The Sonic topic of utter positivity

[Soniman]

Fourth-ed

I love it because back then, it was probably the slickest animation ever seen, and I love how Sonic doesn't talk or anything like that, it just shows him being awesome, using his high speed acrobatics to kick ass.

Edited June 16, 2012 by The Groosenator

[Komodin]

Fifth-ed.

Whether the music score is Sonic Boom or You Can Do Anything, as far as the Classic Era is concerned, that cutscene is pretty much Sonic's crowning moment of sheer awesomeness.

[Briraka]

Sixth'd. If only there was a game like that intro.

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

COMBO BREAKER

So, to actually contribute, I absolutely love Sonic Adventure, 1 & 2.

I love the massive, unwieldily plots that never remembered to establish themselves or any of the secondary elements within (why did Eggman have a space shuttle if he can just teleport? Why was Sonic processed without trial in 2, and what evidence would the have beyond eyewitness testimony and hearsay? WTF Biolizard? etc.). I love how Sonic's mouth animations in 1, at times, seemed to turn him into a deranged muppet. I love how nobody in 2 bothered to tell Knuckles the world was ending until halfway through, and I love that he seemed not to really give a crap about it once the Master Emerald comes back into focus. I love how Rouge can both be a notorious criminal and a secret agent and nobody seemed to question it. I love how everyone's lines seemed to consist of 50% awkward exposition and 50% stilted one-liners.

I love that Eggman was allowed to be both a threat and entertaining. I love that Tails actually acted his age for once (or twice, rather), awkward as that made his lines. I love how Amy was shown to have a world beyond chasing Sonic, and was established as quite the up-and-coming hero in her own right. I love how Sonic realistically acted to his set-backs, with frustration and panic rather than a winning Nike smile. I love that Shadow rightfully evolved into a hero by the end of 2, not because the script said so, but out of a natural growth in character. I love that Knuckles got to kick posterior and got some respect. I love that Chaos got to be a crazy doomsday monster and have a tragic back-story. I love how Eggman finally got to be playable. I love that Big went through Hell to save his best friend. I love that Gamma gave what life he had to save the lives of things he's never met.

And you know the crazy part? I love both these blocks of things at once. There's a charm and a heart buried beneath all that cheese and nonsense that makes even the terrible parts seem fun. You can say Sega made many terrible decisions in making the Adventure games, but you can never say they didn't throw their heart into it. I can see it in every stupid piece that makes them up.

[SilentDoom]

I guess I'll have my go with Sonic 2 aka my favourite game of all time.

It fills me with so much joy and every time I play it I have so much fun and I feel like I discover something new every time. Everything about the game is excellent. It looks great even to this day thanks to its vivid environments and parallax scrolling. The soundtrack still remains to be one of my favourite in the entire series. There's not a single track in the game that I don't like. They're all incredible. Special mention to Metropolis. Why? Not because it's my favourite but because whenever it gets to this part of the track I always make Sonic stop what he's doing and crouch/look up repeatedly in time with the beat. I just makes me want to bop my head like a little kid in that section. The control and the physics...well I don't think I need to even mention them because they just so incredible and thanks to the spindash and the removal of the ground speed cap you're able to really go fast. And of course there's amazing multi-tiered level design, the perfect pacing, the special stages and Super Sonic. It literally took everything that was good in Sonic 1 and made it better. It's a near flawless game for me and I love it to death. I can play it to this day and still have so much fun.

[Amomynous]

I thought I'd get some

I will never stop exalting the Storybook games' portrayals of Sonic. SatBK is the indisputable platinum standard of Sonic characterization and though I've watched the cutscenes many a time, I still find myself subconciously smiling about how extraordinary it all is and how clear it is that the writer(s) have such a firm grasp of what makes Sonic....Sonic in terms of personality.

