#I think Sonic can be an intimidating franchise to get into

[descendant-of-truth]

For anyone confused about the canon status of any given Sonic game, I've put together what's hopefully a helpful chart breaking it down! Worth noting is that every single TV and comic series exists in its own canon as well, so they would be in the "AU Territory" section.

Detailed descriptions of the games in each section and how they fit into canon are beneath the cut - but they do contain spoilers if you're concerned about that at all.

Universally Agreed Canon: Sonic 1, CD, 2, 3 & Knuckles, Adventure, Adventure 2, Heroes, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic and the Black Knight, Unleashed, Colors, Generations, Lost World, and Sonic Forces

Pretty straightforward; these are most of the main console releases, and so people treat them as more definitively canon than anything else. I feel like I remember there being a bit of debate about Secret Rings and Black Knight, but with the former being clearly referenced in Generations, it's safe to assume the latter happened as well.

This post is being written before Sonic Frontiers releases, but it's safe to say that'll be in this section, too.

Canon but in a confusing way due to storytelling: Sonic Rush, Rush Adventure, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic 06, Rivals, Rivals 2, and Sonic Mania

So, this is where it gets weird. Nothing about the Rush games is weird on their own, but them being the origin story for Blaze and Eggman Nega creates major complications for Sonic 06 and the Rivals games. Those two characters are cited as being from an alternate dimension, but in 06, Blaze is simply there in the future with no indication given as to whether this is the same Blaze from Rush or not. And in the Rivals games, Eggman Nega is explicitly said to be from the future instead, now.

However, you can't write the Rivals games off as being non-canon because they're the only instance of Silver being reintroduced to the rest of the cast. And why did he need to be reintroduced? Because of Sonic 06, whose entire plot gets undone at the end of the game.

But you also can't say that 06 isn't canon because it gets undone, because Crisis City - a stage that is dependent on 06 events to exist - is in Sonic Generations, a game all about exploring Sonic's past.

Shadow the Hedgehog is a game with multiple branching paths, but it does have a True Ending that... is basically just the ending and shows none of the steps any of the characters took to get there. So technically, we have no idea what truly happened between the start and end of that game, and so information that was true in one route and not another is made even more ambiguous.

Sonic Mania has to be canon because in the true ending, Sonic is whisked away to be "Classic Sonic" in Forces. However, Tails recognizes Classic Sonic as being "that Sonic from another dimension," which can only refer to his appearance in Generations, but... they were very clearly dealing with time travel in that game, not dimension hopping.

Does this mean all Sonic games pre-Adventure are now retconned into another dimension? Possibly, but fans collectively don't like that which is why I put all those games in the "Universally Agreed Canon" section.

Spinoff, but doesn't contradict canon much: Knuckles' Chaotix, Sonic Blast, 3D Blast, Sonic R, Tails Adventure, Tails' Sky Patrol, Shuffle, Riders, Riders: Zero Gravity, Free Riders, Team Sonic Racing, Spinball, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Triple Trouble, Labyrinth, Sonic Chaos, and Sonic the Fighters

These are basically "take it or leave it" when it comes to canon. Sometimes the setting seems more obviously different from the mainline games, but not so much that you couldn't justify them being in the same world.

Handheld adaptation that changes the script so we assume the console version is the true canon: Sonic Colors, Generations, and the Mega Drive games

I couldn't actually find the icons for all the Mega Drive games, but this category is pretty much what it sounds like. The handheld versions of Sonic 1, 2, etc. didn't have scripts though, so what changes is more on-screen events and level design.

People still use these titles as reference for characterization, though; especially Colors, which had a much wider cast of characters than its console counterpart.

Wanted to be canon but got rejected: Sonic Chronicles: the Dark Brotherhood, Sonic 4 episodes 1 and 2

Chronicles pulls from a lot of pre-established lore in order to tell its story, so I believe it was written with the intention of being canon. It even ended on a sequel hook, but the game was so poorly received that no mention of its lore additions have come up ever since, and without a conclusion, it's safe to say it's non-canon now.

Sonic 4 was more obviously marketed as a follow-up to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and its events do work under that premise from what I can tell. It was originally meant to have more episodes, but like Chronicles, its reception led to the project being scrapped and we have no particular reason to assume it's canon anymore.

AU Territory: Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Sonic's Schoolhouse, and the three Sonic Boom games (Rise of Lyric, Shattered Crystal, and Fire & Ice)

You could make the argument that there's nothing saying Sonic didn't run a schoolhouse at some point, but I think it's safe to say they weren't too concerned about this being canon at all.

Mean Bean is a glorified recolor of Puyo Puyo, and it has more in common with the cartoon Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog than anything else.

Sonic Boom is its own thing entirely, but oddly enough the games seem to be AUs of each other as well? Fire & Ice could reasonably be a sequel to either one (Shattered Crystal more likely due to being on the same console), but there's no way the other two can coexist in the same universe together. It's also unclear which, if any, of these games are canon to the TV show.

Genuinely don't know what the consensus on these is: The three Sonic Advance games, and Sonic Battle

I'm personally unfamiliar with the plot of Advance 3 especially, but I do know that it introduces a new(?) character that's related to events in Battle, and they haven't appeared in a game since. No other game references the events of Battle, either.

But it's also the series of games that formally introduced Cream to the other characters, so that means it has to be canon, right? I don't know, but I think 4 out of 53+ games is an alright number to not know how to place.

This ended up being a lot to write, but hopefully it makes sense! I didn't want to go too deep into the stories themselves or the lore details because that would take way too long, and the goal here was to show more how they fit together rather than what specifically happens in them.

[project-sonadow]

hello—i have a question to ask, and i figured it’d be better to do it here than to bother an individual artist about this. (sorry in advance for bringing the mood down w/ a serious question, btw.)

so, i’ve seen posts going around lately where people are like “hey, stop being explicit about sonadow, it’s weird”. and i agree that making explicit comments on sfw work is not cool. forcing the creator to see stuff that might make them uncomfortable is rude. /gen

however, if the characters are explicitly stated to be aged up (like, have lived several years beyond the games) or are in an au where they’re older, is that still bad? /genq because i always thought that the authors/artists were specifically going out of their way to say “we’re actively not wanting to make these pieces about children, we just want to see these two personalities and how they would behave in nsfw situations”.

sorry again. i’m just very confused (and a bit scared by the hostility /nm) and was hoping that i could maybe get some clarification.

(btw, thanks to all the artists on this blog for making such cute art. it’s all really nice stuff.)

Hi there. This isn't the type of thing we would typically address here, but your approach tells me that you're looking to learn and understand, so I'll give you my thoughts.

First of all, to address hostility - it's intimidating and intense, because this is the kind of thing that fires people up. We're not exempt from this, because we do not want to see explicit content about minors, and we will be direct about this fact. And for some reason, some people get very offended when you tell them this.

I'm going to respond to you in good faith, and I don't assume any bad intentions on your part.

On aging characters up. I will be specifically talking about the sonic franchise as my example here, but this applies to any series where the focus characters are children.

Sonic and Shadow are kids. They are teenagers. Age discourse is NOT relevant. They are depicted as teenagers, they act like teenagers, and they are meant to be viewed as teenagers. And so this begs the question: why is there a need to see them in adult situations? Why is there a drive to depict minors in explicit situations?

Even if a creator is theoretically not making a piece about minors, when they choose to age up minor characters, that tells me that they thought about those minors in explicit situations, or that they wanted to see those minors in those situations, but needed a way to justify it.

This is why I fundamentally disagree with aging characters up to put them in adult situations. The core characters are children. Wanting to see a child character in explicit situations so badly that there is a need to justify it by aging them up or making an au or whatever is strange and disturbing, and I personally would not want to associate with someone who does that kind of thing.

Reflect on the issue yourself. All I can do is explain my reasoning, and say that I will choose not to associate with people who make and/or consume content of minor characters in explicit situations.

I appreciate that you want to learn. I am answering this question specifically because of the way you asked it, and that I see this as a way to tell you why we think certain things, and why we vehemently disagree with certain types of content. To others reading this, this post is NOT an invitation to discourse with us. I will not be arguing about ages or logistics or whatever. Do not try to convince me that nsfw of minor characters is okay, you'll get blocked immediately.

[sonadowwiki]

Many fans sonic say you hate Amy Because you gave Amy a bad reputation and also said that Sonic doesn't like Amy as well ، Is this true

Why do you ask this question in the first place right after trying to ask a question to debunk Sonadow? What is your purpose in asking these questions as someone who is obviously against Sonadow and someone who likes Amy and Sonamy? And to even use a burner account to do this and to even try to intimidate by claiming that "many fans" think like you or what you've said while believing that pressuring us with what people think is going to make us bend to your will.

There are two of us who handle this account, but I am aware of who you're referring to when falsely accusing that this account is one person or that only one is using this account. Which also proves that you are trying to target one of us with your interrogation disrespectfully.

I didn't say to others what I think of Amy, I only speak of the facts that I find about her and her relationship with Sonic throughout my research of the franchise because many constantly lie about her characterization, personality, relationship with Sonic and medias with Amy in it. I'm not "giving her a bad reputation," I am speaking about the facts about Amy.

