The Sonic topic of utter positivity

[Dizcrybe]

Sonic Team really upped their game level design-wise in Generations.

[Speedy]

Favorite character? It's a draw in my case.

I can positively second Joker on Knuckles. I adore Red Rad. He's cool, he can fly, he kick ass and he's got a huge glowing magic rock on a floating island. I mean, really. That alone is totally badass. On a deeper level, I like Knuckles for a lot more things than that. I like his personality, he's a lot more complex than he seems once you look closer. There's an adorable kid beneath his shell.

The one tying with Knux is Sonic. How couldn't you like Sonic?

... The Joker? I don't think he was a Sonic character...

*imagines the Joker as a villain in a Sonic game*

I like the idea... Screw batman, we'll fight him with an army of killer chao!

[Tani Coyote]

I know one day he'll finally make his grand return. >=D

I don't mind Shadow, but I will not lie about something.

I always found it epic that in both Archie and Fleetway, the worst enemy Silver has ever fought is the product of one great battle.

What battle is that?

Sonic vs. Knuckles. In Archie, Dark Enerjak crushed his Super Sonic and reigned unopposed. In Fleetway, Super Sonic overpowered Knuckles (in all likelihood, given Knuckles' ability to sap chaos energy right out of you with his Gray Emerald) and burned the world to ash instead.

Seeing their iconic rivalry taken to such a logical extreme has always made me just a bit giddy.

[Dr. Crusher]

(For no reason, everything suddenly deleted, so now I had to write all this silly shit up again. Bah. Humbug.)

I've seen this thread about three times, but it's only now occured to me that I've yet to actually post in it. So apologies for continuing a mostly probably dead topic as usual, but I might as well add my bit. Most if not all of it will be a combination of things I've already said before and things other people have already said before, but fuck it. It's a positive topic, which is desperately lacking when talking about all things Sonic.

As I've said before (see, told you), I was actually late in becoming a Sonic fan. I had mostly grown up with the PlayStation, and it wasn't until 2003 that I even learned about Sonic (the only thing I ever saw outside school being the SA2B commercial... yeah, the "Brown VS White" one). In primary school, I once overheard a TV playing what I would later learn to be AoStH, and pretty much everyone in my class and the next-door class (it was two rooms in one... sort of) was a Sonic fan. So they would reenact scenes from various games, but usually Sonic VS Knuckles in Adventure 1. (And they would ask for me to join in too, despite not knowing anything about the context other than "the guy that plays Knuckles has to say "Oh no" at least three times in a surprisingly monotone fashion".) They would also make shit up relating to Robontik (that's not a typo, that's actually how everyone said his name). But eventually I finally saw a game in action, the X-Zone in Advance 1... and something clicked. I don't know what it was, and I still don't think I entirely know - it was just a hedgehog fighting a guy in machines in outer space - but it struck the right chords with me.

So one day, when my parents were buying... er, things, that my sisters wanted (by contrast, I was that one child who was always afraid of asking for even the littlest of things since I thought I'd always be wasting their time... I'm still sort of overly hesitant about little things like that today), and asked me if I wanted anything, I happily bought Advance... 2. Not that I knew my error or even cared about my error since I had tons of fun with the game (and when I finally realised my mistake, I already had the first one by then). And as a result, since that manual says very bluntly "Dr. Eggman A.K.A. Dr. Robotnik", I never had any confusion (or rage/care) about his name. Then I later got Mega Collection since I felt I ought to play the original games, and then I got Advance 1, and it pretty much took off from there.

So not unlike Project 64 being my first experience with N64 games, though it wasn't until less than ten years ago that I became a Sonic fan, I still feel as nostalgic and... "there", if that makes sense, as any fan who was there since the 90's. But anyways, enough about my Sonic origins. Time for all the more direct positives I can think of for this wonderful series. ("Time for a wall of texts!" You'll be hoping for a seperation attack if it means cutting the size of these fucking walls.)

-Well, I mentioned this in the Cute topic, but the series' recurring minor plot - it's "Save the Princess" if you will - of rescuing little animals (or Wisps... or flowers... or rings?) from being robot batteries, was always something that makes me smile more than it should. Even if it's not SatAM's more traditional roboticization, it's so needlessly cruel (and darker tone in SatAM be damned, I think it's worse than the show's roboticizing) that it feels so good to burst them free from Badnik casings. Seeing the squirrels and lions and birds and whatever else hop or fly away in happiness, as well as seeing a ton of them run away free from the Prison Eggs... it's little, but it makes me feel achieved. And since a lot of heroes get a lot of bad press (ie: Mario gets unfairly antagonized for, *ahem*, "slaughtering innocent Goombas"), it's doubly heroic in Sonic/Tails/whoever's case since there's none of that rubbish. And besides, anytime something organic is killed - like the Biolizard, or Iblis and Dark Gaia's minions - they're usually completely mindless anyways. Speaking of which...

-The Badniks. Fittingly enough, they're my favourite minions of all time in any fiction. They may not be swallowing shadows, or super-powered zombies, but fuck those guys. They're the enemies that I tend to remember a majority of the most, and even with it's variants on one model or "duds", they're still excellent. They don't have any limit to what makes a Badnik in terms of appearance. "Are they a robot? Well there you go, go right on in!" *condescending laugh* They can look like anything, be it fish, birds, other animals, plants, objects, parts of the scenery, sometimes they might not even be based on any existing thing at all and be completely abstract... there's plenty to choose from, and not even the Koopa Troopas can argue against that.

However I do love the Egg Pawns too - since they remind me of the Lab Assistants and Rhynocs from Crash Bandicoot and Spyro - as well as the Egg Fighters and Not-Xenomorph MeteorTech robots. In fact, you know what? For all the jokes I might make about them, I don't even dislike the 06 robots or SWATBots all that much. My only real problem with those guys are that there's no reason for them looking so... not Eggmanish. If Robotnik was scheming in secret, and was deliberately using un-Eggmany robots in a bid to throw others off his trail or pin the blame on someone else, I'd be fine with them showing up.

