart was a little over a mile away. So, I bundled up and hiked it. With other money I got for Christmas that year, I had just enough for the Dreamcast, Sonic Adventure, an off-brand VMU, an issue of Official Dreamcast Magazine with a demo disc, and a lightgun -- I'd wanted House of the Dead 2 and I was desperate for a home port of The Lost World.

I played Sonic Adventure all day, every day, for like a week. Some of that was the fault of the cheap VMU I got -- it wasn't even a VMU, it was just a memory card, and it was half the price of the official thing. For whatever reason, Sonic Adventure (and ONLY Sonic Adventure) had trouble saving to that thing. My saves would frequently corrupt and disappear. I didn't mind as much as you'd think. I willingly and happily replayed Sonic Adventure over, and over, and over, and over.

When I got back to school in January of 2000, a lot of other kids had gotten Dreamcasts and Sonic Adventure. And it turned out I was the Sonic Adventure evangelist.

I wouldn't say everyone hated Sonic Adventure, but they were pretty frustrated with it. The main talking point was that there were too many characters in the game and most of them weren't very good. Everyone had their ranking list for who they'd rather be playing as, and universally, everyone just wanted to keep playing as Sonic. Knuckles, Amy, and Big brought up the rear for the most-hated gameplay styles. A lot of kids were saying they weren't even going to bother finishing the game if it meant having to play as Amy and Big.

My point of view was that it was normal. Sonic 2 introduced Tails, Sonic 3 introduced Knuckles, so it makes sense that Sonic Adventure would introduce new playable characters as well. It did little to address their complaints that most of the non-Sonic characters were annoying.

This sentiment never went away. A year later, in 2001, Penny-Arcade, basically the biggest webcomic in the world at that point, awarded Sonic Adventure 2 "the best Sonic game where you do not play as Sonic" award, which was less of an actual award and more of a jab at how Sonic wasn't actually in 75% of that game.

Then the Gamecube ports started coming in, which, if you've watched my Definitive Way to Play series, you'd know that SA1 and SA2 were quick and dirty ports that introduced a lot of problems in visuals, control, and sound. Reviews for those versions deservedly slammed them, citing poor music that drowned out the dialog, rapidly dated visuals, and a generally buggy presentation, on top of all the problems people had with the original Dreamcast releases.

After that, the decline really hit its stride. Sonic Heroes, then Shadow the Hedgehog, then Sonic 06. A real triple whammy of things just getting worse, and worse, and worse. Sonic 06 in particular was so much worse that it hit the fabled point where it wrapped around to being kind of funny for some people.

All of this was YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS before "2010's Youtubers" ever stepped in front of a microphone. Those people were just recounting the lives they had lived.

Anyone who thinks 2010's Youtubers did anything are just revealing how young they were back then, and how ignorant they were about the general temperature of things beyond "after my nappy time and my juice box I'm going to play the colorful animals game, yay!!!"

Before that gets me into too much trouble, I'd also like to say that obviously, times change. Opinions are a fluid thing. There will always be a "younger generation" that thinks about things in a different way than the older generation. Anyone, no matter what era they grew up in, can go back and find some beloved nostalgic classic getting blasted by critics. (For example: recently I rewatched Howard the Duck, a legendary bomb for Lucasfilm, and I loved that movie as a kid)

Loving something that you realize everybody hated when it originally came out is kind of just part of the human experience. A rite of passage, almost. But it helps to embrace that perspective, understand it, and realize you can still keep liking that thing regardless.

2010's Youtubers did nothing except exist.

[randomthefox]

I never understood why some people insist that rings, bumpers, loops, and rails can't actually be part of the world when all that stuff shows up OUTSIDE of gameplay

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JoFVTAWI8x4

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/7/7a/Sonic_CD_ending_18.png/revision/latest?cb=20220704002047

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/5/51/Darkspine_sonic.png/revision/latest?cb=20220507191225

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/4/4d/Sonic%2C_you_should_spin_around_that_thing%2C_not_to_transport_with_others.png/revision/latest?cb=20130406164132

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/6/68/Chaotix_27th_Anniversary_Espio.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20220420230453

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/c/c1/SonicChannel_Christmas2019.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20191224032650

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yzK7gQWDnRk

How much more proof do people need?

Sonic's world is simply full of fantastical things. It's not that complicated.

I mean I can understand why you'd feel that way initially. Putting aside comic fans who are not invested in video games as a medium - it is pretty typical of video games for you to just suspend your disbelief about anything involving damage mechanics in a game. Like take for example Half Life - you get blown up with a grande and shot full of alien electricity attacks and shot full of bullets, what happens? You walk over a first aid kit and suddenly you're back to max. The game isn't really expecting you to think of things realistically. Enemy attacks take hitpoints away, first aid stations and medpacks give hitpoints back. You're not really meant to imagine in your minds eye the concept of Gordan Freeman pausing to put disinfectant and gauze over his bleeding wounds.

Only Metal Gear Solid 3 is brave enough for that lol.

So in Sonic, the rings are primarily interacted with by the player as a method of extra damage allowance and end of level score ranking. So I do think it is perfectly reasonable for someone who is used to the suspension of disbelief that games typically invoke when it comes to systems like that which relate to hitpoints and mistake allowance, and for them to just write it off as not "really" being a part of the game world so to speak. I do think in that sense it is a natural conclusion to come to if you're engaging with the video game as a series of interactive systems on the one hand and then a sequence of sequential storytelling on the other hand. Because that IS how most video games work. The gameplay and narrative are two separate things that don't often overlap. TV Tropes calls this gameplay story segregation. Shithead journalists call it ludonarrative dissonance.

It takes an additional level of investment to accept the world of Sonic AS a video game world, an immerse setting in which the fictional characters with rich inner lives inhabit WHICH ALSO embraces the fact that it is a video game with these systems of interaction as an in universe element of the world. Sonic looks at the camera and directly addresses the player. Sonic Adventure 2, a game that has a very serious story that address mature themes, has a poster like this in the very first level

Characters will directly refer to things via video game terminology of "stages" and "bosses"

The characters KNOW that they're in a video game. And aren't shy about referencing that fact. The fact that these are fictional characters in an interactive piece of fiction is something that they're aware of and acknowledge.

For SOME people, this violates their suspension of disbelief. It makes it difficult or impossible for them to emotionally invest in the story, because the story itself is admitting to merely being a story. Or they dismiss these instances as not being "real" in the context of the story, ignoring these moments in order to preserve their investment.

