Sonic the Hedgehog CD. For a time, even saying the name produced an aura of mystique. Released during SEGA’s nearly-undisputed reign in the 90’s, the fact it was only available on the Mega-CD forced the next entry in the Sonic franchise to become a cult classic. There was no Mega Drive counterpart, kids without the hardware add-on instead being gifted Sonic Spinball for the holiday season of ‘93. Sonic CD would become this mythical game for those it was out of reach, screenshots in magazines being the only way to experience it. Even when Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were released the following year, there was still the sense that, somehow, one had missed an important chapter to the Sonic the Hedgehog saga.
True, it would be released on other platforms in the coming years, but somehow it still seemed a curiosity. The PC version from 1996 was harder to come across than it should have been. A port was meant to be in the Sonic compilation Mega Collection, but due to emulation issues was held back until the less-successful follow-up, Sonic Gems Collection. It wasn’t until the 2011 rerelease on the Retro Engine that it became accessible to a wider audience. No collections needed, just an Internet connection and enough hard drive space to experience the definitive version of the game.
Even before it was released on modern hardware, people argued how great the game actually was. Debates on the game’s level design, which version of the soundtrack is better, and where it ranks as one of the best or worst in the Sonic pantheon are topics that have been repeated in nearly every corner of the Sonic Internet community. It’s an argument that began the moment the game was released – GamePro gave Sonic CD its highest honors, while the review on UK television show Gamemasters felt it was “a problem” that Sonic was still going through platform levels. But regardless of how one feels about Sonic CD, it can not be denied that it delivered to the player some of the most iconic aspects of the franchise. The opening animation. Metal Sonic. Amy Rose.
And? It gave us time travel.
Now, I know what you might be thinking. How could time travel be described as an iconic part of the tapestry that is Sonic the Hedgehog? While it’s not something that’s featured in every game, the concept has been part of Sonic’s DNA for a long time. Sonic CD gave it to us first, but it was originally meant to be a driving force behind Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Later games like Sonic 06 and Generations had the sci-fi trope as the core of its narrative. Numerous pieces of licensed Sonic media have featured time travel as a plot device. You can’t use Silver the Hedgehog in anything unless he’s traveled back in time. Heck, one could argue Sonic Adventure plays with the idea, even if they are only visions of the past and not actual displacements in time.
But why time travel and Sonic? Well, maybe all one has to do is watch Back to the Future.
You were also the director of Sonic CD — another game that had time travel as a play mechanic. Have you liked that mechanic for a while?
NO: Well, I wanted a Sonic where the levels changed on you — where Sonic would go really fast, like in Back to the Future, and bang, wind up in a different place.
– Out of the Blue: Naoto Ohshima Speaks
Back to the Future established two very important things. 1) You have to be going eighty eight miles per hour if you want to warp through time, and 2) If you’re going to bother at all, why not do it with some style? If the Delorean somehow became the epitome of cool time travel, why couldn’t the personification of all that was hip and rad in the 90’s do the same thing? He had the speed, he had the style, now all he needed was a game that would let him hit the speed of time.
There’s no better example of what made Sonic the “cool dude with a ‘tude” than the opening animation of Sonic CD. Turning it on for the first time, the player is greeted to an unexpected, yet welcomed, sight. Visuals showing off Sonic in a way previously impossible. Running at incredible speed, crashing through rocks, pulling off acrobatics that could not be conveyed in a 16-bit game of the era. Even the two DiC cartoons, which had begun airing by the time CD finally came out in the west, never quite hit the same way as that 01:30 on the Sega CD. Of course, making an animated show, especially in the 90’s, wasn’t the easiest thing to do. Budget and timing all factors conspiring against why we never saw Sonic jump about the way he does in CD’s animations, but I digress…
It’s during that opening sequence we get our first glimpse of Little Planet. Instead of being a greenery under attack, it has already visually succumbed to Eggman. Covered in metal, chained to the earth below on a mountainside etched with Eggman’s visage. Clearly, this small vacation spot for Sonic has already taken a turn for the worst. Little Planet is no longer an inviting locale for Sonic to explore, instead becoming the latest base of operations for his long-time nemesis. And yet, without a second thought, Sonic rushes ahead, scaling the chain and entering parts unknown.
Yet when the game proper begins, what does the player see? Palmtree Panic, a tropical paradise not all too dissimilar from Green or Emerald Hill. The perfect terrain to become acquainted with Sonic, to try out his new moves, to explore and see what those crazy sign posts are all about. A stark contrast to the planet’s surface we saw only moments before.
What does this mean? Well, the practical answer is that a metallic-infused planetoid is far more visually enticing for the player to want to jump in and save the day. But within the context of Sonic’s world? Whatever Little Planet’s original future was meant to be, the simple act of Sonic stepping foot on the planet changed what could, and would, happen. Now, that doesn’t mean Sonic suddenly saved the day. Doing a burst of future time travel in the opening Zone will let the player witness the Bad Future, of darkened skies and broken robots. But that’s also a future where Sonic went “yeah, I don’t need to fix things, I’ll just run to the end.”
