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Back Issues [Sonic2sDay]: Sonic the Hedgehog’s Buddy: Tails

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In anticipation of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992), SEGA dubbed November 24, 1992 “Sonic 2sday”. Accordingly, this is a great excuse to celebrate Sonic’s faithful sidekick, Miles “Tails” Prower, who debuted in that title.

Writer: Michael Gallagher – Artists: Mike Gallagher and Dave Manak

Story Title: “Southern Crossover” (Part One to Three)
Published: October 1995 (cover-dated: December 1995) to December 1995 (cover-dated: February 1996)

The Background:
Thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign and being bundled with the all-powerful 16-bit Mega Drive, Sonic the Hedgehog was the blockbuster success SEGA needed to usurp Nintendo from the top of the videogame industry. Despite a tumultuous development, Sonic 2 surpassed this success, selling 400,000 copies in its first week, 6 million units during the Mega Drive’s lifespan, and increasing SEGA’s slice of the home console market by 40%. Widely praised and highly regarded, Sonic 2 also debuted Tails, Sonic’s kid sidekick, who was created by Yasushi Yamaguchi. Resembling the mythical kitsune and devoted to his super-fast hero, Tails became a well regarded staple of the Sonic franchise, becoming one of the few of Sonic’s supporting cast to get his own divisive solo outings. He was also the second to receive a solo mini series published by Archie Comics, who produced the popular Sonic the Hedgehog comics in the United States, which were heavily based upon Sonic’s cartoon adventures. Though spinning off from Archie’s loose adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble (Aspect, 1994), Tails’ three-issue miniseries set the groundwork for his greater role in Archie’s comics, which reimagined him as a character of great destiny.

The Review:
Tails’s one and only Archie-published miniseries begins with the young, two-tailed fox drawing by the docks. It seems Tails likes to write and draw his own comic books that paint him as a mild-mannered (and “handsome”) youngster who secretly operates as “Captain Super Fox-Man”, a superpowered “Avenger of Evil” who’s just as capable (if not more so) as his older Freedom Fighter cohorts. While filing his art, Tails thumbs past a list of supplies he acquired during a previous battle against the tyrannical Doctor Ivo Robotnik and his agent, Fiona, a “false fox” who betrayed him. His’ paperwork proves that Dr. Robotnik is building a satellite operation somewhere on Mobius and the fox cub is determined to find it by himself and prove how capable he is. Thus, Tails quickly hides the document from Princess Sally Acorn, leader of the Freedom Fighters and essentially his substitute mother. The two admire the Sea Fox, a nifty little one-man submarine built for Tails by Rotor the Walrus after Archie’s Triple Trouble adaptation. Although Sally forbids Tails from piloting the Sea Fox, he’s seemingly happy tinkering with it and playing make-believe but secretly fumes at being treated like an infant. Consequently, when Sally leaves for an important meeting, Tails takes the Sea Fox out to sea, having secretly filled the tank and embarked on solo ventures before, adamant to show that he’s not a helpless child. Elsewhere, the maniacal Dr. Robotnik oversees the final preparations on his gigantic blimp, trashing one of his SWATbots with his bare hands when the machine asks to check the ship’s inventory against the supply list stolen by Tails. Dr. Robotnik plans to fly supplies to his regional robo-underboss in the Southern Hemisphere (specifically, the nation of Downunda), as part of his grand plan for global domination, cloaking the dirigible to make it undetectable unless one is directly beneath it.

Determined to prove himself as a hero, Tails is overwhelmed  by the vengeful Octobot while at sea.

This odd flaw means Tails easily spots the blimp while searching the high seas for signs of the rotund dictator. While investigating a dark patch on the water’s surface, Tails is stunned to find his quarry is in the sky and flies up to investigate. After glimpsing the blimp’s destination, Tails is attacked by SWATbots, just barely recovering in time to trap them in a water vortex with his propeller-like twin tails. However, when Tails returns to the Sea Fox, he’s ambushed by Octobot, a mechanical octopus in charge of Dr. Robotnik’s underwater robotization factory and out for revenge after Tails humiliated him in the Triple Trouble special. After scuttling the Sea Fox, Octobot drags Tails into the dark depths, causing Tails to black out. Outraged that his blimp was so easily spotted, Dr. Robotnik chastises his forces and calls his robo-underboss, a mechanical crocodile named Crocbot, for an update. Thrilled that he’ll soon receive enough supplies to pollute the landscape, Crocbot orders his robotic winged dingoes to patrol in anticipation of the blimp, then loudly boasts of his plans to reprogram Dr. Robotnik’s SWATbots to aid him in overthrowing his master and conquering the world for himself! Luckily for Tails, he wakes up on the back of a massive blue whale named Fluke. His confusion is short-lived as a friendly manta ray named…well, Ray…fills him in on what happened. As Tails was being dragged underwater and nearly drowned, Octobot was suddenly attacked by the “Forty Fathoms Freedom Fighters” (Ray, P.B. the Jellyfish, Bottlenose the Dolphin, and Bivalve Clam). Despite Octobot fighting back by spraying ink, he was shocked by P.B., tackled by Bottlenose, and ultimately flattened by Fluke (though the Sea Fox was totalled). Grateful, Tails immediately enlists the Forty Fathoms Freedom Fighters in expediting his trip to Downunda, with Fluke and Ray only too happy to help and allow Tails to embellish the details in his comic books.

Rescued in Downunda, the injured Tails learns he’s been chosen for a higher, as-yet-unknown purpose.

Upon arriving, Tails is immediately detected by Crocbot’s security systems, who dispatches his robotic Wing Dingoes to intercept him. Although Tails puts up a good fight and even takes a few of the robots out, he takes a bite to a tail and crashes to the ground, too injured to fly and barely staying conscious. Tails is thus rescued again, this time by the Downunda Freedom Fighters led by Walt Wallabee and Barby Koala, Wombat Stu, the peace-loving hippy Guru Emu, and Duck “Bill” Platypus. While they’re busy tending to the unconscious Tails, the group is ambushed by the Alpha Wing Dingo, who swoops in and kidnaps Wombat Stu! Walt quickly orders the others to pursue their teammate while he hops away with Tails in his pouch to get the young fox help. After halting communications with Dr. Robotnik to keep his master from seeing the state of his damaged Wing Dingoes, Crocbot initially lashes out in frustration and then gleefully clamps Wombat Stu to a torture rack. Crocbot then assures Dr. Robotnik that all is ready and ends the call, watching with relish as Wombat Stu’s allies approach his base (amusingly modelled after the Sydney Opera House) just as the blimp arrives. Walt rejoins his teammates and gives an update from Tails that catches them up with the plot and they race towards Crocbot’s base to keep him from being bolstered by Dr. Robotnik’s weapons. Tails wakes up at the Downunda Freedom Fighters’ base at the bottom of a giant crater, his tail bandaged and his arm in a sling, and discovers statues of the Ancient Walkers, mystical beings from Mobius’s past who Tails learned of in the Triple Trouble special. He’s then approached by Athair, the wizened and cantankerous great-grandfather of Knuckles the Echidna, who gives the injured fox cub a lecture on ancient history.

Tails and his new friends successfully thwart Crocbot’s ambitions and vow to defy Dr. Robotnik.

Generations ago, Athair’s echidna ancestors were so busy building elaborate, highly advanced cities across Mobius that they failed to spot a comet heading for their capital city, Echidnapolis, until it was too late. Though the echidnas levitated Echidnapolis and a chunk of their land to safety, creating what was then known as the Floating Island, the comet devastated Mobius. Though Tails tries to leave, frustrated with Athair’s riddles and eager to help his newfound friends, the Ancient Walkers come to life and insist he learn more. Thus, Tails learns of how life evolved on Mobius, how dinosaurs once ruled, and how the planet was struck by the Chaos Emeralds in prehistoric times. Many worshipped or tried to harness their powers over the millennia, often being corrupted by their desires. However, it’s said that a “Chosen One” would one day unite the many Chaos Emeralds to bring about the “great harmony”, a destiny Athair believes the Ancient Walkers have bestowed upon Tails! After coming out of a trance to find his wounds healed, Athair gone, and Barby crashing in after Crocbot’s gigantic C.D. Rom Ram attacks the Downunda Freedom Fighters, Tails reluctantly shrugs off his strange experience and goes to help. Although the massive robotic ram beats on the Downunda Freedom Fighters, it’s easily destroyed by one of Walt’s “bomberangs”, frustrating Crocbot and distracting him from helping the blimp to dock. When Tails and Barby attack him, Crocbot mangles the controls and the blimp dramatically goes down in flames along with his plans to usurp Dr. Robotnik. With Barby distracted rescuing Wombat Stu, Crocbot hits Tails with his mechanical tail and leaps into his “nuclear powered Mega-Techa Tank” to escape. Determined to end Crocbot’s threat, the normally pacifistic Guru Emu borrows a bomberang and, assisted by Tails, sends Crocbot careening down a canyon to an explosive end. After tearfully turning down an offer to join the Downunda Freedom Fighters, Tails is overjoyed when the Forty Fathoms Freedom Fighters return with his repaired Sea Fox. Though he’s sad to say goodbye to his new friends, Tails heads home emboldened by the knowledge that Freedom Fighters exist all over Mobius.

The Summary:
I’ve read every single Sonic and Sonic-adjacent comic published by Archie Comics and I’m starting to think that Michael Gallagher may be my least favourite artist, especially from these early days. His work, while capturing the same cartoonish vibe as the cartoons that influenced these comics, can’t compare to the likes of Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante, who had a hand in the miniseries’ covers, which promise a tale of excitement and adventure that sadly isn’t reflected in the pages. We’re still in that weird time when Archie’s comics were more slapstick and cartoonish, meaning we get painful puns, borderline plagiarism presented as homage (particularly in Tails’ comic book fantasises), and childish villains who spend more time shouting than being a threat. It’s a gripe of mine that Archie’s Sonic comics took so long to establish their identity and move away from simplistic stuff, like the Ancient Walkers being cartoonish statues in a bland cave, and nonsense original characters who, while visually interesting, can’t compete with SEGA’s iconic creations. Indeed, the two sets of Freedom Fighters Tails encounters in Downunda leave a lot to be desired and don’t live up to their potential. I feel the writers should’ve focused on the Downunda Freedom Fighters and fleshed them out more if they were going to have such a large role. Perhaps they could’ve been forced from Downunda by Crocbot and operated out of a seaside cave, biding their time to counterattack when they spotted Tails in danger and rescued him alongside Fluke. Then we could’ve seen these new guys in action sooner and learned more about them, something greatly needed since they totally steal Tails’ spotlight!

Sadly, Tails’ solo venture is usurped by forgettable (if visually interesting) original characters.

Not yet the young genius and tech-savvy inventor we know today, Tails is frustrated at being thought of as a helpless kid and regularly defies Princess Sally by taking the Sea Fox out on adventures. Sadly, we don’t get to see the Sea Fox in action as it’s scuttled by Octobot and Tails’ hopes of downing Dr. Robotnik’s blimp solo are quickly dashed when he’s constantly overwhelmed and is either close to drowning or unable to fly because he’s outnumbered, outpowered, and outmatched. Therefore, Tails must be rescued by two sets of largely forgettable Freedom Fighters, I like the visual variety of both groups and it’s always fun when the comics anthropomorphise unique creatures like jellyfish or wallabies, but I don’t know who any of these guys are. What’s their backstory? How did they get into the Freedom Fighter game? What are their personalities beyond wanting to protect the world and hating the dictator and his robotic minions? Honestly, this would’ve been a great opportunity to team Tails up with Ray the Flying Squirrel and even Mighty the Armadillo but, as I mentioned, the story would’ve greatly benefitted from trimming down these original characters. I would’ve had Walt, Barby, Stu, and Fluke, with Atahir as their wise mentor. Make Walt the pacifist who’s forced into violence, Barby the tactician, Stu the hot-head, and Fluke the laidback muscle who carries them across the ocean. Then, use these extra panels to contrast them with the Knothole Freedom Fighters, showing how they accept Tails and don’t mollycoddle him. Indeed, perhaps they’d be compelled to help Tails based on Athair’s foreknowledge of his apparent destiny as the “Chosen One”, perhaps even leading them to revere him as a messiah figure, thus making his decision to return home more of a struggle since Tails would’ve found acceptance and the chance at a greater destiny amongst them.

Strangely, the story’s more concerned with toppling Crocbot than exploring Tails’ destiny…

Instead, Tails is hurt, the Downunda Freedom Fighters take over, and we’re left with a dull history less about things that barely seem connected to Tails. Rather than waste time recapping the echidna downfall, why not focus on the Chaos Emeralds, their influence on others, and the “Chosen One” prophecy? Tails barely seems interested in Athair’s story and doesn’t dwell upon the Ancient Walkers’ words after leaving with Barby, making me question what the point of dedicating all that time to it was beyond sowing the seeds for future plot threads. I quite liked Crocbot, however; he’s got a fun, unique design and I liked how he spoke with an Australian accent and sought to usurp Dr. Robotnik. However, he barely does anything and leaves all the heavy lifting to his Wing Dingoes and flees at the first sign of trouble. Crocbot later returned to plague our heroes again, but he doesn’t get a good showing here as he wastes time monologuing to Wombat Stu rather than torturing him and breaks down in tears when he accidentally destroys Dr. Robotnik’s blimp, making for a particularly weak villain. Honestly, I think Sonic the Hedgehog’s Buddy: Tails missed a trick by not turning to his Game Gear games for inspiration. Tails Adventure (Aspect, 1995) released around the same time this miniseries so it might’ve been unrealistic to expect an adaptation, and Tails’ Skypatrol (Japan System House/SIMS, 1995) may have released earlier in 1995 but it was exclusive to Japan at the time. Still, Archie could’ve gotten design documents and some information on both from SEGA, certainly enough to cobble together an adventure that pitted Tails against Witchcart and/or the Battle Kukku Empire to at least use more game-accurate villains in his solo adventure. Still, this was decent enough and showed that Tails was definitely ambitious for his age, but I think it says a lot that young Miles never got another solo series from Archie Comics…

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

What did you think of Tails’s first and only solo miniseries from Archie Comics? Were you disappointed that so much of the story was dominated by original characters? Which of the two sets of new Freedom Fighters was your favourite? Would you have liked to see elements from Tails’s Game Gear titles incorporated instead? What did you think of Crocbot and the idea of Tails having a greater destiny? What are some of your favourite Tails moments from the Archie Comics? How are you celebrating Tails and “Sonic 2sday” this year? Whatever your opinion on Tails, or Sonic 2 in general, drop a comment below and go check out my other Sonic content.

Back Issues [Sonic CDay]: The Brotherhood of Metallix

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Developed alongside the blockbuster Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992), Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Sonic Team, 1993) released on this day back in 1993. Expanding upon the Blue Blur’s debut title, Sonic CD introduced Metal Sonic (one of Sonic’s most popular and enduring rivals) and Amy Rose, and is considered by many to be one of the best of the classic Sonic titles.

Story Title: “The Brotherhood of Metallix (Part 1 to 4)”
Published: 1 September 1995 to 13 October 1995
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Richard Elson

The Background:
After Sonic the Hedgehog became a mainstream success and SEGA usurped Nintendo’s position at the top of the videogame industry, SEGA quickly capitalised on Sonic’s popularity not just with videogames but a slew of ancillary merchandise, including cartoons and comic books. About six months after Archie Comics started publishing a weird amalgamation of the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993 to 1996) and Sonic the Hedgehog/SatAM (1993 to 1994) cartoons, United Kingdom publisher Fleetway Editions Limited started “Britain’s Official SEGA Comic”, Sonic the Comic (StC), a fortnightly publication that was a favourite of mine until its unfortunate end. Though StC pulled much of its lore from the now defunct Mobius and Doctor Ovi Kintobor storyline that was prevalent outside of Japan, StC quickly veered from the source material, portraying Sonic the a mean-spirited leader of a gang of Freedom Fighters comprised of videogame characters and anthropomorphic original characters. Like Archie’s comics, StC included some very loose adaptations of the videogames that truncated or adapted the source material to fit with its noticeably different lore. When StC adapted Sonic CD, they reimagined Metal Sonic as “Metallix” and told a self-contained time travel story. However, some years later, a second Metallix appeared and teased a “brotherhood” of Badniks, which was paid off in these issues and solidified Sonic’s robotic doppelgänger as one StC’s more dangerous and persistent secondary antagonists.

The Review:
“The Brotherhood of Metallix” takes place in the middle of Doctor Ivo Robotnik’s merciless rule over the planet Mobius. Having conquered the entire world thanks to a time dilation, Dr. Robotnik has become all powerful save for the efforts of Sonic and his friends, who’ve been driven from their homes and roam the Zones disguised as Bob Beaky’s Travelling Circus. The story begins with Porker Lewis, the technical support of the team, activating a security field around their caravan while the Freedom Fighters investigate reports of a new Badnik in Metropolis City, which is essentially Dr. Robotnik’s headquarters. Expecting some all-powerful death machine, the cocksure Sonic is incredulous by the clown-like Mister Blobnik (a thinly veiled parody of British television icon Mister Blobby). A ludicrous Badnik who staggers about blowing bubbles and fumbling with its weaponry, Mr. Blobnik nevertheless proves more durable than regular Badniks and Troopers, withstanding a Sonic Spin Attack and trapping Sonic in a an inescapable bubble upon defeat. Having successfully fooled the Freedom Fighters with a variation of the “Drunken Fist” technique, Mr. Blobnik’s head detaches from its remains and carries Sonic to Citadel Robotnik. However, rather than being tortured, transformed into a Badnik, or executed, Sonic is stunned when a panicked Dr. Robotnik reveals he needs to join forces with Sonic to oppose the “Brotherhood of Metallix”. While Sonic battled Mr. Blobnik, Dr. Robotnik was shocked when a Metallix teleported into his citadel via a corrupt version of the Omni-Viewer (a sentient television screen that resides in the Special Zone) and kidnapped his long-suffering assistant, Grimer. After learning that the Metallix, who were set to automatically replicate and improve themselves in Dr. Robotnik’s abandoned Egg Fortress base in the Special Zone, have gained sentience and are now ruled over by a gigantic Emperor, Grimer’s forced to aid their scheme for true autonomy.

When the Metallix mysteriously return, Sonic’s forced to join forces with Dr. Robotnik to investigate.

Although Sonic’s sceptical of Dr. Robotnik’s claims, he remembers his last encounter with an upgraded Metallix mentioned a “brotherhood” and reluctantly agrees to use his super speed to enter the Special Zone via a Star Post and investigate. Sonic arrives to find the Egg Fortress heavily damaged and seemingly abandoned, until he explores further and witnesses Grimer handing the Emperor Metallix a mechanical staff, the “Alpha Device”. With this in hand, the Emperor Metallix and its troops prepare to teleport to the Miracle Planet via their Omni-Viewer, only for Sonic to attack, reasoning that the Badniks are obviously up to no good. The Emperor Metallix silently commands two minions to attack. While they land a few good blows on the Blue Blur, Sonic dispatches them far easier than their predecessors by tricking one into blowing its fellow up with its chest cannon and simply smashing the other into junk with a swing of the Alpha Device. Sonic’s victory is short-lived, however, when the Emperor Metallix takes Grimer hostage and threatens to crush the life out of him unless Sonic hands over the Alpha Device. With no choice but to acquiesce as he can’t allow even his enemy to be killed, Sonic can only watch as the Emperor Metallix departs. Luckily, since the Miracle Planet has arrived in orbit once again, Sonic and his friends follow the Brotherhood of Metallix using the massive magic chain that binds the planetoid to Mobius. Despite their temporary truce, Sonic refuses to allow Grimer or Dr. Robotnik’s forces or weaponry to go with the Freedom Fighters, meaning we’re denied a true team up between the long-term allies. Instead, the Freedom Fighters witness the Emperor Metallix preparing to usher in a “new age” for its brotherhood via the Alpha Device, which has been created to reshape the mysterious Miracle Planet into Metallix’s form and provide them with the near-limitless power to conquer the world.

Thanks to Porker’s bravery and ingenuity, the Metallix are seemingly foiled on the Miracle Planet.

