The parodys of Sonic 2

[Cortez]

Pretty sure the Naka interview is still at CuLT somewhere, cba to find it right now though.

[Phos]

I've heard this a lot, but I've never seen any actual evidence of it. Got any on hand?

I've got a few, actually. Super forms and battle auras were nothing new when Dragonball Z started using/abusing them. Kenshiro, the main character of Hakuto No Ken, had a technique for tapping into the 70% of a human's strength that usually goes unused. It increased his strength and speed along with the size of his muscles. You can see it here. Yu Yu Hakusho also had characters only using small portions of their strength, and unleashing the rest would often change their appearance.

Characters who engage super forms also tend to gain an aura of some sort. DBZ starting doing this constantly during the Namek Saga, however, Hakuto no Ken and Yu Yu Hakusho, plus however many I don't know of were doing this back in the eighties. Hakuto no Ken's intro contains a few examples of them. Interestingly, at 0:33, Ken is in the exact same post as the Super Sonic transformation.

Using gems as a power source is also nothing new. For an older example of that, look no further than Power Rangers. During the first series (The first of the Super Sentai shows), the Zords are powered by crystals, or at least require them to form the Megazord. I'm also having a hard time trying to tell when exactly it was published, the Sun Stones from Dinotopia is an interesting western example of crystals as a power source. As bizarre as it might sound, I also happen to know of what I think was a Hana Barrera cartoon that had a crystal that could be used to power a machine able to control minds on a large scale.

The only two things that I'm having a hard time placing are the increase in pointyness and the yellow color change. While Naka does deny that he copied/was inspired by DMZ, he certainly didn't give much reason to believe him. The closest I can com up with is that all the characters in Power Stone seem based off of one folk hero or another, and Wang Tang's power change might be as well.

There's another parody in Sonic 2 that I'm surprised no one has mentioned yet.

[iDEATH]

The thing about the pop cult i Sonic 2 is none of it's really a joke. The death star isn't made out to be a joke nor is Super Sonic. I think the problem with including pop cult in games is it tendsto be in the interests of incredibly poor comedy and comes off as weak. My mind's going blank for examples but it tends to be a problem with cheap platformers.

So if Sonic were to bring back te references I wouldn't mind if they were subtle and well written, but stuffing them in simply for cheap larfs is a no go for me.

[Cortez]

Well then my dear Phos, would YOU care to mention it since apparantly the rest of us are clueless xD.

[Phos]

Well then my dear Phos, would YOU care to mention it since apparantly the rest of us are clueless xD.

Mecha Sonic

Mecha Godzilla

[Thirsty Pocket]

Pop Culture references usually disgust me unless they are kind of quiet about themselves like Mother 3's "Mr. Batty Twist" being an instantly recognizable Batman reference.

I couldn't stand the "oh my god, direct your attention to this pop culture refetence and don't look awzy" style that Early Archie Comic's Sonic did. Very poorly too.

And yeah. More little references woulda have been neat. A pirate ship in Rush Adventure named "the black egg" or "the flying eggman" woulda been a great poke at pirates of the carribean.

[Dr. Mechano]

Also, no, Super Sonic is not a parody. No kid's first reaction to becoming Super for the first time was "lol, look how ridiculous he looks flying around like Goku." No, most kids like myself and I'm guessing more than half of the people on this site thought "HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME!"

Might have something to do with American/European kids seeing Sonic first, considering DBZ- older though it was- wasn't translated to English until some time later.

The thing about the pop cult i Sonic 2 is none of it's really a joke. The death star isn't made out to be a joke nor is Super Sonic.

It's a Death Star with Eggman's face on it. Surely you can see how this was meant to be funny.

As for Super Sonic, I think it depends on the mindset of the player- I saw it as a rather ridiculous, over-the-top, and silly thing. However, thanks to the modern games' attempts at creating an, er... "epic" re-imagining of the Super Sonic form, lots of fans consider Super Sonic a perfectly serious transformation with no inherent humor to be found. To me, however, Sonic Team trying to take such a silly concept seriously is rather charmingly hilarious, and a consistent source of unintentional humor in the Sonic franchise.

[Cortez]

Mecha Sonic

Mecha Godzilla

Oh my fucking god. I am actually speechless. You've just hit me with a freight train of concentrated amazingness.

[redmenace]

Mecha Sonic

Mecha Godzilla

Even the eyes are yellow.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I see similarities, but I don't exactly see how Mecha Godzilla inspired Silver Sonic if that's what you're saying. Dopplegangers, mechanical or othrewise aren't anything new for a series.

Edited October 28, 2009 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[JaidynReiman]

How about another one?

"I am the Eggman, that's what I am. I am the Eggman, I've got the master plan!"

And then the "three hedgehogs" vibe in Sonic '06 a lot of people compare to DBZ, as well. (Not that I know what DBZ is like...)

[Cortez]

Well Mechagodzilla first appeared in 1974 with the sequel being released in 1993 so I imagine alot of pre-release stuff on the film must have been circulating in 1992 so I'd say theres definatly some inspiration there, either that or a huge coincidence.

[Marcello]

At the end of Heroes, I was kind of reminded of Star Wars Episode 2, because of the Shadow Clones. I thought it was on purpose, because of things like the Death Egg parodying/ripping off/referencing (choose what you want, I'd say parodying) Star Wars. I was like 12 at the time >_>.