I don’t need to dive deep into the mechanics of a Sonic game. If you’re reading this, chances are you know how Sonic, and by extension Sonic CD, works. The future in that game is never set, the player choosing how to go about making a Good Ending, or simply concerning themselves with going as fast as possible through each level. Going back in time and finding every one of Eggman’s badnik-making machines could free the planet, but gathering the seven Time Stones is also just as much a solution to the problem. The player can decide their own fate through the game, decide the fate of Little Planet and if that metallic landscape seen in its opening seconds is really how the adventure is meant to end.
Looking deeper into those first few moments of the game, a larger question arises. If what Sonic saw from the outside was the “Bad Future,” but he arrives and witnesses the “Present,” and has to go to the “Past” to make a “Good Future” in each individual Zone, what is really happening here? Perhaps the real question one has to ask is, “What is time?”
Now, that is a question that can’t be easily answered, especially on a front page post to a Sonic the Hedgehog fansite. Everyone is aware of the passage of time, they understand it to some degree. There are clocks on every surface, we are aware of our changing circumstances. The way we perceive it is in a linear fashion, that time is an arrow that continues forward at some constant rate, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. How we have split the days into hours, minutes, and seconds is largely arbitrary, but necessary to help us understand the immediate world around us. But to go even further into the true concept of time is a subject that has been debated by scientists, philosophers, and everyone in between for millennia.
Saying time is linear is true from our perspective. As of now, time travel is not possible (or if it is, no one has bothered to come back in time and tell us). Regardless if you subscribe to the theory that time is the fourth dimension, or that it is a separate yet equal dimension to the 3D world we live in, there are constants that can not be shaken. The speed of light remains the same no matter where in space it is. If one goes faster, time becomes relatively slower for the individual, but time still moves in that arrow-ahead form. But the crux of any time travel story is that this law can be broken. Sure, there are theoretical particles that can travel backwards in time, but that does not yet apply to the idea of macro time travel.
If one says “hey, we can travel through time,” then more questions are asked. Is time a flat circle, and you can only go to the past by first going to the end of the universe and back around? Is it actually just slipping into alternate universes, creating fractured timelines of infinite possibilities? Or is time a jumbled up mess, circling in and around itself, that there is no such thing as a paradox because it’s all built in somehow? Not all time travel stories follow the same rules, and so it’s up to the author to try and define them, if they bother to do so at all.
What makes Sonic CD interesting, however, is that it avoids trying to tell a standard time travel yarn. Sonic 06 is far closer to that, which is why there’s been debate on how much sense that narrative makes. But for CD? It isn’t Eggman grabbing the Time Stones and hopping back to an early Green Hill Zone and trying to prevent the events of the original Sonic the Hedgehog from happening. Instead, it is all contained on Little Planet. When Sonic sees this place of miracles hovering over Never Lake, Eggman has already won. And yet, Eggman has not made any sort of move against the rest of the world. Whatever is going on is staying up there, not affecting anything else.
If Sonic can see the “future,” yet arrives in the “present,” but Eggman apparently took over the “past,” what does this mean? Well, we know the Little Planet doesn’t seem to behave like other celestial bodies. We know the Time Stones are there, doing whatever the heck they’re doing. So is it possible that the Little Planet is following its own set of rules? That time there does not flow in the same way it does on the surface of Sonic’s world? That the past, present, and future are somehow happening simultaneously?
Now, before we go any further, a couple things to keep in mind. First, Sonic the Hedgehog, to the player, is presented as a two dimensional character. Presumably, Sonic himself does not see the world on a 2D plane. In the fiction of his world, he is a three dimensional being living in a three dimensional plane. A game like Sonic Adventure gives us a better understanding of how he perceives reality, not all too dissimilar to how we see our own. Living as a 3D being, he looks at time in the same fashion – a straight line, always moving forward. Even if his great speed can slow things down a hair, time merely slows relative to his speed. He can’t freeze the world around him, unless someone presses the pause button.
Second, consciousness in the Sonic universe does not seem to be restricted to traditional living beings. Sonic Adventure expanded upon the Sonic narrative in a number of ways, but one curious thing it did not follow up much on was what the Master Emerald is. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it’s presented as some grand power source, with a mysterious history. A piece of a prophecy. But in this 3D sequel, the Master Emerald reveals itself to Knuckles. He can feel it, he can sense it, but we get to see that it can communicate with him, as well. While still broken, it shows an image of the Egg Carrier to its guardian. A deliberate act, with meaning and purpose. Not that long ago, Christian Whitehead tweeted about Angel Island and the Phantom Ruby, speaking that it wasn’t surprising that Angel Island fell into the ocean preceding the events of that game, as the ruby “is a pretty strange blurpy rock which tends to react to anything with a degree of consciousness.”