Detected by the Metallix, Sonic leads his friends into an immense network of caves (where, it’s revealed, he hid from Amy Rose for two days when they were trapped there some years ago). A Metallix stalks them through the tunnels and easily shrugs off Johnny Lightfoot’s attack. A Super Sonic Spin stuns the robot, however, allowing Amy Rose to take it out with a well-aimed crossbow to its neck (its one weak spot, as identified by Dr. Robotnik). The distraction is enough for the Emperor Metallix to enact its plan, however, and the Alpha Device begins transforming the Miracle Planet into a world of metal. The Emperor Metallix gloats when one of its troops arrives with Sonic, Johnny, and Amy, but is too late to notice that the unit has been tampered with by Porker Lewis. Porker presses a button on his remote and causes the Metallix to self-destruct, taking out all the emperor’s troops and severely damaging the big red overlord. For his efforts, Porker receives a kiss on the cheek from Amy Rose and even kudos from Sonic, traditionally a more hard-assed character in StC. Unfortunately, the Alpha Device is still functioning and rigged to explode if it’s tampered with. Thus, Porker steps up again, navigating the booby traps to shut down the Alpha Device and undo the damage being done to the Miracle Planet. With Mobius fading, Sonic ushers his friends down the magical chain, only for the Emperor Metallix to lurch to life and reactivate the Alpha Device before collapsing. With no other choice, Porker bravely returns to the Miracle Planet to shut the Alpha Device down once more, trapping himself on the magical world for a month and leaving Sonic with no choice but to wait and see if his friend was successful.

The Summary:
“The Brotherhood of Metallix” has one very obvious positive going for it right off the bat: it’s illustrated by Richard Elson, easily the best artist in Sonic the Comic’s all-too-short history. He brings Sonic and StC’s original characters to life with such a peerless flair and stories always felt more important when his name was attached to them. Unfortunately, it appears Elson was rushed during this particular story as I saw a lot of repetition in “The Brotherhood of Metallix”. Some panels during Sonic’s battles with the Metallix, for example, are directly lifted from Elson’s work in “The Sonic Terminator” (Kitching, et al, 1994) and many of Sonic’s poses looked familiar, too. It’s a minor thing and it’s not like every panel is like that, but it was noticeable and a little odd considering the detail seen in Mr. Blobnik and the Emperor Metallix. The story also suffers from promising a team up between Dr. Robotnik and Sonic and failing to deliver on almost every level. They don’t join forces or oppose the Metallix as a team; instead, Dr. Robotnik simply warns Sonic of the threat, tells him of the Metallix’s weak spot, and that’s it. It’s pretty disappointing as this could’ve been a longer, multi-part story where Sonic shuns his usual allies to team up with Dr. Robotnik instead, making his friends question his decision and having the mad dictator betray him to seize the Miracle Planet for himself. The cliff-hanger of Porker Lewis being left behind was resolved in a later story and expanded into a full-on nervous breakdown for the character, but it could’ve easily been Dr. Robotnik who rigged that Metallix to blow and was left trapped on the Miracle Planet. Consequently, as amusing as the Mr. Blobnik stuff was, I feel these panels were wasted and could’ve been better served showing a proper, awkward team up between Sonic and Dr. Robotnik where they battle at least one Metallix together.

As great as the art is, Metallix is strangely inconsistent and the story squanders its potential.

Speaking of which, the Metallix are a bit hit and miss here. In his first encounter with his robotic double, Sonic struggled to compensate for Metallix’s super speed, power, and armaments. This was taken one step further in Sonic’s second encounter with the robot, which was so powerful that it made mincemeat of Knuckles the Echidna and Sonic was forced to transform into his demonic, unstoppable alter ego, Super Sonic, to destroy it. Metallix has always shrugged off Sonic’s best shots and has always been depicted as being, as the kids say, “built different” from Dr. Robotnik’s other creations. While that’s somewhat true here, it’s pretty inconsistent: sometimes they shrug off the Super Sonic Spin Attack, sometimes it stuns them, sometimes they barely flinch when struck and sometimes Sonic shatters them with a glorified pole! To make matters worse, Porker Lewis easily blows a bunch of them up with a single explosion, severely diminishing their threat despite one or two of them being framed as formidable and menacing robots when they’re pursuing the Freedom Fighters. I did enjoy seeing Metal Sonic Kai from Knuckles’ Chaotix (SEGA, 1995) reimagined as the brotherhood’s emperor. It’s a fantastic design and almost resembles Davros at times, with the gigantic emperor floating about in its throne and spearheading the creation of a Metallix army to take over the world. The Emperor Metallix’s plot is somewhat vague and generic – it wants to transform the Miracle Planet and use its mysterious energies to produce more troops – but it’s at least framed as a threat in its large and menacing stature…until it’s easily disabled by Porker’s explosion! In the end, this was a decent enough follow-up to “The Sonic Terminator” but didn’t live up to its full potential, in my opinion. We didn’t get to see anything new from the Miracle Planet, we lost out on a proper Sonic/Dr. Robotnik team up, and the whole story seems to be more set up for future stories rather than properly standing on its own two feet.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Have you ever read “The Brotherhood of Metallix”, or any issues of Sonic the Comic? If so, what did you think of the story and the return of this version of Metal Sonic? Were you also disappointed that we didn’t get a true team up between Sonic and Dr. Robotnik? What did you think to the Emperor Metallix and the depiction of the Metallix in this story? How are you celebrating Sonic CD’s anniversary this year? Whatever your thoughts on Sonic CD, or Sonic in general, feel free to leave a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other Sonic content.

Back Issues [Sonic Month]: Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Special

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Sonic the Hedgehog was first introduced to gamers worldwide on June 23 1991 and, since then, has become not only SEGA’s most enduring and popular character but also a beloved videogame icon. Thus, in keeping with tradition, I’m dedicating some time to celebrate SEGA’s supersonic mascot.

Story Title: “Seasons of Chaos”
Published: June 2021
Writer: Ian Flynn
Artists: Aaron Hammerstrom, Thomas Rothlisberger, and Tracy Yardley

The Background:
SEGA were quick to capitalise on Sonic’s surge of popularity once he was catapulted to mainstream success and finally (if briefly) knocked Nintendo from the top of the videogame industry. Following Nintendo’s success with DiC, SEGA soon spearheaded Sonic’s small screen debut with two concurrent cartoons, with most popular being Sonic the Hedgehog (1993 to 1994), or “SatAM”. SatAM’s darker tone made it stand out from the slapstick approach of its sister-series, though both styles were originally (and awkwardly) mashed together when Archie Comics began publishing a semi-continuation of both. Eventually bringing in more elements from the source material alongside their own convoluted lore, Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog comics became the longest-running comic series based on a videogame. However, this achievement was sullied when a series of lawsuits forced not only major continuity changes but the eventual cancellation of the series after twenty-four years. In 2017, IDW Publishing picked up the license and an all-new series of Sonic comics hit shelves, one spearheaded by Archie Sonic writer Ian Flynn and artist Tyson Hesse and whose events and original characters were said to be canon to the videogames. To celebrate Sonic’s 30th anniversary in 2021, SEGA released a bunch of merchandise, including a new compilation for modern consoles and this one-shot publication, which was lauded as a fitting tribute for the Blue Blur and one of the greatest comic book outings for the character.

The Review:
“Seasons of Chaos” begins with Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends, Miles “Tails” Prower and Amy Rose (all beautifully rendered in their “Classic” forms) adventuring through Spring Valley Zone, whimsically smashing Badniks, before stumbling upon a Chaos Emerald out in the open. Just as Sonic moves to nab it for himself, the gem is stolen by none other than Metal Sonic! While Tails and Amy react in horror, Sonic gleefully prepares for a rematch against his metallic doppelgänger and is first sad and then enraged when Metal Sonic simply blasts away without a word. Eager to test his mettle against…Metal…Sonic gives chase and, following a hilarious misunderstanding with Amy when he asks for a “boost” and an assist from Tails, Sonic rockets into the sky and has to be saved from a fatal plummet by Knuckles. Knuckles relates how he was hanging out on Angel Island (exactly as depicted in the opening cutscene of Sonic & Knuckles (SEGA Technical Institute, 1994)) when one of the animals also found a Chaos Emerald, leading to am ambush by Metal Knuckles!  Though Knuckles fought valiantly against his metallic double, Metal Knuckles endangered the locals, forcing Knuckles to save their lives and allowing the robot to scarper with the Chaos Emerald. Naturally, Knuckles pursed his foe, which led him to Sonic. Realising that Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles must’ve been sent by Doctor Eggman to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds for some nefarious scheme, our heroes waste no time in racing off to stop this plot…in fact, they’re so quick to run off that they leave Amy behind!

Amy ropes Mighty and Ray into helping her find the Chaos Emeralds, which are also sought by Fang.

Angered and despondent about being left out, Amy sadly wanders off with Tails’ Emerald Radar, oblivious to the robotic puppet spying on her. Her sadness turns to excitement when she bumps into Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel during their exercises. Interestingly, this is depicted as their first time meeting, though they have a mutual friend in Sonic. Realising the two are just the guys to help her out, Amy quickly convinces Mighty and Ray to join her in tracking down the Chaos Emeralds using Tails’ radar. Over in the Summer Falls Zone, Tails realises, to his dismay, that he’s lost his radar; luckily, the trio have an “expert treasure hunter” on hand and quickly find another Emerald. However, just as they go to grab it, they’re accosted by Fang the Hunter, Bean the Dynamite, and Bark the Polar Bear, three unscrupulous mercenaries who’ve been hired by Dr. Eggman to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds. While Knuckles matches brawn with the strong, silent Bark and Sonic tangles with the wacky, bomb-tossing Bean, Tails pursues Fang, awestruck by the hunter’s hover craft, the Marvelous Queen, which he sabotages to relieve Fang of his prize. However, Fang’s popgun leads to a game of hot potato as the teams vie for the gem, Bomb barely stopping himself from blowing it up, Sonic emulating another videogame icon, and the gem finally plummeting down a waterfall after Knuckles and Bark beat each other senseless trying to claim it. Realising that the thieves will find more Chaos Emeralds in the time it’ll take them to dive for this one, Sonic and his friends choose to get moving rather than waste their time, completely oblivious that the jewel has landed on Mighty’s head below! Ecstatic, Amy enthusiastically leads her new allies onwards, unaware that the Heavy King is monitoring not just their progress, but all the competing teams from its ominous control room through the eyes of its mechanical minions.

Sonic and his friends begrudgingly team up with their enemies to confront a common foe.

Running loops through the dense Autumn Forest Zone, Sonic and friends find themselves struggling with the dense foliage and troubled by Dr. Eggman’s aggressive pursuit of the Chaos Emeralds. Speaking of whom, they happen to spot Dr. Eggman pursuing Metal Sonic through the forest and, naturally, attack, easily disarming (literally) his Egg-O-Matic of its buzzsaw appendages. Nearby, Amy and the others find another Chaos Emerald and are challenged by Fang and his goons. Amy fills his friends in on the trio, noting that they’re all jerks except for the sullen Bark (who she thinks is just misled) and Mighty leads the three in an attack. True to Amy’s suspicions, Bark appears reluctant to fight and begrudgingly defends Fang from Mighty’s attack, stuffing him into a tree trunk. Bomb’s erratic explosives blast Ray and Amy from the sky and dislodge the Chaos Emerald, allowing the crazed duck to claim it, but Metal Knuckles suddenly steals it, leading the two teams to set aside their differences and give chase, Fang livid at the double-cross. They bump into Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and the defeated Dr. Eggman, who explains that the rebuilt Heavy King turned against its master, reprogrammed Metal Sonic, Metal Knuckles, and Tails Doll and kicked Dr. Eggman from his base. Realising they share a common enemy, the group decides to work together to stop the Heavy King and heads to Dr. Eggman’s base in the Winter Caverns Zone, overcoming the natural landscape and the Heavy King’s defences through surprisingly effective teamwork. Sonic can’t help but mock Dr. Eggman’s embarrassing defences, leading to the doctor enjoying watching Metal Sonic blast Sonic while he’s distracted. While everyone works together to fight Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles, Dr. Eggman and Tails reprogram Tails Doll to jam the Heavy King’s signal, returning the robots to Dr. Eggman’s control and forging another unlikely alliance. Not wishing to see his base suffer any further damage, Dr. Eggman simply remote opens the doors rather than let his newfound allies trash the place and they head inside to confront the Heavy King.

Sonic and friends defeat the Heavy King and split the Chaos Emeralds between them.

However, the Heavy King is nigh-untouchable thanks to having gathered all seven Chaos Emeralds. It channels their power through its staff, casting lighting bolts and energy balls that rain destruction upon its foes. The Heavy King relishes the conflict, plotting to restore the Hardboiled Heavies and conquer the world and easily shielding against or shrugging off their counterattacks. Realising they’re outmatched, Sonic uses himself as bait, focusing the Heavy King’s attention solely on him by insulting the maniacal robot. Sonic’s allies then steal the Chaos Emeralds and, rather than becoming Super Sonic and destroying the Heavy King, Sonic settles for easily toppling the now-powerless robot. It then begs forgiveness from Dr. Eggman, claiming to have been following its programming. Dr. Eggman commends his creation and forgives it, planning to install a software patch to keep it in check, and then orders his forces to attack. However, Sonic and the others have gone, along with the Chaos Emeralds, and Dr. Eggman’s forces are too weak and rundown from the assault to give pursuit, leaving Dr. Eggman sulking in his frozen base. In the aftermath, Bark meekly says goodbye to Amy and leaves with Fang, who claims a Chaos Emerald as his reward. Similarly, Knuckles leaves with another, planning to keep it as safe as the Master Emerald, and Mighty and Ray take two more, hoping to team up with Sonic again in the future. Sonic, Tails, and Amy also keep hold of a Chaos Emerald each, splitting the gems up to keep them out of Dr. Eggman’s hands in the future. To Amy’s glee, Sonic and Tails not only apologise for leaving her behind but also thank her for her help, leaving her as flustered as Bark. Sonic then races off into the sunset towards his next adventure.  

The Summary:
I absolutely adored “Seasons of Chaos”! after years, decades, of Sonic comics using art styles that were far removed from the original Japanese depictions of Sonic and his friends, it’s really refreshing to see a return to the classic art style, as beautifully brought to life in Sonic the Hedgehog CD’s (SEGA, 1993) anime sequences. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up with Richard Elson and Greg Martin’s renditions of Sonic and I love what Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante did with the characters, but Tracy Yardley always evokes the classic style so wonderfully and Sonic and his friends have never looked better than in “Seasons of Chaos”, in my opinion. Everyone looks ripped right out of the original Japanese artwork and strikes poses reminiscent of the videogames, to say nothing of the times the story switches to a side-view to recreate the kinetic, sidescrolling action of the videogames. Many Sonic comics focus more on drama and character moments and convoluted plots, and I can understand why. They’re comic book adaptations trying to keep readers coming back for more; simply showing Sonic smashing robots and dodging traps isn’t as engaging as it is in the games. However, there’s something to be said for the simplicity at work in “Seasons of Chaos”, which pays homage to the classic videogames by acting as a continuation of their events and could easily be slotted in as another post-Sonic Mania Plus (Christian Whitehead/PagodaWest Games/Headcannon, 2018) adventure. Interestingly, “Seasons of Chaos” opts for unique locations clearly inspired by the likes of Green Hill Zone, Angel Island Zone, and Robotnik Winter Zone. While it would’ve been nice to see familiar locations, I like that we got to see new environments that were similar and yet different enough as it tied into this story being a follow-up to Sonic Mania Plus, which also included a handful of new Zones clearly inspired by the classic videogames.

I cannot and will not ever stop gushing about how beautiful the art work is in this special!

“Seasons of Chaos” also references not just obscure Sonic titles but also the 3D adventures. Dr. Eggman chastises Metal Sonic’s brief hesitation when the Heavy King talks about becoming a “Metal Overlord”, for example, and the comic features Metal Knuckles as a primary antagonist, finally giving long-time Sonic fans a good look at its complex, armoured plated intricacies. I enjoyed the adventure set out in this story; it’s a classic race to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds but one that subverts expectations. Sonic is continually insulted and dismayed at Metal Sonic’s refusal to race, for example, and the Chaos Emeralds are scattered across the world, not unlike Sonic’s 8-bit adventures. “Seasons of Chaos” also brings back three of the franchise’s most obscure characters, Fang, Bean, and Bark, retaining them as a mercenary duo as depicted in previous American Sonic comics. I loved Fang’s depiction as an opportunistic, cowardly weasel who lets others do his fighting and is selfish and full of bluster (there’s a fun moment in the finale where Metal Sonic drags him back into the fight!) Bean retains the same crazed, pyromaniacal characterisation seen in the latter days of the Archie comics, while Bark is the strong, silent type who’s depicted as misled and reluctant but happy to match his strength against powerful foes. Similarly, the story also ropes in Mighty and Ray, two characters I never get tired of. I loved their brotherly dynamic (which is similar to the relationship between Sonic and Tails) and them making fast friends with Amy, forming a trio that acts as an early incarnation of Team Rose. Amy’s desire to prove herself and be useful is as infectious as her enthusiasm and the three bring a lot of levity to an already whimsical tale. Naturally, I adored the depiction of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles as well. I loved the banter between Sonic and Knuckles, with Knuckles being oblivious to Sonic’s taunting and Sonic being a wise-cracking, adventurous spirit. While Tails felt like a bit of a background character, he stepped up to sabotage Fang’s craft and work with Dr. Eggman to reprogram Tails Doll, showing that these three have the perfect balance of skills to oppose Dr. Eggman’s plans.

A fantastically written and wonderfully illustrated celebration of the franchise.

In an interesting twist, Dr. Eggman isn’t the main villain. Instead, he’s the victim of another robot rebellion, humiliated and seeking revenge after the Heavy King took its programming a little too literally. Dr. Eggman’s depiction reminds me very much of his portrayal in Sonic the Hedgehog (Ikegami, 1996), being a prideful, grandiose, comical figure capable of malicious actions but largely a spiteful buffoon. Sonic routinely mocks his creations and easily trounces his machines and defences, Dr. Eggman reacts to the Heavy King’s betrayed with a childish tantrum, and he immediately sets his revived forces against his former allies the moment he regains control of them, only to find they’re too drained to fight. Every time I read “Seasons of Chaos”, I’m enamoured by the gorgeous colours and striking artwork. Everything has such a cute visual appeal that recalls a far less dramatic and more whimsical time in Sonic’s history, a time where the spirit of high-speed adventure was enough of an appeal for players and readers. I honestly wish IDW would publish a dedicated side series of classic Sonic adventures in this style as it’s truly beautiful and would be perfect for a five-page backup feature, at least, alongside whatever dramatic, world-ending plot is running through the main story. I loved how the comic recreated visuals from the videogames as fun Easter Eggs for long-time fans while crafting a fun, easy to follow adventure for these three teams. The action was bold and kinetic, with panels full of little details and quirks and humorous moments, from wild expressions to visual callbacks to the source material, and character defining moments for the likes of Amy, Mighty, and Ray, who both proved their worth and solidified their alliances with the main trio through this story. Ultimately, “Seasons of Chaos” was a fantastic celebration of Sonic’s 30th anniversary. The story and art did a great job of honouring the character’s past and rich history, weaving recognisable elements into a largely original story and casting a spotlight on the classic depictions of both iconic and obscure characters as only the comics can. I honestly wish the games leaned more towards this style, embracing what worked so well in the past and emphasising Sonic’s rich supporting cast and fun sense of adventure rather than focusing solely on Sonic alone as it made for a hugely enjoyable read.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

Did you enjoy “Seasons of Chaos”? Were you as captivated by the art style as I was? Did you like seeing Amy team with Mighty and Ray and the inclusion of Fang, Bean, and Bark? Were you disappointed that we didn’t get a Super Sonic finale? Would you like to see a spin-off comic in this style? What are some of your favourite stories and moments from IDW’s Sonic comics? How did you celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog this month? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below, consider supporting me on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other Sonic content.

Game Corner [Sonic Month]: Sonic Frontiers (Xbox Series X)

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Sonic the Hedgehog was first introduced to gamers worldwide on 23 June 1991 and, since then, has become not only SEGA’s most enduring and popular character but also a beloved videogame icon and, in keeping with tradition, I have been dedicating an entire month’s worth of content to SEGA’s supersonic mascot.

