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Sonic at Alton Towers thread of... HOORAY!


Badnik Mechanic

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I had to double check the date for this one. No it's not April 1st.

According to a one Slingerland of the TSS website (anyone heard of them?) theres a Sonic Rollercoaster Coming to Alton Towers in February of this year!

The ride itself is already built and is actually in operation now, the problem... it's not the Sonic ride, it's called the Spinball Whizzer and it mimicks a giant pinball machine, for those who are more acustomed to spinning wild mouse rides, it's basically one of them. Riders sit in a small circular car and as it travels down the track it rotates, the ride itself has various flipper and bumper noises built into it, so as you go down the idea is you're on a giant pinball machine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apq9lVMxJ28

See the ride in action at present.

Well it's getting a new coat of paint, and with partnership with Sega is going to become a relaunched ride to co-inside with the relanch of Sonic.... Urm.... what was that.... Say again?

The following is the email confirmation from someone at the park.

Happy New Year

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you but I have been on holiday. I am sure that you will have picked up press reports by now relating to Spinball Whizzer and the fact that we are in partnership with Sega resulting in a retheme to the ride to coincide with the relaunch of Sonic. We hope that the retheme will be complete for our February half-term opening. Or maybe this is a tie in to ASR which is also rumourer for a Feb-March release. Quite an interesting bit of wordplay there though. Read into it as you will.

Kind regards

The Relaunch of Sonic? Coincide? Now for those who may have been paying attention recently... theres a lot of buzz about this game called needlemouse.... could it be that we're going to get one hell of an announcement come February? When the ride is aparently due for opening? Well the ride itself will be open to the public during the UK February Half Termif this site has anything to say about it.

Well... now lets get the important things on the table... being serious now... does anyone fancy going on a beano (a day out) as a community thing to go on the ride when it eventually opens? Or would that be a bit too wierd?

Also another thing for merch hunters, the old ride Spinball Whizzer ride had it's own merchandise, could we see new themed merchandise around the ride?

P.S. Everyone who knows about Alton Towers will probably know this anyway, but this would be the third time that Sonic has appeared at Alton Towers. The first time was near to the end of a ride called Toyland Tours, which has since been replaced by the Willy Wonker rider (it's still a fun ride... just not as much nostalgia).

The Second time he appeared was when a one T-Bird discovered them hiding behind the haunted house ride and attempted to rescue them... sadly it resulted in failure and they were never seen again.

Edited by Gnasher
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Wait. Wait... Relaunch?!?!? That seems a bit ominous to me. I mean, I'm a classic games and STC fan, more or less, but to just throw everything out... would leave a bitter taste in my mouth to be honest. Hmm, curiouser and curiouser.

Edited by Spirit of Vengeance
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If this Sonic rollercoaster isn't going to be faster than that, there is no justice in the world :mellow:

But yeah, sounds intriguing. I wouldn't go on it though if I ever went to Alton Towers, much too twirly and possibly nausea-inducing.

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I found this new listing yesterday and was reluctant to say anything as it seemed a bit out the fence but with this ride news and that statement it might be worth mentioning -

A Sonic Spinball game coming to Wii?

Odd that they list Capcom as publisher.

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Capcom as publisher...? What? I'd say SEGA maybe did Sonic justice by handing him over to a company that probably has a better idea of what to do with him, but obviously, that's not the case in this topic...

And relaunch? Needlemouse must be bigger than a tiny "arcade game" if that's the case... and the game itself probably is a radical departure from the series we know and love.

That is, if the "relaunch" of Sonic even involved Needlemouse, and if he didn't misspoke and was simply referring to the relaunch of the rollercoaster under the Sonic name.

Edited by EXshad
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I found this new listing yesterday and was reluctant to say anything as it seemed a bit out the fence but with this ride news and that statement it might be worth mentioning -

A Sonic Spinball game coming to Wii?

Odd that they list Capcom as publisher.

Nice find! Get that schnit up on the front page! Even if it's just a fail it's still alluring!

And thanks Cass for digging up an old youtube relic. For those concerned no T-Birds were harmed in the making.

T

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I am sure that you will have picked up press reports by now relating to Spinball Whizzer and the fact that we are in partnership with Sega resulting in a retheme to the ride to coincide with the relaunch of Sonic.

So Alton Towers is restyling a roller coaster just for it to used as an advertisement for Project Needlemouse?

That's just wonderful.

Edited by Evile Cruelty
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News'd the game listing

Since Simply Games don't seem to have a Developer section in their listing's it could be that Capcom is the Developer and they just listed them as Publisher there instead of Developer. It could be like when SEGA got Bioware to make Sonic Chronciles. I've seen plenty of retailer listings for games where the Developer is listed as Publisher. Just a thought anyway.