If the Master Emerald and Angel Island have a degree of consciousness, even though they are not traditional carbon-based lifeforms, who is to say this can not extend to other mystical objects and locations in the Sonic series? The Chaos Emeralds, the Time Stones, or even Little Planet itself? After all, when one gets the Good Ending in CD, Sonic is greeted to a magically-displayed visage of his own face, seemingly thanking him for a job well done. If it is the planet, the Time Stones, or both, one can’t be too certain. However, there is definitely some greater consciousness at play than just Sonic, Amy, and Eggman running around. If it is the Little Planet thanking Sonic? Could that not be a being that somehow lives in the fourth dimension?
Now, there is some debate among scientific scholars if a living thing could exist outside of our three-dimensional world. Much has been said on the subject of a two-dimensional universe, that it would be incapable of providing the right circumstances for intelligent life to spring forth. This has been challenged in recent months, with a paper by physicist James Scargill diving into the theoretical nature of it all. While it is not proof there are 2D universes out there with intelligent life, it’s enough to suggest that certain core aspects of what we assume must exist for life to emerge can come elsewhere. So is it that crazy of a leap to say the same thing could apply to the dimension of time? If not in a detailed paper from a renowned physicist, then enough for a fictional world in which not only time travel exists, but super fast hedgehogs and two tailed foxes?
Little Planet, a sentient life form to some degree, born in the fourth dimension. Because space and time coexist, it makes sense that Sonic could perceive Little Planet’s existence, just as the miracle planet can perceive Sonic and his world. However, once Sonic is on the surface of this miniature planet, he can not magically understand how it functions. All points in time could coexist at once, but Sonic, a three-dimensional being, can not view all points in time. He would still see things moving forward, the only way his mind could interpret the information around him. Same with Eggman, same with Amy. Metal? Well, if he could see all of time at once, maybe he wouldn’t have run smack dab into a wall and had his face fly off.
Just like how someone can look at a piece of paper and understand a flat drawing, Little Planet can look down upon Sonic and understand him just fine. However, it can not work the other way around. Sonic has to make some sense of where he is, otherwise his mind would be lost, which wouldn’t make for a very fun game. Since Sonic’s mind can not freely jump through all points in time, the planet has to give him a mechanism in which to travel along it. Hence, the Time Warp Plates. Only through speed and sheer force of will can they be activated, allowing Sonic to have a true sense of freedom. A desire that, most certainly, burns inside.
As for why Sonic arrives in the “Present,” and begins each level as such? Perhaps it is due to the very essence of Sonic’s character. Who Sonic is and what he stands for has also been discussed in depth over the Internet, but one can’t help but think back to the text located on the front of the original Mega Drive game:
Don’t just sit there and waste your precious time. When you want to do something, do it right away. Do it when you can. It’s the only way to live a life without regrets.
Sonic is very much someone who lives in the here and now. He doesn’t sit back and ruminate on the past. He doesn’t meticulously plan for the future. He is a force of nature, travelling the planet much like the wind. He isn’t too concerned where he will be the next day, as long as there’s an adventure waiting for him. And that is exactly what awaits him at the beginning of Palmtree Panic. An adventure.
As for Eggman? Well, there is a reason he has “the master plan.” He is a man who is obsessed with the future. He dreams of creating Eggmanland, of conquering the world. He comes to this mysterious place in the hopes of achieving that goal. When fighting off Eggman’s forces, Sonic only comes into contact with Eggman in the future. That is the domain where he feels the safest, assured that he will come out victorious. Before Sonic arrives, the Little Planet falls because, presumably, Eggman was able to find the Time Stones. When Sonic ventures into the future without visiting the past, he sees the accomplished Eggman. Sure, his boss fights can sometimes be easily vanquished, but that doesn’t change the world around them. It is still a dystopian, broken world instead of an idealized landscape where nature and technology can work together. Even when Sonic does make a Good Future before fighting Eggman? That end of level fight is still in the future. Eggman can not freely travel through time, but if he were to leave and return to Little Planet, his obsession with his future success would prevent him from landing in the “past” or the “present.” Only if he had the Time Stones could he so ruthlessly corrupt this mystical paradise.
“The power is in your mind,” sings Keiko Utoku in the opening theme. And on a living planet which exists in time so unlike anything on Sonic’s world, that must be true. The power to choose a point in time, to visually interpret the world in the only way it can. Even Amy has her mind dictate her starting point, running around in the present with hearts in her eyes, looking for her “darling Sonic.” Though her and Sonic are barely acquaintances at this point, she is intensely focused on him, and where he could be. If Sonic’s natural state is to emerge in the Present, then Amy would follow suit unknowingly. Once on Little Planet, however, she would have no means to travel through time herself, meaning the player could skip over her entirely if they finish Zone 1 of Palmtree Panic in the past. It’s in the blue hedgehog’s nature to live in the now, so when he slips back to the Present, she is able to track him down in Collision Chaos. The only reason she enters the future is because she has been kidnapped by Metal Sonic. Once she is rescued, once she sees Sonic in the future? She follows him there too, wrapped up in this “destined encounter” they have all shared.
