Browsing Tag

Sonic CD

Opinion

Waxing Philosophical On The Nature of Little Planet

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.

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Interview, Merchandise

A Quick Sonic Music News Roundup

If there’s one universal aspect people can agree upon when it comes to the Sonic the Hedgehog series, it’s that the music has always been pretty darn good. This is true even for Sonic 2006, a game which has become the punching bag for the series since…well, 2006. For many, one of the highlights to that soundtrack is Silver’s theme, “Dreams of an Absolution.” The man who sung his heart out on that track all those years ago, Bentley Jones, revisited the track just in time for Sonic’s 28th anniversary. And he made a music video to go with it!

That’s one tall building.
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Game News

SEGA Shows Support for Amazon Fire TV with Sonic Line-Up

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Amazon’s set top box pulled a SEGA Saturn by releasing at the same time as it’s announcement, not only acting as a direct competitor to other multimedia devices such as the Apple TV and the Roku, but also acting as a dedicated game console as well, sporting it’s Android based operating system sporting games like Minecraft – Pocket Edition, Telltale’s The Walking Dead and more. With an Android based system comes SEGA with a number of conversions of their Android based Sonic games. Check out after the break below to see the list of games from SEGA that became available at the launch of the system as well as their price and more on these ports.
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Game News

Every Sonic Game on Steam is 75% Off

Remember that weekend deal on Steam where every Sonic game was 75% off? Well, that deal is back as a daily deal during the Steam Summer Getaway Sale. Games on Steam include Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sonic Generations, Sonic CD and fan-favorite (sigh) Sonic Adventure 2. There’s also a collection with all Sonic games on Steam which is still the cheaper option, though it hasn’t been priced off. Click here for the sale.

Besides this, SEGA also added Steam Trading Cards to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, which you can get by either playing the game, trading them or by buying them on the Steam Community Market. Valve has put up this handy page that tells you how these trading card things work.

Game News

Three Sonic Games to Arrive on Ouya

sonic_android

Loops to be Defied Laws of Physics

As revealed by Games Industry International, Sega has announced three Sonic the Hedgehog titles will be made available for the OUYA Console. The three being Sonic the Hedgehog 4Episode I, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode II, and Sonic CD. No release dates have been revealed, however all three games will be priced at $6.99 with demo versions available for each. Why they cost more compared to the other platforms they’ve been released on has not been made clear, all three games are reported to be optimized for the NVidia Tegra 3™ chipset, the best in mobile chipsets, nothing can beat NVidia Tegra 3™. NVidia Tegra 3™. This may also mean other functions such as two player simultaneous will be possible with Episode II and other minute enhancements.

Release dates have not been announced, however the OUYA will be released on June 25th and is likely to launch with the games available from their store.

[Source: GamesIndustry International]

Uncategorized

Sonic 1 on iOS and Android Landing Now

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[UPDATE: It’s now on the Google Play store.]

Ever wondered when Taxman and Stealth’s Sonic 1 Retro Engine remaster would be made available? Next week? Next month?! Well, in fact it is actually hitting both the iOS and Android as soon as today or tomorrow depending on your region and platform. Most regions should be seeing the iOS port as soon as right now, or at least tomorrow. As for Android, according to Taxman on the Retro Forums he says, “Thursday 16th PST for Android, US & Canada so you’ll have to wait a bit longer sorry.”

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Retro Contests, Site News

Retro Giveaway: Sonic Franchise Bundle on Steam

Seasons greetings, dear Retro readers! Last night, jolly old Santa Claus visited the Retro HQ, ate all our cookies and milk, and didn’t leave us a damn thing. Fortunately, we managed to pull his bag off his sleigh as he tried to escape from our armed pursuit, and in his wonderful bag of gifts, we found a hundred pounds of solid gold ingots. We promptly sold all the gold, and I’m happy to report that all of the Retro staff slept on mattresses made entirely out of cash last night. In the spirit of the Christmas season, we thought we’d pass our frankly tremendous fortunes on to you, so today we’re holding a giveaway for a Sonic Franchise Steam Bundle. This bundle includes every single Sonic game available on Steam (see complete list below), and only one lucky reader is going to walk away with the whole thing. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post before 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on December 31st, 2012, and include an email address we can contact you at in case you win. Make sure to read the rules below as well. Good luck, and may you enjoy these games as much as we are enjoying our endless pits of money.

