#And Shadow the Hedgehog's new game being revealed is the perfect time to post this

[keokartoffel]

Fomortiis loses it *FE8 spoilers(?) (🔊sound on)

[antirepurp]

writhing in agony like a worm on hot asphalt because we might never get a game like shadow the hedgehog again, a game that's dedicated to the exploration of a character let alone a character who isn't sonic. sa1 certainly gave character arcs to everyone involved and fleshed out the cast we already knew, and while i could settle for something similar whether that's done through story or dedicated gameplay/campaigns it doesn't exactly match up to the kind of depth a game that focuses on putting a blorbo in situations can have. shth isn't perfect but it reveals a surprising amount of shadow if you look deeper into the stories and their events and how he acts and behaves through them. it's less about the things happening around shadow, those simply set the stage and the playground for the player to get into the nitty gritty with shadow and put themselves into the same situations and give them the opportunity to ask themselves "how would shadow react to this kind of situation" and act accordingly. or they can choose to go against that initial instinct and learn something new, because the other choices are equally as valid as the obvious ones. even that said i don't think a morality system is a requirement for a game like this by a long shot, while it enables a more in-depth look into a character there are other less time-consuming ways to achieve that, and i know there are characters in sonic who would benefit from being given the spotlight in that fashion at least once. shth is almost 20 years old, frontiers might be taking steps away from the post-06 era where we could only play as sonic as well as the 2010s writing that abandoned depth for simplicity, and they're re-releasing gens with extra stages for shadow, but even then would i dare to hope for a game that fulfills not much more than a niche that has the risk of not being received well? i writhe and i squirm and the asphalt burns

[gaytransgirl]

A Thorough Dissection of Snapcube’s “Sonic The Hedgehog (2006)” Dub and its Recurring Themes and Plots

I have organized this into two main plot threads, one recurring theme that aids both plots, and a series of noteworthy jokes and/or bits that add story cohesion to the dub as a whole. Luckily for me, Shadow T. Hedgehog himself brought about a generic theme message of the dub inside the dub itself, so that was part of my work alleviated from me. For the sake of the post being long as hell, all the information will be placed under a readmore.

STORY THREAD: THE FORTNITE GAMING SAGA

8:00 - The first mention of Fortnite. 8:13 - The introduction of alternate Battle Royales and their existence in the dub. This does not necessarily include real Battle Royales such as PUBG, instead branching off into fictional works, such as Doki Doki Literature Club Battle Royale. 8:55 is where we get the first mention of Tilted Towers. Eggman is revealed to also like Fortnite, and Rouge's username is leaked. 13:43 - It is revealed that Memphis Tennessee is also an avid Fortnite gamer, and we see his gamer pad. 14:49 - "That just makes you a beta cuck." Not FULLY related to the plot, but worth mentioning because it is gold. 16:38 - Sonic defends the integrity of the real best Battle Royale, Tetris 99. 17:28 - The future of Fortnite is revealed. 17:56 - Rouge starts her plan to create her own Battle Royale. 22:52 - The world on fire, seen in Elise’s That’s So Raven moments, is revealed to be caused by Sonic's Battle Royale soundtrack. 25:55 - Eggman sends Sonic and co. into “Fortnite Minecraft” for the PS4. This is never elaborated upon. 26:58 - Alfred somehow predicts Fallout 76 Battle Royale before it was revealed. Because he is Alfred, and that is the magic of the dubs. 27:11 - Elise's key role in the perfect Battle Royale is revealed, establishing a more solid character motive for Eggman. 29:29 - Tails discovers Rouge's Battle Royale, and Sonic inserts himself as the main character. 38:19 - Memphis shows off his new Fortnite map. 41:19 - Omega shows a distaste for Fortnite, the first character thus far to do so, and plans to stop it from being the top game of 2018. 42:02 - Shadow asks Todd Howard to publish his game, and it is revealed that Shadow was made by Todd Howard as part of a Battle Royale. 48:49 - It's revealed that the purple and yellow energies are being used to power Fortnite. 51:55 - The Duke attempts to revive Elise using the gamer gems, but the gamer piss kills her. However, she is revived shortly after. 1:00:22 - Eggman's Fortnite account is hacked, and he has a birth of cactuses out of his asshole. 1:01:33 - Memphis realizes he has more gamer potential than anticipated, and moves far beyond Fortnite, disregarding the new map he made. 1:04:53 - Fortnite is destroyed by anonymous hackers, and Eggman's social security becomes someone else's. 1:21:25 - Elise takes Sonic to see the Flame of Gamers, and they extinguish it together. 1:23:06 - Game over.

Overall conclusion of this thread: No matter how well-intentioned a conflict may be (Fortnite vs PUBG vs Tetris 99), all that a conflict can breed is hate. Casualties may arise (Elise, Eggman’s social security), and outside groups (the hackers) are bound to take advantage of conflicting parties for their own gain.

