#i like the story in sonic adventure games and that's the most important thing to me tbh

[rapidhighway]

I'm not sure if you've been asked this in the past, but I'm curious what your favourite sonic game is?

I haven't finished that many but I started a lot skcndkxj i really like both SA games, love SA2, love unleashed so far, love mania so far. I like all of them for different things though

[melskytodstar]

Play Shadow Generations!

I know I’ve said some things about this game already, but I wanted to leave a “review” for the game anyway. So let’s get started!

First off, the story. Major props to Ian Flynn (the man who inspired me to write fan comics), cause like with Sonic Frontiers, he nailed it! While it is short, it had to be in order to coincide with Sonic Generations, so I’m not surprised or upset about that. Despite that, the amount of lore and answered questions that’s thrown into this game is incredible, and it’s good to see that Shadow is allowed to be written in the way that most fans want again. Even with the game focused around Shadow, there’s still plenty of tongue and cheek to be had, which I appreciated.

Visually, it’s probably the best looking Sonic game to date. Officially, at least. All of the familiar locales given an upgraded look was appreciated, and the characters…I could go on, but the two I want to focus on are Gerald & Maria. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but Gerald looks like Jim Carrey to me! And Maria… she has never looked better (or sounded, but we’ll get to that)… her model in this game even puts her CG model in Shadow The Hedgehog to shame!

Sound -or more specifically, music- is very important in a Sonic game, and Shadow Generations is no exception. Granted, there were a couple tunes that weren’t grabbing me (dubstep’s not my thing), but the rest of the remixes were great. I did notice that most of the music in the cutscenes was taken straight from Shadow & Adventure 2, but do you see me complaining?

The voice acting was top notch, too. I won’t be talking about most of the cast due to spoilers. While Kirk Thornton is not my favourite Shadow, you can tell that he really gave it his all for this game, and he did a really good job. I was so relieved to learn that Mike Pollock was back as Gerald, but it was certainly interesting to hear him providing a calmer take on the brilliant scientist that he last voiced almost 20 years ago. And Stephanie Sheh as Maria… literally the best English VA the girl has ever had. I appreciated how you can hear Maria being affected by her condition in her voice. That’s some good attention to detail. And I’ll be honest, there’s at least one scene Maria has with Shadow that made me emotional, purely because of Stephanie’s delivery of a particular line or two.

Finally, the gameplay. It honestly felt like a mix of Sonic Generations and Sonic Frontiers to me. And I mean that in a good way. I won’t say anything about the Doom Powers (again, trying to avoid spoilers), but being able to throw Chaos Spears freely is appreciated, and I love how Chaos Control in-game actually looks and feels like it does in cutscenes and comics. The boss fights are pretty cool too, with one in particular being very interesting (more because of the dialogue), but the final boss can be a pain if you’re not ready for it…

My entire experience with Shadow Generations comes from the PS5 version. Mel has it on the Switch, but I’m gonna wait until she’s done with it before I try it for myself. As for Sonic’s side of Generations, not much has changed from the original release, but I appreciate what has been changed. All I ask of @sonicthehedgehog is to keep Rings from draining so fast when playing as Super Sonic. Literally my only problem with Sonic Generations, at this point.

In closing, I absolutely love Shadow Generations, and I’m feeling good about the future of both the Blue Blur and the Ultimate Lifeform. I highly recommend any Sonic fan check this game out, especially when the third Sonic movie is just over a month away! - Todd

[venusdeluxe]

Maria Robotnik in Sonic 3, thoughts

I expected pretty much from the beginning that Sonic 3 wouldn't just be Sonic Adventure 2 the movie and ya know thats not really a bad thing I dont think. Changes have to be made to fit into a movie, fit into this universe and to work within the constraints of the studio system and being a kids franchise. But what I hope that they stick to the most is Shadow and Maria's history cus it really is vital to the character. Its ok if details are changed, but for me atleast its important thay they stick to the main building blocks of the story. From the trailer it doesn't seem like Maria will be fatally wounded in the same way and I think thats ok, but it has to still be the fault of GUN and I hope thats a plot point in the movie that they keep that from Sonic and the gang. Removing that blame from the military and stuff would just feel like a very icky change for them to make and would lessen the impact (though again, the restraints of being a kids franchise makes me nervous if they'll even be allowed to go that far. Maybe GUN being a fictional branch will provide some leeway).

I also hope they just stick true to Maria as a character. Her condition, how Shadow was created to heal humanity, but also her specifically, and maybe even dive deeper than the games ever did and actually show how her condition affects her in daily life. I think that could be very valuable representation. I dunno, Shadow's backstory is the most emotionally charged part of the Sonic game canon. It's why I think it resonates so much with the fanbase and why it's the tightest rope the creators have to walk on for this movie. It's the part they really need to get right for this to work and it's certaintly the part I'm most nervous about lol. I pray they stick the landing on this.

Also I get that its just a funny lil meme or whatever, but istg I'll be so pissed if the movie comes out and I see videos of people cheering in the theater for Maria's death. Don't be weirdos.