If Little Planet is alive, and trying to assist Sonic in saving the day, that could explain why Sonic begins each Zone 3 of a level in one possible future. There is some evidence pointing to this, in Sonic Mania. There, the player doesn’t get to choose what time zone they’ll run around in. After Act 1 of Stardust Speedway, Sonic is forced into the present, where Eggman and Metal Sonic are waiting for their rematch. There’s nothing to say that the same thing didn’t happen off screen between each Zone 2 and Zone 3 of the original Little Planet adventure. It knows where Eggman resides in his own mind, and pushes Sonic to face off against him. Does the hedgehog notice? Well, he does say “time doesn’t wait for me. I choose to go my own way.” If Sonic didn’t choose his own way, wasn’t headstrong in facing off against Eggman? Perhaps then the Little Planet couldn’t have nudged Sonic across time.
When it comes to Eggman and his desires, his plan is to try and conquer something he doesn’t understand. Not all too dissimilar to nearly every plan he’s ever conceived. The stories of him trying to control Chaos and Shadow are easy examples, but even when all he wants to do is steal the Master Emerald to power the Death Egg? That is still him trying to use an item that is outside his field of expertise. If Sonic had never arrived, or if the Bad Ending was where the story was meant to go, that doesn’t mean Eggman would know what to do with his prize. His future still results in a broken wasteland of a planet, where his creations have run down, no longer operating the way they should. Why would his base of operations turn into that? Even if places like Scrap Brain are dirty, they are still efficient, operating at full capacity. With Little Planet, running down its resources didn’t mean success. Having the Time Stones did not equal victory. Can the Time Stones even function when they are off planet? Can they function in a world that exists in the third dimension, or would they be of no use? Those are questions we won’t find the answers to today.
There is no reason for one to think the Good Ending isn’t the true conclusion to Sonic CD. When Sonic and Amy jump off and land back on their home planet, there is for a brief moment the mechanical landscape. But in a flash, Little Planet is back to normal. Even in the Bad Ending animation, Little Planet is green and restored. Why’s that? Well, both Sonic and Eggman have left. Their influence, good or bad, is gone from Little Planet’s own timeline. If all points of time occur at once again and again, then without Eggman’s corrupting influence, there is no need for Metallic Madness to be built. The events of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode Metal do not make the Bad Ending canon to that game; the fact Eggman returns to retrieve his Metal Sonic is enough to set Little Planet’s existence back into chaos. The Bad Future is restored in that moment, not that it has been there from the start.
While Little Planet, Never Lake and the mirage of an island they’re all on is used sparingly, it is still essential Sonic. The possibilities of a strange little planetoid that appears only one month out of the year are still intriguing. I can’t say I would want to see it all the time. It’s far easier to involve the Chaos Emeralds into a story, after all. But Sonic Mania proved there is still plenty of narrative possibility in the locale. Heck, where it was left at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II? I know there are many who wish to forget the game existed, but it did provide a kernel of something interesting. An Eggman who, knowing that previous attempts at ruling Little Planet went nowhere, tried to control it in the only way he knows how. If Sonic simply arriving on the surface is enough to spell disaster, what if he could control every aspect? Encasing it in the Death Egg Mk. II, having it all for himself. It wouldn’t matter if he got all the Time Stones or not, the very essence of the planet would be his.
Of course, the Death Egg Mk. II did not serve him well in that game. He did not use the power of the Little Planet to rule uncontested. Sonic was able to shut it down relatively easily. However, even in victory, Sonic wasn’t able to shake the planet and conquer time again. Him and Tails launching away, the shell of the Mk. II remained intact. Depowered, yet there. What does this mean for the surface? What could that do to this fourth dimensional location, weirdly trapped even if Eggman isn’t there to influence it’s journey? While it’s not something I’d want followed up in an Episode III, there is a story waiting to be told there. To further explore the nature of the miracle planet, of what the Time Stones can do. A story of despair and hope. A story of a future that is, as of now, unwritten.
After all, if Sonic knew what his future was going to be, that wouldn’t be very fun, now, would it?
Just A Sonic Theory:tm:Little PlanetSonic CDSonic the Hedgehog CD
July 26, 2020 by David The Lurker
Pretty sure there used to be something here before. I guess it got too shy and hid. That's ok, it happens. Sometimes I think about Sonic the
Good news, soundtrack fans and vinyl collectors! Limited Run Games have announced vinyl releases of both the Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 soundtracks and pre-orders are going live tomorrow! Read on to find out more!
To many of you, Limited Run Games will need no introduction. Not only a distributor of physical media for titles that otherwise may not get such a release, though that is what most know them as, they’re no strangers to producing limited edition merchandise and oddities either. Enter this vinyl release. As you can see from the image above, the package you get is rather attractive featuring the iconic art from each game as well as a rather neat insert booklet featuring character art, lyrics and interviews with Jun Senoue and Takashi Iizuka, as well as a digital download code.
These are open pre-orders, however, they are time-limited, so if you want to ensure you snag one, you gotta go fast, as pre-orders close on August 30th! Links to do so are here and here.
Update: As has been pointed out to me by both Skyler and redhotsonic, these are indeed repressings of the previous two SA1 and 2 vinyls that were available a number of years ago – the only difference here seemingly being that the records themselves are in black vinyl this time around. Thanks for the heads up, guys!
