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Fan Works, Miscellaneous

Ten Years Ago, A Revelation Was Upon Us [Links Updated]

We here at Sonic Retro like to celebrate whenever we get the chance. Game anniversaries, Simon Wai’s birthday (though he doesn’t invite us to his parties anymore) and whatever else that will get our minds off real life. We’re Sonic fans. We don’t take too kindly to that sort of thing. Since we love the fan community as much as it loves us, it would only make sense to celebrate the anniversary of one of the most treasured of all gaming projects. To think that we almost forgot about it!

It was ten years ago today that Jamie Bailey (you remember that guy, right?) released to the world Sonic: The Fast Revelation. Built entirely in Klik and Play and during Sonic fangaming’s infancy, S:TFR was a marvel for its time, providing a Sonic experience that is hard to forget. Though it has been overshadowed by its younger brother Sonic: Time Attacked, there is still a certain charm that can be found within. Simplistic MIDI tones that will rock your ears, enticing cinemas, the proper use of spin sound effects, and physics that are…well, let’s just say they don’t make ’em like they used to. And you get infinite lives! Not even modern Sonic games give you that.

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Humor, Miscellaneous

Happy Sonic “2sday!” Can YOU beat the 25 ring challenge?!

18 years ago, the destiny of millions of kids (and a few hundred crazy Internet people) was forever changed with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, arguably the hedgehog’s most successful outing to date. For those of us who were there from the beginning, the release of Sonic 2 was a homecoming unlike any we had imagined, and those eleven new zones became burned into our very souls (which is why we still can run through Emerald Hill Zone with our eyes closed).

Now, it’s no secret that Sonic 2 went through its fair share of developmental trouble, and there were plenty of zones that were left on the cutting room floor. Heck, even levels we’ve grown to love had vast changes as it was developed, as proved by the release of the vintage “Simon Wai beta” and the lesser known (but equally important) “Nick Arcade Prototype.”

The latter of those two was made for one purpose – to make fun of Melissa Joan Hart. Now to be fair, she was just a kid (we all were) running through a level she had never seen, and had no idea the spin dash existed (there was a world before 1992, people), but still, the urge to insult her run through the game is so tempting. And yes, she wasn’t the only one who played and failed the game on that show, but it isn’t as fun to make fun of a random girl we know nothing about.

This is where you, the Sonic Retro reader, comes in.
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Game Secrets, Miscellaneous

SegaAge Releases First Prototype: Swamp Thing

SegaAge is a new Sega fansite from the people behind NintendoAge, which normally wouldn’t be that big a deal–sites come and go, and while having a new Sega site is always exciting, it’s not exactly something to make any real noise over. What is noteworthy, though, is that the site has released its first Mega Drive prototype: a canceled 1991 game called Swamp Thing.

The game was produced by Nuvision, perhaps best known for the prototype Bean Ball Benny, as well as one published title: Bimini Run, a boat racing game. And honestly, when it comes to that title?

That about says it all. Swamp Thing is pretty legitimately horrible as well; you control the titular character from the Swamp Thing comic book series. I’m not too familiar with the original property, so I can’t say how much is accurate to that world, but if turning into a log and rolling around is part of the action, I’m skeptical. It’s interesting in that this is the first I’ve heard of it, but it’s likely nothing more than a historical footnote in the world of Nuvision. You can grab a copy of the ROM here and try it out yourself.

Check the image gallery past the jump.

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Miscellaneous

Someone Visited SEGA Yesterday [Updated]

Yesterday, SEGA held their first ever “Community Event” at their headquarters, inviting those far and wide to come, check out the place, play a bit of Phantasy Star Portable 2, and talk about Sonic’s other latest outing, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1.

Because he simply had nothing better to do, forum member Sammybeany decided to attend, not really interested in playing Phantasy Star but plenty prepared for the “highlight” of the evening, the Sonic the Hedgehog 4 feedback session.

As can be expected, the half-hour alloted was not nearly enough time for proper discussion. Sammy was slightly agitated and how quickly they tried to move things along (almost like the release of Sonic 2006 haha see the joke I made there), but a lot of topics were brought up in the discussion that at least were heard by Aaron Webber and Ken Balough. Is it enough to force SEGA’s hand and change the direction of future installments? Who knows. But hey, at least there were free gourmet sandwiches.

To read his entire report, either go to the thread on the forums, or just click on the jump below. And be sure to keep an eye out for Retro’s own Slingerland give his two cents on The Sonic Stadium.  Update: Slingerland’s report is up.  Check it out.

