Yes indeed thanks to a heads up via DSO Gaming, who mainly does triple AAA and Indie Games, we’ve been told that not only is this available to download right now, but the game features all levels and themes from Sonic Triple Trouble recreated in 16-Bit Style, new stage layouts, enemies, and gimmicks, 3D Special Stages, accurate colours and sounds from the Sega Genesis and Sega Mega Drive, 360 Sonic physics, switchable between Sonic and Tails in real time, and finally gamepad support. So yes if you loved Sonic, you are sure to love this new release of Sonic Triple Trouble 16-Bit for the PC!

Links :1) Website

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To get those out of the loop up to speed, Sonic Origins is the current gen ports of the original Sonic the Hedgehog games.  However this collection not only includes the first 2 games, but also Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD.  This is a reason to be excited because 3 & Knuckles have essentially been locked away for years.  While not 100% confirmed it is speculated that the reason being is because Michael Jackson (the former pop star) helped with the music.  He left the project early on due to legal issues of his own but some remnants of his music remained (allegedly).  Ever since the King of Pop’s passing, SEGA decided to not fight with his estate’s legal team and kept 3 & Knuckles on lockdown after 2011 just to be safe.  Sonic CD on the other hand just hasn’t gotten a ton of love.  Fans do have a great port done by Sonic Mania’s Christian Whitehead for iOS and Android, but the last time this game was on a console was the GameCube’s Sonic Gems Collection.  Now all 4 (or 5 if you count Sonic and Knuckles as a separate game) of the Genesis titles will be in 1 package.  So why are fans so mad?

The reason being is because SEGA is starting to nickel and dime fans and it’s quickly biting them in the behind.  While the trailer does look amazing and the animation sequences are gorgeous to look at, SEGA also came out with a chart (see below).  This chart was supposed to tell fans what they would be getting should the preorder certain editions of the game, but all it did was confuse and outrage fans.  SEGA was charging more for DLC that could’ve easily been in the main game with no problems.  SEGA was also adding features that are arbitrary and just there to show off that you paid more money than other fans.  These special “features” include animations in the menu, looking over different islands in the menu, and some music packs.  There are some game modes locked behind a DLC pay wall like Mirror Mode and Hard Missions, but there is no current option to just pay 1 price and unlock everything.  Thankfully the animations that were shown off in the trailer are in the base game and aren’t blocked behind a pay wall.  However the things that are classified as DLC seem like they should be in the base game already.

The confusing chart in question

One more thing that got fans mad was the lack of a physical copy of the game.  It’s no secret that physical games cost quite a bit of money to make in today’s day and age.  Last time SEGA had a digital release first was with Sonic Mania but that game gets a pass.  It wasn’t developed by SEGA and it sold so well that it warranted a physical release with all the DLC included.  Not only that but it also came with an art book and it was still an affordable game.  The worst part is that SEGA knows the fans want a physical edition of the game and so far don’t plan to do anything about it.   It feels like SEGA is testing the waters first to see if fan reception and sales would warrant a physical release.  Looking as to what’s been said on Twitter it seems this strategy has backfired on SEGA.

Fans everywhere (including myself) aren’t really happy with this news.  It’s a shame too because the games look like they have been remastered beautifully.  The new Anniversary mode where players have unlimited lives is such a good addition and the animations that bridge the story throughout all the games is a great idea.  Also being able to play as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles throughout ALL the games is a great touch.  It’s all this ‘extra’ stuff that SEGA wants to charge for that makes us mad.  While the lack of a physical release is a bummer, I can live with a digital only version of the game. What I don’t want to live with, is a DLC pack that includes classic songs from past games that I can easily listen to on YouTube or modes that could’ve been unlocked by beating certain games.  I don’t care about character animations in a menu screen and the fact that this ‘feature’ is being touted as DLC is insulting.  Hopefully SEGA will rethink some of their DLC packs but with a June 23rd release date it seems unlikely.  I do want this game, I want to play these games on modern consoles, but I might wait a bit until I finally purchase the game.

The post Why Sonic Fans Are Mad. appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Being a Sonic fan for over 30 years has definitely had its ups and downs.  From getting poked fun at by my friends or getting my hopes and dreams crushed when a game didn’t live up to the hype is easily the biggest disappointment.  Yet when things go well you get this sense of elation and even a little bit of validation that this thing you loved for over 30 years doesn’t totally suck.  Now to be clear as much as I love the Sonic franchise, I can tell you not everything is perfect.  There have been some major bumps in the road to get to where we are today.  No real Sonic game on the Saturn, Sonic ’06, the Wii games, the problems with the Archie comic books, but even with these hiccups I see more good in Sonic than bad.