The trailer for the 20th Sonic Amateur Games Expo has gone live, with over 14 minutes chock full of games from fans as well as indie developers alike! This year sees the long anticipated debut of Sonic Chroma, as well as some blasts from the past such as Sonic Frenzy Adventure. On the indie side, Sondro Gomez is back again, this time with Sonic Mania developer Headcannon in tow, alongside some fantastic looking entries debuting for the first time, like Rad Venture and Hover Warz! All these games barely scratch the surface of what’s coming to SAGE 2020, so give it a watch and we’ll see you September 5th – 11th!
On this, our milestone 50th episode of SEGA Talk, we look back on the development, release and legacy of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. We cover the game’s unique creation in America, the debut of Miles “Tails” Prower and the comics and cartoon adaptations that took place following the game’s release.
[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube –RSS – Download]
If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!
When Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released, it was an instant success. Kids all around couldn’t stop talking about the game, nor could they stop talking about the newest character added to the Sonic mythos – Miles “Tails” Prower. His popularity raised just as quickly as Sonic’s did, and it wasn’t long before he was spun off into a handful of his own games. Tails and the Music Maker, Tails’ Skypatrol, and Tails Adventures all put the two-tailed fox in the forefront. SEGA had faith in Sonic’s sidekick, and for good reason.
However, those weren’t the only games that had been pitched as stand alone titles for Tails. Earlier today, Craig Stitt, known to Sonic fans as an artist on both Sonic 2 and Sonic Spinball, shared a handful of still images he created for Treasure Tails, a game that was pitched all the way back in February of 1993.
Conceived by game designer Bill Dunn, the game was meant to be an “isometric platform puzzle/adventure game” for the Sega Mega Drive. To help with the presentation, Bill asked Craig to mock up some screenshots, which you can see above and below. As to how it was meant to play, we unfortunately don’t have more than what is here, as Craig admitted he “had totally forgotten about it myself until recently rewatching a VHS resume I had put together in 1995.” While it’s unlikely that it ever reached a playable state, it is still amazing to see these screens and imagine what could have been.
This hasn’t been the only content Craig has been releasing to the public. Back in 2001, an interview with Craig had him mention that, during the early development of Sonic 2, he had pitched a character named “Boomer the Turtle” to serve as Sonic’s sidekick. However, no art of the character had been seen, until now. Included in the concept sketches are also descriptions of how Boomer could have interacted with Sonic, which would have made for a very different playing experience.
Also uploaded over the last few days was footage footage of an unreleased STI game Craig Stitt had pitched. Entitled Astropede, it starred a centipede who could run at Sonic-like speeds, with the ability to shoot. In fact, Craig hoped that the game could exist in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe. For more on that, be sure to check out the write-ups over at SEGAbits.
In Craig’s original post, he also asked that if anyone remembered anything about Tails Treasure, to contact him and help fill in the gaps. So if anyone who worked at the Sega Technical Institute back in the 90’s has anything to add, don’t hesitate to get in contact with Craig!
Sources:
[RetroFaith]
[SEGAbits]
With just two months before the opening of the Sonic Hacking Contest for 2020, the website is now open for entry submissions for this year’s contest! The website has re-opened despite complications with development that prevented the site from re-opening on an earlier date.
Everyone is free to submit as many hacks as you can, however the staff encourages adhering to the updated Rules and Guidelines before submitting. All accounts created last year can still be accessed by simply logging in with the same credentials. Merged accounts from Sonic Retro and SSRG are still absent for the time being. The website has seen additional renovations over the previous year including revised trophy guidelines as well as a vault to access entries from over the years.
The Sonic Hacking Contest for 2020 is taking place from October 26th to November 1st. You can visit the website at https://sonichacking.org or follow up on news and highlights from the contest’s Twitter account.
This morning a member of the community under the handle @SAAC_RUS tweeted out a link to the above video. Rather surprisingly, the video contains the full and proper version of “Look-a-Like” from the Sonic OVA. The two episode shorts originally released in Japan in early 1996 and featured “Look-a-Like” as part of its backing music. However, the only official release of the song since was a truncated version available on the True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2 CD, but now the full version is available for our listening pleasure thanks to illuminor. The video and its description explains how they came into possession of the song, shared below:
The universe of Sonic the Hedgehog is full of its own secrets and mysteries. And so it happens that some interesting things might be hiding in the most unexpected places. And today we would like to share with you an amazing discovery our good friend and the community member illuminor has made. illuminor specializes in translations – Japanese translations in particular. Having looked the Japanese version of Sonic OVA he noticed that the credits song «Look-a-like» has certain words that have never been used anywhere else and that differ from what fans usually document. «Look-a-like» is the ending theme of Sonic OVA performed by Riyu Konaka. Its full version was never officially released, though most of the song can be heard in the original Japanese release of the movie. And its short edit was later released in the official «True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2» album. In all variations available on the Internet we can hear the line «A short while ago, I was born» which then repeats twice, but in the movie the first time sounds as «A long time ago…», though we cannot hear the rest due to the dialogue of the characters. illuminor decided to get to the bottom of it and reached out to one of the people who was involved in creating of Sonic OVA. We will not disclose the identity of this person not to cause them any troubles. The original plan of illuminor was to ask for the song’s lyrics, but his interlocutor exceeded all expectations and just sent the whole track instead of the plain text. And so, friends, for the first time in history we are happy to introduce you the full and original version of the song «Look-a-like». Have a nice listening! We are thanked to illuminor for the news and for such a great material!
