The "Name Something That You Actually Enjoyed About Sonic Recently" Topic

[Tara]

Let's be perfectly honest here:  We all know Sonic is not in the best of shape right now.  The announcement of Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice probably hasn't helped any.  As someone who didn't enjoy Shattered Crystal very well, I can understand why people are upset.  I'm not looking super-forward to the game, either.  But I don't think that excuses the amount of toxicity I feel has been spreading throughout this place lately, and it certainly doesn't make the negativity more tolerable.  If you can't see what I'm talking about, you probably haven't been here long enough or active in the main Sonic discussions, where everyday we seem to retread the same ground on "will Sonic survive?!" or "were the games ever good?!" or "is Sonic's reputation beyond repair?"  All of which are quickly populated with less constructive discussion and more on the lines of flame-baiting remarks and constantly tearing at each other's throats because what one person wants from Sonic is counter to what another person wants from Sonic.

Some moderators, including myself, have begun to feel like browsing this place has become a lot more exhausting and less fun than it should be.  I mean, it's a forum about cartoon animals.  There's no reason talking about cartoon animals should be this draining.  This isn't helped by the recent IPB4 update, which has improved core functionality in some ways, while making it more difficult in others.  This wouldn't be a problem if members didn't put so much heat on us for making the only rational decision we could when we were stuck in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" position with the way the boards were before.  While the admins work on back-end processes and recovering old features like past skins and trophies, I've been trying my best to lighten their workload by answering as many questions about basic forum functionality as possible, because I understand that a lot of the changes are polarizing and that some users are having difficulty as a result of IPB's rather baffling lack of foresight and planning in some regards.

Where I'm going with this is that a job that should be inherently fun, or at the very least pleasantly uneventful on the worst of days, has frankly not been so lately, and I don't think the staff are the only ones that feel this way.  I'm not saying we should never have conflict, as that would be impossible, but I think it's time we recognize one thing:  No matter what divides the fanbase, no matter how big or small, we all have some sort of interest in a blue hedgehog that runs at a relatively fast pace.

So what I want to achieve with this topic is not so much to rectify the negativity, as that's an issue beyond me, but to at least give us one topic where we can take a break, relax, and not get so damn worked up over cartoon animals.  Just one topic which breaks the flow a little bit.  Something to make this job and this forum a little more bearable.

Inspired by Nepenthe's "Name One Good Thing That Happened To You Today" topic, I figured I'd make something similar for Sonic.  Basically, describe something about Sonic that you actually appreciated recently.  By recently, I'm thinking sometime within the past 30 days.  It doesn't have to be about a recent game or other development in the franchise, either, so no this isn't a "Shower Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice with Contrived Compliments" thread.  Say, for example, you re-read some old Archie issues and are thinking "Wow, I remember liking this a lot as a kid, and it still puts a smile on my face!" then feel free to talk about it in here.

To set a few basic, commonsense rules-

• Snarky responses like "Sonic didn't sleep with my mom today" or "Sonic sucked a little less than usual" or what have you will be removed on sight, and disciplinary action will be taken depending on member history and severity of the insubordination.  Just don't be an asshole, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
• Negativity that exceeds what is necessary for background information or to help better understand an overall point will be generally frowned upon.  Acceptable- "Although it is riddled with problems, some concepts in Sonic '06 were very interesting to me."  Not acceptable- "Sonic '06 was a bag of donkey doodoo and it should be thrust into the fires of Hell. Also, just fuck it.  But like the soundtrack was okay."
• While I'm not discouraging constructive conversation, let's try to minimize heated debates here.  We all have different reasons for liking Sonic, and because there are so many iterations of Sonic, some people are going to enjoy certain aspects about Sonic that you may outright hate.  If you can't politely respect that, then this topic simply isn't for you.  If that's the case, you may wish to jump ship now.
• Just have fun, okay?!

I'll start off just to lead an example.

