Opinion: What Modern Sonic can learn from Classic Sonic

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Like most long suffering Sonic the Hedgehog fans I have a love/hate relationship with the Sonic series. For every step forward Sonic takes, he takes two steps backwards or worse. I’m sure we call all agree, we’d like to see our beloved Sonic series shine again. Unfortunately we don’t all agree on how to achieve this goal. By creating various ‘generations of Sonic’ with a variety of differently play style,s SEGA have built a polarized, multifaceted fan base who all want something different from the series. From classic Sonic fans who like 2D side scrolling to Adventure fans who enjoy a varied play styles and a story driven experience and not forgetting the Rush fans that just want a good bit of fast.

Is any one group of the Sonic fan base more correct than the other? No, of course not- it takes all sorts. Though I do love the classics, I am no stranger to the modern Sonic games and I believe both have plenty to offer. I enjoy both Sonic Colours and Sonic Generations. I routinely return to Sonic Rush and it’s incredible OST. I spent an unhealthy portion of my teenage years in a stuffy dark bedroom playing the Sonic Adventure titles.

So is it possible to cater to the entire multifaceted Sonic fanbase? Probably not! But is it possible to create a Sonic game the majority of us can enjoy without it being a bloated hot mess? Maybe! Here are some of my suggestions.

Round Table: What direction should Sonic Adventure 3 have taken?

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Sonic Adventure was the best selling Dreamcast game of all time, so it’s no surprise that we would want to discuss the game on this week’s Round Table. The Sonic Adventure series had two main entries that were both on the SEGA Dreamcast, and both had a very different approach when it came to story and gameplay progression. As the series continued, SEGA took the blue blur in a various directions with titles like Sonic Heroes, Sonic Generations, Sonic Colors and the latest title Sonic Lost World. Despite the long gap between Sonic Adventure 2 and today, a very vocal group of fans still ask SEGA for a third entry in the series. The question we posed to our writers this week was would we want a Sonic Adventure 3? If so, what direction should the third entry take?

Like always you can tell us your own opinion on what direction Sonic Adventure 3 should take in the comment section.

Sonic Talk #28: Sonic Talk Adventure 28 DX Battle Edition Purple Monkey Dishwasher

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It’s Dreamcast month here at Segabits, so being a Sonic podcast, we’ve decided to look back at the Sonic Adventure series. Me. Nuckles87, GX Echidna and special guest Evil Dr. Reef look back at the Adventure series from its Dreamcast beginnings up to Sonic Adventure DX on the GameCube. Which in the series is our favorite? What were the best parts? What were the worst parts (besides big the Cat obviously)? Does either game hold up today? Do we want a Sonic adventure 3? We answer all these question and more in a heavy 2 & 1/2 hour discussion that’s one of our best episodes yet!

NOTE: If you wonder why GX seems to be hogging the conversation for about 20 minutes after the 58 minute mark, it’s because Nuckles87’s audio went off for a short period of time. (Also, GX tends to naturally hog up a conversation anyway.) Luckily, my awesome editing skills saved the day and it’s barely noticeable.

Upcoming Sonic soundtrack album “Passion & Pride: Anthems with Attitude from the Sonic Adventure Era” tracklist and cover art revealed

As we previously reported, a new Sonic soundtrack album, “Passion & Pride: Anthems with Attitude from the Sonic Adventure Era” is on the way, due for September. Today we’ve gotten a plethora of new information on the release, including the rather awesome cover art, seen above, and a full tracklist.

The new information comes from the album’s official listing on the Japanese Sonic the Hedgehog website, Sonic Channel, and the tracklist, containing songs from Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, is as follows:

New Sonic soundtrack revealed: “Passion & Pride: Anthems with Attitude from the Sonic Adventure Era”

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A listing has popped up on Amazon Japan, revealing a new Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack is to be released September 10th 2014.

According to the listing, “Passion & Pride: Anthems with Attitude from the Sonic Adventure Era,” is a commemorative release set to mark the 15th anniversary of Sonic Adventure for the SEGA Dreamcast.

As translated by Miles Wolf of Sonic Reikai, the album’s description reads:

In commemoration of the 15th anniversary of Sonic Adventure’s launch on North America, we have made an album with the character songs of this series. Because of all the request we received, it will include the instrumental versions of the themes. It’s a disc that any Sonic fan can’t miss.

This is pretty awesome news, as whilst Sonic Adventure 2’s character themes got instrumental releases as part of the Sonic Adventure 2: Cuts Unleashed soundtrack, Sonic Adventure’s vocal themes have never seen an official instrumental release.

