#finally a Sonic 06 reference

[thecontroll]

SPOILERS BELOW.

So, Soleanna was mentioned and I'm fucking happy

[silverthehedgehoganalysis]

Here is a list of traits Silver has shown in the games, Sonic Channel and other Sonic Team made content:

Righteous, has a strong sense of justice and is driven to make things right

Kind-hearted, puts other people’s happiness before his own and will drop his mission to help others, is motivated by his desire to protect smiles, wants to use his powers not for himself, but to help others.

Extremely Determined

Optimistic and Hopeful, believes there’s always a chance as long as you don’t give up, inspires hope in the people he works with in Forces, the final story of Sonic 06 and when he helps Elise through her performance anxiety

Pure, has a “sincere, unpretentious and kind” demeanor and wears his heart on his sleeve, this genuineness and purity gives him an “enduring charm” that is one of the biggest things his friends, particularly Blaze, enjoy about him and makes others want to support him

Forthright, is very direct and frank with people and has a straight to the point mentality, is straightforward in his actions and thinking

Earnest and blunt to the point of naivety, expects people to believe and cooperate with him when he says he’s from the future, hides very little and is so honest that he announces himself when attacking Sonic

Not trusting post 06, doesn’t give Sonic a Chaos Emerald until he proves he’s real in Sonic Generations and is the most suspicious of Dodon Pa

Snide and Sarcastic, sneers at Eggman’s theme park in Sonic Colors and has a snotty attitude towards anyone he can one up, remarks “What am I doing?” when going with Amy

Brash, has rude/informal mannerisms and can be abrasive, particularly to people who are not his allies

Juvenile, described as young and immature by his creator Shun Nakamura, this immaturity ties into many aspects of his character as well as his purity but is also the source of his snotty attitude and rude behavior, supposedly he doesn’t like green peppers which is the Japanese equivalent of children not liking broccoli 

Focused, proactive and practical mindset, seen particularly throughout Sonic Forces

Focused on his goals, Does not care what the plan is called in Forces, only that it works and when asked about his favorite race item he says that he likes Jade Ghost because “It lets him disappear and focus on the race”

Inquisitive and proactive, questioned others about how the world was destroyed in the Iblis future his whole life, fought Iblis to try and clear the sky himself, spent most of Team Sonic Racing cracking down on Dodon Pa and Eggman, reads into “Ancient Wisdom” in the good future

Sharp and intuitive, Figures out how to revive Sonic in 06, sees through Eggman Nega's disguises by noticing small details, does successful detective work in Sonic 06 and Team Sonic Racing, intuits Blaze trying to control great powers when seeing them for the first time, has solved various puzzles and mysteries by himself, “knows a lot” according to Sonic in Silver’s Sonic Channel introduction story

Skilled and Crafty, skillfully accomplishes various tasks during his Town Missions in Sonic 06, turns his fight with Sonic into a race to collect Chao in Sonic Rivals 2, Vector refers to him and Blaze as professionals in the Team Vector Nintendo Dream interview, has had jobs as a delivery boy, a figure skater, a “genius” skating coach and a butler

Trains off-screen and makes steady efforts to improve his abilities, seems to be self-taught in his skills 

Sometimes takes everything on himself

Warrior with a warrior mentality, described as a warrior, enjoys fighting and will fight his friends for fun, fought and struggled for half his life in the Iblis future, values bravery and facing things head on, dislikes cowardice and indirect tactics, can endure “pain beyond description” and is undeterred by injuries (Shadow’s infamous kick to the head only made him mad)

Competitive and proud/confident in his abilities, has a smug attitude about his abilities and can get competitive over something as simple as handling Orbot and Cubot, clashes with Blaze the first time(s) they meet because of this

Headstrong and Confrontational, confronts Infinite alone because of this, gets offended when Blaze she calls him “weak” and treats him like an amateur 

Very Emotional, tends to rush in and deal with things too head-on because of the strength of his feelings and start confrontations because he gets heated, his passion drives him forward but this same passion can cause him to be rash as his actions are dominated by his feelings

Hot Tempered and impatient, can be easily angered and gets frustrated or indignant when things don’t go his way, can get annoyed at things that get in the way or impatient with things that aren’t to the point, his sense of justice causes righteous indignation at great injustices, his temper can be quite similar to Blaze’s

Has Aggressive energy in both his demeanor and body language, generally has confident or determined expressions, often makes fists, punches things when he's frustrated and gets up by punching the ground

Can be Ruthless, has resorted to playing possum, sneaking past Soleanna guards, robbing people and killing to accomplish his goals

Courageous to the point of being Reckless, puts other’s safety before his own, instantly reacts to protect those around him when attacked in Sonic Comic, Instantly battle ready when surprised in Generations, fought against Iblis and its monsters from a very young age growing up in an extremely hazardous devastated future, both values bravery and dislikes cowardice, recklessly went off to face Infinite on his own and is noted to not back down even in the face of his mighty power, will sacrifice himself without a second thought if necessary

His way of life inspires others and makes them want to cheer him on, this even extends to real life as the illustration at the top this post inspired everyone in the office to give him a high five that day

Cannot lie but can change the subject

Doesn’t know how to explain/express himself at times

Scratches his head with his index finger when processing his thoughts

Feels joy and anger loudly but is quiet in sadness and contemplation

Gets rowdy, riled up and puts his all into things he’s feeling but is very low and quiet when something is on his mind or he’s feeling down(He’s totally autistic, this is autistic volume)

Has a mischievous side

Like apples, ate apple flavored rations in the Iblis future

Deeply appreciates peace, prosperity and people‘s smiles, beautiful vistas and people living peacefully leave him breathless

His desire for peace is seemingly driven by strong empathy for both the people and environment around him, blue skies make him feel at peace, natural beauty and people living prosperously takes his breath away, desolate or destroyed areas sadden and upset him, he can’t help but smile when he makes others smile and can’t stand to see the suffering in his destroyed futures

Has a very quiet, introspective and empathetic side (he deeply and quietly reflects on the morality of his mission throughout 06 and quietly takes in everything about Elise’s past)

AB blood type meaning that he's dual natured and adaptable based on the situation

Is a Taurus

[egg-emperor]

Does Eggman actually have dark red eyes? I wanted to hear your take on that!

Nah that was just an ongoing thing in non canon media. Likely due to how the US box art Eggman for classic games looked like he had black voids for eyes, then 90s shows seemed to take inspiration but gave him red irises, which the Archie comics then adopted- well pre reboot, as he was later depicted with white sclera there even.