This is an understandable reaction. But it is also WEAK and COWARDLY! Y'all bitches wouldn't never last through the Metal Gear series! Sonic ain't got NOTHING on how meta and self aware Metal Gear is! SOLID SNAKE CANONICALLY DEFEATS PSYCHO MANTIS BY PLUGGING THE CONTROLLER INTO THE PLAYER 2 SLOT THAT IS CANON AND IT GETS ACKNOWLEDGED AGAIN IN MGS4 BECAUSE THE PS3 DOESN'T HAVE WIRED CONTROLLER SLOTS ANYMORE!!! Metal Gear Solid 3 has The Boss say this line of dialog

and that game will have you CRYING like a LITTLE BITCH by the time the credits roll.

.......... anyway

so yeah, growing up means embracing the fact that the world of Sonic has rings and bounce pads and characters who look at the camera and roll their eyes because your ass is taking too long, and still taking it seriously as a piece of fiction worthy of investment and analysis. You have to meet the games halfway and engage with them on their own terms. Some people aren't willing to meet the games halfway. Which is fine. But only as long as they aren't acting like the games are at fault for that. The games aren't doing anything wrong just because they don't conform to your personal standards of how much you'll accept a video game being self aware.

Rings and springs/bounce pads are "canon" whether you like it or not.

[y2klostandfound]

Review - Jet Set Radio Future on Evolution Magazine Vol.3 (Videogame Magazine) (Italy, 2002)

Translation in English:

(Page 54-55)

DISTRIBUTION - INFOGRAMES

GENRE: ACTION PLAYERS: 1-4 MANUFACTURER: SEGA DEVELOPER: SMILEBIT FORMAT:XBOX MEDIA: DVD-ROM

The concept of love, roller skates and a can of spray paint...

Almost two years ago, Jet Set Radio for the Dreamcast revolutionized the concept of modern video games. It wasn't a sequel, it wasn't a third-person adventure, it couldn't benefit from a character of attraction like Sonic but, despite everything, we were facing a great game. To tell the truth, it wasn't even easy to classify it in a precise genre; Jet Set Radio was an action game, but it had one feature that was increasingly difficult to find in this industry; the originality. Too bad that for most everything has gone unnoticed for the simple fact of running on Dreamcast. Fortunately, the European launch of the Xbox has resurrected a franchise deserving of the attention of the mass (yes: I said mass) of gamers.

The scenario of the action is a futuristic Tokyo of 2024, in which we will dart around with our "fireblade" model skates at high speed, drawing graffiti on the walls and performing acrobatic evolutions on all plausible and "grindable" surfaces. The aim of the mission, in the role of the young skater Yoyo, will be to recruit new members for our gang (after having regularly defeated them) and fight the terrible Rokkaku, a corporation that keeps the city on fire and acts with the complicity of the police local. This will chase us with any means, including tanks and helicopters! The whole adventure will be narrated by Professor K, a rebel DJ at the head of the transgressive private radio Jet Set. After passing the tutorial, disguised as the first level of the game, and having made the acquaintance of Gum and Corn (already present in the Dreamcast version ) we will be ready to dive into the most eclectic and fun challenge of our new career as writers: painting the walls of the city! And it's a real blast running around Tokyo, especially thanks to the beauty of the levels, some of which are truly jaw-dropping. Local traffic, crows perched on the roofs of houses, people in modern clothes who run away when they see us, everything has been created with particular attention to the refinement of detail. Unlike the first episode, in which the graffiti was created through complex rotations of the analog stick, now it is sufficient to press the R key (or the X and Y keys if you are in the air); understandable choice, if you take into account the fact that most of the graffiti you will have to do during the race. Jet Set Radio Future, in fact, is faster and more adrenaline-pumping than the prequel, and the emphasis was placed by Smilebit more on the stunts to be performed with skates than on the drawing of the graffiti. Precisely for this reason, to try to reach the most hidden areas to paint, we will have to learn how best to exploit the livery of our skates to slide (grind) on the most unusual surfaces (telephone wires, railings, stairs and lamp posts) and increase the thrust of our jumps. Furthermore, after collecting ten cans of spray paint, we will be able to activate the turbo boost, useful for having a greater thrust during the stunt phase. This effect is emphasized by the Xbox hardware through a spectacular screen deformation, which lets the gamer's jaw sink a few feet.

If all this were not enough, know that by continuing in the missions we will be able to select new characters, each with their own personal characteristics, from a rich roster that includes twenty-one skaters. JSRF is not only great playability: the originality and immediacy of the gameplay are accompanied by an equally valid technical realization. Graphically, Jet Set is one of the best titles to appear on Xbox so far, if not the best. The three-dimensional engine behind the Sega production is entirely in cel shading: although the environment is entirely polygonal, the less trained eye has the impression of watching and playing a real cartoon. The large number of moving objects on the screen at the same time immediately catches the eye; but the much-discussed slowdowns are very few and, certainly, not such as to negatively affect the gameplay.

The richness of details is astonishing: not only will you be "inundated" by polygons wherever you turn, but also the variety and resolution of the textures are incredible. The whole game is full of touches of class: lighting effects, lens flare used at best, stylistic traits designed to give greater dynamism and speed to the evolution of the characters, very vast and decidedly "alive" environments. And all of this shoots at an almost constant 60fps! Fortunately, Xbox Pai owners weren't penalized by the conversion: JSRF makes use of the 60 hertz mode, the image is full screen, without annoying black bars, and all the dialogues have been subtitled in Italian.

The audio part is no less impressive, with a soundtrack that mixes songs from the Japan and U.S.A versions of Jet Set Radio and adds new ones. The opening track made by Hideki Naganuma (The Concept Of Love) is already an editorial catchphrase, and we wouldn't be surprised if you started humming it habitually, too. If you own a Hi-Fi system with Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding, be sure to plug in Xbox and savor the sweet panning of Jet Set Radio Future. If you do not yet own it, you may be satisfied with the more classic stereo mode.

“...the originality and immediacy of the gameplay are accompanied by an equally valid technical realization.”

Some elements of the three-dimensional environments can be destroyed.

The characters are made up of polygons in Cel Shading and animated in a fluid way.