Yesterday, I started watching SatAM again, since the storm was preventing me from using the internet or watching TV.  I have to say that my love for the pilot episode becomes greater with every single viewing.  I mean, there's a lot of weird stuff, but the tonality was so great.  Lighthearted and sweet, but with just enough darkness to keep things suspenseful and interesting.  The animation quality was also significantly better in this episode than it is for the remainder of the series.  The colors were also absolutely beautiful, and the characterizations just wonderful.  The only thing that really bothered me was how catchphrase-heavy Sonic was.  You could just hear the Urkel in him.  Otherwise, Tails was precious, and I love the way he guilt trips Sonic into taking him into Robotropolis.  The inclusion of game enemies like Buzz Bombers in addition to Swatbots was a nice touch, as well.

It was a really nostalgic experience for me.  Brought me back to some of my earliest childhood memories, and it was just a pleasant feeling all around.

Now it's your turn.  Name something that you appreciated about Sonic recently.  Now.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Tara

[Yoko/葉子]

Unleashed reminded me of how fun it is to go really fast. It's like I was playing my first Genesis when I was 3 years old, all over again, but even faster!

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Archie Sonic generally. More specifically:

Post Reboot Knuckles. I just really enjoy this version of Knuckles to the point where I'd name him my favourite incarnation of the character. I went over this in the 30 Days of Sonic 2 event, but after the reboot, Knuckles became a really great mixture of his game canon (Thankfully being the naive but gruff and badass hothead we all know, rather than the joke that is the current game version) and the older elements of his character. 

He's lost every single bit of shitty baggage that Ken Penders gave him in the comic, and instead gained his regular game canon back, but improved, with him learning to make friends and keep his anger under control, but that's not to mention the fact he's also really friendly and just chilled out. He gets angry and such like his game counterpart, but most of the time, he's either calm and collected, or chilled out and making snarky jokes like Sonic. In one issue, he fights alongside Werehog Sonic and just loves making jokes.

Especially when he teases the SonAmy shipping, when Amy tells Werehog Sonic that she's going to help Knuckles track down the master emerald shards, Knuckles gets a sly smile and turns to Sonic, saying ''wassamatter Shaggy? Jealous?''. Then there's stuff such as telling Sonic that he liked his werehog form, because it meant they both loved fighting people when Sonic is the Werehog. 

On top of all that, he's got some really great reactions so far. In one part of Champions, my favourite reaction out of Knuckles was when Amy was distracted during her and Knuckles' fight, which lead to Knuckles not knowing they weren't fighting yet, which meant Knuckles knocked Amy straight out of the ring, only for Amy to get pissed off, and Knuckles to have a innocent confused face, just replying with ''....Weren't we fighting...?''

This version of Knuckles is just so freaking great.

[ThePrinceOfSaiyans]

I recently enjoyed a Sonic the Hedgehog marathon, where I played through the following: 

• Sonic the Hedgehog(1991)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• Sonic the Hedgehog CD
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
• Sonic Adventure
• Sonic Adventure 2
• Sonic Heroes
• Shadow the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog(2006)
• Sonic Unleashed
• Sonic Colors
• Sonic Generations
• Sonic Lost World

Yeah, it had it's ups and downs and all arounds, but It was a rather positive experience. It reminded me why I like this franchise so much. I also have a thread dedicated to my experiences with each game, though they are only brief summaries:

 

[Junko]

Recently I realised that Cash Cash have made some of the best remixes in the franchise.

 

[Nepenthe]

I ran across some awesome fanart by Nuri yesterday!

 

These are all really solid drawings. The characters are well constructed, perspective is adhered to nicely, the inking, coloring, and lighting is spot on, and the stylistic additions and choices they make such as the ink splatters and yellow elements make me nostalgic for the fun slick, anime-esque attitude classic Sonic had in the 90s. Also, I like seeing the Sonic characters in real shoes. Ever since SA2 it's always been an aesthetically appealing thing to me. xP

[Chaos Warp]

The Sonic social media accounts have been really funny since Aaron Webber took them over. He has a great sense of humor+knowledge of the Sonic fandom in jokes and some general nerd/internet in jokes as well, which have made the Sonic Twtter and Facebook very entertaining as of late. This for example was posted by the official Sonic facebook page today. Fucking hilarious  (source: https://www.facebook.com/Sonic/photos/a.406270927417.185036.23050342417/10153483192332418/?type=1&theater)

 

[Failinhearts]

Decided to play some Smash to hone my skills with Sonic, while listening to Sonic music, while my youngest sister plays SA2. (Chao Garden)

My skills didn't exactly get any better but I had a fun time humming to the songs, getting immersed in the nostalgia and seeing my sister give lots of time, effort and enjoyment to a Sonic game puts a smile to my face.