How great is it to finally have it after all this time?
Sonic musicSonic OVA
August 30, 2020 by MykonosFan
MykonosFan has been involved with the Sonic community in some manner since 2007, now running "Find The Computer Room" and occasionally writing for this very website you are looking at.
With the full version of “Look-a-Like” being unearthed and shared to the world on Sunday, many fans wondered if the source that shared it with the community had a full version of the Sonic OVA soundtrack in their possession. illuminor, who had reached out to the anonymous contributor on the OVA, ran that question by their source to find an answer. They received a reply that provided a single .mp3 file containing production demo recordings of the soundtrack. The file isn’t from the master sound source, sporting occasional sound artifacts and issues with stereo, but considering that the OVA is nearly 25 years old now just being able to hear this at all is astounding.
The quote below from the YouTube description shines a little more light on the tracks themselves specifying that the tracks they don’t seem to have any official names, for instance. It is also worth noting that this .mp3 file also doesn’t contain every single piece of music created for the OVA, but it does include the South Island track, don’t worry.
Here’s the time stamps. According to our contact, the tracks didn’t have any official names, they were only numbered. The names provided here are simply made up based on scenes in the OVA where they appear.
0:00 – Track 01 (Sunset in Eggmanland)
0:57 – Track 02 (Ancient Ruins in the Dark Lands)
1:57 – Track 03 (Approaching the Egg Generator)
3:07 – Track 04 (The North Pole Glacier)
4:42 – Track 05 (Sonic to the Rescue)
5:50 – Track 06 (Rushing to Eggmanland)
7:29 – Track 07 (Metal Sonic Appears)
8:56 – Track 08 (Unknown, may be unused or unrelated to Sonic OVA)
13:51 – Track 09 (Seems to be an unused track with some elements from “Look-a-like”)
18:15 – Track 10 (South Island) 20:19 – Track 11 (Sky Lands and the White House)
22:03 – Track 12 (Hyper Metal Sonic, Awaken)
23:33 – Track 13 (Unknown, may be unused or unrelated to Sonic OVA)
28:50 – Track 14 (Unknown, may be unused or unrelated to Sonic OVA)
30:33 – Track 15 (Demo with some vocals, may be unused or unrelated to Sonic OVA)
31:32 – Track 16 (Unknown, may be unused or unrelated to Sonic OVA)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2. For some, it represents everything that a Sonic game should be. The pinnacle of the series, an entry point for millions of kids who would become life long fans. Due to its development, an extra layer of mystique has also surrounded the game, which is why when anything new comes out regarding its creation, people get excited. Just one more piece of the puzzle that showcases how such a beloved game came into being.
You might remember that last month, we posted about Craig Stitt. Not only was he an artist on Sonic 2, he went on to have a pretty impressive career outside of SEGA, working on such classics as Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet and Clank. Over at the Facebook group SEGA Retro Gamers, he’s been sharing stories of his time working in the gaming industry, and posting content that has never seen the light of day. That Treasure Tails pitch? Yeah, he’s the one who shared that.
Well, earlier today, Craig posted another slew of art connected to the development of Sonic 2, drawn by none other than the creator of Miles “Tails” Prower, Yasushi Yamaguchi.
These are photocopies I made of Yamaguchi’s oringal drawings; to help me stay in sync with the game’s style while designing the art for the levels I was working on. (Hidden Palace and Oil Ocean)
Hit that jump to check out the gallery.
While some of these images have been seen before, there’s plenty here that’s brand new. We get to see just how Mecha Sonic looks from behind. There’s a crisp image of the Death Egg Robot. And there’s plenty of Sonic’s, Tails’, and Eggman’s to go around. A lot could be said about them, but what’s the saying? “An image’s worth a thousand words?” Heck, no one wants to read 27,000 words. So just go on, check em out, and feel free to comment on the ones that stick out to you.
[Source: SEGA Retro Gamers]
Back in 2014, Blake J. Harris released the novel Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation. As one can guess from the title, it told the story of the quest for market domination between the two parties in the early 90’s, which resulted in some of the best video games ever released. At the same time the book was published, there were already reports that it would be adapted into a live action film, with later reports also confirming a proper documentary being produced.
Originally meant to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March, those plans were delayed for…obvious reasons. But through the wonder of modern technology, the documentary is set to go live on September 23rd, 2020, exclusively on the CBS All Access streaming platform. The trailer features Tom Kalinski and Al Nielsen, two men who were instrumental in the success of Sonic the Hedgehog – and SEGA as a whole – in the United States.