Released: 8 November 2022
Developer: Sonic Team
Also Available For: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S

The Background:
Although I hate to say it, Sonic has had a tumultuous time in his 3D ventures. One of the lowest points was, undeniably, Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Team, 2006) and Sonic Forces (ibid, 2017) was a close second, but Sonic Unleashed (ibid, 2008) and Sonic Colors (ibid, 2010) were largely celebrated as high-speed adventures. Following Sonic Forces, Sonic Team (specifically Takashi Iizuka) began exploring new approaches for the series in anticipation of its 30th anniversary. Looking to expand on feedback from previous 3D games, the developers sought to reinvigorate the gameplay with an open world environment. They aimed to infuse the 3D world with a mysterious tone, repeatedly testing the limits of Sonic’s speed to make exploration fun for players. The game put a lot of focus on combat and told a slightly darker story than normal and was bolstered by pre-order bonuses and post-launch downloadable content (DLC), Sonic Frontiers sold 3.5 million by May 2023 and was met with largely favourable reviews. Reviews praised the controls, visuals, and soundtrack but criticised the combat, repetitive battles, and various technical glitches.

The Plot:
When Doctor Eggman seeks the ancient secrets of Starfall Islands and traps Sonic’s friends in Cyber Space, Sonic searches for the legendary Chaos Emeralds and battles the robotic Titans to save them.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Sonic Frontiers is both a massive departure for the franchise and, in many ways, the natural evolution of gameplay mechanics and course corrections first introduced to the series in Sonic Adventure (Sonic Team, 1998). While Sonic Adventure introduced a greater focus on narrative and exploration within limited (but, at the time, impressive) sandbox environments, and subsequent games have included role-playing game (RPG) mechanics to level-up Sonic’s abilities, Sonic has never tackled a fully open-world before. and there may be a good reason for that as Sonic Frontiers is somewhat unbalanced in how it juggles open-world exploration with high-speed action platforming stages and mini games. After selecting the difficulty and tinkering with the game’s extensive options (which allow you to tweak Sonic’s speed and cornering and other options), players explore five islands, collecting Golden Rings to avoid being defeated by enemy attacks and hazards and staying out of large bodies of water to avoid drowning. Hints and tips and handy tutorials are commonplace and, while these can be toggled off, I found them useful as Sonic has more abilities than ever. By default, Sonic jumps with A (performing a double jump when you press it again), attacks enemies or flies at springs or destructible objects with X, crouches with B, and creates a “Cyloop” while running if you hold Y (once you’ve purchased this Skill). You hold the Right Trigger to boost for as long as your stamina wheel lasts, with Sonic gaining a max speed boost and a brief infinite wheel when at maximum Rings, and use the Left and Right Bumpers to quick step and dodge attacks. Although there are no item monitors to collect (meaning no shields or speed ups or invincibility), the life system is gone, meaning you simply respawn from your last checkpoint or autosave when defeated. Defeating enemies and breaking crates yields “Skill Pieces”, which unlock various new skills to expand Sonic’s combat repertoire and abilities.

Sonic’s speed and agility are showcased through a bevvy of impressive and exciting skills and attacks.

The first and one of the most useful is the aforementioned Cyloop. By holding Y, you create a ring of light that, when connected in a circle, spawns Rings (sometimes even Ten Rings), Skill Pieces, and other pickups. This essentially means you can continuously spawn Golden Rings when in the open-world to stay alive, and the Cyloop can even be upgraded to damage or stun enemies. Sonic’s stomp also returns, allowing him to damage enemies and break objects by pressing B in mid-air, as does the Drop Dash and the Spin Dash, performed by holding B in mid-air and while holding the Left Trigger, respectively. Pressing in the left stick lets you Light Speed Dash across trails of Rings while pressing in the right stick locks on to enemies, which is super handy when unleashing Sonic’s new and colourful attacks. By stringing together combos, you fill a meter that sees Sonic duplicate himself with “Phantom Rush” to deal additional damage, you can hold LT when attacking to fire a barrage of sonic booms or hold the Right Tigger and press Y to perform a homing shot, and batter enemies with super-fast kicks and flips. You can wiggle the left stick off certain ramps and springs to perform air tricks and earn additional Skill Points, unlock an auto combo option to make battles even easier, and earn three new special moves after rescuing Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, and Miles “Tails” Prower. You hold LB and RB to parry incoming attacks (sometimes the only way to make enemies vulnerable), press A when hit to instantly perform a recovery smash attack, and further increase Sonic’s abilities by rescuing local Koco and finding Power and Defence Seeds (again, by defeating enemies, smashing crates, or performing Cyloops). Chat to one of the many Elder or Hermit Kocos scattered around each island to trade these in to increase Sonic’s maximum speed or Ring capacity (or swap them round). One of these guys is supposed to up your attack power and defence, but I never saw the option onscreen, and those stats just went up as I played, so I’m not really sure what’s happening there. You must also find “Memory Tokens” for Sonic’s friends and bring them to one of his allies to continue the story, learn more about Starfall Islands, or take on a minigame to earn a Chaos Emerald.

Rails, parkour sections, various mini games, and side missions pad out the game and test your skills.

As you explore islands, you’ll hit springs, ramps, boost pads, or special rings to be rocketed towards collectibles (Seeds, Skill Pieces, etc). Rails will also appear, often spawning after you perform tasks, allowing you to quickly grind across large areas or tackle platforming challenges up high. Sonic can jump from wall to wall with A and must hop between rails, hit springs, avoid spikes, time swings on poles, and run along or up walls to reach collectibles or his objective. Objectives are helpfully signposted on the onscreen compass, but you can also utilise the map screen to set custom waypoints or discover areas of interest. However, the map must be uncovered by completing various tasks, such as hopping or sidestepping to light platforms, sky dive through glowing rings, hitting spheres into rings (or catching them before they fall), using Cyloop to assemble tetrominos, lighting up or extinguishing fires, hitting certain switches, or racing to a pre-set position against a time limit. These are fun, if monotonous distractions that only reveal a small portion of each map, so it takes a while to uncover the entire area. Some of these can only be tackled at night, while others are simply races to collect orbs and yield a letter grade. Exploring, using Cyloop, and defeating the various gigantic robotic Guardians also awards “Portal Gears” and/or “Vault Keys”. You’ll need Portal Gears to activate certain ruins and enter Cyber Space, with at least seven of these stages being present on every island. Each one acts as a short obstacle course and will award you Vault Keys for finishing the stage, finishing in a certain time and with a set number of Rings, and for finding the five Red Star Rings in each stage. Once you have enough Vault Keys, you can unlock a Chaos Emerald, though some Chaos Emeralds are only acquired by beating minigames. These see you herding Koco towards one of Sonic’s friends while avoiding bombs, using Cyloop to do some weeding, or playing a hacking minigame that’s simply a top-down shooter that sees you switching between white and black ammo with the bumpers. You must also move giant mirrors to redirect light beams (or rotate tombstones in an aggravating section) and, at one point, must activate towers scattered across Rhea Island to progress the story.

The Cyber Space stages left a lot to be desired but the Super Sonic parts were thrilling.

When in the open-world, Sonic Frontiers is reasonably impressive and you’re constantly rewarded with collectibles, interactable elements, or fun challenges to test you speed and combat skills. However, the game can be directionless at times and you’ll often be frantically looking for Memory Tokens or struggling to find ruins to access Cyber Space stages. these see players running in either 3D, 2.5D, or a mixture of both through stages inspired by Sonic’s previous adventures. However, these stages are incredibly short and basically amount to high-speed obstacle courses, with players using boost pads, ramps, springs, and loops to blast ahead at breakneck speeds. You may recognise the layouts since they not only reuse assets from Sonic’s more recent 3D adventures but are directly inspired by his 3D games. Once you spot these similarities, the stages can be quite fun but it’s disappointing that the game recycles the same areas over and over. You’ll be racing across multiple paths in Green Hill and Chemical Plant, hopping to cloud platforms and teleporters in Sky Sanctuary, and smashing tanks and attack choppers in Eternal Highway. Blocks, bridges, and platforms rise, fall, or crumble under your feet, spikes jut from every surface, water threatens to drown you, and gliders, rockets, and pulleys fling you across the stages (usually to a grind rail or some mid-air rings). Bottomless pits are plentiful, as are balloons, springs, and Badniks that can be chained together to reach higher platforms. It pays to go slow and explore a bit the first time through to find those Red Star Rings, as you only need to collect them once, and to experiment with different paths to find the fastest route. Once you find all seven Chaos Emeralds, Super Sonic engages in a boss battle against the island’s resident Titan. This sees you fighting against the Ring counter as much as the boss as you lose your Super form when you run out of Rings, meaning it’s best to spam Cyloop before the fight and increase your Ring capacity as some boss fights don’t have Rings to collect.  

Presentation:
Sonic Frontiers is definitely ambitious, especially for a Sonic title, but I wonder if the developers bit off a little more than they could chew in trying to emulate the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD, 2017). I say this because of the game’s open worlds are disappointingly bland, despite each island trying to stand out with a different theme (Kronos Island is mostly forests and the coastline, for example, while Areas Island is darker, featuring a volcano and lava). The game includes a day and night cycle, impressive rain effects, and lots of different areas to explore on each island. There’s always something to do and find wherever you go, such as Dr. Eggman’s abandoned tech and bases, the ruins of the long-forgotten Ancient civilisation, pyramids, great stone bridges and archways, and canyons and rivers. Unfortunately, you’ll see the same ramps, rings, springs, and boost pads all around. You’ll be blasted into the sky to precariously hop between floating platforms or string together rails and spring jumps, run up walls (both static and moving), and battle robots that pop from the ground or wander between the ruins, all while a lacklustre and morose soundtrack plays. Indeed, with the exception of the main song, “I’m Here”, and some of the more rocking Titan boss themes, Sonic Frontiers really drops the ball with its soundtrack. You can play classic themes on the in-game jukebox, but these won’t play in the Cyber Space stages, which don’t even have the courtesy to feature remixed tracks from the stages they’re ripping off!

While the game’s visually impressive (if repetitive), it’s the darker, bleaker narrative that gripped me.

Sonic is a touch more mature here. He’s still a wisecracking, thrill-seeking hero, but he sounds older and takes his mission very seriously. He has many deep and meaningful discussions with Sage, Dr. Eggman’s newest AI and surrogate daughter, and Tails, with much of the dialogue directly referencing previous games. Talking with Knuckles even includes a brief flashback to their first encounter and the story delves into the Ancients, an alien tribe of water-based creatures who brought the Chaos Emeralds to Earth and directly reference Sonic Adventure. Sonic has a lot of life to him here, racing off at high speeds, performing a flurry of attacks, and having some idle poses, which is all fun. Unfortunately, I found the Cyber Space stage really disappointing. They’re just too short and there are too many of them, and they’re too damn hard to find at times, meaning I often tackled them out of order. When you finally get into one, you’re initially amazed at the depth and distortion effects applied to the backgrounds, which sees islands, loops, and even the Death Egg looming in the distance, but you quickly see everything every aesthetic variant has to offer. Sure, it’s fun playing recreations of Chemical Plant, City Escape, and Rooftop Run, but it’s ridiculously lazy to recycle four themes over and over. SEGA have the assets to these environments from previous 2D Sonic games so it’s asinine to not reuse them here, along with remixes of the original tracks, especially as Sonic explicitly talks about how the Cyber Space environments are conjured from his memories. Badniks don’t even release woodland critters, and these stages are clearly secondary to the wide open-world environments, intended to be as much of a distraction and break from the narrative as the minigames and platforming challenges scattered about the islands. The Guardians, Titans, and various disposable robots are at least visually unique, with each requiring different Skills to defeat one even stealing your Chaos Emeralds, though their design is so alien that they clash as awkwardly with Sonic’s more cartoony and whimsical aesthetic as the Black Arms did years ago.

Enemies and Bosses:
When tackling the Cyber Space stages, a bunch of classic Badniks will pop up to smack you about or act as makeshift bridges to higher ground. These include everything you’d expect from the classic Zones recreated here, such as Buzz Bombers, Crabmeats, and Eggrobos. Spinners, tanks and attack choppers from the Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.) appear alongside rocket-firing Eggrobo variants, Choppers, and Moto Bugs, with all of them easily destroyed with a simple Homing Attack. Each of the game’s islands is patrolled by various robotic enemies created by the Ancient. Despite the long-dead civilisation being benevolent, these robots attack Sonic since he’s been fooled into aiding their destroyer, the entity known only as “The End”. The most commonly encountered are the Soldiers, who often attack in large groups but are extremely weak. They have variants who’ll encase themselves in an impenetrable shield, however, requiring the Cyloop to stun them. Cyclones often float around each island, protecting themselves with an electrical barrier but unwittingly helping you to traverse mid-air sections. Wheel-like Bangers race after you on Kronos Island, exploding when defeated, alongside Bubbles (spherical enemies that protect themselves with destructible orbs, not unlike the Metropolis Zone boss), while Ouranos Island boasts the Balloon robot, who will drown you unless you stomp through its body. Occasionally, a Capture will steal your Chaos Emeralds, forcing you to chase them down, grind along their jet trail, and stomp them to retrieve them. Eagles swoop down on Chaos Island and must be parried before you grab their handrails and crash them into the environment, Hoppers appear on Ares Island and must also be stomped on to avoid being endlessly launched into the sky, and various, pillar-like Defensive Weapons must be chopped down to size before their Badnik-like protectors attack. By far the worst of the regular enemies, for me, was the Wolf. These robotic canines attack in a pack and rapidly circle you, quickly striking and giving you little room to parry. You must parry each of them to stun them and deal damage but will instantly lose if the circle shrinks small enough and I could never get the timing right, even though you can just hold LB and RB indefinitely.

The unique and inventive Guardians are the perfect way to test your mettle (and your patience).

Each island is also home to four Guardians, who attack when you get close and respawn during a “Starfall” event. On Kronos Island, you must avoid Asura’s huge arms and shockwaves and race up its limbs to attack the three spikes on its “head”, each one protected by lasers and energy balls. Ninja, Chaos Island’s Shinobi, and Ouranos Island’s Kunoichi and Master Ninja are faster, more agile foes who test your dodge and parry abilities. The Tower, Chaos Island’s Excavator, and its Red Pillar and Silver Hammer variants have you frantically dodging projectiles and racing up its “body” to chip away at its segments, then chasing it down as it flees. Squid emulated Sonic Unleashed’s bosses with a chase across an endless racetrack generated by the robot’s “tails”, dodging projectiles and ramming its “head” when you get close. On Ares Island, Sumo has you ricochet off boxing ring-like ropes to force it into the electrified walls. Shark lurks under the sand and takes you on a joyride before it flails about for a short time and, while Strider may be immense and boast devastating laser beams, it’s completely immobile and generates grindable rings for you to attack it. The Tank was one of the more aggravating Guardians as it whips up a sandstorm, spins around using jet thrusters, and fires a barrage of projectiles and a flamethrower, making stunning it with your Homing Attack as difficult as damaging its thick armour. Chaos Island sees you avoiding bombardments from Fortress, grinding after it while avoiding projectiles to attack its main core, and using Cyloop to attack Spider’s legs before skydiving onto its head. Like Tank, Ouranos Island’s Caterpillar draws you in with a vacuum and, like Strider, you must grind over rings. This time, you avoid red orbs and collect blue ones to spawn yellow orbs that you can Homing Attack to stun it. Then, you must frantically chase after it to attack the weak spot on its back, making this as annoying as fighting Tank. Ghost was even worse, though, as it constantly sucks the Rings from you and floats between statues, forcing you to make tricky jumps just to use Cyloop to cause it damage. Tougher, far more aggressive variants of the Master Ninja, Spider, and Tank are also fought in the free “Another Story” DLC.

As epic as the Super Sonic fights are, the final boss opts for a completely different gameplay mechanic.

Four gigantic Titans, each possessing a Chaos Emerald, pose the greatest threat in Sonic Frontiers, one so great the Sonic requires the seven Chaos Emeralds and his Super Sonic form to stand a chance against them. Giganto is the first, easily shrugging off your attacks and flinging you away until you return and climb it to retrieve the seventh Chaos Emerald. You must parry Giganto’s wild swing to avoid losing time and Rings and get a clear opening to attack its face, frantically tapping X in a quick-time event (QTE) to deflect its giant laser and avoid being eaten. Wyvern is equally untouchable at first, with Sonic fleeing its missile barrage before scaling a massive tower to hop onto its body and then racing across a light trail and avoiding hazards (like when fighting Squid) to power-up. This boss fight is essentially a chase through the skies of Ares Island, with Super Sonic parrying  its missiles and claw swipes, avoiding debris and energy rings, and completing QTEs to fend of missile barrages, dodging its charge, and forcing its ordinance down its throat. By far the most troubling Titan for me was the Knight, primarily due to the lack of Rings and the ground spikes it bursts up to send you flying. The Knight is incredibly fast, striking with a gigantic sword that’s difficult to parry and flinging a buzzsaw-like shield that you must commandeer with a QTE and parry to ricochet into it. Add to that the missiles, lasers, lack of Rings, and how finicky it is targeting the Knight, and this was the worst of the bosses for me. Supreme is far easier, despite packing a massive energy cannon and its annoying sentries that push you back with lasers. Attack them to close the gap and the Supreme fires homing shots, flies with energy wings, and unleashes its massive energy cannon, requiring you to win a QTE. You’ll only take on the true final boss, The End, when playing on harder difficulties; on “Easy”, you simply win a QTE and defeat it in a cutscene. On harder modes, the boss is fought in a top-down shooter format like the hacking minigames, essentially ending the game with a bullet hell shooter that’s hardly a culmination of all the skills you’ve mastered.

Additional Features:
There are forty Achievements up for grabs in Sonic Frontiers, with five awarded each time you defeat a Titan and take out The End, one for defeating a Guardian for the first time, and one for talking to the Elder and Hermit Koco. You’ll get another for upgrading all of Sonic’s Skills (which is super easy to do just through regular play), one for destroying 100 objects, one for scoring your first S-rank in a Cyber Space stage, and one for completing various tutorials. You’ll get Achievements for activating certain Skills during regular gameplay, experiencing a Starfall event, collecting 200 Koco, repairing all Portals, and uncovering the entire map. They’re very do-able Achievements, with none of them tied to the game’s different difficulty settings, meaning the only reason to play on harder difficulties is to battle the true final boss. As you explore the game’s islands, you’ll find musical notes to unlock new tracks for the jukebox, as well as Purple Coins. These are traded at fishing holes found on each map, where Big the Cat lets you hook fish, crabs, treasure chests, and various items from the Sonic franchise. You’ll get an Achievement if you land every item at a single fishing hole and earn tickets to trade for Koco, Seeds, and other goodies. This is a fun little distraction that’s easy to play (just press A when the rings line up), though it’s a bit barebones and the game doesn’t do much with it or the grilling mini game found within. Similarly, Starfall events were more annoying than anything. These see a meteor shower cover the land and activate an aggravating slot machine every time you pick up star pieces, which grants Purple Coins and other rewards.

Sonic’s friends help him conquer Trial Towers and gain a power boost to put the story to rest.

Finishing the game on at least “Easy” mode unlocks “New Game+”, which carries over all your unlocked Skills and Sonic’s stats but not his items, as well as “Arcade Mode”, “Battle Rush”, and “Cyber Space Challenge”. Arcade Mode allows you to replay any Cyber Space stage to aim for a better time and score, Battle Rush sees you take on waves of enemies against a time attack, and Cyber Space Challenge is a regular time attack. You can also return to your original saved game to mop up any missing Achievements and finishing exploring each island, or hop into a Ring Portal to tackle the “Another Story” mode. This sees you take control of Amy, Knuckles, and Tails, exploring Ouranos Island for Chaos Emeralds and tackling tougher Guardians. Amy, Tails, and Knuckles share many of Sonic’s Skills alongside ones unique to them. Amy attacks with her tarot cards (which also allow her to hover) and Piko-Piko Hammer, Knuckles glides, climbs walls, and unleashes devastating punch combos, and Tails flings wrenches and flies for a short time, utilising air boosts to reach new areas, and even spawn his mech walker to freely fly as long his stamina wheel lasts. Each time you reach a Chaos Emerald, you switch back to Sonic to climb Trial Towers (a feat in itself!) to tackle enemy waves and rematches against Guardians. The Cyber Space stages are also much tougher in this mode, featuring five Silver Rings, five number circles, and three Animal Friends to rescue in place of the usual five Red Star Rings and pitting you in races against Tails or precarious drops into the void. Finally, there’s some fun free and optional DLC to use, with Sonic dressing up in Monster Hunter (Capcom, 2024 to 2025) armour, him and his friends and Koco dressing up for Sonic’s birthday and Christmas, and even the island’s getting a (frankly distracting) celebratory facelift.