But yeah, the Badniks. Badniks forever, man. (Incidentally, I like how most Badniks nowadays tend to have blue Metal Sonic-like eyes. It's a nice little way of making them look more threatening, more robotic, and can serve as a sort of "calling card" to finding a Badnik, but without taking away their uniqueness.) And while we're on the subject...

-The fact that robots, machines and scientific experiments are the primary opposition in the series. Everyone has their favourite cliche of enemies, whether it be aliens, demons, wizards or zombies. My favourite has always been robots. With their shiny and imposing armor, varied means of design and usual lack of emotional range, they're the top choice for me in terms of effectiveness and often creepiness as well. If a villain uses robots for their main operations, they'll usually find a place in my good books by default. So naturally, the Sonic series is like a goldmine for me, with the Badniks, Egg Pawns, Metal Sonic, G-Merl, Whisker & Johnny, and the many, many, many other machines featured in the series, piloted or otherwise. Magic spells are all well and good, but something about technology and science-themed villainy has always been more... I don't know, awe-inspiring to me, I suppose.

-The zones. I love Sonic's world and all it's zones like you wouldn't believe. In fact I'd say scenery-wise it's my favourite fictional universe of all, with the original Spyro universe being a close second. From Green Hill to Collision Chaos, from Sandopolis to Techno Base, from Hill Top to Spring Stadium, from Asteroid Coaster to Pirate's Island... unlike a lot of franchises, and not unlike the Badniks, there is no limit to what can be made into a convincing Sonic zone provided that it's done right. It can look realistic (but preferably Unleashed style of course), or it can look fantastical. And it has places that look like it comes from the distant past or distant future, but ultimately it's still in the present time.

And while I have nothing against other villains like Bowser, Robotnik's fortresses - including the Death Egg knockoffs and usually the variations of the Death Egg itself - they're always seperate from each other, and even when comparing similar ones you can easily spot differences. Scrap Brain is different from Eggmanland, the Cosmic Angel is different from the Dead Line, and so on.

Don't forget the ones featured in the Game Gear titles, like Aqua Planet and the Crystal Egg. Hell, even in games I don't care for as much - such as the Storybook series or the Rivals - there'll usually be some locale that will gain my intrigue, like Frontier Canyon, Death Yard and Night Palace.

So all in all, the Sonic world is a lovely, lovely place. And amongst others, it's the one that I tend to take the most... inspiration from. *nervous laugh*

-And relating to that, while it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, I adored the varied timelines of the zones (or rather, rounds) in CD. You have the Presents, which are suitable and what you get with what you see.

Then you have the Pasts, which are cleverly behind the times (or in progress, in the case of Metallic Madness) but are still pretty to look at. Stardust Speedway with it's Roman Cathedral and lakeside combo is one of my personal favourites.

Then, the Bad Futures, which succeed far more than any fire monster could ever hope to achieve in terms of showing hopelessness and... well, endgame in it's purest form. A world where Robotnik has won (and I stand by that, it didn't "go out of his control", he simply didn't care, like any self-respecting villain), and you fucking failed.

Finally, there's the Good Futures, which are simply... beautiful. How could that much scenery pornography be featured in a single game? Palmtree Panic and it's nature and technology working together in harmony, Quartz Quadrant's underground neon city, Metallic Madness remade (...by who? Not Robotnik, that's for damn sure) into a pristine greenhouse... like the freeing of animals from Badniks, seeing these gorgeous locations after destroying Robotnik's generators and/or collecting the Time Stones, was totally worth it. It was really rewarding for me as a gamer.

-The music. This is the one thing every single Sonic fan and their ancestors have praised, and there's a reason for that. With one or two exceptions, the Sonic series has almost always had fantastic music, and aside from another few exceptions they're usually rather varied as well. Personally, I tend to favor the themes that are the most atmospheric - and the ones that fit the levels and bosses themselves instead of the character(s) you're playing as - so a few of the lyric themes, a few of the more rock-oriented "Look how awesome I am" tunes featured in some of the 3D games aren't my sort of thing, but in any case, there's a million ditties that everyone can enjoy. I refuse to mention any personal favourites, because I'm a little OCD about it, and if I mention only one or two, I feel bad about neglecting the rest, so I then proceed to list as many as I can think of... which of course amounts to entire soundtracks.

-Here's a minor one. Reading the manuals in Mega and Gems Collection, particularly the zone descriptions. I would always dream of how cool they sounded - "Lava Reef" this and "Panic Puppet" that - and would want desperately to see them for myself and find out if they lived up to the hype (which they did). The music in both also helped a great deal, and I think they might have been what kickstarted my fondness for the more mellow tunes in Sonic games (and many other games not that I think about it).

-The characters. People can complain or joke all they want about Sonic's "Shitty Friends", but as a group, they're the second-most endearing characters I've ever had the pleasure of discovering, the first-place winners being the ponies. Knuckles, Espio, Rouge, Omega, Blaze, Cream, Marine (to this day I mourn her lack of appearances in the games), Vector, Tikal, Big, even Shade... I like a lot of them regardless of how flat they may or may not be, and it pains me whenever I see or hear all those daggers pointed at them for so much as existing, doubly so when the problems attributed to them are usually shared by other characters in other franchises. The only recurring ones I don't have any interest for is Shadow and Silver... and even then, I've softened up a little as time has went on. Silver redeemed himself a bit with his great boss fight in Generations, and Shadow... well he's still probably my third least favourite character in the games, but it's only a very slight dislike, nowhere near the amount I have for Mephiles or Nega.

-Sort of like Komodin, I don't dislike that many of the games. There's a lot I like and a lot I really like, but most of the ones I don't care for, like the Rivals and Storybooks and non-platformer Game Gear titles... I'm more indifferent towards more than anything else. They might not be my thing, and I might not appreciate what others see in them as much as they do, but they're relatively inoffensive... for the most part (*coughNegaandMetalSonic3.0coughShadowKillsRobotnikcough*), and like I explained earlier with the zones, there's usually something I like in there, like SOME of the characterisation in Chronicles. The only one I truly have any dislike towards is - brace yourself - Sonic 06. I suppose that's why I'm not as cynical as most Sonic fans and think a lot of them are too locked up within their criticizing modes and don't take the time to just relax and enjoy a game. But anyways, all things considered, this is all coming from someone who legitimately enjoyed 3D Blast and Sonic 4 and find ShtH to be amusing in it's badness, so make of that what you will.

