#also bonus sonic and shadow dialogue ^^

[shadows-coffeebeans]

is starlight friendly with new people? (and am i allowed to make fanart of him…)

also love your art and starlight the silly the skrunkly i want to grab him and crush him (affectionately)

Starlight is super friendly with new people (sometimes he's too much for some)

Also anyone can make art of Starlight ^^

Just tag me when you do, I wanna see them :D

[paracosmicka]

sonic tma au? 👀👀👀👀👀

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I’VE POSTED IT ABOUT IT EVEN THO I HAVE SO MUCH STUFF ABOUT MY SONIC/TMA AU

Okay to start out with, I’ve been calling the “Primal Fears au” and it started out as a working title but I don’t really have any better ideas and the tag I have on all of my posts about this tma au is #primal fears au (idk how to imbed a hyperlink into text but like if you go into the search thingy over my blog and just type that tag in you’ll see all my previous posts about it that are from OVER A YEAR AGO IT’S BEEN SO LONG 😭)

Okay uhhhhh idk how to organize this so just get ready for a shit ton of sketches and art lol

here are some more fleshed out character sheets (than my very post about them) for Sonic and Shadow, they’re not final yet tho obviously

was fighting demons drawing Shadow’s main design for some reason

general sketch ideas for Sonic and Shadow

And my favorite part of this au is that I just get to categorize all the Sonic characters into which fear entity would they serve so here are some character sheet ideas:

Okay this last one is Infinite and I know he’s not everyone’s favorite bc he’s just so…..mid ig in the games but redesigning him as an avatar of the Spiral has been so fun. Also bonus points if you know what Doctor Who episode I stole this dialogue from lol:

and finally I thought I’d just share an idea I had of a “cover” for my Primal Fears au

Okay I think those are all the presentable sketches I have but there are so so so many more ideas I have and it’s not going to help bc I’m feeling the annual urge to relisten to The Magnus Archives again especially bc the new season of The Magnus Protocol comes out soon.

But yeah anyway feel free to ask any questions/share ideas if you’d made your own TMA/Sonic au I love yapping about horror and this au is like my child. Actually that’s not a very good analogy bc all of my sonadow aus are my babies. I just love sonadow sorry I will continue to be insane

[arkturmists]

Ideas for a SatBK remaster (if it ever happens):

Camelot Castle and Nimue's Lake as hub worlds! Nimue can provide her challenges of Chivalry (the missions she sends Sonic on), and the bonus stages (unlocked after defeating Merlina), while the extra challenges could be given by the villagers in Camelot Castle. Connections to Arthurian legend can be accessed through dialogue at Nimue's, while SatBK specific lore can be accessed with the villagers in Camelot Castle, changing at different parts of the game (them talking about Arthur's corruption, how grateful they are to Sonic, and when Lancelot/Percival/Gawain, how they react to each knight). Plus, it would provide easy access to the Blacksmith, unlocking titles, and exchanging items.

FIXED CONTROLS. NO MORE DELAY. It's admittedly part of the charm (for me), but I would LOVE to have them fixed so the delay isn't as bad.

Camelot's treasury as an ACTUAL room (like Shadow's room in Generations). This can showcase the different items that are found, different talismans or potions made at the blacksmith's, and even showcasing the Sacred Swords. You could also view found concept are and replay cutscenes here.

A way to access Battle Mode in the game. Like, walk through one gate, and a prompt comes up asking if you want to enter Battle Mode/Multiplayer. This would let the player choose what character they want to play as, and also allow them to battle against a CPU opponent.

Some way to access the map at all times. With the original theme for the level selection playing while it's pulled up. For levels, you'd still have the ability to choose which knight you play as before entering a level, and the ability to equip items/talismans from the Blacksmith's Shop. (Maybe Merlina's magic allowed Sonic to instantly memorize the map or something.)

Last, but DEFINITELY not least:

GALAHAD AND LAMORAK IN THE GAME. PLEASE. SEGA, I'M BEGGING YOU.

[crusherthedoctor]

1, 4, 8 and 10

1. do you know how you want the story to end when you start, or are you just stumbling through the figurative wilderness hoping to find a road?

65% the former, 35% the latter.

I have the overall structure nailed down, and I know the general plot beats, the character moments, the end goal, the segues from one scene to another, all that good stuff. It's the little subtleties in-between, like making the dialogue organic without giving everything away too quickly, and letting the characters do things while they're talking so they're not standing there T-posing the whole time, that I find difficult to pull off in a way that comes off authentically. Hence why I double down on these aspects a lot.

4. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

I suppose the [REDACTED] stuff retroactively counts, since perhaps one of the reasons for my late realization of said curiosity was a subconscious fear of tackling it and how it could be judged.

I guess the use of Grodus in PM:TEE could count as well. I remember back in the mid-00s, I always wanted to do something with Grodus since I liked him as a villain despite him getting overshadowed in the fandom by the Shadow Queen and other Mario villains, but I could never think of what to do with him without it sounding Rise of Skywalker-tier, so it never really came to pass... Flash forward to 2024, the TTYD remake comes out, I get the idea to have Eggman invade and indulge in Marivian shipping trash, and then I realised this was also the perfect opportunity to finally use space pope man for something after all this time.

Three birds with one stone. That's the magic of fanfic.

8. what’s your relationship with constructive criticism and feedback like? do you seek it out? how well do you take it?

What can I say except I try my best to be receptive. Sure, I'm already a perfectionist to crippling effect as is, so I'd be lying if I said that it doesn't sting considering that I obsess over imperfections on my own accord, but as long as it's constructive, and isn't overwhelmingly dismissive and laying it on thick, I'm willing to listen. (I'll have you know that I only cried twice.)

That said, due to the Sonic fandom being the way that it is, I've had to draw a firm line in the sand between what I can see as legitimate suggestions, and what's plain old bad faith arguments, like them complaining about me not explaining something that's deliberately meant to be revealed later on in the story, hence it gets dismissed as bad writing. That gets a wave of the finger from me.

10. at what point in the process do you come up with titles, and how easy or hard is that for you?