The Summary:
There’s a lot to admire about Sonic Frontiers. Sonic Team really pushed the boat out in presenting a series of large, open-world environments to explore and showcase Sonic’s speed and parkour skills. Technically, this may be the most ambitious Sonic game yet, presenting sprawling lands alive with real-time enemies and bosses and with loads of tricks and things to discover. It’s a shame, then, that I found the execution so lacking. The islands are large, but often barren and not very visually interesting. The loops and springs and boost pads and such get old pretty quickly and it’s not long before you’ve seen everything Sonic Frontiers has to offer. I found the maps confusing at times, leaving me wandering with little direction as I searched for Portals or forcing me to go back and forth chatting to NPCs. Sonic’s combat abilities were very flashy and fun, but I did find it difficult to remember how to do certain moves and which gauges to keep track of, to say nothing of my confusion regarding raising Sonic’s stats. The Cyber Space stages were also a huge letdown, being mere snippets of action that were over as soon as they got interesting. I’m really disappointed that new assets weren’t used to recreate the areas that inspired these stages, and that the same environments kept being reused. It made these stages feel like an afterthought and as much padding as collecting Vault Keys and Memory Tokens. I enjoyed the Easter Eggs peppered throughout the surprisingly grim and dark story and the Titan bosses were very impressive and epic. I liked playing as Super Sonic and that Sonic’s abilities were tested here, and by the Guardians. However, these also became annoying after a time (and there’s not much incentive to fight them once you’ve accessed every Portal) and it would’ve been nice to play as Sonic’s friends in the main game, perhaps in some Cyber Space stages, mini games, or side missions. Sonic Frontiers is a lot of fun, but I also found it a chore to play through and that the pacing was all over the place. I dare say it might’ve been better if the developers had stuck to the open-world and RPG themes and downplayed the Cyber Space stages, then maybe the side gimmicks could’ve had more time to cook, but it’s probably still worth your time if you’re a fan of the franchise.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy Sonic Frontiers? What did you think to the open-world gimmick and did you also find it a bit lacking? Were you also disappointed by how short and mundane the Cyber Space stages were? What did you think to Sage, her emotional connection to Dr. Eggman, and the lore of the Ancients? Which of the Guardians and Titans was your most or least favourite to fight? Did you ever collect everything scattered throughout the game and find all those Koco? Leave your thoughts on Sonic Frontiers down below, send me some love on Ko-Fi, and be sure to check out my other Sonic content!

Game Corner [Sonic Month]: Sonic Rush Adventure (Nintendo DS)

Dr. K1 Comment

Sonic the Hedgehog was first introduced to gamers worldwide on June 23 1991 and, since then, has become not only SEGA’s most enduring and popular character but also a beloved videogame icon. Thus, in keeping with tradition, I’m dedicating some time to celebrate SEGA’s supersonic mascot.

Released: 13 September 2007
Developer: Dimps / Sonic Team

The Background:
SEGA’s desperate desire to create a mascot to rival Super Mario paid off when Sonic the Hedgehog became a mainstream icon with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992). Despite subsequent success with both 2D and 3D titles, costly business decisions forced SEGA to withdraw from console manufacture, bringing the original “Console War” to an anti-climatic end. Now focused on software development, the unthinkable happened when Sonic and SEGA-branded videogames appeared on Nintendo’s GameCube and Game Boy Advance. Alongside Dimps, Sonic Team created a trilogy of largely lauded 2D throwbacks for the handheld and this partnership extended to the more powerful, dual screen Nintendo DS with the widely praised Sonic Rush (Dimps/Sonic Team, 2005). Introducing series staple Blaze the Cat and pioneering the hotly-debated Boost gameplay, Sonic Rush impressed enough to warrant a sequel. Inspired by adventure narratives, director Sakae Osumi decided the sequel should be set on the high seas, with pirate antagonists, and the developers expanded on the Sonic Rush’s game engine to incorporate more 3D elements and more use of the touchscreen. Released after the universally panned Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Team, 2006), critics noted that Sonic Rush Adventure proved the brand was still viable and praised the eye-catching visuals, upbeat soundtrack, and touchscreen functionality for the boat racing sections. While the plot and material collecting were criticised and we never got a third game in this sub-series, its influence was felt in Dimps’ subsequent 3DS port of Sonic Colours (Sonic Team, 2010).

The Plot:
Stranded in Blaze’s world following a mysterious storm, Sonic and Tails team with Blaze and an energetic, wannabe sailor to explore the neighbouring islands and keep the lost Jeweled Scepter away from Captain Whisker and his robo-pirates.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Like its predecessor, Sonic Rush Adventure is primarily a 2.5D action platformer focusing on high-speed platforming and Boost-based tricks. Initially, only Sonic is playable but, after clearing the third stage (known as a “Zone”), Blaze will be unlocked once again. While the game takes place on various islands, each Zone contains two stages (or “Acts”) and a third, dedicated boss battle against one of Doctor Eggman and Eggman Nega’s robotic giants (known as “Ghosts”). The game includes an “Options” menu where you can set the game to “Easy” or “Normal” mode to tweak the difficulty of bosses, toggle the ten-minute time limit on or off, and manually save your progress. Sonic Rush Adventure expands on the world map of its predecessor, allowing you to not only draw paths to other islands on the bottom screen but also enter buildings and talk with non-playable characters (NPCs). These allies give you hints, allow you to listen to the game’s soundtrack, offer additional missions to complete, and allow a stage and boss select so you can quickly retry completed Zones. Although Sonic and Blaze are still contrasting personalities, their controls and gameplay and essentially the same and as in Sonic Rush. Both jump with A or B, charge up a dash with down and A/B, and perform various mid-air tricks with A, B, and the Right trigger. You can use the directional pad in conjunction with these buttons to reach higher or further platforms, as well, though Blaze has the added benefit of her Burst Hover, which grants her a limited mid-air glide.

The core, Boost-paced gameplay remains unchanged but is bolstered by some new interactable elements.

In contrast, Sonic can home in on nearby targets and is much faster by default, though Blaze is also immune to fire. Both characters can grind on various rails, tapping B to pull off additional tricks. These tricks and smashing robots fill your “Tension Gauge” which, when partially or completely full, blasts you ahead with the Super Boost or Fire Boost when you hold down X or Y. This allows you to plough through Badniks and breakable walls and across gaps at high speed, completely invulnerable, though you need to be careful as it makes it much easier to miss ramps and other interactable objects that spring you across the environment. Golden Rings act as your life blood, protecting you from attacks and awarding you extra lives when you collect increments of 100, and you can snag all the usual power-ups (extra Rings, a barrier and magnetic shield, and a brief invincibility) alongside boosts to your Tension Gauge and top speed. Your Tension Gauge also gets a boost when you pass a checkpoint, and you’ll use loops, springs, and ramps to blast between both screens across the game’s colourful and distinct Zones. Similar to the last game, there are instances where you get additional gimmicks: Blizzard Peaks starts you on a snowboard for some high-octane grinding, Coral Cave sees you push and jump into large minecarts, and Pirates’ Island sees you riding a dolphin through rings in underwater tunnels. The hang glider reappears in Machine Labyrinth, now steam-powered and letting you Boost along, while catapults, cannons, and giant hooks and anchors carry you to higher platforms. Pirates’ Island includes a water cannon gimmick where you aim, fire, and grind along water streams, crystals allow you to float across deadly gaps in Sky Babylon, and the Haunted Ship’s cannons blast you through the sky, allowing you to press buttons to score points off rings. Occasionally, the game switches perspective, shrinking you to the background, bringing you to the foreground, and putting you in a third-person view as you switch tracks in a mine cart or grind across spiked vines.

The touchscreen is wonderfully utilised in third-person and sea-based race sections.

The “adventure” aspect of the game comes into play in the overworld. You’ll travel across the sea to reach each island and challenge the game’s Zones, which you can only do with Tails’ various sea craft. After plotting a path, you’re placed on the bottom screen and use the stylus to control Sonic as he grabs Rings, performs tricks off ramps, and avoids enemies. In these sections, tricks and other actions are performed by swiping or tapping the screen, which builds your “Boost Gauge” and allows you to rocket ahead by double-tapping the screen or pressing the Left or Right triggers. Clearing Acts awards various materials and a letter grade; the higher your grade, the more materials you acquire. These can be brought to Tails to create newer, more diverse sea craft, such as a submarine and a hovercraft. As each craft needs specific materials to be built and further upgraded, you’ll be revisiting Zones again and again to “farm” for these materials. These can also be located on the sixteen Hidden Islands, which act as brief obstacle courses designed to test your skills and award materials, and you must do this to progress though the story. Sonic starts with the Wave Cyclone, a simple hoverbike, before Tails builds the Ocean Tornado, a sailboat you control and fire the weapons of (comprised of a gun turret, cannon, and flamethrower). The Aqua Blast hovercraft is similar to the Wave Cyclone but players must move it side to side to avoid rocks and other hazards and fire its laser cannon in either short or charged bursts. The last craft you get direct control of is the Deep Typhoon, a heavily armed submarine that sees you exploring the ocean’s depths, tapping commands similar to a quick-time event to lock-on to and destroy enemies and hazards, as indicated by a radar. Additional power-ups are also found in these stages to repair your craft or fill your Boost Gauge, and they certainly offer a fair bit of variety, though the grinding for materials can get tedious at times.

Presentation:
Like Sonic Rush, Sonic Rush Adventure utilises traditional sprite art for its backgrounds alongside polygonal assets. These are primarily seen in the character and enemy models but various interactive elements (such as drums and bouncy ropes and the end goal treasure chests) are 3D models as well. Sonic and Blaze’s models seem to be copied wholesale from the last game, sporting the same animations, playstyles, and voice clips as before and therefore being just as blocky and clunky. Again, I wonder if it might’ve been better to swap things around and have fully polygonal environments and sprites for the characters, though these models do look a lot better when the action switches to the touchscreen for the sea sections or brief third-person sequences. As you might expect from the title, Sonic Rush Adventure places more emphasis on the story, meaning more cutscenes using both 3D models and still images and more interactions with NPCs. The standout of these is the now sadly forgotten Marine, a plucky raccoon girl with a love for the sea and its craft and who hides incredible power behind her boisterous personality. Sporting a quirky Australian dialect, she furthers Blaze’s development from a stoic princess into a more laidback defender of her world and is a joy to talk with, as are the various amusing koalas who help you. Sonic Rush Adventure incorporates a more sea-faring flair to its soundtrack, peppering every stage with upbeat tunes that match the fast-paced gameplay. The opening theme, “A New Venture”, is infectious in its whimsy though it was surprising and a little disappointing to find the game didn’t include voice acting to go with its cutscenes and still relied on simple text. For most of its length, Sonic Rush Adventure focuses on two new antagonists, Captain Whisker and Johnny, and doesn’t reveal Dr, Eggman and Eggman Nega’s involvement until later, though I genuinely think it would’ve worked just as well, if not better, to omit the Eggmen entirely and focus on his pirate-theme doppelgänger and Sonic’s latest rival, just to mix things up a bit.

The game shines through its increased emphasis on story and a unique pirate-aesthetic.

Sonic Rush Adventure is one of the more visually unique Sonic games, especially in its environments. While Zones blast along a mile-a-minute and it’s easy to overshoot ramps or plummet down the many bottomless pits, the new, sea- and pirate-themed aesthetic really benefits the visuals. This is immediately apparent in the heads-up display, whose font is a far cry from the usual, generic lettering in other Sonic titles and more akin to the short-lived “Storybook” games on the Nintendo Wii. Things start pretty standard in Plant Kingdom (which features vines to swing from and grind on, bouncy mushrooms, and robotic dinosaurs) before delving into steampunk in Machine Labyrinth. Similar to Metropolis Zone, Machine Labyrinth features steam-based springs and winding tubes alongside the hang glider, pinwheels, and massive drums that pinball you about. Coral Cave is a coral spin on a mine, featuring crystalline coral, coral bridges, and a partially flooded grotto alongside abandoned mine carts and tracks and waterfalls. Similar to Pirates’ Island, you must pay attention to the top screen or you’ll get crushed by falling hazards that are used as platforms to higher areas, and giant anchors will swing you about, too. The Haunted Ship was probably my favourite Zone. Featuring a misty graveyard of wrecked ships in the background and seeing you dash up ropes and mainsails, you’ll explore the dishevelled interiors, bash robotic pirate ghosts, and blast between ships using massive cannons. You’ll also bounce up to higher areas using special ropes or be forcibly dragged up by barrels. Sky Babylon was also visually very interesting, sporting a green night-time sky and strange, neon-glowing ruins in a mish-mash of Marble Garden, Sky Sanctuary, Altitude Limit, and the Babylon Garden. Strange floating orbs drag you higher, destructible platforms drop you past flaming hazards and to the ever-present electrical bolt lurking below, and you explore both the background and foreground. Blizzard Peaks started strong with its snowboarding section, which allowed some fun grinding, and with its snowy slides and giant icicles that you must jump between. Pirates’ Island is, essentially, Sonic’s version of Venice, featuring stone buildings, flooded ruins, spring-loaded fountains, and helpful dolphins to navigate its waters. These environments and their gimmicks are all recycled for the Hidden Islands, and there’s even a degree of choice in which locations you visit depending on which ships you have.

Enemies and Bosses:
Sonic Rush Adventure bolsters its unique environments with a slew of all-new Badniks, each one the creation of the Dr. Eggman/Eggman Nega duo and in keeping with the nautical/pirate aesthetic of the game. The most persistent of these are the various “Kaizoku” Badniks that toss explosive barrels, glide around on hang gliders, fire small, shoulder-mounted cannons, hide in snowballs, or attack with a cutlass. The Kaizoku Hogan variant is a touch tougher than the usual Badniks, swinging a ball and chain and sporting a health bar. The Hover and Gunner variants fly about using jetpacks, and the Skeleton versions float around like wandering spirits and toss bone sat the player. These Badniks are bolstered by the “Shisaku-gata” series of mechanical miscreants who chuck spanners, hover using steam-powered jetpacks, and push you back with jets of steam. More traditionally designed Badniks also appear, such as the Barrier Angler (a robotic angler fish, which also has an electrical variant), the Jaws-like Nibbles, the Dive Bat (another of Dr. Eggman’s many bat-themed Badniks), and the Rabid Crab (which focus more on melee attacks than Crabmeat’s projectiles). The Triceratank charges you with its horn similar to the Rhinobot, Ptera swoop from the skies, Sky Moons fire projectiles while hovering in the path of your jumps, and steam-powered Bomb Ghosts wander the Haunted Ship ready to explode in your face! Each Zone ends in a boss battle against one of Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega’s gigantic robot creations. Unlike in the last game, where you were restricted to either a platform or a ring, Sonic Rush Adventure features more variety to its boss battles. You’re still restricted to a set area, but the arena and boss strategies alter as the fight progresses, switching between the screens. Each also possesses a health bar, though you no longer have your allies cheering you on, and ends with a dramatic, slow-motion final blow against the mech.

The massive bosses are far more visually interesting and complex than before.

The first boss you encounter is the Ghost Rex, a gigantic, robot Tyrannosaurus rex that stomps around in the background, stalks around your small stone platform, and tries to munch you with its powerful jaws. Dodge this attack to attack its head and repeatedly strike it when it tries to charge from either side of the platform and you’ll eventually fall to a cavern, where the Ghost Rex elongates its neck to try and crush you and cause shockwaves. The Ghost Pendulum is fought on a ring and stays out of reach and you must run around in a circle, striking its low-hanging fruit to smack them into it. As the fight progresses, more balls appear, with some sporting spikes and electrical barriers and the boss dropping to create shockwaves, which can all be tricky to avoid. The Ghost Kraken is also fought on a ring; it spins its tentacles to attack you, but you can smack these (especially the jewelled one) to damage it. It also tries to grab and slam you into the ground, forces you underwater, and spits ink to either stick you in place or obscure the screen. The Ghost Pirate awaits on the Haunted Ship, spewing fireballs and flaming vortexes and attacking with kicks and its cutlass. You must target the glowing red core, which eventually detaches and must be chased around to deal more damage, which can be tricky, especially if the ship’s swaying. The Ghost Whale is one of the most unique bosses as it’s fought on a rapidly deteriorating ice float. You must smack it when it charges to jump inside, where you have thirty seconds to battle to its inner core, destroying pods for more time and avoiding freezing hazards and ridable missiles.

Sadly, the new baddies are usurped by the Eggmen, who power-up to battle for the fate of both worlds.

The Ghost Condor was probably the toughest of the regular bosses for me. You’re running on a never-ending path on the bottom screen, avoiding mines, spiked platforms, and the boss’s charge. You must hit the green mines to fly up and smack the boss’s weak spot, landing on the platforms to deal additional damage, though the hazards, speed, and aggressiveness ramp up over time. Captain Whisker and Johnny first attack as a duo on a stage full of buzzsaw-spewing platforms. Captain Whisker fires his rocket arms and performs a ground pound to produce a shockwave and Johnny torpedoes at the player, and they have a team attack that must be repelled. Both must be defeated but this looks more intimidating than it is and it’s pretty easy to pepper them with hits. Captain Whisker then jumps into the Ghost Titan for a penultimate showdown not unlike the battleship bosses from the last game. You must hit its missiles to lower the shields on the cannons, then line up the aiming reticle to attack. The Ghost Titan also delivers a big punch, fires laser-guided flame blasts, litters your platform with bullets from its crotch, and spreads flames across the ground. Though there’s a lot happening at times this was a big, fun, boss made even more intimidating by it boxing you in with insta-kill lasers at the end. After collecting the seven Chaos and Sol Emeralds, you’ll battle the true final boss, the Egg Wizard, a super-powerful mech piloted by Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega and wielding the fabled Jeweled Scepter. This is a three-phase battle that takes place from a top-down perspective in the molten core of Blaze’s world. You control Super Sonic and Burning Blaze, collecting Rings to sustain your transformation and switching between the two with R. In the first phase, you reflect boulders using Super Sonic’s A attack. You must then reflect the Egg Wizard’s fireballs and three flaming dragons to deal damage or switch to Burning Blaze and fire single or charged fireballs with A. Deal enough damage and the Egg Wizard regains some health and adds a targeted meteor, a flamethrower, and gigantic missiles that must be avoided or reflected to deliver the final blow. It’s not the hardest final boss but, with no checkpoints, few Rings, and many of the attacks stunning you, it can be a trifle aggravating to contend with.

Additional Features:
When exploring the seas of Blaze’s world, you’ll inevitable cross paths with Sonic’s latest rival, the arrogant robotic shark, Johnny. When you do, Johnny challenges you to the race, with the prize being a legendary Chaos Emeralds. These races take place on the Wave Cyclone and are thus performed using the touchscreen and stylus. Players can follow Johnny’s trail for a boost and must dodge his mines or they’ll suffer irreparable damage and lose. To stay ahead, you collect Rings and perform tricks off ramps to build and maintain your Boost Gauge, though you can replay each race as often as needed to score the Chaos Emeralds. Like before, Blaze doesn’t get Sol Emeralds from Special Stages like these. Instead, you talk to NPCs to take on various missions, with seven of the 100 available missions specifically relating to the Sol Emeralds. These are acquired by finding Hidden Islands or beating certain bosses again, and only by getting all seven of both will you unlock the game’s true ending. Other missions also challenge you to reach the goal within a certain time limit or while holding a set amount of Rings. You can also explore to find the sixteen Hidden Islands and replay previous Acts to get materials to build and upgrade your craft and score better rankings, and take on a time attack mode. Sonic Rush Adventure also includes a multiplayer component where players race against each other to finish Zones and defeat bosses the fastest, though I’ve never played this mode. Finally, there’s a sound test and movie viewer mode available and you can take on the bosses and Johnny’s race at any time by chatting to NPCs.

