Ozzy's Gaming Corner - Sonic Turns 30!

[Danny]

Sonic Turns 30

On this day, 30 years ago, 23 June 1991; Sega introduced the world to it's new mascot which was intended to rival Nintendo's Mario! And didn't he do just that?

Sega wanted someone that would be marketable, something that would help boost its sales back when they actually made consoles and there wasn't such a thing as an Xbox or Playstation. Atari died out, Nintendo was it's main contender in the early years of Console Wars, aswell as being the most dominant of the two. There were many different concepts, the famous blue hedgehog was almost called Mr Needlemouse for example. (Really, Sega?!) But after some time, they settled upon Sonic, a hedgehog that can't swim! (Hedgehogs are actually great Sega).

Sonic wasn't your typical platformer either, where Mario and any others from that era were quite slow, Sega chose a completely different direction. The goal was to complete each act and zone as quickly as possible, even going as far as giving a time over should you take longer than 10 minutes to complete a single act. There was a fair bit of exploration aswell; whether you decided use the top route or the bottom route there were always hidden item boxes to find.

This concept seemed to work and in what is now known as the Classic era, we ended up with Sonic 1, 2, 3&Knuckles and Sonic CD. All of which were fantastic games and which I will remember fondly even 20 years from now. The games throughout the years now have had many mixed reviews, recently for example Sonic Mania which was a nice throwback to the side scrolling era was well recieved and Sonic Forces... not so much so.

But whatever happens with the games, Sega accomplished their goal way back then, Sonic most certainly did rival Mario as a Mascot. 30 years old and I don't think there's many people who hasn't heard of the blue blur in one way or another - When it became apparent that Sonic was a huge hit, many cartoons and tv shows appeared on the scene, my favourite being The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. There are also many, many comics out there too.

But my favourite thing of Sonic, above all is the music that's come out of it. Sonic 3 & Knuckles actually had the one and only Michael Jackson as a composer which many people might not know as he wasn't credited through his own choice. But one that will always stand out for me is Green Hill Zone, everytime I hear it, no matter how many times I've heard it before, I always get goosebumps as it is a fond memory of a time many years ago for me.

Anyway, enough ramblings and nonsense from me, tell me if you have any memories from Sonic!
Happy 30th Birthday Sonic!

(PS, I feel so **** old)

[tbl]

woo Happy 30th Sonic!
This was a really nice read (more more more!). Are there any current playable Sonic games? I haven't seen the Sonic movie--has anyone watched it? Is it worth watching?

[Danny]

Only Sonic Mania/Forces atm! But I know there is going to be a Sonic Colors remaster, Sonic Colors Ultimate coming out on most platforms in September. And as movies based on games go, the Sonic movie isn't actually that bad. I enjoyed it atleast and can't wait for the second!

[tbl]

Adding Sonic to the "movies to watch list" and I'm going to keep my eyes out for the game when it comes out in September.

[LUCPIX]

Yo in terms of swimmability Sonic still (relatively) beats Claude Speed, for example, as Sonic won't die by getting his TOE wet haha

That hedgehog had been for my childhood what Iron Man is for most of them's. My passion for him "peaked" in a period his morale was being SO eclipsed by a moment of constant rounds of questionable titles being released back to back on silly attempts of sending the franchise back to its root somehow (what the hell was Sonic 4 Episode 1), causing an irrational feeling of something close to shame, in both virtual and real environments, in all the occasions I said I liked to spend hours playing Sonic games rather than *insert the moment's hyped game here*, but I truly can not help it! I always thought there was something silly in the Mario series whose productions were literally built to receive instant blind universal acclaim and set as a point of reference of how things should be done, as if they're some kind of Apple equivalent of the videogame industry (without removing their obvious merit, of course). In fact, my former Sonic monomania is very comparable to being a faithful and unconditional supporter of a sore loser football team from Brazil! The 90s Sonic stages followed this pattern of being the improved and most exciting version of anything that Nintendo brought and was known for being the first of its kind and, perhaps most importantly, have the best MOMENTUM in videogame's history. And you're absolutely right, what is that Launch Base Act 1 soundtrack if not an absolute masterpiece?