-And yet, even in the Flames of Literal Disaster, there were still a few minor things I liked. I liked the visuals of Aquatic Base and Kingdom Valley, and I liked the concept of White Acropolis, an arctic Eggman base at night. I liked Sonic Man and his delusional Tails-like ways, and I liked the Venice-esque inspiration used for Soleanna. While the Triforce jokes are understandable, I liked the design(s) of Solaris (but only Solaris, not Iblis, not Mephiles, just Solaris). And if nothing else, despite being the work of Young Ivo Cosplaying Gerald, I did like the reveal of his eyes being blue, since I never liked the robo-red eyes commonly featured in most adaptations and I think it serves as a good parallel between him and Tails. And I happen to have blue eyes as well, so hurray for childishly enjoying your favourite villain having the same eye colour and all that.

So yeah. Though I might have not have found out about it until some time later, I'm happy to be a Sonic the Hedgehog fan, and no amount of criticizing or nitpicking from the more outspoken chaps will change that.

...

...

...

...But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

We all know why I'm really here.

I know I'll be saying the same shit I've already said five dozen times, and I know you don't want me to go on yet another overblown tangent about him since I have enough of a metaphorical erection for him as it is to the point of making the worst of Shadow's fangirls look civil in comparison.

...Well tough. I'm doing it again.

Get a fucking load of this.

Yeah. Him. Who fucking else?

So as you know since amnesiac redundancy is the name of the game, my true introduction to Sonidom was through the X-Zone in Advance 1, and it was just a blue hedgehog fighting a fat guy who used a checker wrecker and a car with drill on front. But like I said for the series in general... something clicked. There was something about this mad scientist that felt different from other, lesser mad scientists. And while it doesn't take that much for me to like a character and indeed enjoy a lot of protagonists and antagonists very much, Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is the only one of two fictional characters I've came across who have ever had that immediate "click". The other one, if you're interested, is Fluttershy. Seriously, you guys think I'm bad enough when I gush endlessly and tirelessly about Robotnik? I'm even worse with Fluttershy.

And as I finally started to play the damn games for myself, and learn more about the series - and by extension, him - my adoration for this fat bastard went higher... and higher... and higher still.

And why not? He ticks most if not all of the boxes that I like my antagonists to have:

Scientist? Check.

As I explained with robots earlier, while I obviously have nothing against other kinds of antagonists, mad scientists and their devious self-made experiments are my absolute favourite, no matter how much of an old cliche it is. With wizards and other more magical or ancient villains, you tend to expect that they'll be able to do things like rip holes in time and make barren wastelands of areas and all that kind of stuff... but when a normal guy with no superpowers and nothing to his name but a PhD does all of that, maybe even more? Now that's scary. That's impressive. That's what wows me.

And for bonus points, he's a real mastermind. What I mean is, a lot of other villains - including other mad scientists - tend to get their plans/ideas/whatever else from a lesser minion/scientist, or in other cases there's a minion who serves as the genius of the group that the Big Bad takes notes from. Not Robotnik. Robotnik is that genius. He makes the plans. He makes the robots and the schematics. He does his own dirty work, because we all know minions would just fuck things up.

Glasses? Check.

This might come off as a bit of a strange one. A lot of people like their villains to have over-the-top eyes, like demonic hellish pupils, or robotic light-up ones, or some other form of deformation. But what I like is when you can't even see them in the first place. I've always been a firm believer in the philosophy of the eyes being the windows to the soul, so for me, nothing says "I'm a piece of shit" quite like not being able to see them at all. It creates a sense of mystery and intrigue, and helps to bottle up some emotions. And when you take Robotnik's glasses away and find out that his eyes are completely normal? It's quite jarring, because it reminds you that he's not a monster from hell, or a supernatural force. He's just a regular human being... making all of his horrific acts all the more striking. I find that to be a far better alternative than the adaptations' way of "BLACK AND RED!!! BECAUSE HE'S EVIL!!! GET IT??? GET IT!?!?!?"

Appearance? Check.

Again, this will seem odd. Now I know Robotnik can be extravagant, and I know his suit (be it classic pajamas or modern military labcoat) isn't exactly the most subtle clothing to ever grace fiction (with or without golden nipples), but not counting other clothing in spinoffs and whatever else (remember the King clothes in Free Riders... *shudder*), his clothing is actually rather conservative and simplistic. And I like that a great deal. Many villains always go overboard with their armor and capes and shoulder pads and patterns and all other excessive details, so having just a fat guy in a jacket and glasses is refreshing (and pragmatic, since I could see Knuckles falling for the tricks of an eccentric but harmless-looking old man, rather than Silver falling for the tricks of Mephiles the "How Do I Used Subtlety?" Dark). He's not "a" supervillain. He's the fucking Eggman.

Memes? Check.

This one goes without saying. When anyone else repeats themselves, it's annoying (not for me personally, but you get the idea). When Robotnik repeats himself, it's comedy gold (and in my delusional mind, deliberate, since a certain topic made not-too-long ago brought up the prospect of him repeating himself on purpose to annoy and thus distract his enemies, and I like that theory quite a bit).

Not a coward? Check.

Disregarding a few out-of-character moments in some spinoffs and whatnot, Robotnik has far more balls than many silly fans (and even sillier fanfictions) like to give him credit for. Does he hide away in his lab, sit on his arse and make everyone else dish out the damage? Does he fuck.

In the majority of Sonic games, he served as most of the bosses - often the only boss - with his many Egg Mobiles of despicable and elaborate despair. And whenever he did use minion bosses instead, it was usually for a reason (ie: too busy working on the Death Egg's restoration in S3&K, keeping up-to-date with Dark Gaia in Unleashed, maintaining his gig as an amusement park owner and keeping tabs on his Hyper Go-On Cannon in Colours, and staying behind the scenes in Rush Adventure and to a lesser extent Generations). Oh, and let's not forget when, upon seeing the Time Eater show up right in front of him without any warning in the middle of space, he just analyzes it for a little bit and then charges straight towards it. His utter fearlessness is one of the details - alongside putting cuddly critters in Badniks - that define him. Without his glee in going into the battlefield, you no longer have Ivo... You might have Julian though.