It is a fact that she:

Demanded Sonic to go on dates with her, even to the point of forcing him to promise her (2021 Calendar Story)

Demanded (or "joked/asked" or assumed) for Sonic to marry her on multiple occasions (Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 manual, Sonic Battle with her saying she thought Sonic would propose to her to Knuckles and by enforcing herself to be Emerl's mother and Sonic the father, Sonic Colors DS, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes)

Has disregarded others in favor of trying to find Sonic or have others help her find him (Sonic Colors DS)

Is disrespectful towards Sonic because she self-proclaims herself to be his girlfriend even though he has said no to her in canon material several times

Sees Sonic as a form of entertainment to satisfy her boredom

Is obsessed and overly infatuated with Sonic to the point of thinking that Sonic can never do any wrong except refusing what she wants from him many times

Has followed Sonic around wherever he has gone for several games, whether he liked it or not

Is touchy with Sonic despite him not liking her touch and despite showing discomfort

She has become violent or "joked" about being violent towards Sonic if she doesn't get her way with him or he doesn't accept her advances/demands

That she is based off of being a Japanese woman as a character that is created in Japan with Japanese creators, who generally are seen in negative light from those who live in Japan because of their abusive personality and actions towards their husbands (and men) after trying to make themselves look good or seem good.

If others think that these facts make her have a bad reputation or look bad, then that's how her official actions in official materials look; that shows that her personality and actions are bad and look bad to others once knowing the official materials.

Does Sonic like Amy romantically? No. Many sources, not just once, already stated that.

Ian Flynn said that in the IDW comics, there is no romance. He said they are one-sided with Amy liking Sonic and that they are just friends.

But even one of her creators, Kazuyuki Hoshino, stated that it was always supposed to be an endless chase. Therefore, they were never meant to be together in the first place and it was always to be one-sided relationship with Amy being the one to like Sonic and Sonic not liking her back.

Other people who state this is how even in Sonic Boom, a writer for the series stated that Sonamy was always meant to be a joke in their series, therefore it never should have been taken seriously.

Sonic Team also uploaded a video of Sonic answering questions, and with that, Sonic said that he only sees Amy as a reliable friend; that there's nothing more between them.

And even with her profile on Sonic Channel, it still states that Amy is a self-proclaimed girlfriend, which means that Sonic doesn't return her "romantic" feelings back and doesn't see her that way to have her actually be a girlfriend, not just a self-proclaimed one.

Other than that, it is already obviously shown in several medias that Sonic is uncomfortable with Amy and that he doesn't want to be in a relationship with her. If this was any other series, no one would question whether Sonic likes Amy or not from just seeing the materials where he (excluding materials from recent corrupt employees that are inaccurate to the faithful materials/lore):

1. Tries to end meet-ups with her as soon as possible if possible (the 2021 Calendar Story)

2. How he doesn't want Amy touching him and tells her to get off of him (Sonic Unleashed and the cover image for the 2021 Calendar Story)

3. Where he leaves her in others care to get away from Amy when possible (Sonic Colors DS and Sonic Battle)

4. Where he even straight out says no to her advances or the thought of being together romantically (Sonic Advance 3)

5. Where he runs away from Amy or when knowing Amy is coming (Sonic Battle like in point 3)

[skelekin]

Sonic Prime Season 2/Season 1 part 2 thoughts and critiques

Nobody asked but I'm gonna share em anyway, minor spoilers ahead

Stuff I liked:

Shadow. Good god how refreshing it is to see a portrayal of Shadow that isn't one-note and sucks ass. his voice is closer to his original SA2 depiction, him beating the snot out of Sonic isn't entirely unprompted and random, and honestly his scenes may have carried this entire season. The interactions he has with Sonic are also fantastic and oooogghh gay

Sonic!! I'll be honest I really have a hard time understanding ppl's issues with his characterization here; he's a naive, impulsive, rebellious teenager that wants to see the good in the world. I like that I actually get to see him make mistakes, jump to conclusions, and be scared or sad. This is the kind of thing I feel like ppl have been ASKING for from him so I don't quite get the pushback

Nine is great as ever, definitely a highlight of this entire series and he could possibly end up having one of the best character arcs in the franchise

Chaos Sonic!!!!! Wowie what a fun dude, his segments made me smile the most

Animation is once again super bouncy and fluid with dynamic shots, you can tell action is this team's bread and butter (to a fault at times, but I'll get to that later)

Stuff I didn't like:

Good GOD is the pacing bad. Honestly I think it might be worse than season 1, there were so many times where I thought to myself "nothing is happening", and desperately wished they used the little time they had per episode to flesh characters out or have some more world building.

On that, as great as the action animation is, these scenes easily take up two thirds of each episode and it gets very, very boring after a while. It becomes difficult to appreciate them when they seem to just never end. There were so many times when I would become relieved when they finally took a pause, only for that relief to vanish a minute later when the egg council throws out more of the same exact cannon fodder for yet another battle scene

And speaking of the egg council, oooh boy did they get grating. I get this is a kids show, I'm not even expecting like ATLA levels of villains here, but they feel straight from Disney Junior. The concept of eggman cloning himself and having each one represent a different aspect of his psyche is fantastic, but it's completely squandered on one-dimensional tropes that tell literally the same exact jokes word for word, there is nothing intimidating about them

Like I said I desperately kept begging for SOME level of adequate screentime to flesh out the characters and other worlds, but as is, aside from Nine, the other versions of these guys just have One Bit and their worlds again feel ripped from Disney Junior. I was holding out hope that since season 1 had to introduce all of them that season 2 would get to show more, but no. Pirate world where they all go yar har and that's it. Jungle world where they do battle cries and that's it. Despite being the crux of the entire premise of this show they're painfully uninteresting

Where is Shadow!!!!!! What little we see of him is fantastic, too bad he's barely present! They hyped up his elevated appearance so much and seeing him hardly get to do anything was such a let down.

Chaos Sonic, as fun as he was, was only present for one episode. Why

It's very saddening to see this show fall into the recent trap plaguing media aimed at younger audiences where everything is dialed up to 11 nearly All the Time. The samey stock background action music hardly ever stops, once again these guys can't seem to go one minute without punching swarms of copy paste goons, we must keep jingling the keys because how else will we keep kids' attention. I think back to how 4Kids added unecessary music queues to every single action when adapting Sonic X and how much worse it was for it

Overall Prime has been really frustrating because there's so many glimmers of potential on display that get bogged down by the fact that they're just not willing to fully commit to and take any risk on. Idk how much of that is the team's fault, I don't doubt the possibility that higher up the chain some suits are holding their vision back. It just sucks bc I really, REALLY want to like this show more, but I can't really say it's more than just. Okay

I hope season 3 is able to reel it back in

[dropofvioletdew]

Mario Bros. vs Eggman: Fight ideas/head canons

(If I make a Part 2 of this post it would cover ideas for Sonic Heroes vs. Bowser. Since I like both Mario and Sonic franchises, I’ll try my best to make these brainstorms as accurate as possible.)

Power-ups for invincibility like the super star and the seven chaos emeralds, etc. will not be included to make the characters fight based on their own merits.

It makes their fight more interesting and ensures that it does not end prematurely.

Mario and Luigi would attempt to help the Sonic Heroes fight Bowser alongside them but would be blocked from proceeding by Eggman.

Since Eggman would already know Sonic and Mario can both jump on their enemies, the scientist would have his machine have spikes on the roof of his robot so the plumbers won’t stomp on it.

He could use a machine like the one he used for a battle in Sonic 3. Here’s a Google image I found as an example.

With his machine, he can intimidate the Mario Brothers, which will make them think outside the box to stop him.

It would be cool if Mario and Luigi would use their RPG fighting styles to combat Eggman. They would be equipped with their hammers and their elemental abilities like Mario’s fire and Luigi’s thunder.

Eggman would be very agitated that the plumbers would be jumping around constantly and avoiding some of his strikes. He can grab and use the spikes on brothers with his robot to weaken them.

If one of the twins goes down, the other will carry him until there is an opening to give him a mushroom to restore his life or health.

Luigi would ask his brother, How are we going to get past Eggman? It’s urgent that they get back to helping the Sonic Heroes fight Bowser now.

Next, Mario may devise an Advance move and inform his brother of his plan. Luigi would reflect Mario’s fighting stance, showing that he understood what his brother wanted him to do.

Advanced moves are an expansion of their normal attacks that they can use to fight tougher enemies. They take longer to perform, but if executed just right, the brothers can do greater damage to their enemies.

One of their moves in the Super Star Saga game Mario Bros. is called Chopper Bros. Luigi would give his brother a boost, and Mario would hit his opponent repetitively with his hammer while spinning.

Eggman may have his roof protected but not realized the robot’s weak spot.

Together, Mario can use his hammer to break the robot’s windshield at the front, and Luigi could use his thunder to malfunction Eggman’s robot from below.

Unless Eggman makes modifications for the machine to last longer, it cannot withhold too much damage, and the Mario Bros. can get past him as long as they time their attacks well enough.

[planetamarte]

(anon who talked about dragonball from a couple days ago) yoo i didnt expect someone w a sonic background would resonate so much with early dragonball..!! but admittedly i dont know much about sonic, outside of like . snapscube, wayneradio, general common knowledge, etc. i couldnt find if someone asked this before erm but do you have any recommendations or favorites in the sonic franchise? i have always wanted to get into it + its like cultural exchange :) lmao

YEAHHH im liking it so far! if u dont know about it yet then once you learn the lore about the chaos emeralds specifically you'll see what i mean by the amount of inspiration sonic takes from dragonball LOLLL

my #1 recs for sonic will always be the games - for the majority of the series, sonic isnt really the type of thing where you absolutely Have to start from the beginning to understand its stories so u can just start anywhere! my personal favorites are both of the adventure games (especially 2), frontiers, generations and unleashed. the adventure series were the first 3d sonic games and where story started being more upfront. frontiers is the most recent and its story actually builds up on the chaos emerald lore in a way they hadnt done in decades. (this one has 2 prologues! the knuckles animation, divergence, and the comic tie-in, convergence.) generations is the one getting a remaster + new story content with shadow this october BUT the original game's story is very light and it's basically just a real nice glorified collection of levels from past games. i havent actually played unleashed since i was a kid (i might again soon) but this is the one with werehog sonic. its story is one of my favorites :)

im not much of a classic/2d player but i had fun with mania! origins is a collection of the classics that i havent played but ive heard it's pretty good and has a mechanic that makes losing lives less punishing than the originals. sonic 1, 2 and cd also have free mobile ports. the murder of sonic the hedgehog is also free on steam, it's a cute and casual little murder mystery visual novel and a real nice introduction to the cast of secondary characters!