[samobservessonic]

They might as well hit the ground running after a cover like that. The Kitching & Elson dream team is the right choice to bring us such an important milestone in StC as Porker quitting the team. We open with Porker’s decision and Sonic being angry about it, as would be expected. Porker isn’t one to start conflict, but his reason here is hardly a small one - after being trapped with an almost infinite number of time-travelling killer Sonic robots on an inescapable little planet for a month, Porker’s traumatised! And I don’t blame him! So yeah, Porker gets the badge of being one of the first Sonic comic characters to have PTSD. He can welcome Whisper the Wolf into that club in many years to come

But Sonic’s anger equally doesn’t come from a place of being unreasonable. He’s right that their small band of Freedom Fighters is one of the very few defences against Robotnik. And Porker isn’t just another number to bulk that up - he’s their tech guy. Sonic Adventure reestablishing Tails as the tech guy won’t hit StC until right at the end, so for now, Porker really is it (until Tekno comes along, but we haven’t got to her properly yet). Not only that, but Porker is one of Sonic’s close friends who he shared his backstory with early on. Out of all of the small animals, Porker is one of the two that Kitching picked out and went “These two are part of Sonic’s team”

I bring all of this up, because I don’t think either side deserves to be written off as either “Porker is just a wimp” or “Fleetway Sonic is a jerk”. There’s nuance here and I like that

Thankfully, Amy is here to defend Porker from Sonic’s accusations where Porker can’t defend himself. This is also kind of a turning point for Amy’s character, because while she’s always been headstrong in StC, previously it was more up to Johnny to be the voice of reason towards Sonic, since Amy was often still in fangirl mode. Here she is, voicing her feelings against Sonic’s opinion so she can protect a friend - it’s great character development all around

Johnny also defends Porker and the off-panel speech bubble in the top left is from Tails. They’re all sympathetic, but Sonic can’t handle that right now. This is all too big of a situation for him to gladly wave someone off

Oh hey, these guys are still here. But not for long, as we finally get an explanation as to what happened to Nack after last time - he’s been in prison, but now he’s out. There’s a footnote a bit further down that says we can check out this adventure in the upcoming Knuckles special. My loose plan atm is to cover that on the blog once the current Knuckles story wraps up

Imagine you’re just, like, the parking attendant robot and you stumble across the most-wanted criminal on the planet

Guess who’s the last line of defence to save the day!

Tails looks on, not knowing that one day this role will be his

It’s still a short story, however, so a quick dip of some wires in the puddles does the job. Plus, it’s never a bad time to teach kids that water conducts electricity. Well, I say “kids” but I still can’t convince my parents that taking electronics in the bath is a bad idea…

We cut ahead to the next morning and things are much more amiable between Sonic and Porker, as Sonic comes to see him off on his flight up to the Floating Island. It’s nice that they let this moment just be Sonic and Porker (And Tails over there). Either the others all knew that Sonic doesn’t like too many witnesses to mushy stuff or else they aren’t out of bed yet

Porker is soft and he knows it and Sonic doesn’t want to change him! Excuse me while I wipe these rivers of tears from my eyes…!

Tails is like “Well, maybe they don’t know I’m a genius yet, but they do know I can fly this plane, because I do it in the games”

And with that, Porker is gone from the main team, but certainly not gone from the book. This is the end of an era in StC - the first real shift in the Freedom Fighters since they were established as a proper team and not just the “Everyone in Emerald Hill is kind of in it for a while and then they're not” from the early issues. It’s the whole reason I went to the effort of buying a copy of this issue myself to try to get better scans. Because, I’ll be honest, if the issue with the dodgy scans had just been another badnik-of-the-week oneshot, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. But this felt important. We don’t get too many stories that are more focused on the characters�� feelings than on bashing the baddies and since Porker is one of my faves in StC, he deserved me to at least try to share this story as it was intended to be seen

[crusherthedoctor]

It really is not just annoying, but also somewhat sad, that IDW characters can never have a meaty role without shamelessly upstaging a game character. It's the ultimate play of insecurity.

Tangle gets touted as the Sonic Female of All Time while the crewmembers drag the game females through the mud.

Whisper gets randomly fawned over by Silver and Jet of all guys.

Lanolin humiliates Silver and treats him like a child.

Rough and Tumble are too much for Cream the OP to handle.

Starline was hyped up for an extended period as Eggman's superior (no, his final fate did not undo sitting through his agonizing "Sonic VS Eggman is routine" soapboxing).

Surge is being hyped up for even longer as the most badass villain and the most badass character period, despite having absolutely nothing of merit to show for it.

Is it really that hard to find a middle ground? I get you want your character(s) to do big things and be a legitimate part of the cast instead of sitting in the background with their thumbs twiddling, but this is not the way to do it. Trip was only recently introduced to the series, and she found her place just fine. She didn't need to effortlessly beat up Sonic in concept art in order to earn her stripes. She didn't need her creators to brag that she would improve Forces through her mere presence in order to cement her value.

Look. I talk a lot about Trudy. I talk a lot about her role in my fic, her interactions, her dynamics, her abilities, her quirks, all that good stuff. I take her role in the story quite seriously, and in an age where it's become taboo to have your OC do literally anything with the game cast (because overcorrection), I've stuck to my guns and made her a big part of the fic.

But - and this is a big but - none of this comes at the cost of the other characters, or the story as a whole. Sonic is still Sonic, and acts as you'd expect from him. Tails is still Tails, and isn't dismissed by the narrative as a mere sidekick to prop up Trudy as the "true" hero by comparison. Amy is still her bubbly self, not morphed into a Sally clone. Cream is still capable, despite her youth and innocence, and her bond with Trudy doesn't reduce her to literal baby. Eggman treats Trudy no differently from the rest of the cast, and he sure as hell doesn't show any fear at the prospect of facing her. Stellar is not little more than The Trudy Show: it's Sonic's latest adventure in a new land that Trudy happens to be tagging along for, and how he leaves an impression on her. Just like Unleashed did with Chip, and Secret Rings did with Shahra, among other examples.

Even Sonudis, for as Never Going To Happen In Canon For Very Obvious Reasons as it is, is still made with the mentality of not only what Sonic himself is actually like in canon, but the others too. It's not a shallow bait that exists solely to exist, it's something I took seriously in regards to how it could potentially work without sacrificing Sonic's official characterization. Is it a fanfic cliche? Is it self-indulgent? Maybe, but writing fanfic in general is inherently self-indulgent. The sooner you accept that, the better. But as fanfic-y as some concepts may be, I still try to portray them as naturally and as faithfully as I can in respect to the games that spawned this franchise. That includes not reducing Sonic to a lap dog with no independence or backbone.