I deliberately make my titles fairly straightforward, albeit with no less meaning, so the tricky part tends to come more from deciding what sounds correct and sleek as opposed to clunky. Whenever it's a musical nod, like Second Wind or High & Unbroken, there's always a symbolic reason for it beyond serving as a lazy, IDW-tier reference.

When Beyond the Stars was being morphed into its current updated form, I decided to change the naming convention to the traditional Sonic style for that extra official flavor. Eg: Sonic Adventure, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Rush, etc. I had originally considered calling it Sonic Voyage, but I felt it sounded too similar to Mario Odyssey lol, so in keeping with the starry theme present in the original story's title, I eventually settled on Sonic Stellar.

With Paper Mario: The Eggman's Empire, aside from being equally snappy, it gets the point across right away that this is 1% a crossover, thus not throwing readers off guard when the titular doctor shows up and turns out to be the main villain. His name being in the subtitle also neatly alludes to his ego, and how shockingly quickly the scope of his reach infects the world.

[kinopioa]

This is what I think regarding ShtH routes @beevean @crusherthedoctor

I see people get mad that Last Story can't be aligned with any route path, then say it's story is automatically bad cuz of that

But I think the bigger thing missed is the theme of the game: Choice

Last Story Shadow is doing his own thing mostly (guillibility really), regardless of player choice. Some events mirror what was seen in routes (Eggman gaslighting, Black Doom mem hack, Commander having hatred to Shadow), but I think rigidly defining it to be 1:1 to routes is wrong. Last Story is the TRUE canon story, not the other way around

Already in the routes you have places where you get each Emerald rapidly change in routes themselves. The only standard one is Westopolis for the green emerald in the beginning. Everything else varies

I think partially what fuels being unable to accept Last Story doing its own thing is gameplay forcing you to get 10 endings. The stress of that makes routes seem more canon than they are, despite the game being directly advertised as "mostly fun whatifs". Same with being unable to restart mid route, which forces further feelings that routes matter more than they do

I see people try to reconstruct the game so that routes matter more, and awkwardly it removes endings and levels. The whatif factor and being able to do a 180 in a route is ruined

Similarly you have people randomly think Rouge or others have all the answers when...no? The end of Heroes was literally her not knowing if Shadow was the OG or not, and no other char is aware of the Shadow Androids. Heck, this isn't confirmed in any route; it's a Last Story bonus if you wait

Personally if I were to remake the game;

-Have a disclaimer how Routes are mostly noncanonical, with some scenes mirroring what happens in canon with some differences in time and setting

-Have different interactions in scenes and missions depending on previous route. This seems to be planned if filename and event loading code is to be taken, though scrapped to neutral reactions in final, regardless of prior path

-Similarly, have missions vary counts to prove loyalty in later levels depending on prior path. If you did a lot of bad previous routes, you need to do more good to make up for it. Inversely, the mission is easier if you already are aligned with path. Lava Shelter interestingly checks this

-Have the ability to start a new route mid path of a finished one. Instead of replaying Westopolis 3 million times

-Have Last Story unlockable with simply 3 unique endings

-Have end of Last Story encourage playing more missions and whatif scenes. Heroes does this to encourage playing other teams. Shadow already does this for weapons

-Have the Devil Doom easter egg Eggman says easier to hear. So many fans missed it

-Correct some Localization duds. Surprisingly not many, despite cheesy dialogue, but the President thanking Gerald is wrong. Also explain how Tails' plane crashed randomly in the "you know what" scene

-Story wise I guess explain how the Chaotix got to space. It'd be interesting if Rouge is the reason, she surprisingly is barely in the game. Maybe tease how she was wrongly hostile in Heroes. To follow this...

-Note side char motivations better. Newcomers get a refresher for Shadow, but other characters are too sparse at times. Doesn't need to be detailed, or even voiced. The game uses static pics for SA2 flashbacks already. Heck, it can be unlockables for messing around in routes

-Have vehicles not play like shit. Gunplay funny enough is fine, though most physical weapons are too fragile

-Buff multiplayer. 3 stages ain't enough. A coop mode added also wouldn't be too bad (Sonic was scrapped after all...). Maybe configure weapon type and hitstun/invul time with settings

The game's very flawed, but I feel people missed the core point of it being a whatif fest

[goron-king-darunia]

It's so hard to pick. All of these are great. Night of the Werehog is honestly a great example of storytelling without dialogue as is, though the same could be said about the other silent shorts. It's a cute vignette deconstructing and playing with horror tropes exploring unwilling transformations with the classic werewolf, why ghosts spend their afterlives scaring people, the Japanese "ghosts can be stopped or at least seen on film cameras" playing on the whole "the supernatural doesn't like to be caught on film" idea across several cultures and beautifully deconstructed with a the whole Polaroid instant pictures being not-so instant. Chip even serves as a bit of a nod to the concept of "Do you think God stays in heaven because he's terrified of what he's created down here on Earth?" bit. I enjoy it a lot.

Sonic Mania Adventures is just a classic Sonic Adventure boiled down nicely into its core tropes with the eternal back and forth of Sonic and Eggman having to outwit each other in increasingly bizarre and over-the-top ways. Bonus Points for Knuckles being classic Knuckles throughout and absolutely YEETING Ray. 10/10 comedy for me, honestly. No Notes. But I am and always will be a Knuckles stan, no matter how badly they Flanderize my boi in the Boom series.

The Holiday Short is also super cute. Showcasing Amy as the sort of character that goes out of her way to extend kindness to people even if they don't deserve it is a nice touch, I think.

Team Sonic Racing Overdrive starts off with so many good gags, I love it! Everything with Big and Knuckles is stellar. Big trying to cross the track in the middle of a kart race to see the Froggy Merch that Eggman put out as bait is top tier and honestly? Me too. Same. Would walk into traffic for some good Froggy Merch. Shadow ramming the Chao squad after they bump him is insane. He would, but holy shit Shadow. Those are babies. Unsure how much of gameplay is actually canon in the universe but don't Chao technically only live to be age 5? And retain their childlike demeanor throughout? I played a crap ton of Chao Garden in SA2 and the only way for your Chao to actually grow to anything above age 5, they have to go through a rigorous training process and at least 2 lifetimes to become immortal Chao, and none of them other than Omochao, who is a robot, are anywhere close to that stage of life. Absolutely nuts, Shadow.

