A Retrospective on the Hedgehog with AttitudeThis will be Fast Memories' new home on the website as I will be deleting the previous posts in the misc. section later as to avoid confusion in future. Part 1: 1991It's hard to think that it's been 5 years removed from the last major celebration of the Hedgehog with attitude's career in which we were thrilled and amazed he had reached his 20th year in existence. So imagine my elation in realising he has now made it to his silver anniversary. Only Mario & Donkey Kong have been around longer than him. Part 2: 1992We've reached what many argue as one of the best Sonic games ever which is also the highest selling title in the franchise's history to date at over 6 million copies. That's more than the likes of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Adventure and Sonic Heroes. There's food for thought. Part 3: 1993Love Sonic Games? check! Love cartoons? check! This year was something that longtime tend to treasure a lot due to the fact that Sonic had at last been given a voice in the form of Family Matters' Jaleel White who played Erkel. That and the debut of Sonic CD is something that people have not forgotten either. Part 4: 1994This is what I like to think of as one of the best replay experiences as I remember going back to Sonic 3 & Knuckles for many months and years afterwards even when the compilations would arrive on Xbox and GameCube it just offered something that the modern counterparts at the time could not. Part 5: 1999This was a great time to be a Sonic fan as 1999 helped to shape up one of his better years and helping Sega end the last century and Millennium with the Dreamcast as the world's most powerful console. Something that will never be taken away from them. Part 6: 2001Moving into the Dreamcast's last year before being phased out due to poor sales and Sega would re-position themselves as a 3rd Party developer and SA 2 helped the DC to go out in a big way. Part 7: 2003A new TV show and one of the best Sonic games being ported to the Game Cube? not a bad year in the whole scheme of things when you think about it. Part 8: 2004This is one of those situations where its good on paper but could have been implemented much better. Part 9: 2005Part 10: 2006I could see what they were trying to do with Shadow but I just think that SonicTeam missed the mark with this. Part 11: 2008We like to pretend this never happened. Part 12: 2010 Originally when this was announced I was very intrigued at what the title meant. And the more info that was released was suggesting that it would play on the theme of Jekyl & Hyde a little with the idea of Sonic turning into a more muscular and feral creature whenever the sun would go down and night would fall. Now some might argue that's really unnecessary but given the improvements in the loading time with the Hedgehog engine, the much smoother pacing of the game as either daytime or Werehog mode along with much more simplified comedic and somewhat light-hearted direction with the story then I will gladly take this much needed step in the right direction compared to THAT GAME from 2 years prior to this. This is what happens when SonicTeam, and by extension - Sega; listen to the fans and deliver a much more satisfying gaming experience that players are much more inclined to play and give glowing reports of than a game that was deeply flawed in writing, programming, Beta testing and just all round in need of further development. I still find it odd that people will still find ways of talking about a game that almost killed Sonic's career rather than the topic of discussion from 2008 that was so much more fun and has immense replay value. 8 Years later I have lost count the amount of times I have gone back Unleashed. That tells you a lot. Part 13: 2011 This was definitely a good time to be a Sonic fan again as although I had some disagreements with Sonic 4 Episode 1 I found it to be enjoyable and Colors was very well recieved. Part 14: 2012 I enjoyed every bit of this game. It found ways of appeasing the old-school fans whilst keeping the new-school happy with the classic and modern styles of Zones ranging from Green Hill to a decent interpretation of Crisis City from Classic's perspective from an infamously bad Sonic game. Part 15: 2014 Lights, Camera - ACTION! This showed the potential that has a movie character with his involvement in Wreck-it Ralph to Jaleel White reprising his role in Blue Core Studio's "Sonic". Part 16: 2016 And he was just starting to get better and Boom the Game happened! And so we come to the end of this journey reflecting on 25 years of arguably one of the greatest video game characters ever to grace our screens on consoles and TV schedules. I don't think anyone of us ever thought he would last this long. But endure and last he has. Sonic is one of those characters that has been introduced to generations whether you first saw him in 1991, 2001, 2008 or 2011. He is a character that has changed very little over time in terms of personality where his humour is cheeky but appealing to all ages. I think fans find something relatable in him that they apply to themselves; whether it's pushing yourself that extra harder, living life to the fullest or learning not to sweat the small-stuff. As someone who has been a fan from the beginning; I have seen him rise, fall and pick himself up again. I have seen good TV shows and some where we see it as a guilty pleasure. But the one thing that I see that has been consistent is that he never stops. And by 'he' I refer to Sega & Sonic Team always trying new ideas in helping to take him forward. From the Adventure years to dealing with an affliction in Sonic Unleashed. The only field left for him to conquer is the Big Screen. I am looking forward to 2018 when that happens. Sony Pictures, don't screw this up. Fast Memories has been a nice trip down memory lane revisiting why I became a Hedgehogite all those years ago and why I have remained a fan of Sonic to this day. It's been pleasant to see the nostalgia sparked in your comments on what you remember from the early years with the 1st Genesis/Megadrive Titles to his first outings on TV with Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog & Sat-AM, which is my personal favourite out of all of them. There is just something appealing about his games and his character from his cool design to his quick witted personality that makes it hard to dislike him. Happy 25th Birthday, Sonic. Thank you for everything.
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AuthorThis is a section for when I make posts about video games pertaining to the likes of Sonic The Hedgeghog, Need for speed, etc Archives
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