(honorary mention goes to fangame dr. robotnik's ring racers, it's a pretty hard kart racer with a bunch of mechanics to memorize but is real fun once you get the hang of it and the tutorial has real cute interactions between eggman and tails. modding characters into this game is pretty easy and ive been working on putting in an oc of mine lol. this game is a sequel to sonic robo blast 2 kart, which is a mod for 1998(!) fangame sonic robo blast 2. another one i like is sonic and the fallen star, a 2d/classic style fangame with a cute artstyle and i know it has a sequel in the works!)

outside of games theres the idw comics! these take place after forces (the game before frontiers) but i think they establish an understanding of prior events pretty well that, again, u wouldn't Need to know everything before reading them. the archie comics are a beast i havent personally touched much of, they ran from 1993-2017 so theres a lot to them LOL

out of all the sonic shows and movies, sonic boom, the sonic ova (also known as the OG sonic movie) and sonic x are my favorites. all of these have super different takes on the world sonic lives in - boom is a silly little sitcom series w really funny meta humor, the ova is a 1996 pilot for an anime series that never happened, and sonic x is an anime series that DID happen where sonic is actually from a different world and gets isekaied to earth. (i recommend jp with subs for this one)

I THINK THATS IT...... i could keep going and be here all day but i will leave it here. theres way more stuff u naturally find getting into the series! the thing i like most about sonic is that i personally think theres something in the franchise for everyone. i hope all this info isnt too intimidating cause truly u can take this series at ur own pace. i hope u have fun anon ^__^

[sutzrainbow]

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My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

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15 notes - Posted January 15, 2022

#4

I saw Sonic 2!

I LOVED IT!! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

While I don’t think it’s quite as good as the first one, I still really enjoyed myself! I still think this movie was made by people who genuinely love Sonic, loved hiding little details and references for us fans to find, and tried to make this crackerjack franchise work while still embracing its silliness. Here are my thoughts! (Spoilers under the cut)

I LOVED HOW KNUCKLES WAS WRITTEN. Gullible and not the brightest, but still super-intimidating and powerful. 

Idris Elba as Knuckles was utterly perfect. I am so pleased at long last he has a black voice actor (for those who don’t know, Knuckles was originally meant to be Jamaican. Yes, really.) Hope the guy comes back.

“Oh. They are stairs.” “I have honorably beaten you at this base of ball!” Fucking hilarious. I <3 you, Knuckles.

I love how dirty Sonic and co. get when they’re hurt. The game characters don’t do that, but it’s a fun realistic touch.

I like Tom and Maddie and was glad to see them again. They blow characters like Chris out of the water.

“Let’s go get our kid.” Thank you, Maddie.

Jim Carrey was having the time of his life and I loved it.

They leaned HARD into the shipping with Stone and I loved that too. But Stone doesn’t do very much, which is a shame.

I also love this movie thing where they make the Chaos Animals’ eyes light up and then it spreads to the rest of them when they use their powers. I’m glad it’s something they all do, it’s a fun little characteristic.

The idea of the Chaos Emeralds being fused into the Master Emerald was a neat take on it. In the games and most continuity, the Master Emerald is separate from the Chaos Emeralds. Like, it can control them, but it’s its own unique entity as well.

They played around with the Chaos Emeralds turning thoughts into reality instead of just energy, which was neat. Bit like Green Lantern. Given how things played out in the last movie, I thought that an Emerald was going to turn out to be hidden inside Sonic, or that he was going to turn out to be a living Chaos Emerald, but that wasn’t what happened.

The idea of a human being able to manipulate Chaos power is incredibly unsettling. In a lot of continuities they either are not affected at all, or it kills them. I liked the vocal effect they used with Robotnik absorbing the Emerald’s power.

Sonic and Tails’ bond, as always, is super sweet. I love how they set up the team and basically the rest of the series by the end of the movie.

They address Sonic’s inability to swim, referenced the whole air bubbles thing - but I don’t think I heard the drowning music. Maybe an orchestral version of that would be too close to Jaws.

They worked Longclaw back into the plot (though she doesn’t actually show up, it’s a recorded message) in what I thought was a very clever way. Back before they redesigned Sonic for the first movie, he and Longclaw originally got attacked by lizards instead of echidnas like Knuckles. I imagine they just replaced the lizard people in the continuity with the echidnas, but it was still neat to see.

Sonic and co go running around in temples just like in the old games!

They somehow worked the Olive Garden guy back into the plot!? Like, it wasn’t just a blatant product placement??

When they mentioned Guardian Unit of Nations I think my head popped.

Sonic goes Super and they left it out of the trailers, and it was exactly like it plays out in Sonic X. I think I regressed down to 11 years old again, that was so good. Also, his Super form got triggered by him saying ‘I love you guys’. Chills.

Also, the Emeralds in this continuity are TINY. The Master Emerald is about the size of a basket ball, and the Chaos Emeralds about the size of a golf ball.

And yes, the mid-credits sequence. I screamed, legit screamed. “SHADOW IS COMING HELL YEAH.” Like, we see him and he looks amazing. He doesn’t say anything though, so I wonder who they’ll cast to voice him? I liked Jason Griffith’s gruff Shadow OK, but vastly preferred David Humphrey’s almost-gentle tone with a hint of menace, so I hope they go with that.

I didn’t want them to introduce Shadow right away - Tails and Knuckles are the OGs and they must come first - but I always wanted them to tackle Sonic Adventure 2′s story at some point, because it’s so cinematic. It would make a great movie; the plot almost writes itself, especially without having to justify levels or something. I hope they cast a really good, soulful kid to play Maria.

All of that said, I didn’t think it was as good as the first one. It’s only been two years since the first Sonic movie and I think it shows. This one maybe could have done with some more cuts and fine-tuning.

This movie repeats way too much that was done in the first movie - and I’m not talking flashbacks, they’re actually fine. I just mean straight plot beats. We get Sonic messing around at the house, and a sequence in a bar/tavern. This tavern is in Siberia, and there’s no Tom, but that’s all that’s different. I liked watching Sonic and Tails dancing, but it’d been done before. I just wish we’d got right to the temple.

Sonic and Tails crashing Maddie’s sister Rachel’s wedding is really funny, and I loved watching Rachel and Maddie kick butt in all their finery. BUT - then they focus too much on Rachel having some drama with her fiance Randall, who also is an undercover agent, for some reason? There was no need for that. The crashing wedding scene was fine. I was legit looking at my watch and saying, “I didn’t come here to watch wedding drama. I came here to watch Chaos Animals having adventures.” Once that was over, they never showed up again, but jeez. Most of that belonged on the cutting room floor. Randall didn’t even have to be an agent. Just set up GUN and have the girls kicking ass with Tails’ inventions and you’re golden.

I really hope this movie does well, even though it’s not as good as the first, because if it does, we’ll get a part three. And that part three will be Shadow’s movie. And I would love to see Shadow in a movie. Yes please. Yes yes please.

20 notes - Posted April 5, 2022

#3

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28 notes - Posted January 17, 2022

#2

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32 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

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91 notes - Posted March 1, 2022

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[darkqueenofshadows85]

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) Story Review

Disclaimer: I will be judging this game by the plot and writing, not the gameplay.

Introduction

Greetings, mortals! For today's review, we'll be looking at one of the most overhated and criminally underrated Sonic game stories, Sonic 06.

Whenever I look at a Dark Era game, I see meaning, passion and effort put into it. And Sonic 06 is the epitome of meaning and passion. I never understood why so many people hated it back in the day, to be honest.

This is part of a series of reviews in which I’ll be going into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the main series Sonic game storylines, and why I think they're either well written and engaging, or an absolute trainwreck (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on the character portrayals, visuals, soundtracks, voice actors, and what themes/messages they had to offer. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions!

Anyway, let us begin! ^^

Plot

Mephiles manipulates his way with everyone to release Iblis so he can re-form Solaris to enact his revenge on Shadow for locking him up in the Scepter of Darkness.

Characters

Sonic didn't have much involvement in the storyline other than him saving the same girl five times in a row without once interacting with the main villain. However, I do like seeing the mature, sympathetic side of Sonic's character, which would be further developed in games like Secret Rings, Unleashed and Black Knight.

Tails' inclusion in the story was kind of pointless. He doesn't really do anything besides follow Sonic around.

Knuckles' inclusion was pointless as well. He doesn't contribute anything. Shouldn't he be guarding the Master Emerald?

Also, I think Amy was flanderized much sooner than the rest of the cast.

"If I had to choose between the world and Sonic, I would choose Sonic!"

Remember back in SA1, when Amy went out of her way to protect Gamma, EVEN FROM SONIC? SEGA doesn't.

I love how Team Dark (Shadow, Rouge and Omega) is written here. They are the only team that each member contributes to the plot. They are presented as the truest friends and as they should be.