Lonliness? Check.

Now this one will probably be more of a negative to other fans for obvious reasons. A lot of folk understandably tend to complain that Sonic has a lot of comrades and that Robotnik's all by his lonesome aside from one or two robot characters.

...But I actually kind of like that.

You see, villains often tend to be in groups, be it a bad band of five or more. You know, one being the dumb muscle, one being the smart guy, one being the leader, and so on and so forth. They end up being like a screwed up family, and that's all very well, but it's not really my thing. Robotnik, on the other hand, is different. Yes, you have Orbot and Cubot and occasionally Metal Sonic, and I'd love to bring back guys like Johnny and Mecha Knuckles... but I like the idea of him being all alone in his massive futuristic city factories, with only his mindless robots to talk to (well, probably some unlucky prisoners off-screen as well, but you get what I mean). It makes him stand out from a lot of other antagonists, it further proves how much balls he has to go against all those inconveniently superpowered anthropomorphic chaps, it's an amusing contrast to how egotistical and attention-seeking he is, and it somehow makes him seem all the more ominous, as if other villains or rookies aren't willing to work with him. I know that's just my fanfiction fanboyism talking, but that's how I like to envision it.

Misleading? Check.

What do I mean by that? Well, I mean it in various ways to be honest. There's the obvious one of "Clownish buffoon exterior hides a meticulous mastermind interior", but there's also other ones... like his strength and agility. Now I'm not one of those guys who seriously say "Robotnik's faster than Sonic you guys", but the fact that he can escape from him can be hilariously surprising. And while Riders worked like Heroes and put characters in defined ranks, they must have put Robotnik in the Power rank for a reason. So be it possible truth or probable exaggeration, and other Power characters aside, it says a lot when a seemingly weak scientist who uses machinery in battle can casually punch out a train. That's some John Freeman shit right there.

Voice? Check.

Really. Any one. Even Gary Chalk in Underground wasn't too bad. You have Long John Baldry with his rrrridiculous rolling of R's and pingas, but you already knew that, Jim Cummings with his constant deep-voiced orgasms (though as I keep saying, I simply think it'd be more fitting for another villain that I happen to like, Grodus), Edwin Neal with the ceasing of pains in his eggs, and Deem Bristow who gave us a load of bringing the voice into the games. But of course, much as I love each and every single one of them, my favourite of them all will always be Mike Pollock. I know I'll sound hypocritical when I say this since I've said before that I don't care as much about voices as most fans do, just as long as they do a good job, but Pollock has been Robotnik for so long now, that I sort of envision him as... "the" Robotnik voice, if that makes sense. Like Charles Martinet for Mario, or Mark Hamill for the Joker.

In any case, you need a good voice to help your sinister image, and they all provide exactly that. Even if the shows some of them were in didn't do quite as well.

Brilliant and variable plans? Check.

Now again, I'm not having a go at Bowser or other similar baddies, but Robotnik is one of those villains who have no limit to what you would expect him to pull off in terms of fiendish schemes.

Okay, so thanks to both SEGA and Sonic Team and a lot of fangames and fanfics, many are under the belief that "summoning giant monsters" and "rebuilding the Death Egg" are the only two things he can do, but he's done a lot more than that. How many villains can you say has used pirate robots (pirate robots... pirate robots, man, pirate robots, it was cool in Rayman 2, it was cool here) and subsequently utilised a wizard scepter, came close to flooding an island (if Sonic & Tails/Sonic Chaos' manual is to be believed), made a theme park in space by conquering at least three planets and an asteroid belt, and mechanized a time monster with the help of his past self? He's done everything and will hopefully continue to do everything (however that would realistically work) in the future.

Is he a prick? Check.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not (that) shallow. I can appreciate other villains who are more of a grey morality kind, or a(n even) more sympathetic kind, or any other, less one-dimensional kinds. Variety is the spice of life, after all. But as simple-minded and stupid as it is, I have to admit that my favourite villains tend to be the lowest scumbags, whether they try to justify their evil or not, whether they're played for sympathy or not. And while he may be an affable and seemingly friendly chap, I will always believe that behind all the bravado and playfulness, Robotnik is one of the worst, even if it may not be obvious at first.

Yeah, Black Doom was going to turn everyone into Black Arm food. Yeah, Mephiles was going to DESTROY FUCKING EVERYTHING like the rest of the giant monsters, and killed the very Sonic Hedgehog himself with no remorse... but neither of those got to me. I just shrugged and carried on. But potentially committing genocide on the adorable, innocent Wisps? Putting Sonic's friends in limbo and fucking up all of time and space just for the sole purpose of pulling one trap for the Sonics? Reducing the Little Planet to a mechanical Mordor with no end in sight? Hell, even electrocuting Knuckles the moment he stopped being useful.

Those got to me. Those made me want to kick the villain's ass. Robotnik fulfils the worst of both the high and low kinds of villainy. He has the worst traits of megalomania, but he also has the pettiness of a bully, and it all combines to make a nasty piece of work. And that's why he - and not any Alien-Wizeman or Fridge-Shadow - is the greatest in Koridai the Sonic business. Starting from Unleashed, he seems to have stopped caring for any decency, and all that matters is that "He, uh, kills the hedgehog".

So there. I think that should cover that subject. Because you just can't have enough dissections of what a wonderful little shit that doctor proves to be. It's marvellous. It's glorious. It's Eggman.

...Oh. One last thing.

This kid.

I don't exactly remember when it was that I eventually concluded that Miles "Tails" Prower was my favourite protagonist in the Sonic series, but it wasn't that long. It might not have been as immediate as when I instantly took a liking to Robotnik, but it didn't take long for me to look at the flying fox and go "I like him... he's nice." Poetry, eh?