You can make your character important, and even give them a risky role if you're daring, without disrespecting the game cast and what they contribute to the franchise.

[randomthefox]

I hate this Lowart guy. “Why Archie Tails is the Best Tails,” he says, and not even two minutes into his analysis, he states that “Archie Tails’ first lesson couldn’t be much further from what he learns in Adventure.” Guess what smart guy, that just means they’re completely different characters.

I hate it when people who don’t have a clue about writing try to pretend to have it all figured out. If the video had been titled “Why I like Archie Tails,” then I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But no, it’s “Why Archie Tails is the Best Tails,” because idiots like him don’t understand that what makes one character better than another has little to do with their base personality. Ideas are cheap. The only way to actually evaluate the quality of a character is how their personality is executed. But at no point does he try to explain that Archie Tails is more well executed than Game Tails. Instead, he lists all of the ways Archie Tails is entirely different from Game Tails. Guess what smart guy? That doesn’t mean Archie Tails is better than Game Tails; it means you just don’t like Tails. Archie Tails’ story—from what I gather—is about learning the importance of not overestimating yourself and working with others. Game Tails’ story is mostly about learning how to separate your self-worth from your accomplishments and the importance of being able to do things on your own.

Whenever Tails acts arrogant, it’s only a copping mechanism to make sure people don’t think he’s useless, because deep down, he thinks he’s useless. Whenever Archie Tails acts arrogant, it’s because he actually thinks he’s ’that guy.’ He’s done this type of video on other Sonic characters, but this one upsets me the most because Tails is my favourite Sonic character. 

Uuuugh -_-

I can't fucking stand Sonic Comic fans man, they're the fucking worst.

They are INCAPABLE of saying ANYTHING positive about their stupid fucking comic without shitting on the video games.

They hate the video games. That's all there is to it. When I hear them talk about how they enjoy the comics, I don't hear someone talking about a comic book they like. Because all they ever do is just shit on the video games. It's insufferable.

If the comics were good, they should be able to talk about what's so great about them WITHOUT even MENTIONING the video games existence whatsoever. But they can't. They literally cannot CANNOT say a SINGLE positive thing about the comic WITHOUT dumping on the video games.

What does that tell you about the comic? What does that tell you about their feelings towards the comic?

I know if I watched that video I would just. Start stabbing people. So I'll give it a wide berth. Kinda wish you could block YouTube channels from ever appearing to you now though.

[the-sinful-voice-witch]

The Time has come, I shall speak now about my one true pairing, the couple I love the most in Sonic's universe: Knuckles×Rouge

Knouge is a relationship trope that simply works sooooo fucking well!!😖😖 It's fresh juice of the finest quality👌👌, I have seen this kind of relationship a lot: Scrooge x Goldie, Carmelita x Sly, Puss x kitty and of course Batman x Catwoman... 😏😏 (by the way all this couples already kissed, what the fuck are you waiting for SEGA? 😒😒) Is basically the kind of relationship that has losts of banter and tension and honestly they give a lot of material for good juicy stories.

This was the first relationship that could be considered canon in the games regarding having mutual feelings for each other (because at that time Sonic didn't have the relationship with Amy that he has now). When Rouge was introduced in Sonic Adventure 2, she was created to be Knuckles' rival in skills but not only that, she was intended to be also his love interest in a more specific way but in the end they decided to keep things more subtle and not as completely obvious as Amy's display of feelings for Sonic, also she was going to be named Nails the bat, so Nails 💅 and Knuckles 👊 rhymes with Tails but they named her ROUGE which means RED in French a ROMANCE language, red like Knuckles I'm just saying.

SA2 in fact has the very first "romantic" scene between two sonic characters, because absolutely no one will convince me ever that the moment when he saves her and they look into each other's eyes holding hands wasn't a romantic scene, like seriously 😤😏👇

and look what I found, this is an official sonic book from SEGA:

Do we need more proof than this? Ok 👌 let's continue then:

So the best words to describe them are: "Polar opposites attraction" "Pure vs flirtatious" "Honor vs dirty play" "Guardian vs Thief" "Endless banter" "Arguing married couple" And of course: "SEXUAL TENSION" 😂😂 even in the damn soundtrack!! Have you listened to Knuckles theme? "Kick the rock (Wild Canyon)" SEGA approved that song! 😂 Here let me show the best part of the lyrics:

"I gotta chase a bat, uh" "Yeah Rouge she is sexy and smooth, a double cross spy thief that's out for my jewels, uh! I'm feeling her in mysterious ways" Boy... Knuckles suddenly got hit by puberty or something 😂😂 he was unknowingly horny for her already...

"Who could'a did this? That snitch named Rouge! When I catch her I'm gonna get her with these tools" There you are, come here little thief! Think you going to fly and get away quick? Uh, uh! Give up the Emerald or die! I don't love you!! " And now he becomes a tsundere denying feelings nobody asked him if he has 😂 and we all know he wouldn't let her die.

Also the most important thing that makes them absolutely canon is that Sonic ships them, Sonic's shipping mind is indisputable, he did it a few times already: in Sonic Rivals he asks them if they are on a date, in one of Sonic's phone games they start arguing because Knuckles was salty that Rouge was so nice wishing Sonic happy birthday and that she wasn't that nice to him in HIS birthday (jealous much?) and Sonic says to tails that that is true love and then Rouge goes full tsundere denying it 😂😂😂, precious 👌👌.