STORY THREAD: SHADOW'S MARITAL AFFAIRS

30:33 - It is revealed that Shadow and Rouge had a wedding once. 32:16 - Shadow describes this arc before it truly begins. 35:27 - The power of Za Warudo unites Shadow and Sonic in marriage, though chaos ensues at the question of who is the bride. 35:59 - Shadow reveals his love for Memphis Tennessee, and they kiss off screen. 38:24 - Shadow asks Memphis on a date. 39:21 - We see the first sign of strain in Memphis and Shadow's relationship. 40:45 - Omega confesses his feelings for Shadow. 44:42 - Shadow and Silver do A Gay Thing together. 51:12 - Shadow obtains a portable Memphis. And what do you know? The perfect shape. 56:38 - Omega gets his revenge for Memphis for stealing Shadow. 58:29 - Rouge and Omega bond over the friend zone. 1:03:40 - Memphis voices his regret over dating Shadow, and chooses to instead fuck his clones. 1:06:14 - Sonic first recognizes Silver's status as a twink. This comes into play later, when Sonic is revived. 1:13:29 - Memphis unleashes his ultimate gay power, technically making Shadow his boyfriend again. 1:18:28 - The gay gems revive Sonic, and he forms a polyamorous marriage with Silver and Shadow.

Overall conclusion: Being gay is good. Try it some time.

RECURRING THEME: WEED AND VAPING

28:32 - This is the first mention of Knuckles' desire for weed, a joke returning from the first dub. Sonic establishes himself as a weed smoker. 29:39 - Rouge reveals her weed stash to Shadow, firmly cementing that she is not a dealer. If she was, she would’ve given it to Knuckles (for a price). 31:57 - "YOU HAD THE WEED THE WHOLE TIME?!" 36:50 - A robot asks for weed. Yeah. I did notice this. 37:21 - Rouge offers Omega some weed, and once weed.exe downloads, he short circuits in a beautiful display of Alfred’s note-holding capabilities. 40:29 - Omega is revealed to have the ability to inebriate others through his presence, as shown by Memphis’s red eyes. 41:46 - Omega asks for more weed. He does not get it. 43:53 - Shadow uses weed to slow time. This is the first display of weed having supernatural abilities. 54:22 - Shadow encourages young Elise to vape, and ties the themes together into an essential message about freedom... or whatever. 57:32 - Omega once again reveals his incredible dependency on Rouge's weed. He should get his own supplier instead of leeching off Rouge. 1:10:44 - Memphis obtains the Corrupted Weed Gem and uses it to McMurder Sonic. He does it entirely by accident, though.

Thematic message: “All living things deserve freedom... Freedom to weed, to vape, to Fortnite... That’s what we’re all tying into, I think. That’s the central message.”

Other Recurring Jokes of Note: Instant Ramen: 9:35 - 9:58 - 10:12 - 36:46 - 46:15 Finding The Computer Room: 7:55 - 17:49 - 41:59 - 1:00:10 The Ice Cream Air Ship: 7:24 - 55:08 - 1:05:17 My Bed Is Made Of Scorpions: 0:31 - 1:13:50 "One": 2:57 - 7:13 - 22:44 Tell It In Excruciating Detail: 17:00 - 21:45 Amy Making Murder Threats: 24:00 - 34:12 - 1:16:16 Characters Surprised By Their Own Abilities: 5:51 - 7:21 - 1:11:27 - 1:15:40 Pumpkin Hill: 18:11 - 24:39 - 1:14:52 Omega's Counting Habits: 1:00:53 - 1:01:49 - 1:04:26

Overall, Snapcube’s dub of “Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)” delivers a message of self discovery and personal freedoms. We all have issues that might bog us down, and we may suffer from insomnia. But one thing that unites us all (other than Pumpkin Hill) is the idea of personal growth. Whether that comes through game development, an exploration of sexuality, learning that you have hands, or letting a child vape, there’s something for all of us in the Computer Room of Discovery. And once we find the computer room, we can code our future.

[kittykatanimelove22]

Sonic/Equestria Girls Au Information and Lore

It's finally time to show you all something that I've had in my head for years and I promised myself that this year I would introduce it, AND TODAY IS THAT DAY. This crossover isn't like any other story where "sonic and his friends travel to the world of equestria girls because eggman messed up the timeline or mephiles miraculously came back and sent them there on a magic portal thingie for revenge" Nope, this is vastly different. Before I begin, I'd like to clarify that this takes place in a hybrid universe where the IDW/archie comics/games take place. I love the archie characters too much to NOT let them be a part of it. Basically, it's the IDW/game verse but with archie characters in them, along with a few events that happened and some cities that are in the old comics (i.e Knothole, Meropis etc.). Another note is that some of my ocs, and their species, are in this au as well! The species is called Novians.