In the games he's always had regular white sclera instead. Even before we knew his actual iris color, he was consistenly depicted with white sclera long before and it was always Sega/Sonic Team Japan's vision. Here I'll compile some times they've appeared in the actual games

This was an unused animation for the Egg Poison boss but it's still a sprite made for a game that depicts what they envisioned his eyes to be:

They should've kept it because it was very cute and funny, spilling Mega Mack over himself XD

But with that, it dates his white sclera all the way back to Sonic 2, despite what Western classic box art and shows depicted at the time

The Sonic Advance games and Sonic Battle have his eyes very comically pop out when he takes damage:

He's literally one of these keychains where you squeeze them and the eyes pop out, they need to make an official Advance/Battle Eggman keychain like this lol

The 2D animations like Sonic Mania Adventures are considerably canon as they take place after the game's events and are in an actual game now through Sonic Origins' museum. You can see them there too:

You can also see them again in the character sheet art that was also used as reference for the Origins 2D animation:

Trio of Trouble, which also should be canon as a prequel and promo for Sonic Superstars, also shows his eyes briefly:

The only time he's been shown with an iris color in a game is Sonic 06, where we finally see that they're blue

While 06's events were erased from the timeline, Eggman's eye color obviously wouldn't have just randomly changed just for these events and then been some other color after, so this solidly confirms what color his irises are

I really love the light gray-blue shade they went with specifically, suits him best for it makes them look cold and intense which I think works as a much better way to give him a sinister look than much more cliche red and black eyes

And a bonus which perhaps might not be the case but that one CD sprite has always appeared to give a peek at the whites of his eyes behind his glasses to me at least too:

There are also non canon depictions with white sclera as much as there are of him with red and black but I wanted to compile the appearances within actual games and tie-ins specifically. And as you can see, he has white sclera in all of them and blue irises in 06

Red and black is purely non canon. A lot of people have theories about his eyes changing or looking different because of non canon media but if he took his glasses off in a 3D modern game, he'd absolutely just have blue eyes and white sclera

I really hope they do at some point because they'd be fun to see on his regular model outside of 06 and would look very pretty hehe 🩵 I love to imagine them all the time and I'm very happy that they're the canon look because they're the best!

[st1ckart1zt]

Who is the new character on Sonic x Shadow Generations?

This was the question that was going non-stop in everyone's head.

It definitely isn't Tails since Shadow absolute hate him for no reason

Since the game drops in october, i might as well make a theory about it and guess it.

So here are some characters that might be teaming up with Shadow.

Let's start with simple ones

1. Omega

We saw him appear in some of the games(Sonic adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, 06), and he was teamed up with Shadow and Rouge mostly.

2. Silver The Hedgehog

He was also like Omega teamed up with Shadow in 06 game. But unlike Omega he was sent to kill Shadow but teamed up with him to stop Mephiles.

He is also in Sonic and the black knight, a son, Galahad, to Shadow, in other words, Sir Lancelot.

Also, they have some similarities in their personality, powers, and form.

3. Cream The Rabbit

She hasn't appeared in Sonic games for few years now and it might be her who will assist Shadow.

Shadow and Cream seems to have very good relationship together. He acts like an older brother or an uncle to Cream. We can see that in archie comics.

And last one who i think it will shock many Sonic fans and that it will finally make their appearance in the game.

And.................... that character...................................... is.................................... no other than............................

4. Eclipse The Darkling

Yes i know what you're all thinking but hear me out.

Eclipse and Shadow share some similarities towards eachother.

Eclipse is fiercely loyal to his race and is willing to do whatever he can to make sure that they will not go on the verge of extinction. He is at times is playful in cruel ways and even at times mocks his foes while fighting them. He is the only one in Black Death's army to have a free will.

Even though he was created to destroy Shadow the Hedgehog, he decided that it would be better if he can convince him to return to the Black Arms. He often refers to Shadow as "brother" even though they were both created by two different masters.

While Eclipse is loyal to Black Death, he, at times, questions his orders or even tries to make the situations for the Dark Arms better. Sometimes it works, while other times it doesn't. Eclipse cares for no individual that isn't part of his species. He would rather them use them for the good of the Black Arms or just to rid them of their existence. All he wanted is to do right for his endangered race, even if it means destroying another to save it.

He holds a sense of responsibility and greatly cares for the hatching Dark Arms, despite the fact that they are a hive mind.

Doesn't this reminds you a bit of Shadow.

Shadow was created by Gerald Robotnik in order to cure Maria but after Maria's death he brainwashed Shadow by changing Maria's wish.

He also taunted Sonic in Sonic x many times and also in the games too.

After his redemption he starts to care about people around him and he doesn't admit that aloud but he does care. We can see that in archie comics, games and shows.

We can see that in archie comics, Sonic x, 06, Sonic Generations, Sonic Forces, Sonic Prime and etc

The difference between them is:

1. Their form

2. One of them choose to rebel against Black Arms, defeat Black Doom and become better while the other one didn't but still try to get better

3. Shadow didn't care about his kind but cared about his friends and people on Mobius. Eclipse cares about his kind but doesn't care about people on Mobius.

Well that’s it for this theory. Please Share Your Thoughts About This.

[gurenmonster]

I keep thinking about Knuckles possibly having Iblis sealed inside him in the movie-verse and how they could work with this to bring Silver for a posible 4th and final movie?

Hear me out:

First of all, if Knuckles does literally posses the Flames of Disaster (Iblis is sealed inside him), then in the movies Sonic can very much still be the Trigger. Think about it, the reason why Sonic is deemed the Trigger in 06 is because his death causes Elise to cry, which releases Iblis.

The concept of Sonic being the Trigger can be boiled down to one specific aspect: someone close to Sonic has Iblis sealed inside them, and Sonic's actions, intentional or not, causes them to release it.

So, if this were to be adapted to the movies, then you have Knuckles: someone close to Sonic who has (presumably) Iblis sealed inside of him.

In 06, Elise can't cry, or else Iblis would be released. Knuckles however is an interesting case because it seems he has more control over the Flames, using them in battle to add onto his power. This made me think that maybe, if he's pushed to the edge enough, forced to use too much of the Flames in battle, then maybe that could eventually release Iblis? Or, knowing how hot headed Knuckles can be (even though movie Knux is definitely less hot headed than game Knux), maybe all Sonic has to do is push him just enough to make him literally burst in rage. (though to me this isn't as likely, since I don't believe Sonic would ever push anyone's buttons hard enough to cause something like that)

Either way, we got all the necessary things to make a certain time traveler worried enough to jump back in time to stop that from happening.

The Knuckles Backstory Rock Opera sequence has caused a lot of discussion. I personally believe that it was important, in a way, and not just a silly way to tell a story we already know.

Think about it: why would they go through all that trouble of making puppets and sets, plan choreography and costumes, just to retell a story we all already know?

Yes, you could argue it's most likely for the people who just walked into the show not knowing a whole lot about Knuckles. But even then, the addition of Iblis is simultaneously very random and specific, that I feel like all that was missing was a sign saying "Hey pay attention now! We added this new bit to Knuckles's backstory!"

They could've picked a random boss from any game, but they chose Iblis... a creature with A LOT of story behind it. A creature from a VERY specific and memorable game in this franchise. Mostly everyone who watched it knew what it was, we all collectively reacted to it. I seriously don't think this was something they randomly decided to add just to make a reference...

Before this, I was happy with the idea of having the 3rd movie be the last. But if they manage to shape this whole Knuckles-Iblis thing and fit it to make a movie version of 06's story, then I can maybe see a decent 4th and last movie in the future. I feel like it would be nice to end the movies with the past-present-future hedgehog trio.

Anyways! If you read all this then wow, thanks? I'm just a big Silver and Knuckles fan lol

[disabled-battlekukku]

Sonic opinions that may or may not be controversial

Sonic character design is at its worst when they try to make it as "Sonic-like" as possible, and at its best when it's at its most unconventional (i.e. Fang the Sniper, the Witchcarters, the Kukku Empire, the humans in Sonic Unleashed and Chronicles, SatAM and AOSTH characters, etc)

Infinite's maskless design is lame

Sally Acorn, Amy Rose, Princess Elise and Lanolin aren't the worst characters, you just want to hate female characters. There are way worse written characters and you choose those three to bash on

That said, Chris Thorndyke and Charmy Bee aren't annoying, you just hate children. Chris' unwilling to let Sonic go in the finale of Sonic X's season two wasn't a dick move, that's his character arc. And of course Charmy being loud, annoying and basically dooming the resistance by turning himself into a zombot to try and save someone makes sense. He's a god damn six year old

Ian Flynn trying to "simplify" Fang the Sniper takes away all that made him interesting, his weirdness and confusing design (he literally took away Fang's hybrid side and him being originated from the Special Zone. Blaze exists, why can't Fang be from another dimension too?)