Like, yes, he would take candy from a baby if the need arose. But oh my god, shoving babies. New low for our anti-hero. Team Dark indeed! Shadow narrowing his eyes as he sees Big just casually strolling across the street like "Fine, you're dumb enough to do this so I guess I'm just going to hit you." is also insane. He looks so disappointed in the pileup. He's not even mad that he didn't win or that he crashed. He's just mad that he didn't get to hit a guy who clearly deserved it. I like that it's implied that the casual walk is Big's 'top speed' too. Man knows nothing other than an amble or a stroll. He has no concept of running in this universe. 10/10. And he just grabs everything. Me too, Big. Doing some frog appreciation. Heck yes. And then the honeypot immediately swapping to Chao items and Amy's hammers. Eggman clocked Team Rose like "Shopping therapy will absolutely sideline these goons." He was so correct.

Rouge pegging Knuckles with her Wisp and then immediately crashing and then CAUSING OMEGA TO CRASH TOO while begging for a lift/support is absolutely nuts. She would. Plus the whole tantrum Knuckles threw and then fistbumping Tails so hard he hurt him. Like, bro, Tails is several years younger and several times wimpier than you, don't fist-bump him so aggressively! Then Shadow massively ignoring his own team and Omega imitating Rouge's rage at being out of the race is so funny. "I am sapient but the emotion thing is very new to me. I do not enjoy being out of the race. You do not enjoy being out of the race. You kicked the kart. I will kick the kart too. We are being 'angry' together. Solidarity." And then the fucking karts explode. This short keeps winning.

Eggman being shocked that Shadow wouldn't stop or swerve to avoid hitting the "cat" that is clearly a bot is so fucking funny. As if Shadow wasn't fully ready to mow over Big the cat earlier. The fucking screws just laying in the dirt and the rest of the bot not crashing down is so funny too. Knuckles coming in clutch to muscle in on Shadow like "Quit beating up our youngest team member with your Wisps!" and then giving Tails a triple speed boost while pointedly ignoring Sonic. And the Way Tails just casually looks at Sonic like "._. Uh... Gotta go fast?" before the Wisps kick in. My god the comedic timing here is everything.

Shadow just accepting at the last second that he's going to lose because he got triple rear-ended and just noping out of the kart rather than get hit and just... walking off to the sidelines to pout AND STEAL POPCORN FROM, AGAIN, A LITERAL CHILD AND IGNORING THAT HE MADE THE CHAO CRY. Omega switching to cheering on Team Sonic because if you can't beat them, cheer them on. XD

Eggman doing a dumb little dance after stealing the trophy, getting destroyed by Shadow's Kart, and then the Eggbot just... devastated by Eggman's apparent death. Everything about the Comedy in this is insane.

The fact that they actually made a Chao in Space short after the teasers for it in SA2 were everywhere makes me happy. Especially because the Dark Swim-type Chao looks exactly like the Chao I was raising. I've had a Chao in SA2 named Pebbles for forever. When I got the PC port of SA2, I worked really hard to get a Chao like her and raise her up. It's been my dream to have an Immortal Chao someday and when I was younger I was planning to do it with Pebbles. So I started raising PC Pebbles up to have perfect stats so she could be the best before Immortalization since she has to get reborn a bunch anyway. Her current form is Dark Swim. She's getting older and I think she's on her second rebirth. I swear it's a crime that Chao Garden isn't a staple of the Sonic Franchise. They are the perfect virtual pets, I love them so much.

Sonic working extra hard to try to keep the Chao out of Trouble is so me. I know Chao can't drown or get hurt in a meaningful way in the Garden, but I'm always so sad when they wander into the water and act like they're drowning so I teach a lot of my Chao to swim early on, then fly.

This is from back in 2020 and I'm sure I've played since then, but look at my pride and joy! BAMBINA.

The Penguin causing the Angry Eyebrows like that one clip of the bear puppet head-desking onto post-its for instant angry eyebrows was absolutely a highlight. Tikal making an appearance and the "champagne" being a soda are also very cute details.

The Sonic Colors short having voice acting is a little jarring, but I do like Sonic's Overdramatic Eggman impression and Tails absolutely failing to remotely capture Eggman's evil laugh. The short is otherwise pretty generic but it does a good job of showing of the Wisps.

The Frontiers Prologue makes me happy, if only for the fact that it confirms that while Knuckles does wonder if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, wonders if he'd be happier or not with a different life, he's not alone up there on Angel Island. There are Chao, and Tikal's spirit can visit him, if only to tip him off about things. The fact that so many Chao sounds appear to be the original recordings used in the games throughout these shorts makes me happy too. The Voice Actors for a lot of the characters have changed over the years, but the Chao basically always sounding the same is kind of nice. And the fact that Knuckles just doesn't know what to do with a crying "child." I swear Japan has exactly one redhead archetype and I fall for it every goddamn time. "Grumpy Gruff Softie That Can't Talk To Girls and Doesn't Know How to Cope with Tears." My type wobbles between a few conflicting traits, to be fair, because I also like the Generic Goofball and the Too Stupid To Live types too. But there's a reason Knuckles was a long time fave of mine. Also, the everything left unsaid but implied by the "But Sometimes..." ending line... delicious.

Trio of Trouble returns to form without dialogue, and the Saturday Morning Cartoon feeling of the classic designs and animation conventions are absolutely stellar. Fang imagining Amy as some terrifying carnage-obsessed hammer-wielding beast is also stellar. Eggman the "genius" having no situational awareness and just triggering traps and then blaming everyone else is funny but now I'm left wondering if that's just average flanderization or if they're implying that Eggman gets by having Orbot and Cubot go ahead of him all the time and have their bumbling trigger and disarm all traps and he's just returning to form here. Eggman continuing to be oblivious to the Giant Snake implies that this is just a gag for the short, but... look, I'm not calling Eggman 'smart' but I think he's more aware of his surroundings than that. You kind of have to be to pilot massive robots, even if a lot of that is managed with a thorough and intuitive HUD and hella autopilot. Fang using what he inadvertently learned from Tails in his flashback turned nightmare was actually a neat twist. Trip getting zero recognition from the others and Eggman being an awful artist are pretty decent gags, though it's impossible not to feel bad for Trip because of it.