Silver is a great character with a very compelling storyline: He comes from a ruined time and has to come to terms that he's been manipulated and has to sacrifice his only friend to save his world. I love his powers, his childlike personality is adorable, and I love his relationship with Blaze, who acts as a mentor to him.

Mephiles is easily one of the best parts of 06 in my opinion. I personally consider him to be my second favorite Sonic villain next to Black Doom. He is an evil demonic creature who is really powerful. He is cunning, sly, and a scarily good manipulator. He is part of the sun god, Solaris, and he is smart and intimidating as well. And he is the only villain who successfully killed Sonic (albeit temporarily).

I never particularly cared for Princess Elise to be honest. I know that her romance with Sonic is a common criticism directed at the character, but my main issue with Elise is that she has zero personality besides loving Sonic, and she gets kidnapped more times than Princess Peach. I find the damsel in distress trope to be both sexist and cliche. The Sonic franchise has had many strong female characters, but Princess Elise is not one of them.

Eggman is just BORING in 06. His personality is subdued and is closer to a Bond villain than anything else. Eggman kidnaps Elise throughout the game because he believes she is connected to the Solaris project and wants to use her to rule the world. His plan is to extract Iblis from her soul. HE NEVER DOES IT. He never even attempts to do it, despite having multiple chances, after kidnapping Elise several times, he never gets any closer to succeeding in his plan.

Visuals

As always, the CGI cutscenes look incredible. It legitimately felt like I was watching a movie. The in-game character models however, have a tendency to fall into the uncanny valley at times, with Eggman's "realistic" redesign being among the worst offenders.

Soundtrack

I personally consider this to be my second favorite Sonic game soundtrack. The main theme, His World is amazing, Crush 40's rendition of All Hail Shadow is a banger, Dreams of an Absolution is one of my all time favorites, and while I don't care for Elise as a character, I do think that her theme, My Destiny is a beautiful, tear-jerking song.

Voice Acting

Like most of the Dark Era games, the voice acting is pretty good. Jason Griffith once again does a great job voicing both Sonic and Shadow, and Mike Pollock once again nails Eggman. Princess Elise may not be the best character in the franchise, but Lacey Chabert did a decent job voicing her. Amy Palant (Tails) did an okay job, Dan Green absolutely nails both Knuckles and Mephiles, Pete Capella (Silver) put a lot of emotion into his performance, and I really like that. Bella Hudson (Blaze) did an amazing job as well.

Theme/Message

Sonic 06 has an excellent message that we need now more than ever: the past may be traumatic, the future may be bleak, but focus on the present moment to make the best of it. Shadow represents the past, Sonic the present and Silver the future. Shadow has come to terms with the past in his solo game, so Mephiles taunts him with his future but Shadow doesn't care because he focuses on the present moment. 06's theme is why the entire story is the way it is. 06 gives a better message to kids than the entire Meta Era.

Conclusion

Overall, I think Sonic 06 has a really good story despite its flaws. It had a lot of passion and effort put into it, and it has a great moral that we need now more than ever, so I find it disheartening when people blindly hate it for all the wrong reasons. 06's story may not be perfect, but it is very underrated and I believe it deserves more love.

My final score:

5.6/5 (Great)

[xsailormobian]

how would you rank Sonic girls in terms of power levels?

Hi Anon, sorry for taking a while! For this one I’ll proceed with categories, because many of the Sonic ladies are tied to the same rank and/or have fundamental differences between them that need to be acknowledged. This will be mainly about physical strength and won’t be an indicator of the girls’ character or general abilities outside of this criteria.

(Note: this is a subjective ranking, and not all of the girls are part of this list because there are a lot of female characters, some of which I don’t know enough about to include. Enjoy!)

1) Magical strength ✨

There are characters that, while not necessarily physically strong, can wield some form of magic and thus prove more deadly than someone with raw strength. Blaze with her fire power is a good example of that! Without them I’d probably put her in the fourth category, but her pyrokinesis coupled with her stamina and agility firmly place her as the leader of this category.

Other contenders include Merlina and Shahra, as they can both use magic as well. However we don’t know the full extent of Merlina’s powers, so her relative strength compared to other characters is debatable (though we should note the ease with which she beat Sonic to a pulp in SATBK). As for Shahra, her powers seem to be mostly tied to wish-granting, some of which she isn’t able to grant as a Ring Genie; which would create a lot of limitations to what she can do. And it’s also debatable how much their powers could work outside of their storybook worlds sooo... Blaze basically reigns supreme.

Number one in this category: Blaze the Cat

2) Raw physical strength + regular training 🔥

This is probably what you meant by “power levels” and, if we’re excluding magic users, the characters in this category are the true powerhouses of the Sonic franchise. And uuuh I could only think of two!

Bunnie and Amy are two of the physically strongest female characters, way beyond even the contenders of the third category due to the fact that their strength is one of their defining abilities. Bunnie is a Robian and has been shown to be able to lift people, trees, and many other heavy stuff with relative ease. And obviously she needs her whole body to be as strong as her robotic arm and legs otherwise she might, uh, break her spine trying to lift stuff. As for Amy, she has a giant hammer she can lift without any problems and use in fights, and she also trains a lot to get stronger if Sonic Battle is any indication.

On the whole, they’re pretty equal. If we’re excluding the cartoonish displays of Amy’s strength (Sonic X and co.) I’d say Bunnie is realistically the strongest because she has mastered her own strength. Amy, while really strong, is still young and mostly gets her bouts of energy from powerful emotions: while they temporarily make her surpass Bunnie in terms of raw power, they aren’t a constant and can get her into trouble/exhaust her needlessly. She will definitely surpass Bunnie at some point however because the latter’s cybernetic limbs have their limits, meaning that her strength is pretty much set for life. If Amy keeps on training and gaining discipline, she’ll definitely become the leading character in this category by the time she reaches Bunnie’s age.

Number one in this category: as of now, Bunnie Rabbot

3) Professionally trained and/or often on the field ⚔️

These characters would be the second physically strongest due to them being trained to fight, and thus having more discipline, knowledge, and control over their strength and weaknesses than characters from later categories.

One example would be Rouge since, as a government spy and G.U.N agent, she’d have to be pretty well trained to carry her missions to completion. Plus she tends to attack a lot with her legs, so I’d imagine most of her physical power would be there. Other professionally trained agents include Topaz and Madonna Garnet.

Then we have characters who aren’t exactly professionally trained but who still do train due to spending a lot of time on the battlefield. You’d have (I assume) Julie-Su, who is a melee kind of girl; Sally, who fights with swords and is pretty agile all around (though she’s more of a strategist and doesn’t have as much physical strength as, again I assume, Julie-Su would); and Whisper, who would be last because she’s a long-range fighter and thus tends to fight from a distance, though she’s familiar enough with battlefields to intervene if needed.

Note that while all of them have training and experience, how self-taught they are is up for us to guess. For this reason I would put Rouge as the leading character because she has shown a good display of physical strength and seems to be both the most mature and experienced of the bunch. Coupled with her flying abilities and craftiness, I think she could go toe-to-toe with someone much stronger than her like Bunnie (and defeat Amy pretty easily due to her aforementioned lack of discipline), which I wouldn’t say of the other trained ladies here.

Number one in this category: Rouge the Bat

4) Not trained, but have enhanced abilities putting them above average 👟

The title is pretty uninspired, but it says it all! These characters are rookies in some ways, either because they just started training to fight of simply because they aren��t fighters, but they have special abilities and/or potential putting them above the “average” category. Think Tangle with her tail, Cream with her ability to fly, Mina with her speed, and Honey with her wings.

Of the bunch, I’d say Honey and Mina are the weakest simply because they aren’t interested in fighting. Mina was (and I say it with love) a pretty lame Freedom Fighter and hasn’t used her speed all that much since becoming a pop star; as for Honey, while she can stand her ground in a fight, she’s ultimately a fashion designer above all.

Cream meanwhile wants to grow up and become a hero like the people she admires (mainly Sonic and Amy). This intent, coupled with her being able to fly and carry people, show that she has the potential to one day become leader of this category. Maybe more if she decides to pursue it further, but since she still has seeds of being a pacifist, I can also imagine her deciding to do something else when she’s older (exploring the world, taking care of animals and chao, etc.) For now I’d say Tangle takes the win because... well to start with, she isn’t six anymore haha; but also because she has shown physical strength and has started training herself seriously to become a hero. While still a rookie, she could definitely become an honorable member of the third category in the future.

Number one in this category: Tangle the Lemur

5) Average Jane 🍵

In a world full of fighters and overpowered characters, it’s not that surprising that the “average” category would come second to last. But here it is! Here you’ll find girls that aren’t fighters and don’t have any particular abilities, such as Elise (since she can’t control Iblis, and especially since Solaris has been erased from existence), Vanilla, Tekno and Sonia (who would have some knowledge about fighting but nothing more), Zooey, Perci and Staci, Jewel, and basically every female civilian you can think of.

I’ll also add Marine because although she has shown some kind of aqua powers at the end of Sonic Rush Adventure... I don’t exactly know what it is? She’s complicated haha. If it is really what it is then she’d probably be part of the fourth category alongside Cream.

Otherwise it’s pretty hard to choose a leading character because, well, this is the “average” category. I’ll go with Vanilla because she has mom energy and could intimidate anyone, which is a pretty impressive strength in itself.