Gemerl not having Emerl's personality isn't neither a betrayal nor a bad take on his character. In fact, it makes his contrast with Emerl and comparison to Omega and Metal Sonic better. Shard is not coming back guys. Cope

Sonic Forces should've been less focused on Classic Sonic and more on the Rookie. In fact, Shadow should've replaced Classic Sonic in the storyline

Sonic Colors is worse than Sonic 06 in terms of storyline and the DS version should've been the real deal

As fun and awesome and amazing as Sonadow is (totally not speaking from bias), making it non-canon is the best for everyone

Characters like Shadow and Omega shouldn't have a classic form, but it would be interesting to see other modern characters in classic form

Classic characters shouldn't be confined to the "classic universe". Archie's best parts were when classic and modern characters interacted (Mighty and the Werehog, Shadow and the Hooligans, Jet and Speedy)

The idea of the Babylon Rogues being associated to the Kukku Empire in the past IS an interesting concept. What isn't is the Kukku Empire being associated with the Babylon Garden. They should be their own villains

As goofy as Sonic Chronicles was, it wasn't a bad game at all

Western and eastern Sonic media should be treated with the same respect

Sonic characters acting immature shouldn't be a big deal. They are kids, no matter how many times you point out how they removed the ages at the Sonic Channel site. Amy Rose herself was at her best when she was an immature hotheaded girl

As much as I wish Silver was more serious at IDW, him acting excited and happy isn't bad either. He's healing from multiple broken futures

Silver and Blaze are better staying out as platonic. If Sonic and Shadow's tanabata references can be seen as platonic, then those two can two. That said, their relationship should still be seen as meaningful to both of them (perhaps more to Silver than to Blaze). Male and female friendships exist without it being instantly romantic

MORE. UNSEEN. CHARACTER. INTERACTIONS. PLEASE

Sonic Shuffle shouldn't be shafted just because of the weird gameplay and human-like characters. The Maginaryworld characters should make a comeback (ESPECIALLY with to the implications of the angel statue in Sonic CD's Wacky Workbench)

We need more truly irredeemable female villains (Surge doesn't count, I'm talking about characters like Witchcart, Lien-Da, Thunderbolt)

For the love of God, Sega. Bring Classic characters back

If you can give personality to Metal Sonic and Mecha Sonic II, you can give to the other robots (and no, making Tails Doll an eldritch horror doesn't count)

Hyper Sonic should come back. Maybe even make it the "third stage" to the Super Sonic and Super Sonic 2 duo

As good and amazing as Amy's everything was in Sonic the Comic, that shouldn't be the blueprint of her canon character. At max bring back her crossbow (and her girlfriend)

Tails Adventure is better taking place before Sonic and Tails meeting. If he was confident enough to follow Sonic and help him defeat Eggman's ass he should be confident enough to abolish the monarchy (last part is /hj lmao)

Tails Adventure mentioned, the Kukku Empire should make a comeback too. If Shadow can come back the Kukkus can. They weren't cntrl+alt+del from existence like Mephiles was y'know

We don't want to see the classic universe. We want to see classic CHARACTERS

Sega. Hey Sega. Sega. Are you hearing me. Sega. Bring classic characters back Sega. Sega-

Post-genesis wave Archie character designs sucks ass. The color palettes make it worst (Antoine I'm looking directly at you)

[vocalcalibration]

Silver and Blaze need their own game.

This is a topic I, like many Sonic fans, have given a lot of thought. Ignoring for a moment that these two haven't been playable in an official capacity outside of mobile games and spinoffs since... Black Knight? Does that count? The potential for story and gameplay with these two in particular is massive!

Story:

Frankly the plot pretty much writes itself. But let me explain what I specifically had in mind. The story would start with Silver in a burning city he does not recognize. Crisis city would serve as the opening level to the game. At the end of it Silver would be surrounded by monsters and attacked by Iblis before waking up in his home, this is a nightmare he's been having for weeks now. We would then transition to Silver's second level where he runs and glides through the floating islands of his current future. Why floating islands? Because floating islands are cool. We'd meet some new characters who, establish him a little bit of his own supporting cast, that is until a portal opens up and a shadowy individual pulls Silver throufh it.

From here we cut to Blaze who is rather unenthusiastically attending to paper work before someone comes in and informs her someone fell from a portal in the sky. This would star Blaze's first level with her navigating the jungles and beaches of her home island, before coming across an unconcious Silver whom she brings back to the castle. While he's resting the same shadowy figure emerges in the city unleashing monsters onto the townsfolk which Blaze then deals with for her second level in her capital city. After this Silver wakes up and the two exchange notes, with Silver agreeing to stick around so they can figure out what's happening.

From here we can spend time both experiencing visions of 06's future, chasing the new villain through both the sol dimension and Silver's future, and realizing the bizarre connection the two of them seem to share might be more than just weirdly good chemistry.

For some further explanation on my choices here.

I'm building the story as a followup to 06 for a number of reasons. For one it's the game that established them as a duo so if we have a game with the two of them naturally we're going to pull from it.

The series keeps alluding to their 06 partner ship as well. The above is a Colors DS screenshot in which they directly reference their time in 06. Sonic generations has the two both found in the crisis city portion of the hub and has them standing next to each other whenever they're in a cutscene. And they're often paired together in the IDW comic books.

Which is in no way a coincidence. Most of all however is that Blaze's place in 06 is, to this day, one of the biggest unexplained questions in Sonic's lore. Why was she in original timelines future? Why was she so okay with killing Sonic if she was Rush Blaze? If she's not Rush Blaze why does she have such nice clothes in the apocolypse? All questions we've never gotten a proper explanation for.

There's also the fact that I think finally tackling 06 head on would be healthy for the series future. The games impacts on the franchise are undeniable and can be felt to this day. For a while they seemed to live in permanent fear of the game, like it would come back and haunt if they said it's name too many times. Then we had the self flogging era where they "got in" on the joke. Nowadays they seem more comfortable referencing the game in a more matter of fact way, but finally ripping off the bandaid and just acknowledging the game outright in canon may be how they finally put it to rest. In service to that the ending could have Silver and Blaze choosing not to allow whatever past life they had define them, instead focusing on the now and what they can do for it.

Some character stuff you could do could be maybe Silver, due to the events of 06 is cut off from the time line. Everytime he visitis Sonic and co in the past his future is slightly different, the people he does and doesn't know change, but he remains the same. His memories aren't altered to match the current future and so he finds himself in a world of strangers, part of why he spends so much time in the past as Sonic and the others recognize him and he feels like he actually has a place there, but feels as though it's selfish on his part to stay and alter the timeline even more. Meanwhile Blaze could find herself worn out due to her responsibilities as princess, the expectations that weigh on her and finds herself longing for the excitement and adventure she felt with Sonic during their time together. Or something like that, I'm just spitballing here.