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Miscellaneous

Sega of America Employee Back with More Auctions

If you’re like me, you heard about vigiljeff‘s eBay auction for the original painting used for the United States’ and Europe’s cover of Night Trap, which wound up selling for more than $1,500 USD, just a little too late to do any bidding. However, it put the former Sega of America employee, who worked in the facilities department of the company, on the radar as a potential seller of rare goods.

vigiljeff is back on eBay this week with four new auctions: pre-production figures of Akira Yuki and Sarah Bryant, a framed print of the character from Sonic the Hedgehog in an admittedly pretty awesome frame with many characters from various DiC properties carved into it, but perhaps most interesting is the final item, an art scroll drawn by one of four Sonic Team employees who were flown into America to finish NiGHTS into Dreams in his spare time. In the auction description, vigiljeff explains:

Even though they spoke very little English and I spoke no Japanese, whenever they needed something, they would e-mail my department and I would get it up to them, so I got to be pretty good friends with them, especially one guy, and even if I could remember his name I couldn’t pronounce it.

But anyways, at night or when he had time, he would be working on this scroll painting & drawing and writing. I don’t even know what game the characters are from that one. I’m sure one of you gamers out there will know right off, or if someone can read Japanese the writing will tell you.

And the cool thing about all this, when I went to drop them off at SFO for [their] flight back home, I unloaded all [their] stuff onto two airport carts, the guy grabs this scroll out of one of his bags and hands it to me and in his best English says, ‘Thank you for all your help. This [is] for you.’

I didn’t know what to say, so I bowed my head to them and shook [their] hands and said have a safe flight and went back to work.

At any rate, any of these pieces would be great collector items to have, but the scroll in particular seems really interesting: a look into the mind of one Sonic Team employee during one of the most diverse times of creative output by the studio. Pictures of the scroll are below.


[via GameSetWatch]

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Humor, Miscellaneous

Colors Pre-Launch Party: Sonic on a Zamboni

So, if you were in New York City’s Bryant Park this weekend, you probably enjoyed the festivities of the Sonic Colo(u)rs pre-launch party. Despite the rain, Cash Cash played a set, demo units of Colo(u)rs were available for both the Nintendo DS and Wii, and people wore those goofy pre-order Sonic hats–a swell time overall.

However, clearly the highlight of the action was what seems to have been terribly overlooked: Sonic the Hedgehog riding around on a Zamboni in Bryant Park. This made us realize, in a world of 18-wheeler simulators and theme park management games, among odder genres, there is no Zamboni sim game. Frankly, we need ICE RINK SMOOTHING HIGH SPEED ACTION STAGES, Sega. Where is Sonic Zamboni Riders? Sonic Smoothing Adventure? Tails Rink Patrol?

Or perhaps this is a teaser for a game yet to come.

(Seriously, though, more photos of the event are available at BuzzFocus.)

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Animation, Miscellaneous

Sonic the Hedgehog OVA Available for Mobile Phones

If you haven’t had a chance to watch the 1996 two-part OVA Sonic the Hedgehog, stop reading this and immediately track down a copy to watch–it’s quite possibly the best Sonic-related animation out there and definitely is a nice contrast to the Western Sonic series from the early 90s.

However, if you happen to live in Japan and haven’t seen it yet (or would just like another shot at seeing it), Bandai Channel is offering the Sonic OVA ahead of its 15-year anniversary this upcoming May both for PC and mobile phones. Each episode is priced at the pretty reasonable cost of ¥210. You can check out a preview or watch on PC at the Bandai Channel website for the OVA (do note that you need to have a Japanese IP in order to access the movie) or you can see the mobile mini-site and download the episodes directly to your phone or mobile device by following this link.

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Miscellaneous

Sonic Colors Wallpaper: The WMP Visualization

UPDATE: It’s up!

Our good friends at SEGA provided us with some exclusive Sonic Colors wallpaper for you guys to download yesterday.  It’s a slick background.  It doesn’t end there, though.  Comments by Retro member Solaris Paradox and staffer Gene inspired member angryzor to create this visualization for Windows Media Player.

  • Solaris Paradox: “Looks like a bitchin’ Media Player visualization effect. =V …No, seriously.”
  • Gene: “If anyone is feeling ambitious enough to work on it as a visualizer, by all means.”
  • angryzor: “You shouldn’t say such things, it makes idiots like me waste their evening.”

This visualization, according to angryzor, is in its Alpha stage.  We want to download this when it’s done!

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Game News, Miscellaneous

Exclusive: New Sonic Colours Wallpaper

If you’ve been looking for a way to express your anticipation for Sonic Colours and are looking for some desktop wallpaper a little less cluttered than the fanmade images floating around, check out these classy backgrounds, courtesy of Sega. At 1920 x 1200, they should look nice on any widescreen and/or high resolution monitor.

We’ve included both the U.S. and European versions of the paper for Americans and/or those with inconsolable spelling issues.

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