(Page 56)

THREE CHEERFUL GUYS OUT OF THEIR MINDS

JET SET RADIO FUTURE SOUNDTRACK

The Jet Set Radio Future soundtrack includes a tracklist created by artists from the American hip hop scene. The Latch Brothers, a group formed by three nice composers (Mike D, Tick and Wag), wrote and composed five tracks of the soundtrack of the title Smilebit. The chosen style varies from rock to hip hop, passing through electronic music that gives the title a greater futuristic atmosphere. In addition, the Latch Brothers have remixed the songs from the prequel (which we recall were played by the likes of Bran Van 3000, The Prunes and BS 2000), resulting in an almost unprecedented musical accompaniment. To top it all off, there are some "extended versions" by other musicians on the defunct Grand Royal label: Bis, Cibo Matto, Scapegoat Wax and Russel Simins. WaveMaster's Hideki has also left his mark on the Xbox version of JSR: by him the opening track "The Concept Of Love". A track that has already entered the Evolution charts ...

The Latch Brothers discuss with Smilebit the possibility of composing some tracks of the Jet Set Radio Future soundtrack.

After an elaborate discussion, the proposal is accepted! In exchange for three copies of the game, the Latch Brothers will produce five unreleased tracks and the remix of those from the last edition. Of course, the final compensation was quite different....

(Page 57)

On the longevity side, Jet Set Radio has some ups and downs: although finishing the game the first time will not engage you for more than 10-15 hours in total, the Sega title is not the classic product that, once completed, you abandon altogether. In addition to the aforementioned characters to unlock, we will have the opportunity to "learn" new graffiti as well as to create new and customized ones. In this way, we will be able to unleash our artistic talent and daub virtual walls with only the limit of our creativity. In addition, multiplayer ensures (if you have friends to play with) a good number of additional hours of gameplay. There are five modes available, supporting up to four players: City Rush, a real speed race; Tagger's Tag, in which the goal is to "tag" your opponent first with spray paint; Graffiti Wars, the "graffiti war," in fact, where the winner will be the player who manages to cover as many walls as possible with their graffiti (you can even draw over each other's graffiti), Flag, a nice variation of the "capture the flag" seen in titles with pronounced shoot-em-up ambitions, and, finally, Ball Hog, a race through the chosen level in the company of a ball that we won't have to let get out of our hands.

The latter mode is even more fun when played "cooperatively" together with a partner to whom you can pass the sphere!

Looking for flaws in a title like Jet Set Radio Future leads one to first analyze the framing system: often, in fact, the virtual camera, in the grip of the speed at which your "skater" travels, tends to lose sight of the centrality of the scene. Other times you will have to move on very narrow surfaces, and, at times, the too-close view will be the cause of easy and deleterious falls. Although in the long run this slight flaw can be frustrating, it will be possible, at any point in the game, to bring the virtual camera view back perfectly behind our backs by simply squeezing the left trigger of the pad (somewhat as happens in Capcom's Maximo). It is actually likely that you will still make it through all the levels without too much trouble.

The difficulty, on the other hand, could and should have been calibrated in a more thoughtful way: overall, Jet Set Radio Future is quite simple to complete and, in some points, it is boring having to repeat the same situation too many times; just think of the fight with the boss of the last level: to get to the platform where he awaits you and to be able to face him, we could take more time than the actual fight requires. Also, the streamlined nature of the graffiti certainly doesn't add to the hostility of the missions. In any case, these are minor flaws, which in no way affect Jet Set Radio Future as a must for anyone with an Xbox and looking for a fast-paced and fun game, but also exceptional to watch and... to listen to! And if you loved the prequel on Dreamcast, you really can't miss it: JSRF is worth at least double its parent! - Ornella Lepre 

“... the Sega title is not the classic product that, once completed, is completely abandoned.”

This is the amazing screen warping effect you will witness when you activate the turbo charge

The dialogues are all subtitled in Italian and help to better understand the story.

CONTROL BOX - XBOX

PLUS:

- Breathtaking graphics that are smooth and full of classy touches - Original and funny - Excellent Pal conversion - Numerous multiplayer modes

MINUS:

- Framing system not always perfect - Simplified graffiti system - Long-lived but not infinite

GRAPHICS - 9

PLAYABILITY - 9

LONGEVITY - 7

SOUND - 8

GLOBAL - 8

An original title, fun to play, beautiful to look at and full of touches of class. A must for new Xbox owners

[bltngames]

Mod Spotlight: Sonic Forces Overclocked

So this is an interesting little thing. For those of you not aware, Sonic Forces Overclocked (if I'm remembering right) was originally an attempt to "fix" Sonic Forces by expanding all of the levels and even completely rewriting the story. Obviously that's a big task, and the developers eventually realized that, scaling it down into what could best be described as an "Encore" of sorts -- an epilogue story where the villains make one last desperate final push, spread out across remixed versions of eight of the game's best levels. All told, it's about an hour worth of content.

Which is... actually totally fine. With eight (technically seven, but the final boss still counts) levels, there's plenty to see. Actually, pacing is probably Overclocked's strongest suit.

The original Sonic Forces was a pacing disaster; levels often felt like they were cut off at the knees, usually ending just as they were getting started. That's never true in Overclocked, as each level took me a good 3-5+ minutes to finish. Levels in Overclocked are also massively improved in other ways, too -- all that extra length is put to good use with Sonic's trademark alternate pathways, new enemies, and new interactive elements. Interactivity is up across the board. Sonic Forces loved to lock you into long, obnoxious scripted set pieces but Overclocked keeps you firmly in control most of the time.

Which brings me to something I'm not entirely sure is a complaint: difficulty balance. If you've been reading this blog long enough you know I can be pretty picky about difficulty balancing, and the way its handled in Overclocked is interesting.

Generally speaking, Overclocked treats the boost like "expert mode." It's there for people who know the levels already and want to push themselves to do it faster. At first it's fine -- boosting means you'll miss some alternate paths (shortcuts, most likely) but you can still bumble your way to the end of the level and coast by on C ranks. The further you get into the game, though, the more it starts to punish you for trying to go fast without knowing what you're doing. The safety nets that would catch you in earlier levels go away and Overclocked tells you to either slow down or get serious.

Which... I think I'm fine with? The thing it brings to mind for me is the two Sonic Rush games. My favorite one is Sonic Rush Adventure, because it's more accessible (read: easier to learn) than the first Sonic Rush. At the same time, the first Sonic Rush ends up being the more replayable of the two games, because it's a lot harder to master. The higher skill ceiling has kept me coming back to Sonic Rush long after it felt like I wrung all of the gameplay out of Sonic Rush Adventure.