Ghost Tale is very short and a bit generic but it does what it's trying to do well. Even if you never saw La, Su, and Uh before you get a good sense of their characters. The new baby ghosts are very cute but leave me with questions. Because either ghosts can reproduce or things got hella dark.

I said everything I wanted in depth about the Shadow Generations short film here before, but it bears repeating that the animation is stellar and I enjoy the fact that they're actually treating Shadow like a real character who has lasting damage to deal with from his trauma and not just an edgy edgelord who edges edgily. Like, yeah, he's a serious, gruff, grumpy loner type after everything that happened, and even before he clearly had problems going on that made it hard for him to bond with others besides Maria. But the core of his character has always been that in spite of all that he has a big heart. He's not going to stop feeling things. He's all ABOUT feeling things. Even a big grump can have a big heart.

That said, I think I have to give my vote to Racing Overdrive. Gave me a smile, peak Sonic, and absolutely worth a rewatch. Would 100% show it to the next generation to get them interested in Sonic. If I had to pick a single one of these to send to space for the aliens it would be Racing Overdrive for sure.

Sonic The Hedgehog Animated Short Voting Poll

[sonicunleash]

💝....so many possible topics i could give so literally just whatever you want, maybe sonic related in some way :)

I think sonic desperately needs to do more crossovers with things that actually like. extend beyond the characters being added i wanna see dialogue i wanna see silly interactions.... unfortunately i think the only instances of that outside of the superstars and olympic games i can think of is that one screenshot of cream talking to that one monster saying something that got turned into a meme (cringeass naenae forgot it) and the. maybe the cookie run kingdom crossover had some story? Mixed feelings on that crossover though honestly because i hate the ppl who run cookie run but i have to admit sonic and tails are very cute as cookies. Anyways mlp sonic idw crossover when. please. please. miku and sonic figure. i just think sonic could be friends with anyone and makes everything just extra delightful :)

Also bonus opinion but desperately silver needs to be utilized more and i mean like actually utilized. sonic forces doesn't count. I think idw sonics on its way but... idk I'd like silver to have a real role in a games story again. Maybe thats wishful thinking but I think if shadow can have significant roles in games where he's not the main protag while not being part of team sonic (06, heroes, battle) then I think Silver could maybe have some time to shine. He's popular enough for it, in my opinion. Idk I MISS HIM.

[aquillis-main]

so what is it that you hate the most about IDW Sonic?

The one thing I hate about IDW Sonic in general... is the character’s personalities are always made irrelevant for the plot. It doesn’t matter to Flynn and Stanley if Sonic would punch Shadow the moment the guy victim-blamed him back in #19, Rombie Virus or no. It doesn’t matter that for all his hyperactiveness, Charmey would have understood that the cat woman could not be saved near the start of the Rombie Arc. It doesn’t matter that the comics placed themselves after the end of Forces, where Eggman had constantly countered the Resistance’s attempts at stopping him repeatedly. It doesn’t matter that Dr. Starline should have known about the Deadly Six’s betrayal, for all of his geek-out at Eggman at the start of the comics. To Flynn and Stanley, making every single Sonic character, the ones they created and the ones they hadn’t go ooc (Out of Character) just to get the plot rolling the way they wanted it to go is perfectly fine to them.

That’s not how a good writer works. A Good writer would do the opposite -- figure out how the plot will go at the start, then figure out how the characters would interact with said plot.

Here’s an example as to how I feel Flynn and Stanley should be processing their stories: How would Sonic react if he is trapped with no visible way out? Well, considering he’s not the character to cry over everything, he’d likely get frustrated and try and make a way out with his speed. What if his legs were trapped? Sonic’s stubborn, so he’d try to crawl out first. If he can’t do that, it’s highly likely that Sonic may be knocked out, as it would take a lot for Sonic to get to the point where he’s unable to move, unable to use his abilities to get himself out, and be trapped in a situation like ‘buried alive’.

This is where his friends would come in: Who would be able to locate him first? First answer would be Tails, but Tails isn’t the kind of guy to put trackers onto Sonic. While intelligent, Tails’ skills seem more inclined toward RC toys and the Tornado rather than anything that can track Sonic. So, that leaves Amy and Knuckles to help Sonic out -- the reasoning being that Amy has a sort of ‘sixth sense’ for Sonic, even when more times than naught it is wrong, and Knuckles can dig through just about any collapsed cavern/rubble wherever Amy points. But what if Knuckles can’t dig through it? That’s where Amy comes in, being able to swing her hammer to destroy/remove anything Knuckles can’t dig through. And voila! You now have an idea as to how Sonic could be trapped in a situation with no way out, yet also have a neat set up for how to save him. And the bonus points for this is that you also have a way to create tension -- Knuckles and Amy have been shown -- in both Sonic X and Forces -- to be really catty with each other, highly likely that they have clashing personalities like Sonic does with Knuckles, but Amy’s the one instigating it between the two, as it’s likely that she often doesn’t understand Knuckles’ more rigid behaviors. This sets up them having to work together to help Sonic, and they both have a problem with each other.

It’s not hard to plot out how a character would react to the plot in a more interesting and in-character way, and it doesn’t take long to figure out how to keep the characters, well, in character for a situation that they haven’t tackled yet. It’s just that, despite Flynn having 7+ years under his belt and Stanley having 5+ years, they both refuse to try and make the Sonic cast more in character, and instead use faux-shipping scenes/obviously distracting dialogue choices to hide the fact that they’re using a misinterpretation of the characters... even ones that are their own.