Let's also mention what happened in sonic X specifically with the original Japanese dub, Rouge just wouldn't stop flirting (+backstabbing let's be honest😛) and knuckles wouldn't stop reacting to it 😂

In this scene ☝ in Japanese she purposely asked him if he was "active" At night too 🤣🤣🤣 she just meant she is active at night because she is a bat... But the way she said that 😆, she was known for making lots of dirty jokes in the Japanese version... Ok but leaving that aside I want to mention only one specific moment because in general the dynamic was the same: she flirts and jokes, he falls for it ect... But this scene was my favorite because this was literally a date.

Don't fight me. THIS WAS A DATE.👇👇

So many things to say about this scene, first the romantic full moon night background, in Japan when someone says the "moon is beautiful tonight" Means "I like/love you", unfortunately none of them said anything like that but with all this is just plain obvious this was a romantic setting, Rouge was trying to get Knuckles to be emotional because she knows he misses Sonic and wanted him to think she is so caring and compassionate and give her jewels 😂 but he ends up being stubborn breaking the mood and accuses her to be the one who misses him making her angry and start a fight but after a while they see Sonic in the sky and Rouge says they look dumb and wonders why were they fighting for in the first place, Knuckles laughs at her messy face and THEN she playfully jumps on him and he says she is tickling him??????? Of course this part is conveniently out of camera and we can only hear whatever the hell they are doing 😂😏 but now think about it... What were they doing? She was on top of him on the floor under the moonlight tickling him.... AND NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED?? Yeah come on! I don't believe that 😏, we know Rouge doesn't waste time:

Boy that's an ugly ugly comic and speaking of comics, remembering the old Archie comics too... After that dark era where Rouge was a unfairly represented as a villainous cruel bitch 😤🤬 there was a reboot before the IDW reboot and finally my waifu got at least some justice! I just love this particular comic where she shows how she actually respects Knuckles and cares about him, she is someone who never gets attached too much to big responsibilities if that cuts her freedom, she values her freedom (something in common with Sonic) and she wanted Knuckles to have that kind of freedom too:

Look at her being a peacemaker between her boyfriend and brother 😆. Well anyway I hope Ian Flynn gets more freedom eventually because it's clear he is holding back in the current Sonic comics😭😭😭 (even made a joke with the love triangle 😂😂)

Let's give it time... They managed to put some furry lesbians in the comic so anything is possible... I'll just wait forever 🥲🥲🥲🥲

And well we also got some good stuff in Sonic Prime!! 😍😍😍 we finally saw him carrying her bridal style in a angst situation 🤩🤩🤩 for a brief moment and from long distance camera shot but is still something 🥲🥲 just zoom it.

Well, that's it. Enough evidence IT'S CANON. Caso Cerrado😂😂😂

[franticmelody]

Shows up in your inbox with three emojis for the ask game :] 💘🦈📚

Hiiiiii Aiden!;;!;!!!!!!!

💘 - Is it easier to write angst or fluff

Definitely fluff! My fics are mainly comedy and so those nicer moments come more naturally to me. That isn't to say I don't enjoy angst though. It can be hard to find and find a place for an issue or problem that I think really inspires me to write but when I find that conflict within myself, getting it onto the page is so fun and so satisfying and is usually something I'm really proud of. But I can't just pull it out of nowhere like with comedy and happy moments. It really has to be founded in my real life experiences and things that rile ME up, yknow?

🦈 - What is the hardest character to write

FUCK! uh... It was Shadow, originally! Finding his voice was pretty tough. But now that I've settled into it I think it comes as naturally as most other characters. What is hard, unfortunately, is finding situations to focus on Tails and Amy. Ironic since the two most recent Together episodes are focused on Amy and Tails respectively, but I find that in stories focused around other characters, they show up very often, being important to the core cast of Sonic characters, but in those scenarios, I often find that I don't give them much to do! Which is totally a me problem. I love both of those characters and want them to have as much time to shine as anyone else! Which is WHY I've given them both fully fleshed out and defined stories very recently. And there's more to come for both- Tails in the short term, and Amy in the long term!

📚 - Any fanfics or fanfic writers to recommend

OH BOY DO I - Here's a list!

Reaching New Heights: A Tails Adventure - RegulatedStrawberry

I would be a fool not to mention this. Strawb is of course my beta reader but she's a damn good writer too!!! This fic is about Tails going off on his own after Sonic Frontiers, but is SO much more than just that. So if you love Tails, this I the fic for you, and if you love everyone else, this is also the fic for you!

Unfamiliar - bimboamyrose

This is a fic that has 100% inspired me and the stories that I am going to write in season 2 of Sonic Together. Metal Sonic is injured in a fight with Team Sonic, and Amy brings him home to recover. They grow a bond as Metal adjusts to life outside of being a battle robot. This fic is SO GOOD!!!!

Memories and the Space Between - CatDragron

Okay yes this is YOUR fic. But it's so damn good!!! This is the only fic not written by me that I've dubbed! It's amazing! So dramatic and explores Sonic and Shadows relationship in a totally unique and amazing way. So excited for this to continue!

I would also recommend reading shriekinggeek, Mintenby, and eccentricglimpse's fics! They're amazing! I wish I had enough writing stamina to give in depth essays on all fics and writers I've mentioned here. Some absolutely stunning stuff.

