The Sonic Stadium

The Chaotix Detective Agency: the team that never turns down work that pays, a force where one and one makes three, and experts at taking a look at… more clues. Now, the subject of this week’s Mash-Up Monday!

When Team Chaotix was brought back and redesigned from Knuckles Chaotix into their more modern iterations established in Sonic Heroes, their re-debut came with an awesome and really catchy self-titled theme song with vocals by Gunnar Nelson. It also turns out it mashes together quite well with the Mariko Nanba’s Area theme for Sweet Mountain from Sonic Colours, as YouTuber Newbiespud found out by bringing both tunes together.

Check out their tribute to Vector, Espio, and Charmy below!

Continue reading Mash-Up Monday: Team Chaotix X Sweet Mountain Area

#Games

4 new Sonic themes out for 3DS in NA (one is free!)

September 24, 2016September 24, 2016

Hero of Legend

15 Comments

This past Thursday, Sega released 4 new Sonic themes for the 3DS Theme Shop in NA. One of the which, the 25th Anniversary theme, is free to download! The other three can be bought individually for $2 USD each (sadly I can’t find the CDN prices) or in a 3-theme bundle for $4.99 USD or $6.49 CDN.

The 4 themes with their names and songs are:

Sonic series: 25th Anniversary (Music: Sonic Heroes “System Screen: Team Select”)
Sonic series: Sonic Style (Music: Sonic Generations: “System Screen: Option Menu”)
Sonic series: Classic Style (Music: Sonic the Hedgehog 3: “System Screen: Character Select”)
Sonic series: Boom Style (Music: Sonic Boom: “Main Theme”)

You can see pics of all themes below.

Continue reading 4 new Sonic themes out for 3DS in NA (one is free!)

#Community

The SSMB is Hosting a Community Celebration Event with a “Sonic Musical Spectacular”

September 22, 2016September 22, 2016

VizardJeffhog

0 Comments

It’s been one year since the SSMB community stream channel “Motobug” was founded, hosting everything from movie nights to streams of Nintendo Directs and PlayStation Live, as well as marathons of old Sonic Saturday morning cartoons. To commemorate this occasion and to celebrate everything Sonic, SSMB, and Motobug, forum user and channel co-founder Ryannumberonegamer will be hosting a “Sonic Musical Spectacular” (unrelated to the TSS Blackout remix project by DJ EAR) this Saturday at 5pm GMT (1pm EDT)!

Check out his statement below, pulled from the SSMB thread:

Continue reading The SSMB is Hosting a Community Celebration Event with a “Sonic Musical Spectacular”

#Community

Freak-Out Friday: Sonic the Hedgehog in Smash Bros. Melee

September 16, 2016September 16, 2016

VizardJeffhog

10 Comments

Who remembers those old hoaxes swirling around some of our favourite video games? Those days where prolific liars on the playground took advantage of our gullibility, saying you can only catch Mew in Pokémon Red and Blue from under a truck, or Aerith can live in Final Fantasy VII, or you can find the Triforce in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, all after a complicated set of conditions are met?

There was one hoax Sonic fans would remember from an old issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, where you could unlock Sonic and Tails in Super Smash Bros. Melee by scoring 20 KOs in Cruel Melee mode. Impossible, right? Not so, for YouTuber MagicScrumpy did unlock the one and only video game character who is blue, collects rings, and goes fast by clearing those conditions – check out his video below!

Continue reading Freak-Out Friday: Sonic the Hedgehog in Smash Bros. Melee

#Games

The Creative Director of Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice Speaks Out on Changes Over Shattered Crystal

September 14, 2016September 14, 2016

VizardJeffhog

14 Comments

We’re less than two weeks away until Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice launches on the Nintendo 3DS, and new information and footage from the game is dropping nearly by the day. That said, there is still an air of uncertainty and apprehension surrounding the new Sonic Boom-branded game, despite its one year-delay and SEGA’s promise to uphold a higher standard of quality in all of their games.

This scrutiny isn’t without grounds and neither is it be unexpected, considering the disastrous launch of Big Red Button’s Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric on Wii U, which was received poorly by critics, and Sanzaru Games’ Shattered Crystal on 3DS, which didn’t live up to fans’ expectations for a 2D Sonic game. With Sanzaru once again at the helm, however, the team aimed to improve on Fire & Ice where Shattered Crystal went wrong, as the game’s creative director Mat Kraemer explains in an interview with GameSpot.