[biolizardboils]

my super-specific Sonic Adventure 1&2 remake wishlist!

welcome back to another episode of me blasting out Sonic drafts I was too scared to post years ago! rev up those light speed shoes cus this is gonna be a long one!

first off shit I’d want in general

retranslated dialogue thats truer to the Japanese originals' tone and keeps the intended subtext

but with the most iconic English lines left in ("Get a load of THIS", "I'll slam dunk it in there"). The Faker scene can stay unchanged, interruption and all

small additions to cutscenes to help explain Little Things people have debated for decades (like whether G.U.N. framed Sonic to cover up Shadow's existence or if that’s just a legitimate plot hole)

all the MIDI cutscene songs redone with real instruments and/or an orchestra! all the other songs are already perfect and Should Not Be Touched

make the Emerald radar beep in time to the level music so it’s less annoying

okay, time for a spicy one: voice acting. hoo boy

Getting the entire original cast probably isn’t possible (for studio and contract reasons, not just Tails’s growing up and Eggman’s dying), and I feel the series’ current cast is just so different in tone and direction that they’d clash with the Adventure era. (will make an exception for Mike Pollock tho, he’s said some iconic Adventure lines already and I loved his take on them!)

So my preference? A compromise: a separate voice cast comprised of whichever OG’s are still game and soundalikes for the rest, complete with an actual kid as Tails. Too good to be true? Probably, but whatever it’s my wishlist

lighting and other subtle effects based on the Dreamcast originals (long story short a lot of these got broken from the GameCube ports onward, there’s video comparisons)

textures remade from scratch cus as much as i love that they used their field trip photos, it probably wouldnt fly today lol

new character models based on Adventure-era promotional artwork! after these games, the characters' proportions shifted over time, giving the impression that they've grown up a little since. it's a very subtle difference, but its enough that just using the now-standard Modern Sonic models would look kinda off

said models shouldn't change between games. like if youre playing SA1 and switch to SA2, the only thing that should change about Sonic is his shoes (before upgrades of course)

speaking of upgrades, an option to remove them visually would be nice, they can get kinda distracting during cutscenes

Unleashed-style redesigns of all the humans!! my heart yearns for it!!!

an option to turn off the Ball of Light/Omochao

the SA2B multiplayer mode but with the SA1-exclusive characters added maybe?

every DLC thing ever reinstated! the extra Kart Races and special Chao as unlockables, maybe the holiday stuff can show up at wintertime NiGHTS style? the Nike one might not be possible tho

Super Sonic/Shadow in normal levels as an unlockable like the Lord intended

Very Important: the game must be revealed with Eggman “hacking” the screens at a public Sega presentation, followed by a trailer that starts with this scene in modern CGI. It’s the hypest way I can think of to do it, and also people could slap A Certain Meme onto it as soon as humanly possible

absolute balls-off-the-walls ad campaign that targets the following demographics: 20-smthns who grew up with a Dreamcast/GameCube, ska enthusiasts, & the entire state of California. more on that here

SA1

fix Big’s fishing. idk how, i haven’t played enough fishing games to know what constitutes a good one, but there’s gotta be something they can do

replace the A-B-C level goals with the 5-missions-each system from SA2 cus it allows for more variety

use the ranking system from SA2 too cus it got used in every game made since anyway

use Generations’s Perfect Chaos design since that’s how he was meant to look in the first place

maybe go the extra mile and add hints of the dark blue armor to his earlier forms too?

finish the unused Sky Chase Dragon and make it a bonus boss maybe??

have Tails look away if Sonic uses the shower in Casinopolis, I know it’s a tiny thing but it always bothered me

make the CD flashback actually look more like CD cus i had no clue that's what it was when i first played it lmao

also make Tails' flashback to when he met Sonic more obviously set in Sonic 2, like Emerald Hill or smthn. this cutscene means a lot to me but its so obvious they just used Mystic Ruins as the bg hfbfv

just. make it more obvious that the Classic games happened? cus that's kinda important to understanding these ones

just generally do better visual storytelling now that the original game's limited animation engine isn't an issue lol

SA2

nerf the Artificial Chaos pretty fcking please

an option to turn off certain upgrades functionally as well as visually? ngl this is for the Magic Hands. to the one person who actually uses them: i’m so sorry but they’re just not popular

either replace the beeping noise Tails/Eggman’s mech makes while targeting with something more subtle or just remove it altogether

get rid of that stream that can sweep you away in the Biolizard fight, like good god it’s hard enough without it

remove that... unfortunate hand motion Sonic and Shadow make when they go Super. you know the one

make an achievement/trophy for waiting till the last minute to beat Finalhazard, so more people can hear that one Shadow line. like that shit should be required reading but i didn't know about it for a criminally long time

this as an unlockable, it’s truly criminal that it never left Japan

redo the Green Hill remix so it actually fits the rest of the game lmfao? something like this

Chao stuff gets its own segment because of course it does

all six Chao Gardens connected by a single Chao World lobby that's accessible from both games!

new unique themes for the SA1 gardens? there’s nothing wrong with the original, but it’d be weird if they all shared a song and the SA2 ones didn’t. the old one can go to the Station Square one

add the Chao Key to the SA1 levels for quicker access like in SA2

new behaviors for Chao to learn, new hats and accessories, new toys, new race courses, maybe new breeds?? new Chao stuff in general!!

make it so animals don’t walk into the garden entrances!! you don't know true pain if you've never tried picking one up, accidentally left the garden, went back in, and the animal was gone

swap out SA1′s racing mechanics with SA2′s. keep the “alternate paths based on stats” thing tho

imagine if you will.... an 8-player online Chao race. imagine the chaos (pun completely intended)

a brand new minigame to join the legendary likes of Racing and Karate! personally id love one based on Chao In Space. like your Chao has to beat the others in a dogfight and its stats determine its ship's stats and weapons

an optional mobile app that combines the VMU’s Chao Adventures and the GBA’s Tiny Chao Garden! maybe with some extra Pokemon Go-ish features??

that’s all i got.... Good God i love these two games. of course they’re not spotless, i just made a long list of issues i have with them. but they’re still important cornerstones of the series in many ways, and it’d be nice to see them remade so people can remember why :’)

months-later edit: added more ideas

[beevean]

How I’d fix Shadow The Hedgehog (game)

What’s this? The game is already 15 years old and there’s no point into talking about it? Maybe so but I really like this game and I wish it didn’t make so many stupid choices :(

Instead of starting from Westopolis every time you want to take a new route, let the player start from the stage they wish. For example: I completed the 100% Dark route, and I want to take the Miracle of Love route where Shadow gets redeemed by Amy, so I restart from Cryptic Castle and do the Hero mission instead of the Dark one, changing my path from here. Simple as that.