So the idea of a Sonic game not only facilitating a higher skill ceiling but maybe even encouraging that? Not the worst way to balance things, as long as you keep the less skilled players in mind and communicate things correctly. Which, at least for me, I feel like Overclocked does. It started to kick my butt at certain points, but never in a way that felt too mean or unfair. And that's exactly the way it should be, though it should be noted I haven't exactly put myself through the hell of trying to go for higher ranks.

The one real complaint I have about the levels is something I've been observing for years, and unfortunately my fears came true: the lighting.

I've talked about my monitor in the past. I bought it somewhere between 2011 and 2012, so it's getting up there in years. I believe it was the first thing I ever purchased with my Youtube Earnings. It's starting to get kind of dim in its old age, and it's exacerbated by the fact I like to keep it on its "Theater Mode" setting, which gives me really good black levels (for an LCD) and amazing color. But it's an aging monitor, so those amazing black levels end up feeling a little dark, depending on the game. For those of you who caught my halloween streams this year, you know I ended up switching my monitor to its "Standard Mode" because it flattens the contrast and makes the darkest darks more visible. It could be argued that I should just leave the monitor in "Standard Mode" at this point, but I can't stand how Windows looks with it turned on.

To cut to the chase, I had to turn on "Standard Mode" for Sonic Forces Overclocked. In keeping with the theme of this being an encore, a lot of levels have wildly new lighting applied to them, with many levels set later in the evening or at night.

This blankets a lot of levels in a single color and lots of high-contrast shadows, which makes character, enemy, and hazard visibility incredibly difficult. In some levels with a lot of high-frequency noise (like Chemical Plant) it can be difficult to tell where your character even is on screen sometimes. In other levels, like the revamped Mystic Forest, the blue-on-purple-on-teal color scheme makes for a readability nightmare (as does the Death Egg Core level with Buddy, with a red character navigating a level full of orange fog, lit by pink and yellow lights).

When you're running through these stages at a couple hundred miles per hour, it all blurs together into something that's sometimes either too dark or too muddy to parse. At one point Sonic jokes that Infinite's aesthetic is "monochrome colors" but I'd rather have the levels be readable at a glance than hanging a lampshade on it. Things just need to be a little brighter, with a little more diversity of color to highlight the edges of roads and incoming hazards.

The story is... fine. It's not incredibly deep, and it doesn't need to be, so it works well enough. There's actually a surprising amount here, though, from mid-level chatter, map screen debriefings, and even full on cutscenes. Voice acting duties seem to be handled by Adrenaline Dubs, who I subscribed to last year for their surprisingly good dubs of Archie and IDW Sonic comics. They turn in some pretty high quality work here, often rivaling Sega's official dubbing efforts. My only real complaint is that Sonic's dialog is a little too referential; his call-outs during levels often reference other infamous lines from different Sonic games ("The whole city's on fire!", etc.), and sort of like how the game pokes fun at the monochromatic lighting, there's a line where Sonic even cringes at his own dialog a little bit. "We're admitting it's bad, but still doing it anyway" is not a healthy design ethos.

Earlier I mentioned cutscenes, and rather than the complex, high-budget cutscenes Sega had in the original Forces, Overclocked instead opts for motion comic videos. Artistic duties for these cutscenes are shared between a handful of 4 or 5 different artists, each bringing their own art style to their scenes. Generally, I think this is a good move. A little more consistency between artists would make it feel a bit more polished, but seeing the art style change between scenes has its own charms, too. It really drives home how much of Sonic Forces Overclocked was not only a team effort, but to some degree, a community effort. Many different hands touched this project, and it is better for it.

It's easy to focus on the negative things I said about Sonic Forces Overclocked here and think I came away not really liking it. Nothing could be further from the truth. I think this is a genuinely impressive mod, with significantly better level design than the base game. It has a few problems, sure, but the overall product, when taken as a whole, is absolutely wonderful. This might be a bit incendiary and hyperbolic, but this close to the top of the list as the most fun I've had with a Sonic game this year. If you own Sonic Forces on Steam, it's not to be missed.

Download: https://gamebanana.com/mods/485051

[nagichi-boop]

So assuming that Sonic 3 will at least partially follow the plot line of Sonic Adventure 2, here are some of my thoughts/predictions about things that will happen in the movie to fit Shadow’s lore into the movie universe;

• In regards to Shadow’s motivation for disliking Sonic, either (a) he resents him for having a human family while his was lost, (b) he thinks Sonic and his friends are stupid for getting close to humans as they are ‘inferior’, or (c) he doesn’t really care about any of that, but just that Sonic gets in his way. • Similar-ish to the last point, but I want Shadow to come to respect the Wachowski’s. Maybe not fully like them, but at least acknowledge they are good people. Whether that happens gradually or after he gets his real memory of Maria’s wish back, I want him to soften a little to them.

• I don’t think Shadow will be adopted into the Wachowski family. Not because they don’t want him, but rather I think he will become a free spirit, similar to how he is in Sonic 06.

• Although in SA2 Amy is the one to talk Shadow into helping stop the ARK hitting earth, I think Sonic could work well as the one to talk him down. He lost family, but he found a new one. He could convince Shadow that not all of humanity is evil. That, or maybe even Tom could talk to him? Who knows. I think Amy would also be a great option to match what happens in the games and I’d love to see that moment recreated, but I worry since we have had no word of her actually appearing in Sonic 3. That and I feel like they’d want the moment to be between Shadow and a ‘main’ character instead, especially with Sonic’s backstory being much different in this universe. • I also think it would be kinda cool if Sonic saved Shadow in space instead of him falling to earth. Not only does this avoid potentially rehashing the whole “I forgot again” storyline that Heroes and ShTH covered, but it also might make him more accepting of Sonic as a friend, or at least someone to respect.

• This is very much wishful thinking, but if Rouge and Omega return (either in this movie or in the future), please please PLEASE let them be a trio again, or at the very least friends. I don’t want any of this “Shadow can’t have friends” nonsense. TMOSTH proves how much more likeable he is when he isn’t just edgy and mean.

I think overall, I just really really hope that if Shadow is kept in the series after the third movie, he becomes an anti-hero instead of a villain. I want that version of Shadow back, not the “I’m edgy and I hate everyone” version. We saw a bit of his older self in TMOSTH and Prime (which I need to catch up on), so it gives me a little hope that Shadow in the movie will be more like his old self. And as a side note, I hope he’s like that in Sonic x Shadow Generations. Given its rehashing his backstory, maybe that’s a sign that he will be written to be like his previous characterisation? Who knows. A girl can only dream.