This, this is just plain crazy awesome and just because Sonic isn't kicking robot ass in a badass manner a 'la Unleashed opening, it's no less awesome for it especially if you're a character aficionado.;

*Video: SatBK - A Knight's Duty*

That line "Yeah maybe but...I play by my own rules. Remember that". He's like, screw Caliburn, he's doing things the way he wants to going by his own morality and putting that above business. Benefitted him in the end too, showing his way was ultimately the right way to go about things even if it's debateably unconventional.

And need I mention this?;

*video: SatBK - The Dark Queen*

Sonic neither alter's probability on a whim. Nor does he pull wins out of his ass. He worked so hard to gather those sacred swords and won them in fair fights and yet Excalibur transformation occured clearly unintentionally. The most hopeless situation you're likely to find in a Sonic game and yet Sonic's success came about completely believably.

As for SatSR, Sonic's selflessness and badassery. Concerned for Shahra's emotional fragility despite his own life on the line, makes it very clear that he neither wants to be referred to by honorific titles such as "Master" and that he wants to be Shahra's friend, not her slavemaster which shows Sonic's modesty despite his arrogance and the ending, which is made of win in EVERY area (That includes the hankie wish, so sweet!) That is all.

Ditto the hell out of this, though I personally think the ending of Sonic and the Black Knight was much more effective; Sonic gives Merlina a flower, and in short, basically tells her that everything's going to be OK.

Immediately that made me think of this:

[media=]

This cutscene here, these 49 seconds in short, are full of so much win! It is clearly obvious that Sonic is in a lot of pain and collaspes, yet he refuses to let his guard down nor allow Shahra to worry about him or place the blame on herself for Sonic being struck with that flame. Sonic didn't want to show that he was in pain; therefore the half-hearted chuckle trying to cover it up, which he was trying to do so Shahra wouldn't worry about him. This selfless attitude of Sonic deeply impressed me, as the last person he was thinking about was himself. Also notable is how Sonic changed the situation quickly from negative to a positive to cheer Shahra up. This is all something a good friend would do and Sonic demonstrated that here and throughtout the game as he always does. I thought Sonic saying "It's gonna take more than some tiny flame to bring judgement down on me!" was a pretty convincing line that he was okay and still the same ol' Sonic amid all the pain he was in. Despite the fact that he was suffering, Sonic was optimistic. He usually is no matter what! He never gives up nor allows anything to get him down. This cutscene really showed me among many other times that Sonic has a lot of heart and is truly a hero.

That scene really stuck out for me, I remember thinking, wow poor guy, and that it was sweet that he put on a bright face for her (though he possibly has more than one reason), and in a way kind of sad that he always deflects her concerns for him, and that's good writing folks.

Aside from the wonderfulness of Sonic's enormous resolve and his concern for not worrying Shahra, I truly think that this scene is amongst the best portrayal's of Jason's VA'ing.

That nervous laugh was right on. That audible tone of worry bubbling below the surface yet the way he covers his voice with something akin to cheeryness as he tries to perk his voice up when he says "Looks like my time limit is about up" is...so emotive, so well acted. And then there's his calm tone of voice when he's genuinely sorry about worrying Shahra and really didn't mean to. This VA'ing made me love Sonic even more in SatSR and made him so much more believable. Those lines wouldn't have as much emotive depth to them if it weren't for Jason tapping into Sonic's mannerisms in selflessness and bring them out so amazingly well.

I think in SaTSR, Jason was just coming to his own as a 'Sonic voice'.

That infamous inflection was on it's way out, and was hardly noticible on Sonic's more sober lines; coming off as more of a region-indistinguishable accent most of the time (for Unleashed and SatBK, all the time) Jason still had some questionable moments(Sonic's normal laugh at that point still had a devious and creepy tone to it.),and a way to go before his best performance, a good thing that scene wasn't one of those moments.

Edited June 16, 2012 by Mysterics

[UltDevilDoom]

I started with Sonic 2 in '95. My best friend scored a Genesis, and it wasn't long before I visited his house almost entirely to play that game.