Continue reading The Creative Director of Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice Speaks Out on Changes Over Shattered Crystal

#Games

Free Sonic Hat with Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice at Nintendo UK

September 13, 2016September 16, 2016

Doctor MK

4 Comments

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, the sequel to Sanzaru Games’ Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal from 2014, races onto Nintendo 3DS in Europe on Friday 30th September. With only a few weeks to go until the release date, UK gamers can now put their pre-orders down on the Nintendo UK Online Store and get a nifty Sonic hat for free!

Admittedly it’s not the most exciting pre-order incentive in the world – the site openly admits that these are the same 20th anniversary hats that have been floating around and given away at events for the past five years – but it’s certainly better than nothing! If you’ve ever wanted to look like your favourite blue hedgehog and never managed to nab one of these beauties, now’s your chance.

Continue reading Free Sonic Hat with Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice at Nintendo UK

#Games

Sega Announces Sonic Mania Collectors Edition for North America

September 13, 2016September 13, 2016

Ian

21 Comments

Earlier today the Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter announced the Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition for North America.

In addition to a download code for the game itself (of course!) on a metallic collector’s card, the pack features a 12 inch statue of Sonic standing on a Sega Genesis console – with added “Sega!” chorus when you flip the power switch – and a mock Genesis cartridge for Mania that opens up to reveal a golden ring. It’s about at close as we’ll get to an actual Sonic Mania cartridge!

The Sonic Mania Collectors Edition is priced at $69.99 ($89.99 in Canada), and is now available to pre-order at Amazon US/Ca:
Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition (Xbox One) (Canada)
Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition (Playstation 4) (Canada)
Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition (PC) (Canada)
The PS4 version briefly appeared as sold out, so supplies may be limited.

The Amazon listing also mentions a release date of May 31st 2017, which I believe is the first indication we’ve had of a solid release date. Time will tell if it turns out to be true.

No word on what (if anything?) the rest of the world is getting, but I can only hope it looks as good as this pack does!

#Community

Mash-Up Monday: “Shadow and the Snow Queen”, Plus Sonic Storybook Photoshop Contest

September 12, 2016September 15, 2016

VizardJeffhog

22 Comments

Ah, the Sonic Storybook series – a spinoff that never lived past Sonic and the Secret Rings, which brought the Blue Blur to the many tales of the Arabian Nights, and Sonic and the Black Knight, based on the old legends of King Arthur. The concept of mashing together Sonic with age-old folklore was a fun one that could’ve led to other game ideas: say, Sonic finding the lost city of Atlantis, or facing the Greek hero Hercules, or maybe even going through the pages of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen.

What’s with that specific last example, you may ask? This week’s Mash-Up Monday, being “Shadow and the Snow Queen”—a combination of “Let it Go” from Disney’s Frozen, “Snow Halation” from the Love Live! anime, snippets of Crush 40’s “I Am All of Me” from Shadow the Hedgehog, and bits of “Rooftop Run” from Sonic Unleashed—based on a very real crossover idea that spawned between the Sonic and Frozen fandoms.

Check it out below, and read on for the Sonic Storybook Series photoshop contest!

Continue reading Mash-Up Monday: “Shadow and the Snow Queen”, Plus Sonic Storybook Photoshop Contest

#Merchandise

Last Chance to Get a Limited Summer of Sonic/Sonic 25th Anniversary T-Shirt

September 12, 2016September 12, 2016

Hogfather

0 Comments

The Summer of Sonic convention may have come and gone but there is one final hurrah for everyone.

Those awesome T-Shirts, which are also official 25th anniversary pieces of merchandise, if you still want one, there are a few left over and they’re also up for purchase at the Summer of Sonic hub.

So if you want to be the height of fashion, it’s time to buy!

P.S. make sure you read the page carefully so you know how to select your size.

#SEGA & Sonic Team

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice and SEGA 3D Archives 3: Final Stage Will Both Be at Tokyo Game Show 2016

September 11, 2016September 11, 2016

VizardJeffhog

3 Comments

This year’s Tokyo Game Show kicks off on September 15th, and with it will come plenty of big reveals from some of the industry’s biggest developers and publishing giants, as well as over 200,000 people expected to be on the show floor to try out upcoming titles.

SEGA will be attending the event with livestreams going on throughout the show, showing off the likes of Yakuza 6, Persona 5, and the new Puyo Puyo Chronicle among other wares. The latest SEGA 3D Classics compilation title from M2, SEGA 3D Fukkoku Archives 3: Final Stage, and Sanzaru Games’ Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice will also be present, complete with new gameplay footage and a live stage event featuring special guests like M2 President Naoki Horii and Sonic series director Takashi Iizuka respectively.

Check out SEGA’s complete TGS 2016 schedule below!

Continue reading Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice and SEGA 3D Archives 3: Final Stage Will Both Be at Tokyo Game Show 2016