Complete List of Games Included:

  • Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
  • Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
  • Sonic 3D Blast
  • Sonic Adventure DX
  • Sonic Adventure 2 (with Battle DLC)
  • Sonic CD
  • Sonic Generations (with Casino Night DLC)
  • Sonic Spinball
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  • Sonic 3 & Knuckles
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II

Contest Rules

  1. Sonic Retro staff are barred from entering. Yes, me, that means you.
  2. You must not already own more than three of the games on Steam. We will need permission to view your Steam profile to verify that you meet this requirement. This is so that people who don’t already own these titles have a chance to get them.
  3. Entries must be submitted by 11:59 PM EST on December 31, 2012, and must have supplied a valid email address.
  4. Only one entry per person. Trying to skirt this rule may result in all of your entries being disqualified, not just the additional entries.
  5. The winner will be chosen whenever we feel like it between January 1st and January 7th, 2013.

Clarifications:

  1. You do NOT need to put your email address in the text of the comment, just use the email field provided for you.
  2. You do not need to put your Steam profile in your comment. We will email you and request that information when and if you are picked as the winner.
  3. DLC, such as the Adventure 2 Battle DLC or Generations Casino Night, does not count against the three game limit from rule two. Games will be considered as listed above.
Merchandise, Music

Several Sonic Soundtracks Settle onto iTunes

After much fan demand, Sega has begun releasing several of their Sonic series soundtracks on to Apple’s iTunes service. Most of these albums, though recently released, aren’t too easy to track down and import for those looking to legally own the music, never mind worrying about bootlegs.

The albums now available are the 20th Anniversary editions of Sonic CD, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, as well as “The Best of Crush 40: Super Sonic Songs”, “The Works” (Jun Senoue‘s standalone album featuring several original songs and some Sonic music), and Sonic Colors ViViD SOUND × HYBRiD COLORS, the last one lovingly divided into three volumes for all three discs (Disc 2 and Disc 3 can be found at those links.) Sega further states that the soundtrack to Sonic The Hedgehog 4‘s episodes will also be touching down on iTunes in the future.

It should be noted that the 20th Anniversary album for the two Adventure titles aren’t as all encompassing as their original releases, which may turn some fans off. However, this is the best chance short of importing to show support for the musicians that worked hard to keep series’ reputation for good music alive and well.

Humor, Miscellaneous

The AVGN Has Never Played a Bad Sonic Game

All I can say about Sonic is…it’s awesome! – James Rolfe a.k.a. the Angry Video Game Nerd

Not something you expected to hear from what is possibly the world’s most irate game player. James Rolfe has put out a video of him outside of the role of the Nerd and unscripted describing his memories on playing Sonic the Hedgehog games. Surprise! He states in the video that he has never played a bad Sonic game. If the video is of any indication, he probably stopped playing them after a certain point. The video covers his fond memories of Sonic 1, 2, 3, Spinball (Briefly) and Sonic CD.

Like any enthusiast, one will probably dissect the video and see how his memory stacks up to their own experience with the games. While James recounts his fondest memories from what seems like years that he last played a Sonic game after being introduced to the series by his neighbors, there’s something a bit off from the footage used for the video.

If the red number didn’t throw you off, you’ll notice that the font is taken from…Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It’s not supered over the actual game. It’s running in real time. The Nerd is usually known for using actual hardware to play games. No save states. No modifications. Where did this footage come from? The Nerd is at Game Trailers  and is probably not compiling the video himself. However, running behind him is footage from what is definitely a modified version of Sonic 1 and most likely through an emulator. Not to over analyze the video, as the other games don’t really have anything that any enthusiast here at Retro would find amiss.

Outside of that, the Nerd has some fond memories on Sonic, from the debug mode, the lambasting Tails, up to Sonic CD, using footage from Taxman’s port. (As well as the instrumental version of You Can Do Anything laid for the opening and closing of the video.) Worth a look if you’re into the Angry Video Game Nerd.

[Via Angry Video Game Nerd: Sonic Memories (HD)] 

Game Secrets, Interviews, Sega Retro

Sega Plays Dangerous Games

The American government recently made an attempt to enact rules to regulate protection of intellectual properties and to take down piracy. Thanks to the millions of people who shared their anger for overbearing protection and angry high school kids cheating on their homework, both the SOPA and PIPA bills have been suspended for reconsideration. What great timing for this, and the re-release of Sonic CD for PC platforms via Steam, as it lets us recall an incident as early as 1993 during the US Senate hearings for violent video games.

If you recall the lengthy retrospective on the Sega Mega CD, as well as another one of its landmark titles, Night Trap, the developers put out a short documentary named “Dangerous Games” regarding their perspective during and after the hearings from producers, actors as well as avid ‘gamers.’

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