This comes on the heels of Netflix’s High Score docuseries, released back in August. While there was some focus on Sonic and SEGA in that series, Console Wars is certainly meant to focus on the two titans of the 16-bit era, so it should hopefully provide insight that just couldn’t be touched upon in the Netflix series.
Earlier in the year, it was also confirmed that the film project – now a limited series – was also picked up by CBS All Access, with writer Mike Rosolio and Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts attached. No further details regarding casting, filming, or even a set release date for that project have been revealed.
CBS All Access is currently available in the United States, Canada, and Australia. No details on Console Wars‘ international distribution have been confirmed.
[Source: Entertainment Tonight]
On this episode of SEGA Talk, we fire up the Game Boy Advance and discuss Sonic’s first 2D platforming adventure on a Nintendo handheld! What is Dimps? How does a speedy hammer wielding Amy Rose control? How does the game hold up almost 20 years later? Listen and learn!
[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube –RSS – Download]
If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!
SEGA’s recent sale-a-bration has provided a trove of Sonic games for low prices. After expanding your game library, now you can expand them with brand new content. This year’s Sonic Hacking Contest has revealed a list of entries and a trailer by redhotsonic.
Check out some of the highlights for this year’s entries. A texture makeover for Sonic R turns Sonic Mania zones into 3D raceways. Add more options to Sonic Heroes‘ multiplayer mode with the Extended Multiplayer Edition. Sonic 2 Pink Edition replaces the usual duo with Amy and Cream. A mouse interface to move objects around in Sonic 1 is now possible with Sonic 1 Point and Click Edition.
The trailer also shows several streamer personalities showcasing this year’s entries including AntDude, Argick, MegaGWolf, redhotsonic, Sam Procrastinates, Somecallmejohnny, Tails’ Channel, Just Jesss, Garrulous64 and DaveAce.
The contest week lasts between Monday 26th of October to Sunday the 1st of November. You’ll be able to find all entries to download and vote for when the event goes live at www.sonichacking.org. You’ll also be able to find the streaming schedule and updates for the contest as they happen. For the list of entries, be sure to expand this article by hitting the jump link below.
Contest Entries:
1. AMY MANIA 2020 by Troopsushi & CodenameGamma
2. Bob-omb Battlefield in SADX by Rarefoil
3. Bunnie Rabbot in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 by E-122-Psi
4. Cream and Cheese in Sonic the Hedgehog by E-122-Psi
5. Dash Adventure 2 by AeroIncarnated
6. Dead Line – Sonic Lost World by AnotherBlob
7. DOOM in Sonic Mania by TheStoneBanana
8. Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine: DX Edition (Ver. 3.0) by RadioTails
9. Gex The Gecko in Sonic 1 by JoenickROS
10. Knuckles’ Emerald Hunt Mania by BlueStreakMods
11. Labyrinth Zone EX by TheInvisibleSun
12. Mighty & Ray in Sonic 2 by campbellsonic
13. Motobug in Sonic Mania by PaisanoJay
14. Nozomi Mania by YumeGipsu
15. Pantufa the cat : Extended Edition by VAdaPEGA
16. Return of Shadow by JoenickROS
17. Sonic ’06 – Greenflower Zone by Knuxfan24
18. Sonic 06 Legacy of Solaris by JotaroPowered
19. Sonic 1 – Point & Click Edition by Nat The Porcupine
20. Sonic 1 Delta by MrLordSith
21. Sonic 2 Chaos Adventure Demo by Jdpense
22. Sonic 2 Tailsplosion by GTKoopa
23. Sonic 2: Return to Westside Island by D.A. Garden
24. Sonic Black & White by TheInvisibleSun
25. SONIC DELTA 40Mb (Sonic Delta Next) by Neto
26. Sonic Forces Re-imagined Demo by brandonj
27. Sonic Forces Tag Team Revamped by SuperSonicThomas
28. Sonic Halloween by CamManS5
29. Sonic Heroes: Extended Multiplayer Edition by DonutStopGaming
30. Sonic Mania: Boss Rush+ by Apollyon
31. Sonic Megamix Mania – 2020 DEMO by MegamixManiaTeam
32. Sonic Remixed Adventure by Dreamcast Team
33. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – Anniversary Edition by SophieDude
34. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Mania by AChickMcNuggie
35. Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Pink Edition by E-122-Psi
36. Sonic the Hedgehog Frenzy by Yoshister
37. Sonic the Hedgehog: ReOne by DeltaWooloo
38. Sonic Visual Maze (Revised) by Joshwoakes
39. SONICU THE CUBEHOG by C.A.L.D.M_2001
40. Unnamed Mania Mod by Cyber1204
41. Unoriginal Flappy Bird Clone by LJSTAR
Expo Entries:
1. AMPS IN SONIC 3 & KNUCKLES by AURORA☆FIELDS
2. Chat VS Sonic Mania V2 by CodenameGamma
3. Classic Sonic Improvement Mod – THE CHAOS UPDATE!!! by Showin
4. Cursed Hedgehogs pack by PkN0PE
5. Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine: Redhotsonic Edition by RadioTails
6. Green Forest (Team Battle) by Shadow Side
7. Mighty Redone by CrappyBlue
8. SA2 Vs Chat by MainMemory
9. SHC2020 The Real Sonic 2 by lavagaming1
10. Sonic & Knuckles Master Edition Demo by Xebninmaj
11. Sonic 1 published by EA by VAdaPEGA