We could also reintroduce Marine as a proper "Tails" to Blaze's "Sonic", taking a page (heh) out of the IDW books by having her be much more mature and concientious of her duties in a squire-esk position.

Granted IDW might have over done it JUST little, at least with the tiny bit we see her, so maybe have her keep a bit of that energetic and cocky attitude from Rush Adventure, just toned down a little. You could show her more developed as mechanic, having pick up things from Tails and due to her own practice and training. Also make all her Australian slang incomprehensible to Silver because that would be funny.

Gameplay:

Right out the gate I want the game to be based on the open zone formula of Frontiers, it's the direction I want the series to stick going forward, no more pulling a Sonic Team and jumping ship to a radically different gameplay style for seemingly no reason again. With that said I think I'd like to see it refined a fair bit. Instead of several open zones we have two much larger open areas featuring multiple biomes through which you access the various levels. The Sol dimension would be the first open zone, with the main island and various smaller island surrounding it. Water vehicles from rush adventure could return and exploring would have a bit of a wind waker vibe, sailing from place to place. It wouldn't be as intrusive as Rush Adventure, instead of being their own segments it'd be real time vehicles you can get in and out of whenever and all the major islands would have fast travel points once discovered.

The other open zone would be the same structure, albeit with two main islands connected via bridges surrounded by smaller ones, except they'd, again, be floating in the air and you'd travel via air vehicles. I guess like Skywar Sword... huh.

Blaze would serve as a more traditional Sonic gameplay experience, high speed platforming and action. Specifically base her moveset on 06 Blaze, which featured a double jump, homing attack and grounded fire tornado attack, while also adding in her fire spindash and hover from Rush. Her combat would resemble Sonic's frontiers combat in the open zone, of course with a focus on her pyro-kinesis for her abilities. To put in fighting game terms, she's be a true rush down character with some light projectile stuff.

Silver would be slower. Now let me be clear, Not slow, slower. He'd still move at a good clip but would be outpaced by Blaze easily. In place of that his levels would be more platforming and puzzle focussed. Silver wouldn't ball jump or homing attack, like 06, but he'd have hover, a high jump and a psycho slash move which kept his momentum so as to not slow him down. Also while Blaze would have something closer to the Unleashed-Forces boost, which damages enemies, Silver would have the non-damaging frontiers boost. His combat would be much more projectile heavy, with psycho-kinetic blasts and slashes and aoe attacks. Maybe also some kind of psycho mine that when activated holds ebemies in place? I think it'd be cool. Again in fighting game terms, a zoner/trap character with some light melee and grappling options.

In the open zones you could switch between the two freely, including mid-combo, to tackle the various combat and platforming challenges and puzzles. For levels there are a few options. You could have dedicated levels for both character, the advantage there being that you can taylor each level to their specific abilities. Maybe even take something from Forces Sonic/Avatar stages with select levels using both of them. Alternatively you could have every level accessible by both but with different paths they can take based on abilities. Or you could have it so you can swap freely mid level, kinda' like Sonic Heroes. They all have benefits and drawbacks and I can't really say which one is definitively the best choice.

But now we reach the end of my essay... thing. Thanks for reading. Also all art were taken from official sources including Sega and IDW. Ttfn. Tuh tuh for now.

[angelofdiamond]

I watched the whole series of Prime and nothing was understood about where the series is placed in the video games however the only thing that was understood is that by doing a '06 situation they kind of explained the situation: basically it is a paradoxical situation the events happened but by "resetting" it it is as if they never happened except for those who were directly involved here is the real power of the Paradox Prism: it creates multiple possibilities, dimensions, alternate realities, but it does not mean that it is forcibly bound by law: " this reality is final" it is a paradox this event you created can happen as it cannot happen at another point and at this point it will unfold differently. Kind of like with Genshin, excuse the OT, Sonic and Shadow are that unforeseen variant that was not calculated by the power of the prism that's why there is no paradox of Sonic and Shadow biological. True Sonic has the Paradox Prism energy inside him become one and the same with the prism and Shadow had the chaos emerald that has protected him but also the others were overwhelmed by that paradox energy only with the difference that Sonic inadvertently literally merged with it and from what we have seen, there is no paradox-copy of the whole Paradox Prism only one. Also...IAN CAN YOU KNOW WHERE PRIME IS LOCATED IN THE CANON OF GAMES 😭!!!? But it is really good to see the many references of X , Shadow pose, the fact that he is the Ultimate Lifeform, and the fact that has shown affection towards Sonic in his own way ah and Nine redemption arc? It has been so touching and good to see 🥹💕

[beatcroc]

alright kids we fuckin did it

and even managed to first try s-rank the final boss somehow. crazy. im pretty sure that's the only s rank i got in the entire game.

so why did i do it? how do i feel? most of the experience of playing 06 is stuff that really only matters being experienced in the moment, but i took a shot at trying to quantify why i went out of my way to play sonic 06 anno domini 2024, with some subsequent thoughts about each after having finished.

1. silver is there. i like him. it seems most people do these days; no doubt largely due to the comics, but that was absolutely not the case upon his debut. i wanted to see where the character started and if there was truly Anything salvageable from his initial appearance, or if there are any throughlines to his current characterization. verdict: yeah, like, way more than i thought there was going to be actually. it solidly exceeded my expectations here. obviously, i was will to be EXTREMELY lenient about him because hes my special little guy and he is SUCH a gift in idw; but even so he never really did anything like, wrong. like as a character i mean. he's a little annoying sure, but so are most of the characters in this game. i know this would have been infinitely worse back when it was his only appearance, but UNLIKE most of the characters in this game, he is at least also consistent. all in all he's still just kind of a hasty little fuckup here, which is much of why i like him in present.

2. the general notoriety of it. everyone knows sonic 06 is bad. you hear lots of insane stuff about all the various ways in which 06 is bad, but they all feel like such disconnected points by now. you need to get the whole picture you know. the full breadth of it. i think cultural significance for being dogshit is just as interesting as cultural significance for being brilliant. verdict: its so bad. its fascinating. there really were quite a few cool ideas in here but the execution of them all is consistently so, SO baffling. there's the utter lack of polish and functionality yeah, but even underneath that in its base design it there is just so much that's so inherently unintuitive. one really does have to wonder about it. i must, however, stress that poor execution on decent ideas [or in some cases decent execution on bad ideas like, say, omega's fucking bizzare characterization here, and really most of the plot in general especially wrt to elise] is far more forgivable to me than no ideas [most of the boost-era games If I Am Being Frank], or cool ideas with No execution [sonic forces. [i played through it about right in the middle of my 06 journey and it's amazing how that game is like the exact opposite kind of bad from 06. that one is the kind that really pisses me off, as it turns out! you would not believe how hatermoded i got during forces' short duration.]

3. it had a lot more going on than i'd realized. i'd kind of always just held 06 as "the sonic and silver game and sometimes i guess shadow is there also?" but the more i heard about it it was like "wait blaze is in this game? how does that work??" "omega is in this game? AMY is in this game???? PLAYABLE????? how does all that fit together???". in more recent years i've heard people refer to 06 as 'the last sonic game where they really tried', and now that i know my own disdain for boost era games and gameplay was NOT just me being a shitty teen, i figure it would be interesting to see what all that was about. now that the series has returned from its, shall we say, prodigal son arc, i'm in general a lot more willing to explore where things went awry. verdict: turns out it did not in fact fit together very well at all, but again, i respect a blundered attempt at something like this far more than the subsequent several years of "sonic and his one wacky gimmick partner" games that followed. i think anyone genuinely praising this game and its Quite Frankly Pretty Damn Bad characterization is insane, but i do understand the respect for its ideas; and i definitely understand the 'this game could be so good if it was good'-type obsessions. it's certainly a type i am prone to but fortunately it did not get to me with 06.