So why is Tails my second favourite? I love Sonic and Knuckles and Blaze as much as the next person, but why is this business all about Tails for me personally? Well I'll try (and that's a big "try") to not be as long as I was with Robotnik, but I'll give a few reasons.

-Well, since he's the Luigi of the series, he's usually got Sonic's back whenever he needs him. Whether he's taking part in the adventures, assisting him and telling him where to go, or just picking up Sonic when he's doing his freefalling from space, you can be sure that Tails is someone you can always count on.

-He's intelligent. Really intelligent. Probably the second most intelligent of the case after Robotnik (not counting dead chaps like Gerald). Like Robotnik, he's built so much incredible shit, including but not limited to planes, ships, a submarine, an underground drill, an alien translator, and a fake Chaos Emerald. He also tends to see some of the details that other characters might not initially notice.

-Despite that, and despite what games like Heroes or Unleashed would have you believe, he's not the typical "smart but weak" type, age be damned. He can kick your ass, and he will if he has too. He combines his own impressive speed with the surprising strength of his twin tails, occasionally with an additional gadget or two as seen in Battle. He's proof that you don't need to seperate brains and brawn.

-He doesn't have superpowers. I mean, yes, there's his two tails which he uses to his advantage like flying and spinning and all that, I know that. But what I mean is, he doesn't have... superpower superpowers. Nothing like Shadow's Chaos Energy, or Blaze's pyrokinesis, or Silver's telekinesis, and so on. With Tails, he's just a kid with a genetic mutation and a bright mind, so the odds are more against him, with all those giant robots and other monsters after him... making it more impressive when he's able to beat them all. You know a guy with what basically amounts to the Force will make you look like a bitch, but the kid with the little gizmos? Not so much. It's like David VS Goliath. Oh, and he's a child/early teen, making it even more astonishing.

-Unlike most of the heroes, he's not up his own ass completely fearless. In fact it's easy to tell whenever he's frightened of something, and yet that in itself only makes him all the more heroic. With the others, it's business as usual, so it's pretty much nothing to them. But Tails? He's a little more insecure, and yet soldiers on and fights anyway. And to me, that's true bravery.

-I like to view Tails as the Anti-Robotnik (keep your Nega jokes to yourself). While I have nothing against Sonic and am thankful for everything he's brought to the table since he's the title character, I've always been interested in the hero-and-villain bond between Tails and Robotnik. They both make machines, they're both leader figures (see Tails in Chronicles, one of the few characters who I thought was okay in that game), and they both have just as much persistence as the Blue Blur himself. Oh, and they both have blue eyes, like I previously mentioned. It's all about the little details, y'see.

Yet, they're also polar opposites at the same time.

Robotnik is usually perched within his LATEST AND GRRRREATEST creation, only using more "personal" means now and then, whereas Tails fights with his own mortal form and only using other means like the Tornado for when he has to.

Robotnik is such an egotist that he makes other villains look modest, defacing ancient Egyptian monuments and everything, whereas Tails is perfectly content to let Sonic and/or whoever else take the credit, and when he does take the credit, he's usually embarrassed about it.

Robotnik is on par with Brian Blessed in the dramatic department, with occasional bouts of a frightening calm fury, whereas Tails tends to be more softspoken and quiet than most of the other heroes, with occasional bouts of innocent excitement.

Robotnik - despite being in his probable late forties or early fifties (I presume) - is a colossal manchild to the point of coming across as a kid in a man's body, whereas Tails - despite being a child as well as being one of the youngest in the whole series - is one of the most sensible, mature and level-headed characters.

Robotnik will do anything and everything to expand his empire in the most dog-kicking of manners, whereas Tails is only behind Cream and Tikal in terms of being one of the most gentle of the cast, who would never hurt a fly (unless it was a Badnik fly).

...and so on.

So yeah. It's fucking Tails. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to play as Tails in the 2011 Sonic CD. Again.

(But in all seriousness, that should be more than enough to explain why I love the Sonic series. Probably too much. Hey, you can't say I'm dedicated. I had to write this shit up twice for chrissake.)

EDIT: Don't mind me, just adding even more drivel to this already gigantic pile. Many hours later, no less.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Dr. Crusher

[Frogging101]

words

You sir have just won the thread. Congratulations.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Frogging101

[Dr. Crusher]

Thanks very much.

Now I have to rethink my life.

[Kuzu]

Positive mode: GO!

This motherfucker right here. This guy... this is the fucking guy right here. Back in the day man, he was this rad red motherfucker who kicked ass and ate grapes, and he was all outta grapes. He was why I loved this series the way I did, guys, this Rastafarian red piece of shit flexed his muscles and never chuckled unlike that stupid asshole Sonic, he ripped down walls with his fuck-off-huge fists without even noticing they were there, man, he could fly with his goddamned dreadlocks, he was the one and only insane motherfucker that is Knuckles the Echidna. I loved this guy with every goddamn ounce of positivity in my scrawny little being.

Then 2006-2012 happened ;_;

But do I care? Hell naw, man. The time when this guy was that red Jamaican who meant serious fucking business was one hell of a ride, and even if they appear to be decreasing his IQ and likability, not to mention he isn't even one of the deuteragonists (alongside his bro Miles "Tails" Prower) anymore, even if you'd think they were TRYING to make a certain black-and-red Hedgehog whose name escapes me seem like a superior character, Knux will always be why I got into this series and one of the best freakin' things it ever created. I know one day he'll finally make his grand return. >=D

pftt. I hope I'm not offending you, but I feel you're underselling Knuckles a bit, so if you don't mind:

Knuckles is possibly among my top favorite characters in the series, there was just something about him that gravitated me towards him. I know everyone likes to paint him as the biggest idiot this side of the globe, and Sega have done nothing but justify those opinions by making him exactly that, but when Knuckles is truly written well, he has the potential to be one of the most interesting characters in the series.