[Kiljoy]

Even the eyes are yellow.

uhmm why do yellow eyes matter, Metal Sonic's eyes are red.

[Dr. Mechano]

At the end of Heroes, I was kind of reminded of Star Wars Episode 2, because of the Shadow Clones. I thought it was on purpose, because of things like the Death Egg parodying/ripping off/referencing (choose what you want, I'd say parodying) Star Wars. I was like 12 at the time >_>.

Well, except that:

A.) Cloning itself is pretty general, and to be a Star Wars reference there'd need to be something more obvious, such as the Shadow Androids each wearing armor inspired by the Storm Troopers or some such.

B.) ...They weren't really "clones", despite Omega's curious wording. They were androids. So yeah.

Edited October 28, 2009 by Dr. Mechano

[Marcello]

I don't think it anymore.. I just thought that at the time. But wasn't revealed in Shadow the Hedgehog that they were androids? I thought in Heroes, they were still thought to be clones?

[Dr. Mechano]

I don't think it anymore.. I just thought that at the time. But wasn't revealed in Shadow the Hedgehog that they were androids? I thought in Heroes, they were still thought to be clones?

Well, all Omega says is "YOU KNOW ABOUT CLONING!"

But in the same scene, Rouge says that Shadow is a "robot."

So the implication for either was there, I guess. I call poor wording on the part of the writer, if anything else.

[redmenace]

uhmm why do yellow eyes matter, Metal Sonic's eyes are red.

Aren't they orange (mecha sonic's)? That was what I was angling to.

[azoo]

Pop culture refrences were what Sonic was made of back in the day. The original concepts for Sonic 1 contained a Madonna-like character as the damsel-in-distress (heck, even called "Madonna" in the concept art), Eggman's name is pure reference to The Beatles' song "I Am the Walrus", Eggman's face and overall structure was based off of Theodore Roosevelt... it's not a surprise to see Super Sonic and the Death Egg.

Oh, and for people who say SS isn't a parody of DBZ, then I bet you didn't notice that Super Sonic is ripped.

[Blue Blood]

Sonic Unleashed

The "Pretty Committee" of Shamar used to be called the "Full Metal Shamaralechmists" according to Yasmines bio in Prof. Pickles lab.

Sonic Rivals 2

One of Rouges unlockable costumes is called Raider. It consists of a short tank top, a pair of skin-tight shorts, dark boots and climbing gloves. Sound familiar? Well, it should:

These are only teeny little extras. It would be awesome to see more.

Edited October 28, 2009 by Blue Blood

[Dr. Mechano]

Sonic Unleashed

The "Pretty Committee" of Shamr used to be called the "Full Metal Shamarlechmists" according to Yasmines bio in Prof. Pickles lab.

That's pretty awesome, I have to say.

I think they should have kept that name.

[Kiljoy]

Sonic Unleashed

The "Pretty Committee" of Shamr used to be called the "Full Metal Shamarlechmists" according to Yasmines bio in Prof. Pickles lab.

Sonic Rivals 2

One of Rouges unlockable costumes is called Raider. It consists of a short tank top, a pair of skin-tight shorts, dark boots and climbing gloves. Sound familiar? Well, it should:

These are only teeny little extras. It would be awesome to see more.

I don't mind this, they are like easter eggs. My problem would be if Rouge's costume was normally the Raider outfit, or the Shamr had the full metal name in the game. Unlockables are great, I support that and hope we get more.

[Blue Blood]

That's pretty awesome, I have to say.

I think they should have kept that name.

It says that she's always changing the name. I forget what the other one was (hint hint, someone go check cause I'm lazy), but I dunno if it was a pop culture reference or not. It also says that someone needs to take away her comic books.

[HunterTSF]

It says that she's always changing the name. I forget what the other one was (hint hint, someone go check cause I'm lazy), but I dunno if it was a pop culture reference or not. It also says that someone needs to take away her comic books.

I believe that was the only previous name for their duo that was blatant parody of of an animé/manga. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, though.

-=ENGLISH ver.=-

Current name: "Pretty Committee to Preserve Peace in Shamar"

Last week: "Darling Defenders of the Shamaran Sands"

Week before last: "Full Mettle Shamalchemists!"

-=JAPANESE ver.=-

Current name: "Shamar no Heiwa wo Mamoru Pretty Shimai" (pretty sister guardians of Shamar's peace)

Last week: "Shamar no Sexy Onna Kaitou" (sexy lady thieves of Shamar)

Week before last: "Shamar wo Sukuu Hakui no Tenshi" (Shamar's rescue angels in white robes)

On a side note, a middle-eastern otaku adventure loli should have been awesome enough to save the series. Seriously, what more could you ask for? A waterbiking Australian adventure loli? Oh, wait...

Edited October 29, 2009 by HunterTSF

[batson]

Eggman's name is pure reference to The Beatles' song "I Am the Walrus",

Im not entirely sure that has to be the case. I've never heard any official confirmation on that little piece of trivia about Eggman's creation (and the creators of the character have actually revealed quite a lot about the process of coming up the the character, and about where they got their ideas from). But regardless, there is absolutely no question that the guy who wrote Eggman's theme song in SA2 realized that the guy's name could be turned into a Beatles reference, since the line "i am the Eggman" is taken directly from the Beatles "I Am the Walrus"-song.