4. hubworlds. this isn't a full point in and of itself, but it's why i decided to just play the damn game as it is instead of playing project 06 and/or watching the cutscenes on youtube. it feeds largely into the second point of just wanting to experience it as a whole package; but also i just generally like the idea of hubworlds in sonic, and i like that they have missions in them here. verdict: there's not a verdict for this one as it wasn't a question or a curiosity i had. naturally, they're also not good, but i didn't go in expecting to enjoy the sonic 06 hubworlds. i just think they're nicer than only having a map screen or level select.

all in all i think it's kind of impossible for me to hate sonic 06. like at this point you know what it is. you know what it's known for, its reputation far preceeds it. i've dealt with my fair share of janky games, and it actually wasn't nearly as uniquely unplayably nonfunctional as i was expecting. it's bad but it's the amusing kind of bad, and though there's certainly no laughing with it, if you aren't laughing at it you're laughing a yourself for deliberately choosing to play this stupid fucking game 18 years later.

[beevean]

I think another reason I don't like the writing in Frontiers is that it feels... egotistical? Like idk the entire air around the games just gives off "Oh here's the game that will save us from the big bad 2010's writing, so praise it!"

Also just how I feel the more dramatic parts feel trying too hard, like when Sonic is slowly being corrupted, I felt next to nothing... the game felt like it was grabbing me by the shoulders and going "See this scene??? See how much pain Sonic is in??? FEEL SOMETHING!!!"

I use the word "pretentious".

Frontiers clearly aims to have a different story than usual. Event-wise, it's pretty paper thin: Sonic rescues his friends and uncovers the mystery of these new islands he's stuck in. No big deal, Sonic games don't need a big complex plot. But unlike, say, Heroes or Generations, Frontiers has little to no levity, the music is bombastic in an attempt to inspire awe and wonder, and it's heavy, heavy on character interactions. Introspections, even. Amy, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman are supposedly eviscerated by the writing, with all their fears and doubts and desires exposed, like a drawn out character analysis and, yes, a blatant rerailment from the terrible Pontaff games. Tails and his arc that is literally "wow I sure sucked in Forces, what was up with that" is the most obvious example of this, but I have talked extensively how Frontiers feels like a huge love letter to SA1 in the worst of ways.

(and the unnecessary dig at Baldy McNosehair that is also the second time in a row from Flynn :\ let it go, man)

Like, alright. Let's be real. Games like ShTH, '06 and Forces wanted to be taken seriously too. They did not succeed at it, for various reasons. And while ShTH makes me laugh for how tonally dissonant it is, and I don't think Forces is as cringe as it was made to look like, I still think '06's story is largely boring and a bit tryhard for the series, although it has a few funny/cute moments. So yes, overly serious games are not new in the series.

But Frontiers really gives me a whole different vibe. Like it doesn't just want to be taken seriously: it wants to be praised as a pivotal moment in the series. Perhaps it's precisely because of how it solely exist to "fix" characters, how it shoves as many references as it could as candy for the old-time fans (when one of the complaints of the Pontaff games was that they felt disconnected), how everything about it, and now I'm also adding the gameplay, feels like it doesn't exist for its own sake, but to be "a step in the right direction". Like that it's the biggest accomplishment it can reach. It's a step in the right direction. It's better than what came before. We are fixing the series. Right?

(I wouldn't mind the attempt to show how Sonic was suffering from the corruption. I genuinely like the scene where Sage keeps questioning Sonic's resolve and he just keeps going with a gritted smile. I sure mind how the game was rushed into giving it a non-conclusion lmao, and Final Horizon didn't really fix things.)

[hedgehogfangirl317]

Blaze & Silver

In my universe, Sonic 06 happened and was then split off as implied in the games. Only Silver fully remembers the events, and spends his days jumping between timelines to prevent any other bad future from happening.

Blaze from crisis city sacrificed herself to defeat Iblis and was reborn as princess of the Sol Dimension in Sonic’s time. [full post here]

The story goes on like this:

Blaze’s father, the king of the Sol Empire, is old in years already, so Blaze took over some of the royal duties at a younger age and often appears as her people’s ruler even as a teen. One time, when her kingdom is in danger, she lands in another dimension, which feels strangely familiar. There she first meets Cream, and eventually Sonic, who she first sees as an enemy, but at the end becomes an ally, a friend even.

When Silver meets Blaze again in the present through their shared friends, he immediately recognizes her, she doesn’t recognize him though. He is ecstatic to see her again, but is disappointed she forgot him and everything they had been through together. He knows he has to hold back to not confuse her. Blaze, though, is very confused, because Silver treats her like an old friend, and he does seem so strangely familiar, even so they are from so vastly different points in time and space. She can’t explain it.

They quickly become friends again; they just are an unmatchable team. Sometimes, Silver drops hidden references to their old life, just to see her reaction. Even so she doesn’t remember him or their life together, Silver really enjoys spending time with her again, and often suggests activities they had talked about doing all this time ago in the future, things they would have done if Iblis hadn’t destroyed their world.

Eventually, Blaze does get her memories back, through an incident with the Chaos Emeralds. Though it throws her for a loop, it puts a lot of loose pieces finally together that had bothered her for a while, strange dreams, unexplained feelings, her relationship to Silver. She quickly forgives him that he didn’t say anything; she understands why he couldn’t.

Once Silver decides to stay in the past for good, he starts spending a lot of his time in Blaze’s world.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, when Blaze turns 18, she becomes queen in title as well, and she raises Silver to be her right-hand man. He spends even more time with her now, getting to know her world as well as his.

He loved travelling with her and being a bit more carefree, but he understands her love for her people, and he liked that she wanted to make him part of this part of her life. She knows not to overtax him with courtly duties, and to leave him freedom and space, but he quickly becomes her most trusted advisor, with his experience after having travelled so far and all the different times he had seen.

Knowing his love for plants, she lets him have his own personal corner in the royal gardens, and, after seeing what he did with it, lets him be creative with the rest of the gardens. Sometimes she joins him.

They are perfectly capable of being apart, but do spend a lot of time together, eat together and even sleep in the same bed sometimes, and the whole court just secretly calls Silver the queen’s lover.

Contrary to this believe, Silver and Blaze don’t think of themselves as lovers. They haven’t even kissed, and neither of them is desperate to be in a relationship with anyone, least of all a physical one. Only later they realize they are both asexual, and, in all terms and matters, are already in a relationship with each other, just without the physical aspect. Even their friends make bets behind their backs when they will be official.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Blaze is 27, her advisors and minister remind her that she has a duty to her kingdom to think about marrying soon and producing an heir to the throne. They remind her of her father, who had married four women before he was finally able to have a child, her, at quite old an age, and she as a woman, doesn’t have that much time. It had almost caused two civil wars between the kindom’s nobles about the question of succession, and they want to avoid a repetition of that. Blaze is frustrated about the way they talk to her, but she knows they are right. She is surrounded by people who’d like nothing more than to have her power, and she has to secure her own line to keep them from getting ideas, and to keep the kingdom stable and peaceful. But the whole ordeal makes her head ache. She tells Silver about her thoughts. Her most likely options are to either marry one of the noblemen of her kingdom which would gain her more support of the powerful families, or marry a younger prince from a neighboring country, which would get her alliances. In both cases she’s sure her new husband (and his family) would guaranty to bother her, trying to get more power through her, even so she is the rightful queen.