-First off, his personality, on the surface, he's your stereotypical tough guy character, who just wants to fuck with the protagonist. But if you look at some of the extra material, Knuckles is probably harboring a deep inferiority complex, particularly towards Sonic. Think about it, Sonic always gets to go out on grand adventures, is recognized by many as a great hero, and is probably idolized by a good portion of the planet. Knuckles meanwhile is tasked with guarding a jewel of ultimate power to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, but since not many people probably know Angel Island exists, Knuckles` efforts are all but ignored; no hero worship, no thank you, and he hardly gets the respect you'd expect of someone in his position. And to add insult to injury, he was tricked into helping the guy trying to conquer his island, and when he tried to fight back, he's swatted aside while Sonic is the one who saves the day, effectively being upstaged on his home turf. But does he complain? Hell no, Knuckles is too tough for that shit, he just takes it in stride and continues his job, regardless of the recognition or respect, most people would either commit suicide or just say fuck it.

Secondly, I love his dynamics with most of the cast, particularly Sonic & Rouge; As I mentioned, the dude is packing a massive inferiority complex towards Sonic, so he takes any attempt he can get to upstage him, or subvert his status as leader, while Sonic also enjoys taking the piss out of him as well. Their lifestyles and values are so different, Sonic being the free spirited wanderer with no responsibilities, and Knuckles being a hermit committed to his task as guardian. Logically these two just shouldn't be friends, and yet they've always had each other's backs when it counts, and would gladly fight alongside each other. It stands out because it mirrors real life friendships as well, that no matter how much you may insult or abuse your friends, they're still your friends through and through. If Tails is Sonic's right-hand man, then Knuckles is his strong right-arm.

Second is Rouge. Now when you look at Knuckles, he really doesn't seem like the type that wouldn't be interested in girls, let alone ones such as Rouge, and hell he even voices his disgust towards her and yet he is almost always concerned for her safety when she's in danger around him. Now why would Knuckles, whom guards one of the most priceless gems in existence be interested in someone as amoral as Rouge, a jewel thief, who by all rights is his natural enemy? Well let's remember that Knuckles has probably never had real interaction with girls before Rouge, secondly it's pretty obvious Knuckles values strength and fight, it's part of his heritage after all. So here comes this woman trying to steal his shit, and when he finally confronts her about it? She fights him to a standstill, this random woman has the skill to go toe-to-toe with one of the most powerful characters in the series, it's like the equivalent of meeting a hot girl who plays video games, and could kick your ass in them too. Lastly, it's pretty damn amusing seeing how flustered he gets when she flirts and/or insults him.

And last, his moveset, ok it's not secret that characters like Blaze, Shadow, and Silver get a lot more recognition and focus as far as fanwork is concerned, it's understandable, stopping/slowing down time, psychokinesis, and pyrokinesis are generally seen as interesting powers, and Knuckles is mostly super strength, which is a pretty common and generic power. HOWEVER, in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing, this becomes an infinitely badass power. Ok, since Knuckles is strong, his body obviously needs to be built like a tank to withstand the force of his strength, same thing with Sonic's speed, which means that his resilance is off the fucking wall; you could probably beat him halfway to hell, and he'll probably treat it as a love tap, badass. Also, most of the characters need to either spin, use a hammer, or use their fancy powers to take down most enemies, Knuckles just simply punches them until they stay down, I'll say it again; he literally beats the shit out of you until you're down the dude is a monster at close quarters combat, and appears to know his own form of martial arts. So yeah, what if Knuckles doesn't have all of those fancy powers, he's durable enough to eat that shit and dish it right back out.

....SO yeah, Knuckles is kind of awesome, and I pray for the day when Sega realize this and treat him with the respect he deserves.

[Dr. Homem]

I, too, will make a long post. I had this in mind for some time already, and this thread seems like the perfect opportunity to voice it. Now, I'm not here to take a jab at the fanbase or any part of it, nor do I desire to perpetuate the notion of "bad Sonic fandom", unlike what the first few paragraphs may suggest. The point is to be positive and praise something I like. I digress, here it is.

--

A lot of people, especially those outside the Sonic fanbase, ask themselves why they are people never happy with the games that SEGA does. Even when SEGA seems to struggle and put their heart into a game, they still cannot agree among themselves. Why is that? Why is the general "image" of Sonic a poor one?

Now, now, calm down. Like I said, this is not a jab at the fanbase. I'll explain everything now. But to explain this, one must understand how it all began. So I'll tell you a bit about the history of Sonic and SEGA and how he came to be one of the most recognizable characters in video games.

The start

SEGA was about to make their first real attempt of going against Mario. They essentially wanted a "cooler" character that could stand up to him, and one that was good for the whole public; and that made the character. As for the game, there is a somewhat obscure reason for choosing speed: the Mega Drive's biggest advantage against the SNES was a faster processor. So, they wanted a cool character that was fast and universally recognizable as so. And just like that, Sonic the Hedgehog was born.

Making a character purposely "cool" is not an easy task, historically. But Sonic was indeed a rare case of a well-accepted character of that archetype. Sonic was a success, not only as a character but as a game too. He was an unique twist on the platforming genre.

The split

Now that's where things get interesting. The story presented in Sonic games was simply "a mad scientist takes animals and turns them into robots, Sonic comes and saves them". A plot quite open to interpretation. And that's exactly what happened. SEGA gave freedom to write different interpretations in comics and cartoons.

That's when the fandom first "cracked" into several divisions. For example we have the AoStH continuity, in which Sonic is a mix of Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner; the Archie/SatAM base, where Sonic fights for freedom in a dark world, the Fleetway/Manga story where events went close to the games. There are others that are just as important, because in times with no internet, interpretations were up to everybody. I've met people who thought Robotnik was a pile of dirty laundry, even, due to the Game Gear's graphics.

As you can notice the Sonic fandom was born divided with different visions of Sonic the Hedgehog. Despite the game being the same for everyone, it is intriguing how the story that ran in the head of these young people was totally different.

The franchise evolves

When it was released, the Playstation impressed players with their 3D games, and SEGA was pressured to adapt. The market screamed "We want 3D!". The Saturn tried, with 3D Blast or Sonic R, but those were merely experiments. The first serious attempt, Sonic X-Treme, was very wonky and never came to be. And for five years fans played Sonic 1, Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Those three games became rooted in the minds of the fans.

