SEGA News Bits: Sonic the Hedgehog turns 25 years old

Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th anniversary officially kicked off on June 23rd, which was of course the release date of the eponymous game that started it all. In this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry look back on 25 years of Sonic by spin dashing through all the main series Sonic Team developed console games. There are quite a few to get through, so consider this more of a SEGA News Smörgåsbord. Why are you still reading this? Click play and enjoy!

What are your favorite Sonic games? Let us know the comments below and like always thanks for watching! If you like our SEGA News Bits videos, make sure to subscribe to us on our YouTube channel.

Celebrating Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th anniversary with 25 great underrated moments

sonic 25 headerSEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog franchise turns 25 today, and while we’ve celebrated franchise milestone years in the past, there is something really special about this one. A quarter of a century is a long time, and it is a testament to SEGA’s perseverance and the devotion of the Sonic fanbase that the franchise is still going strong. Sonic Lost World and the Sonic Boom franchise – particularly the games – are often pinpointed as the franchise’s recent weak points and signs that the franchise as a whole needs to be put down or at the very least take a long break. While I am not here to debate the merits of Sonic Lost World and Sonic Boom, I will say that to end a series or take a long break because of either is both incredibly shortsighted and far too extreme a reaction. I would also argue that Sonic is about much more than just the main series games, as fans like to label the major titles, and that there has always been great Sonic things happening even during the franchise’s darkest years.

In celebration of 25 years of Sonic the Hedgehog, join me in looking back year-by-year as I shine the light on great moments in Sonic history that more people need to be talking about.

Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle launches with exclusive shirt

HumbleBundleSonicHumble Bundle has just launched its Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle which will include a wide arrange of Sonic games for PC including retro and more recent titles.

This is what you get in the Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle.

Pay $1 or more:

  • Sonic the Hedgehog (SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive)
  • Sonic Adventure DX 
  • Sonic 3D Blast
  • Sonic CD

Beat the average (right now $9.00) also unlocks: 

  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode I
  • Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive)
  • Sonic Adventure 2 + Battle DLC 
  • More games coming soon

Pay $10 dollars and also get: 

  • Sonic Lost World
  • Sonic Generations + Casino NiGHTS DLC
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode 2
  • Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Plus Metal Sonic & Outrun and Ryo DLC)

Pay $35 bucks and get: 

  • Exclusive Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle Shirt

If you have never used Humble Bundle, the way it works is that its all tiers. So if you pay the $35 dollars for the exclusive Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle shirt, you also get all the games in the package. All games redeem on Steam.

What are your guys thoughts on this Sonic 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle? What tier is everyone picking up? Let us know in the comments below.

Sonic Retro webmaster celebrates Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in the latest issue of Retro Gamer

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The latest issue of the UK classic gaming magazine Retro Gamer is celebrating its 150th issue in a big way by counting down the 150 Greatest Games Ever as selected by readers. What’s so cool about the issue is that for many of the entries, they turned to those in the fan community to wax nostalgic on the greatest games. Seeing as Retro Gamer‘s readers have taste and didn’t completely avoid SEGA like another publication out there, several classics from the developer have made the cut. Just some include 1986’s OutRun with a piece written by Sumo Digital’s Steve Lycett, Shenmue with thoughts from the Shenmue Dojo webmaster, and (as stated in our headline) a write-up on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 by Sonic Retro’s very own webmaster Scarred Sun.

Seeing as the magazine is out there for sale right now both physically and digitally, I’m not going to spoil the surprise of the game’s placement or what was said, so you’ll just have to find out for yourself.

Sonic The Hedgehog 1 & 2 Virtual Console and XBLA to be delisted October 30th

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Via XBLA Watchdog Twitter user Lifelower comes news that SEGA Japan has announced that the Xbox Live Arcade and Wii Virtual Console versions of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will be pulled tomorrow, October 30th. The reason for the games being pulled is unknown, but there are two possibilities. The most likely reason is that the contract for the games’ music rights, which are held by the original composer Masato Nakamura, are expiring and these versions of the game are affected. Another possible reason is that the Taxman/Stealth remastered versions are finally making their way to consoles, but take that possibility with an Oil Ocean sized amount of salt.

If you haven’t bought these versions yet, you have less than a day to do so. However it should be noted that there are several other versions out there including the original cartridges, Sonic Jam for Saturn, Sonic Mega Collection (playable on both the Xbox 360 and Wii via backwards compatibility), Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, the aforementioned Taxman/Stealth remastered versions, and 3D Classics versions. I’m sure I missed a couple dozen others, but you get the point.

Watch Sonic rescue Tails in 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s credit sequence

M2 really likes having goofy credit sequences in their SEGA 3D Classics line of games, in this one we see each unique enemy type being shown off with a sequence of iterations with either Sonic or Tails. The Tails ones seem to involve him getting hit by said baddies and having Sonic come rescue him.