[semi-sketchy]

That...was it?

I mean, yeah, I probably should've expected it to end in a "adventure continues in SXSG" but that was very abrupt.

GUN, Rouge and Omega know there's something big coming, but just fuck off after this? There's no glimpse of what awaits Shadow? No real cliffhanger, it just stops? This wasn't satisfying.

It started with "Black Doom might be back I have to get to the ARK" and ended with "Black Doom might be back I'm on my way to the ARK." I stopped to look at the timer near the end because I was like "wait it's just gonna end here? We watched a travel animation?"

Maybe this is because I haven't been following SXSG super closely, but I don't understand how Shadow's campaign is going to start so I have no context for how this leads into the game. That's probably partly why it feels so abrupt right now.

I liked the music and action scenes, though I thought some lines should've been cut.

Like this is pretty obvious, but it keeps going.

The scene would've been better had this line been cut. Same thing happens in part 2.

Sometimes, silence speaks volumes. But of course, everything needs to be "spelled out" though that's an issue with the Maria scenes in general.

Man this shot of Shadow though with that music swelling, holy cow.

Hits you in the feels.

Overall though, it was okay!

My biggest compliment really goes to the sound design. I just love how the music and sound effects come together. Also really enjoy how snappy the animation is. By part 3 I definitely was able to tell I was looking at 3D models, but honestly I don't really care which medium it is as long as it's done well. This looked good!

Writing wise, I think part 1 was the worst and that's due to the stiff, on-the-nose interactions between Shadow and Maria (plus the slip-in of "low-gravity remission"). I definitely preferred the action scenes and interactions with Rouge, sadly Omega was just kinda there in the corner like "I CALL DIBS" and didn't contribute anything noteworthy.

I said this about Xenoblade 3 and it rings true here: this felt like watching a draft rather than a finished script. Some parts are cooked and others are raw. If Omega had nothing to do but blow a few things up in the background, why was he here? Even Shadow was the one to take down the GUN ship Omega originally engaged. Give him a bigger purpose or cut him.

The Maria scenes play out the most like a draft, something you'd write to get the basics of what you want the characters to convey before going back over and replacing those lines with actual dialogue. (This is something I do if I'm struggling.)

Now do I really care that the GUN Commander got his Archie name? No. Of all the things in this animation, Sonic Twitter picked the stupidest one to blow up about. I think the "low gravity remission" and Shadow knowing he's part alien is an actual issue. (Although I guess this could be argued since in ShTH he still had amnesia, he wouldn't remember so this wouldn't matter. Still, wasn't it supposed to be a secret? The Commander only found out by accident?)

Some things just aren't as well thought-out as others, which cements my thought that this script needed polishing.

All that said, this is the biggest promo animation project we've seen in Sonic yet and it's quite different from others before it. I don't think I'd call it "the best", I think the Frontiers one was super cool, but it also didn't have the run-time of Dark Beginnings. Like with XC3: Future Redeemed, it simply didn't have the time to screw stuff up as much.

There's good, there's ehh, so overall Dark Beginnings was just okay for me.

My biggest disappointment is still the fact that this animation simply wasn't what I wanted, which isn't its fault. I saw the teaser of Shadow and Maria on the ARK, I thought it was going to be about them on the ARK and it ended up just being about Shadow traveling to space. I wanted and was expecting something this animation was never going to be.

I guess we'll find out soon how the final game handles Shadow's story, though if this animation is anything to go off of, I'm keeping my expectations in check.

[beevean]

Favorite Sonic story?

Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Which I know it sounds like the grumblings of a Classic purist who hates that Sonic talks now :P but for real, it has a great progression, a way of communicating events without words, a memorable climax, and a good Knux.

Sonic Adventure too. It's just solid all around, give and take some timeline inconsistencies, it has an Eggman at the top of his game until the end, and I like the idea that some characters are less involved with the main plot but go through their own character arcs. Of all monsters, Chaos is by far the most interesting, tragic, and the one with the best lore, and I like the way Sonic decides to take it down, not just by bashing its brain, but with the realization that it needs to be calmed down, not sealed away and forgotten.

... and my big hot take: Sonic Lost World. I really really like the idea of Sonic and Eggman working together from the beginning of the game, but it's clear that Eggman is plotting something behind his back, and the two constantly quarrel - the scene where Sonic is appalled at Eggman's proposal of destroying Lost Hex is just a good incapsulation of their different mentalities to me. I like the idea that Sonic's recklessness causes dire consequences, and he genuinely tries his best to fix his mistake (unlike another story with a similar premise hint hint). I like the idea of Tails feeling insecure that Sonic prefers Eggman's genius to his (although Tails should have apologized, not Sonic). And the Deadly Six aren't peak villains, sure, but neither are the dozen mindless monsters in the Adventure era + Frontiers, so it's fine, Eggman carries the whole thing for me :P (also Zor is hilariously self aware and Zazz is Liam O'Brien-voiced so they have my approval) I don't know, I will never understand why this game was the one that made the fandom flip a switch :(

[bunnymajo]

Did an update design for Tiara B. She's definitely a sporty & adventurous character but I wanted to avoid workout clothes like Tangle's, I so I went for a jumper and did a scrunchie instead of a bow since I think Fiona pretty much owns big yellow bows imo. I also kept the wand because I like it, and decided to make more of a backstory for the giant rock on it & give it a name and explain I guess what she would be doing.

I broke it down into 3 parts & put it under a cut

1 - Harmony Diamond- Treasure of the Boobowski royal family. Only the royal family are able to wield it and the power level varies depending on it’s users state of mind (ie - if depressed or low on energy it’s not as powerful as when they’re determined & confident) It’s main ability is it’s able to heal or restore what’s broken. Including healing the sick. In combat it can absorb & nullify attacks, basically it becomes an OP shield. It’s encased in a scepter that can also be used as a blunt weapon. (I also kind of want it to look like a gymnastics ribbon while in motion. Like a beam of light that whips around whenever the wand moves) Tiara, as the last remaining member of the Boobowski family, is the only one left to wield it.