Thanks Aiden hehehehebe

[electricpurrs]

hi juice, need to pick at your brain for a second!! if i want to get into the sonic games & develop a base understanding of the lore, what would u say are the essential games to play? the new shadow game looks rlly fun but i don’t want to go into it without some background u know

OKAY OKAY IM SO SORRY i got really excited to answer this but then i started listing every sonic game in existence and it became utterly incomprehensible. let me try again.

if you want to have a base understanding of the modern day sonic landscape, and specifically of shadow, i'd say the main things you need to check out are

Sonic Adventure -> Adventure 1 was the first time the sth franchise truly went into 3D. people say its a bit winky at times but its fun and sets the precedent for what sonic games would be afterwards. it also introduces the chao and some echidna (knuckles) lore, as well as the modern designs for the characters

Sonic Adventure 2 -> is simply required. thats the game that introduces Shadow and All his lore (and also Rouge). it's an extremely beloved and influential game for the sth franchise as a whole

Sonic Heroes -> keeps up with the story and tells what happens to Shadow directly after the events of Adventure 2, as well as introducing Team Dark, the team consisting of Shadow, Rouge and Omega

Shadow The Hedgehog 2005 -> also absolute required playing for Shadow. it introduces Black Doom and more Shadow lore, which is coming back for Shadow Generations

Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 -> is divisive. many people don't like this game, specially for being quite wonky, but it is very important for the franchise. it introduces Silver the Hedgehog, a fuckton of lore, and Mephiles, who is directly related to Shadow AND is also coming back for Shadow Generations.

i'd say thats probablyyyy the main important stuff you need to understand Shadow Generations. but as my other draft went on, there's a LOT of sonic media out there and most of it has something important to the overall lore here and there, or is just fun and worth playing.

some other stuff i'd rapid fire recommend includes: Sonic Unleashed (extremely fun and beloved game about sonic turning into a werewolf), Sonic Battle (fighting game which introduces Emerl, a technically Shadow relevant character), Rush + Rush Adventure (introduce Blaze the Cat and the lore about her alternate dimension), Black Knight + Secret Rings (unimportant spinoff games but very fun. sonic gets isekai'd), Riders + Riders Zero Gravity (very fun spinoff racing games where you race in hoverboards. introduces the Babylon Rogues) Sonic Colors (fun spinoff-y game that introduces the Wisps, who remain afterwards)

there's more i could talk about but i better stop here LOL. i hope i could be of any help

[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

[sibyl-of-space]

I think I finally identified the biggest mental block I've had trying to write the full first episode for Amadeus.

I have NOT been having enough fun with it.

Yes; it's inspired by SeriousTM things and engages with SeriousTM topics. But also, I am not the kind of person who could ever write The House in Fata Morgana because I am the kind of person who plays Sonic Adventure all the way through and goes "oh my god this video game is a flawless work of art." If I don't make my own game a little bit campy I'm going to go insane.

This weekend's "homework" - if you could call it that - is to figure out what parts of my own story I am getting bored by, and insert some Sonic Adventure ass shit in there.

I've already more or less come to terms with the fact that a maximum of 50 people are ever going to play this first installment anyway, let alone all 5 episodes. In order to actually market myself successfully and try to make ANY sort of income from this, I would need to find a marketable niche, and for the longest time I've been trying to work within the niche of "mystery visual novels." But the problem is that I don't just love mystery visual novels. I also love stupid cheesy ridiculousness and games where you snowboard and blast robots.

I can't devote 5 years to developing a game that is catered to some singular marketable niche because I have way too many interests all of which I love with a fiery passion. The singular marketable niche approach is just not going to work out. So I have remembered this most important truth: I am devoting 5 years to making the most self-indulgent bullshit you've ever heard of. If other people like it somehow that's cool too.

And that means I cannot just hold out until episode 3's insanely good easter egg I have planned (I literally cannot wait until Episode 3 comes around it's going to be so good) before I insert some Sonic Adventure influence in this shit.

I am excited about this weekend. If I'm not giggling maniacally to myself by the end of it I haven't done what I set out to do. I can't wait to ruin my own work and make it insane. It needs to be more insane.

[skull001]

Amy hot takes.

Amy's Sonic Advance gameplay is still THE superior 2-D gameplay for Amy, and the only reason it hasn't been revisited in newer games is because Sega are cowards still stuck with the "one-button" approach that only works for Sonic and Tails.

Even when games like Origins Plus and Sonic Superstars nerfed down Amy to just two moves, she is still more fun to play as than Sonic.

Amy's gameplay in Sonic Advance >> E-122 Psi Amy hacks >> Amy Mania by Troop Sushi/Codename Gamma >> Sonic Supertars >> Origins Plus.

Sonic X's Amy is the full package of how Amy should be like. Even with her flaws, she was one of the most fun characters to watch, and surprisingly got plenty of moments that humanized her and even explore a bit of how she saw her relation with Sonic, proving she isn't deluded about it like her detractors claim.

Giving Amy a toy hammer is one of the best things Sega did, and wish the full potential of what she can do with it was more explored in gameplay terms.

The tarot cards should be only a back-up weapon, never the main one. Story-wise, the can guide her in her quests, providing the player with hints that they have to interpretate.

IDW's characterization of Amy is alright. The issue if anything, is that she, like the game characters, are hardly the focus of the stories, nor are they allowed to be shown in a more personal manner. Don't care if it's because Sega is too strict, or if the writers only use them to get to the characters that THEY really want to write for. Either way, the situation sucks for the game cast.

I think Amy is better suited to be the franchise's co-protagonist alongside Sonic. She is very versatile as she isn't restricted to be by his side 24/7, and as long as she sees Sonic as her prince in shining armor, there really isn't any reason to keep her from growing into a stronger and more beautiful heroine.

I'd like to see a story where Amy tries to help a character find redemption, but is ultimately unable to, betrayed by them even. I think this would be an interesting change of pace because, even if let down by those Amy tries to help, that she still remain kind of heart would be proof of just how strong her heart is.

Superform. Of all characters not named Sonic, Amy's noble and compassionate heart should be more than worthy of awakening that miracle.

