Monthly Archives

September 2011

Game News

Planet Wisp, Two Boss Fights Leaked on Xbox Live

Someone flipped the switch a little too soon again.

Some users are reporting quite a few new shots of Sonic Generations appearing on Xbox Live that probably shouldn’t have gone live yet. Yet others are reporting seeing the usual shots of Green Hill Zone. Either way, you all win. Aside from the above of Modern Sonic death racing Shadow on an unknown stage–the ARK?–echoing Classic Sonic death racing Metal Sonic, we also get to see the Death Egg Robot fight Classic Sonic will take part in, showing a newer spin on the boss.

Planet Wisp is also shown, looking just a tad crisper than how it appeared in last year’s Wii title Sonic Colours and a shot of Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic interacting in the timeless “mirrored reflection” pantomime.

Game News

TGS 2011: Generations 3DS Trailer, U.S. Release Info

Tokyo Game Show is about to go down in Japan, but Nintendo yesterday held a TGS Kickoff conference which brought with it a trailer of the 3DS version of Sonic Generations giving viewers a chance to see Green Hill, Mushroom Hill, and the Special Stage in motion. Listen to that Sonic Heroes Special Stage remix.

Pictures released also include glimpses of Casino Night Zone, additionally confirming that players will be challenged by Metal Sonic in a race to the death within the neon lit gambling city, a change from the console version which features the race in its famous Sonic CD setting, Stardust Speedway’s Bad Future.

For Americans, Sega confirmed that the tentative retail date of Nov. 1 is when the PS3 and 360 versions of the game will be arriving for consumption. The fate of the Nintendo 3DS title isn’t so clear, as it has been given a more ambiguous release of Late 2011.

With signs that the game isn’t quite complete in the trailer itself–Modern Sonic’s Mushroom Hill is still using a recording of the original zone’s music from Sonic & Knuckles and fans have noted that Classic Sonic brings up homing attack reticules–this isn’t terribly surprising, but a positive sign that Sega and DIMPS are working to make the portable version of the game more than just a quick cash in version.

Hacking, Miscellaneous, Site News

Midweek Links: We iz teh gratis Edition

(Thanks to pkmnexplorer for this week’s “Sonic & Luigi” image, found in a recent Sears catalog.)

 

Sonic Retro News

  • MarkeyJester released a small hack this week ’cause he iz teh gratis. The thing seems like a joke hack but is pretty great. Check it out! [ Pana Der Hejhog ]
  • Mercury wrote an extensive piece on reoccuring themes in Masato Nakamura’s compositions for Sonic 1 and 2 and wound up finding some interesting similarities between the Sonic 1 Special Stage theme and Sonic 2‘s unused track 10 music. It’s a longer read, but worth it for fans of the series’ earliest music. [ A Musical Mystery Still Unsolved ]
  • Popular music porting software xm4smps received an update to work with XMs created on OpenMPT 1.19+; as a bonus, some of the features which were in development are also shown in this build. [ xm4smps 4.1 ‘beta’ ]
  • The Japanese Sonic Generations website was updated this week, but not before learning about some exotic new character when we were promised no more! [ Some fox named Milse ]
  • I’m under the impression that some of our readers believe that friendship is magic or something. I’m not really sure what it has to do with Sonic the Hedgehog, or why our member’s-only lounge has a huge thread about ponies, but of course someone somewhere has to combine these two fandoms. [ My Little Mega Drive ]

Sega/Sonic News

  • Sonic Generations Collector’s Edition was announced last week for European and Australian audiences, but this has left other audiences without a way to purchase the box set. Right now, the best option for North and South American audiences is to go through Amazon UK, who is currently charging 85GBP for a preorder on the game and approximately 10GBP for airmail shipping and customs charges (if applicable for your country.) Keep in mind that this may not be the best deal, but it is the best of what has been announced so far and given the limited run of Collector’s Edition sets, you may want to preorder now. [ Sonic Generations: Collector’s Edition for 360 / Sonic Generations: Collector’s Edition for PS3 ]
  • Australian chain GAME is holding a charity auction of games from the Sonic franchise before Sonic Generations‘ release. The kicker? Their presenter, Ed, doesn’t have the 45 games needed to hold a complete auction. If you’re willing to donate a copy, you can get a 50AUD voucher for GAME and a free copy of Generations. [ GAME Australia Embarks on the Amazing Sonic Quest ]
  • I heard some sass earlier this week that the just-announced Rhythm Thief would simply be a rip-off of Elite Beat Agents and nothing worth writing home about. Sassers? You’re wrong, and these screenshots and video prove otherwise. [ Nintendo 3DS Conference 2011 ]
  • SEGAbits celebrates the 12th anniversary of the Dreamcast this week with a series of articles culminating with a podcast full of DC nostalgia. [ Dreamcast 12th Anniversary ]