I got the Sega Saturn for Christmas in...'97, I think. In that case, it wasn't long before I ditched it and started playing the Playstation. I doubt I need to tell anyone why.

Then the Dreamcast came out. I wasn't really a devoted Sonic fan until I played Sonic Adventure. Everything in that game (except Big) blew me away. The gameplay and the characters were top notch, and the graphics were unmatched at the time. The boss battle were challenging, but not frustrating. All in all, it really made me love the Sonic franchise like never before.

Sonic Adventure 2 was the Dreamcast's goodbye, and man, did it go out with a bang! I'm not gonig to into detail because I won't be able to stop. Shadow is still my favorite character.

Sonic Heroes, Sonic '06, and Sonic Unleashed were not good. I remained loyal though. I did play them and beat them, even though I thought they were terrible. HOW DO YOU GO FROM SA2 TO HEROES? I don't want to know. As for Shadow the Hedgehog, I liked it. Say what you want, but I still play it from time to time.

Sonic Colors and Generations prove that Sonic is still around, and I look to the future for good Sonic games.

And that is my Sonic fan life in a nutshell.

[Amomynous]

Practically every exchange between Sonic and Caliburn, how they always try to one-up each other,insult each other and put the blame on the other, nonetheless they end up liking each other.

I love that Sonic just casually disregards Lancelot and insults Caliburn all in as few as four words.

[Vertekins]

I love that Sonic just casually disregards Lancelot and insults Caliburn all in as few as four words.

What I also love is how Caliburn is so serious that he takes what Sonic says literally and doesn't seem to percieve the snark behind it

SatBK was so clever in it's wittiness when it came to Sonic and Caliburn interaction and yet the development of their friendship and trust was so incredibly well done. Caliburn gradually warming up to Sonic yet still being strict was genuinely interesting and it came about because of Sonic's "unconventional" view on heroism that yielded effective results in that it doesn't matter who is wrong or who is right, he's doing it his way, by his own rules. Which was effective in that it was the right thing to do, which Nimue acknowledges and therefore goes about teaching Sonic how to tackle Arthur.

Gotta love how they coordinate their criticism of Merlina when she's the Dark Queen. Though most of said criticism voice clips are in the Gallery under the unlockable "KNIGHT OF THE WIND AND SACRED SWORD" and are curiously not used in that boss battle.

[Amomynous]

Sonic's "unconventional" view on heroism that yielded effective results in that it doesn't matter who is wrong or who is right, he's doing it his way, by his own rules.

Edited June 17, 2012 by Mysterics

[Kuzu]

Personally that idea seems rather bizarre, surely who's wrong and who's right is what it all comes down to...otherwise it's just purely selfish and bigoted ends on all sides.

[BlueBlurMe]

Practically every exchange between Sonic and Caliburn, how they always try to one-up each other,insult each other and put the blame on the other, nonetheless they end up liking each other.

[media=]

It's like how Sonic and Knuckles used to be (in the comics at least). Those are my favourite parts of the scenes.

[Amomynous]

That's Grey Morality is, neither side is "right" or "wrong".

Yeah I get that but Sonic was hardly acting out of "becuase I say so"

Edited June 17, 2012 by Mysterics

[Soniman]

Hells ya, the Sonic OVA. My favorite piece of Sonic animation, let me explain why.

For all intents and purposes, this game is the closest an animation has ever gotten to having the same style and feel of the games. You have Metal Sonic, a good number of Badniks, and some Sonic-esque locations such as South Island and "Robtnikland". What's funny is that is seems to have the same basic setting as Sonic Satam/Archie, as a post-apocalyptic Earth, but the OVA took it in a a different direction.