The Summary:
Sonic Rush was a fun, if barebones, return to form for Sonic, a natural progression of the Game Boy Advance titles and a nice taster of what the Nintendo DS could do with the franchise. Sonic Rish Adventure takes everything that worked and adds a bit more to it, expanding the narrative and the scope of both Sonic and Blaze’s world and delivering a fresh take on the usual, formulaic events by assuming a pirate aesthetic. I really enjoyed the sea-based sections, exploring the map and playing about with each craft. It was a fun use of the touchscreen that never outstayed its welcome, though it does get a touch tedious having to grind for materials. It might’ve been better if Tails built the ships as the story progressed and the materials were purely to upgrade each one to give you an edge in combat or against Johnny. The Zones were some of the most unique and visually interesting the series has ever seen, finally moving away from tried-and-tested tropes and embracing new aesthetics. The gameplay is fast-paced and fun, with lots happening at once and really gave me a sense of empowerment, though it’s still dogged by bottomless spits, insta-kill hazards, and unavoidable traps. Captain Whisker, Johnny, and Marine are some of the best new additions to the franchise and I’m honestly annoyed that they’ve never been seen again. I’ll reiterate that neither Eggman was necessary for this game, and it might’ve been better without them as Captain Whisker was a familiar enough threat given a quirky edge by being a pirate. It’s a shame that Sonic and Blaze’s gameplay was basically unchanged from Sonic Rush, with no new moves or abilities or playable characters added to the mix, but the 2.5D Boost gameplay was arguably better than it’s ever been here. It really feels like Sonic Rush Adventure filled in some of the blanks of the last game, adding more diversity and complexity to the boss battles, switching up the stage aesthetics, and placing more emphasis on the story. Add to that the fun sea mini games and races and opportunities for exploration and you have a really solid title that definitely deserves more love than it gets as I never see anyone talking about this one, and that’s a real shame.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you play Sonic Rush Adventure back in the day? What did you think to the new setting and the quirky new characters? Did you enjoy the pirate aesthetic to the stages and trying out new sea-based craft? What did you think to the grinding mechanic and the changes made to the boss battles? Did you ever defeat the Egg Wizard, and do you agree that Captain Whisker and Johnny were strong enough antagonists by themselves? Which of Sonic’s handheld adventures is your favourite and how are you celebrating him this month? I’d love to know what you think about Sonic Rush Adventure so leave a comment and be sure to check out my other Sonic content.

Game Corner [Sonic Month]: Sonic Advance 2 (Game Boy Advance)

Dr. K1 Comment

Sonic the Hedgehog was first introduced to gamers worldwide on June 23 1991 and, since then, has become not only SEGA’s most enduring and popular character but also a beloved videogame icon. Thus, in keeping with tradition, I’m dedicating some time to celebrate SEGA’s supersonic mascot.

Released: 19 December 2002
Developer: Dimps / Sonic Team
Also Available For: Nintendo Wii U (Virtual Console, Japan only)

The Background:
After a lengthy development process and a conscious effort to create a mascot iconic enough to challenge Super Mario, SEGA’s initial success with Sonic the Hedgehog exploded into mainstream popularity with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992). This was followed by the spectacular Sonic 3 & Knuckles (ibid, 1994) a game too big for one cartridge, but, oddly, one of the best Sonic games led only to many disappointing spin-offs. Following Sonic’s well received jump to 3D, numerous delays, blunders, and costly decisions saw SEGA withdraw from the “Console War”. Alongside ports of their games for other manufacturers, SEGA teamed with Dimps for Sonic Advance (2001), 2D throwback to the classic games that became a best-seller for the Game Boy Advance renowned for its visuals and gameplay. Having solidified SEGA ’s new relationship with Nintendo, development of a sequel was said to have started immediately following the first game. Sonic Advance 2 built upon the existing engine and sought to make a more action-orientated, faster title. The game saw the debut of a brand new character, Cream the Rabbit, who was specifically designed for younger players, and it also went a long way to popularising the “Boost” mechanics of later games. A commercial success, Sonic Advance 2 was praised for its cartoonish sprites, catchy soundtrack, and replay value. While its difficulty deterred some players, Sonic Advance 2 is largely regarded as one of the best Sonic titles and it was followed by a third game just two years later.

The Plot:
When Doctor Eggman vies for the legendary Chaos Emeralds and tricks Knuckles the Echidna into helping him, Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends – Miles “Tails” Prower, Amy Rose, and newcomer Cream the Rabbit – race to end his latest scheme for world domination.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Sonic Advance 2 takes the basic engine and core mechanics of the first game, which was already an interesting mash-up of the 2D and 3D gameplay, and expands upon them to create a high-octane, action-packed 2D sidescroller that puts a great deal of emphasis on blasting along at high speeds while holding right on the directional pad. The controls, already heavily borrowed from the 2D games, thus remain relatively unchanged: you can still jump with A, performing a Spin Attack in the process to bust Badniks and power-up pods, perform your character’s signature moves with B, and execute various mid-air “tricks” by pressing B or the Right trigger in mid-air off springs and ramps. Pressing up or down scrolls the screen vertically and pressing down and A charges a Spin Dash, allowing you to blast ahead (even as Amy this time). Although there are five playable characters to pick, each with their own special moves to slightly alter their gameplay, only Sonic is available at the start. The others are unlocked by playing the story mode and, in Amy’s case, by collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds with the four main characters. You play through seven main levels (referred to as “Zones”), each with two stages (or “Acts”) and a dedicated “Boss Attack” stage, with two additional Zones unlocked when certain criteria are met. As ever, Golden Rings are your lifeline; as long as you have at least one, you’ll survive enemy attacks. Every Act is played against a ten-minute time limit, with you losing a life once this expires, though you can disable this from the “Options” menu. You can also switch between “Easy” or “Normal” mode from this menu, though this simply reduces the hits that bosses take to defeat, and select different language options, something far more relevant this time since there are more cutscenes and text dialogue than before. As you might expect, you can also grab various power-ups as you play: you’ll get a 1-up (also from collecting 100 Rings), 5, 10, or a random number of Rings, a shield (and a magnetic variant to attract Rings), a temporary invincibility, and a new power-up that instantly puts you at maximum speed (though is, essentially, a variation on the classic speed up power-up).

Cream lends her game-breaking cuteness to the increased emphasis on speed and tricks.

Much of this is carried over from Sonic Advance and the same is true of your character’s abilities. Each one plays a little differently, which can alter how difficult the game is. Tails and Cream, for example, can fly, easily avoiding the many pits that spell Sonic’s doom. Every returning character sports the same special moves as in Sonic Advance, with Sonic performing his Insta-Shield by pressing A twice, sliding ahead with B, and executing a fairly useless mid-air dash and Homing Attack when in mid-air. Sonic can also now bounce to the ground by pressing B in mid-air, similar to his bounce ability from Sonic Adventure 2 (Sonic Team USA, 2001) and almost as a precursor to the Drop Dash. Tails flies, as normal, and takes out enemies with a tail swipe with B, Knuckles glides and climbs walls and executes a three-punch combo with B and also now drills downwards when you press B in mid-air. Previously the most unique and difficult character to use, Amy now has a Spin Attack and Spin Dash just like her friends, meaning she’s a far more viable character this time (if you can unlock her!) She still swings her Piko-Piko Hammer with B, dives ahead, and uses it to attack aerial enemies. Every character can also grind on various rails, grab overhead poles, swing from vines and such, and blast ahead at break-neck speeds after building momentum. Flying off ramps sees you pull off mid-air tricks, which are essential to clear bottomless pits and reach higher areas and can spell your doom if you fail them. Since every character essentially adopts Sonic’s super-fast gameplay, there are far less opportunities to use their unique special moves beyond flying and gliding and each one loses a lot of their appeal as a result. There is a mild saving grace in newcomer Cream, however. Essentially the “Easy” mode character, Cream can fly like Tails (though seemingly for less time) and, crucially, fire her Chao companion, Cheese, like a homing shot with B. This absolutely decimates bosses and even surrounds her with a protective barrier when used on the ground, making Cheese the go-to choice for the game’s tougher Zones and bosses.

The fast-paced, action-orientated gameplay means bottomless pits and cheap deaths and commonplace.

Sonic Advance 2 structures its Zones like high-speed races and obstacle courses; the “rollercoaster” aesthetic has never been truer than in this game as rails, ramps, loops, springs, and boost pads litter every environment. There is still the occasional instance of water, putting you at risk of drowning, though you’re far more likely to run across the water than sink into it. Moving and temporary platforms also still appear, often placed at the end of solid ground to screw up your jumps, as do slopes, poles, destructible elements, and bouncy surfaces. This latter gimmick is most prevalent in Music Plant, which has you bouncing around on keyboards and cymbals, while Hot Crater is more about overhead rails and annoying spikes. While things start familiar enough in Leaf Forest (functionally an amalgamation of the classic Green Hill Zone and Green Forest) and Ice Paradise is like a fancy do-over of the previous game’s Ice Mountain, things take a turn for the worst in Sky Canyon. Bottomless pits, poor hazard placement, and tricky jumps appear before this point, but Sky Canyon really ramps them up, hiding ramps and springs and platforms behind clouds and forcing you to make split-second decisions at high-speeds that will quickly drain your pathetic stock of lives. It’s very easy to miss jumps or overshoot your landing, or to plummet to your death since you often drop through rails rather than landing on them. This continues in Techno Base and Egg Utopia, which borrows gimmicks like the light-based bridges and topsy-turvy gravity from Sonic 3 & Knuckles’ Death Egg Zone and marries them with rails and pits, pits, pits! Sonic Advance 2 quickly conditions you to “hold right to win” with its emphasis on speed; Badniks are few and far between and everything is geared towards propelling you ahead at incredible speeds. It’s thus incredibly frustrating to settle into this mindless gameplay loop and fall down an endless chasm, get skewered by spikes, or miss a ramp or a rail and drop to your death.

Presentation:
If there’s one area where Sonic Advance 2 truly excels, it’s the visuals. Again, there’s a reason I used these sprites and backgrounds when made sprite comics; they’re so vivid and detailed and really bring the characters to life like never before in 2D. While Sonic Advance 2 features some recycled animations from the last game, every character has loads more frames of animation either in their poses, tricks, or when performing basic functions. Every main Act starts with your character taking their marks and getting ready to race ahead as a countdown ticks place, they’re followed by shadowy afterimages when at top speed, and their run cycles are vastly improved as the game ditches the classic “rubber band legs” animation to more closely emulate the 3D games of the time. This racing aesthetic continues when you finish an Act as you’re no longer passing a signpost or reaching a Goal Ring; instead, you run through a finish line and your character poses while running and your score is tallied. While the introductory cutscene is nothing special (and is actually worse than in Sonic Advance since it just focuses on the island, Sonic Advance 2 utilises a map screen for its stage select that’s almost an exact copy of Sonic Adventure 2’s, and includes bigger, more detailed and cartoonish sprite art for its cutscenes. As you clear Zones, Sonic rescues his friends, chatting with them and unlocking them to be played, though these cutscenes only appear when playing as Sonic and only once. Once you’ve cleared the game, you can’t view them again and the game is irrevocably changed. Cream is no longer held hostage when you fight the EggHammerTankII and Dr. Eggman pilots the Egg Saucer on subsequent playthroughs, as opposed to Knuckles. While the Game Boy Advance sound system is still grating, Sonic Advance 2 features far catchier tunes and more musical variety than its predecessor. Bosses and Acts have differing tracks and game’s more frustrating moments are somewhat alleviated by the jaunty music, with Ice Paradise being a particular highlight.

More story and detailed animations contrast with some garish environments.

Although Sonic Advance 2 doesn’t exactly break the mould with its Zone aesthetics, the presentation is far better than its predecessor. Sonic Advance had a rather blurry, pixelated, bland look that’s been completely overhauled into a smooth, sleek, almost plasticine-like aesthetic. Admittedly, this can make some of the foregrounds more generic and the Zones do suffer from being far more linear, with ramps and long raceways being predominant, but there’s no denying the graphical upgrade. Sonic Advance 2 also borrows more from Sonic Adventure 2 for its overall presentation, especially in Zones like Leaf Forest and Sky Canyon, with the latter basically being a 2D version of Rail Canyon. Given the game’s emphasis on speed, ramps, springs, loops, and boost pads are common gimmicks in each Zone, somewhat robbing them of their individuality, though unique gimmicks can still be found (however sporadically) amidst the cheap-ass pits and hazards. Hot Crater, a mechanical base built into a volcano, features overhead rails, a heat effect to the background, and hooks to fling yourself upwards. Music Plant is a garish slice of ridiculousness that looks like it’d fit right in in Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension (Gremlin Graphics, 1992) and begins an annoying trend in Sonic games of this era of featuring an overly kiddified level. Ice Paradise has a Christmas theme to its soundtrack, features a bustling city in the background, flurries of snow, and big neon signs, giving the impression of a ski slope. Sky Canyon is a mess of pits and vertical columns, featuring windmills, those fans from Starlight Zone, and balloons to carry you up. Techno Base is a mess of hexagons, lights, lines, and vulgar colours; it’s essentially a new version of Cosmic Angel Zone from Sonic Advance, though with digitized spikes and some pinball mechanics. Egg Utopia is essentially a 2D version of Final Rush/Final Chase mixed with the Death Egg Zone, featuring rails between different areas of the space station set against the background of space, a gravity gimmick that has you running on the ceiling, cannons, and spiked balls. This aesthetic is carried over to XX, which is simply an autorunner (like all the game’s bosses) gauntlet before the final showdown, while True Area 53 takes place in the void of space with the Earth in the background.

Enemies and Bosses:
No doubt due to the game’s focus on fast-paced action, Badniks are few and far between in Sonic Advance 2. The game would rather surprise you with spikes or bottomless pits than have you free critters from robotic shells, something further emphasised by the lack of capsules at the end of each Act. When Badniks do appear, they’re generally awfully placed to screw up your jumps or tricks and send you plummeting to your death, and they’re largely recycled throughout each Zone. Some of their designs may be familiar to long-time Sonic fans, though: the Geji-Geji aren’t too dissimilar from Caterkillers, the Circues are reminiscent of the monkey-like Kikis, Flickey is literally a robotic version of Flicky, and the Buzzers return wholesale from Sonic Advance. Kikis hide in trees and toss coconuts like in the 3D games and like their predecessor, Coconuts; Spinners return from the 3D games and can be bounced on to cross gaps; and little robot mice scurry about on the ground. Mechanical penguins launch themselves across the snow like Penguinators, clown-like robots swing their own Piko-Piko hammers, and large robotic hammerheads await in the waters at times. Each one releases a woodland critter and adds to your score tally, but they’re mainly there to get in your way and are such a non-factor that it’s easy to be blindsided by them. The E-100 “ZERO”-like Robot Guard also appears, relentlessly pursuing you in Special Stages, sapping your Rings and kicking you out of the stage if it touches you. Having somehow been tricked by Dr. Eggman, Knuckles is battles you in your first playthrough, piloting the Egg Saucer at the end of Sky Canyon, though his presence doesn’t change anything except the cockpit sprite.

The autorunning mechanic used in boss battles makes them needlessly annoying at times.

Therefore, you’ll be battling Dr. Eggman’s newest machines at the end of each Zone. Unlike in Sonic Advance, every single boss battle is an autoscroller that sees you constantly running on an endless loop, snagging Rings and timing attacks and compensating for the knockback and the tougher “pinch” mode, which can get so aggravating that it’s often easier just to cheese the bosses with Cream. Things start off familiar enough with the EggHammerTankII, an upgrade from Sonic Advance that also attacks with a giant hammer but this time it can extend its reach. While the hammer is a large hazard to avoid, this isn’t too tricky. The Egg Bomber Tank is a bit trickier as you can only attack its cannon in the first phase; the main body can only be attacked in the second phase, and both see you avoiding bouncing, explosive cannonballs. Though functionally simple, the autoscrolling gimmick makes the Egg Totem a bit difficult since it’s hard to get up to speed and hop to its spiked platforms to hit the cockpit. Each platform sprouts turrets that must be destroyed to clear the field of projectiles and they also move quiet erratically to screw up your jumps. The Aero Egg also causes problems as its bombs have wide splash damage and you can only attack it by bouncing off its tail platform (unless you just aggressively fire Cheese). Things can get very frustrating against the Egg Saucer as the laser cannon has a wide range and the robotic hand can instantly kill you with its slap attack! Your best bet is to take out the cannon and hang back, way back, running in whenever the cockpit spins into view.

You’ll need to overcome all the bosses again and get the Chaos Emeralds to fight the true final boss.

The Egg-Go-Round was much easier in comparison. This machine flies along on a rail and is protected by four platforms, two that sprout spikes and two that fire projectiles. It can be tricky avoiding these but it’s a hell of a lot easier to ram the cockpit than the Egg Saucer. The Egg Frog is a different matter entirely, though. This boss incorporates the Egg Utopia’s gravity gimmick, hopping to the floor and ceiling and dropping carpet bombs that are very difficult to avoid. While you can switch to the floor and ceiling by holding up and down, the Egg Frog’s hit box is so large and the window of opportunity so small to hit it that it’s better to just give up and use Cheese to decimate it. Similar to the last game, XX features a boss rush…but this time its against all the bosses you previously fought! Though they take less hits to defeat, the only checkpoint occurs after defeating the EggHammerTankII and this gruelling prospect means you’ll likely be low on lives and/or Rings by the time you reach the Super Eggrobo Z, a modified version of Sonic Advance’s true final boss. This giant mech takes up the entire right-side of the screen and fires its claw arms (which can be destroyed) and a sweeping laser from its eyes. Platforms will raise, allowing you to attack its main weak spot (the head) but also putting you at risk of being skewered or crushed against the ceiling spikes. After a few hits, the mech’s attacks increase but, again, you can make a joke of it by using Cream, destroying Dr. Eggman’s newest space station and treating you to a character-specific ending. However, this isn’t the true final boss. Collect all seven Chaos Emeralds with the four main characters and you’ll be taken to true Area 53 where, as Super Sonic, you battle perhaps Dr. Eggman’s most visually disappointing final mech ever, an unnamed, worm-like cannon. I’ve never battled this boss, but you’re limited, as ever, by your Ring count and must bash its missiles back at it, watching for the mech’s freeze ray and suck attack while also avoiding projectiles and dealing with its invisibility gimmick.

Additional Features:
Just like in the classic games, you can challenge Special Stages to collect the seven legendary Chaos Emeralds, which unlocks the game’s true final boss and ending. Unfortunately, if you thought Sonic Advance’s hidden springs were a pain in the ass, let me introduce you to the “Special Rings”. Seven of these are hidden in each of the main Acts and all seven must be collected to enter the Special Stage. If you lose a life in the Act, you’ll lose all the Special Rings you collected and you probably won’t be able to backtrack to get them, especially as Sonic, since many are hidden in hard-to-reach areas. If you somehow find them all, you’re taken to a large, pseudo-3D checkerboard arena and must race around collecting Rings, gaining multipliers and utilising boost pads, all while the Robot Guard chases after you. Because of how difficult the Special Rings are, I’ve never entered a single Special Stage and have therefore never collected even one Chaos Emerald, which is extremely frustrating as a life-long Sonic player. To make matters worse, you must beat every Special Stage with the four main characters to unlock Amy Rose, a needlessly obtuse criteria for a character who was available by default in the last game. Sonic Advance 2 also includes a time attack mode and a Tiny Chao Garden, where you raise and play with Chao and even transfer them to and from the 3D games, though you’ll only unlock this after collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds with a single character. Similarly, you can unlock a boss rush by beating the game with three characters and all seven Chaos Emeralds, which you’d think would invite replayability but instead makes me want to tear my hair out since entering the Special Stages is so ridiculously difficult. You can also play a single- or multi-pack multiplayer mode, racing to the finish or collecting Rings against other players and utilising the additional Attack, Brake, Confusion, and Warp power-ups to gain an advantage.