Number one in this category: Vanilla the Rabbit

6) Not physically strong 🎐

And lastly, we have the female characters who are physically weaker than average. The most notorious example would be Maria, whose health was very fragile due to contracting NIDS at a young age. I would also include Cosmo by virtue of her being both a “plant” prone to dizziness and having very few offensive abilities, making her one of the weakest characters in the series; as well as Tikal because she’s... literally a spirit, as well as a pacifist (when alive she’d probably be on the weaker side of the fifth category).

And finally I would include Nicole as she is physically a hand-held computer and only has real powers in the digital world. On a physical plane, she can at most simulate a Mobian form for a while; but since she isn’t corporeal, she’d probably have really low physical strength. I would say she is the strongest of this category by virtue of her being versatile and able to carry a fight at the very least in the digital world, and still having a few abilities to defend herself and others in the physical world. (I debated making her part of the fourth category but since she mostly exists either as a computer or as an hologram, I felt it wouldn’t be fair to make her compete with Tangle or Honey).

Number one in this category: Nicole the Lynx

TL;DR: My final classment would be Blaze as the strongest thanks to her powers and her mastery over them, followed by Bunnie (who will one day be surpassed by Amy once she gains discipline), and then Rouge due to her experience as an agent. Thanks for reading!

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale’s Top 5: Best Animated Reboots

Rules:

1. One per franchise (Like for example, if its Batman cartoon. I can’t pick another batman reboot. But I can pick a super man reboot)

2. I have to have Watched the series, Both the Original and the Reboot before I can make any judgements on it. ( So Spoiler, She Ra will not be on the List. because I have seen the Original She Ra, but not seen the current one.)

3. It has to be a complete reboot, it cant be a sequel series or simply the same show with updated animation. It has to be its own thing. (I.E Dragon Ball Z Kai is not a reboot, it is still the exact same plot wise as Dragon ball z, just cut out a lot of filler and updated the animation)  I cant pick Batman Beyond, because that is technically a Sequel to Batman the Animated Series.

4. To be considered a Reboot, it needs to have source material to reboot from.

_______________________________________________________________________

5. Voltron: Legendary Defender

This is a very Divisive pick for me. Especially with how the last season went. But Despite the... Ball drop in that season. The show was very captivating! Gorgeous animation, wonderful universe building, interesting plot developments. The revamps to characters like Lotor and Pidge are my personal favorites in comparison to the original series. I found myself drawn in to the intense space battles as well as the fun filler episodes. Sure it cant beat the original in its cheesy dialogue and its initial impact on the giant robot genre. But it does develop the characters in interesting ways... until the last season. Which I am just going to say. If you get into this show. Stop just before starting the last season. Just do yourself that favor.

I still like the reboot and it did a lot right... It also just did a LOT wrong too...

4. Sonic Boom

I know this is quite a shock to see this higher then Voltron, but hear me out. This show is really f***Ing funny. This show is as good as the game it is based off of was awful. 

Sonic and his friends play off each other wonderfully. Season 2 really shows off the best humor. Eggman steals the show whenever on screen. Its hilarious.

Though technically it is a reboot of Sonic so it counts.

What really sells the show is the witty dialogue. The show doesn't take itself too seriously and will make amazing jabs at themselves, the fandom, the games, etc. This show’s 4th wall breaking antics are something to behold, dead pool himself would give this a thumbs up. 

People will argue that Sonic X or Sonic SatAm are superior. Sonic SatAM was only good because Eggman was so evil and really it was competing with that wacky other sonic cartoon.

Sonic X would have beaten this if Chris thorndyke had died at some point in the series but he didn't so it fails.

3. Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated

Scooby doo has so many f***ing reboots that you could argue it has had one every year for the last 20 years.

But let me tell you, Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated is head and shoulders above the rest.

The way this show went about character building, The comedic jokes, the tightly knit canon, the ever changing status quo, yet staying true to all of the characters. The ongoing mystery in the series, building up to by far, one of the most BAT S*** INSANE  climaxes I have ever seen. It is so amazing the amount of callbacks and developments that occur in the show. It is hard to nail down. With how lack luster the other Scooby doo reboots were, this one just went bananas and took it to a full untapped level, and I love it.

Seriously, please check out this show if you love Scooby Doo. Even if you don't, just watch it for the amazing mystery.

2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)

As someone that grew up with the 2003 Reboot on 4kids. Picking this one is no small feat.

I ADORE TMNT, It is one of my favorite Franchises of all time.

The 2012 reboot of the series gives us the most fleshed out versions of the turtles, re-introducing old characters and New characters. The intimidating performance of the Shredder. 

I remember watching this and thinking that there was no way they could beat the series that was so good, it got 2 sequel series. (which both sucked) but still.

The show goes to great lengths to give character to each Turtle, and really shows the feud between Splinter/ Hamoto and Shredder/ Oroku.

The plot twists this show did were also quite incredible. I also feel this show captured the spirit of the original 1980′s cartoon while giving a much more modern flare to it. The 2003 version just couldn't balance as much as the other series could. 

This one was consistently amazing all the way through and a perfect way to introduce people to the teenage mutant ninja turtles.

Andre from black nerd comedy  ( a personal fav Youtuber) did a lot of reviews on the episodes. Would recommend watching.

1. Ducktales (2017)

I say this without even a shadow of a doubt. Ducktales 2017 is by far, the greatest Reboot of an old tv series to have ever been created and potentially will ever be created.

I could write research papers about how each and every character has been improved. The inclusion of DELLA DUCK! Donald Duck’s best written interpretation to date.

But what sets this apart from all other reboots is the fact that this is an expanding universe of the Disney afternoon. This show is a Disney afternoon Reboot. It is a love letter to that time when kids would rush home to watch Disney.

Never has a reboot been so lovingly crafted. There is not a single thing wrong with this show. I can not feasibly think of a single fault in the show. The amount of heart and soul in every frame of this show is the equivalent of a Disney Renaissance.

Even if you have Never seen the Disney afternoon in any form. I would recommend this show, because it is still a really great show. it changes and grows, there are consequences and GOOD lessons learned.

I do my damnedest to watch every episode when it airs.

I seriously can not recommend this show enough. 

What are you doing? Go watch it!!! Binge it! Enjoy it

[childofaura]

I guess I’m just gonna be filled with bad takes this December but I’m putting out one more while I work on my Sonic Forces comic:

I get kind of bugged about the fact that a lot of the Sonic characters are moving away from their original core personalities, and not in a “the character is growing” sort of way like Shadow when he hit peak character writing in 06 (Yes I said it, I’ll write an essay on why 06 was Shadow’s highest point as a character). But more in a “These characters are slowly losing the aspects of their personality that defines them, either by the franchise writing their characters to fill roles that don’t show those traits or sometimes by well-meaning fans.” I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been around (kind of) long enough to know how the characters were or if I’m just slowly becoming grouchy about it, but let me start:

1. Knuckles. Knuckles is starting to slip from his “rough and tumble and ready to fight” personality. Most of the portrayals I’ve seen from him are starting to slip more into the “cocky overconfident butt-of-the-joke” scenes, or in the case of Forces where he had absolutely no personality at all. Knuckles is supposed to be confident, yeah, but he’s also ASSURED in his might. The most cocky he’s gonna get is when he knows he can take a good swing at someone or something. And he’s stubborn.

2. Silver. For some of the most part, Silver’s thankfully stayed kind of the same, but he too is tripping into OOC portrayals (like that awful line in  Forces “I’m an optimist but I’m also a realist”. I swear that line was written by someone who read a summarized bio of Silver and said “Okay I think I’ve got this”). A lot of the time I’ve seen him get put into the “anxious nervous baby uwu” camp, though mainly that’s been from a few comic panels and the fandom that I’ve seen (and honestly I haven’t read enough of the comics so I’ll be happy if I get proved wrong); everyone forgets that Silver’s anxiety wasn’t in the form of “literal baby” but more “I’m so fucking sick of seeing everything in my life get destroyed” to where he has bursts of temper. His intro in 06 shows him floating through Soleanna and when he sees an Iblis flare, he very angrily backhands it psychokinetically. I’ll grant that Forces gave us a brief moment of Silver’s true personality when he rushes into a fight against Infinite (that should have lasted WAY longer and the fact that they crippled my boy’s power level for that scene still peeves me), but that was it.

3. Tails. Not a whole lot to say on this one but this kid is slowly losing his bravery.

4. Amy. Surprisingly, this one actually irritates me the most. For some reason, everyone loves changing Amy the most despite the fact that she hits a very nice medium of personality with her character that most people don’t realize. People don’t allow Amy to be cutesy anymore, and almost every time I’ve seen someone re-draw her or whatever, they aggressively squash out her crush on Sonic and they say, “Well now she’s gonna be more INDEPENDENT and HEAD-STRONG!”

NEWSFLASH.

AMY WAS ALWAYS INDEPENDENT AND HEADSTRONG. YOU GUYS DON’T LIKE HER BECAUSE SHE’S A CUTE FEMININE GIRL WHO DREAMS ABOUT LOVE.

In Sonic Heroes, she rallies up Cream and Big to go save Chocola and Froggy while also wanting to look for Sonic, taking the role of leader in Team ROSE. In Sonic 06, she manages to break into Eggman’s base somehow by accident without being detected and singlehandedly rescues Elise. She also apologizes to Silver and promises to help him find who he’s looking for, and she throws herself in harm’s way to help Sonic. In Riders Zero Gravity, she gets Storm under her boot just by being intimidating. A twelve year old girl!

Let her be head over heels for Sonic. Let her be a cutesy girl who ends up being the damsel in distress sometimes (because a good chunk of the time she also saves herself and scares the shit out of whoever treats her badly). Let her be that compassionate “I pray for peace” character she always was.