10 endings may be overkill (see below for an idea to make them more bearable), but if you expand on them, most of them could be interesting. Show the full consequences of your actions - oh, you wanted to play the bad guy but chickened out at the very end (Pure Dark-Hero)? Okay, you’ll get an entire cutscene (or an entire block of text à la Forces if the devs are lazy) of Shadow ruling over the Earth as its new misantrophic dictator.

The only endings I really don’t like are the Neutral ones where Shadow out of nowhere believes himself to be an android. It’s stupid because it can easily be disproven (people often say that Shadow could cut himself and see if he bleeds, but I’m sure Omega could also tell if he’s organic or robotic) and because it only makes sense if you reach that ending through Iron Jungle: if you pass through Air Fleet or Space Gadget it seems that Shadow wakes up one day and has a mental breakdown. I’d change the Neutral-Dark route to have Shadow join Eggman’s ranks (because I really want some justice for the poor doc), the Neutral-Hero to be like the Semi Dark-Hero ending (Shadow simply deciding he knows what’s best for himself, not really learning anything), and the actual Semi Dark-Hero ending could be Shadow suddenly trying to repent for his actions, but it’s too little and too late.

Don’t force the player to replay 10 times to get the final ending. I’d personally remove the Last Story entirely because it ruins the point of the game in many ways, but if it’s really necessary to keep that Devil Doom fight, it could be integrated into the Pure Hero-Hero ending, as a bonus.

Have the ally dialogue in the game reflect your choices. For example, Rouge in G.U.N. Fortress should sound dejected, disappointed and desperate to bring back what little good Shadow has left in his heart; Black Doom in Final Haunt shouldn’t ask for Shadow’s help as if he didn’t ignore him for almost the entirety of the story, he should express his anger and frame his mission as a “last chance” he’s generously giving him or as a threat. Make them reference past missions if it makes sense. Again, consequences of your actions.

The bosses are a mess. Not only they’re too easy (with the exception of Sonic and Diablon which is just annoying), the ones in the middle of the game don’t take in count the mission you’ve beaten before (typical example: Shadow helps Black Doom but he still summons Black Bull to kill Shadow) and the ones at the end need to be far more than just 3 for 10 endings. Either move some of the mid-game bosses at the end of the paths (the Egg Breaker would be a better last boss than the Egg Dealer, and the Blue Falcon would be fun to fight in Cosmic Fall), change the dynamic of the battles depending on the ending (Black Doom could take advantage of the different environments and situations in G.U.N. Fortress, Cosmic Fall and Final Haunt), or come up with new battles entirely (for example, you could face just Sonic at the end of the Pure Hero-Dark path since they’re both children at heart).

The enemy system needs to be reworked entirely. First, make so that they attack you depending on the ally you have - aliens don’t shoot at you if you’re with Black Doom, G.U.N. soldiers don’t shoot at you if you’re with Sonic or one of his friends, but both of them attack you if you’re alone (it makes sense in-universe that they don’t know if you’re friend or foe and it also compensates for the Neutral missions being the easiest by far). Second, no need for those pointless “kill all enemies to proceed” parts, unless you give the player a way to circumvent them (it happens sometimes, when you can either Homing Attack a row of enemies or drop to kill the enemies of the opposite faction, but not often enough). Third, related to the previous point, no more bullshit like what happens in Cryptic Castle or Mad Matrix - I shouldn’t be forced to kill enemies that earn me scolding at best and harm my score at worst. And especially no more completely idiotic parts like what happens in Glyphic Canyon.

While I would just remove Black Doom entirely because who cares about him, that would change the plot too much. I’d rewrite him to put more focus on his creepy “we’re saving humans by turning them into cattle” mentality and on his implied mind control abilities (like the way he toys with Shadow in The Doom) and by giving him more funny quirks - the one time I liked him was when he got scared of the thunderstorm at the end of Sky Troops, lol, give me more Black Doom not understanding how Earth works

You want an edgy game? Fine. Go really all the way. Make a parody of cheesy action movies. Make the players laugh intentionally. Cute little Shadow with a gun twice his size should be the entire vibe of the game.

I don’t mind most of the “kill all enemies” missions (some of them are really cathartic), but to improve them I think that at least there should be some spares - for example, the mission wants you to kill 20 enemies, but there are 30 in the level. A radar would also work fine, especially in labyrinthine levels like The Doom. But in any case, I’d like more missions as fun as Circus Park Hero, or missions where you simply take a different path like Space Gadget Dark.

why did you promote the bike so much if it sucks ass, fix that and the car while you’re at it, or better yet don’t put them and leave the vehicles that do something special like the high-jumping walker

Make the game a little prettier :( almost every level is so ugly to look at. Use more tropes and colors! Where are the ice levels, the fire levels, the water levels? Why aren’t the jungles greener, why does everything have to be grey and purple? I don’t ask for a Sonic Heroes aesthetic, but an Adventure/2 one would work well.

Feel free to add anything else I might have missed!

[previously-pepsi-perfect]

Amy, Cream, Silver, and Rouge for the Sonic birthday ask thing?

Amy: Do you have any ships?

OH BOY DO I

Sonaze is absolute otp but you know all about that! 

I actually like a lot of Sonic ships (metonic, sonighty, sonourge are some). Other than that, I like knouge (I even thought it was canon as a kid, lol), meteezie (probably the rarest thing I ship?), sallicole, shardicole, tailsmo and taiream. This isn’t even my final form..........................I am a shipping slut

Silver: What’s your favourite scene from any of the games?

sorry it is not just one

Any of the cutscenes from CD are just......10/10. Beautifully animated, full of character, and my favourite of Sonic’s designs.