Here's a list of the Archie characters: Sally Acorn and her family (Elias, Max etc.) Uncle Chuck (I'm a bit unsure if I want to add Sonic's parents since I'm still figuring things out) Scourge the hedgehog Fiona Fox The Freedom Fighters (Bunnie, Nicole, Antoine etc.) Mina Mongoose Shard the Metal Sonic Razor The Shark Coral the Betta Pearly the Manta Ray Honey the Cat Nack and his gang Hope Kintobor Rob O' the Hedge Some of the Echidna clan (which is honestly a huge maybe because I want Knuckles to have at least SOME of his people alive) Snively Robotnik (Also a huge maybe) ..and that's it so far! I'll update the list if I forgot a character. Some of the character's backstories are a mix of what Archie had and what the post-genesis wave had for them. For example, during the war with Eggman, King Max sent his wife Alicia and their son Elias to Angel Island to escape to safety when Sally was a baby. When they crash landed, and were presumed dead, Max groomed Sally to be the next heir for the Acorn kingdom until her father was banished in The Special Zone years later, he came back though. Alicia and Elias came back the same way they did in the Archie comics. Another thing to know is that some of my ocs, and their species, are in this au as well! The species is called Novians, they coexist with the equestrians. My OC's that exist in this au Isis Minorel Pacifica Catrine Jackson Somber and a few more that I haven't introduced yet! Jack and Isis are not energy vampires in this au but they still have their powers. NOW ONTO THE PLOT!! ~__________________________~ Basic Information: In this au, the Mane 7 are all sisters and Celestia is their mother, Isis is their adopted sister and Derpy is their first cousin, making her Luna's daughter. Celestia is queen of the equestrian humans, while Luna and Cadence are her royal advisors. Jack's father, Fredrick Somber is the monarch for all of the Novian species, he has a good friendship with Celestia. They reside in the kingdom of Equestria on Mobius, while the Seaquestrians live in the deep blue ocean not too far from where the kingdoms reside. They aren't from Mobius originally, they come from their own separate planet but it became uninhabitable. The equestrians are on peaceful terms with most of the species on the planet, especially the Mobians, and do whatever they can to help. Equestrian Human Species Info: Equestrian humans look the same in the original EG movie but the difference is that they have abilities based on their pony counterparts. Pegasi-based Equestrian humans can summon their wings at will, just like how Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy did in the first movie and so on. Magic-based (AKA unicorns) Equestrian humans can use their magical abilities to lift things or use them as a weapon for self defense, they DO NOT have horns. Earth-based Equestrian humans are just like regular humans but with a slight enhance of strength. Alicorn-based is just magic and pegasi mixed together. The Mane 7 and the Elements of Harmony: The Elements of Harmony were assigned to the 7 princesses at birth, much different to how the elements were assigned to their previous users. There are seven elements: Honesty Kindness Magic Laughter Loyalty Generosity Forgiveness There used to be six, but their late father had unleashed the element because of his forgiving nature and heart. Isis doesn't have an element but is still considered very powerful. ALL of the Mane 7's abilities in this au are the same powers they have in the fourth movie and mini series, the only difference is that they don’t transform unless they use their elements. They do have different transformation designs throughout the story, like how Sailor Moon does. I wanted Sunset's element to be forgiveness because she started out as an arrogant and cruel person when she was introduced. After her defeat, she had worked so hard to not only become a better person, but to also receive forgiveness from the people around her, including herself. Sunset is the literal reason why this au exists and I love her for that. An important fact about Sunset is that she has pyrokinetic powers in this au, which she inherited from her mother. It is dubbed, The Royal Flame. Pyrokinetic Abilities - Can control ANY kind of fire - Can breathe in fire - Can control her body temperature in cold weather - Her fire won't burn people she trusts, unless she commands it too - If she gets wet her powers won't work for a little while - When angry or frustrated, her body gets super hot - If she becomes emotionally unstable, she turns into her she-demon form, it happened once Mane 7 Ages and Birthdays (From oldest to youngest) (These birthdays are not canon to MLP, I made them up)

Sunset Shimmer: Age: 19 D.O.B: June 16th Species: Alicorn-based (yes she has wings sHHH-

Applejack: Age: 19 D.O.B: November 29th Species: Earth-based

(Isis would be here)

Rarity: Age: 18 D.O.B: February 14th Species: Magic-based

Fluttershy & Rainbow Dash: Age: Both 17 D.O.B: March 4th Species: Pegasai-based

Pinkie Pie: Age: 16 D.O.B: April 1st Species: Earth-based

Twilight Sparkle: Age: 15 D.O.B: December 3rd Species: Magic-based

((Before you ask, equestrian humans reproduce fast and the gestation period is at least 6-7 months)) Relationships this is what happens when the creator is a huge shipper-

Sunset Shimmer x Shadow the hedgehog (ShadowShimmer)

Sonic x Isis (Sonisis)

Pacifica x Jet the Hawk (Jetcifica)

Jack x Blaze the Cat (Jackaze)

Applejack x Elias Acorn (EliJack)

Rarity x Knuckles the Echidna (Knuxity)

Fluttershy x beret-wearing jackal from the Jackal Squad (Crimshy) 

((Crimson is my headcanon name for him))

Rainbow Dash x Gadget the Wolf (GadgetDash)

Pinkie Pie x Espio the Chameleon (EspioPie)

Twilight Sparkle x Silver the Hedgehog (SilverSparkle)

Celestia x Infinite (Celestifinte)

Derpy Hooves x Scourge the Hedgehog (Derpourge)

Princess Skystar x Razor the Shark (Skyzor) ((I haven't seen the movie yet so please no spoilers))