The soundtrack comes on 2 discs, and costs ¥3,240, roughly $32 or £19. Currently, there is next to no other information, but we’ll be sure to update if any more information comes to light such as track listing. 

Are you going to pick up the soundtrack? Let us know!

Sonic Adventure 2 scene recreated on Source Filmmaker


The Source Filmmaker (SFM) is the movie-making tool created by Valve, it allows users to make movies inside the Source game engine. SFM is available for anyone to use and has powered some really creative short films.

Here is one such film I thought was worth sharing. The film is a recreation of the Sonic Adventure 2 ‘faker’ cut-scene where Sonic faces off against Shadow. It is incredibly well made and a joy to watch for any fan of the Adventure series. Check it out!

Visual Memories: Digging through Sonic Adventure & Sonic Adventure 2’s DLC

We’ve said it time and time again here at SEGAbits: the Dreamcast was an incredibly innovative console! Back in the late 90’s, Dreamcast owners could hop online via their console to surf the web and download various things to their VMU including free DLC. That’s right, not only did SEGA offer DLC in the late 90’s, it was free! Continuing our Sonic 23rd birthday celebrations, Liam aka TrackerTD of our This Is Saturn YouTube series put together this great showcase of most of the DLC offered in Sonic Adventure & Sonic Adventure 2. Celebrate New Years, the Dreamcast launch, Halloween, and more in the many fun additions made to these memorable Sonic titles.

Sonic Adventure 2 and Pepsi

I saw this posted on Twitter by @IizukaTakashi. This is a quite an amazing revelation. Sonic Adventure 2 was inspired by a Pepsi game! Can you believe that Iizuka-san was inspried by Pepsi…?

In case you didn’t realize it yet, I’m not being serious. I wanted to share this video because i found it amazing, regardless of which game was made first, or if it’s even an official Pepsi game.

Big weekend sale on Sonic PC games at Gamersgate

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This weekend, you don’t have to break the bank at the Casino Night Zone to get a ton of Sonic games at an affordable price. Gamersgate is offering Every Sonic PC title from 50%-75% off. Pick up Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for only $14.99! You can also get Sonic Generations, Sonic 4, Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, Sonic CD and all Genesis tiles from as little as $1.25 and up. The sale is only this weekend, so jump on it as soon as you can!

Review: Sonic Adventure 2 (XBLA/PSN)

SEGA’s rerelease of Jet Set Radio was, in my opinion, excellent. After the so-so Dreamcast Collection rereleases, the first game of the SEGA Heritage Collection was a breath of fresh air. HD visuals, widescreen support and SEGA trying their best to retain as much of the original game as they could. My hope was that this trend would continue with the next two Heritage titles. Does Sonic Adventure 2, a game that is considered one of Sonic’s best 3D outings, carry on the SEGA Heritage quality or is it a step back? Read on to find out!

SEGA Tunes: A Ghost’s Pumpkin Soup & Revenge

Halloween is kickin’ tomorrow with a bang. Just for this special occasion for this eerie holiday, The SEGABits staff and I decided to give you to classic tunes from our beloved Sega franchises. A Ghost’s Pumpkin Soup from Sonic Adventure 2 composed by Tomoya Ohtani and lyrics sung by Hunnid-P. I’m not a huge fan of rap but with Knuckles stages in Sonic Adventure 2, I can groove to. The song describes Knuckles going through the haunted hills fighting off Boos (ugly looking creeps that really like to scare the **** out of you). The song gives out that eerie feeling to it mixed with rap and I believe it gave out a memorable feel to Sonic fans during the time. I still remember playing this stage on the Sega Dreamcast for the first time. The first time I heard this song, I nod my head going through the Church only to be chased away by a ghost. After the break, we go within the hallways of The House of the Dead.

Sonic Adventure 2 and NiGHTS hit PSN today, XBLA on October 5th, PC in “coming months”

SEGA has released a launch trailer to celebrate the release of two more SEGA Heritage collection releases: Sonic Adventure 2 and NiGHTS Into Dreams. Both titles hit PSN today, and XBLA gets them on October 5th. Also available at launch will be Battle Mode DLC for Sonic Adventure 2, while NiGHTS will have Christmas NiGHTS content included at no extra cost. Those who buy a copy on PSN will receive a free exclusive NiGHTS or Sonic Adventure 2 theme for their PS3. As for the PC versions, SEGA says to stay tuned for more info and that they should arrive in the coming months.