Monthly Archives

September 2014

Comics

How Archie Played The Games, Part 8: Of Abandoned Bases and Obscure Characters

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Long before Sonic the Hedgehog was their mascot, SEGA was known the world over for their fantastic arcade outings. Space Harrier. Hang On. Out Run. Each game compelled whatever young mind was near to slide quarter after quarter into the cabinet, keeping the company relevant even while their home content, featured on the Sega Master System, was overtly eclipsed by the competition. Finally finding success in the console market in 1991 didn’t slow the videogame maker from producing titles for the arcade circuit, but it did raise the question of whether or not SEGA would deliver Sonic outside of the Mega Drive, making those crazy about The Most Famous Hedgehog In The World to venture outside the home and hunch over a static arcade cabinet.
Wanting to exploit the character that was to define them, SEGA was immediately aware of the demand. In 1991, they released a pair of early games exclusive to arcades, Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car and its spiritual successor, SegaSonic Cosmo Fighter Galaxy Patrol, two early attempts that were geared directly at a younger demographic. The first two 16-bit titles would also be retooled for arcade consumption, released on the Mega Play platform where players were given the same levels as the home version but with far shorter time limits.
It wasn’t until 1993 that the first dedicated arcade experience featuring the hedgehog was released, the aptly titled SegaSonic the Hedgehog. One look at the title screen made it clear it wasn’t just a rehash of home content, featuring two brand new characters joining Sonic in an isometric world where players had to use a trackball to get Sonic and his friends out of the never-ending trouble following them. Released at the height of Sonic’s popularity, the game was virtually ignored, in part because it was almost exclusively a Japanese title. Those few that were exported to the west came with Japanese vocals and text intact, and as such was overlooked by the writers of both Sonic comic books being published at the time.
In 1999, that all changed.
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Miscellaneous

Monday Links: Faster Than a Subway (or Metro) Edition

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Remember that time some guy with a Sonic hat on just ran alongside a subway? Cause some guy somewhere did that, and there’s a video of it that I can’t find right now. There’s this gif though which pretty much shows all you need to know about it anyway, that being that some guy with a Sonic hat ran alongside a subway. Or it’s a metro, but who can tell the difference really?
By the way, I recently started watching this anime I barely ever see mentioned called Dennou Coil and it’s super good and all of you should watch it. Just thought that I should put that out there. Anyway have some links:
Retro News

SEGAbits News

Sonic/SEGA News

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Game News

Here’s More Sonic Boom Gameplay From TGS

So SEGA showed some new gameplay of both Sonic Boom games at Tokyo Game Show today. First up is the new Shattered Crystal level they showed off:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWc0kQmbql4
The video shows a new tropical-themed level, with the player once again dashing through blocks, swinging over pits with some electric whip thing and switching characters to get past certain obstacles. Overall it’s not really that different from what has been shown in other demos already aside from the setting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM0Pv8SHHMQ
The Rise of Lyric gameplay however shows a side-scrolling level in which Knuckles and Amy go underground to save some mine workers. Each character explores a different part of the level, with the player being able to switch between them at any time to use their special abilities whenever it is necessary. Also there’s some more fighting.
[Source: Woun from Sonic Stadium]

Community, Fan Works

Watch the complete Classic Sonic Retrospective video series from The Geek Critique


Throughout the summer, YouTube channel The Geek Critique has been covering the classic Sonic games in a six part Classic Sonic Retrospective which is, as described by the video’s creator, as being “essentially a feature-length documentary covering every single game in the classic series”. The retrospective covers why Sonic was such an influential series personally, and to the industry as a whole. It also does a good job in tackling the recent notion circulating the internet that Sonic was never good to begin with. Give the series a watch and stay tuned to The Geek Critique’s channel as he plans to cover the Sonic Adventure series next summer!

Game News, Previews

PAX Prime ’14 Preview: Super Smash Bros. Wii U and 3DS

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While Penny Arcade Expo allowed the general public to play Sonic Boom, Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd and Alien Isolation, along with Bayonetta 2 showcased by Nintendo, very little was new to those looking for new information, which included the updated Sonic Boom demo which unfortunately did not make it to the event. This left very little for new SEGA news for fans to pick apart. That is until you factor in Sonic’s involvement in the upcoming release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. Nintendo was showing off both versions for the general public to play at PAX. With the new installment coming out, there are a few changes that are in place that people can expect to enhance the gameplay, but for what was shown off so far is guaranteed more Smash Bros. to go around.
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Miscellaneous

Monday Links: Back Due To No Demand Edition

stahpitsanic
Yup, after half a year it’s been decided to make Monday Links a thing again. Many board meetings at the Sonic Retro HQ were held to discuss the return of this beloved (?) weekly (???) feature, and we finally decided that it’s probably not worth our time. Then we realized that handling a Sonic news fansite in this day and age isn’t really worth our time either, and that there really hasn’t been any point to anything we’ve put up on this front page for years now. So with that taken into consideration, Monday Links has returned after all, cause really it’s not any less pointless than anything else on the front page.
Retro News

SEGAbits News

Sonic/SEGA News

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