The good of course being the games and not just the original Genesis games either.  Sonic CD, Sonic Adventure 1+2, Generations and Mania are all titles that to me are really great games and deserve to be in the spotlight with the Genesis titles.  CD of course being my favorite Sonic game since it was the first one I every owned but not the first one I played.  Sonic 2 was the first game I played but I could only play it when I would go to my friend’s house next door.  It became harder to play games with him when I moved away so CD on the Windows 95 was the only way I could play any Sonic game.  Because CD was my only game I became enamored with it.  Everyday I would come home from school and finish my homework in a hurry so I could play Sonic CD.  It even got to a point t where my parent’s taught me how to turn the PC on and off correctly because they got tired of me asking them to do it for me.  Eventually I would get another Sonic game and that would be the Sonic & Knuckles Collection for the PC.  This came with Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles and it was also 2 player.  Meaning my little brother could play it with me as well.  We spent hours playing Sonic 3 and getting stuck on that one damn barrel in Carnival Night Zone.  You know the one and if you don’t, play Sonic 3 and find out.  I absolutely loved playing Sonic Adventure 1+2 and enjoyed Sonic Heroes for the most part.  I would miss a few titles like Colors but I didn’t miss Generations.  Generations was like a shot of adrenaline for me since the previous games weren’t the best.  Of course it all came to a head when Sonic Mania was announced and just like that my love for Sonic games was renewed.

Oddly enough it wasn’t just the games that got me into Sonic.  Yes the games had a big part of it but it was also the comics that got me hook, line, and sinker.  My very first Sonic comic that I got was issue 29 of the Archie run where Princess Sally turns into a robot.  The best part is where I found this book, it wasn’t in a comic shop, but on the magazine rack in a gas station in the backwoods of Montana.  I couldn’t believe that my favorite character had his own comic book.  Of course my Dad buys it for me, tells me what the character’s names are (I was just learning how to read when we got the book) and I get enamored in this world.  Soon after my grandmother buys me a year long subscription to the book and down the rabbit hole I go.  Best part is that I still have my original copy of the comic.  Sad part is that it’s practically destroyed and barely readable with all the pages it’s missing.  As a comic collector now I cringe at how badly I took care of my books but that just means I consistently read them over and over again.

Over the years I would buy the comics on and off again but one thing remained consistent, is that the comic was in it’s own little world and the games just added to it.  Whenever a new Sonic game would come out the writers had to incorporate that game into the books and sometimes it worked well, and sometimes it was a bit of a stretch.  The Archie line of books would run to over 290 issues until unceremoniously getting canceled and the rights going to IDW.  Pictured to the left is only a fraction of the amount of books I own.  The reason being that SEGA’s contract with Archie ended and they decided to go elsewhere.  Even though the Archie comics had internal problems (lawsuits from a former writer being the main cause of characters disappearing in the books) the books had their own neat world and characters that I would’ve loved to see in the games.  The new line of books is also really well done and captures the spirit of Sonic just like the Archie line did.  While I’m sad the Archie line is done and won’t tie up the loose ends it left, I’m glad that the IDW books are here.

While Sonic has had his bumps in the road over the past 30 years I am still reminded why I love this character in the first place.  The games are just plain fun and always a treat to go back to, the comics are fun to pick up and flip through, and if you have them some of the TV shows were really well made (Sonic SatAm being the best one in my opinion).  I’ve written a lot about Sonic on this website and I’ll probably still find more to write about him in the future.  For now, as I look back at all the fun I had, I can’t wait to see what will happen next.  Until then, I’ll be enjoying the games that I’ve been playing and loving for the past 30 years.

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Now for those who don’t know what edutainment games are, they are essentially just educational games where to advance you have to solve certain problems.  Some of the most famous examples are Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego and Math Blasters.  Two games I have played with one I loved, and one I hated for reasons.  Nowadays I haven’t seen much in edutainment games or if they are still being made but that’s probably because where I’m getting my games I don’t see them.  Yet in the 90’s and early 2000’s these types of games seemed to be everywhere, and there are some that are great for kids, some that are not, and some that just make you want to yell out “YIKES!  Who thought this was good!?”