Zecora x Uncle Chuck?? and many more I have yet to introduce~ ~~~~~~~~~ History: Before they arrived on Mobius, the Equestrian humans weren't just one of Mobius' "inhabitants" and Equestria wasn't just a series of kingdoms. Oh no, it was once an entire planet bursting with life. The Equestrian race and the other inhabitants of the planet, Novians, coexisted together in peaceful tranquility. Throughout the years the two species would adapt and expand, turning villages into towns, towns to cities, cities to kingdoms. With the Novians vast knowledge of elements  and alternative fuel, and the Equestrians intelligent and superb skills in magic, it seemed that it would be perfect... but like all harmonious times, the destructive flames of war will soon come when unexpected and burn it all to the ground. There was another species among the Equestrians, Novians and Seaquestrians. They were the Centaurs. The Centaur race currently has a very rocky relationship with most of the other races from Equestria, the reason why is because of one single Centaur, Tirek. Many years ago, when he was just an organizer at a scroll store, Tirek had a huge dislike towards the Equestrian race, he hated them because the Centaurs didn't have much land nor much help at all. He thought they were selfish and greedy, hogging all the land for themselves and not leaving any for his people. He studied the arts of Dark Magic along with his brother Scorpan who also shared the same disdain for them as he did,  Once Tirek mastered it he had a battle to the death with the Centauran leader with him being the victor, after he disposed of him he took it upon himself to become the new leader of the Centaurs and wage war on the Equestrians and every other race that dared go against him. The Centaur War was the most brutal war ever, countless soldiers were killed, innocents were slaughtered, and kingdoms had fallen.Scorpan, now seeing the consequences of all of this tried reasoning with him. Feeling betrayed, Tirek murdered him out of anger and continued with his plans. For many, many years the Equestrians and Novians had fought long and hard but it seemed that they had reached a stalemate, they started to lose hope. It wasn''t until Galactus Centauri, a vigilante from the Crystal Empire had stepped in to help. Without knowing it, his kind heart and forgiving nature had revealed the lost element of harmony, Forgiveness. With the power of the 7th element, Galactus, Celestia and the other elements of Harmony had forced the Centaurs into submission. Most of them gave up and surrendered to the Equestrians, but not Tirek. Tirek, along with his minions and followers had disappeared. After they left for the time being, Galactus and Celestia married and had seven beautiful girls which would later on be eight when they adopt a 5 year old Novian orphan named Isis. Things seem to slowly get better for the Equestrians.....until Zecora had a horrifying vision. She had quickly told the king and queen that the planet was slowly dying and forming dangerous volcano's everywhere, the reason being all of the magic Tirek took during the war. She stated that in approximately 7 months the planet would become nothing more than a volcanic wasteland. With no time to lose they informed every citizen and species on Equestria that they will be evacuating the planet. Every spaceship was filled with Equestrians, Novians, the animals that were saved, and even some Centaurs. Galactus thought it would be okay, that they would finally be free from the war, and Tirek. Until he heard that his daughters Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer were kidnapped by the centaur warlord. Galactus and a few soldiers went on a rescue mission to save them, unbeknownst to them that the volcano's were coming toward to where they were. In the end, Galactus, Sunset and Pinkie were the only ones who escaped Tirek. When they had reached their home castle the ships had already left because it turns out that planet's core was ready to burst early. After confronting, and defeating, Tirek once again in the castle, the three had reached to a magic teleportation chamber. There was another chamber on the ship that could teleport them back, but it required a lot of magic to do so. Galactus was heavily injured from his battle with Tirek, he didn't have time to heal because a volcano had formed under the castle and would burst any second. He had to act quick, he only had enough magic to teleport two people. So with every last bit of his magic and energy he teleported a heartbroken Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie back on the ship, leaving him to die as soon as they were gone. Equestria had mourned for it's lost king and their lost home, but soon they would find a new home, with new allies and new foes as well. They would rebuild, adapt, expand and help those in need, just like they did all those years ago.... ANNNND THAT'S MY AU FOLKS!! I HOPE TO DRAW IT REAL SOON! I didn't go into full detail on the history part because I want to keep some things secret for now ;3 I really hope you love it as much as I do!! I poured my heart and soul into this au, it's one of the best creations I've ever made ;v; it felt so good to pour out all of this after keeping it to myself for so many years, especially the ships TwT Feel free to ask questions and tell me what you think! ^O^/

DA Link: Here

[geek-gem]