Planet Freedom still has humans and civilizations in "the land of the sky" and the rugged wildness and Eggman's domain is called "the land of darkness", it already seems like a good way to separate the Sonic-esque landscapes from the original stuff they came up with

As for the plot, well I think we all know how it goes. It's a good solid plot for a Sonic film, especially in it's third act where it rally starts to pick up. You get some good fight scenes, and good rumor intermixed. The characterizations for the characters are good with Sonic being a chill guy Tails being his cute genius sidekick, Knuckles being a world-traveling badass, Eggman being a weirdo who probably wants to marry an underage girl moreso than rule the world or destroy Sonic. And then we have our breakout character, Metal Sonic, who arguably gets the best characterization. He basically inherits Sonic personality but with evil intents, wanting to destroy the land of the sky. He and Sonic duke in it out in the both pole until he makes a self-sacrifice for the president, having fully adopted Sonic's heroic nature, he dies a hero with the knowledge that there can only be one Sonic, it's quite a touching and sad scene scene.

Sonic OVA is a great animation that stays true to the series' source material and manages to have a few new assets of it's own to keep things fresh, it gives all of the original characters sizable roles, and all and all it's a great adventure from start to finish, a good movie.

So as per usual lets end it with some awesometastic music, the iconic South Island theme in a really nice remixed form.

[media=]

Edited June 18, 2012 by The Groosenator

[BlueBlurMe]

Just Sonic in general. I never thought about all of the details until two years ago. Sonic's characterization, plots, I never thought hard about all of the bad or good things about them. I loved them at first sight. I never had to critizise them. And the rest of the Sonic fans don't have to either. We think too hard and are almost trying to find negatives in the series. I say pick up your remote, sit back, and just enjoy the games.

[Amomynous]

Love Sonic's and Tails's portrayals in the OVA, Eggman was good but i wouldn't say I love it, Eggman was pretty much your typical hammy, affably evil and absent-minded guy, he's somewhat different to his game portrayal though, he's alot more affable than his game counterpart and he's not hot-tempered at all (and that's what brings it down), and responds to Sera's bossiness and aggression with patience (and occasionally compliance), but it is visible that the creator of Metal Eggman/Robotnik and (Hyper )Metal Sonic is a tough force to be reckoned with considering he has weapons like those.

Sonic's a bit of a Jerk with a heart of gold here, he has his so called hot-temper as well as managing to be aloof, smug as heck, and the thing is, he never boasts or shows off, but I'd be damned if it isn't plastered all over his face.

^Sonic's tone is a bit more agressive in English and more aloof and disregarding in the Japanese, here he replies in a tone that may either suggest Sonic just told Robotnik to shove it where the sun doesn't shine, or a more causal "Yeah, yeah whatever Egghead." tone

He's still very freindly with Tails and Knuckles,and cares about them, friends gotta stick together, he likes Tails tagging along with him and seeing them work together to tease Metal Robotnik was really entertaining, he's also sympathetic towards Tails' fear of lightening and is patient with it, he's obviously not fond of having the life squeezed out of him every time Tails is spooked by a lightening strike, Sonic is a playful rival to Knuckles; Knuckles playfully knocks Sonic and the OVA practically ends with Sonic half-heartedly chasing Knuckles, before being interrupted by an angry Robotnik and a possessive Sera.

Sonic isn't the snarker he is in SaTBK, one of the reasons why his SatBK portrayal gets first place and not this one, and partly because that game follows how Sonic's character has generally been more hammy and friendly in the games, though his English-dub had one or two ham moments, no-one could forget his infamous "Straaange, isn't it?!" line, which was also a pretty extreme accent slip.

However,I can't help but wonder how close this was to the so called 'original imagining' of the characters, I imagine it was close, this OVA would have had very little to work with if they didn't go to SonicTeam themselves for advice, and come strangely close to how they act nowadays considering the fact that other cartoons did have so little to work with really shows, but Eggman not being hot-tempered is something I find hard to swallow.