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If Needlemouse really is a relaunch, that would explain why they haven't revealed anything yet - They don't want to make the current version seem like a "lame duck" Sonic.

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First... a few more photos of the ride.

S7300944.jpg

S7300973.jpg

That one is taken from the Squirrel Nutty ride.

None of those pictures shows new scenery, it's all the old theme, the only thing changed is the paint. There was another bit of news that I found out which I was a bit sadded at as if sega had taken that ride for their PROMOTION it would have really kicked ass.... aparently the ride RITA: Queen of Speed, is being re-designed as well, the super fast roller coaster ride.

However, according to Towers Times website, the Alton Towers Hotel already has promotional material up and running...

The resort information packs in the Hotel bedrooms have been updated already, ahead of the new season, and a small promo shot of a Spinball Whizzer car has a Sonic the Hedgehog logo on the side. This would appear to confirm the plans for the ride which is due to open in February.
Source (Click on the news link on their main page, it should open up the news for you).

Second bit of big Sonic Alton Towers related news!

I've done some digging and if this is true... then some heads may explode. The following information came from the Towers Times forums, it was posted by someone who was originally believed to be trolling (he registered as Sonic the Hedgehog)... however after further information, he is now believed by the site to be someone from Alton Towers who works there and is doing a (bad) job at promoting it. I however am not yet convinced, as he's not provided anything official... but... well see if you can guess...

For those who don't know Alton Towers has a two Hotels, one is themed as a beach, the other is themed on adventure... however, it has special rooms that you can stay in... they include but are not limited too...

Cadbury's chocolate room (a room filled with chocolate themed on chocolate and chocolate on demand.

Fizzy drinks room (hot and cold running fizzy drinks on demand).

Oblivion Room. (based off the Oblivion ride, the beds can be adjusted so they're attached to the room and you sleep facing down.)

Nemesis room (based off the nemesis ride, the beds can be adjusted so you sleep vertically against the wall).

No they don't... they don't exist anymore... Bloody hell... Right... the new list of their rooms is here on the official site..

lol can you guess what I'm about to say...

According to this guy... There is going to be a Sonic themed Hotel Suite in the Hotel that you can stay in if you have the cash... Bare in mind that this in my opinion is far from confirmed.

If you take notice of the post... it was made long before sites began reporting the ride, and it was reported long before Alton Towers officially confirmed it... what do you think? A hoaxer or a poor PR stunt?

Edited by Casanova
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ASR comes in february... just saying *stoned*

Anyways, whatever this is for, it's just a big advertising for Sonic, and that could only be good right? :)

Edited by imarafan
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According to this guy... There is going to be a Sonic themed Hotel Suite in the Hotel that you can stay in if you have the cash... Bare in mind that this in my opinion is far from confirmed.

I'd pay vast quantities of cash to stay in that room! I bet you'll be scared out of the room at night by management dressed as Tails dolls. Spooky.

T

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Thanks for all the pics and info Cas!

The ride looks awesome, I'm glad it's got nothing too scary otherwise I'd be too afraid to get on it :lol: I can only just about manage Alton Tower's Corkscrew with its two loop de loops one right after the other. Do they still have that ride?

A Sonic themed hotel suite? All we need now is Sonic staffing for room service :D

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The ride looks awesome, I'm glad it's got nothing too scary otherwise I'd be too afraid to get on it :lol: I can only just about manage Alton Tower's Corkscrew with its two loop de loops one right after the other. Do they still have that ride?

Nope, I think it shut down in 2006.

Just been reading some of the comments on the towers times forum. Those photos were taken very recently, no scenery is there yet, and no sign of the new cars. Is anyone else getting a bit worried that this may end up being a bit of a cardboard cutout thing? Alton Towers already has a few big rides planned this year, one is called Thirteen. This isn't one of their 'big' rides when you look at what they've got planned this year. So I'm slowly growing concerned that this mat not be the all singing all dancing hurrah that we hope.

But still It's a Sonic Rollercoaster! Lets go and have a beano there and then we shall tell stories in the Sonic themed hotel room! (If it's real)

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As awesome as a Sonic rollercoaster sounds, I'm more concerned about that "relaunch of Sonic" comment. Throwing out the last 18 years and starting all over would just be extremely dissapointing. Even if its just the relaunch of classic Sonic, that would just feel like a giant step backwards IMO. Don't get me wrong, the classic games are awesome, but acting like the past 11 years didn't happen would just feel wrong.

Ah well, I'll be optimistic. The idea of a Sonic rollercoaster is awesome, and even though I can't ride it myself (I don't live in the UK), I can at least see videos of it on Youtube.