Sit and appreciate all the different unique baddies with their own animation that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had to offer. Now I want to play 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2... I guess we will have to wait until September.

[Via: NintendoLife]

3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 trailer in actual 3D hits online

Sonic and his two-tailed friend Tails hit the Nintendo 3DS on Thursday over in Japan  with 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2. To celebrate the release SEGA has released the following trailer… in 3D. Yes, if you didn’t know Youtube supports 3D videos.

This 3D Sonic the Hedgehog trailer is stereoscopic 3D which means you can view with red and blue 3D glasses. We will keep you informed on the US and European release dates, but I’m hearing its coming out sometime in September.

New 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 trailer shows off local co-op and new ‘Keep Ring Mode’ gets detailed

While we haven’t gotten a release date in the west on the 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 release, over in Japan the game is being release in less than a week! That means that 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has been getting quite the amount of information released, like the trailer above showing off the local wireless connectivity. It will be required for both 3DSs to own a copy of the game, but if you do you will be able to have a second player control Tails through your single player adventure or you can go head to head in the versus racing mode.

Like most M2 re-releases in their SEGA 3D Classics series, this game will not only have 3D, save states and the ability to save replays; but it will also have a new mode that they are calling ‘Ring Keep’ mode. In this mode you will start a stage with 10 rings, each time you get attacked the amount of rings you lose is halved. I guess we shall see how this will work when we get to play it and how it impacts the way you play the game.

If we had to predict the release date of 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in the west, I would say expect it sometime in August!

Swingin’ Report Show #76: Interview with Stealth, co-developer of Sonic the Hedgehog 1&2 Remastered

On this week’s SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast, we’re joined by Stealth, who worked on the official recent remasterings of Sonic The Hedgehog CD, Sonic The Hedgehog, and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 alongside fellow developer The Taxman.

Stealth talks to us about how the remasters began development, the process of remaking classic Sonic titles, the much talked about the remastered Sonic The Hedgehog 3 proof of concept, and what fans can do to try and make Sonic 3 remastered a reality. Also featured is discussion of Sonic The Hedgehog 4 and the recent decisions SEGA has made with the franchise. If you love classic Sonic games and behind-the-scenes stories of game development, this is the show for you!

Also, Barry and George discuss the recently revealed ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove Kickstarter by Greg Johnson (who will be joining us next week) and Sonic Team’s mobile release Sonic Runners, which soft launched yesterday.

Support the Sonic 3 Remastered campaign: http://sonic3remastered.com/


[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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.

Watch the full ‘Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation’ San Diego Comic Con panel


 
This past weekend, SEGAbits writers Ben, Shigs, and Nuckles hit San Diego Comic Con and SEGA’s game preview event located at the nearby Nerd HQ. While Comic Con isn’t as game centric as E3, there was quite a bit of SEGA goodness to be found. We were able to check out the latest preview builds of Alien: Isolation and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, as well as interview Archie Comics on the upcoming Sonic Boom comic book series. But the main event had to have been Sunday’s Console Wars panel. The panel, which centered around the SEGA and Nintendo rivalry of the 90’s, featured special guests Tom Kalinske (Sega of America), Al Nilsen (Sega of America), Bill White (Nintendo of America), and Perrin Kaplan (Nintendo of America), as well as Console Wars author Blake J. Harris and Julian Rosenberg, producer of the upcoming Console Wars documentary.

Thanks to Blake, Nuckles and Shigs were given the VIP treatment and secured some awesome seats – allowing us to film the panel and Q&A session and meet the SEGA and Nintendo legends! Check out the full panel above, and make sure to pick up your copy of Console Wars if you haven’t already!

Want more Console Wars discussion? Check out our three part interview series with Tom Kalinske, Al Nilsen, and Blake J. Harris.

SEGA Retrospective: Sonic the Hedgehog’s Classic Trilogy

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The following is a guest article from Sonic Stadium writer Brad, written as part of our intersite #Sonic23on23 celebration. Enjoy it, and maybe check out our guest article over at Sonic Stadium written by our own Ben Burnham.

Ah, birthdays. The perfect times for parents to get out those old, embarrassing pictures of you when you were a baby. Our spikey blue hero is no exception to this, however his own classic outgoings were never something to be embarrassed about. In fact, many fans still refer to the original trilogy of games as some of the best games the series has made. I’m not far removed from this ideal, and as such I wanted to look back at these old gems of classic gaming, chronologically.

Xbox LIVE for 360 has huge SEGA sale going on!

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This week is as good a time as ever to save some cash on some great SEGA titles available at a super cheap price for the Xbox 360. SEGA’s got a huge sale on this week on Xbox LIVE for some of their biggest titles such as Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed, Virtua Fighter 5 FS, Hell Yeah and lots more. Plus, you can save as much as 75% off! Click below to see the super low prices on these great titles. (Geez, I’m starting to sound like an ad)