Morio Kishimoto really should go all out with exploring more of Sonic and Amy's relation. I think he is one of the few people capable of doing so and pushing the status quo to ot' limit whole keeping things fresh. After the let down of that last Tailstube where Amy's feelings were again the object of mockery from american writers ( especially HIM), I'd more than welcome the more respectful approach from Japanese writers towards the dynamic of these two characters.

Amy IS part of the main cast, and should be treated accordingly to her status as lead female character. That means, not giving away Amy's roles to less important ones. Wether it's things like her compassion (which Tyson Hesse mentions to be unique) or being the most adventure loving of the girls.

Don't make Amy be "mature" by becoming a party pooper who dislikes fun. This is a very outdated stereotype of women that honestly, doesn't apply to the real Amy. She would join the boys in doing dumb things, while still doing girly things with other girls too.

Enough of sad face Amy. Why the hell is Sega afraid to show an Amy that, no matter what, can be a beacon of hope for those who have lost their faith. Further more, why is she not expressing faith anymore on Sonic? I swear ever since Sonic Boom, only Tails is allowed to do this as an artificial means to push the bff thing, in contrast to previous games and even shows, where Amy did this. It saddens me how in Prime, she complains about Sonic not sticking to the plan, while Tails is the one who reminds that he has never let them down. Like, helloooooo? Amy also knows this, so why treat her like she doesn't?

Sonic, Tails, Amy & Knuckles >> Sonic, Tails and Amy >>>>>> Sonic, Tails & Knuckles.

Writers shouldn't be afraid to show/play out Amy's flaws. I like seeing characters make fools of themselves once in a while, as long as they are also allowed to get out of their mess by also playing out their strengths and positive traits.

[disabled-battlekukku]

If you were given the chance to write for a new Sonic, featuring the return of the kuku empire, what would you write? Where would you add world building and who of the main cast, and others, would you feature in it?

SLAMS TABLE. BIG BREATH.

(Biiiiiig thread comin' ahead!)

First of all, if Sega had ever had the balls to bring the Kukku Empire back, it would probably be a Mania-inspired game. And if it did, I think it would have the same, if not very similar plot points and ideas to it.

Old and new stages, with the old ones being from Game Gear and Master System games (y'know, Tails' home console!). Instead of focusing on speed, it would be much more on the exploration aspect, as that was also a great aspect of those. Maybe focus more on the "high flying" aspect. It would be interesting to see how more grounded characters like Sonic and Mighty would deal in this sort of environment.

If we REALLY pushed our buttons farther, the Witchcarters would be there as well, although probably as mini-bosses. Sega seems to favor them anyway. Limit a little of Eggman's appearance, though. Maybe let him cameo at an ending cutscene.

For story? I don't think the Kukkus would be that interested in pursuing the Chaos Emeralds after that, erm, first attempt, hehe. Maybe the Warp Topaz to keep the "modern-trinket-goes-to-classic-world" gimmick they did with the Phantom Ruby. If not, then either the Chaos Rings or Time Stones! Keep the same old shit of Speedy as the "Metal Sonic" of the game and Great Battle Kukku as the typical final boss.

If I was in COMPLETE charge?

I probably wouldn't take it. I can't code a game, hehe.

In all seriousness, I'd probably try some things that the fans wouldn't like it all that much. After all, I love it when Sega tries to experiment and go a bit off the rails with Sonic gameplay (Tails Adventure and Knuckles' Chaotix are my favorite games, after all!)

Sticking to what I said earlier, exploration is kind of an important aspect of Tails Adventure, and I'd proooobably bring back some classic trinket or thingamajig, like the previously mentioned Chaos Rings.

One thing that CERTAINLY wouldn't make the fans happy, judging that I was a massive Pokemon gen 5 fan, is that I'd probably limit gameplay to only Tails and Speedy. Make it a godamn Sonic Adventure 2/Riders split story thingie! And since Sonic Frontiers happens to have Tails implying to be going on an adventure of his own, maybe the game would happen right after that!

For a setting, I don't really know what I would put it. Probably an entirely new setting, as Flicky's Island was already taken by the Witchcarters in the IDW comics! A new place that the Kukkus decided to conquer, but their luck is just used to attract foxes, huh.

While I said that I'd limit main gameplay to Tails and Speedy, there could be a Sonic 06 thing and find others of Tails' buddies to play as. I'd prefer the child characters like Cream, Charmy, and maaaybe Ray since they all seem to focus on flight anyway. For Speedy? Fuck it we ball, introduce new characters! Give my mans some friends, godamnit!

I'd pull a Rush Adventure, where we would be focused on finding resources and building things to maneauver through the place, kind of replacing the need for a shop like most modern overworld Sonic games have.

Honestly, if I had to say everything I'd think for a Sonic game (or a Tails game, as it seems to be getting like here), we would be here for HOURS!

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

AMY ROSE (SONIC THE HEDGEHOG)

1.) Amy’s characterisation has experienced several generations of misogyny, right from her genesis: She was designed as a girlfriend, but it eas then decided they didn’t want Sonic to have a girlfriend. First instance she’s a damsel in distress that he resents for being there and crushing on him, and this is echoed in the comics. She is then presented as pathetic, chasing and stalkerish, as well as sidelined in the games in favour of other characters despite being very strong. Her stories are often those with the most emotional weight, but the reading is coloured by other characters underestimating her importance there. She then enters a pushy and blind era where she becomes a mockery of her past self. A universe reset rebranded her as a feminist, but that often comes off as a bit pickme, and they frequently failed to hold her femininity and also combat capabilities in hand at once. She is finally getting a bit more stable characterisation and treated a bit better, but I still don’t trust the writers with her. Ultimately, it often felt like the creators didn’t like her, and only had her there because they were made to; and that sucked as a little girl sonic fan.