Sonic Movie Franchise Concepts

This.......I've been wanting to make this yet I'm nervous. Including I discarded the intro making the first time. Yet just I feel this needs to be made. But I was thinking DeviantArt or Tumblr first. Then I thought maybe Tumblr cause I'm a bit more popular here. I'm gonna say this all of this is mainly a parody yet I'm wanting to be honest. The whole Sony Sonic movie 2018 gets to me and the fact I've thought of ideas for a franchise. I'm really wanting to share stuff like quotes and synopsises which are explaining what the story is in a short way you know. I was really inspired but I did not want to rip off this persons funny picture thing with Kevin Fiege and Zack Snyder. Let me say I really like both of them, I like both MCU and the DCEU. They are both not perfect and mainly...this is a parody thing but it's me being honest. Including with myself. I'm thinking yeah copying this and putting it on DeviantArt. So let's get started. GeekGemCorduroy: "Hey there I'm GeekGemCorduroy, and I'm a Sonic fan with ideas and concepts of how I feel about the Sonic The Hedgehog series as a film franchise that's questionable yet good intentions of being great as best it needs to be" Serious side of GeekGem: "umm okay nice start a bit questionable like you said" GeekGemCorduroy: "I have no history in film making, or even being involved yet I've learned some things and keep thinking ideas that I feel would work. Also I hate Studio interference bullshit yet I really wanna make the best movies possible and hope the make the greatest video game movies ever made" Serious Side Of GeekGem: "Worrisome yet it's just ideas and the intentions are there and they are great. Yet wait you said movies wait I understand and you want to say more of more great video game movies" GeekGemCorduroy: "I've been a Sonic fan my entire life. Even at times I feel silly of myself yet I really like the franchise cause it seriously means a lot to me. The concept of a movie is a serious thing cause like what people say movies are more accessible to everyone and you need to do a damn good job. When it comes to my films I wanna remain authentic and true to the meaning of the characters and why people liked them. Along with making necessary changes to the characters story and looks to fit with how where going. Yet also I wanna make them badass everyone's a BADASS! Yet also give them depth. Including to characters I feel need depth cause I want to make them more interesting. Make everyone deep as best and much as you can or some what, more emotion so people can take it serious like how I do. Make the stories on a epic scale in a way" Serious Side Of GeekGem: "okay...just asking are these films live action or animated okay you wanna be animated. Including that's all really good. Yet I feel you need to remember even if Sonic has had serious stories it depends of how it's written. You are making a movie or movies about a blue hedgehog who runs very fast that destroys robots. You need to be careful" GeekGemCorduroy: "Realism hmm kind of weird yet imagine how the world would react to animals with God like powers, they take it seriously yet question why do they looks like cartoons and shit. Also don't worry theirs color cause color makes thing stand out. Product placement haven't thought of much I mainly wanna create knock off parody versions of places like restaurants, and not reference any other media thing in case of weird crossover. But I think I want some Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Target, Me N Ed's, and Little Cesar's Pizza product placement, that's the good shit. Sure yeah but I don't wanna put it in your face it's a little thing it's just there, we don't wanna make it too distracting" Serious Side Of GeekGem: "......that's mainly good yet I'm questioning the final part of that. He's right about product placement" GeekGemCorduroy: "I wanna tackle certain themes and story. Such as we need more positivity in the world, having the courage to stand up to opposers, family being important and how far would you go, that at times you may need help. Developing relationships between characters cause that makes the world more believable and you care about characters. Yet I also want people to react to a God like beings which are at times animals, and robots, along with other things. Including literally Sonic going to a court hearing and official's questioning do we need a Sonic The Hedgehog which makes him question himself and it honestly breaks him. Also in the same movie people realize we need a hedgehog to save our asses but help him too in the same movie where he's dealing with the God Of Destruction in his perfect form. Also robots questioning their life such as Metal Sonic who at times in my fan fiction ideas has had thought about commiting suicide cause his whole purpose in life and how he is and depressing, yet that's revealed in a Metal Sonic spin off comic if Archie Comics can do it. Also themes like corruption like Eggman or Robotnik named in this universe Eggman's an insult mainly by Sonic and others, that Eggman has the power that he's friends with certain powerful people. Including give a brutal comeback to these people then realize you'll be worse then them. Also Shadow and Chaos realizing the world has changed and not to stereotype cause they focus all of their anger in one thing. Chaos is a bit more simple, yet Shadow is more deep, cause he doesn't wanna let go of Maria and is straight up helping the plan go forth, getting the footage of Gerald's exucation, playing it for the world, GUN doesn't destroy the ARK in case if they wanna destroy a hostile country. I really don't like governments, Shadow knows what he's doing and to change his mind he almost kills somebody who found tapes of what happened 50 years ago. Including when Shadow see's other trying to protect this character he realizes the monster he's been wanting to destroy. He has PTSD and is mentally ill. Seriously he doesn't like to cry and hearing the name Maria said by someone else unless it's him or Gerald get him upset. It's genius and emotional also fixing plotholes makes it better too! Also the idea Shadow along with Sonic but it's mainly Shadow saves the planet, gets stabbed, they think he's killed including he falls to the Earth. People legit make a statue of him in memory cause he sacrificed himself. It's deep just like Metal Sonic having Sonic's memories freaking out and asking why Sonic said Amy, Super Sonic fighting but also talking to Chaos that the world's changed, also E-102 Gamma at Station Square too deciding if he should live or release the bird, and Amy and Metal Sonic see Gamma blow his face off with a gun releasing the Flicky. Along with Metal Sonic giving a Chaos Emerald to Sonic realizing robots like him can think beyond his Ai it inspires and the world needs more positivity. It's serious yet meaningful. The themes are strong here man" Serious Side Of GeekGem: "......that first part was good but the rest.....I understand Sonic Adventure 2 was dark, just.....that's a bit ummm extreme okay not really. People are gonna question that a bit I understand wanting a deeper story with themes but you have to be careful" GeekGemCorduroy: "I wanna take time with world building cause give it time. Including that idea of a Sonic cinematic universe I got some time ago. Let's build stuff up first yet in the first movie we have Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Dr. Ivo Robotnik/Eggman, and Metal Sonic in the same movie. Along with mixing story stuff from Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Knuckles, CD and even the OVA cause I want to make a new version of the, "Strange Isn't It". The Death Egg is part of all of this too. Including human characters that are important but Sonic is still the main one. Yeah theirs no Little Planet but maybe later. Including were not going off stuff like comics mainly video games cause Archie might not like that, also Ken Penders is stupid. The game characters are more important, give them more meaning. Yet maybe the OVA, X, Sonic Boom are okay if Sega allows it hope so. Don't worry some characters have already met. Mainly Sonic and Knuckles haven't met" Serious Side Of GeekGem: "so wait your taking elements from those games and even a cinematic universe. Okay I like it that your taking your time but seriously be careful man" GeekGemCorduroy: "we want to plan carefully which is why the story of Sonic Adventure is the first sequel, and Sonic Adventure 2 is the 2nd sequel. I wanna do a Unleashed adaption but we have to wait. Including dropping a few easter eggs here and there. Yet I really want Metal Sonic so he's in the first film cause he needs more love, and makes the film more interesting and meaningful cause Metal is awesome" Serious Side Of GeekGem: "It's good your planning carefully. Yet you need to be careful" GeekGemCorduroy: "I'm mainly a crowd pleaser. I wanna impress both general audiences and fans alike. We wanna put easter eggs such as a mention or a reference if you see something. Yet they won't be important for the movie their in, sometimes in the background, or mentioned causally like Eggman being related to Gerald, and also even post credits and end credits scene cause those help. Even one setting up the first sequel about Chaos, and after that setting up the second sequel about Shadow and how it connects with the first sequel. Along with even a scene during the credits with Eggman's robots finding Shadow on Earth unconscious, in a huge meteor like crash hole and he's still alive. Also I thought of cool titles that reference and are important to the movies such as Sonic The God Of Destruction hope other world countries don't mind that, and Sonic The Ultimate Lifeform. Really cool and I thought about putting the word the for the Chaos one. Sorry also.....yeah I guess everyone yet I like to put deep stuff in it. I really want people to understand why Sonic is loved and that they can like it too, maybe they could become a fan. Give them a good movie, that's what's important. So yeah I guess all ages I forget that at times" Serious Side Of GeekGem: "the fact you forgot about that kind of worries me oh wait you forgot that at times" GeekGemCorduroy: "I'm not perfect yet if theirs a problem we'll fix it yet...the deepness it's good.....along with I want these to be fresh on Rotten Tomatos" Serious Side Of GeekGem: ".....I'm gonna be honest no offense I thought this would be more crazy" GeekGemCorduroy: "I'm GeekGemCorduroy and I want to make a really good Sonic film that makes millions or billions at the box office also I REALLY WANT THAT SONIC MOVIE IN 2018 TO BE GOOD sure Disney would be better yet still petty of them cancelling Wander Over Yonder savewoy, yet the Marvel and Star Wars films but why Sony maybe Disney thinks they have enough yet imagine if Disney Infinity was around Sonic Disney Infinity figures but also less risk yet it's more safe but yes a PG-13 Sonic film like the rumors said or were they true.......I wanted to mention this Serious Side Of GeekGem: ".....I don't know this is a parody" I just got up and.....just saying I was looking at the picture from DeviantArt ha..... Was trying to find good tags ha and...I'm the kind of guy forgot to mention this who doesn't like the custom character much in Sonic Forces...lol meh it's normal to smile a lot even now I made this littertly