And honestly that covers MOST of the characters I’ve had issues with (There’s also Team Chaotix, but the one who gets the shit end of the stick the most is my man Vector). There’s some characters like Shadow, Blaze, Omega, Rouge (Though she’s kind of slipping too), Cream etc, who are staying relatively true to their characters but they’re also kind of slowly being lost.

[mable-stitchpunk]

Forgive me for being a noob, but why do you hate William so much?

I don’t hate William-... Wait, he’s a child murderer... Yeah, okay, I hate him.

But what I really hate is the direction the story has gone in because it has become so fixated on William. The story has handicapped itself in a way that is seriously detrimental to the games, books, movie(s) and any further continuing media. Because it decided William Afton is the main character, it can never do anything new or surprising with itself. It’s a franchise stunted.

Look at Fazbear Frights as an example- it had a chance to have a new villain, but threw it away. Look at Security Breach- instead of having Vanny as a new, threatening character with her own motives and perhaps her own story, it’s still just Will. They can’t have a new threat without shoving Will in there.

And the worst part? Will is boring. All of his dialogue is written with so much painful edge that it is impossible to take him seriously. He’s portrayed as a ‘classic’ serial killer, but he feels a lot more like a poser than any 80s slasher star. Even the books didn’t seem able to settle on what they wanted him to be.

He’s also not even moderately scary anymore. I’d say that Baby was more intimidating than Will ever was- post FNAF 3, because Springtrap in FNAF 3 was unsettling with his human-like motions and dead stare. 

Personally, I think Springtrap would’ve been a lot creepier if he talked to his targets like they were children he was luring in instead of like a Sonic villain two seconds before the blue blur barrels through.

...To be honest, I don’t even hate Will. I can’t feel anything for him, because I don’t see him as a character. I see him as a plot device and that frustrates me, because even Sonic villains get more than that. 

TLDR: Will is a dull, dull boy. Copycat killer Vanny never stood a chance. 

[askroahmmythril]

Smash Universe Experience

So I’ve been in a bit of a bad mental state the last few days, lots of personal stress and such, the tropics won’t shut up, various current year events, etc.  So trying to distract self with various things, and figured I’d try figuring out what my personal history is with the various Smash Bros. franchises.  Note, we’re only counting actual fighters here, not Mii Costume inclusions.  Distraction tactics go! :

Super Mario : I’ve played a lot of Mario games definitely.  I think I missed some of the “New” SMB games, like I never played the one on DS where there were things like the Gold Flower and it was all about getting as many coins as possible.  Also some side games, like I... at least don’t THINK I’ve played any of the “sports” type games like the golf, tennis, baseball, or soccer ones.  Also never really got into the Paper Mario series, only played Super Paper Mario and never finished it.  Also Superstar Saga is the only one of the “Mario & Luigi” RPGs I ever played.  Want to say there are a few Party games I skipped as well.  If we count Luigi’s Mansion under the Mario blanket, I haven’t played 2 (but have a copy) or 3 (want to get a copy).  Still, fairly solid Mario experience under my belt.

Donkey Kong : There are a number of DK games I have played, but probably more that I missed.  I played the original, DK Jr., pretty sure I’ve at least played DK3 on things like Virtual Console or such?  As far as the Country games, I’ve... only really played the first two and part of the third.  I tried DKC3 while I was at Full Sail, but could just never really get into it.  I did play the GBC Donkey Kong game, that one’s good...  I want to try the DKCR games, I’ve heard good things.  Definitely would like to at least get the Switch port of Tropical Freeze and give that a go.

Legend of Zelda : As far as officially sanctioned and remembered Zelda games (we don’t talk about the CDi games, which I never had that system so never played them anyway), I want to say the only mainline Zelda game I never played was Skyward Sword.  I never had a Wii Motion Plus, so couldn’t play that one.  Keep hoping we get a port on Switch so I can try it.  There are some side games I never played though, like never played Crossbow Training, or the Tingle game.   Oh, actually I guess I never played Tri Force Heroes, admittedly not sure how well that one plays as a single-player experience.

Metroid : I’ve played most of the Metroid series I would say.  I think my main gaps are Metroid Prime Pinball, Hunters, haven’t gotten around to playing Prime 3 but I do have the Wii version of Trilogy.  Kinda hoping Trilogy gets a Switch port.  I haven’t played Other M or Federation Force either.  I’m also admittedly a weirdo what preferred the original Metroid to Zero Mission, and probably preferred the original Metroid II to Samus Returns.

Yoshi : I never did finish playing Yoshi’s Story, but I have played Yoshi’s Island to 100% completion, as well as Woolly World.  Also need to finish Crafted World sometime.  I want to say there’s some motion control Yoshi game I know of but never played, but I think I also might be mixing it up with a Kirby game...?

Kirby : I’ve played a lot of Kirby games, though I know I never played Mass Attack, Squeak Squad, Epic Yarn, Canvas Curse, or Rainbow Curse.  I want to say there might have been another one as well...?  Well I know I never played Super Star Deluxe, and there are some of those mini side games on 3DS I never played.  I think there was also one with a clay aesthetic I never played?  Unless that was already one of the ones I mentioned...

Star Fox : The only ones I’ve ever played are the original and 64.  I do have SNES Online, so I can give 2 a try sometime.  I’m... really bad at Star Fox games though, haha.

Pokémon : ......Considering I have an alternate blog for all my Pokémon nicknames, yeah, I think we’re covered here.  I’ve played all main series games and most side games by this point.  I did not play Dash, and there were those three Mystery Dungeon games on Wii eShop that never got released here.  I never played Masters, nor the new Cafe game, and only really played Go long enough to get Meltan and Melmetal.  But yes, pretty solid Pokémon experience.

Mother : Earthbound is the only one I played.  I tried on multiple occasions to really get into it, but just... couldn’t really.  It just never really reeled me in and kept my interest.  I think the furthest I ever made it before quitting was the desert area near Fourside, and I just ran out of steam.

F-Zero : I’ve only played the original and I think maybe the one on GBA a little?  I can’t say it’s a series I’m good at, haha.  And yet the crazy part of me would kinda like to get the infamously difficult Gamecube one.

Ice Climbers : Yep, I’ve played it....  That’s pretty much all we got for that one, just the one game, and yes I’ve played it.

Fire Emblem : The only FE game I’ve played is Fire Emblem Warriors, so... not exactly the real FE experience.  Granted I can’t say I really feel all that interested.  Turn based strategy games like FE, Advance Wars, Wargroove, they don’t tend to keep me interested all that long.  I also have a feeling the permadeath aspect would drive me batty.

Game & Watch : I don’t know if I ever had a legitimate Game & Watch, as in, the actual machines.  However I played the heck out of the Game & Watch Gallery games.  I loved those things.

Kid Icarus : I’ve played the original and Uprising all the way through.  The GB one, Of Myths & Monsters, I’ve only gotten to try that one via an emulation, and it glitched during a boss fight, so I was never able to finish it.

Wario : On the Wario Land side of things, I’ve played most of them I think.  I never played Master of Disguise, not sure if that counts as a “Land” game.  As for WarioWare, that too, I’ve played most of them, though I never played Smooth Moves I think, the Wii one?  I know I’ve played the original, Twisted, Touched, and Gold.

Metal Gear : I haven’t played much of this series.  I played a little of the original NES game, never beat it, and watched my uncle play the original Metal Gear Solid, and..... honestly I think that’s about it.  So not a lot of Metal Gear experience.

Sonic the Hedgehog : I’ve played a lot of Sonics.  I didn’t play 4 or either of the “Storybook” games, haven’t really had access to most of the side games though, like I never played Shuffle, the Game Gear ones, also never played things like the Sega All Stars Racing games, not sure if those count for Sonic or just Sega in general really though to be fair.  I do have a weird choice of favorite Sonic game though, I unironically really enjoyed the 360 version of Unleashed.

Pikmin : Unless you count things like the Gamecube and Wii versions of Pikmin as separate entities, I think I’ve played all Pikmin games : 1-3 and Hey Pikmin.  I have 3 Deluxe pre-ordered as I felt it would be an easier one to record for an eventual project.

ROB : Played one out of the two games he had.  I played Gyromite, never had Stack Up.  Sadly my ROB was stolen long ago from storage.

Animal Crossing : I want to say the only ones I never played were Wild World and Happy Home Designer.  Well, unless you count ones that weren’t released here.

Mega Man : Yeah, kinda think I got this one covered.  I never played the Game Gear one, which.... yeah, looks pretty bad, so I don’t feel I missed out there.  Played 1 - 11 of the Classic series, as well as Powered Up and MM & Bass.  Played X1 - X5, Zero 1 - 3, all the Battle Network games (aside from mobile ones that I don’t think were released here), Starforce 1 and 2 (got 3, just never got around to it, and never quite finished 2), and a small bit of Legends 1 (want to give that another try sometime).  Heck, even played the PC Mega Man 1 and 3.  Think I’m pretty set with this one, haha.

Wii Fit : I.... played Wii Sports, does that actually count?  Probably not.  I never played one of the proper Wii Fit games with the balance board and all that.

Punch-Out!! : I played the NES and Wii games.  I... honestly don’t remember if I ever played Super Punch-Out!! or not...  I know I never beat the Wii game, I stalled out at Soda Popinski.

Pac-Man : I’ve played a lot of Pac-Man games, as well as other retro Namco games.  I had all the Namco Museum games on PS1, loved those.  There were a ton of different Pac-Man games though, so there are likely some I missed along the way.  Probably mostly in the vein of Pac-Man World type games, I don’t think I got to play a lot of those.

