Cracked: 4 Social Criticisms Hidden in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Games
Imagine if this whole time you played Sonic the Hedgehog, you weren’t winning, you where falling for Eggman’s plans the whole time? Well, the grown ass men over at Cracked.com have posted a new video detailing four social criticisms that are present in Sonic the Hedgehog.
Now if you’d excuse me, my mind has been blown. Just leave me in this Hedgehog wonderland created by Robotnik.
Sketch group BEASTS gives their humorous spin on the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog
Having just recently written about the history of Sonic’s many redesigns, it’s fitting that sketch comedy group BEASTS reached out to us to share a video they made on the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog. BEASTS member James McNicholas shared the following information with us:
Let’s face it: video games are weird. Those from the 80s and 90s are arguably weirdest of all — try explaining the logic behind Pac Man to someone whose never encountered it.
Few games make less sense than Sonic The Hedgehog, with its blue rodents, gold rings and magic emeralds. Fortunately, sketch group BEASTS have stumbled upon this footage of SEGA’s planning meeting for the original Sonic. Hope you like it!
BEASTS are comprised of Ciaran Dowd, James McNicholas and Owen Roberts. They’ve been going for two years, and have two sold-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival under our belts. You can find nice things that other journalists have said about them here (they don’t put the nasty ones up). They’re also over on Twitter @BEASTScomedy.
As regards the sketch itself, you’ll notice two of the characters are named Yuji and Naoto – an allusion to messrs Naka and Oshima. “Mr. Needlemouse”, as you’re probably aware, was the name given to the prototype for the Sonic character on Naoto Oshima’s early concept art.
Thanks to BEASTS for reaching out to us and sharing their work!
The SEGA Five: How SEGA redesigned Sonic the Hedgehog
Following the reveal of Sonic Boom, SEGA and Sonic fan communities exploded with discussion regarding the redesigns of the characters. Things like muscles, sports tape, scarves, tool belts, and blue arms became the subject of heated debates. Before the assurance from SEGA staff that the new game and TV show were a branch of the franchise and not a reboot, fans were both delighted and angered at the idea of Sonic undergoing another redesign after getting to know Modern Sonic for the past 7 years. Of course, fans of the franchise are not new to redesigns of SEGA’s mascot, so they can’t be blamed for assuming that Sonic was undergoing another permanent major change. While Sonic Boom Sonic and Modern Sonic “will continue to move forward in parallel” to each other, as stated by Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka, the new Westernized design of Sonic is here to stay – at least for the near future.
As we move forward into the Sonic Boom era, we thought it would be fitting to look back at five major moments in Sonic’s history of redesigns, from buttface to green eyes and beyond. “Buttface” is enough incentive to read on, right?
New Sonic the Hedgehog game due in 2015 for Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Wii U
The toy company Jazwares featured an interesting sign at last week’s Nuremberg toy fair. As reported by The Sonic Stadium, the sign charts the future of the Sonic brand including the reveal that 2015 will see the release of a new Sonic game for the Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Wii U. Little else is revealed, but the lack of Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 may be a sign that Sonic’s days on those platforms have come to an end. Also interesting, no sign of the supposed third exclusive Wii U Sonic title. Either it is still on the way, and has yet to be revealed, or the upcoming 2015 is that third title and the deal with Nintendo has since changed. More on Sonic 2015 adventure as we hear it!
Also detailed is the upcoming CG cartoon series Sonic Boom, however none of the information is new.
Greg Martin, Sonic the Hedgehog American and European box art illustrator, has passed away
Yesterday evening we learned, via the Sonic Retro forums, that the Sonic the Hedgehog American and European box art illustrator Greg Martin had passed away in May of last year. While the news is delayed, the sadness many SEGA fans are surely feeling has not diminished. Greg Martin may not be a name fans recognize, but as soon as you see his work you’d instantly know his style. His SEGA career spanned the 90’s, with his art appearing on the covers of the SEGA Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog titles, Shining in the Darkness, Landstalker, Pac-Attack, and many more. Outside of SEGA, Greg did work for franchises including The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Batman, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Winnie the Pooh, The Jetsons, and Looney Tunes. You can see more of his work at his official website. Learn more about Greg Martin in this NintendoAge forums post written by a friend of his.
Our thoughts are with Greg Martin’s family, he truly was a legend.
Unboxing: Not Enough Rings – A Sonic the Hedgehog Parody Comic
2013 was a big year for SEGA related Kickstarter projects. We saw the successfully funded SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works, as well as unsuccessful attempts at relaunching the Boogerman and Ecco franchises. Not Enough Rings joins the ranks of the former projects, as it was not only a success, but it is among the projects seeing completion in 2014.
Collecting all 93 strips from the online parody comic of the same name, Not Enough Rings follows Sonic as he speeds through his SEGA Genesis adventures. The strips are packed with funny nods to gameplay quirks, plot points, and character traits. The whole collection is really a love letter to the classic Sonic games with just enough naughtiness to retain that SEGA edge. Thanks to going over their goal, several improvements were made to the originally planned book, including a hardcover and higher quality paper. The book even includes a nifty little red and white placeholder ribbon, which resembles the one seen in the Sonic logo. Overall, despite what the cover image may say, we give the Not Enough Rings book a well deserved thumbs up!