[bltngames]

Gut Check: Sonic Central 2021

When Sega announced Sonic Mania, there was an undeniable electricity. A moment of, "wait, WHAT?!" upon seeing who was working on that game and what it looked like. With the way it builds up and then unveils itself, it was the perfect reveal. I'll admit, as a Sonic fan, it even made me a little misty-eyed. We did it. They did it. I may have my complaints about Sonic Mania now that it's out, but those are weird, personal complaints that I still haven't entirely, accurately unpacked. If someone told me Sonic Mania was their favorite Sonic game ever, I would smile and nod, and think, "yeah, it was kind of amazing they pulled that off." And then I'd think of that reveal again, and the impact it had, and how the music swells at just the right points. The hearts of many Sonic fans soared that day.

I cannot say the same for the Sonic Central 2021 announcement stream. And to tell the truth, this isn’t an article I really wanted to write (though some of that is because I had immediate knee-jerk reactions over on my personal blog).

Look, I get it. There was a pandemic last year. It's still a pandemic right now, actually. Things were weird and will continue to be weird for at least another year, possibly even two or three, as the effects of covid on the work place environment continue to ripple outwards. But the thing is, this isn't my first rodeo, and it's not Sega's first time botching something like this. Five years ago, it was Sonic's 25th anniversary (the fun number everyone treats as a real serious milestone) and while that live event was where the magical Sonic Mania reveal took place, there’s plenty of clips of how awkward and bizarre the rest of that event was. Some of the misplaced hype for this 30th Anniversary can be blamed on a hungry fandom who was getting punchy without any news, but this is also the company that gave us Sonic 2006 as part of Sonic’s 15th anniversary celebration, you know? There’s almost a precedent being set here, where Sega talks a big game only to trip and spill their chili all over the carpet.