The Summary:
The visual upgrade between Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2 is as startling as the differences between the first two Sonic games. Where one was colourful and fun but handicapped by a slow, meandering pace, the sequel is both brighter, slicker, and much faster and more action-packed in its design. Sonic Advance 2 brings its characters to life like never before with some truly incredible, amusing, and charming sprite work. The animations are great, making the game resemble its 3D counterparts and a cartoon, and the upgrade to the environments makes everything pop so much more. Things are a little tame at times and the Zones can be annoyingly linear, but this ties into the focus on high-speed gameplay. Unfortunately, this approach does hamper the gameplay somewhat since everyone blasts ahead at full speed like Sonic, meaning their individual playstyles fall further to the wayside. This wouldn’t be so bad if the game didn’t throw bottomless pits, annoyingly placed enemies and hazards, and cheap deaths at you in a paper-thin attempt at increasing the game’s challenge. Pits definitely should appear in Sky Canyon and difficult sections should definitely appear by the end, but scattering them throughout every Zone really stunts my enjoyment as you must either memorise the Act layouts or have split-second reactions to make unfair jumps. While I enjoyed the bosses, the autoscrolling mechanic got old fast and I didn’t appreciate the boss gantlet in XX. I think the autoscrollers would’ve worked better if it had only be used, say, three times. I did like the emphasis on story and how the bosses changed because of it, but not that these changes were undone upon beating the game. It’s also maddening that the Special Stages, Amy Rose, and true final boss are all-but inaccessible thanks to the irritating Special Ring mechanic and the fact you need to get the Chaos Emeralds with every character. I liked Cream, she was cute and fun and made the bosses a joke, and the visuals still blow me away, but the difficulty curve is a nightmare. Because of all this, I can’t rate Sonic Advance 2 higher than the original, even if it is technically and visually a better game since my enjoyment is constantly soured by my inability to experience everything it has to offer.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Are you a fan of Sonic Advance 2? How do think it compares to the original and the third game? What did you think to Cream and her boss-breaking powers? Were you a fan of the increased emphasis on speed? What did you think to the reliance on bottomless pits and boost pads? Did you ever collect the Chaos Emeralds and unlock Amy…and, if so, how? Which of Sonic’s Game Boy Advance titles is your favourite and how are you celebrating Sonic’s anniversary this year? Whatever your thoughts on Sonic Advance 2, leave a comment below and go check out my other Sonic content!

Mini Game Corner [Sonic Month]: Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (Mega Drive)

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Sonic the Hedgehog was first introduced to gamers worldwide on June 23 1991 and, since then, has become not only SEGA’s most enduring and popular character but also a beloved videogame icon. Thus, in keeping with tradition, I’m dedicating some time to celebrate SEGA’s supersonic mascot.

Released: 23 November 1993
Developer: SEGA Technical Institute
Also Available For: Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Game Gear, Master System, Nintendo Switch Online, PC, Nintendo Wii (Virtual Console), PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X

A Brief Background:
At the beginning of the 1990s, SEGA sought to create a videogame mascot iconic enough to knock Super Mario from his perch at the top of the videogame industry, kicking off the “Console Wars” of the era when Sonic the Hedgehog proved a big success. This evolved into mainstream popularity with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992); soon, Sonic was everywhere (including comics and cartoons) and SEGA was quick to capitalise with a slew of spin-off titles. SEGA put everything into crafting a massive third outing for their super-fast mascot, a game so large that it ended up being split into two parts. Realising the highly anticipated title wouldn’t be ready for the 1993 holiday season, SEGA commissioned another Sonic title to fill the void, one developed entirely in the United States. Loosely tying into the popular Sonic the Hedgehog (1993 to 1994) cartoon, Sonic Spinball expanded upon the celebrated pinball-based mechanics seen in the first two games and was hastily put together within a tight deadline. Sonic Spinball was largely well received, with reviews praising the visuals and soundtrack, though many criticised the slowdown and clunky gameplay. Still, Sonic Spinball lived on not just through multiple ports over the years but also a slew of adaptations, with the game providing the basis for not just the cartoons and comics but also a real-world theme park.

The Review:
Sonic Spinball, unlike the mainline games, is a 2D pinball-based action title in which players control Sonic the Hedgehog and bounce around inside Doctor Ivo Robotnik’s ominous Veg-O-Fortress, a volcano-based robot factory. Players can customise the game’s controls to operate different flippers with either A, B, or C or do the smart thing, like me, and map both the left and right bumpers to the A button for convenience. If you’ve played Spring Yard Zone and/or Casino Night Zone from the first two games, or any of those old pinball-based videogames, Sonic Spinball will be mildly familiar to you as you control flippers to send Sonic flying across a vaguely pinball-themed environment, bouncing off bumpers and hitting targets to score points. The difference comes from the awkward incorporation of some Sonic’s more traditional moves. In the rare moments where you’re not bouncing about like a madhog, you can run about and use Sonic’s Spin Dash to blast ahead. Unfortunately, Sonic’s controls are very clunky when he’s on the ground. He feels very heavy, shambling about with none of the grace or speed that you’d expect, the Spin Dash is weak and stunted, and Sonic’s jump is very short and awkward. When you do have to jump over walls, the jump tends to glitch and cause Sonic to fail or judder about on the environment, though thankfully these moments are few and far between. Sonic is also missing all his power-ups – there are no monitors to smash here – and Golden Rings are collected merely for points and to score yourself an “extra ball”. Sonic Spinball is also the only Sonic title that directly ties into SatAM; Sonic’s design heavily evokes the cartoon (though, oddly, Dr. Robotnik’s doesn’t) and his Freedom Fighter pals make cameos in the game’s bonus stages. The link is tenuous at best, however, with the game primarily serving as a pinball-based spin-off whose canonicity can be debated. Finally, unfortunately, Sonic is the only playable character here. Up to four plays can play at any one time, but in a classic turn-based format, which is pretty lame.

Bounce around a pinball nightmare to snag the many Chaos Emeralds.

On paper, Sonic Spinball is a very short game without much happening in it (hence this shorter review). There are only five stages to play through, though each stage is quite large and has multiple paths accessed via teleporters, narrow tubes, or by clearing the way of obstacles. This might mean smashing a door a few times, or pulling switches, or powering up generators. Either way, you’ll be repeating these actions a few times to open new paths or collect one of the many Chaos Emeralds powering the Veg-O-Fortress. Each stage has either three or five Chaos Emeralds to collect and finding them can be a bit of a headache. Not only do you have to factor in alternative paths and these tricky puzzle elements but directing Sonic’s momentum is crucial to obtaining the gems. This is easier said than done as Sonic seems to fly off like he has a mind of his own most of the time, though you can direct his momentum in mid-air. Every stage features instant death hazards at the bottom, though you’re given some leeway in Toxic Caves, and you’ll occasionally be spared by a burst of steam to stay in the fight. Badniks modelled after those seen in SatAM patrol every stage but are mainly used to score points or bounce to higher areas. You’ll be pushed along on jets of steam, ride mine carts, pinball about on balloons and cages, and ride flippers up vertical shafts, often dropping to the first screen and fighting your way back up to reach the boss. Targets, lights, and plugs can all be bounced into or past to score points. The neon billboard overhead constantly updates you on what’s happening, though it’s not always clear if it’s relevant to you getting a Chaos Emerald or not. Lava Powerhouse is easily the most maze-like stage, forcing you to time your steam-boosted attacks on Cluckbirds to enter pressure dial tubes and be blasted further up. The Machine is probably the most dangerous stage, with its grinding gears, collapsible gantries, and being the heart of Dr. Robotnik’s Badnik processing plant. Showdown, meanwhile, is the most open and vertical stage, with you hitting balloons, pulling hooks, blasting about using windsocks, and hopping to bombs to reach Dr. Robotnik’s ship. Once there, there’s a greater risk of plummeting all the way down thanks to the holes and destructible windows, something you want to avoid given how aggravating it is to get Sonic’s lead-filled ass moving in this game.

Rack up a high score and battle Dr. Robotnik’s gigantic mechanical monsters.

Graphically, Sonic Spinball is a mixed bag. The environments look good; every stage is large and detailed and pops with 16-bit goodness. The SatAM-style sprites are serviceable enough but Sonic looks really weird; he’s very squat and out of proportion when not curled into a ball. Things get pretty impressive in the bonus stages, where you see Sonic’s reflection as he controls a real pinball across a giant table, smashing Scratch’s and the Badnik processors to free his furry friends. The game mostly impresses with its music, with memorable tunes punctuating the frustrating and chaotic action. It may lack all the traditional Sonic tunes, but that Toxic Caves theme is an earworm, for sure. Every stage culminates in a boss battle at the very top where your biggest threat is screwing up your momentum and dropping out of the arena. Sonic can’t be hurt or killed by the bosses, but you must aim your shots to deal damage, which gets trickier with each boss. Things start [pretty simple with Scorpius; simply avoid the sewer warp tube and the acidic gloop it spits and flip Sonic into the sweet spot between its tail and its back to clobber it. The Robo-Boiler is a little trickier as you must flip up to a temporary platform on either side and time your jump to avoid the steam vents and smash the Robotnik faces floating inside, though it’s very easy just to fly all over the place. The Veg-O-Machine was another tricky one since it constantly spews Badniks and you must target the tubes on either side to halt their production before finishing it off from the inside. You finally confront Dr. Robontik aboard his ship as he flees the crumbling Veg-O-Fortress. This is the most aggravating fight of the game as Dr. Robotnik is shielded by claw arms and windsocks, which must be deactivated by hitting the button beneath his cockpit. Fail and you could be dropped to the beginning of the stage! However, even when you do deactivate the obstacles, you have only a short window to land hits, making this a tedious final fight. Despite all those Chaos Emeralds, beating the game only earns you a high score for the table and there’s nothing else to come back for. You can use cheat codes to skip ahead or the rewind and save state functions of other ports to make the game easier, however.

The Summary:
There’s always been something about Sonic Spinball. I remember getting my copy as a kid and I have a strange amount of nostalgia for it, despite barely clearing the first stage in my youth. Even now, I’m only able to finish the game through persistence or more modern means and I can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed my time when playing it. It is fun at times, don’t get me wrong. Visually, it’s quite striking and I like little quirks like the alarm and Sonic’s shocked face when he falls, him landing in a little bucket in the Toxic Caves, and the radical nineties slang displayed in the neon bar. It can be fun bouncing around searching for Chaos Emeralds and it’s quite rewarding figuring out how to obtain them and flipping Sonic just right to snag them, and the tie-in to the cartoons is a nice touch (if half-assed) but it’s a very barebones and frustrating experience. There are a lot of bonus stages and a lot of variety in the main stages, but it quickly becomes repetitive as you repeat the same tasks (or variations of them) multiple times to progress. It doesn’t help that Sonic looks and controls like ass; you basically need to be bouncing around all the time or else you’re controlling this sluggish, ungainly hedgehog meandering to the next spring. Sonic’s controls when bouncing aren’t much better; I found it very difficult to properly aim him and his momentum seems to have a mind of its own. It’s also not immediately clear where you need to go and what you need to do to get the Chaos Emeralds, leading to constant falls, warps, and deaths if you’re not careful. The bosses were large and enjoyable, if paradoxically both irritating and simple, and I really dig the music, but there’s just so little to come back to here. I think it might’ve been better to have smaller stages and divide some of the gimmicks between, say, eight distinct areas, with a boss battle after every second one. The pinball mechanics wear out their welcome very quickly thanks to the awful controls and madcap nature of the game, which ruins a lot of the fun and makes Sonic Spinball little more than a visually interesting, quirky little cash grab that fails to engage as powerfully as its mainline cousins.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Did you enjoy Sonic Spinball? Were you a fan of the pinball mechanics or did they aggravate you after a while? What did you think to the visual style and the inclusion of elements from the cartoons? Which of the stages and bosses was your favourite? Do you agree that the controls and replay value are lacklustre? Which Sonic spin-off is your favourite and how are you celebrating SEGA’s mascot this month? Let me know your thoughts on Sonic Spinball in the comments and go check out my other Sonic content.

Back Issues [Sonic Month]: Sonic the Comic: Origins

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Sonic the Hedgehog was first introduced to gamers worldwide on June 23 1991 and, since then, has become not only SEGA’s most enduring and popular character but also a beloved videogame icon. Thus, in keeping with tradition, I’m dedicating some time to celebrate SEGA’s supersonic mascot.

Story Title: “Enter: Sonic”
Published: 29 May 1993
Writer: Alan McKenzie
Artist: Anthony Williams

Story Title: “Robofox”
Published: 12 June 1993
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Woodrow Phoenix

Story Title: “The Origin of Sonic”
Published: 4 September 1993
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Richard Elson

Story Title: “Prologue: Once Upon a Planet…”
Published: 30 April 1994 (cover-dated: 13 May 1994)
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artists: Mike Hadley and John M. Burns

Story Title: “Kintobor Spelled Backwards Is…”
Published: 14 May 1994 (cover-dated: 27 May 1994)
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artists: Mike Hadley and John M. Burns

Story Title: “A Tale of Tails”
Published: 28 May 1994 (cover-dated: 10 June 1994)
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artists: Mike Hadley and John M. Burns

The Background:
Sonic the Hedgehog was a huge success for SEGA. Thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign and being bundled with the all-powerful 16-bit Mega Drive, over 15 million copies were sold and SEGA briefly usurped Nintendo as the big dog of the videogame industry. Eager to capitalise on Sonic’s mainstream popularity, SEGA shamelessly licensed their mascot anywhere they could, leading to two concurrent cartoons and multiple comics books published across the world, with each taking vastly different approaches to the source material. While the Japanese manga was far more faithful to the videogames, Archie Comics awkwardly mashed together the contrasting tones of Sonic’s cartoons into what would become the longest-running comic series based on a videogame, and the United Kingdom was treated to Sonic the Comic (StC). Published fortnightly, StC took much of its lore from the now defunct Mobius storyline created specifically for Western audiences and made the bold decision to portray Sonic as an egotistical narcissist who treated his friends poorly while fighting for freedom and justice. Eventually folding more elements and characters from the videogames into its narrative, StC was a highlight of my youth for many years. Although it soon devolved into reprints before being cancelled, its spirit lived on through an online continuation.

The  Review:
I’m doing things a little different for this review. StC’s early days were a bit sporadic, which isn’t surprising considering each issue featured a handful of stories based on different SEGA properties alongside letters, artwork, reviews, and cheats for SEGA titles. While Sonic the Hedgehog stories were always at the forefront, the lore was anything but sequential. Issue one, for example, drops us right in the middle of the action and appears to take place shortly before the events of the first videogame. By issue six, it’s clear that StC takes place sometime after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992) and StC rarely produced direct adaptations of the source material, especially the first two games. It also didn’t waste much time in bogging down its stories with exposition; the comics were aimed at a pre-made audience of SEGA gaming fans so this wasn’t necessary. Thus, it took some time for later issues and backup stories to flesh out Sonic’s characters and world. Fittingly, this was initially related through supplementary stories titled Sonic’s World, in which key events from Mobius’s history, the videogames, and StC’s unique canon were revealed to the reader. Thus, rather than going through each issue in turn for this review, I’ll instead be tackling them in as close to chronological order as possible to give a taste of the world StC crafted and the way it reinterpreted the source material. Accordingly, we must start not with issue one but with issue twenty-five, which included the first appearance of the Sonic’s World stories and gave us our first real overview of how Fleetway were interpreting the videogames. Like all Sonic media outside of Japan in the 1990s, Fleetway takes place not on Earth, but on Mobius, a planet said to be both 117,63222 light years from Earth and in “a parallel dimension” and divided into areas known as “Zones”. “Prologue: Once Upon a Planet…” gives a brief overview of how Sonic the Hedgehog fought the evil Doctor Ivo Robotnik, forcing him to retreat to a secret based in the “Special Zone”, and how Dr. Robotnik has both biological and mechanical minions station around the planet and rules with an iron fist. This story, like the others in these Sonic’s World features, is narrated by the Kintobor Computer, an artificial intelligence that assists Sonic and his friends from their underground base and is the digital backup of Sonic’s old friend, the kindly Doctor Ovi Kintobor.

Sonic shares his superhero origins with his friends and reveals how Dr. Robotnik came to be.

Who is Dr. Kintobor, you ask? Well, to answer that we need to jump to issue eight’s “The Origin of Sonic”. This story (set before Dr. Robotnik conquered Mobius) saw Sonic charge up a Star Post with his superfast speed and transport his friends (long-suffered sidekick Miles “Tails” Prower, brave Johnny Lightfoot, and cowardly Porker Lewis) to the Special Zone. Modelled after the iconic half-pipe Special Stages seen in Sonic 2, StC’s Special Zone the a chaotic and dangerous home of Sonic’s friend, the Omni-Viewer, a gigantic sentient television screen. Capable of transporting and transmitting people and events across time and space, the Omni-Viewer shows Sonic’s friends the origin of both Sonic and Dr. Robotnik through his view screen. Some time ago, Sonic was just a normal, brown hedgehog (albeit one with incredible speed). While exploring Mobius, Sonic stumbled upon Dr. Kintobor’s secret laboratory and met the kindly Doctor, one of the few humans living on Mobius. Enamoured by the beauty of the world, Dr. Kintobor created the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor (ROCC), a massive machine designed to transfer the planet’s “evil” into six gems using special Golden Rings. Unfortunately, without the legendary seventh emerald, the process is incomplete and the ROCC is unstable. Sonic agrees to search the planet for the elusive seventh emerald and, in return, Dr. Kintobor develops his natural speed. Thanks to a snazzy pair of “friction reducing […] power sneakers” and a “kinetic gyratoscope”, Sonic breaks the sound barrier, streamlining his body to his iconic blue look. One day, Dr. Kintobor took a lunch break and, while carrying a rotten egg, tripped and collided with the ROCC. The explosion scattering the Golden Rings across Mobius and warped the six Chaos Emeralds to the Special Zone and, like Sonic’s accident, forever changing the friendly Doctor. Where he was once tall, slender, and pleasant, he was now squat, bulbous, malicious, and rotten. Even his name was reversed (hence “Doctor Ivo Robotnik”) and he became obsessed with recovering the Chaos Emeralds to conquer the world. “The Origin of Sonic” concludes with the Omni-Viewer returning Sonic and his friends to Mobius, forced to drop them six months into the future and thus allowing Dr. Robotnik to take over the planet.

These stories depict Sonic’s first meeting with Tails and initial battles with Dr. Robotnik.

“Kintobor Spelled Backwards Is…” reveals that Sonic and Porker discovered one of the Golden Rings could talk after Dr. Kintobor’s brain patterns somehow transferred to it during the explosion. Using comic book logic, the tech-savvy Porker downloads Dr. Kintobor’s consciousness onto a computer, birthing the Kintobor Computer and allowing the kindly Doctor to live on. Following Dr. Robotnik’s transformation, Sonic and his friends scoured the world for the Golden Rings and the Chaos Emeralds to try and reverse the process until, one day, they were attacked by the first generation of Dr. Robotnik’s Badniks. Using his Sonic Spin Attack, Sonic trashed the Badniks and discovered, to his horror, that Dr. Robotnik was capturing his friends and using them to power his machines. There’s some crossover between these panels and issue one’s “Enter: Sonic” and even America’s promotional comic book, namely that Sonic trashed Badniks in Green Hill Zone and rescued Porker Lewis. A montage briefly recaps the first Sonic videogame,  how Sonic travelled and successfully recovered the six Chaos Emeralds before Dr. Robotnik. However, when Sonic and his friends tried  to analyse them, the Chaos Emeralds disappeared in a burst of radiation since, without the seventh to balance them, they couldn’t be safely kept together. Absorbing the full brunt of the blast, Sonic was transformed into a maniacal, golden-hued form that blasted from the base in a desperate desire for freedom. Crashlanding in the Swampland Zone, Sonic returned to normal with no memory of his transformation; his confusion gave way to concern when he heard cries for help. Rushing to assist, Sonic pulled a fox boy from the swamp and was amazed to find the cub, named Miles, not only had two tails but could fly by spinning them like a propeller, earning him the nickname “Tails”. Tails joined Sonic for another montage, this time recapping Sonic 2, which sees Sonic take down Dr. Robotnik’s greatest creation, the Death Egg, and safely hide the six Chaos Emeralds in the frozen North Cave.

Though Sonic easily destroys Dr. Robotnik’s machine, he’s almost killed by his best friend!

