Fan Works, Hacking

Sonic Hacking Contest Announced for 2022

Once again the online event for Sonic mods, ROM hacks and general nonsense is upon us with the Sonic Hacking Contest for the year of 2022. The Hacking Contest website has been updated with finer details on entry requirements, categories and more which can be found here. Tentative dates for the event will center around October much like last year’s event. The contest is asking entries to prepare their works based on Sonic ROM hacks or mods for Sonic games. Mods can include titles released on PC including digital storefronts such as Steam (For titles such as Sonic Mania and Team Sonic Racing) as well as mods for console games. (Including Sonic Riders Zero Gravity for the Nintendo Wii) Of course as is with tradition, ROM hacks from Sonic games on Mega Drive and Genesis systems (Such as the ever present Sonic the Hedgehog 2) are also welcome as entries.

This year’s contest involves a change in how trophies are delivered. While the contest acknowledges the desire for the return of themed trophies from 2019, they are looking to make these trophies to better reflect the criteria involved. The contest is also asking for suggestions for naming trophies from the public, and is accepting multiple entries on their Trophy Naming form. Otherwise the structure of the event will be similar to last year’s event.

More information will be provided over the coming months as deadline dates and more are finalized. Future updates can be found from the Hacking Contest website as well as the official Twitter account. Discussion on the contest can be found both here on Sonic Retro’s forums as well as the Sonic Stuff Ressearch Group forums.

 

Animation

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Coming to Blu-Ray

It’s 1993. You rush home from school, the smell of pizza rolls filling your nose as you burst into the house. Jumping into the living room, you see the Sega Genesis, the Sonic 2 cart still plugged in from last night. But before you turn it back on, you switch to a local station. The theme song is already in progress – Sonic the Hedgehog, running around an abstract landscape, his name being used as a weapon. Yes, it was time to watch Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. And now? You can do it all over again, thanks to the people over at Discotek Media.

Best known for their anime sets, Discotek is no stranger to the blue blur, having previously released the complete English dub of Sonic X on blu-ray. Adventures of Sonic is following in Sonic X‘s footsteps, getting the blu-ray treatment for the first time. While the episodes will be in standard definition, Discotek has promised they will look closer to the master tapes than ever before, not to mention being in stereo, which the most recent DVD release lacked. A slew of special features were also announced, including the original pitch pilot and animation rushes from the first episode of the series. But perhaps the most exciting extra are the brand new commentaries on two episodes from the man who made Robotnik sexy, Milton Knight.

The set is slated for release in February 2022. Continue on for an image gallery of what’s in store.

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Game News

We’ve Finally Got A Title – The First Look At Sonic Frontiers

Back in May, Sega and the Sonic Team gave the world its first look at the next major installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise. A quick CG trailer, we didn’t even get a name for what was to come next. Speculation ran rampant, especially for those who were paying attention to every whisper of a supposed leak. When it comes to Sonic, after all, you can’t help but wonder what form a game will take, especially one made in the third dimension.

In a Sonic “double-header,” the Game Awards not only showed off the first trailer to the theatrical Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but also gave us the first in-game glimpse of Sonic Frontiers. Take a look at the trailer below:

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Movies

Trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Finally Arrives

After the unexpected success of the original Sonic the Hedgehog film from Paramount, it was a pretty safe assumption that we’d be getting a sequel. After being confirmed, and seeing all sorts of set photos leak onto the Internet, there was only one thing that could begin to satiate the appetite of a Sonic fan – a first look at the film, packaged in a convenient advertisement video clocking in at just over two minutes.

Earlier today at The Game Awards, that appetizer was finally delivered on a platter, and boy was it worth the wait. We’ve got Sonic! We’ve got Tails! We’ve got Robotnik lookin’ just as snazzy as ever. And of course, we’ve got the original muscle flexer, Knuckles the Echidna. Sure, you’ve watched it ten times already by rewinding the stream. But in case you somehow missed it, check it out below.

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Miscellaneous

A Quick Look At Some Sonic the Hedgehog Costumes Over The Years

SONIC-HEDGEHOG_HEAD

It’s 4:30 PM. The daylight is already fading, a chill wind rustling against your face as you emerge from the car. Tightly gripping your jacket, you dash towards one of the stores in the strip mall. It used to be a Blockbuster VIdeo, but no one has bothered to replace it on a permanent basis. But a seasonal one? For two months out of the year, someone decides to turn the lights back on, ones which you are glad as you step into the makeshift Halloween Emporium.

You can feel the Spirit of the place gripping you as the large orange signage covers the windows, photographs of unnamed models posing in fifty dollar costumes. Normally, you’d make a joke about the visual fidelity, pointing out how the confused man in a mummy outfit was blown up from a 250 x 180 public domain image from Google, but you didn’t have time for such comedy. It was October 31st, and you had no idea what you’d be dressed up for at the office party.

You hadn’t intended on going, to be fair. You thought you’d spend the night inside, watching black and white horror movies while eating the leftover candy from the lack of trick-or-treaters who would shout outside your front door. Instead, your boss texted you – mandatory attendance. Was this something they could do? You were responsible for bringing all the two-liters of soda, and you knew Marc from accounting would never stop complaining if you didn’t show up with the limited edition Mountain Dew Pitch Black.

So you enter. The chaos of the store matches that inside your head. The shelves are already picked over, costume bags open, their contents strewn upon the floor. You step over one particularly sad looking witch hat, its pointed top clearly not feeling the season. The shouts of parents at their children made you uncomfortable as you walk briskly to the back of the store, hiding in an aisle. You look at what is hanging there – an off brand Ninja Turtles costume, its skin blue. You sigh. Is this your only option?