I even played some Sonic 06 multiplayer with my sister a while back. Fooling around and roaming as Sonic and Silver and even using the glitches to do some fun stuff makes me enjoy the multiplayer aspect of the game.

[Junko]

I ran across some awesome fanart by Nuri yesterday!

 

These are all really solid drawings. The characters are well constructed, perspective is adhered to nicely, the inking, coloring, and lighting is spot on, and the stylistic additions and choices they make such as the ink splatters and yellow elements make me nostalgic for the fun slick, anime-esque attitude classic Sonic had in the 90s. Also, I like seeing the Sonic characters in real shoes. Ever since SA2 it's always been an aesthetically appealing thing to me. xP

I can't help but feel this was a product placement lmao

[Osmium]

Well, I've been listening to the Sonic The Hedgehog Remix Album lately. All 8 tracks on it are extremely nice and have very heavy Sonic CD vibes, and several of the tracks are directly based off Sonic CD songs. It is something to really kick back and listen to. 

My favourite of all 8 tracks has to be Miracle Blue Little Planet, which is a remake of Quartz Quadrant's JP themes. 

Just wonderful. 

[Tara]

Archie Sonic generally. More specifically:

Post Reboot Knuckles. I just really enjoy this version of Knuckles to the point where I'd name him my favourite incarnation of the character. I went over this in the 30 Days of Sonic 2 event, but after the reboot, Knuckles became a really great mixture of his game canon (Thankfully being the naive but gruff and badass hothead we all know, rather than the joke that is the current game version) and the older elements of his character. 

He's lost every single bit of shitty baggage that Ken Penders gave him in the comic, and instead gained his regular game canon back, but improved, with him learning to make friends and keep his anger under control, but that's not to mention the fact he's also really friendly and just chilled out. He gets angry and such like his game counterpart, but most of the time, he's either calm and collected, or chilled out and making snarky jokes like Sonic. In one issue, he fights alongside Werehog Sonic and just loves making jokes.

Especially when he teases the SonAmy shipping, when Amy tells Werehog Sonic that she's going to help Knuckles track down the master emerald shards, Knuckles gets a sly smile and turns to Sonic, saying ''wassamatter Shaggy? Jealous?''. Then there's stuff such as telling Sonic that he liked his werehog form, because it meant they both loved fighting people when Sonic is the Werehog. 

On top of all that, he's got some really great reactions so far. In one part of Champions, my favourite reaction out of Knuckles was when Amy was distracted during her and Knuckles' fight, which lead to Knuckles not knowing they weren't fighting yet, which meant Knuckles knocked Amy straight out of the ring, only for Amy to get pissed off, and Knuckles to have a innocent confused face, just replying with ''....Weren't we fighting...?''

This version of Knuckles is just so freaking great.

Everything I've read of post-reboot Archie has been pretty great, minus a few annoyances here and there.  Overall, I feel the series has greatly improved in Penders' absence.  It's a shame that it had to be done without resolving the conflicts of the past storyline, but I'm just pretty happy with the overall direction in general.

[Wraith]

Gonna second music.

 

Unleashed's soundtrack is still a goldmine.

I seriously don't think I've ever heard a better "first level" song for the series than this. Has that upbeat and happy feeling while also keeping that distinct Sonic...."edge", I guess. Love it.

I'll throw in some fanart too, since I feel like things have been only getting better on that end recently.

I came across this picture a while back and I can't find a source for it. It's a shame because I've always loved the Classic Sonic/CD aesthetics more than anything else and I think this captures them perfectly.