Amazon giving free copies of Sonic the Hedgehog on Android
Hey, not all Black Friday deals make you stand in line with a super violent mob of soccer moms, at least not when you are dealing with Amazon. The online store giant really wants you to buy Android applications through them instead of Google Play Store and to show how much they want your business they are giving a slew of Android games for free. Usually the lists are full of stuff like Fruit Ninjas and some revision of Angry Birds (they’re still there) but this time they also added Sonic the Hedgehog for free.
Now you have something to be thankful for, free Hedgehog action.
SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog in the 2013 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
SEGA returned to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2013 with their signature Sonic float. Back in 1993 Sonic was the parade’s first video game character to make the transition to parade balloon, even beating his rival Mario who by our knowledge has yet to even appear as a balloon in the parade. Unfortunately 1993 was a windy day and several balloons, including Sonic, popped as they ran into street lamps and buildings. Thankfully, 2013’s parade had no such occurrences despite returning windy conditions.
From all of us at SEGAbits, have a very happy Thanksgiving!
Sonic Dash is out now on Android
For those Android users that waited forever, you can now download Sonic Dash from the Playstore! So what’s the skinny? Well, you will need to have at least Android 2.3.3 and over to play the game! The download size for this game is only 42mb.
It seems that the main complaint in the game are the ads, which are annoying. I guess that’s the small price you pay for having a free game. What are your thoughts?
Round Table: What’s next for Sonic after Lost World?
Whenever I complete the latest Sonic game, the first thing I think about is “what’s next?”. Following Sonic Colors, it seemed like for the first time since the Sonic Adventure titles, speculation was an exciting experience. Would they expand on the Wisp power-ups? Would SEGA continue with some form of boost, or would the slow things down? Sonic Generations answered these questions with a “greatest hits” game featuring modern Sonic gameplay that felt like a mix of the best elements found in both Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors. Following Sonic Generations, Sonic Team promised us something new and unique, and that something was Sonic Lost World. We’ve all played and, and we all have varying opinions on it. Some enjoyed it and some… well, we’re sure to have an editorial soon.
With another Sonic game behind us, the SEGAbits writers and myself are once again asking that question of “what’s next?”. Join us in our super Sonic speculation in the return of the SEGAbits Round Table!
SEGA in the Media: Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman has a SEGA obsession
The ground breaking drama Breaking Bad aired its last episode last week, so we decided to do a round up of all the SEGA references in the show. We did an article about Jesse Pinkman, one of the main characters from the show playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (the poor unfortunate soul) and now we will do a round up of all the stuff we missed!
Sonic to return to television in the CG animated comedy series “Sonic Boom” – due out Fall 2014
SEGA dropped a bombshell on the Sonic community today, announcing Sonic’s return to television with a CG animated comedy series tentatively titled Sonic Boom.
Sonic the Hedgehog, the iconic video game character who has brought his trademark speed and attitude to four TV series and more than 70 video games, is returning to television in his first-ever CG animated series in the fall 2014. The action packed comedy series aimed at children 6-11 will debut first on Cartoon Network in the U.S. and on CANAL J and GULLI in France, with a global rollout to follow. The initial order of 52 eleven-minute episodes is co-produced by SEGA of America Inc. and Genao Productions.
Happy 20th anniversary to Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog!
Today marks the 20th anniversary of one of Sonic’s most inventive, craziest, and funniest cartoons: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog! One of my strongest nostalgic connections to the Sonic franchise was this 1993 cartoon series. It was the only cartoon of my childhood which I remember watching from the very beginning. While I was a huge Ninja Turtles and The Real Ghostbusters fan, both cartoons were at their heights a few years before I began watching.
When The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (hereby known as AoStH) premiered, I remember exactly where I was. It was September 6th 1993 and I was eating breakfast in our kitchen, catching the first episode (in airing order, not production order) “Best Hedgehog”. The image after the break is a pretty accurate representation of what I saw. Yes, despite it being 1993 we still had an old black and white in our kitchen.
Update: Sonic Dancing (dirty?) at Sonic Boom
Warning: the first 25 seconds are so is NSFW.
Here is a video from Sonic Boom. The music at first is quite funny. Then when SEGA realizes what’s being played it’s quickly switched, but it’s an awesome video either way. Apparently the video has been getting taken down with DMCA claims, could be SEGA or the licensed music thats being played, so watch it while you can!
Also, I don’t know the names of the songs being played, but if anyone would tell me in the comments that would be great!
Update: here is a perspective from inside the crowd,
Ever want to play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as Sonic?
Well, now you can! Above is a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time mod that replaces the Nintendo favorite hero, Link, with a much more SEGA approved Sonic the Hedgehog.
But you say, Sonic is suppose to run fast, well he does in this mod. Take a look. “You’re too slow!”