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

The voice startles you. You look over at the person who addressed you, clearly an employee of this establishment. She smiles, plastic vampire fangs in her mouth. Clearly, they were not molded for her specifically, her words distorted.

“I don’t think there’s much you can do,” you say, gesturing at the madness outside the isle. A teenager chucks an apple they bobbed for earlier in the day, seeing if anyone will catch it. “At this point, I’ll buy anything that’ll fit. Too late to be picky.”

You grasp the Bootleg Turtles costume. “Is there any reason why this looks like Sonic the Hedgehog?”

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Fan Works, Hacking

SHC 2021: The Results Are In

2021’s Sonic Hacking Contest has officially come to a close. For those who’ve been playing, or even those just watching others, its clear there’s been some great games this year. Sonic 1 Definitive, Hellfire Saga, Shivery Mountainside, and Sonic 2 Mania SHC2021 Demo have shone out as the overall favorites of the competition, but they’re certainly not the only games worthy of praise (or worthy of an award!)

Continue on after the jump to check out the overall top three’s plus the winners of every award handed out this year.

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Fan Works, Hacking

Sonic Hacking Contest 2021 Is Now Live

Hey there! Just a friendly reminder that today, the Sonic Hacking Contest 2021 is up and running! Last week, the official trailer went up, which you can check out above. The week is looking to be an exciting one, the streaming schedule packed with some of your favorite personalities from the Sonic Tubeaverse, along with a smattering of Developer Streams sprinkled in there. But we all know why you want to go – it’s the games. This year, there’s 41 entries to vote on, plus another 40 games that are part of the expo. To check them all out, be sure to head to the official website and give them a go, then vote for your favorites. Remember, you have until until the end of the 16th to vote on the Community Trophies and Contest Entries, so don’t wait until the last minute if you want to take part!

[Source: shc.zone]

Fan Works, Hacking

Sonic Hacking Contest Now Accepting Submissions

A few months ago, we let everyone know the when’s and the where’s regarding 2021’s Sonic Hacking Contest. For those hard at work coming up with something they hope will dazzle and wondering when they can submit their entries, wait no longer! Submissions for SHC2021 officially opened the 10th of August, and will continue to be open until next month.

Due to some unforeseen delays getting the site ready for submissions, the original contest deadline announced back in March has been extended. The new dates are down below:

CONTEST DEADLINE – End of Sunday 12th September
UPDATES DEADLINE – End of Sunday 19th September
EXPO DEADLINE – End of Sunday 26th September
CONTEST WEEK – Monday 11th to Sunday 17th October

So if you were worried about getting things done in time, that extra week will hopefully be enough, if you’re wanting to be part of the contest. Either way, the show is still set to go on come October. For all the details, be sure to read the newsletter so you don’t miss out on how to get your work in the show.

To keep up to date, be sure to follow the SHC on Twitter, and don’t forget that you can still chat about it on the Retro forums.

[Source: Sonic Hacking Contest Official Site]

Game News

Sonic & Tails Announced For Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania

Sure, we all know it’s Sonic the Hedgehog’s 30th anniversary. But did you know that Super Monkey Ball turns 20 this year? That’s right, those rolling simian’s are celebrating their own milestone, and in a moment of corporate synergy, the two franchises are colliding.

That’s right, both Classic Sonic and Tails will be guests in the upcoming Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. Look at them go! They’re rolling. They’re collecting rings instead of bananas. For those keeping score, this is the second time Sonic has popped up in the Super Monkey Ball franchise, the first being 2019’s Banana Blitz HD.

Sonic and Tails aren’t the only ones joining in. Beat from Jet Set Radio was announced earlier this month, but he’s not collecting rings or bananas! He’s collecting spray paint cans. Because. Well. That’s what you collect in Jet Set Radio. Will any other SEGA characters pop in on this Monkstravaganza? Who knows. But you can pick the game up on October 5th, 2021 in all the usual places.

[Source: Super Monkey Ball Official Twitter]

Opinion

Once Upon A Time (Or Thirty Years Ago)

It’s hard to imagine a time where Sonic the Hedgehog didn’t exist. A time when he wasn’t ever present on video game shelves, where a cartoon featuring the character wasn’t airing on television, when a monthly comic book wasn’t available to buy at your local comic shop. But back in 1990, Sonic was just a dream. Springing from the mind of Naoto Ohshima, there was certainly a time when he was nothing more than a simple doodle scratched upon a napkin. Mr. Hedgehog, one drawing among a sea of many, all of them vying to become the face, and the hope, of an entire video game company.

What was it like when Ohshima sat in Central Park all those years ago, signaling for random passersby to see his funny, slightly strange doodles? How many of those people had the slightest idea what SEGA was? What videogames even were? Did they just think of him as a cartoonist who had made his way to the big city, looking for inspiration among the towering skyscrapers? When shown the drawings of that egg-shaped man, or that spiny blue critter who couldn’t wait to run off the page, what did they say? Did anyone have the slightest inkling they were witness to history?

Likely not. After all, it was just a drawing on a piece of paper. No grander sense of the world that was being created. Of the gameplay slowly being refined in Japan. No idea that this character, who would take the name Sonic, was destined to forever alter the video game industry. If they had been told ahead of time, those who were aware of Nintendo’s dominance would have surely laughed. Video games were dead in America until Mario brought them back to life, how could anyone attempt to overthrow them? Where would you even begin?

Well, with a hedgehog. As blue and cool as the planet he called home.
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