Monthly Archives

September 2011

Merchandise

Sonic CD Japanese Soundtrack Announced, Plus Sonic 1&2 Track Listing

For being a game that has caused a musical debate for well over a decade, Sonic the Hedgehog CD has never seen its original Japanese soundtrack released. Sure, nearly all the songs for the Spencer Nilsen soundtrack composed for the North American release were seen on the CD Sonic Boom (which itself was a pre-order bonus for Sonic the Hedgehog 3), and one can not forget the excellent Japan-exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog Remix, which used the Japanese soundtrack as its inspiration. But the songs originally composed by Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata have never seen a stand alone release. Hot on the heels of the best-of compilations for the “Dreamcast Era” of Sonic, Wavemaster continues to celebrate Sonic’s 20th anniversary in style by announcing the Sonic the Hedgehog CD Original Soundtrack 20th Anniversary Edition. Calling itself the first complete release of the game’s music, it’s sure to cause some people to get very excited to relive the soundtrack Ohshima demanded be on there.

Set to be released on November 23rd, the disc looks to be the best desert one could expect for the 20th anniversary, winding down after the main course that is Sonic Generations. But that appetizer we have been waiting patiently for? We knew how many tracks there were going to be, but the list has finally been revealed.

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Site News

Sonic Retro Fundraiser 2011

Look, here at Sonic Retro, we can’t all be cool guys. Other members of the staff pal around and have fun and do cool things, because they’re cool guys. This is not to say that I’m not cool—from getting in big gay fights with the Westboro Baptist Church to popping wheelies on a motorbike, I’ve had my share of misadventures. I’m fun to go drinking with. Really guys. Really. However…

As the head of Retro, I have to be the boring Lane Pryce of this operation, and that involves doing all the coding, troubleshooting, support e-mailing, peace-keeping and book-keeping for the site.

Because those things aren’t fun, we only bring this up once a year: we are a fully member-supported site. We rely on your donations in order to continue bringing you news, making cool features and being all-around badasses. Running a site this large runs up a lot of charges, from the electricity powering our server and our licenses to the ability to go get things no one else will, For example, we’ve been working on getting various Mega Drive games that still haven’t been dumped from around the world and will be releasing those in a pack later in the year. You guys have felt the annoyance of us running on a shoestring budget: we had to cut our music service because of our outgoing bandwidth metering. We’re looking to raise enough money to bring those MP3s back, among many other things. Although everyone on staff volunteers their time for Sonic Retro, we can only do what our resources allow us to do.

We choose a donation model over advertising or other revenue streams not only because those things are annoying, but because this is the point of Retro: we’re all in this together. I’m an old codger of the Sonic scene and I remember well the time when it was cool to be a jerk and when people who didn’t like what you liked were to be shunned. We’re somewhat famous because we actually let people yell at each other and get upset, because they’re going to do it anyway and it helps reach a healthier consensus. The dozen annoying guys in the Generations thread and the hackers and the researchers and artists and musicians and guys who write apologetics for Big the Cat (hi, David!) are all under the Retro banner because, at the end of the day, it’s Sonic that draws us all together. We can disagree about various things (and outside people can latch on to our shout down of one person about “green eyes” and turn that into some dumb attack), but we’re all here striving to make change in a way that no other video game community does. Other places bitch; we correct. We do. We help out. It only makes sense that we’d also pitch in together to keep this thing going.

We’re doing some new things this year: while we have things to mail to our top donors, we’re also going to be giving all our donors a shoutout at the beginning of every month and are allowing for causes and services to donate for recognition. To get the lowdown on everything, please visit https://www.sonicretro.org/donate. Thanks for your time, and we hope to see you on the donor list. And just so you don’t feel like you’re going out of this post empty-handed:


 Yup.

Game News

“Dreamcast Era” Trailer for Sonic Generations Now Online, Speed Highway Operational Once More

Earlier today, gaming website IGN posted online the latest trailer for Sonic Generations, and game that is now only a little more than a month away. Styled in a similar manner to the “Classic Era” trailer uploaded earlier this month, the hallmark Dreamcast titles Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2 and the multi-platform like-it-or-hate-it Sonic Heroes are showcased for those who first fell in love with the hedgehog in the land of three dimensions. And what music accompanies this trailer?