As a child her father told her to keep its power a secret because he didn’t want others coming for her, despite her protests that it could really help people in need. Gazebo starts to consider finding a way to duplicate the diamond. The real one to keep and the duplicate to try and use more publicly & possibly distribute throughout the world if duplication is successful. In his experiments of trying to convert a chaos emerald into another harmony diamond, this causes an unforeseen reaction and Gazebo suddenly vanishes without any remains. The diamond and emerald are repelled to the opposite sides of the room. Tiara witnesses the incident in horror. She disposes of the emerald and starts carrying the Harmony Diamond and Gazebo’s notes with her at all times in her quest to find him and answers on what exactly happened.

Notes: -Based on the “rings of order” concept from Sonic Xtreme of being opposites of the chaos emeralds. Shiny rocks are just more interesting than rings.

also inspired by the Silver Crystal from Sailor Moon (which culturally are the opposite of Dragon Balls, the inspiration for Chaos Emeralds)

also also tying in some of the original game drafts where Gazebo was trying to make a cure for a disease that Sonic had to transport(?)

2- The Boobowski Royal family & the Castle of Light - located in a northern region (in between Holoska & Spagonia) the Boobowski family had been its ruler for centuries, but in recent history the kingdom’s population & general well being declined. The King at the time had been more frugal with the Diamond’s use and kept its powers secret, when the people revolted to form a democracy, the royal family was cast out and lived among its citizens. The castle became public property as well but it suffered heavy damage from the revolt.

Gazebo is from the 3rd generation after the revolt. Even with the political change the population still dwindled, almost as if it was cursed. The royal family’s history remained a faint memory, and he & Tiara lived in the mountains (like the Mobian Alps) mostly staying outside of the world of politics, Gazebo as a local doctor. Tiara is a “princess” in family heritage only. Gazebo sometimes wonders what it would be like to restore the Castle of Light to its former glory. This is also what motivates him to duplicate the Harmony Diamond, so that he can get a boost of power to heal the castle & the surrounding area. Tiara has no interest in politics or being a pampered princess, but she did enjoy working alongside her father with patients and helping people.

Notes: -Castle of Light has been documented as Sonic Extreme’s hubworld & where Tiara was from so I wanted to utilize it.

Wanted to make the history distinct enough from Satam’s Acorn Kingdom (since Tiara looking for her father is already pretty similar to Sally’s story) and have its conflicts come from internal struggles vs. outside forces like Eggman attacks or whatever the heck was happening in Soleanna.

3 - Tiara’s character- Since Gazebo’s disappearance Tiara has been traveling alone. In her home village she was always wandering off on her own so she’s used to being independent. She puts on a determined face & positive attitude through this whole ordeal but doesn’t let anyone get too close & won't ever admit to anyone that she’s felt lonely & scared. She’s pretty confident in her physical abilities so sometimes she can seem hot-headed, impatient or even arrogant on a bad day. She has short patience for people picking fights in particular (so like, Rough & Tumble she would absolutely yell at & fight them without hesitation)

At the end of the day she won't give up until she finds an answer as to what happened & where her dad went. She doesn’t mind if she has to sacrifice personal relationships for herself to get there. She’s put out missing persons reports in every town she’s visited. She usually stays in town for a week to a month, working odd jobs or helping citizens from badniks. She goes to the gym a lot (into gymnastics, aerobics, rock climbing) and likes following the local sports scene. Big jock energy.

[softchassis]

Re-breaking the Tumblr Ice with a "25 Games To Know Me" post!

Reasons why each game is important to me are under the cut.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 -- I love Sonic in general. I think across the entire history of the franchise I can only really point to two games I dislike, or three if I'm feeling particularly uncharitable. But Sonic 2 was the first game I ever saw at a store and said "I want that one". As for how I feel about Sonic 2 itself, it's actually not my favorite Sonic game or even my favorite classic Sonic game--those distinctions go to Sonic Unleashed and Sonic CD--but without Sonic 2, I may never have given the blue hog a chance.

Spark The Electric Jester 3 -- The most recent game on this list certainly but it deserves to be there. It's so confident and unashamed of what it is. It *knows* it's a Sonic fan game underneath its yellow blorbo skin, but it never winks at the audience about it. You just get to do some really incredible, high speed 3D platforming and mix in some DMC-lite combos in there too. It's good, it's fun, it's sincere, it's beautiful. All the Spark games are.

Cave Story -- Before Cave Story I only had a vague idea of the concept of "single person makes game all by themself". I'd certainly played plenty before, from the Shareware era on DOS and Windows 95, but Cave Story made it feel approachable. Plus, on its own, it's just a great little game.

La Mulana -- Cave Story and La Mulana share the same space in my brain. It may be a little weird to say this, but I typically don't enjoy 2D Metroidvanias. The only ones I've beaten are Super Metroid and most recently Nine Sols. But something about La Mulana just tickles me. It feels like the entire map is one big Rubik's Cube I'm beating my head against, which is more satisfying to me than "I found the thing that lets me do the thing I couldn't do earlier."

DOOM (2016) -- I love the entire Doom franchise but DOOM 2016 is my favorite standalone experience. Otherwise I have played untold hours of classic Doom mods, my favorites being Reelism, Demonsteele, and Doom Infinite.

Sekiro -- A really great experience all around. I enjoy Dark Souls and appreciate its storytelling, but most everything in Dark Souls feels too distant for me to appreciate, whereas in Sekiro, the history both is recent and ongoing, and the Shinto and Buddhist mythology informs the story in real time. And It's just so fun to actually play. You never forget your first Lady Butterfly.

Dynamite Headdy -- Most everyone loves Treasure but to me no game is more Treasure than this one.

Moon: Remix RPG Adventure -- One of the earliest plays on the RPG genre. A typical RPG hero is going around slaying monsters to level up, but that person isn't you. Instead, you go around reuniting the souls of slain monsters to revive them, and learn a lot about the heartfelt and unique world they once inhabited. A really beautiful and important game.

Worms Armageddon -- Still the best 1999

Avernum: Escape From The Pit -- A remake of Spiderweb Software's first game in the "Exile" series. Avernum tells a great fantasy story about an underground cave society, where undesirables are exiled by the empire who scorns them. Instead of laying down and dying in the caves, its new residents name it Avernum and create their own society... and they don't intend to take their punishment laying down. A really fun and atmospheric CRPG with great, Vonnegut-esque writing and a lot of heart.

Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver -- I played this one pretty recently and was shocked at how forward thinking it was for 1999. I played the entire Legacy of Kain series back to back, but Soul Reaver stuck out to me as the best one. If you can't tell by some of the other games on this list, I adore games that feel lonely and isolating but still have a distinct goal and stakes. Soul Reaver is incredible and finally contextualized just why I saw Raziel all over Playstation magazines as a kid--it's because he's fucking cool!

Marathon Infinity -- play the entire marathon series right now stop reading this

Lemmings -- Huh. What's that doing here

Pikmin -- The first Pikmin is the best one in my opinion. I love the time limit, I love the simplicity of the scope compared to the rest of the series, it's a fun game to just pop in once in a while and just blitz through. I also just love microworld settings. And the creature design! And the puzzle design! Ohh Pikmin there's nothing like you.

Klonoa: The Door To Phantomile -- I have a lot of fond memories of this one, but specifically of playing the demo over and over on a Playstation Magazine demo disc with my sister. I wouldn't actually play the full game until much later, on an emulator. I did later rent Klonoa 2 and finish it before that though. Klonoa is good.

Rayman -- I love this game. I love how fucking mean it is while looking so bright and poppy and silly. I first played it when I was like 8 years old and it was a really humbling, eye-opening experience. But jokes aside it's just a really good game. But yeah, it's hard. If you've never played it before and don't want to tear your hair out, you should play Rayman Redemption, a fan remake of it that makes it a bit more approachable. If you ask me though, you should try the original first.

Ecco: The Tides of Time -- I also played this one when I was really young and it was also a humbling, eye-opening experience. I just liked dolphins, I wasn't expecting to have rented the hardest game in the entire fucking store. Having revisited the Ecco series many times since then, though, I think Tides of Time is the best one. It's just gorgeous and both versions of the soundtrack are amazing. I prefer the CD one though, except for Moray Abyss and Tubes of Medusa.

Splatterhouse -- Kids love horror and kids love forbidden things, so when I saw a Splatterhouse ROM on a romsite as a kid and was immediately told I wasn't allowed to download it, of course I fucking did when no one was looking. And my brain was altered forever

Earthbound -- I very briefly had a stepbrother who had a SNES and Earthbound and I wasn't able to play it myself (no open save slots) so I just watched, but I was fascinated by it. I would eventually play it myself later on good ol ZSNES. I have nice warm memories of watching the snow on the ZSNES menu while it snowed gently outside, in between bouts of playing Earthbound and Yoshi's Island.

Yakuza -- Okay the PS2 boxart is here as a stand in, I love the entire Yakuza series dearly. I did own Yakuza and Yakuza 2 when they were new, but lost them when our PS2 and all of its games got stolen.

Sonic Robo Blast 2 -- Another Sonic game? But this one's special. I've been playing SRB2 for over half of my life at this point. I've played countless mods for it and have watched it grow from a basic little Doom platformer into a great platform for expression. It's also just fun.

Bomberman 64 -- The 3D bomb-stacking and bouncing stuff in this game is so cool and is the exact kind of finicky, almost-accidental-seeming mechanical depth I love in video games. I can't believe they only made one of these.

Psychonauts -- Kind of a stand-in for Double Fine and LucasArts in general, but definitely the best game still out of both companies. I love 3D platformers and I love what this game does. There's still not much out there like it.

Rayman 2 -- Another Rayman game? Well yeah, I can't say I love 3D platformers and just not put the best 3D platformer ever made on this list. Not an exaggeration!

Final Fantasy XIV -- I get to play as a hot lion woman now. Have you seen her? Well, now you have

[skaruresonic]

... I never realized before how similar in headbashing stupidity "an immunitary disease is kept in remission by low gravity" and "Super Silver can rip away a virus that mutated people on a cellular level" are as cures for illnesses.

At least I know that the Metal Virus crap was because Flynn made it too OP and so he had to find a solution to the problem he created no matter what. Again, I reiterate that we did not need to know the nitty gritty of Maria's illness beyond "she was terminally ill and that's why Gerald was desperate to find a cure". It's not about "muh super saiyan hedgehog franchise", it's that a much more elegant solution 1) exists, and 2) did not need to be told (and 3) it directly goes against what shown in the games)

I'm still not convinced the low gravity thing wasn't all Flynn's doing, because

A.) Maekawa seemed to not be privy to it; he simply said if ST changed the original vision, that's their prerogative. A statement which doesn't really prove anything on its own. If he knew anything, he would have provided a less nonchalant answer,

and B.) it's the exact brand of nitpicky inanity Flynn employed in the comic. Characters spent aaaaaages agonizing over why they couldn't solve the metal virus through the usual channels, only for "tear the virus off like it's a second skin because the plot demands it" to be the solution.

Like, Eggman spent paragraphs explaining how the virus changes you at the cellular level. So what, pray tell, did Silver exactly do?

It's an asspull. Something that sounds good on the surface for all of two seconds before you apply a modicum of thought to it. And then you get told to shut up because you're thinking too hard.

Nah, man. I shouldn't have to do the writer's job because he's not thinking hard enough.

---

Again, I reiterate that we did not need to know the nitty gritty of Maria's illness beyond "she was terminally ill and that's why Gerald was desperate to find a cure". It's not about "muh super saiyan hedgehog franchise", it's that a much more elegant solution 1) exists, and 2) did not need to be told (and 3) it directly goes against what shown in the games)

"It doesn't have to be realistic, relax" is a weird hill to die on when SA2 is one of the few games that are grounded in reality, inasmuch a Sonic game can be grounded in reality. I could see that argument for, like, Mania, but SA2? Especially given the fact that Maria's illness is the reason Gerald created life, with all the existential implications attached? You're gonna treat it as the same tier as "What do rings do?"

I know I always harp on the "weapons of mass destruction" thing, but it can't be understated just how weirdly topical such a thing is for a game released in June 2001. You can apply this to other elements as well, such as the commercial bent and the focus on government conspiracies. It all converges to create an unreplicable atmosphere that is uniquely early aughts.

Y2K was a weird time for everyone; the world feared the end at the stroke of midnight on January 1st, and didn't quite understand how technology would play a part in shaping the future. In fact, Maekawa managed to convince ST to set their next adventure in space in order to celebrate the new millennium. SA2 is a time capsule of those cultural hopes and anxieties.

You cannot ignore that part when analyzing the game. You cannot ignore how art reflects reality in this case. Tails saying he caught the news of Sonic's arrest on "satellite TV" would be the modern equivalent of saying he caught it while watching YouTube. The words "weapon of mass destruction" leaving Shadow's mouth would be like if Infinite mentioned drone strikes in Forces.