The Good

There are quite a few games I remember loving even though I knew I was supposed to be learning something, and a few that have truly stood the test of time.  Oregon Trail and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego were easily some of my favorites growing up.  You can’t really go wrong with Oregon Trail, you had to trade, hunt, and not die from dysentery and if you made to Oregon in one piece you won.  It’s still a fantastic game to play even today.  Carmen San Diego made me feel like I was an actual detective hunting down the famous thief.  Best part was what I was learning in class at the time actually helped me solve a few cases.  These two games I mostly played in my school’s computer lab but at home I did have some that I remember fondly.  Jump Start for Kids was a very basic game that came in different grade levels.  I had First and Second Grade and these had all sorts of different mini games that would tackle a different subject.  Of course these were simple as simple could get BUT they were very easy to understand.  I also remember in Jump Start Second Grade there was a jukebox and you had to make the correct change to play certain songs.  I found a way to break the system by just making change to play the banging “Science” song that was on there.  Beside Jump Start what I do remember is also playing an Aladdin Math game with Robin Williams voicing the Genie and Gilbert Godfried voicing Iago.  Even though math was my least favorite subject, I eventually beat the game all on my own and was one of the first games I’ve ever beaten.

The Bad

Now as I grew up playing edutainment games started to feel more like a chore than something I wanted to play.  Of course my parents were still strict and I had to log in some time playing edutainment games in order to play the fun ones or I wouldn’t be able to play video games at all.  After Jump Start the next game I remember getting (and the last edutainment game I ever really played) was Clue Finders 4th Grade.  Now here is where the edutainment games started getting iffy for me.  Now every school system is different and some schools teach certain things in different grades, and these blanket games tried but they didn’t work out the way I’d hope.  Now playing Clue Finders was all about solving a mystery in Egypt but you had to solve questions from a variety of different subjects to advance the story line.  Now these would range from history, language arts, and of course my Achilles heel, math.  It was with this game that I started to feel stupid, because some of the questions that were asked weren’t even covered in my own 4th grade class.  It wasn’t just the math questions either, I had world history questions and my curriculum had us study California history instead.  There were some language arts questions about grammar that had my brain hurting and when I would ask my parents for help, the response I would get would be, “Didn’t you learn this in school?”  Of course they would help but it was after this my parents decided to not buy me any more Clue Finders games.  I was relieved and soon after they stopped forcing my brother and I to play edutainment games in general.  They would try again a few times but the games they would get us weren’t compatible with the PC we had.  Of course that was the problem I had with Clue Finders, other kids may have had different issues with the game being too easy and not getting anything out of it.  Of course these games could be used as a bridge to get kids to remember what they learned before they advance to the next grade, but for me they were annoying headaches that made me question my own intelligence.

The Yikes

So, the last game I want to mention is one that I have a very personal history with.  This game not only is bad, but it was also the first time I saved up my own money for a game and bought it on my own.  It also turns out to be one of the biggest wastes of money I have ever spent, and it was for a edutainment game of all things!  That game is Sonic’s Schoolhouse.  Yes, I saved up my own money, when I was in first/second grade, to get Sonic’s Schoolhouse.  Why?  Well besides the fact that I was (and still am) a huge Sonic fanboy, I wanted a new Sonic game.  I already had CD and Sonic and Knuckles Collection for our PC, and I thought, “Oh, a game I don’t have yet.  I want it.”  Now what makes Sonic’s Schoolhouse bad?  Well from what I can remember the biggest “wait what?” moment I had was when I discovered you didn’t play as Sonic.  He was the teacher and you had to pick an avatar to be one of his students.  The object is to just do tasks around school and complete them.  What you need to DO exactly I had no idea.  You would walk through a door, there would be jumping letters or numbers around, and chalkboards with a missing letter/number.  Even when you completed a room there was no reward or something to tell you what to do next.  You could move freely all over the school and there was only 1 mini game where you could collect rings, but that was over after you got 3-5 rings.  Besides the rooms there was also a school bus where you could go on ‘field trips’ and learn about certain animals.  Besides that, nothing else.  This game was just Sonic in name only and even though the school had pictures of official Sonic art, that was it.  No foiling Robotnik with your math skills, no helping Tails with a science experiment, just put the right thing on the board and you’re done.  Yes it’s an early attempt at a edutainment game from the 90’s but I can only guess as to how many nightmares this game caused because it is not pretty to look at.  Also the voice acting is, well, yikes.

Edutainment games may have gotten a bad reputation over the years, but the ones that were and are revolutionary will still remain.  Oregon Trail has been remade countless times and you can even buy a handheld DOS version of the game.  Heck it’s even been turned into a card game to play with your friends.  Carmen San Diego currently has a show on Netflix and a novelty card game as well.  Even though games like Jump Start and Math Blasters are now things of the past, we can still look back on them and thank them for being fun games, and helping us learn along the way.