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Am I the only one who HOPES the relaunch comment is true? So long as they handle it tastefully and don't do anything stupid it'd be a godsend for the series to lose it's hefty amounts of baggage.

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Am I the only one who HOPES the relaunch comment is true? So long as they handle it tastefully and don't do anything stupid it'd be a godsend for the series to lose it's hefty amounts of baggage.

It would be interesting yes but I can't see how they could do a relaunch as big as they did back when Sonic Adventure was announced with the character redesigns, human world, talking and new attacks/techniques. How can they out-do that?

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It would be interesting yes but I can't see how they could do a relaunch as big as they did back when Sonic Adventure was announced with the character redesigns, human world, talking and new attacks/techniques. How can they out-do that?

I hate to sound like one of "those" people, but by doing just the opposite. Going back to more 2D gameplay, more "homey" designs and family-friendly/simple storylines seems to be the most popular idea of how to bring Sonic back, in my opinion.

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I hate to sound like one of "those" people, but by doing just the opposite. Going back to more 2D gameplay, more "homey" designs and family-friendly/simple storylines seems to be the most popular idea of how to bring Sonic back, in my opinion.

I didn't think about that but I guess that could work as they've already been at it just lately with his recent design where he's a little smaller and rounder like he used to be. There's also the current trend of retro stuff being popular in the gaming and movie market plus lots of fans have been demaning classic Sonic 2D gameplay. The constant re-releases of the classic games have been selling like hotcakes and the modern 2D games have been successful so a classic re-launch is very possible.

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It has me concerned, really, It sounds like they're making very large changes and not telling anyone about it. I wouldn't want Sonic's relaunch to be in the form of some little XBLA release. Than again, this all might be a typo of some variety. I hate to say it again, but we'll see.

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Considering that this is from, y'know, a theme park promotion, I'm not going to be doomsaying yet. I'd be a little disappointed to see a full reboot at a time when the series is finally sort of getting back on track, but there's certainly some justification for it. "Relaunch" could mean a hundred things, though, from an actual continuity reset to the "speed returns!" business we've known about for months. If it means anything, it's probably just going to be a big marketing blitz.

It would be amusing to see the first details about the ironclad Needlemouse come up somewhere as trivial as this, though.

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I didn't think about that but I guess that could work as they've already been at it just lately with his recent design where he's a little smaller and rounder like he used to be. There's also the current trend of retro stuff being popular in the gaming and movie market plus lots of fans have been demaning classic Sonic 2D gameplay. The constant re-releases of the classic games have been selling like hotcakes and the modern 2D games have been successful so a classic re-launch is very possible.

A classic relaunch is possible. Almost anything is possible though. The thing is, Sega is always relaunching the series.

The reason is, there are fans out there that believe the series is in "peril" and needs to be "saved'. For this reason, a reboot

is profitable to them. And since Retro is in now, bringing Sonic back to his classic styling will be profitable as well.

So if Sega wanted to relaunch the series, it is possible they might also undo any decisions made with Sonic post-1994.

If they did this just for profit or to get the older fans to buy, however, they would be milking the hedgehog, just like they

did when they came up with Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the GBA.

Edited by Evile Cruelty
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Capcom as publisher...? What? I'd say SEGA maybe did Sonic justice by handing him over to a company that probably has a better idea of what to do with him, but obviously, that's not the case in this topic...

The majority said that when Bioware announced Sonic Chronicles and we all know the crap that one turned out.

The only team of Capcom that I'd trust with Sonic isn't there anymore. Not that I don't like them, I love them, they're my favourite after SEGA. There's a certain flair to Sonic that isn't easily emulated though.

They are always saying that they're "rebooting" the franchise, Sonic 06, Sonic Unleashed. I wouldn't care about that.

Edited by redmenace
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I don't know what to make of this. I'm all for the ride, but I'm certainly questioning the credibility of the source regarding use of the word 'relaunch'.

Then again, I don't consider SA1 as having been a 'relaunch', more a reimaging. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that Needlemouse might be something along those lines, considering when you look at it, the SA era 'new' Sonic has actually been around for longer than the classic designs now. It's hardly too soon for another change along those lines.

I'd be up for some kind of group day out there sometime, although I imagine it'd be difficult to keep the group together throughout the day, unless we all wore something specific. Special day-out T-shirts or something, anyone? Would be a pretty awesome way to spot each other.

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Anyone else think that by "relaunch" the Alton Towers dude simply means "franchise relaunch"? Not so much in games (although Needlemouse is indirectly proposing the same) but in terms of a marketing cash cow? I'd love to see the heady days of 1993-1995 return, where Sonic the Hedgehog was plastered about on every little damn thing, was on TV all the time and had rides all to himself.

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