This brings us to “Enter: Sonic”, where Dr. Robotnik unleashes a fresh hoard of Badniks throughout Green Hill Zone to keep Sonic from meddling in the evil genius’s newest creation, the Engine of Destruction. Fuelled by the Golden Rings and literally sucking them out of the air, the machine promises to “crush Sonic into a million bitty hedgehog nuggets” and “pollute the atmosphere […] for a thousand years”! After rescuing his friends from their Badnik prisons, Sonic learns of the Engine of Destruction and races off to stop it, encountering some of the same hazards players must overcome in the first game (loops, crumbling platforms, and spike pits). Despite its vast size and ominous appearance, the Engine of Destruction is easily destroyed by Sonic, who simply rams into it at full speed. Sonic’s victory is soured by the realisation that he hasn’t heard from Tails for some time. Between issue one and two, Sonic goes on an unrelated adventure and returns to find Green Hill Zone deserted after Dr. Robotnik raided it overnight. Donning his new “power-grip trainers” and a pair of shades, Sonic liberates his friends, only to find Dr. Robotnik has transformed the foxboy into the semi-cybernetic “Robofox”. His personality warped by Dr. Robotnik’s programming, Robofox both physically and mentally attacks Sonic. However, when he witnesses his friend and hero being pummelled to death by Dr. Robotnik’s wrecking ball, Tails regains his senses and charges the villain, destroying both his exoskeleton and trashing the Egg-O-Matic. Relieved to have his friend back, Sonic teases Tails for his actions and sadly takes him back home, though his fancy new sneakers were wrecked from the adventure and Dr. Robotnik lived to fight another day.

The Summary:
It’s interesting reading these stories in this order, which can loosely bee described as sequential, rather than in publication order. There were a few other stories that flesh out some other elements of these events, such as a glimpse into Tails’ past before he came to Green Hill Zone and a time travel story that showed Sonic was responsible for the accident that birthed Dr. Robotnik. This Mobius/Dr. Kintobor canon was very popular outside of Japan at the time and all the books and comics published in the United Kingdom used a variation of it, while the United States made up their own backstories. It’s certainly an interesting and “comic book” take on the premise but it amuses me that the localisation team went to so much effort to expand the lore when the original story is so simple: anthropomorphic characters battle an evil despot to defend the world from pollution. It’s certainly interesting to see Sonic’s origin depicted this way and, now, many decades later, rather quaint. For a generation of readers, this was Sonic’s canon origin. People really thought he lived on Mobius and was once a regular brown hedgehog, transformed by breaking the sound barrier. It’s a very “superhero” origin, fitting considering Sonic was often billed as such in publications at that time. I think my biggest issue with the Dr. Kintobor thing is how little emotional connection I have to that character. We don’t spend much time with him and his personality is erased by Dr. Robotnik. Even the Kintobor Computer became superfluous once Porker became even more of a tech genius, and it just raised more questions than it was worth sometimes. The whole ROCC thing is an interesting way of explaining why Golden Rings are scattered everywhere in the games and another early story even explained the item monitors, but Rings rarely appeared in StC after this or in the same way as the games so it’s a bit convoluted. I did like that the writers were laying the groundwork for a seventh “Control Emerald” even this early on. This would turn out to be the legendary Grey Emerald rather than the Master Emerald, but it’s a fun way to explain why the Chaos Emeralds constantly need to be collected in each game.

This fantastical origin mixes with loose adaptations of the games to give StC a unique interpretation.

StC also had a unique spin on Super Sonic, making him Sonic’s demonic alter ego and creating deeper parallels between him and Dr. Robotnik, elements sadly never really expanded upon in future stories. The artwork of these stories is decent, if a bit inconsistent. Richard Elson was busy on the main Sonic stories in issues twenty-five to twenty-seven, though we get a taste of his work in issue eight. It’s not quite as refined as later but a lot better than issue one and two, where Sonic’s poses (especially in “Enter: Sonic”) are lazily ripped from official SEGA artwork. I did enjoy how these stories adapted elements from the videogames; we honestly didn’t see this that much in StC, potentially because multiple stories of Sonic simply running around, bashing Badniks, and avoiding traps isn’t very interesting or dramatic. It’s fun seeing Green Hill Zone come to life in “Enter: Sonic” and seeing Sonic’s friends be jostled about by the Special Zone’s bombs in “The Origin of Sonic”. Both locations would be expanded into more grounded, bustling locations within just a few issues as StC settled into a more relatable adaptation of the game’s fantastical elements, but I liked the simplicity and fidelity of everything here. There’s just enough to make it unique, like the Engine of Destruction and the Omni-Viewer. A major plus in these issues is that Dr. Robotnik sports his videogame appearance; he’d later transform into his cartoon counterpart, but I find this rendition far more menacing, especially during his first appearance following his accident. These Sonic’s World stories also deliver the first direct adaptation of the videogames, albeit in an extremely truncated form. We’d see elements included in other stories, sure, but these montages recreate and canonise the videogames, making it clear that issue one occurs after Sonic 2 and that Sonic’s had multiple adventures even before StC began. The stories are also laced with some quirky humour; everything feels very “British”, from the dialogue and the characterisations. Sonic isn’t quite the obnoxious asshole we’d see in other stories, but he lives up to his reputation as a “Hedgehog with Attitude”, giving off an arrogant and cocksure bravado that perfectly contrasts with Dr. Robotnik’s spiteful and egg-centric personality.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you read Sonic the Comic as a kid? If so, what did you think to its unique interpretation on Sonic, his friends, and his lore? Were you a fan of the Mobius/Dr. Kintobor origin or are you glad that it’s been forgotten in modern times? What did you think to Sonic’s original look and his first meeting with Tails? What are some of your favourite StC stories and characters? How are you celebrating Sonic the Hedgehog this year? Whatever your thoughts on Sonic the Comic, or Sonic in general, drop a comment below.

Back Issues [Sonic Month]: Sonic the Hedgehog #0-3

Dr. K10 Comments

Sonic the Hedgehog was first introduced to gamers worldwide on June 23 1991 and, since then, has become not only SEGA’s most enduring and popular character but also a beloved videogame icon. Thus, in keeping with tradition, I’m dedicating some time to celebrate SEGA’s supersonic mascot.

Writer: Michael Gallagher – Artist: Scott Shawl

Story Titles: “Don’t Cry for Me, Mobius!” and “Oh No–Robo! No-Mo’ Mobo!”
Published: 24 November 1992

Story Titles: “Run, Sally, Run!” and “Something Fishy”
Published: March 1993

Story Title: “A Crowning Achievement”
Published: April 1993

Story Titles: “Sonic Flashback!” and “Why Ask Spy?”
Published: May 1993

The Background:
SEGA wasted little time capitalising on Sonic’s massive popularity once he became a mainstream success and single-handedly caused them to usurp Nintendo’s position at the top of the videogame industry. Following in the footsteps of Nintendo’s success with DiC, SEGA’s mascot soon debuted on the small screen with two concurrent cartoons, the most popular of which was the simply-titled Sonic the Hedgehog (1993 to 1994), also known as “SatAM”. SatAM recast Sonic as the point man for the Knothole Freedom Fighters, a team based on his Animal Friends from the source material, and Doctor Robotnik as a terrifying, semi-cybernetic dictator. SatAM’s darker tone clashed with the slapstick approach of its sister-series, but Archie Comics awkwardly mashed both together for this four-part miniseries, the genesis of what would become the longest-running comic series based on a videogame. In the years since, Archie Comics would expand on their convoluted lore, shoe-horning in more and more videogame characters, until a ridiculous lawsuit spelled the beginning of the end for the comics, with the license then taken up by IDW and an all-new, game-adjacent continuity.

The Review:
When I was a kid growing up in the UK, Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog comics were a complete oddity. I never even heard of them until I picked up a trade paperback collection of this original miniseries. Though they offered little in the way of a resolution to SatAM’s unresolved cliff-hanger, they were the closest thing to an official follow-up. While they had many flaws and became ridiculously convoluted, things started relatively simply with this oddball miniseries, which has the overall look and cast of SatAM but strangely incorporates some elements (particularly the cartoonish slapstick) of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993). Sonic, Miles “Tails” Prower, Princess Sally Acorn, and their colourful friends and enemies live on Mobius, a world whose natural beauty has been tainted and corrupted by the maniacal Dr. Robotnik. “Don’t Cry for Me, Mobius!” begins with the mad doctor chasing Sonic throughout the countryside and trying to splatter him with his super sticky “mega-muck”. While Sonic easily outruns Dr. Robotnik’s Egg-O-Matic, he appears to be trapped by, of all things, a simple Caterkiller. This is a ruse to lure Dr. Robotnik closer as Sonic avoids a splatter of mega-muck, destroying the Caterkiller and leaving Dr. Robotnik covered in his own goop. Sonic then breaks the fourth wall and invites the reader to follow him to Knothole Village, the hidden refuge of the Freedom Fighters, where he meets with Tails (Sonic’s biggest fan and budding sidekick), Boomer the Walrus (the mechanic and tech support who wasn’t quite yet known as Rotor), and Princess Sally (the team’s leader who sports a decidedly different colour scheme and is exasperated by Sonic’s brazen attitude). Sonic and Sally’s awkward mutual attraction is interrupted by fusspot Antoine D’Coolette, who alerts them to a leak that could potentially reveal their location.

Sonic and his friends gleefully fight to free Mobius from Dr. Robotnik’s mad tyranny.

The Freedom Fighters head topside to investigate, exposing themselves to Dr. Robotnik’s spy satellites, and discover the cause is a growth of literal weeping willows driven to tears by Dr. Robotnik’s destructive actions. Eager to crush his hated enemy, Dr. Robotnik leaps into his wrecking ball machine and attacks alongside his Buzzbomber. Sonic leads them to a nearby well but briefly panics when he can’t immediately grab a power boost from the Power Rings within. Once he grabs one, he uses its strange magical powers to flip Dr. Robotnik’s wrecking ball, smashing his ship and forcing him to flee back to Robotropolis, his heavily industrial cityscape. We then get our first taste of how things got to be this way in “Oh No–Robo! No-Mo’ Mobo!”, a flashback story which shows that Sonic was once the delivery boy for his Uncle Chuck’s chili dog stand. The two literally jump for joy when a call comes in for two hundred chili dogs and Sonic gleefully speeds away to deliver the order, leaving Chuck and their beloved pet, Muttski, to be apprehended by Dr. Robotnik and his SWATbots, who’ve covertly conquered the land without the hedgehogs realising it. Sonic’s delivery brings him to Robotropolis and sees him almost crushed by a wrecking ball courtesy of Cluck, Dr. Robotnik’s robotic bird. Realising he’s been duped, Sonic races back to his family and finds SWATbots destroying the chili dog stand. After trashing the robots, Sonic heads back to Robotropolis to save his family and bumps into Princess Sally, an idealistic squirrel girl who’s also trying to rescue her family. Thanks to Sally’s insight, Sonic soon finds Uncle Chuck and Muttski but is dismayed to see they’ve been turned into robots (strangely drawn as though they’re merely hypnotised) and forced to work as Dr. Robotnik’s slaves. When Sonic angrily confronts Dr. Robotnik and futily tries to reason with his uncle, he’s attacked by more SWATbots and forced to flee with Sally to the “Great Forrest” and readily accepts her offer to join her band of rebels.

Sally’s secretive nature and Sonic’s reckless attitude lead our heroes into some slapstick peril.

“Run, Sally, Run!” sees Sonic perturbed when he passes by Princess Sally as she’s wandering dangerously close to the edge of the forest and is angrily told to stay out of her business. Believing Antoine is behind her foul mood, Sonic races to Knothole and discovers that Sally has arranged to meet with Dr. Robotnik to negotiate the return of her father, King Maximillian Acorn, and that no one is to interfere. Naturally, Sonic (joined by Antoine and Tails) races to intervene but Sally chastises them and demands that they not follow her. Though they again plan to disregard this, the three are suddenly trapped within a cage and, while Sally is confident that the meeting is legitimate, she’s aghast when Buzzbomber drops her right in Dr. Robotnik’s lap and she’s hauled away to the “Robo-Machine”. Naturally, Sonic burrows out and into Dr. Robotnik’s lair, rescuing her, smashing the Robo-Machine, and dashing Sally back to Knothole. Unfortunately, Sally’s unimpressed by the “mucho-macho-squad”, whose reckless actions meant she couldn’t use Boomer’s special boots to analyse and reverse the Robo-Machine’s effects, leaving Sally enraged and Sonic embarrassed all because she couldn’t just explain the situation to them. Whilst relaxing with a spot of fishing in “Something Fishy”, Sonic accidentally hooks a Jaws Badnik and narrowly avoids being chomped to pieces like the dock he’s standing on. Diving into the lake (with no fear of the water), Sonic discovers not just Dr. Robotnik’s polluting pipes but also his waterproof robot maker. Though Sonic avoids being fed into the machine, he almost drowns and is only saved by the timely intervention of Boomer and Tails, who arrive in Boomer’s bathysphere craft. While the damaged Jaws limps off to report to its master, Sonic smashes the robot maker and returns to dry land with his friends, his appetite for seafood now lost.

Sonic journeys across land, air, and sea to recover the magical Freedom Emeralds.

By “A Crowning Achievement”, Sally has switched to a brunette (a look Sonic secretly likes and which Sally secretly hopes he likes) and presents Sonic with her father’s jewellery box, which contains the legendary “Freedom Emeralds”. Despite their name, the jewels are actually pearl-like spheres set onto an elaborate crown, King Acorn’s family heirloom that Sally hopes will bestow her with magical powers. In preparation for her coronation, Sally has Antoine and his Royal Guard guard the box, but they’re all stunned to find it empty and the crown missing. After almost coming to blows over the incident, Sonic and Antoine suspect one of the guardsmen to be a robot spy. Using his super speed, Sonic sets off the sprinkler system and exposes the spy, who reveals he delivered the crown (and Knothole’s location) to his master before promptly self-destructing. Thanks to Sonic’s “Warp Sonic Speed”, Knothole (and our heroic hedgehog) are spared a gruesome fate, and Sally orders him and Antoine to retrieve the crown. Begrudgingly, the two pursue Dr. Robotnik’s blimp using a hot air balloon. Though Antoine’s forced to bail when they’re attacked by Bat Brains, Sonic bounces across the Badniks and pops the blimp with his patented Sonic Spin Attack, retrieving a Freedom Emerald in the process. Learning from a busted SWATbot that Dr. Robotnik plans to hide the Freedom Emeralds across Mobius, Sonic races underwater (with Tails accidentally in tow) and finds another Freedom Emerald at the same cavern from “Something Fishy”, easily defeating Jaws once more. While Sonic easily snags a third gem from a passing SWATbot, he’s dropped into a confrontation with Burrobot. Despite the robot’s terrifying burrowing power, it’s still no match for Sonic’s speed and is relieved of its Freedom Emeralds. Trapped in an underground maze, Sonic runs himself to exhaustion searching for the exit before having the genius idea to burrow upwards. Naturally, he conveniently pops out in Boomer’s workshop, finally restoring the crown and bolstering the Freedom Fighters’ morale, though Dr. Robotnik, angered at being absent for the story, vows to have his revenge.

After a weird dream, Sonic infiltrates Dr. Robotnik’s lair with a flimsy robot disguise.

“Sonic Flashback!” sees Sonic forced off a cliff by a two-pronged attack of Crabmeats and the tried-and-tested wrecking ball. Knocked loopy, Sonic has a weird dream where he and Dr. Robotnik grew up together, revealing that Uncle Chuck created the magical rings to boost Sonic’s speed. Chuck despairs of his nephew’s disdain for “Little Robotnik”, an orphan boy who tinkers with mechanical toys and aspires to take over Chuck’s farm. Unwilling to entertain “Robbie’s” attitude, Sonic speeds off and Chuck ends up crashing his tractor into the barnyard (and Robbie) thanks to Robbie sabotaging the vehicle to make his toys. Boosted by the magical ring, Sonic gets them to a hospital in record time but Robbie, incensed at Chuck’s reckless driving, builds an even bigger robot out of Chuck’s appliances and attacks the hedgehogs. Luckily, Sonic easily rescues his uncle and reduces the robot to scrap with a hose pipe, then he wakes up and gets back to fighting Dr. Robotnik for real. In “Why Ask Spy?”, Princess Sally has Sonic slap on a mechanical jaw and some scary contact lenses to masquerade as a robot. After convincing Tails that Sonic is a threat, Sonic successfully infiltrates Dr. Robotnik’s lair, convincing the dictator that he stumbled into one of his devious traps and was transformed into a mindless slave. Disregarding Buzzbomber’s concerns, the gleeful doctor orders Sonic to lead him to Knothole and is thankfully saved from betraying his friends when he instead volunteers to investigate a disturbance at the Crab Factory. There, Sonic reconvenes with Sally and Antoine and also discovers Uncle Chuck diligently assembling Crabmeats. After a run-in with the robotic Muttski fires Sonic up, he gets a measure of payback by tricking Dr. Robotnik with his disguise once more and dropping a bomb on the Buzzbomber factory to deliver a significant blow to the dictator’s operation. Interestingly, Sonic justifies this by saying he doesn’t want to bomb his uncle’s factory and possibly kill him but seems to have no consideration for the slaves working in the other factory.

The Summary:
Issues 0 to 3 of this miniseries also devote a few pages to some shorter stories, pin-ups, and gags to bolster the narrative. Issue 0 sees Princess Sally lament to loss of her literal family tree, gives a rundown of Sonic’s different levels of speed (categorising three as “Ultra-Sonic”, “Super-Sonic”, and “Hyper-Sonic”, with no relation to Sonic’s similarly named forms), introduces readers to Dr. Robotnik’s other Badnik minions, and gives a quick explanation of Sonic’s iconic sneakers (which were created for him by Uncle Chuck in this continuity). Issue 1 showcases Sonic’s speed by having him blow Boomer’s mind with a game of baseball, play tennis with himself, and go through his family album (with him being too fast for the camera each time), offers a two-page pin-up of the heroes and villains, and sees Boomer give examples of slower creatures to have a pop at politicians. Issue 2 sees the writers poke fun at other comics by offering ten reasons why readers should pick Sonic the Hedgehog over the likes of DC and Marvel (ironically, guest stars, fancy covers, a motion picture, and character deaths would all come to pass). It also includes two one-page stories, one detailing the versatility of his spines and one demonstrating that Sonic’s faster than the speed of sound (something amusingly noted in issue 0 where the editor points out that the “Zoom” sound effect will arrive “later this week”). Gags and skits such as these tie into the miniseries’ slapstick nature; signs, sight gags, and puns are plentiful in these four issues, placing Sonic the Hedgehog firmly as a book for little kids. There are some more mature themes behind all the cartoonish action, such as a strong anti-pollution message, negative portrayals of bullying and xenophobia, and a strong sense of justice, but it’s all very light-hearted and carefree, with the characters rarely in peril since Sonic can just magically solve every issue with his Spin Attack, magic ring, or by easily fooling his enemies.

Although the miniseries echoes SatAM, its characterisations are all over the place.

Fans of SatAM will probably be disappointed to find that the miniseries merely takes visual cues from that series. We have the same cast of characters in similar situations, but it’s far goofier than in SatAM. The tone is far closer to Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, with Dr. Robotnik more a bumbling blowhard than a menacing tyrant, his minions being snarky and foolish robots easily fooled by drawings, and Sonic performing nonsensical feats like magically turning Dr. Robotnik’s machine against him or setting off sprinklers by literally burning rubber. Sonic’s characterisation is a weird mish-mash of Adventures and SatAM, showcasing his arrogance and smart mouth but also seeing him be awkward around Sally, whom he has an obvious crush on. Sally is far more annoying here than in SatAM, barking orders and deliberately misleading her allies only to berate them for acting in her best interests. She’s a strong-willed leader who isn’t afraid to join the fight and is far from a damsel in distress, but her polarising personality make her more of a hinderance than an asset. Boomer and Antoine aren’t featured much, but we do see that Sonic respects Boomer and detests Antoine, seeing him as a “sap” who lacks the fortitude and ability to fight Dr. Robotnik. Tails is very much like his Adventures counterpart, depicted as Sonic’s biggest fan and excitedly following him into danger, but, like in SatAM, Sonic isn’t handcuffed to him and Tails is depicted more like the team’s mascot than a capable Freedom Fighter. Characters like Snively and Bunnie Rabbot are strangely absent, meaning Dr. Robotnik is more reliant upon his blundering SWATbots and Badniks. Like in Adventures, the game-accurate Badniks are given bizarre personalities and depicted as fiercely loyal, but ultimately stupid minions who may briefly get the upper hand against Sonic but are always sent packing by the story’s end.