Although subsequent games do allude to real-life every now and again, like ShTH and its one-off mentions of Japan and France - they're just that, tidbits. None are as deeply contemporaneous to their time as SA2. None have it as baked into their grain in the same manner as SA2.

...To say nothing of the usual "just because the games take place in a setting with supersonic hedgehogs doesn't render them unworthy of critical examination." Should go without saying.

also what the fuck, people are calling it "space AIDS." maybe choose a bigger fish to fry

[thankskenpenders]

So I'd recently said that the only thing I was particularly worried about with Sonic Superstars was the music, mainly because the words "Jun Senoue" and "classic sound" make me immediately think of Sonic 4 - which the extended gameplay footage was using recycled music from as a placeholder. Even with Tee Lopes confirmed as a contributor (but not the lead composer), I was concerned about what the bulk of the music would sound like.

Well, fast forward a couple weeks and my fears have been abated!

First up was the trailer at the Nintendo Direct, which features some new Tee Lopes music (as confirmed by him on Twitter) that sounds phenomenal. I keep going back to this just to listen to the music:

Later, the extended overview video made for Sonic Central features this track and more, which continue to sound like they were written by Tee Lopes. The poppy early '90s style is very similar to the Sonic Mania sound (as well as other work by Tee, like the incredible TMNT Shredder's Revenge OST), and it's exactly what I'd want. If this isn't all by Tee Lopes, then Senoue is trying really damn hard to mimic his sound. These just sound like melodies and arrangements that Tee would go for, not ones that Senoue would write. Even underneath the wonky instrumentation of Sonic 4, Senoue had a distinct sound. You could tell it was the same guy who wrote the Sonic Adventure OST.

Curious, I decided to dig deeper, and found a video interview I'd missed from IGN. On the subject of the music, Iizuka (as translated by Sega of America's Austin Keys) said:

"The Classic Sonic music has always had this real fun pop vibe to it, and we wanted to stay true to the roots with the Classic series and go and create some great new music for Sonic Superstars. So what we did is actually, we're working with Jun Senoue, who was the music director on Sonic 3 and he's also worked on Sonic Mania. But we're using Jun, and he's partnering with other people who also worked on Sonic Mania music, and creating this new kind of sound and this new music that's going to be a perfect fit for a Classic Sonic game. Lots of fun, lots of pop."

I am perhaps a little peeved that they go all in on Senoue here and don't actually name Tee Lopes, almost implying that Senoue was the main composer on Mania (he was only credited as an audio engineer). On the flip side, it's a little funny to name drop Senoue and not acknowledge, you know... Crush 40? Sonic Adventure? But I get that they're trying to win over the Classic purists and not make people think Superstars will be full of butt rock lmao

Anyway yeah, it sounds like Senoue and Tee Lopes are collaborating pretty closely on this to create music that fits the Classic vibe without literally going for fake FM synth. It's possible a little of that is still in there, but every single track they've presented so far matches the style of Mania, not Sonic 4. That's the sound they want us to associate with the game.

I couldn't be more excited for this soundtrack now.

[fleetways]

Hi, HUGE fan of yours, I just wanted to point out that the big addition you made about Shadow Generations and the Shadow's history timeline from the anime expo seems to be based very heavily on assumption; it's way more likely and also was downright alluded to by the host that whoever threw that chart together for this con (and who likely was just an intern given Photoshop and a Fandom wiki) was only including appearances that were major to real life; they specifically presented it as "his first appearance, the games where he returned, his first standalone title, and then non-game media that depicted him."

I also don't agree that it'd be nostalgia bait to focus on Shadow's past right now, especially in a Generations-style anthology game that's meant to capitalize on the movie. The ARK itself was last relevant to a game almost 20 years ago so SEGA is probably concerned that the people they're marketing to literally weren't alive during its relevancy.

Spoilers for a level in the game below:

It's also not like they're ignoring 06 and sweeping it under the rug, one of the few things we know about the game is that it has a level from 06. I'm not saying you were wrong I'm just saying you based a ton of speculative criticism on assumption and misunderstanding, which as a Sonic fan who lived through the 2010s it's just very draining to hear speculative criticism

Well the 06 thing was just me being mr salty more than anything so I’ll give you that. It’s not a criticism for the game, because I know what the game is gonna be and accept this, but just a disappointment with the attitude around it and the fact that they were able to tell new stories with Shadow in the past but have been seemingly unwilling to do anything else like that for the past 17 years. It just kinda feels like they’re digging their heels in to characterize Shadow as someone whose sole motivation revolves around Maria because they think that’s what people want to see, even though that’s something that I feel the canonical ending of Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) and later Sonic 06 showed was definitely not the case.

(Although I still vastly prefer this reading to Shadow acting like an asshole for no reason).

My issues lie way more in my expectations for the panel that this was going to be a deep dive into Shadow’s in-universe character and explore some of the lore that hadn’t been talked about before. There was some of that, but in the end it really boiled down to stuff I was either aware of, or stuff that had already been well-established in canon. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, especially as an introduction to Sonic x Shadow Generations, but considering Sonic x Shadow Generations is already looking to be an introduction to Shadow in Sonic 3, I was hoping there would be more for me to sink my teeth into as someone who is familiar with the character and deeply interested more in specifics. I recognize this is 100% a me problem, but I can’t help but feel frustrated.

As for the nostalgia-bait thing, I think we’ll just have to agree to disagree there. Sonic Generations is literally THE nostalgia game, and I don’t mean that as an insult, it made perfect sense for the time it came out. But considering there’s been a pretty significant tendency to revisit the same locations and concepts, to the point where its become a known point of criticism for the franchise, I can’t help but feel like this is the same thing I’m used to seeing just with Shadow. Which don’t get me wrong, if they’re gonna do it anyways, I’d much rather it be for a character we’ve been hankering for for so long! I just feel a little fatigued is all, even if I understand it makes perfect sense marketing-wise to make a version of one of your best-received games that neatly introduces your character starring in a blockbuster later that year, while also throwing a bone to Shadow/adventure era fans who were dying to see remastered levels from that era (me included!). It’s actually ingenious, so I can’t possibly fault them for it. Plus, for all my complaining, its looking like there definitely is new stuff going on with Shadow, so I’m excited for that. I am just hoping they can tell a story better than the one we got in the original Sonic Generations (which fortunately shouldn’t be too difficult).