 

[Tara]

Since we're talking about music, I can never get enough of Jungle Joyride from Sonic Unleashed.

The cello~  *swoons*

[JezMM]

I've recently been catching up on Sonic Boom and goddamn some of the early episodes like Buster really were exceptions to the norm because I'm seriously enjoying it.  I kinda wish the games had just been a bunch of goofy episodic adventures rather than them coming up with an overwrought complex storyline with a generic unfunny villian like Lyric.

[Ripe]

Recently I have been able to experience Sonic games on Wii, especially Sonic Colours which was really fun time. I was was able to beat Shadow the Hedgehog 10 times. Even if it's not a good game I'm still glad I bought it because the core gameplay is fun, just focus on getting to the goal ring.

I will going to give some deeper thoughts to both games later, I will going to play some more of them first. And after that I will search more Wii or Gamecube Sonic games

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Since we're talking about music, this OST is pretty underrated in my opinion:

The lyrics could use a little work, but the rhythm and beat is pretty damn enjoyable in my opinion

 

[PaddyFancy]

I've started listening to Crush 40 a lot more lately. I had tried several times to get into them but still wasn't interested. Ended up throwing caution to the wind and bought their best of. Its been in my playlist for a few weeks now so I guess that's something right?

[Failinhearts]

Since we're talking about music, this OST is pretty underrated in my opinion:

The lyrics could use a little work, but the rhythm and beat is pretty damn enjoyable in my opinion

 

I second this. Might I also bring up Unawakening Float?

I listen to this song the most, as well as Poison Spear.

I remember during my commutes to school and to home from school, I find myself listening to Secret Ring's soundtrack a lot. Makes these trips that most people would find boring, entertaining because I always have Sonic music to enjoy.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I can't believe I forgot to mention one of my favourite OSTs of the series, and the theme tied with Open My Heart as my favourite of the series.

Crush 40 seriously put their A-Game into making this theme. Really fitting actually, considering this is the last game Crush 40 did the theme of.

[ThePrinceOfSaiyans]

Ya'll be forgettin' White of Sky!

I also feel Cool Edge(Night) is under-appreciated:

 

[TheOcelot]

I've been enjoying reading the tweets on the Sonic The Hedgehog twitter account which has become far more entertaining with Aaron Webber running it. The twitter account (and also Facebook) has received a strong increase in followers thanks to Aaron's banter. It's just a nice feel-good factor which I think has been needed recently.

As for me, I've been replaying Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. Both games I still thoroughly enjoy and I love both soundtracks.

Edited August 7, 2015 by BenderTheBatman

[Failinhearts]

My sister really loves White Of Sky.

I prefer Cool Edge Day but Cool Edge Night is really good too.

[Tori Himemiya]

I'm gonna be that one guy and say I've been enjoying Game Grumps' playthrough of Sonic games lately.

Arin's opinions aside I've been enjoying the madness that Arin and Danny puts themselves through. They often have crazy conversations and do run into the occasional hilarious glitch that makes them go "WAT" Yeah I love these games but its funny when you make an idiot try to complete them. no offense to Arin who's obviously gonna read this.

But that's just me personally.

[Shade Vortex]

Well, I can honestly say that I fully enjoyed this official remix of So Much More:

I forgot Sega & Sonic All-Stars Racing had a good theme song, and now it's even better.

[Kuzu]

Well I guess I really enjoyed Falk's Endless Possibilities Remix:

 

 

Its truly one of the best things I've listened to on my iPhone, particularly the instruments. Endless Possibilities already captures the spirit of Sonic completely in my eyes, so this remix only improved on something I loved.

 

World's Unite aside, I've also been enjoying the Archie series and what's its been doing. It ain't perfect, but I can at least look forward to every issue and enjoy watching the cast actually contribute and take action. After years of just them being sidelined, it just feels cathartic.

 

Also, the Sonic Boom show has been enjoyable; I don't really keep up with it  as I usually just let episodes accumulate and then pick and watch the ones I like, but the ones i do watch I have never hated and I do love the cast's more down to earth setting.