Continue Reading

Game News

Shadow Crashes the Party, Second Rival in Generations

Considering the hodgepodge of characters celebrating the fact that Sonic is one year away from boozing it up in America, it’s natural that the series original the character with a darker, edgier tone joins Metal Sonic in crashing the festivities.

Sega officially revealed the long-known fact that Shadow will be out to thwart his goody blue counterpart, bringing with him a new slightly edgier look in small details, such as paint stripped off from his hover skates, and some more jagged lines across some of his red stripes. A subtle way to tell the player that he’s not here to emo up a party or play support character;  he’s here to kill Sonic.

With Metal Sonic and Shadow now officially revealed, it’s only a matter of time before the time traveler with psychokinesis crashes the party and sends Sonic into space.

Miscellaneous

Sonic 2 HD Mixed Up With Official Thing, Film at 11

So, I was walking around Target the other night, and I couldn’t help but notice one of Atgames‘ many officially-licensed Genesis plug-and-play systems, the Arcade Blast Sonic, was on the shelf. Since I was pretty bored, I picked it up to take a look at it.

That’s when I saw something a little…weird.

Why, I’ve never seen a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 title screen drawn that way on a Sega product–even that shirt which was licensed a few years back didn’t quite have the artwork like that. Wait, could it…? No, of course not.

Then I flipped the box over.

Huh. It’s there again, too!  Every other game on the box uses the standard title screen, but this is using that art instead. You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would say that wasn’t official artwork.

Of course, gentle readers, we know better. It’s not.


It’s actually a very old Sonic 2 HD title screen that was replaced, but its legacy lives on in Atgames packaging. Certainly, this isn’t the first time fan works have appeared in official products (the Sonia fanart in All-Stars Racing comes to mind), but it doesn’t make me smile any less each time it happens.

Game News

Sonic Generations Collector’s Edition Announced – Europe, Australia Exacts Its Revenge On America

This announcement isn’t exactly out of the blue, what with the rumors of a collector’s edition for Sonic Generations floating out there for quite a while. There have been listings in various gaming retailers, but some thought it might be nothing more than the Casino Night DLC packaged from the get-go. For those who were fearing the worst, they have been more than pleasantly surprised to find that isn’t the case at all. Not since Sonic Adventure 2 has a Sonic the Hedgehog title received the royal treatment, and as many consider this game a return to form, can we blame Sega for being excited and doing this? Not at all!

Continue Reading

Game News

Sonic the Hedgehog 1&2 Soundtrack Still Coming – Now With Release Date!

With every new piece of information about Sonic Generations coming out, and the announcement and subsequent releases of the “Best Of” soundtracks to Sonic Adventure, Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes, there has been one announcement that has gone silent since it’s initial reveal. I am talking, of course, about the first official release of the soundtracks to Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Entirely composed by DREAMS COME TRUE frontman Masato Nakamura, the tracks have never been part of an official release through any record label, even though they were from one of the biggest musical acts in Japan. This injustice will finally cease on October 19th, 2011 when the Sonic the Hedgehog 1&2 Soundtrack is finally coming out. And with the style it always deserved.

Continue Reading

Game News

Some Brief Details For Sonic Generations 3DS Revealed

After the last unexpected reveal for what is hiding out in Sonic Generations for the 3DS, it isn’t hard to believe that maybe some people might be slightly more interested in what is contained in the DIMPS-produced companion to the main event taking place on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Even though not much new has been revealed, Nintendo’s official U.K. site has gone into some more detail, including offering a handful of new screenshots for the Casino Night Zone meant to represent Sonic the Hedgehog 2.


Continue Reading