Silver is appalled by her clinical assessment of the situation. Neither of them has any experience with romance, but if he has learned anything about it from his friends it’s that you should marry out of love, not because you have to. They discuss it, and he understands her duty to do it, but asks her to at least give herself enough time to think about it and find someone she truly loves. Blaze says she’s met most of the guys that would be suitable, and none had been to her taste exactly, but she’d do. Silver doesn’t like it. Her husband should be the person she loves most in the world, her best friend, someone she can rely on and fall back on in hard times, someone who has her back, always, as queen and as a person, especially if they’d have kids together. He just wants her to be happy.

This night, both of them have a lot to think about. Silver is confused that he dislikes the thought of Blaze marrying some noble so much. He knows some of them and they’re not too bad. At least, he tells himself, he’ll be fine with it if she finds someone that makes her happy. Blaze thinks about his earlier words. When she tries to think about a person she trusts completely and wants to keep at her side for the rest of her life, she only thinks of Silver. Then she has a realization.

A couple days later she has made a decision, and when she talks to Silver, she proposes to him with a traditional engagement necklace. Silver is flabbergasted, completely taken by surprise.

“You said the person I marry should be my best friend; the person I love most in the world, and someone who always has my back, whether I’m acting as queen or in personal matters. You’re this person to me. I love you, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. That’s what marriage is.”

Silver is confused about what he thinks. He points out that she is supposed to find a man to make babies. Blaze asks him if that would be a problem, but she tells him she’d consider him a very suitable partner to have children with, and believes he will be a good father.

As given by tradition, Blaze gives him a little time to think about it, but in the end, he doesn’t need much time. It makes so much sense all of a sudden, his feelings and thoughts. He only wonders what her subjects will think, but Blaze doesn’t care. Most of her people have a high opinion of him anyway, and if her advisors want to force her to find a husband, they can’t argue with her choice. Silver is a noble, courageous hero who has been loyal with her kingdom for years.

They tell their friends, who are more than a bit surprised about the wedding, since they didn’t even know they were dating.

Silver is a bit uncomfortable with the whole ado around the actual ceremony, but the royal advisors insist on the traditions. He becomes Prince Consort; in Blaze’s absence he can take over royal duties, and generally speak in her name.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In short succession they have their two sons, Atlas and Ignite, and their daughter Snowwhite.

[more about the kids here, here and here]

[Blaze's and Silver's older designs]

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 06/04/2024

Tactical Three-Time Grammy Award-Winning Action

Season 2 Featured on: A HOT ONE

Ripped by Harmony Friends

It's funny: for a surprising number of posts now, I've been sort of writing "around" the works of the ripper Harmony Friends, without ever - excluding collaborative projects like Balcony Fusion Collab - actually covering one of those works for a post. Which is a damn shame!! Because in their four-year tenure on SiIvaGunner, Harmony Friends had a pretty notable impact on the channel's life, from making Donkey Kong a mainstay of the channel's identity through creating the Coconut Gun Rap as referenced in CG Man HD Remastered Edition, to directing the incredible King for Another Day Tournament and pushing the boundaries of the channel's scope as described in NIGHTMARESCAPE 〜Unrestrained HyperCam 2〜 (Final Boss Phase 2), and many ways more. But, most importantly of all, they led the trend for a series of very silly YTP-esque sentence mixing rips on the channel, of which Tactical Three-Time Grammy Award-Winning Action remains a personal favorite.

So what am I referring to with these "very silly YTP-esque sentence mixing rips"? Well, if you'll recall just earlier this week, the April Fools rip Our Sweet Parsley was made specifically in tribute to Harmon Friends' work of this kind - the ones that edit and twist easily-identifiable song lyrics, primarily from Sonic the Hedgehog games, to pure comedic off-the-wall effect. Sentence-mixing is an age-old skill of the YouTube Poop trade, yet it feels as if Harmony Friends' work with rips like Thunder, Rain and Lightning, A Ghost's Bean Soup, and of course The Coconut Gun Rap were what turned said work into a mainstay on SiIvaGunner in particular, to show the potential sentence mixing had as a method of effective bait-and-switching, messing around with the track *just* enough to feel wrong in a fun way whilst still being easily missable up to a certain point in the song. Yet this bait-and-switch appeal was, as I've mentioned many times before, something that primarily worked within Season 1 itself, within 2016, when the channel's mere existence was still so novel, unknown to so many. Season 2's shift to having more takeovers and events was a brilliant way to keep the channel fresh, whilst also directing several rippers in the team to try their hand at once specific joke within their individual style. And THAT is where Tactical Three-Time Grammy Award-Winning Action comes in: on the day of Smoothness.

It feels as if I've talked enough about the Grammy-Award Winning 1999 Hit Smooth by Santana feat. Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty for a lifetime already back in Haltmanna feat. Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20, but its appeal should be pretty obvious to anyone who's ever heard the song. Put succinctly, is at once incredibly memorable and well-composed, and has lyrics that are as memeable as can be. Pair those traits with the iconic status Snake Eater from Metal Gear Solid 3 already has in gaming circles, and with Hinchy's aforementioned knack for the silliness, and the result was a rip that felt destined to occur at one point or another. The moment the rip starts, the moment you start anticipating the James Bond-esque opening fanfare to Snake Eater, only to be met with the all-too-familiar first riff of Smooth, you KNOW exactly what the rip is going to be, and you KNOW just then and there how perfect of an idea it is. I'm already a huge fan of rips that do completely original vocal covers with new lyrics such as Maskettaman - Dr. Pavel's Fly​-​So​-​Good, but something about how Tactical Three-Time Grammy Award-Winning Action keeps ping-ponging from Snake Eater to Smooth's vocals scratches a very particular part of my brain - as if I'm waiting with every line to see how it could be merged with Smooth's lyrics. And at every turn, I'm rewarded oh so blissfully.

From outright replacing the bridge's bellowing "But you're so supreme!!" with Smooth's "'cause you're so SMOOTH", to the way that the pause in "not for honor but for you" is removed to give way for extra syllables on the part of Smooth's vocals, together forming "not for honor but / to suit your mood", each change feels oh so deliberately done to maximize both sides of the rip. Althewhile, just like My Sweet Parsley and its contemporaries, the original instrumental still plays - Smooth never overtakes the running Snake Eater melody, merely complimenting it with flourishes from its own vocals or guitar riffs. Yet by the time they actually DO overtake the song as the chorus builds, it all feels so natural already, the Snake Eater instrumentals fit Smooth's emotional high so well at this point - its shocking how well the balance is maintained throughout the whole rip. And because of that, Tactical Three-Time Grammy Award-Winning Action is more than just very funny: it's a genuinely great take on Snake Eater, as the contributions from Smooth in a way help punctuate the song's existing high points, althewhile of course still being very funny.

It's really quite hard to go wrong with a Smooth rip in general, of course - but there is a real magic to listening to Tactical Three-Time Grammy Award-Winning Action after knowing already just how good Harmony Friends are at doing this particular flavor of rips from their work in the prior Season. It's the kind of rip that felt, perhaps not destined to happen, but like...with a Smooth rip underway and Harmony Friends on the team, it was such a natural extension of the joke to create, and one that was followed through on in spades of quality. And after having spent so many posts alluding to one particular ripper, I'm happy to have finally gotten to make one on the ripper behind it all.