Xenoblade : I never played any of the Xenoblade games.  I’m kind of intrigued by maybe wanting to get the Switch port of Xenoblade Chronicles, but RPGs tend to be intimidating for me to get into, the whole time commitment thing.  Still seems like something I might be interested in trying sometime.

Duck Hunt : Indeed, I played it.  I know well the trauma of dog ridicule.  As far as other light-gun games on NES, I did play Hogan’s Alley and Gumshoe.

Street Fighter : I think the only one I ever played was the SNES version of Street Fighter 2 that had the four extra characters, I want to say it added Cammy, Dee Jay, T. Hawk, and Fei Long I want to say?

Final Fantasy : The main ones I played a lot of were 7 and 9.  I did play a bit of the one with Kefka as a kid, but didn’t really get too into it.

Bayonetta : I’ve played both 1 and 2 all the way though, and am interested in hearing more about 3 when we get some new info there.  I can’t say I’m that GOOD at them, but I could at least beat them, haha.  Still find them fun.

Splatoon : I played the original, but can’t play online, so just the single player stuff.  Still need to do that on Splatoon 2, I do have a copy, just haven’t really gotten around to playing it.

Castlevania : I’ve played MOST of the series I want to say?  Mainly some of the 3D ones I missed on, never played the Lord of Shadows games, 64, also notably never had access to the actual Rondo of Blood, only Dracula X.

Persona : The only one I ever played is Persona 4.  I’d be tempted to give 5 a shot if it got a Switch port.  Admittedly I kinda shied away from this series for awhile due to Persona 3 being the main one I’d heard about, and mostly it was hearing about how they invoked their Personas, which was... not something I liked due to personal squick with that sort of thing.  I had the mistaken impression that was how it was in ALL the games as such.

Dragon Quest : I’ve played a bit of some of the NES ones as a kid, but never really could get too into them.  Always liked the monster designs though, so I did like the Dragon Quest Monsters games.  Only got to play the two on GBC though.  I tried the demo for DQ 11... just didn’t really pull me in.  Turn based RPGs are just hard for me to get into admittedly.

Banjo-Kazooie : I played and loved the original and Tooie, as well as the GBA game (don’t remember much about that one though).  I never played Nuts & Bolts.

Fatal Fury : I don’t THINK I’ve ever played a Fatal Fury game.  If so, I have no real memories of doing so.  Still familiar with Terry though, just never really had much SNK / Neo Geo access growing up.

ARMS : I only ever played the demo of the game, not the full one.

Minecraft : I’ve never played it.  From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t look like my kind of game.  Just total open world sandbox / survival type stuff, not usually something that pulls me in, and admittedly I don’t really like the Minecraft aesthetic too much.  Nothing against anyone that likes it, just not really my thing.

[aion-rsa]

How the Cyberpunk 2077 Soundtrack Found Its Dystopian Sound in a Soviet-Era Synthesizer

https://ift.tt/2Knk6oM

CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is arguably the the biggest video game release of 2020, transporting players to a gritty sci-fi world full of bio-augmented criminals and lowlives. True to its name, the game explores some pretty deep concepts about cyberspace and what life might be like in a futuristic transhuman society where technological advancements have turned us less human and more machine. So it’s no surprise that the game’s score often sounds like something recovered from the year 2077 and brought back to our time. At its very best, the soundtrack elevates this grim dystopia.

In the wake of Cyberpunk 2077‘s massive launch, Den of Geek spoke with the trio of composers behind the game’s score: Marcin Przybylowicz (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt), P.T. Adamczyk (Gwent: The Witcher Card Game), and Paul Leonard-Morgan (Dredd). The three composers discussed the soundtrack’s conception and revealed the unconventional methods they used to create the score’s unique, ominous sound.

The Cyberpunk 2077 Original Score, which contains two discs-worth of the game’s enormous pool of music, is available now to buy and stream. As players have discovered in the week since the game’s launch, the score isn’t exactly the pulsating, adrenaline-fueled synth barrage some might be expecting from a cyberpunk title. It’s largely ambient, with ominous layers of otherworldly bass bellows, tribal beats that sound both futuristic and primal, and melancholic wades through placid synth soundscapes. There are definitely bangers on the tracklist, but what stands out is that many of the pieces almost feel introspective. 

“You’re dealing with a complex story, and there’s [a vast] number of characters in Cyberpunk,” Adamczyk explains. “Finding a theme or an idea or a motif and being confident in it…that’s really difficult because there are so many different things happening in the story, and you could score it a thousand different ways. And they all would be good enough. But the question remains, ‘What is the essence?’”

Przybylowicz was the first of the three composers to start work on the score for Cyberpunk 2077 very early in the game’s production. In laying the foundations for what the game’s music would sound like (the elusive “essence” Adamczyk speaks of), he set out to create something unique, though he was also committed to honoring the source material that the game is steeped in.

“We were trying to find out how our take on Cyberpunk would differ from other bits of culture,” says Marcin of the initial creative process. “We must never forget that our game is not a game that is simply set in a yberpunk universe. Our game is Cyberpunk 2077, which means that it’s based on a very well described and very lore-heavy, already existing universe, Cyberpunk 2020 by Mike Pondsmith. So that means there is a ton of source material, tons of creative work that has already been done before. So we needed to reach out to these books and see if we could pinpoint anything that would remain useful for us after we move the events from 2020 to 2077. Then we started to formulate how that would translate to the game’s sonic palette.”

The original tabletop game paints a picture of an alternate future in which corruption reigns and oppressive megacorporations wage war on each other, as the denizens of gang-infested, urban sprawls like Night City struggle to survive on the streets. Humans and machines intertwine via cybernetic enhancements, and this unholy merging of flesh and technology is represented vividly in the game’s score, which often employs the use of synth that sounds both metallic and organic.

The majority of electronic music is created from a widely-available database of preset sounds built into a computer or synth. To create Cyberpunk 2077’s unique sonic identity, the composers eschewed convention and took a more experimental approach, using a slew of odd machines to create bespoke sounds that give the score its ethereal edge.

“What we’ve done is ridiculous,” Leonard-Morgan explains. “It hasn’t been done before. We’ve composed with virtually no software at all. It’s all external gear. So it’s all weird and wacky synthesizers, all weird modular synths, always stuff which you then had to record the audio and process that around. You can never recreate the sounds again.”

The trio used rare, long out-of-production machines, took their already unique built-in sounds, and manipulated them further to compose the game���s music. The result is a tapestry of interconnected compositions that have a dark, Frankenstein’s-monster bizarreness to them, and one of the most prominent and peculiar synths you’ll hear in the mix has a curious background of its own.

“P.T. and I own our own Soviet-made Polivokses. Mine’s from 1982,” Przybylowicz says. “My Polivoks still has a price tag: 800 Rubles, which is, I think by today’s standards, 10 bucks. It’s a duophonic synthesizer similar to the Moog Sub 37, which is a very famous duophonic unit. I heard a story that during the Cold War, blueprints [of the Moog Sub 37] were stolen by Soviet agents in order to obtain something that they could copy [to build their own synthesizer]. Supposedly they were trying to make an exact copy, but you know, something always goes wrong on the production lines–they ended up with a machine that is truly, remarkably ugly-sounding. Yet still sounds like nothing else.”

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Another strange machine in the trio’s fleet of synths is the Folktek Mescaline, an infernal-looking mess of jet-black panels, spiraling bronze detailing, and a scattered arrangement of inputs, knobs, buttons, and switches. It looks so intimidating and unapproachable that it’s no wonder the trio harnessed its power in their compositions.

“All three of us own Folktek Mescalines,” Przybylowicz says. “It’s a small modular system that allows you to basically do anything. It doesn’t come with a very good manual. It doesn’t feature keyboards. It doesn’t feature any self-explanatory indications of what’s doing what. So it’s all based on experimentation.”

Adamczyk elaborates, “You can’t really decide, ‘I’m just going to play an A minor chord’ on a Mescaline. Getting an A minor chord is a real pain in the ass because you have to pretty much tune the machine to that specific chord. You have to try to find your way with these instruments and try to somehow find a musical way of using them. Half of the time, you have no idea what you’re doing.”

The game boasts around eight hours of music that, amazingly, is virtually all in the key of A minor to allow the different compositions to flow seamlessly in and out of each other as the player transitions between different encounters and scenarios.

“Games are like living organisms,” Przybylowicz explains. “It’s dependent on the player’s actions, even if we’re talking about the most linear scripted games. Ours obviously is nothing like that. It’s a full-fledged, open-world RPG with multiple branching lines in the narrative arc. So obviously it’s even more difficult [to compose for], but I think in a sense it’s almost liberating to work on a thing that changes so many times during even a single playthrough, you know?”

Cyberpunk 2077 had fans practically salivating in the days leading to its release date. It’s not only the next chapter of a long-beloved sci-fi franchise, but CD Projekt RED’s follow-up to the all-time classic The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is, to put it mildly, a tough act to follow. The composers feel the magnitude of the moment, though they remain unshakable, confident in the work they’ve put forward.

“Working on a game of such a big scale, ambition and quality and fan base…I think it naturally adds to the pressure,” says Przybylowicz. “So the bigger the hype gets, the bigger the expectations are getting, and the bigger the pressure gets. I think it’s at least in some parts a natural process of this profession, when you get to work on a project of this reputation.”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

“It doesn’t matter for me whether it’s a one million dollar film, a hundred million dollar film, a billion-dollar game, or whatever,” Leonard-Morgan adds. “The point is it’s all about the creative process. That’s the part that I really, really enjoy. And I think as soon as you start letting external forces come into your head, that’s where I start to kind of…Self-doubt is the wrong phrase. But you start second-guessing, and second guessing is just the worst thing you can do as a composer.”