And after those five years, players finally saw Sonic move to 3D in SEGA's new console, the Dreamcast. Clearly the product of years of development, Sonic Adventure innovated in many respects. The graphics were amazing for the time, had six different characters, each with their own stories and play styles, a world exploitable numerous parallel activities, with a concrete storyline. Today a lot of people hate it, but at the time, the pros far outweighted the cons.

A house divided

And then the Dreamcast died. However, SEGA noticed their fandom had split, this time not culturally, but in taste. People from the classic era who liked the Adventure games, those who didn't, those who became fans with the new games...

Among this, Sonic Heroes was born. The concept was solid, colorful stages in the style of classic Sonic, but with a team of three different characters. Even if it lacked polish, so far so good. Then, a character who eventually became very popular was Shadow the Hedgehog. Due to such popularity, he got his own game with a poll. On release, however, the game proved to be highly controversial. A bomb was set. Anything Sonic Team did badly would blow the bomb up and turn the already-shattered fandom into crumbs. It was a very difficult situation for SEGA; yet, they drop it. Yes, 2006.

Zero tolerance

Now we can understand this. The fans could never forget those two elements again; and started judging games not by themselves, but by the past. And more importantly, they started seeing everything with a microscope, meaning, things that before were accepted, now were bad. For the internet Sonic now needed to be "saved" and a plethora of articles have been written detailing how. It is here that one realizes exactly how the fandom is broken in every article. Each "How to save Sonic" seen on the web is radically different from each other. Fans were in madness until recent releases.

Disintegration

So far I have only described how the fanbase came to be shaken to such level, taking into account various events that gradually cracked it for 15 years. We are still far from finishing however. Let's go back to the big question of this post: Why? How does Sonic continue to hold up?

The only possible reason for such a contradictory fanbase to continue staying together, is because everyone needs to agree simply that the games were good enough to allow for tolerance between each base. What this means, is that while the fandom was more divided than ever, they all wanted Sonic going back to its original quality. However, each person has a different definition of what it considers to be quality for Sonic.

Examples of good design that are ignored

Among all this havoc, five games appeared:

Like them or not, the Sonic Advance games was a good mix of old and new. More surprising was that all were unique, never being a repetition of one another. Now let's see the characteristics that made Sonic be worshiped in the past - dynamic platforming, puzzles, momentum, and sequences badniks you kill to get to the end of the level. Advance took all of those, and with each installment, improved their uses. Even more, they brought new mechanics too.

Sonic Rush took the concepts of Advance 2 and increased speed. Meanwhile, Sonic Rush Adventure, provided a more polished experience, adding a pleasant "adventure", new elements and some of the best bosses in the series.

See what I'm getting at? You may like them more or less, but they are definitely "good" games. Or at least, they fill most of what the fanbase wants, even in its broken state, but are ignored for whatever reason (perhaps for being spin offs?). In my vision, and this being the topic of utter positivity, they are a groundwork for creating successful Sonic games.

Pleasing everybody

While all the world wondered "What ruins Sonic? What can save him?", the truth for SEGA was: the kids love it. And that is a correct thought. Who keeps SEGA in the business? It is really surprising that SEGA prefer to please children? No it is not. All you need to do is look at things from an outside perspective. Put aside your opinions and put yourself in the place of SEGA. Video games cost money and have to make money.

But a lot of people don't care. They say the kids aren't true fans, or aren't faithful to Sonic's roots, or that they are stupid and will like any crap. And that is an hilarious statement. Why? Take a look at Sonic 4, an attempt to please old fans. Now look at Sonic Colors, a game that was made for kids. Now which game does the "hardcore" fandom prefer? It's Colors, the game made with the structure they claim to hate.

That's my first point, you can't claim to hate Sonic for "being made for children". Now my second point, they try to please both audiences.

Look at modern game libraries. There is an increasing amount of "mature" games. Like I said, many believe "bad" Sonic games sell well because kids are stupid and have no taste. In reality, it's because Sonic is one of the best games for kids that exists, due to the aforementioned mature games being the majority.

Just look at this Black Knight scene:

Regardless of your taste for the game, it is cool to see. Sonic dueling a knight in the sunset is great to see regardless of your age or when you joined the fanbase. However, it is also good for children. This is something that none of the other developers are doing. They become so focused on older demographics they have forgotten that children still play video games.

The thing is

Even though their money comes from new fans and kids, SEGA still does stuff to care for the devoted fandom. Look at everything we like, they don't have to do that. They'd earn enough money to cover their expenses if they didn't. But they still do it. Nobody can say SEGA has abandoned them, it does not really have. We fans are completely ignorant to think that they do not care for us.

SEGA only has to please their target demographic, but they put a little effort in for us.

And that's why I love you, Sega.

[Spin Attaxx]

Wasn't there an essay written just like that?

Also, I really want to make a long post explaining why Blaze and Marine (yes you read me) are some of the better characters for me (and why Nega is the character that most deserves to be retconned out of existance), but I don't know how to do that. Booo.

[Dr. Crusher]

Wasn't there an essay written just like that?

Also, I really want to make a long post explaining why Blaze and Marine (yes you read me) are some of the better characters for me (and why Nega is the character that most deserves to be retconned out of existance), but I don't know how to do that. Booo.

It's okay, man.

Raccoon Renegades, represent.

[Speedy]

Wasn't there an essay written just like that?

Mean that one?

[Spin Attaxx]

No, it was titled "Sonic and the Worst Fandom Ever", I believe.

[Dr. Homem]

Any similarities are purely coincidences

Edited November 28, 2012 by Homem

[Amomynous]

They say the kids aren't true fans, or aren't faithful to Sonic's roots, or that they are stupid and will like any crap. And that is an hilarious statement. Why? Take a look at Sonic 4, an attempt to please old fans. Now look at Sonic Colors, a game that was made for kids. Now which game does the "hardcore" fandom prefer? It's Colors, the game made with the structure they claim to hate.

Oh gosh, I really do hate it when Sonic fans totally discredit the kids, they are not that stupid.