So what do we have, then? Beyond the brilliantly deranged idea of putting Mascot Suit Sonic in to several games and hiding a port of Sonic the Fighters inside of a different, $70 game, Sonic Central really revolved around three major announcements: Sonic Colors Ultimate Edition, Sonic Origins Collection, and a mysterious teaser that almost instantly stopped being mysterious once it was discovered how little Sega did to protect its secret.

Sonic Colors Ultimate Edition was definitely one of Sega’s worse kept secrets. It had leaked from multiple sources weeks ahead of the announcement, and managed to make a pretty underwhelming display on stream. The issue was something common with remasters of this type -- it’s something I guess we could call “The George Lucas Effect,” where needlessly twiddling with an already-finished product slowly makes it worse. We’ve seen this before -- the lighting in “Batman: Return to Arkham” looks noticeably worse than the original Arkham Asylum trilogy, and “Mass Effect Legendary Edition” boasts improved skin rendering and higher resolution textures that just make those games look more inhuman.

For a big release like this from a major publisher, deadlines must be met, which means there’s little time to delicately repaint textures or make sure lighting looks totally correct. Still, more often than not, preserving the original visual identity of a game is more important than whatever clumsy touch-ups most publishers put these games through. For Colors Ultimate, this manifested in significantly darker lighting and lower quality lightbloom, dramatically impacting the mood of some levels.

In the days since the Sonic Central stream, evidence has mounted that the trailer shown during the stream featured an older build than anticipated. Better looking screenshots of a more recent build surfaced from Famitsu, and a technical artist working on the game revealed short video clips through an ArtStation account that made the game look a bit more accurate to how it originally appeared in 2010 (that Artstation post has now been removed). Though, if we’re being honest, whatever style of lightbloom they’re using still makes the game look pretty washed out. Hopefully that’s still being tweaked.

What’s most curious is how much they’re actually changing about Sonic Colors. The more we learn the less it sounds like a port and more like a complete recoding of the game using Godot, an open source game engine similar to Unity. Promised features include not only enhanced framerates and “improved controls” (whatever that means), but even a rudimentary cosmetics system, with Sonic being able to wear different shoes and gloves. Other additions include the ability to race against Metal Sonic, and a restructured lives system, where Tails rescues you from bottomless pits. It’s a far cry from the days of Taxman and Stealth’s Retro Engine remakes of Sonic 1 and 2 for mobile phones, where it was said that Sega rejected simple bonus features like a boss rush mode because they’d rather “preserve the original experience.” For Sonic Colors Ultimate Edition, it appears they’re going hog wild changing and adding new things.

On the subject of Retro Engine remakes of classic Sonic games, we have the Sonic Origins Collection. It’s not really known if these are the same "Retro Engine" versions made popular on phones and tablets, but they have confirmed that all five games will be in 16:9 wide screen and have additional bonus features. That certainly sounds like Retro Engine to me, but we’ll need to wait and see. The Retro Engine versions had a lot of little nips and tucks that made those games even better than they originally were, so it would be great to have those specific versions on a proper console at long last.

The big shocker here is the inclusion of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In recent years, Sega has avoided even referencing Sonic 3 in anything -- it was missing in action from the console versions of the Genesis Classics Collection, Sega rejected a Taxman and Stealth Retro Engine remake, it was missing from the Genesis Mini, and Sega even seemed adverse to referencing Sonic 3 in casual conversation. The example I always use is the “Sega Tower Mini”, a fake accessory for the Genesis Mini that included a miniaturized Sega CD, 32X, and a fake cartridge of Sonic & Knuckles. But, instead of locking on to a Sonic 3 cart, the Sega Tower Mini came with a Sonic 1 cartridge instead. There almost seemed to be an agenda to bury its existence.

That has changed over the last few months, as Sega’s social media accounts have begun hinting at Sonic 3 in things like wallpapers and character profiles. Now that we know the game is finally coming back for real, we’re faced with a question: what of the music? Depending on who at Sega you ask and when, there have been opposing claims that Michael Jackson both was and was not involved in composing some of the game’s soundtrack. As I mentioned in my video a couple years ago, it sounded like there was some legal trouble, as Jackson collaborators Scirocco Jones and Bobby Brooks were claiming Sega owed them unpaid royalties for their very real, credited work on Sonic 3. Has Sega finally made peace with those two? Or have the offending music tracks been replaced, now that an alternate, prototype version of the Sonic 3 soundtrack has been recovered? Only time will tell, I suppose.

It’s exciting to think that this may mean the Retro Engine versions could finally be seeing a home console release, but it’s hard to ignore what a mess this will look like on the consumer end, given just how often some of these games have been re-released in the last few years. For Nintendo Switch owners, it’ll be possible to buy Sonic 1 and 2 as part of the Sega Ages collection, as part of the Genesis Classics Collection, and now as part of this new Sonic Origins collection. And each of those versions will have been produced independently of each other, with different features and extras. Sega Ages Sonic 2 features the drop dash from Sonic Mania and a special ring challenge mode, whereas the Genesis Classics version of Sonic 2 has emulator rewinds and a mirror mode. Sega has always leaned on re-releases of old Sonic games, but never has the market been this over-saturated.