Sonic Mania opening is also just the best

Unleashed HD’s opening is just so fucking BEAUTIFUL JHDSJLFJHjnn 

Sonic and Blaze going Super (and Burning but WE ALL KNOW IT’S THE SAME SHIT) in Rush is just. great......... also when they’re parting it looks like THEY’RE ABOUT TO KISS?????????? good

In Black Knight when he says “It was never about chivalry for me” ... we know Sonic likes being in the centre of attention, but it’s important to remember that it’s just a bonus for him, his main reward is simply doing the right thing

Rouge: Are there any odd team-ups you’d like to see in future games? (ex: Silver and Tails, or Knuckles and Blaze)

This may be a cop out coz it’s in the question, but Knuckles and Blaze??? It’s interesting because, while Blaze is her dimension’s Sonic counterpart, her role in relation to Sonic is more like Knuckles. Also, they’re both the “quiet and burdened with great power/duty” types, so I think they would really understand and complement each other.

Also Shadow and Tails, I think Shadow would grow to look at Tails like a little brother but respect him coz he’s smart af and it would just be cute.........

Answer to Cream is under the cut because I have no self restraint, I am sorry for the LONG response...................................

Cream? What’s your favourite Sonic cartoon? Do you have a favourite episode?

OK SO................it’s the OVA which, as a failed two part pilot for an anime, COUNTS. The OVA is the thing that caused me to absolutely love Sonic! I have the following things to say about it because I can never shut up about the OVA (spoiler warning if you haven’t watched it?? it’s on youtube, subbed and dubbed!!):

Sonic’s favourite outfit is fucking amazing and blessed

(imo) the definitive classic Sonic depiction

Smol adorable baby Tails who is actually extremely competent and literally saves Sonic from being killed by Metal

Tails is just as involved in the action as Sonic and Knuckles

Sonic ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT TAILS SAVED HIM

Knuckles’ hat

Knuckles is sometimes used as comic relief without implying he’s an idiot – he’s actually very competent (and a treasure hunter!!) The perfect blend between serious and goofy!

Easily the best animated fight between Metal and Sonic in the whole franchise

(imo) the best depiction of Metal. He ignores Eggman’s orders to destroy the Land of the Sky in favour of beating down Sonic – it’s not about being antagonistic, for him, it’s about being the best

KNUCKLES CALLS HIMSELF SONIC’S BEST FRIEND

Sara is spunky – she may be a damsel in distress, but she doesn’t go down without a fight and bites Metal??

Sara’s design is kickass

OLD MAN OWL...................his mere existence

Knuckles’ hat

Is the only media to link Sonic and Metal, which provides an interesting dynamic between the two – this is the only time Metal accepts that he is not "the superior Sonic," and the only time that Sonic believes that Metal has the potential to be more

TERMINATOR 2 ENDING. IT MAKES ME CRY EVERY TIME

GOD – TIER – SOUNDTRACK

pretty and nostalgic art style

Off colour humour (I’m pretty childish LMAO)

Knuckles’ hat

The original voice actors are amazing and suit their roles really well, while the English dub is a FUCKING GOLDMINE for hilarious dialogue.....you can’t go wrong either way.

Black Eggman shoots goop out of his ass as an attack, I can’t fucking make this shit up

That scene where Sonic supposedly sticks up his middle finger – it’s basically an urban legend, but god fucking damn it I choose to believe he is flipping the bird

Thank you for asking and thank you even more if you actually read all this 😂😂

[thelaxman]

Sonic Forces Review: Stop Comparing it to Mania

So I recently played Sonic Forces on the PS4, and while I did enjoy it, there were some things about it I have to address, as well as some other things around it.

Spoilers contained, so press on if you either finished the story or don’t care about spoilers.

STORY

Alright, so the basic plot is this; Eggman is so fed up with Sonic beating him that he ‘gets serious’ and unleashed a brand new weapon on the world. Sonic is called to action during an attack and this new weapon, named Infinite, goes Brock Lesnar on Sonic and beats him. We’re next told (through text) that Eggman had easily taken over the world with Sonic out of the way, and for the past six months an underground resistance has formed to try and take the world back. So Sonic (who is actually alive, gasp), the Avatar (I’ll get into this later), and Classic Sonic (for whatever reason he’s here too) have to work together to defeat Eggman and bring the world back to peace.

The plot isn’t really groundbreaking, but this is Sonic the Hedgehog, I’m not expecting George RR Martin levels of writing. The plot is simple enough, the dialogue is nice and cheesy (and lacking in any PS2-era Shadow the Hedgehog angst). It’s a dumb little ride and I enjoyed it, even if it was a little short and I would have liked to see more cutscenes instead of text windows.

CHARACTERS

If you ask me, the characters are at their best written and performed in Forces. The voices match the characters perfectly (Vector is up for debate) and their lines are delightfully corny. Eggman has gone back to his roots of ‘legitimate threat who is quite menacing with only a little humour’ instead of the complete joke he’s been presented as for the last few games before. Sonic still has his 90s cool kid wit, and to be honest I’m fine with it. It’s how I know Sonic, and I’d rather have this instead of some bland edgelord. And speaking of bland edgelords, even Shadow is better performed this time, with Kirk Thornton giving him much more emotion and even a few sassy lines here and there in his DLC.

The game’s main villain is Infinite, a jackal who was head of a mercenary squad before turning full on edgelord with (surprisingly cool) virtual reality powers provided by the Phantom Ruby. He’s edgy to the point of parody, and you can tell that’s what the team was going for when creating him, and you can’t help but enjoy the copious amounts of teenage angst that ooze out of him like he was sweating a Simple Plan album.

But the star of the show, and the main selling point of the game, is the Avatar. Your OC. The newest member of the resistance. The Avatar only speaks in vocal grunts, but is actually a very important part of the plot, and the holds the key to defeating Infinite in the form of a Phantom Ruby shard which messes up his powers. I’ll get more into the OC below.