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Comics

New York Comic Con Goers Get Exclusive Sonic Comic Cover

The Sonic Genesis arc of Archie’s comic book series is nearing its close as Sonic and the Freedom Fighters are gunning toward a showdown with Dr. Eggman aboard his Death Egg. For fans of the comic book, this has no doubt been an exciting ride that Ian Flynn has been putting readers through. To make it even more special, those that are attending New York Comic Con can get a special convention exclusive cover for Sonic #229, as well as a Mega Man: Powered Up inspired cover for Mega Man #6.

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Game News

Sonic Generations 28 Minute Preview Uploaded, Blue and Cool As Ever

Disappearing as quickly as it arrived, German gaming site Giga.de posted up a video I’m guessing they weren’t supposed to – a 28 minute playthrough of the upcoming Sonic Generations, coming across the globe in the early days of November, 2011. Featuring Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary, and City Escape, the video also includes extensive footage of the hub world and the glorious Metal Sonic boss fight. Sure, everything they are saying is in German, and it was taken down probably because of an embargo (which means this video here might disappear later on), but in the words of Retro admin Cinossu, “boy is it a lovely 28 minutes.”

Although it should be obvious, this video is chock-full of spoilers. So if you want to stay completely in the dark, you’ll want to avoid the video and everything else below.

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Game News

First Look At Some Of Sonic Generations’ Achievements

Achievements. The little things that pop up with a nice little sound effect that let you know you may or may not have done something really cool in a game and are awarded with Gamerscore or a Trophy. They’re also notorious for leaking some of the story elements of a game just from descriptions alone, causing some headaches for developers when the lists leak out a wee bit early.

It goes without saying that the 360 and PS3 versions of Generations were going to be packing these in some form, giving teasing glimpses at what challenges Sega is chucking at its players. Thanks to Xbox360Achievements, we now have a small peek at some of these and a surprise in that most of the achievements are completely hidden from viewing.

Well, almost completely. Above are the icons for the 27 secret achievements the game is packing, giving little glimpses to certain currently unrevealed bosses and stages. It even packs a small teaser or two regarding the status of two fan-favorite super powered golden hedgehogs.

While those will remain mysterious for now, we do have a small list, found below, of some of the more basic achievements players will be able to challenge.

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Game News

German GamePro Video Gives Looks At Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary

With a supposed embargo on Generations information lifting today, we have the first trickle of information in the form of a three and a half minute video from German site GamePro showcasing some of the currently known stages from the console version of the game.

Those worried about Sky Sanctuary lacking the signature elements of the original stage, like bubbly bouncing clouds and the ominous launch of Death Egg through the clouds can breathe a sigh of relief. Although still a different take from the original stage with a more heavenly tropical feel, the soul of the original Sky Sanctuary is still there as Sonic bounds on the clouds. Check out all those alternate paths in the Classic version of the stage!

The video also features looks at Green Hill, Chemical Plant and City Escape. Green Hill now features collectible red rings, Omochao hint bubbles, and additional prompts on screen when Modern Sonic is performing tricks. We also get a view of the Chemical Plant “hub world”, featuring Modern Amy.

Game Secrets, Interviews, Miscellaneous

SAGE Interviews Naoto Ohshima Later Tonight

Heads up for all you guys: SAGE–the amateur fangame expo that takes place in the Sonic community once a year–is going to have a live interview with Naoto Ohshima, the original creator of the Sonic the Hedgehog character, at 8:45PM EST over the SAGECast radio station! If you’re interested in asking him a question, feel free to join their IRC channel at irc.rizon.net in channel #sagexpo.

If you don’t have an IRC client, simply go the SAGExpo website and click the Chat tab to enter the channel. Alternatively, you can use Mibbit and enter the IRC details to get in. Remember that there will be a translator present on the radio station, so unlike in instances where Ohshima is speaking English himself, responses will be far more clear, concise and in-depth. Think carefully before you ask; not everybody will get a chance to have their questions answered, so time is of the essence.

For more information and discussion, check out the forum thread.

Game News

Brand New Sonic Generations Trailer Showcases Sky Sancturary

After the small bits and pieces of information that have trickled out over the last couple days concerning Sonic Generations, Sega today decided to be nice and show off even more new juicy tidbits, straight from the source. Put together in a trailer showcasing the world of Classic Sonic, we not only get to see the now-familiar footage of Green Hill and Chemical Plant, but the final stage connected the first era of Sonic the HedgehogSky Sanctuary. And yes, you can hear the music.

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