12. Sonic 1 Tag Team Adventure by Jdpense
13. Sonic 1: Character Pak by LuigiXHero
14. Sonic 2 but with Chaotix Physics by Jdpense
15. Sonic Acceleration by Staffer
16. Sonic Adventure DX: Hebrew Translation Project by TeamKipod
17. Sonic Forces – Tropical Jungle by Knuxfan24
18. Sonic Generations: LATAM Spanish Conversion by senorDane
19. Sonic Mania J2ME by Iso Kilo
20. Sonic R Improvement Mod by Showin
21. Sonic R Mania (Sonic R Texture / Sound Mod) by Rlan
22. Sonic the Hackable – 23-07-2017 built by CHRdutch
23. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Encore Mode by SonicFan300
24. Sonic the Hedgehog 2+ by Alex Field
25. Sonic The Hedgehog: RANDOMIZER by cyberkevin
26. Sonic: Painful World Spikes Kazio by Vadim_Super
27. sonics epic quest by Sonic_the_dutch_hedgehog
28. UMGZ by TheInvisibleSun
29. Zack Fair Sonic by PkN0PE
AntDudeArgickDaveAceentriesGarrulous64Just JesssMegaGWolfredhotsonicrom hacksSonic ForcesSonic Generationssonic hacking contest 2020Sonic HeroesSonic ManiaSonic RTrailer
October 21, 2020 by Bartman3010
There are a handful of games that one could point to and say they forever changed the course of the video game industry. Among them? Sonic the Hedgehog. First released on the Sega Genesis on June 23rd, 1991, it challenged Nintendo’s dominance. It introduced a new kind of platformer to the masses. It sparked the imagination of an entire generation. Nearly 30 years later, the world of Sonic continues to grow and thrive, but it all started in a little black cart with six unique zones hiding inside, waiting for someone to plug it in and explore South Island.
As the kids who played the game grew up, it was only a matter of time before many became curious as to how this game came to be. Through research, interviews, and a lot of persistent digging, much of the game’s development has come to light. The process as to how Sonic and Eggman were designed. The months spent perfecting Green Hill Zone. The debates between the American and Japanese branches of SEGA, arguing how the game would be formed, advertised, and all the million little details inbetween that could make or break the company’s hopes in the 16-bit era. It’s a fascinating story, but there was always one piece that was missing. An early piece of media that would let someone take a peek into the development process, to experience a version of Sonic just a bit different than the one that hit store shelves.
That puzzle piece has finally been discovered. And it is glorious.
For those who have pored over prerelease screenshots of the game over the years, or watched fuzzy clips in the background of Wayne’s World, it’s a welcome site to finally see these lost bits come to life in all their glory. The rolling checkered balls of Green Hill Zone. The UFO’s of Marble Zone. The trippy background of Sparkling Zone. Yes, even “Clock Ork Zone” is here, albeit in an incomplete state. And of course it’s incomplete! The game wasn’t finished yet. Some of the level design will feel familiar, but other segments will definitely throw a curveball or two, making you ask “oh heck what is going on here?” You can tell Sonic Team was still trying to find that perfect balance of fun and difficulty as the June deadline was heading towards them. For the first time, we can join them in that moment, experiencing the highs and lows of a game they hoped would succeed, but had no idea how it would be received.
For years, finding a prototype of the game was the holy grail for many a Sonic fan. We here at Sonic Retro certainly have dreamed of this day ever since Simon Wai stumbled across a prototype version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The fact that an early version of a game could be played by anyone was a revelation. The research and engineering that it inspired shaped an entire community. Those early days were certainly instrumental to the passion the folks over at Hidden Palace have had since starting their crusade back in 2005 to track down and preserve this video game history. They have been responsible for saving quite a bit of early prototypes over the years, including the Sonic 3 prototype from Sonic Month back in 2019. If anyone was going to present a playable build of the original Sonic, it was going to be them. Which is why we thank them for their service, for their time, for everything. It’s certainly kicked off the new year in the right way.
It’s been almost 22 years to the day since the Sonic 2 “Simon Wai” prototype was uploaded onto the forgotten world of Usenet. Just one day short, to be exact. But it’s certainly a fitting way to finally experience this once lost moment in video game history. Head on over to Hidden Palace to read their write up, and download the ROM to experience it for yourself. Then, chat about it on our forums, or Discord. And be sure to pick up the latest issue of Retro Gamer when it hits shelves, where the full story of how this prototype came to be will be revealed.
Source: Hidden Palace – Dreams Come True: Sonic 1 (MD Protoype)
Screenshots taken from the Hidden Palace Wiki