The post Edutainment Games: The Good, The Bad, and The Yikes. appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

The day I got my SNES Mini after waiting 3 hours in line.

One way these games refuse to die is that their developers keep finding ways to re-release their old titles.  Be it for an anniversary, a new system launch, or just because.  Games like Super Mario Bros., Sonic, Pac-Man keep getting re-releases be they games, plug n plays, or on mini consoles.  Take Sonic and Mario for example.  Both franchises have been around for a long time and one is celebrating an anniversary this year with the other having a big one just around the corner.  Now for the 35th anniversary of Mario the original game was re-released for the umpteenth time, on a brand new Game and Watch system.  Now this is pretty neat since it also takes a look back at Nintendo’s storied history and it adds a bigger nostalgia factor to those who were fans of the original handhelds.  Now with this new addition, it adds yet another way one could play the original NES game.  If memory serves there is as least 1 way you could play the original Super Mario Bros. on every major Nintendo console minus the N64 (there was a way to play it on the GameCube through Animal Crossing but the only way to reach it is by hacking the game).  Now with Sonic’s 30th coming up next year, you know SEGA is going to do something big and most likely it means re-releasing the original 16- bit Sonic games on a new platform of some kind.  Getting off SEGA and Nintendo games for a bit, another big anniversary this year was for Pac-Man as he reached the big 40.  Arcade 1Up celebrated by making a new 40th anniversary cabinet as well as the company Numskull with their 40th Anniversary quarter-cade.  The Pac-Man twitter team even made a special filter during the summer when San Diego Comic Con was supposed to be happening.  In the past Namco also released Pac-Man plug n plays which featured the infamous level 256 where the  game glitched out.  It included other favorites too but the real draw was Level 256.

Besides re-releasing games, the retro aesthetic has become a fashion statement as of late.  More and more people are embracing the things they loved in their childhood by wearing clothes with retro pixel art on them, getting different merchandise, or their new wallet/backpack.  I had a Game Boy wallet for the longest time and I’ve gotten so many compliments on it I’ve lost track.  It’s always a cool conversation starter and more and more I’m seeing people wearing shirts with a NES controller saying that they were “Classically Trained.”  Even when we don’t play the games as much as we used to, we can still show our love of a certain era with different merchandise.  I’m guilty as charged when it comes to getting retro gaming gear.  I’m at a store and if I see a pajama set with 8-bit Link or a 16-bit Sonic blanket, I’m going to want to get it.  It used to be a rare occurrence when you saw anything retro and now it’s not hard to find.  Last year for the Christmas holiday season, Nintendo had a tab that was just labeled ‘Retro’ and you could guess where I wanted to spend my money.   Besides buying things companies even take notice and do cool things with retro games.  For the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man Google made a playable doodle on their home page which you can still play to this very day.  In case you don’t believe me, here is the link for that doodle.

Now after a while these games that we love will start to get stale a bit.  It doesn’t mean that they aren’t bad, it’s just we’ve beat them so many times before that they aren’t as fun anymore.  That’s when developers like to switch things up and make the game a bit more interesting.  Case and point, Tetris 99.  It’s just Tetris but with 98 other players and you are facing off against them.  It adds more concentration to the game and instead of throwing my controller down in disgust when I get knocked out, I want to keep going.  Tetris is one of the most addicting games ever made, and making it a multiplayer game, a battle royale game even, kept making me want to go back.  Eventually they added a marathon mode for those who didn’t want to play online but the main draw is the online match ups.  Mario did this as well with Super Mario 35 and while it’s not as popular as Tetris it still shook things up.  Best part that this isn’t even the first time I had a little Tetris revival.  For those who forgot, back in the late 2000’s Facebook would have games on the site.  Some (like me) still have nightmares of Farmville requests but there was one game in particular that my friends and I played almost daily.  Tetris, now what made this version cool was that it kept score of you and your friends who were also playing the game.  Meaning if you got the high score, you could go to school the next day and brag to your friends on how you demolished their high score.  Which is something I did and was on the receiving end of.  I recall playing Tetris on Facebook for a good long while just to beat my friend’s high score, it was fun and a great precursor to Tetris 99.

The Pong Coffee Table: Retro City Fest 2019.