[miloscat]

[Review] Sonic Adventure (PC)

A highly successful revamp.

Before getting to Frontiers and Shadow Generations, I decided I should go back and finally complete my Sonic homework by checking out the Dreamcast era properly for the first time. Adventure was a big revamp for the series after several false starts. Sonic Team struggled to bring Sonic to 3D, but in the end as a Dreamcast launch window title Adventure made a splash and is still remembered fondly. But what did I think of it as a certified Boost enjoyer?

I have played a bit of Adventure before during a stream. Loaded up with mods I sampled parts here and there, and played Gamma's story. This time I wanted the full unmodded experience. That's not to say it's the original experience, mind you: the version available for sale on Steam is regarded as a shoddy port of a shoddy port, as it's based on the Gamecube "DX Director's Cut" version, which changes a lot of textures, lighting, and graphical effects. Many fans consider these changes for the worse (some alterations even messed up intended gameplay or lore), and there's mods to revert the look of the game to the cleaner Dreamcast appearance. I didn't think it was a huge deal while playing but looking through comparisons afterwards, I reckon the reversion mods truly are the best way to play.

Regardless, Sonic Adventure is impressively ambitious. I now understand what games like 06 and Unleashed were striving for and missing the mark! Yes it's janky and the camera sucks but the characters generally control well and the level design suits their playstyles. The cutscenes and voice acting are awkward and stilted but there's a cinematic pretension that comes through anyway. Most importantly the game passes the vibe check with flying colours, this thing has heart!

The story plays out over a series of six (plus one) campaigns told from different characters' perspectives. There's a nonlinear storytelling thing going on and you (the player) piece together the full events by playing each one, even if the characters themselves never really get together to work things out. It all revolves around the watery monster Chaos and the lost history of the echidna people, although Robotnik/Eggman's scheming is the primary motivator. My favourite parts were the surprisingly touching story of Gamma, and Amy's role which is maybe her strongest appearance in... any Sonic game ever? After her campaign in this game I'm even more baffled how the writers could have gone so wrong with her for so many years.

Between stages the adventure hubs serve as a little breather, and flesh out the world without being overwhelming. Mystic Ruins is the standout here being large and fun to get around, taking great influence from the dev team's research trip to South America (they even took reference photos that were converted to textures in the game!), while Station Square feels like a good approximation of a lively city street within Dreamcast limitations. Talking to NPCs gives you little snippets of flavour that advance as you progress the plot... I just wish they'd actually used the face buttons they had instead of binding interact on the same button as "attack", which makes things awkward. By the way, Sonic has a spin dash in this game although you rarely need it.

Sonic's speed feels well balanced with the environments; it's a wonder what decent level design can do. His story is the longest, while the others remix the existing levels to various degrees. Tails gloriously breaks the level design by flying, and his stages play out as races against another character to get to the goal. Knuckles is more of a collectathon in enclosed arenas; I really liked the pace of his gameplay combined with his climbing and gliding powers. Amy sadly feels clumsy to control but her levels have an interesting idea in trying to escape an invincible and implacable robot. Big the Cat debuts here with a goofy storyline and a fishing minigame that I didn't find that fun but is mostly optional.

Gamma rounds out the cast as a defecting badnik with a lock-on gun, and of course Super Sonic finishes things with an epic setpiece fight which is thankfully quite breezy (later Sonic games make this kind of fight overly difficult or complex, to their detriment). Occasionally a subgame like car racing or snowboarding will break up the action, but they're pretty shallow. The casino level has you playing janky pinball to earn rings, one with a slot machine theme [cringe] while the other is a pleasing love letter to Sonic Team's previous game Nights. The Panzer Dragoon-like rail shooter segments have incredibly twitchy controls for some reason which rather ruins them, but like most things they're not too difficult; with this game I never found myself in a spiral of dying and having to repeat sections (a notable exception to this is the awful final boss of Sonic's story, a long and boring fight with janky difficulty spikes). Again it's odd that the balance is well considered here when it is so out of whack in some later entries.

The game feels very free and open, and you're able to easily revisit prior levels just by going there from the hub. Sometimes it's unclear exactly what to do next but talking to wandering folks (we're in a world of humans for the first time, but they're cartoony enough that they feel natural) or the helpful glowing orb (it's in fact Tikal, please bring back Tikal) will usually get you back on track. It really feels like an adventure, which was a totally new approach for Sonic at this time.

There's a lot more to the package than the story modes too. They tacked on Missions and Trials to extend the playtime if you want more, but I didn't feel I needed to. You can do extra objectives for emblems or find them in the hub, and there's even optional equipment that enhances your abilities to reward exploring. Between levels you can also visit the Chao garden, a popular feature that expands on Nights's A-Life system by letting you raise cute critters and race them or something? As with Nights, it's completely optional... I found it too fiddly and unrewarding so I just ignored it! To its credit the game never forced me to engage with it.

I already praised the vibes and recommended the Dreamcast graphic mods, but aesthetically the game does look very good. Well, apart from the character animation in cutscenes which is quite wonky. The soundtrack is pleasant and spans various genres; special mention must also be made of the vocal themes. Every character gets their own, from Sonic's buttrock to a goofy duet for Big and Froggy. My favourites were Tails' upbeat poppy number and Knuckles' famous rap, but all of them are fun especially when you hone in on the lyrics which describe the character and what they're about. It's silly but so charming.

I was honestly dreading going back to these older 3D games after the rollercoaster ride I've been on, but Adventure was a pleasant surprise. It's true I've used the word "jank" several times in this review and it can't be denied, this game is a bit messy at times. But compared to some other Sonic games I've played it's a stone cold masterpiece! Either way, I do get why it's beloved, it's a soulful game, a deserved killer app for the Dreamcast (RIP), and a worthy 3D debut that successfully revamped the franchise and set the tone for the next decades.

[crusherthedoctor]

Tangle, Whisper and Surge :P

... And if you want to rinse your eyes, Rouge and Elise!

(I accidentally wrote "Scourge" and was about to send it. I thought you'd find it funny)

doesn't it show what a masterstroke surge is. isn't she just the most brilliantly thought out fictional sapien ever. i was a fool to doubt sir flynn and dame stanley.

Tangle:

Like Starline, Tangle cuts deep for me because I really do like the overeager yet well meaning baseline concept with her, and I think she could have been perfectly enjoyable had they played their cards right. But flanderization - and a les ship pigeonhole - ruined her hard. It's upsetting to see.

Whisper:

Why do they look like that refers to her closed eyes gimmick. Yes, I know she opens them when The Emotions ensue (although given how often they make her rage or cry, what's even the point anymore), but what is the actual reason for why she closes them, aside from being a reference to the customization from the game the writers like to spit on?

Aside from that, she's another character ruined by flanderization and existing solely to be a lesbian.

Surge:

hey, where's poochy

Rouge:

Not enough screentime refers to her beyond Team Dark. Though this seems to be getting rectified as of late, Prime's bungled attempt notwithstanding. Seeing Rouge casually there with Cream is... a nice feeling.

Rouge has always been one of my favourites in the series. :D ...Which is why fans forgetting she's not a villain and downplaying her loyalty and/or intelligence inflicts physical damage to me. D:

Elise:

It only took two decades-ish, but we finally got more people realising she was far from the worst thing about '06. That's a new record.