Tails was an adorable mechanics whizz, with a good dose of naivete and is still quite fearful at this point, and doesn't quite have reasoning his game counterpart has (which is probably older so it makes sense), he has a fear of lightening, which is paying attention to his old character descriptions; though he was only said to dislike lightening. Tails can't swim for some reason.

I like how the anthro characters are ever so-slightly less,well, anthro, and have some hints of animalistic behaviour here and there.

When Tails is scared his ears flop down and his tails puff up or go between his legs, Sonic's hackles raise when he goes in for the attack, or when he's pretty damn angry.

Or in this case, both.

This sucker is armed.

Sometimes it's ambiguous because the drawer may have found Sonic's quills hard to draw from that angle, case in point.

Edited June 18, 2012 by Mysterics

[Oliver Fiddle]

Sonic 2006 was the easiest game to decide to trade in at GameStop.

[StarwaveImpulse]

I was kind of a lonely kid growing up and as silly as it might sound Sonic was what kept me going through all those years. I'd even go as far to say that he's probably one of the most influential people characters in my life.

When I was introduced to the series I must've been no older than three, my brother owned a Sega Genesis and Sonic 2 and he'd always give me the second controller to play as Tails. Later on he gave me the game and to this day it's not only one of my favorite Sonic games but one of my favorites of all time. All of the diverse zones, the music, the boss battles, special stages, how fun it was to zip and spin through to the end. It was exciting and challenging and I still get the same joy playing it today as I did back then. Also can I mention how well it's aged over the years? The zone designs are still gorgeous.

[Megabox!]

Sixth'd. If only there was a game like that intro.

Sonic Unleashed had a really, REALLY badass intro too.

[Amomynous]

This is one of those times when I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I wrote a frigging essay.

[azoo]

Its okay, dude, its okay. Both you and Groosenator did a good job describing the characters and setting. I would've done it if you guys didn't anyways. =p

Edited June 18, 2012 by Azukara

[SilentDoom]

Oh oh oh, another thing I love is how in the classics it feels like everytime I play I find something new. A new path or secret or item. I've been playing Sonic 2 for example for the past 13 or so years but there's so much stuff that I only found out recently.

For example, in Chemical Plant Act 2 I only recently learned about the really awesome secret path that allows you to get to the boss quicker, bypass all the pink water platforming sections completely with no fear of even coming close to it, is free of enemies and rewards you with about 40-50 rings along the way and an invincibility box not too far from the boss (not like the boss isn't piss easy anyways) and I freakin LOVE IT.

Another one is with Aquatic Ruin Act 2. I've almost never been able to get to the top routes because not only do you have to make basically no mistakes or you fall in the water, but you have to do some quite interesting and unorthodox jumps off slopes. But it's damn cool to know that it is possible to leap to these sections of the level by using tiny slopes in the land structure to launch yourself up onto the route and then it feels so good sailing along the top path like you're king of the world.

[BlueBlurMe]

Another one is with Aquatic Ruin Act 2. I've almost never been able to get to the top routes because not only do you have to make basically no mistakes or you fall in the water, but you have to do some quite interesting and unorthodox jumps off slopes. But it's damn cool to know that it is possible to leap to these sections of the level by using tiny slopes in the land structure to launch yourself up onto the route and then it feels so good sailing along the top path like you're king of the world.

I just found out that there was a life hidden in the wall. I got hit by those fly things and fell into it. XD

[SilentDoom]

I just found out that there was a life hidden in the wall. I got hit by those fly things and fell into it. XD

Haha yeah that's the other hilarious thing. A lot of this stuff you just find by accident XD. I found that because I knew about the flies and I decided to try left to avoid them expecting to just hug the wall just to kinda get away from them and ended up going into that secret hole in the wall. Fun times.

[Speedy]

Finding stuff by accident is awesome. Also in some of the Modern games you get hit by an enemy or fall down somewhere and land in a part of the stage and are like 'Wow, you can be here?!'. I find it amazing how many areas there are to explore in the games, even where you don't expect them. ^^