What few recognisable elements there are are lost beneath a strange interpretation of the concept.

Interestingly, the miniseries attempts to delve into the backstory of Mobius and what life was like before Dr. Robotnik took over. It’s obviously very different from what SatAM and later comics would depict and is thus very rushed and disappointing. It’s fun seeing Sonic interact with Uncle Chuck and Muttski, but Dr. Robotnik’s takeover is completely glossed over and Sonic’s past with Sally is reduced to simply bumping into each other while searching for their families. Most egregiously, the miniseries takes a literal, outdated definition of the term “robot” and depicts Dr. Robotnik’s slaves more like hypnotised slaves than mechanical automatons. Despite being bolstered by clearly robotic SWATbots and Badniks, the Mobians Dr. Robotnik enslaves have no robotic appendages (except, bizarrely, for Muttski) and the roboticization process is as far removed from SatAM as everything else beyond a surface level similarity. The miniseries also ham-fistedly includes game-accurate elements, such as Dr. Robotnik’s wrecking machine and his Badniks, though the writers seem to have no idea how the Golden Rings (or SatAM’s Power Rings) work. It’s as though the writers were shown the pilot episodes of Adventures and SatAM and given a brief description and some visual cues of the games, then told to just do whatever they like. Consequently, while the miniseries is fun at times and probably very appealing to younger readers, it doesn’t exactly capture the spirit of either cartoon or the source material. Instead, it’s a weird amalgamation of different elements and half-baked interpretations of already drastically different adaptations. While the artwork is serviceable, mirroring early episodes of SatAM, it’s not enough to bolster the appeal of this miniseries. It’s amazing to me how complicated and dramatic Archie’s Sonic comics became in the years following this publication; compare these issues with ones from just a few years later and it’s like night and day! Ultimately, it’s fun to revisit these early days but I think Archie’s Sonic comics benefitted by abandoning their ties to the 90’s cartoons and creating their own narrative, making these a fun, if childish, curio more than anything.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Have you ever read the original Archie Sonic the Hedgehog miniseries? What did you think the way it mashed together elements from the cartoons and videogames? Were you disappointed that it took a more slapstick approach or did you enjoy these early issues as a kid? Which of Archie’s original characters was your favourite and what did you think to their award-winning run? How are you celebrating Sonic the Hedgehog this year? Whatever your thoughts on Archie’s Sonic comics, or Sonic in general, feel free to leave a comment below.

Game Corner: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Nintendo Switch)

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Released: 1 September 2019
Developer: SEGA
Also Available For: Arcade and Mobile

The Background:
Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog engaged in a fierce “Console War” during the nineties as Nintendo and SEGA battled to be the top dog of the videogame industry. In the end, thanks largely to wasting money on expensive peripherals and the pressures of an ever-changing marketplace, SEGA withdrew from the home console market. On the plus side, their supersonic mascot appeared on his rival’s consoles, prompting discussions of a long-awaited crossover began between their respective creators, Shigeru Miyamoto and Yuji Naka. Surprisingly, the two came together in the spirit of friendly competition once SEGA obtained the 2008 Beijing Olympic licence. Essentially a collection of Olympic-themed mini games, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (SEGA Sports R&D, 2007) saw Mario and Sonic characters co-existing for the first time and its commercial success led to subsequent titles releasing annually to promote different Olympic events across the world. This year, to coincide with the Special Olympics World Winter Games, I’m looking at the 2020 iteration (and currently last) of the series. Released following a significant gap between entries and the first to appear on the Nintendo Switch, the game including story elements and events that incorporated sprites from both franchise’s classic 2D games. Retaining its branding despite the delay to the Olympic games, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 attracted mixed reviews that praised the nostalgic feel of the 2D mini games but criticised the tedious story mode and limited options.

The Plot:
When Bowser, King of the Koopas, and Doctor Eggman are trapped inside an 8-bit videogame console alongside Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, Luigi, Miles “Tails” Prower, and all their extended supporting characters must compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games to free them.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
If you’re familiar with the Mario & Sonic series of Olympic game tie-ins, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is a collection of Olympic-themed minigames starring the biggest names from both franchises. As ever, Mario and Sonic’s worlds are mashed together with our own, allowing these anthropomorphic and comical characters to wander around real-world locations (courtesy of not one but two overworld maps) and learn interesting facts about both franchises, the Olympic games, and Tokyo. You start the game by selecting your region, being bombarded by pop-up notifications that tell you basic stuff like what the sound settings do, and customising your player profile, assigning icons and such. From there, you have a few gameplay choices: you can jump into a quick game solo or against other players, picking from every event as they’re all unlocked from the start and setting the difficulty of each, or tackle the game’s story mode. Regardless of which option you pick, your gameplay experience will change depending on which character you play as. While the Story Mode forces you to play as certain characters, you can pick almost any character for any event in Quick Match, but you’ll need to consider their capabilities. These are pretty simple: some characters are faster, some are all-rounders, some do better with Super Moves. It doesn’t get more complicated than that and I’m not sure how much of a factor they are as basically every game comes down to how fast you can tap buttons or work the various controls. There are thirty-two characters to choose from, though twelve are only selectable in certain events (like Jet for Football and Ludwig for Fencing) and, when playing the 2D-styled “Dream Events”, your choices are limited to just eight characters.

Up to four players can tackle the game’s 3D, nostalgic 2D, and chaotic “Dream” events.

There are twenty-one Olympic events to play, ten 2D Events set during the 1964 Olympic games, and three special challenge “Dream Events”. You’ll get a chance to review the controls and success criteria prior to each event, though it’s worth pressing X during one of the many introductory scenes or after pausing to review any additional controls. Players can choose from three different ways to play, including flailing around with the motion controls or using the buttons like a normal person, though some events (like the Discus Throw and Javelin Throw) force you to use motion controls to angle your shot, making them some of the more aggravating events. Generally, you can hold the Right trigger or A at the start of an event to build power and must tap A to run or move. B is usually reserved for jumping while R or A execute a Super Move (such as a burst of speed or dancing flourish). The simplest events, like the 100m Race and 110m Hurdles, have you tapping A to run to the finish line, with players hitting B at the right time to clear hurdles and gain a boost in the latter. Most events have a foul line that will disqualify you if you cross it, some of the trickier ones have an optional practice mode beforehand, and your objective is to win every event to set a best time (or break a World Record) and earn gold medals or the top spot on the podium. If you fail an event three times in the Story Mode, you can choose to skip the event, progressing the story with no consequences, something I eventually did quite often when the events became too laborious or finnicky. I was fine with the challenge offered by, say, the Long Jump where you tap A to run, hold B to adjust your jump angle, and complete a series of button presses akin to a quick-time event (QTE), even if it took some practice. Similarly, Sport Climbing was tricky but not too taxing. You press the Left trigger and R at the start to latch on, aim your jump with the left and right control sticks, and hop to hand-holds against a time limit, avoiding spiked balls and replenishing your stamina with hearts. I also had a fair bit of fun in Boxing and Fencing, where you must time button presses and build combos, guarding against incoming attacks and frantically tapping A (in the latter) to avoid being counted out.

Skill and character choices can help with the game’s harder events, which include team-based sports.

Things took a turn whenever the events became a bit more complicated, however. It’s not too difficult timing your button presses in the Triple Jump event or pulling off gnarly tricks in the Surfing – Shortboard and Skateboarding – Park events, but you need to be on point to win those gold medals as a poor score will cost you and you often have to complete a few rounds to win, making it even more annoying. Archery was a similar issue; here, you have to think about the wind direction, the distance of the targets, and the angle of your shot. It’s a far cry from Shooting – Trap, where you just pick a square and hit a button to shoot clay discs. The Judo event also caused me a lot of headaches; you have to mess about trying to keep your balance to toss the opponent, which I just couldn’t figure out. I didn’t mind completing increasing difficult QTEs in the 10m Platform and Vault events, but tilting the left stick to match your partner’s strokes in Canoe Double (C-2) 1000m and frantically rotating the control stick to chase to the goal in Kayak (K-1) 1000m was a pain in the ass. You even play team games, like Volleyball, Football, and Rugby Sevens. I couldn’t figure out the Volleyball event; no matter how well I timed my presses of A and B and how often I hit the ball over the net, I couldn’t score a point. Rugby Sevens was a touch more enjoyable; here, you press A to pass and score a try, B to evade, and race around a pitch tackling other players and scoring a conversion by timing a press of X as a meter goes back and forth. And then there’s the aforementioned Discus Throw and Javelin, where I could just about figure out the motion controls in practice and then kept screwing up my throws when it came time to compete. If the option had been there to just use the left stick to direct my shot, it would’ve been far more enjoyable!

The minigames are some of the best parts of the game, often outshining the main Olympic events!

When playing Story Mode, you’ll alternate between moving Luigi around the 3D world of the 2020 Olympic games and Mario around the 2D world of the 1964 Olympic games, with Tails and Sonic following each. You’ll chat with other characters and non-playable characters (NPCs) like Toads and Omachao to obtain passes to other areas and compete in additional events and find glowing tickets to learn fun facts. For such small overworld maps, there’s a hell of a lot of backtracking and dialogue to skip through, and it quickly gets a bit tedious slogging through the twenty-chapter story to reunite the two groups. Occasionally, characters will ask you to complete one of ten minigames to advance the plot; these are then unlocked for free play in the Game Room. These minigames are some of the best parts of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and see you flying through the Tokyo skies in a sidescrolling shooter like in Sky Chase Zone, chasing down a bullet train, painstakingly searching Shibuya’s Hachiko Square for specific characters in a game of Where’s Wally?, and chasing down (and attacking) Dr. Eggman’s taxi in what’s somewhat similar to Rad Racer (Square, 1987). You’ll be bouncing on Cheep-Cheeps as you chase after Bowser’s river boat, sneaking through a museum, avoiding Koopas and other Mario enemies as you collect keys, and desperately trying not to fall as you scale Tokyo Tower. Other times, you’ll be beating up waves of Shy Guys or shooting Egg Pawns before they throw spiked balls at you, both options that are far more enjoyable than the game’s odd depiction of Badminton that’s essentially just a rhythm game, just press the button when prompted, using the left stick to aim your shot, and your character moves by themselves (though I found the doubles partner screwed up more than I did). You’ll also dash around an obstacle course in Equestrian – Jumping, building speed to jump fences and puddles, knock a ball back and forth in table tennis until you can hit your Super Shot, and throw hands and feet in Karate – Kumite, toppling your opponent to earn extra points. Most of the events are pretty fun but some of them are way too short and others outstay their welcome very quickly. It’s also pointless trying to master the difficult ones as you can just skip them in Story Mode, unless you’re aiming for 100% completion.

Presentation:
In keeping with the tradition of this spin-off series, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is a bit of a mixed bag in this area. None of the familiar tunes from either franchise appear, leaving the game to plod along on the strength of a weak-ass, generic soundtrack that barely eases the pain of a failure. Things start off strong with a beautiful pre-rendered cutscene that showcases many of the new and returning events and shows these two franchises co-existing side y side, a visual that never gets old even if I’ll never forgive either company for not doing a more suitable crossover. It’s a bit downhill from there, though, as prerendered cutscenes are eschewed in favour of partially animated 2.5D models, endless dialogue boxes, and a parade of pop-ups. The 2D sprites and environments ease this pain a bit, but the developers limited themselves by using the sprites from Mario’s debut title, meaning he and his fellow characters have very few frames of animation. Sonic and his cohorts fare slightly better in this regard but the aesthetic is all over the place since Knuckles the Echidna’s sprites are obviously more detailed than Sonics, leading to some weird moments when the sprites are awkwardly depicted holding items. It even looks weird when they celebrate their victories or react to their failures since the developers didn’t create any new animations, so you’re left with Sonic looking annoyed and Mario flipping on his ass. Overall, I did enjoy the 2D environments and events, though; they reminded me of the many 8-bit sports games on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). I would’ve liked to see some 16-bit ones thrown in, even if just as additional “Dream Events”, but these retro-styled sections were the best parts of the game, despite my complaints.

The limited 3D visuals are decent but it’s the retro-styled aesthetic that really impresses.

The 3D sections hold up well, for the most part, but aren’t that dissimilar from what we’ve seen in the previous Mario & Sonic titles. You can hold B to run and characters are far more animated in 3D, spouting gibberish and sound bites and even wearing different outfits for every event. Strangely, every area felt very bland and empty, despite often being populated by at least a handful of NPCs. Eventually, larger crowds of Sonic’s Animal Friends, Chao, Shy Guys, and Toads fill certain areas and populate the stands, but they don’t help to make the areas feel very lively. Still, you’ll see NPCs like Charmy Bee and Lakitu serving as referees and other side characters operating cameras; these NPCs even get in on the action in the atrocious Marathon event. The 2D sections sported an announcer I either missed or ignored in the 3D parts and characters all gain a suitably dramatic glow and flourish when executing Super Moves. However, while event locations and interiors are far more interesting to look at, the game’s let down by its painfully bland overworlds. You can visit many real-world locations in 1964 and 2020, seeing planes fly overhead and learning their history, but it’s all stuck on a rather uninspired overworld map. This is especially disappointing considering how interactive and varied previous overworlds in the series have been, and the fact that you visit these areas time and again to find passes or charge this magical battery created by Doctor Eggman Nega. Many of the minigames again steal the show in terms of visuals, incorporating additional sprites to serve their needs and being visually akin to lost titles from Nintendo’s 8-bit heyday, which only adds to their replay factor. The game also performs really well; I noticed no slowdown or texture warping or anything like that. However, there are a lot of menus to navigate, lots of instructional text to read, and replaying events after a loss can be tedious as you have to skip a bunch of introductory scenes.

Enemies and Bosses:
As you might imagine, every character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is your enemy at some point though, luckily for you, there’s very little to distinguish them. Computer-controlled opponents have the same abilities as you, charging power, getting a starting boost, and attacking and defending just as you would. Their individual classes do become a factor, however (you may struggle to win a race against Shadow the Hedgehog when playing as Wario, for example), though you can certainly overcome these if you mash buttons faster enough or don’t screw up when playing the event. I did notice some characters seemed to be unfairly good at some events; Vector the Crocodile never struggled to toss his discus, for example, and I could never hope to match Bowser Jr. in the Javelin Throw. Admittedly, the fact that I struggled with these events probably has a lot to do with that. however, I did notice my opponents would charge their Power Gauge much faster than me, or would sprint past me at the last minute even if I had a commanding lead. The general advice here is to simply do better the next time around, something that’s easier said than done when you have to restart a Table Tennis match after playing to deuce and match point for God-knows how many rounds! Unlike in some of the previous Mario & Sonic titles, there are few examples of what could loosely be called “boss battles” here. It’s generally seen as a big deal when you challenge Dr. Eggman or Bowser, but then a lot of those events aren’t that difficult to win…to start with… Bosses (and Badniks) do appear in the Tokyo Sky Flight minigame, however, including Mecha Sonic and a variation on the classic Egg Wrecker fight, which were fun inclusions.

A handful of quasi-boss battles and harder events test your skills…and patience…

There are some exceptions, however. The Metropolitan Goal Kick minigame, for example, has you tackling Egg Pawns to grab a rugby ball and then timing a button press to kick it up the length of the Metropolitan Government Building and deal damage to Metal Sonic. As far as I could see, Eggrobos only appear in the Volleyball event, while you must tackle Boom Booms in Rugby Sevens and score penalties against Egg Pawns in Football. The twelve guest characters can only be challenged or controlled in specific events, as well, and you must best them (or skip the event) in Story Mode to unlock them. This means you’ll only see Zavok and Zazz of the Deadly Six in Boxing and Table Tennis, respectively, Diddy Kong only appears in Rugby Sevens, while Eggman Nega and Rosalina must be challenged in games of Karate – Kumite and Surfing, respectively. Depending on your level of skill, these can be difficult events; it took me a couple of tries to clear the Sport Climbing event and unlock Rouge the Bat, for example. When playing Story Mode, other playable characters challenge you to events before helping you or joining your team, meaning you must best Knuckles and Shadow in a game of Badminton (Doubles) and win a canoe race against Wario and Waluigi to gain their help. You must also defeat Bowser’s Koopalings to charge up that stupid battery and deal with Bowser, Dr. Eggman, and their minions stealing your gold medals in 1964. Both baddies challenge you to various events, with Dr. Eggman easily being overtaking in a straight-up race or in the Vault event. Once you reach the final chapter, you must pick to play as either Mario or Sonic and race Bowser in the dread Marathon. In this event, you must tap A to run, which depletes your stamina. Hitting other runners, the walls, swarms of bees, or puddles also depletes your stamina and will eventually knock you over, costing you valuable time. You can grab water with B and ride slipstreams to regain stamina, charging up for a boost or using boost pads, but this is a hell of a final ask that I ended up skipping as I never had enough stamina to beat Bowser to the finish.

Additional Features:
There are 122 pieces of trivia to find in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, spread out across both 1964 and 2020. You’ll get trivia by inspecting glowing tickets and talking to other characters, who’ll either ask a question or offer titbits about the characters, the Olympic games, and Tokyo. These are all saved in the Trivia section so you can re-read them if you wish or see which ones you’re missing. There are also eighty hidden “Challenges” to complete, with the obscured list available from the main menu. These are mainly tied to setting new World Records, finishing events on the hardest difficulty, scoring a set number of points, and clearing Story Mode. Finishing the Story Mode, you’re returned to the overworld upon loading your file, now able to replay all previous events and take on additional challenges in the “Dream Events”. Though there are only three of these, they’re pretty enjoyable and interesting, featuring additional power-ups and gameplay mechanics that make them perfect for multiplayer games. Dream Racing sees you racing through a mainly half-pipe-like course, performing tricks and hopping rails not unlike in the Sonic Riders series (Sonic Team/Now Production, 2006 to 2010) and attacking with items similar to the Mario Kart series (Various, 1992 to present). Dream Shooting sees you running around, awkwardly aiming your weapon with motion controls, and blasting targets, grabbing multi-shots and shooting down gliders in an arena shooter that reminds me of the Splatoon games (Various, 2015 to 2022). Finally, in Dream Karate, you attack with combos, kicks, and throws to toss your foes around and colour the floor panels, grabbing springs and Super Stars for temporary buffs. Beyond that, you can challenge the computer on harder difficulties, aim to get gold medals and break World Records, and play alongside up to four players…if you can find anyone to play with.

The Summary:
As a lifelong Sonic fan (and a pretty big fan of the Super Mario games), I’m basically obligated to pick up the Mario & Sonic games whenever they release. I believe I’ve played all of them, but only on portable devices, which I think made the already aggravating gameplay all the more vexing. Free from the restrictions of the small size of Nintendo DS and 3DS screens, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is easily the most visually impressive of all the Mario & Sonic games I’ve played, offering relatively attractive 3D models and worlds that show a decent amount of personality. I can never shake the feeling like these games are just soulless cash grabs, however, and that’s reflected in how empty a lot of the arenas seem, despite the NPC crowds. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 impresses with its nostalgic 2D sections, which harken back to the NES days and capture a lot of the magic of Nintendo’s 8-bit glory days. While the sprites are fun to see, they’re extremely limited and a bit difficult on the eyes because of the mishmash of 8- and 16-bit sprites. I was glad to see the game allowed for traditional controls, though the forced motion controls for some events were more jarring as a result; however, it’s a bit disappointing that so many of the events play the same. Thankfully, the various minigames offered a great distraction from the main events, which were either too short or too annoying. I honestly could’ve done with a few more of these minigames, and the “Dream Events”, as there wasn’t enough of these to offset the more annoying Olympic events. With a half-assed approach to cutscenes and some of the dullest unlockables in all of videogaming, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 does little to shake the franchise’s stigma of being a collection of nonsense minigames, even with its few good points. It’s easily the best of the series I’ve played, but that’s not a very high bar and I remain bitter that we never got a more traditional crossover between the two nineties icons.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020? Did you also play without the motion controls? What did you think to the 2D sections and events? Were the minigames also the best part for you, or did you prefer a different Olympic event? Would you like to see more games in the series, or a proper crossover between Mario and Sonic? Which country are you rooting for in the Special Olympics World Winter Games this year? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other content for both franchises!