Some levels, when you beat them, will occasionally have an SOS signal coming from them. These are extra missions that require you to either take control of another player’s Avatar or to rescue a fellow resistance member. These aren’t mandatory of course, only for a bit of extra challenge and experience. Bonus levels also pop up depending on how well you do, and you can also beat them for extra accessories. Neato.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is the standard fair it’s been for the past few instalments, with a lot of Boost2Win, but it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be. Modern Sonic’s levels are quite varied, with different paths depending on how skilled and eagle-eyed you are. Boosting (which is provided by Wisps and defeating enemies in Forces) is a double-edged sword, where you’re penalised for using it in the wrong areas and not paying attention. You can tell when you’re allowed to boost since Wisp pods will be provided, but even then it’s still a blast to just rush through and plow down enemies like toilet roll.

As I mentioned earlier, Classic Sonic is back. I have no idea why they brought him back, but here he is. And to be honest, it’s as shoehorned as it sounds. The gameplay for Classic is pretty janky, with floaty jumps making some parts of platforming difficult to navigate. The speed boost doesn’t last nearly as long from what I’ve noticed, the drowning countdown has shortened to the point where an asthmatic could hold their breath longer than him, and to be honest he slows down from high speed very quickly. I mean I guess he still has the Mania jump dash (oh yeah, forgot to mention this Classic Sonic is the Sonic from Mania, because for some reason they had to tie the two games together).

After beating the first level, you have the opportunity of creating your own character, choosing between a dog, wolf, rabbit, bird, cat, bear, or hedgehog (guess which one is popular amongst kids and memers), with each species actually having its own unique perk, such as birds having a double jump and wolves able to attract nearby rings like a Sonic 3 thunder shield. As you beat levels you collect more clothing and accessories for your donut steel, and achieving S-ranks and completing side missions nets you even more stuff. There’s even an experience system for each species, which gets you even more accessories. The OC controls quite well, with responsive controls and opting for a grappling hook attack instead of a homing attack, and the lack of a jump attack is replaced by Wispons; weaponized Wisps that you can swap out on the fly before each level. There’s a wide variety of Wispons, including Burst that fires a flamethrower attack and allows a frequent jump when powered up, and a lightning one that uses an electric whip attack and lets you use the ring dash. Completing side quests unlocks Wispons with side-effects, including a shield and starting with rings. Changing Wispons is required for different paths and collectables. In some levels, Sonic and the Avatar will team up and you can control between the two simultaneously, combining their powers to create Captain Planet get through different challenges. Some parts include a Double Boost section, which after a quick button mash, lets you plow through enemies while cheesy butt rock cheers you on.

MUSIC

One thing many can agree on is that the only consistently good part about Sonic games is the soundtrack, and Forces is no exception. The theme song, Fist Bump, is a delightfully upbeat and corny butt rock tune that you can’t help but smile when you listen to. Especially if you’re a Hoobastank fan. Infinite’s theme song (named, well, Infinite), performed by Dangerkids, is Ow the Edge in all the best ways. The nu-metal inspired track includes lyrics talking about how cool and awesome Infinite is, and it’s so hilariously catchy that you’ll likely fall in love with it unironically.

Modern Sonic’s music ranges from techno and dubstep-inspired beats to full-on punk rock chords that many fans know the 3D games for. Tempo and tone change depending on which part of the stage you’re on, which I love.

Classic Sonic, which once again goes for a chiptune-feel, is also enjoyable... for the most part. Green Hill’s bleeping goes so high at some points that it’s almost uncomfortable to listen to, but the tunes are all catchy and memorable.

The Avatar’s music, my personal favourite, opts for more techno and D&B inspired tracks, which include lyrics that reflect your poor Coldsteel’s thoughts while rushing through that particular stage. I love these ones, they’re a welcome change and it’s not all the time you get lyrics during an action stage, making me remember the good times of City Escape.

PROS AND CONS

I know I’ve mostly been singing this game’s praises so far, but of course it definitely has its flaws. But the game does try to make up for them.

The story, and the levels, feel far too short compared to previous titles. There are thirty stages, not including bonus levels, and a lot of them feel like they were beaten in a flash. When you know what you’re doing, you can beat most of them in circa 2 minutes each. Granted, the levels were designed by newcomers to the format, and for their (I assume) first go, they did quite well. Plenty of branching paths and secrets to look for, and the secret/bonus levels provide plenty of challenge.

The Avatar creation leaves a bit to be desired, being unable to combine some accessories or change the colour of others, opting for just having a different set colour for the same thing. But again, this is the first time we’ve had this on an official Sonic game, and for the first try, I’m satisfied. Adding side-effects for species and Wispons provides plenty of replay value to make up for the short story.

The villains of the game are made up of Eggman, Infinite, Chaos from Adventure, Zavok from Lost World, Metal Sonic and Shadow. The last four are actually virtual reality projections created by Infinite’s powers, which I thought was a nice twist in the story instead of just having them brainwashed or whatever, but my gripe is you don’t get to fight Chaos or Shadow. It’s a shame, considering how fun they were to fight in previous titles, but the bosses we do have provide fun challenge. The final boss (Eggman in a giant robot, because thank god Eggman is actually the last boss again instead of Infinite hijacking the finale as all-powerful allies of Eggers tend to do) is a three-stage fight compiled of tactics mirroring previous bosses. Though I see this as the previous bosses warming you up for the finale, and the final boss did provide plenty of challenge. And in good Sonic fashion, you’re rewarded for using your abilities carefully and in the right moments in the form of doing more damage and a faster completion time.

FINAL WORD

As short as the main story was, Sonic Forces provides plenty of replay value in the form of extra challenges and character types that challenge you to find all the collectables and get all the S-ranks, which you are rewarded for with more things to bling out your Sonichu with. I still haven’t completely beaten it yet, despite having beaten the story in a few hours. Plus the DLC will be free, and for a AAA title, its RRP is pretty reasonable. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re a fan of the 3D stuff.

Now if we could stop comparing this game to a 2D platformer starring the same character but plays and looks completely differently and was made by a completely different team, that would be lovely.

People aren’t comparing Mario Odyssey to Super Mario Maker, so stop doing it here please.

FINAL SCORE

7 Chili Dogs out of 10