[Speedy]

Discrediting kids is stupid anyway. We've all been kids, and most people that are today hardcore Sonic fans started as little kids playing their first games. In a way I think the fact that many of those hardcore fans aren't satisfied with the modern games is caused by them having fond memories of playing the classics when they were kids and want a new game to give them the same feeling they got when playing older games. It's not really about the quality of the new games, it's a lot of nostalgia and things like that involved. Sadly, most people kind of forget how to just enjoy something without looking around for flaws when they grow up. And those that don't find themselves in forums trying to reason with the pessimists.

[colorfulzones104]

Come to think about it, something I like in Sonic games is the unique character design of the characters.

The character design is very quirky, and a bit cartoony looking. It's different from the usual design of anthromorphic characters.

Edited December 2, 2012 by colorfulzones104

[Amomynous]

Did I mention I love Sonic Night of the wherehog? becuase I do.

Very finely detailed, fantastically animated, writing that's reminicent of something between a pixar short and a cartoon show (the pixar influence is particularly noticible here, though there's clearly some in Unleashed, it's more subtle)

Water and mud is very well rendered.

Chip has his usual toony actions such as tip-toeing in the air that are pretty darn cute. it may seem rather out-of character for Chip to be so fearful, buuut, maybe he just has a specific fear of ghosts? Chip suspecting the place was haunted thus was fearful from the start.

Sonic seems quite impressed by the old place, he has a sense of curiosity that seems quite fitting to him, not only interested in the new and 'hip' stuff he is so commonly associated with, it seems.

Impatient hedgehog cares not for plasmophobia.

Sonic is quite well written and isn't tame or jerkish though is somewhat unsympathetic to Chip's fear at first.

Then there's the ghosts, a petty rivalry for the affections of a womanly ghost steering most of the plot, the other ghosts go around scaring poor Chip witless to get a shot of the many over-the-top faces he makes (and he has SO many) It's unclear when Sonic becomes aware of the ghosts' presence, but when he is, naturally, he poses for the camera.

Typical.

The direct confrontation between Sonic and the ghosts was pretty dang entertaining, nothing quite like seeing Sonic kicking some ass, though they were actually pretty tough working together, Sonic even looks a little spooked when they pull invisibility on him, and they nearly got a picture of him unconcious, before being punched silly of course.

Sonic and Chip's congratulatory high-fives were pretty cute, especially Chip's hyper cheering.

Not forgetting, Sonic expression at 'Chip's sudden change of behavior is just priceless.

The girl ghost gives us a close look at Chip's model, showing some very nicely detailed eyes, one of the definite high points of Sonic Unleashed's CGI models

Edited December 12, 2012 by Mysterics

[Mogtaki]

Night of the Werehog was French-done, right? No wonder it's pretty nicely done, I'd say. The French make some awesome animations and stories.

[Spin Attaxx]

The French made Underground... colouring errors, off model characters, SatAM on drugs with songs... yeah.

[Mogtaki]

The French made Underground... colouring errors, off model characters, SatAM on drugs with songs... yeah.

Hey! Keep the thread utterly positive! Don't mention that cartoon D:

[Kimb]

Night of the Werehog was French-done, right? No wonder it's pretty nicely done, I'd say. The French make some awesome animations and stories.

Err nope!

It's made by Marza Animation Planet,a Japan-based animation studio.

The same folks that make all the wonderful CGI material for Sonic and some other Sega-related franchises.

[Mogtaki]

Err nope!

It's made by Marza Animation Planet,a Japan-based animation studio.

The same folks that make all the wonderful CGI material for Sonic and some other Sega-related franchises.

Well there we go x) I thought the French were involved in this somewhere, but wasn't sure about that CGI.

[-blank-]

*Long post*

I couldn't agree with you more. =3

Also, I have to say that I really enjoy how expressive Sonic could be in that short and how the emotions were portrayed.

Edited December 13, 2012 by Christmas Blaire

[Vertekins]

NOTW and Unleashed had some darn good character expressions and animations. Sonic's model animation in Unleashed is smoother than the finest silk and the subtlety behind his body language suited his often quiet nature as well in that game. The way he looks in this cutscene...that level of stricknen-ness just doesn't seem possible for Sonic yet it was done so well

Poor Sonic....but amazingly well done expression through that model.

I like Generations' more exagerrated animation too. Found Sonic's body language when he notices the prized Chili Dog missing from his hand hysterical.

[Kiah]

NOTW and Unleashed had some darn good character expressions and animations. Sonic's model animation in Unleashed is smoother than the finest silk and the subtlety behind his body language suited his often quiet nature as well in that game. The way he looks in this cutscene...that level of stricknen-ness just doesn't seem possible for Sonic yet it was done so well

Poor Sonic....but amazingly well done expression through that model.

 

I absolutely agree with you. That image made me think of something that I forgot to mention in my post in the 'Sonic Unleashed-Four Years Later' topic in regards to Sonic's characterization: his selflessness (not to be confused with selfishness). Sonic after being stricken was so weak that the couldn't move temporarily and was defenseless. Dark Gaia was about to attack Sonic and Chip when Sonic said "Chip. Run, Chip!"

Basically Sonic was saying for Chip to save himself as there was nothing that Sonic could do, even for himself. Despite Sonic being uncharacteristically weak and worn down, he was more concerned about the well-being of Chip more than himself. If anyone was going to be harmed by Dark Gaia, Sonic wanted to make sure that it wouldn't be Chip by telling him to flee.

Of course, this is not the first time we've seen Sonic demonstrate this quality. There is another example of Sonic's selflessness in Sonic and the Secret Rings. When Sonic held up the White World Ring to open the palace gates, he collasped. It's very obvious that Sonic is in a lot of pain when he collasped, yet he refused 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 he was more concerned about Shahra's morale and the last person he was thinking about was himself, despite all the pain he was in.

That is such an impressive quality! It's probably the quality that Sonic has that I love the most. I love Sonic's character as a whole (flaws included!) so it would be pretty tough for me to boil down what quality of his that is my favorite. But Sonic's selflessness speaks boldly for itself.

Edited December 15, 2012 by Sonikku_Kiah