2.) She started out as the token Girl One in a 90’s property, and her first appearance was as a damsel in distress, which isn’t great to begin with, and she wasn’t playable for a long-ass time outside of spinoffs. The Sonic Adventure games redesigned her, made her playable, let her fight back against her would-be kidnappers, and gave her a major role in saving the world by letting Shadow talk to someone not game with destroying it. Then from Sonic Heroes to Sonic and the Black Knight, and the anime Sonic X, her character was reduced to ‘hehe funny obsessed fangirl is obsessed’ a lot of the time, losing her compassion and a good deal of her social awareness. In Sonic 06, she literally said that she’d sacrifice the rest of the world for Sonic, which, my girl would NEVER in SA2. The Archie comics weren’t kind to her either, as their explanation for the redesign was that Amy wished to become older, so they aged up her body, BUT NOT HER MIND EW EW EW. I’m sure there are other crimes the Archie comics did to her, but that’s not my knowledge base. THEN the writers tried to backpedal in the early 2010’s, but by attempting to undo all the 'crazy’, they took out Amy’s drive and convictions (Sonic Lost World just letting Amy sit and watch Sonic do all the work my beloathed). The Sonic Boom spinoff series tried to pivot and make their version of her a girlboss, but Rise of Lyric was SO BAD. Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice made an alternate version of her a damsel in distress, again, which while technically true to Amy’s roots, does not fit her Boom characterization AT ALL. The Sonic Boom cartoon was a screwball comedy, and they at least lampshaded a lot of Amy’s previous writing problems, but they didn’t give her much to do either, mainly making her 'the sensible one’ whenever Sonic wasn’t available for deadpan responses. They’ve been doing a bit better lately, with Amy usually involved in world-saving matters, and she was prominently featured in Sonic Frontiers, even if she was trapped in Cyberspace. The IDW comics are also treating her wonderfully, from what I’ve seen.

3.) when she was created as a character, she was made solely to be sonic’s love interest. in sonic adventure, they tried to rewrite her and flesh out her character more by making her realize she’s more than her crush on sonic and she finally realizes she’s strong enough to do things without him. sonic team IMMEDIATELY undid that in sonic heroes which came out soon after. they made her entire character in that game obsessed with sonic and based her entire story around him. she was obsessed with him unhealthily in that game because god forbid team sonic let’s a strong female character exist. many of the sonic games took away her quality of being strong without sonic by writing her to only be obsessed with him and not do anything without him. in many modern games, she’s improved more, but misogyny has really screwed her over as a character.

ABBIE MILLS (SLEEPY HOLLOW) (CW: Racism)

1.) Abbie starts out as one of the two protagonists of the show, only to get almost entirely sidelined as early as season 2, getting less and less screen time and allowed no relationships, either platonic or romantic, while the other lead Ichabod Crane has a seemingly infinite amount of them. It got bad enough that her actor wanted to leave the show, which they did by having her sacrifice her soul in the season 3 finale for the male lead to live, and then they ended the show after season 4 anyway, because guess what, it’s a bad idea to entirely sideline and eventually kill off one of your leads!

2.) She was killed by the narrative to advance her white male co-protagonist’s plotline and I’m still mad about it, Abbie deserved so much better. This is an example of racism in the narrative too and it extended to the production of the show, see news coverage:

3.) Look, I only watched the first season but they killed her off the show SHE was a co lead of!! Misogyny AND racism, all rolled into one. I remember seeing the fan reactions and I was so mad on their behalfs. They wrote her off her own show and from what I recall, gave her less and less screentime leading up to that. Truly, she deserved so much better and I will always be upset by this.

[tikal-the-echidna]

No because why out of all their characters is it Sonic and Shadow that mirror each other the most? They’re the only ones who get matching skins in games? Promotion material is mainly them facing each other and posing in a complementary way to one another? Like SEGA what are you playing at??

Okay to be fair to that, shadow DID originate as a character meant to mirror/oppose sonic, with the entire marketing around SA2 being about duality and choosing whether to be good or evil with the opposition being embodied through sonic and shadow.

So the duality of Sonic and Shadow is kind of baked into their relationship and , through the nature of Shadow’s introduction, rather baked into Shadow’s character.

Conversely, Silver’s addition into this sort of trinary of hedgehogs by 06 is neat and very popular in fan stories and AUs but textually not super relevant, especially as 06 retcons this by itself and then silver never quite reaches such a highly positioned state again, being relegated to just “rival” similar to metal sonic, who also fills an important rival role but is held back by lack of appearances and inability to talk (most of the time.)

But Shadow has a lot of narrative and philosophical opposition to Sonic that most characters simply can’t achieve. Sonic worries about the now, Shadow is very attached to the past. Sonic is fluid where Shadow is more rigid. Sonic’s main motivation is for himself, Shadow is purpose built for the needs and wants of others, be that the military, Maria’s health problems, Black Doom’s need for a servant or even Geralt Robotnik’s desire for vengeance.

This has become less prominent post Shadow the Hedgehog as Sonic has become a lot more about the power of friendship (while he has always had friends, the sort of power of friendship messaging common in modern games wasn’t really much of a thing during the time of the adventure games) and Shadow has unfortunately fallen into a pit of being Sonic’s edgy rival that just shows up occasionally to broodily oppose Sonic for no reason, but still is a fundamental aspect of the popularity of their dynamic.

But since their characterisation has drifted away from this strong duality, their continued standing as being paired together becomes less of “these 2 characters embody opposite philosophies and world views” and more just “these 2 characters are paired up because they’re popular”. Thus creating quite a lot of shipping fodder!