Now I’ve mentioned Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man, and Tetris quite a bit in this article, and I can hear someone ask me about the beloved Atari 2600 games, or about any of their favorite games.  Now just because some games get some more attention than others does NOT devalue their classic status.  Granted the ones I’ve mentioned are the more popular franchises but sooner or later some developer comes along and releases a collection or more.  I’ve seen Atari Flashback games for the PS4 and Xbox One, Namco Museum games for the GBA and newer systems, the Neo Geo collection on the Nintendo e-shop and a 3D version of Pong which also doubles as a coffee table.  Do a little digging and I’m sure you’ll be finding some way to play your favorite game.  True classics won’t be going anywhere, and some how, some way, they will find a way back into your lives.  It may not be the most orthodox way, and it may take a while before they come back, but somehow they’ll be back before you even realize it.

The post Why The Classics Never Die. appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

In case you haven’t heard, amid a global pandemic, domestic rioting and unrest, and seemingly endless troubling news, a rumor has escaped Japan that Sega is in the process of readying an announcement next week that will rile the video gaming industry.

Since, in general, it takes quite a bit to make ripples across an entire industry dominated by corporations with near limitless budgets coupled to the reality that we are getting close to the launch of the 9th Generation of home consoles, one wonders what in the world Sega’s cooking up.

The rumor leak came into being when Japanese technology journalist Zenji Nishikawa said that news slated to “rile up the games industry” about a “game company that everyone loves” will be appearing in the June 4 issue of Famitsu.

Essentially the hype can boil down to only one of three things but, technically speaking, every one of these things could be successfully argued away as well. Let’s take a look at the trifecta of most obvious possibilities and discuss why or why not they are likely the subject of the early June media hype.

Dreamcast 2

Sega bowed out of the hardware game 20-years ago right around the time Sony released the Playstation 2. Its 1999 Dreamcast, despite being technically superior to all other hardware on the market at its time of release, was both a sales and critical disappointment.

Sales of the machine failed to meet Sega’s expectations despite several price cuts, and the company continued to incur significant financial losses attempting to generate interest in the console. Then, after a change in corporate leadership, Sega opted to discontinue the Dreamcast project on March 31, 2001, not only pulling the plug on its 6th generation hardware but also withdrawing from the console manufacturing business altogether, instead restructuring itself to become as a third-party software publisher. All told, 9.13 million Dreamcast units were moved worldwide.

Rumors of Sega’s return to hardware manufacturing have been floating around the industry for the greater part of a decade now. Typically dismissed as mere wishful thinking by longtime fans of the brand, this could be the first legitimate case of Sega gathering up some media presence to announce something so substantial.

Likelihood +

If a Japanese hardware manufacturer were to consider returning to the console wars, the timing would be right. Word of Sony’s forthcoming PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s XBox X-Series have already flooded the industry. Sega would be right in the hunt to announce its intentions and show off prototypes/ specs at this phase of the console cycle.

Unlikelihood –

That same journalist went on to dispel rumors of the Dreamcast 2 right away. If he’s being truthful that it’s not a DC2 announcement, that pretty much rules out the possibility of it being a console under any name, this includes a new handheld, hybrid (ala Nintendo Switch) or even a streaming service/ device. Was the source lying so as not to turn a rumor into a genuine leak? We won’t know until next week.

Sega Branded Microsoft Products

While Microsoft is a household hardware name here in its native US of A, it’s no big secret that the brand has struggled to capture the hearts (and wallets) of gamers abroad – especially in Japan; where gamers tend to prefer domestic offerings from companies like Nintendo and Sony.

Going all the way back to the Dreamcast days, Sega had formed a partnership with Microsoft, going as far as to have the DC run on a Windows (CE) operating system. It’s possible that in effort to secure more of the Japanese market for their systems and games, they have worked out a partnership with Sega of Japan to rebrand the products as Sega there.

Likelihood +

This is a very realistic collaboration. The Sega Dreamcast actually said “Compatible with Windows” right on the front of its shell. Microsoft would certainly be wise to try and change its identity in the Asain market to appeal to users who are simply more comfortable supporting Japanese companies.

Another possibility is that Microsoft may actually be in a position to buy Sega. Now whether that would mean a resurgence of the Sega brand or its simple absorption into the Microsoft brand umbrella would yet to be determined as well.

Before E3 was cancelled due to COVID, a leaked 2020 ad made its way around the web featuring the Xbox Game Studios and Sega logos side by side along with the caption “Power Your Dreams”. The ad had a set date that coincided with E3: June 14th, 9:00AM PDT 12:00PM EST.

Unlikelihood –

The biggest detractor to this possibility is the simple fact that news like regional rebranding happens daily and rarely could it be considered “industry riling”. In a situation like this, nothing aside from some box logos and branding are actually being changed. Maybe such a deal could grant Microsoft a better foothold in a foreign market while making the Sega logo relevant once more but again, it’s unlikely such an announcement would be significant enough for a publication to be touting the exclusive scoop on a global scale.