Which lastly brings us to the stream's "One More Thing" reveal -- a cryptic video of Sonic running through a forest followed by some glyphs. Sega's always been a fan of mysterious promotions for Sonic games, dating all the way back to 2000's reveal of Sonic Adventure 2, where they spent months teasing the identity of Shadow the Hedgehog and his role in the game. The teaser shown during Sonic Central was so lacking in context and content that I honestly found it difficult to care. In order to set up a mystery, you should probably actually, like... tease something mysterious, right? There wasn’t enough here to grab on to.

You also have to consider the fact that, after the poor reception to games like Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces, Sega doesn't have much goodwill to cash in on cryptic hints these days. It's not a good time to be shy about what the next Sonic game is going to be.

Graciously, the mystery didn't last long. The community ended up getting their hands on the source-quality version of the teaser given to the press, and noticed the file's embedded project header mentioned it was for something called "Rangers." That same day, Sega accidentally referred to a "Sonic Rangers" in a press release that was later scrubbed of that detail. This name was quickly cross-referenced with imageboard posts made last year from people who were apparently in a focus group test for a game called "Sonic Rangers." When the posts were originally made there was no reason to believe they were legitimate, but combined with the newfound context of Sega confirming the name, it began to paint a picture of the game that just might be true.

Going by the alleged focus group posts -- one in August of last year, and another in January of this year -- Sonic Rangers is an open world game where players run around a semi-realistic fantasy setting, completing puzzles and doing rudimentary quests. A new ability was talked about named "SpinCycle," where Sonic runs loops around enemies, sounding similar to the "paraloop" ability from Sonic Team’s NiGHTS: Into Dreams for the Sega Saturn. After completing puzzles in the open world, players can enter portals to "cyberspace" levels, which were described as being the most similar to levels from Sonic Generations. Completing a cyberspace level earned you a Chaos Emerald, and after collecting all seven, a boss could be faced: a massive titan the player had to fight as Super Sonic. Both focus group posts implied they understood this was only a small piece to demonstrate the mechanics.

For many years, I was against the idea of an open world Sonic game. There was definitely a fad during the PS2 and Xbox 360 eras where developers were trying to make all games open world. Racing games, platformers, sports games like Tony Hawk, it didn't matter. Everyone was trying to copy Grand Theft Auto's success, whether it made sense or not. This led to a lot of boring, forgettable open world games -- like Total Overdose, or State of Emergency. Whenever the community would bring up the possibility of an open world Sonic game, it felt more like cashing in on that fad rather than a desire to have a good game.

But as the dust settled on the open world gold rush and developers figured out what worked and what didn't, I began to have a change of heart. Sonic games generally have problems with repetition. Usually, there's a resource or some other collectable that must be gathered before you can unlock the next level, and that means replaying levels you've already finished multiple times. I've been developing a theory about this: in addition to padding the clock out in order to make the games longer, I think they're also trying to coax the player to replay levels for faster times or perfecting scores, because I'd argue that’s where most of the real fun is in Modern Sonic games. But not everybody is always into that, and depending on how it's presented, it can feel like tedious busy work.

Racing games eventually figured this out. Whereas before, racing games had discrete time trial modes that let you learn the layout of a track and practice to get faster times, the advent of an open world did away with that. By repeatedly traveling between locations on the map, players learn the layout of streets and roads naturally without it feeling so much like work. This could also be theoretically applied to Sonic games, where the grind of replaying stages over and over could be mitigated by incorporating it into the natural traversal of an open world.

The problem is, that's not exactly what the Sonic Rangers leak claims. It's an open world game, sure, but from the way it sounds, it also includes traditional linear Sonic levels in their own separate little sub-world. The problem is still there, just buried under another layer of abstraction.

But it's important to remember that Sonic Rangers is probably a year and a half away. For a professional game development studio with hundreds of employees, even a few months can lead to dramatic, sweeping changes. The people who were part of the focus test also say as much -- if Sega was getting feedback on Sonic Rangers all the way back in August (or as some posts claim, even March) of last year, there is plenty of time for them to course-correct and get things right before its release next year.

Now, I'm not dumb. This is Sonic the Hedgehog we're talking about. Statistically speaking, there are more bad Sonic games than good ones, and I say that as someone who was around and can remember the kind of impact Sonic had back when he first debuted. I know some of you out there will say things like, "Sonic Heroes was a good game!" -- but consider that by 1990's standards, Sonic the Hedgehog was as big as today's Call of Duty, or Fortnite. Sonic wasn't just a big deal, he was one of the biggest deals in all of gaming, and his games were golden. That was 30 years ago, and games like Sonic Heroes are a big step down in quality. Heck, even Sonic Heroes is going on 20 years ago. Getting something like Sonic Mania nowadays feels more like a happy accident than setting up any kind of precedent or return to form. There is a bare minimum skepticism that must be maintained with these games, otherwise you're setting yourself up for more heartbreak.

And I've always maintained that a lot of the bad Sonic games at least started with a good core idea. You can always see the potential in what they were attempting, but because of either time constraints, budget limitations, or some other weak link in their development pipeline, they never reach that potential once they end up on store shelves. Which, really, makes things even more heartbreaking. There are only so many times you can watch someone drop the ball before it starts to affect you.

There's still a long road ahead of Sonic Rangers. Let's see what E3 brings.