You can listen to the score below:

Cyberpunk 2077 is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia.

The post How the Cyberpunk 2077 Soundtrack Found Its Dystopian Sound in a Soviet-Era Synthesizer appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3an3h8A

[moomingitz]

Got back from watching the Sonic the Hedgehog movie.

It was so good! I enjoyed it all the way through. Don’t read any further unless you don’t want to be spoiled.

- I’m now convinced those were echidnas chasing baby Sonic. - We only saw her in the prologue, but I really want to see more of Longclaw and how she came to raise Sonic, if the film gets a sequel. - While I’m on the subject of Longclaw, I see her more realistic character design as further proof that the original design Sonic had in the film was not some marketing stunt done by the film makers. I don’t mind her looking more like a real life owl, but if it wasn’t already obvious that Sonic received a redesign in the movie, well, there you go. - Crazy Carl apparently invented Sanic. - Jim Carrey made a great Robotnik! I remember when it was first announced he was cast to play the character and I was on the more cautious side about it. It took some getting used to, but if you can look past him not having much a physical resemblance to Robotnik/Eggman, I think he was able to capture the intelligent yet chaotic nature of the doc. He was able to make Robotnik both goofy but intimidating at the same time underneath it. He was like the weird eccentric neighbor who’s most likely building a bomb in their basement. - I really liked how Tom a lot of the times had a very, “Whatever dude, you’re an asshole. Can I go now?”, attitude in response to Robotnik’s threats. - Man, Tom does not fuck around. He really is ready to throw hands for his adopted hedgehog son. - I really enjoyed the chemistry between Sonic and Tom. It’s was interesting to see Sonic act more like the naive and hyperactive child type, while Tom was the more clearheaded and mature one. Sonic a lot of times seems to be written as the more wise and stoic figure in both official and fan made Sonic stuff, so it was a nice change of pace to see it reversed. - Speaking of how Sonic was written, they did him good. You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to see Sonic show a more vulnerable and weak side to him. I think the way they did his backstory and how he ended up at Earth made for a good set-up to show us that more more vulnerable side. - I was worried the film was going to have one of those typical, “Buddies get into a fight and split up temporarily for 5-10 minutes of the run time.”, moments in movies, and I was dreading it’s arrival when Sonic was getting all pissy at Tom for wanting to move to and work in San Francisco. But, it thankfully never happened. Sonic was just knocked unconscious and he was quick to understand where Tom was coming from. - The set-up for Tom and Sonic to go on their little road trip to San Francisco didn’t feel contrived. It actually used things that were shown or established earlier on. A little touch I liked was just how exactly they went about having Sonic loose his bag of warp rings, and why it just happened to be in a such a place and spot. It feels a bit headscratchy at first, until Sonic explains how exactly they work: You think of where exactly you want to go and the ring will open up a portal to that place. - Another thing I liked with what they did with Sonic was not make him really OP. Sonic may have super speed, but he wasn’t exactly a living GPS. He had no idea at all how exactly to get to San Francisco, which was another reason why he needed Tom’s help. It’s even shown his super speed doesn’t make him untouchable, as you see during the second super slow-motion sequence later on in the film. - It’s official, guys. Tom and Maddie adopted Sonic! - Please, please, please make a sequel!

This movie did a good job setting things up, and it certainly did it’s job because I want more.

I remember the announcement about a Sonic movie being in the works back in 2014, when it was still under Sony’s umbrella, and thinking, “Do they mean it this time?” It was such a ride to follow the news about the film’s production, and even the leaks of Sonic’s original design. After so many false starts to get a Sonic feature film made throughout the franchise’s history, I can’t believe there’s finally an official Sonic feature film. Not only do we finally have one, but unlike most video game movie adaptations, it’s a legitimately good movie adaptation of a video game!

It may have been a long road to get a Sonic feature film, but in the end I think it was worth it.

[thecomposerthatwaspromised]

Were you familiar with His Dark Materials franchise before you signed onto the project? Had you read the books before, or was the whole thing just kind of new?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It was deeply in my life. It's kind of one of those jobs that when you hear about it, I had to be involved, and whether I bribed somebody to get me the job or turned up at their office, I knew I had to do it. It was with Mission Impossible. I was a massive fan and with Mission, it had been in my life for 20 years. I'd been basically subconsciously writing Fallout out in my head. Just that famous Lalo Schifrin theme, I had been trying to write it for 20-odd years. With Dark Materials, I think... When was the first one? It was in the '90s. '95, gosh, how old was I then? I'm 42 now... Oh well, I'll figure that one out and text you. However old I was, it was a long time ago.

But yes, it was the same heritage and folklore of the likes of Harry Potter and Star Wars to me. Basically, I found out about it and I just knew I had to be part of the team. It's always very intimidating, especially with literature, because the thing is that everybody has created their own soundtracks in their head when reading these books, and you don't want to mess it up.

What kind of inspiration and influences did you take into consideration when you were crafting the His Dark Materials score? Since it's the kind of source material that everyone interprets in a different way, what was kind of important for you in creating your take on it?

I always treat these books as steampunk. I was very aware of the different worlds and the fact that you weren't too sure of what the technology was, and if it's present or past. Musically, I knew right from day one I wanted it to be a mixture of organicness and electronic-ness, and have it so that the organicness was being manipulated, so sonically you don't know what you're hearing and you're not too sure if this is real or if it's not.

I also kind of wanted to always make sure that with Lyra --I'd never worked on a show where it has such a strong young female lead, and I just wanted to make sure that I wrote it so it wasn't patronizing to her age. She is the future and she's just strong. I think that I wanted to make sure that she dramatically was as strong and powerful as if it was Princess Leia, for example.

And also what I wanted to do was very clearly set out each character's themes. Before we even started, I really spent a long time just creating everybody's dramatical world. With Mrs. Coulter, it's powerful but also slightly sexy. I'm not too sure if I can say the word "sexy" for Mrs. Coulter, but the thing is that her character, the way Ruth [Wilson] plays her especially, it's very imposing.

There are so many sides to it. I just wanted to start off composing and just making sure all of our characters have very clear dramatical worlds, and also their own instrumentation. I think that color-wise, I wanted to make sure that they have their own performances. In the same way, I started thinking about who was going to perform the music. And ironically with Mrs. Coulter, I got Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the drummer, to come and play on it. Because it was like "This is serious now, and this is powerful." For some reason, I just kept thinking of Chad.

On other themes, with the Egyptian theme, I was lucky to get [violinist] Lindsey Stirling involved to come and play. Everybody's theme, I wanted to get musicians that I could work with, that would also be that character sound.

I'm just remembering now, the same with [cellist] Tina Guo's playing on the soundtrack. She's the main cellist for Wonder Woman. I'm probably forgetting names. I should have practiced. KT Tunstall, the singer, is on the score. Sarah Willis is a French horn player with the Berlin Philharmonic. I was calling her a month ago in Cuba, in Havana, because she's on tour. And then Rich Harvey, one of the top recordists... Recorder players? Is that a recordist? I'm not too sure. So yeah, I wanted to get that high cast of musicians as well as the show, the cast, their actors.

What's your favorite thing about the score for His Dark Materials? Is there a certain theme or a certain sequence that you're just like, "I can't believe I was able to pull this off"?

I wish I could have more faith in my own music. Unfortunately, I don't. What we're doing with the soundtrack is that when the show starts, we're going to release two albums. The first album is going to be a musical anthology to our world, and it's all of the character's themes and the show's themes. And then the second album will be actual cues from the actual show. I'm still writing at the moment, so I want to say that the best is yet to come because I'm still at episode eight. But I think everything has been a challenge, because I think with Lyra, I think very, very aware of thinking about the fans.

To me, it's a hard job. It's very like working on games, because there's such a heritage and loyal fan base, that you can't please everybody. It's just impossible. But you've got to be loyal. I tried to do some research to see what fans would be listening to, and I found some references to the music of Algar, so I took some inspiration from that. To me, I've tried to just do my best to what people might feel with these characters. And also everybody working on the show are fans of the books -- whether it's the costume department or the makeup department or the camera department, everybody's wanted to be involved with this because of their love of the books. It's apparently a team effort.

And I think that the opening sequence has been one of the hardest jobs I think I've ever had because you're trying to write a theme and a piece of music that represents this story, which is mammoth. I think [it's like] being asked, "Who's your favorite child?" It's impossible, but I think that the journeys through it is all fun. We're recording all over the world, musically. We've been recording in Los Angeles and Cuba and Vienna, and we've been recording an amazing female choir in Bulgaria. We're recording the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra in Wales. Just the recording of the music alone is mammoth. I'd say there is no favorite, but I hope the main theme of the show gets people excited.

I'm really excited about the two different albums. I always love it when shows or movies really let people experience the music of the show, outside of them actually watching it in the moment.

I think there's a lot on the first album that's not necessarily a written picture, but it's a listening experience. And because I wanted to try to, maybe for two and a half, three minutes, be able to clearly represent who these characters are without being interrupted by people talking on top of it, selfishly. I think that's been a fun part of this journey.

[...] And then just to wrap it up, what can you tease about your future projects beyond His Dark Materials? What do you have coming up that we can look forward to?

[...] That's the plan, but also I'll start the second season of Dark Materials, probably after Christmas. There won't be much of a gap. I'm on the last episode at the moment, so there'll be a few months, and then I'll start on the next season, which I'm very, very excited about.