If Microsoft were to actually buy out Sega, however, that may be a more justifiable boast and the leaked E3 ad makes this a very strong possibility.

Retro Unit

What is especially interesting is the fact that all of this lines up perfectly with Sega’s 60th Anniversary. In fact, the company is celebrating its 60th on June 3rd, 2020! An official site has been established to commemorate the occasion.

For many gamers, this milestone encapsulates a very rich history of gaming memories and experiences. While an official Sega Genesis Mini was released in September of 2019 to celebrate the system’s 30th birthday, is it possible Sega is going to take a page out of Atari’s book and release a system capable of playing the brand’s unimaginably vast retro software catalog?

Likelihood +

Sega has a back-catalog that rivals some of the industry’s absolute biggest names. A machine that could potentially come packing titles from as far back as the SG-1000 all the way up to the Dreamcast would have undeniable appeal in a time where retro mini consoles have been actually able to outsell contemporary hardware.

Unlikelihood –

Unless this thing worked off some sort of subscription streaming service or came packing a hard-drive the size of a small server, the catalog of included games would only be a handful at best of the many systems Sega has offered throughout the years (SG-1000, Master System, Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, Saturn, Dreamcast).

Based on the success of the Genesis Mini, the smarter choice would be to simply continue introducing miniature consoles the same way Nintendo has – create a dedicated Sega CD Mini, Saturn Mini, Dreamcast Mini etc.

Other Possibilities

While it would be an extreme disappointment – we have to stop and consider the legitimate possibility that this announcement could be something as insignificant as the release of a new game, a collection of Sega greatest hits available for contemporary systems/ PC for example.

And though it pains me to admit it, it could be something as minor as a proposed sequel to the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog film.

Of course, were the announcement to fall into these dismal arenas, both Zenji Nishikawa and Famitsu itself’s reputation would be undoubtedly tarnished.

I suppose the good news is we need not speculate for long. The news will be official worldwide by June 4th.

The post Digging Deeper Into Big Announcement From Sega appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

I loved my SEGA Dreamcast.  I remember very vividly the commercials I would see for the system when it was coming out in 1999.  Not only was it a new system, but the new Sonic game looked AMAZING!  My 9 year old brain couldn’t believe it.  Sonic was coming in full 3D, and not just the horrible 3D like on my PC version of Sonic R (yes I played it and loved it at the time but that conversation is for a different day) but crisp and clear graphics.  It was a literal and (no pun intended) dream come true.  I begged my parents to get me one but they weren’t very keen on getting new consoles for my brother and I when they first came out.  It’s not that they were super stingy or anything, they just wanted to make sure we still played outside and weren’t stuck in front of a TV all hours of the day.  Unfortunately I wouldn’t get to own my own Dreamcast until well after they were discontinued.  It was Christmas of 2002 when my parent’s finally caved and my Dreamcast graced my home.  Me being only 12 years old at the time I had no idea the system was essentially dead, but dang it I didn’t care.  I finally had my Dreamcast.  Of course I had the classics like Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, and Crazy Taxi, but also I had a trio of sports games, a Genesis greatest hits game, and a little gem called Toy Commander.  If you’ve never played it think Toy Story but much more violent and you’re fighting other toys with the final boss battle being in the attic.  It was a fun game from what I remember.  Of course me being a die hard Sonic fan I would be re-playing the Sonic Adventure games as well as yelling at Sonic Shuffle (again, another story for another day).

We all know why the system didn’t do as well as it should.  The Playstation 2 was coming out one year later and even though the Dreamcast could play games online right out of the box, nothing could compete with a built in DVD player that the PS2 had.  This was practically always SEGA’s Achilles’s heel, being ahead of their time way too early.  It happened with the Saturn, and in some cases the Genesis with all the extra hardware.  Online console gaming didn’t really take off until the Xbox came out and even though it was a great idea, it wouldn’t pan out until much later.  Sadly even my Dreamcast didn’t make it, it died when I tried to play it with a friend of mine whom never played a Dreamcast before.  The system wouldn’t load up on the screen and we triple checked to make sure it was plugged in right.  It was heartbreaking, a system that I loved, my only SEGA console, was dead for good.

This year the Dreamcast would turn 20 years old this September, and luckily it is still loved to this day.  It had the big games sure, but it also had gems like Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, and Power Stone to name a few.  Event though my system died, I have not completely abandoned the possibility of finding another one and rebuilding my Dreamcast collection.  It may have been SEGA’s last major home console, but it will always be loved, even 20 years later.