She was underused beyond getting kidnapped over and over, and she was perhaps underwritten as well, but her friendship with Sonic is good, and contrary to popular belief, she was neither a selfish ruler or an advocate for bestiality. Remember the scene where she got on the table and fucked the realistic non-sentient hedgehog? No, cause it didn't happen.

[finleyforevermore]

Ok...after several hours..here is (FINALLY) everything that happened in Act 2! :D

Cheers when there were 59 seconds left

Played the drowning theme when there were 10 seconds left

We were told to take out our phones during the I Am All of Me intro

Immediately everyone started cheering when I Am All of Me started

Someone screamed when they showed Maria during IAAOM

I've never heard What I'm Made Of before so I had to mumble along the words XD

Someone kept barking like a dog (going "hoo hoo hoo!"). Can't help but feel that's a reference to Snapcube ("That's so sick it makes me wanna bark like a dog!")

Everyone started screaming at the intro to Open Your Heart

The guitarist didn't do the riff during the instrumental break in Open Your Heart :(

Everyone screamed the second Knight of the Wind started

The audience sang the "woahs" at the start of KOTW

Everyone cheered when Sonic's Knight transformation was onscreen

Audience waved during the second "woah" bit

Johnny did a sword slash at the end of KOTW

Clap along at the start of His World

People cheered when Silver and Blaze showed up oncreen

I think someone screamed when Mephiles showed up

The cheers were deafening when Fist Bump started-

Cheers when Ian Jr showed up

Ian Jr showed up more than Gadget during Fist Bump!

Johnny straight up yelled "We fucking love you!!!"

Johnny fist bumped an audience member

Audience members in the front were jumping at the end of Fist Bump

Johnny asked "Do you wanna..." And the audience started finishing with multiple different songs names or quotes. My guess was "follow me" to lead into City Escape. The correct answer was Reach for The Stars

Wave-along during RftS

Everyone started waving around their flashlights during the end of RtFS

Sing along during Endless Possibilities

Johnny hit an E note at the end of EP

Johnny asked us to get angry for Break Through It All!

Got goosebumps when everyone screamed "you'll wake the beast inside!" and "Don't look down!"

The last chord of BTIA was discordant and dissonant but so cool!!

We're the loudest crowd yet, according to the guitarist-

It was someone's birthday so we all have them a birthday clap! 🎂🎁

Because it's Halloween they performed Pumpkin Hill! 🎃

Everyone started screaming at the start of Pumpkin Hill

Johnny said he wasn't comimg out until everyone stood up for Undefeatable

When everyone screamed "Face your fear" I realized just how much screaming is in the Sonic Frontiers soundtrack-

We totally broke the sound barrier at the end of Undefeatable. The crowd was cheering so loud!!

They were supposed to do the fakeout ending like in the 30th anniversary version, but because we were such a good audience they didn't do it

Everyone screamed the "woo!" during City Escape

Johnny went out into the audience for City Escape

I swear we broke the sound barrier during Live and Learn

I was convinced L&L would never end because Johnny kept shouting people out onstage! :)

Johnny said he wished tonight would never end and he got teared up earlier in the performance.

They played Green Hill as exit music while the credits rolled, and i heard some audience members singing to it.

While I am sad some of my favorite orchestral medleys got cut, like the Sega Saturn Medley, the Sonic 06 Medley, and the Sonic Colors Medley, I do realize that they clearly wanted to focus more on the rock section, what with the songs added. Overall I had an absolute blast and I hope a full video surfaces or I can find my audio of act 2!! So excited if/when it returns to Chicago!! 🦔💙

[r-2006-official]

Progress Report - October 2024

Hello, everyone! Hope you’re all doing well. Happy first progress report, and Happy Halloween!!!

I’ve never done one of these before, so bear with me as I try to figure it out.

Very nice news to share: in the past month, I’ve gotten a lot of preliminary planning done, to the point that I have a complete first draft of the outline of Sonic’s story! Of course, there’s still quite a bit I have to do; things will definitely be changed as I get to work on Shadow and Silver’s stories, but it’s a huge chunk of planning that I didn’t expect to be done this quickly. I also made a lot of progress on planning a side story I’m developing…but I fear I’ll say too much if I elaborate. Lastly, I’m working on - you guessed it - planning what designs I might want to change, and how I want to change them.

Anyways, I wanted to answer some questions some of you might have.

Q&A

How much of the game will you be rewriting?

I’m actually rewriting a lot less than I thought I would be (but still quite a lot). I’m trying to take the base concepts/structure of what was in the original game and make sense of it. Not everything will make the cut, but I’m trying to stay as close to the original vision of the game as possible with a little bit of my headcanons sprinkled in. Think of it a bit like the Resident Evil remakes; the broad strokes are (mostly) the same, but specific details differ.

How many stories will it have?

Four: Sonic’s, Shadow’s, Silver’s, and Final, same as the original.

What inspired this?

I’ve seen a couple people rewrite Sonic ‘06 over the years (mainly Story Surgery and Garrulous64), and I’ve wanted to try to do it myself for a while. The fact that Mephiles showed up again in Sonic x Shadow Generations (and there is some SHIT to unpack there) was the final kick I needed to start. There’s also, of course, the Snapcube dub. Expect at least one reference.

Will it be playable?

Sort of. It won’t be playable like the original (I’m nowhere NEAR able to program an entire game by myself, and I don’t want the gameplay to be Sonic ‘06 Two: Electric Boogaloo), but I will be describing my vision for if this game was actually playable as it goes along. Instead of traditional Sonic gameplay, I’ll be presenting the story in the form of a visual novel.

What engine are you using?

Ren’Py! It’s a free, Python-based engine made specifically for visual novels that’s really easy to learn and use! It’s actually the engine that Doki Doki Literature Club was made in; if that doesn’t speak for how versatile Ren’Py is, I don’t know what does.

Are you doing this all by yourself?

As of now, yes. If I do end up bringing someone else on for art, voice acting, etc., it probably won’t be for a while.

Did you say voice acting?

Yep! Ideally I do want to have voice acting. Whether or not it WILL, it’s too early to say.

Which characters will be staying?

As of now, all major characters will be returning. Whether that ends up sticking is to be determined.

And Sonic Man, of course. Who could forget Sonic Man?

Will [insert plot point] still be in the final version?

That’ll have to wait at least until I have a concrete outline - and there’s some things I want to keep a secret until the final release.

Will Elise still kiss Sonic?

Nope. First, I don’t ship it (but no shame if you do!). Second, even if I did, the current plan is to at least try to leave any ships up to interpretation.

Is Rush/Rivals canon?

No. Silver and Blaze are going to have a new backstory which’ll probably get expanded on at some point. Canon is a sandbox and I am a five year old at play.

When is the finished game coming out?

No clue yet, I literally started this a month ago and have real life to juggle with this.

Where can I get the most up to date info?

These monthly progress reports are going to be the primary source for information. I also might be dropping things more frequently depending on what stage of production I’m in, but that remains to be seen. Regardless, any updates will be the same on both the official tumblr (r-2006-official) and the Game Jolt page (sorry, itch.io people).

And that’s pretty much it! Hopefully by next month I’ll have more to report on. If you have questions you’d like me to answer next month, leave a comment!

Thanks for reading, and until next time!

-Calypso