Plus Sega is. Very aware of what the fandom is like and I must assume at least SOME people at SEGA know about how ship names work, so calling this game Sonic x Shadow is just really fucking funny

Tldr:

Shadow started out very deliberately as a foil to several elements of Sonic’s character for a more narrative and philosophical reason but since that narrative isn’t as relevant anymore, them being paired up just activates the fandom “2 characters together, gotta ship them” response! So putting “Sonic x Shadow” in a game title is really funny

Disclaimer: none of this is to belittle people who ship sonadow, I think it can work at times! Mainly an analysis of how Sonic and Shadow’s opposition devolved over time through characterisation drift and the way that affects the perception of fans

[beevean]

Rank your top 5 Belmonts And if you have the energy/desire to do more: Rank your top 5 Castlevania games Rank your top 5 Castlevania tracks

5) Richter. I don't think much of the guy, but undeniably he is a very important figure, the symbol of the cracking of the Belmont legacy. At first, he's a hotblooded shonen young warrior, full of energy and life and will to fight... and then we learn that the will to fight is actually an issue, because after he defeated Dracula at age 19, he found no other reason to live.

4) Simon. Got higher up to the list in recent times <3 he's the Belmont, without any drama or obvious flaw. But I've come to like that about him, and admire his feats in Simon's Quest that show that he's not just a formidable badass, but a very noble man too, willing to even bury his foe out of respect.

3) Leon. He deserved none of that :( Leon is another Belmont mainly defined by his noble nature, perhaps to a fault (my good man why are you storming a vampire castle without a sword). His shining moment is, of course, him rejecting Mathias' absurd proposal: he may be full of anger against his former friend, to the point of swearing vengeance and dooming his descendants to a lifetime of fighting, but he also refuses to fall into the pit Mathias won't escape from, and has the perfect rebuttal for his inane logic and indirectly Dracula as a whole: "But defeating him... No, preventing others from suffering the same cursed fate... That was Sara's dying wish... Granting my beloved's wish. That is all I can do to prove my love to Sara. Eternity without her would be nothing but emptiness."

2) Juste. The golden child in deep denial :D It's a bit unfair that he gets reduced to "Alucard Belmont" and at most praised for his OP powers, but hey, he's not the only one. He has an interesting personality if you read between the lines, from his brashness that contrasts with his angelic looks, to how fervently he forces Maxim to keep Lydie in the dark. Also he's the king of interior decor :P

1) Trevor. He's the Sonic of Castlevania. He invented the Superpower of Teamwork™. He's kind and helpful to those he considers his friends and a terrifying menace if he thinks you're in his way (he won't ask first). He has the Legs of all time. His theme slaps an inordinate amount of ass. He's shaped like a friend and I love him <3

(a close runnerup would be Christopher, because I really like the concept of an older Belmont, who thought that could retire, nyooming to rescue his son from Dracula's influence <3 a prelude of things to come <3)

~

I was sure I had already ranked them, but perhaps I need to remake the list anyway...

5) Adventure ReBirth. Admittedly it's been a while since I replayed it, but I have fond memories of it as far as Classics go. It's simple, it's well designed, it's fun, it has kickass remixes (Aquarius <3) I wish it wasn't so obscure because I think it's the best entry point for those interested in the genre.

4) Portrait of Ruin. Y'all sleep on this title unfairly. Jonathan and Charlotte are very fun to play as, the gimmick of the paintings allows for new locations rarely explored in the series, it has an interesting mission system that makes the game more fun to master, and an OST that seriously deserves more love.

3) Curse of Darkness. Yes, it's noticeably flawed, from the mindnumbing level design to the obtusity of Forging. It's not a game I can pick up whenever I want, the only reason I can't put it in first place. But aside from that, it honestly feels like it was designed just for me and my tastes lmao. The fighting/crafting/raising loop is incredibly addictive and reminds me of the Sonic Adventure games <3 and ofc, as you could tell, I'm in love with the characters and story :P

2) Symphony of the Night. The one, the myth, the legend. Describing it feels like a waste of time. It's a timeless classic for a reason. It may not be perfect, but much like Super Metroid, I think the atmosphere is so well crafted that it pulls you in regardless of any issues you might have. It's an experience to be had.

1) Harmony of Dissonance. Oh yeah. This game is stupid fun to me. I just pick it up and play it to wind down. The ability to dash in both directions makes it a 10/10, then you add the spells that are fun to experiment with, the breakability, the COLORS FEEL SO RIGHT, the eerie music (yes it's good! it's good!!! fight me!!!!), Maxim Mode...

~

I was also sure I had this list... how could I pick only 5 tracks from this giant, beautiful repertoire...? D:

5) Chapel of Dissonance. Unlike many of the tracks in this soundtrack, this one is perfectly hummable and sweet. It fits the beautiful sky like a glove, and it may subtly reference Divine Bloodlines which is a stroke of genius :)

4) Lost Painting. SoTN abunds in jaw-dropping tracks, but this one feels uniquely magical, and it plays just in the right areas of the castle (a chapel, a library, and icy caves). It sounds like a sad lullaby sung to Alucard, and I hear reluctance to venture further and fight.

3) Garibaldi Courtyard. I have no clue why this mundane area in the game has music that brings me to tears. Similar in atmosphere to Lost Painting and Fog-Enshrouded Nightscape, but with CoD's more modern sound. I don't know how to put into words the profound sadness I hear here.

2) Dracula Battle (SCIV). I cannot gush enough about the genius of this track as the final boss theme. It never gets faster, or drop a harder beat: you only get these long strings and this complex arpeggio for an unsettling atmosphere. I said back then: "It sounds like you're quietly resigning yourself to your fate. You will die. But that's alright. He will die too."

1) Leon's Theme. This could pass for a classical piece. It's perfect in every way. You can almost touch Leon's sorrow and anger - you can hear the fingers pressing on the piano! It gets you pumped to reach the end of the game, and you get to grieve with Leon for the terrible night he's going through. Special shoutout for the part at 1:34 for sounding like the aforementioned Dracula theme.