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An interesting take on the pinball genre with some classic Sonic mechanics, Sonic Spinball is a spinoff of the main series based on the early 90’s cartoon The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. The game received mixed to moderately positive reviews, with problems cited mainly due to its clunky controls and shortfalls as both a Sonic game and a pinball game.

Sonic Spinball‘s soundtrack was composed by Howard Drossin, Brian Coburn, and Barry Blum. It features theme music for each of the four main levels, as well as tracks for boss rooms, bonus games, and high score display. There are also a few sound effects and transition tunes included here, but for the most part, we won’t go into detail about them.

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“Spinball Theme”

It’s worth mentioning solely because it’s the “main theme”. A little disappointing that it’s only a few seconds long, but to be fair, it normally wouldn’t play for long on the title screen anyway. It’s nothing special, but it’s certainly not the worst Sonic tune out there.

“Toxic Caves”

This peppy little number is the first song you’ll hear during actual gameplay. It’s upbeat enough to get the ball rolling (get it?) quickly, and sufficiently varied so that it doesn’t get terribly repetitive. The bass line, as in many Sonic the Hedgehog soundtracks, starts out strong and keeps the track funky. In addition, the lead synthesizer melody complements the driving low-end rhythm. Overall, it’s not bad for a first level.

Sonic Spinball was, in many ways, a product of its time.

“Lava Powerhouse”

This one might be a little polarizing; depending on how you feel about the buzzing synthesizer at the beginning, it might get on your nerves at first. However, if you can hold out past the initial forty seconds or so, the track really starts to get interesting. We get a brief reprieve from the droning (thankfully) and the song transitions into a more minimal melody and a simpler bass riff for a while. It alternates between chilled-out and in-your-face loud, and I’m not convinced that the dynamic range is entirely for the better.

“The Machine”

The theme for Sonic Spinball‘s third level is much more mellow. Both the high and low ends get a little playful in areas, and some “futuristic” sound effects are thrown in for good measure. If nothing else, it’s a welcome change from the previous level. There are a lot of “non-melody” sounds in here, but it’s not busy in a frustrating way due to their sparseness. It helps, too, that there’s not really a main melody either; it lets some of the more interesting sounds come to the forefront without really detracting from the tune itself.

“Showdown”

Being the theme for the final level in Sonic Spinball, you’d expect this track to build some tension and urgency — and it delivers. The simple bass line and not-too-complex melody evoke a sense of impending doom, and despite its relative repetitiveness, it sets the stage for, well, the final showdown with Dr. Robotnik. There’s some dissonance that helps make a player uncomfortable, which is great in a final level; it makes Dr. Robotnik seem like he should be much more serious than he looks and acts in the animated series on which the game is based.

And yet, the final boss is…this.

“Boss Room”

Funky and driving, “Boss Room” gets a player in the mood for a good, old-fashioned fight. The problem is, fighting a boss as a pinball is significantly more challenging than the usual Sonic the Hedgehog fare. It’s hard to know how to feel about this tune, because the experience is so much different from what a player would expect. The music is okay, but it does get a little repetitive after a while, particularly upon hearing it more than once in a playthrough.

“Bonus Game”

This happy-sounding song deviates from the rest of the soundtrack in its tone and sort of lack of a real connecting thread throughout. Its staccato notes and multitude of different instruments keep things interesting long enough to get through the relatively brief bonus stages. Its whimsical nature does match the departure from the (kind of) seriousness of the main levels that can be seen in the bonus stages as well.

One of several bonus stages

“High Scores”

This one’s a little shorter — which is nice, because the short amount of time spent viewing the high scores might as well be spent with the volume on mute. This track’s incessant buzzing is grating and unpleasant. There’s technically a melody to it, but it’s hard to listen to due to the instrumentation.

Final Rating

There are some pretty decent tracks here, but the egregious nature of “Lava Powerhouse” and especially “High Scores” (which, admittedly, isn’t really part of the main gameplay, but you’ll still hear it after every playthrough) really brings down the overall quality of the soundtrack. It’s not necessarily that the songs are poorly composed — on the contrary, the melodies are good and the dynamics of most of the songs keep things interesting. It’s just that the instrumentation, particularly the harsher buzzing noises, makes the two tracks mentioned above hard to listen to in a loop. Overall, Sonic Spinball‘s soundtrack is just…okay. Not terrible, but not great. I’m giving the soundtrack three Chaos Emeralds out of seven.

Image courtesy of willowthewolf10 on DeviantArt.

The post Soundtrack Review: Sonic Spinball (Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System, 1993-1995) appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Of course, we now know it was a made up term used by the Sega marketing department, but that didn’t matter to us in 1991. All we knew was that there was this blue hedgehog named Sonic spinning around loop-the-loops and blazing around the screen at speeds unseen before. Commercials don’t lie, right?

Well, it didn’t matter. I still wasn’t going to buy a Genesis with the money I was making at my after-school job just so I could play Sonic. I had a drivers license and a car and other reasons to spend money (mostly on music and the occasional new NES game). So I was relegated to just watching the commercials while wondering what the big deal was. When I finally purchased my used Genesis in the late 90’s, Sonic the Hedgehog was high on my priority – he was the Mario of that particular console after all. Iconic and intriguing, I needed to own Sonic the Hedgehog and play it through just like I did with the 8 and 16 bit Mario titles.

Sonic the Hedgehog tells the story of a brave young hedgehog that sets off to save the world against the evil Dr. Eggman aka Dr. Robotnik (don’t ask why he has two names), who has captured all living creatures and enslaved them to do his bidding. Sonic can use both spin attacks and jumping on top of enemies to kill them. Sonic must keep rings collected throughout the levels in order to prevent himself from one hit deaths but he also must collect enough rings before reaching the end of the levels in order to earn a chance at the bonus screens. It is during these bonus levels when Sonic can steal the magical Chaos Emeralds back from Dr. Robotnik. Sonic turns into a ball and bounces around rotating environments trying to maintain control during these bonus stages, but if you can get the 6 emeralds you don’t have to worry about these annoying stages any longer. Collecting these Chaos Emeralds is ultimately the difference between just completing the game and completing the game with the best ending.

Any level in Sonic the Hedgehog, with the exception of the water levels (forget those levels), have their individual strengths but for me, the iconic first level or Green Hill Zone is the one where you discover everything you need to know about Sonic the Hedgehog. In the Green Hill Zone, you are not forced into as many traditional platforming scenarios, such as waiting for moving platforms or having to stop while deadly spikes drop from ceilings, as you are in later levels. You are allowed the freedom to move as fast as your little blue heart desires, including through those iconic loop-the-loops and tunnels that Sonic must go through as a kinetic ball of energy. Green Hill Zone also introduced you to the game’s spring boards. If hit while running at top speed, you can fly high through the air to the point where it feels like you’re missing a quarter of the stage! I also like how you can backtrack in this level with ease. When I think of Sonic, this is the level and music I think of.

Sonic is clearly the best character in the original of the eponymous series. Later titles in the franchise would introduce characters such as Tails, Knuckles and Metal Sonic, but Sonic is rightfully the star of his own show in his first effort. Sure, he is fast, and that’s cool, but it was the little things that endeared him to gamers. In the opening title screen, he waves his finger at you as if to say “You aren’t ready for this. Turn the game off and go back to playing Mario.” Additionally, he would tap his toes on the ground if you stayed still for too long or if you stood too close to the edge of a platform, acting like he was about to fall off and having to regain his balance. It’s no wonder kids of that era were so enamored with him. Sonic helped usher in the radically extreme 1990’s, and this is the game where his attitude was still a novelty.

Power ups exist all over in Sonic the Hedgehog, and most of them mirror the type found in all platformers of the time. You can find 1-Ups, bonus rings, a shield that protects you from hits, etc. The best of the power-ups is the invincibility power-up because it allows Sonic to do what he does best: go fast! You don’t have to worry about running into enemies at the wrong angle and getting your rings taken away from you. Of course, you’re not invincible to pits and spikes, but the feeling of going as fast as you want with little fear is the best thing about the game.

Sonic the Hedgehog quickly became the face of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive after the game launched due to its unique concept of speed-encouraged gameplay combined with typical platforming elements gamers (levels, boss fights, left/right scrolling). The sense of freedom you felt while wandering (or blasting) around the relatively straightforward levels allowed gamers to feel like they were experiencing something completely new, even if it was a little bit of a gimmick. Due to its common status as a pack-in title, Sonic the Hedgehog was and still is cheap to find. After several standout proper sequels, Sonic was whored out to other lesser titles such as Sonic Spinball and Sonic 3D Blast in an attempt to capitalize on name recognition. The fact of the matter is, Sonic the Hedgehog is a classic game, and it still holds up today like it did upon release in 1991.

Grade: A

The post Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive) appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.