Retro|Spective 061R: Sonic the Hedgehog

[wakka]

Yeah I kinda associate the machine with bad framerates honestly. Wipeout 2048's DLC, which added all the stuff from HD and Fury, was really really ridiculously bad in particular. Such a shame.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 45 - Team Sonic Racing
The excitement of Sumo getting a third crack at the whip was quickly splurted out all over the floor when it emerged that Sega had made the decision to strip the franchise back and to make it purely focused on road racing with just Sonic characters. The game focused on team based racing and packed it with 21 tracks, some of which returnees from the prior two entries. The game arrived as a smooth package but fell immediately foul of fans who felt it was a wholesale step backward from Transformed, taking the series in the wrong direction though sales were decent.






A worthy member of the Team?

[Dogg Thang]

I never played this. After the two previous games, it seemed utterly nuts to me to focus on just Sonic. The draw of the others was that wider Sega universe.

[Asura]

Game 45 - Team Sonic Racing
The excitement of Sumo getting a third crack at the whip was quickly splurted out all over the floor when it emerged that Sega had made the decision to strip the franchise back and to make it purely focused on road racing with just Sonic characters. The game focused on team based racing and packed it with 21 tracks, some of which returnees from the prior two entries. The game arrived as a smooth package but fell immediately foul of fans who felt it was a wholesale step backward from Transformed, taking the series in the wrong direction though sales were decent.

This was a weird one. This emerged in a very strange era for gaming that has already been somewhat forgotten about; when everyone was trying to make "The Overwatch of xxxxx" or "The MOBA of xxxxx". To be clear, what was meant by that was having games that did for each genre what bringing in some aspects of MOBAs did for Overwatch, i.e. very character-based, team-centric gameplay, where character abilities are a strong aspect of the game. It shows up in all sorts of places, even games like Starlink, where the characters each have an "ultimate" ability you can only use once every 4-5 minutes.

But both this and OnRush had a similar issue, in that racing games rarely mesh well with more abstract, esoteric mechanics. IIRC it's possible to cross the finish like first in Team Sonic Racing and not actually win the race, because you win on points, or something? It's been literally years since I last played it so I'm on shaky ground but I remember it had some weirdness going for it.

Talk about ****ting the bed, frankly. I would've totally went for a third game in the series.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 46 - Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car
One of the earliest tie-in games was this arcade machine for younger kids which tasked Sonic as a police officer protecting the streets from Robotnik. The car shaped cabinet was large enough to house two adults and button controls allowed the player to make Sonic jump and use the siren.











Ever see this in the wild?

[wakka]

Never seen it in the wild but it looks like it was a game that was developed and then had Sonic and Robotnik shoved into it. I didn't know there were traffic police on Mobius, for one thing.

EDIT: Also I would add that for a young child this looks like a fun game.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 47 - SegaSonic the Hedgehog
One of the more well known arcade curiosities of the Sonic franchise, SegaSonic was an isometric title controlled with a track ball released in 1993. Sonic worked with Mighty the Armadillo and the often overlooked Ray the Squirrel in a title that has never been rereleased since despite two efforts by Sega. On release it was well received though Sega never made a direct sequel.







A title worth Sega finally giving to modern audiences?

[Neon Ignition]

I briefly played this on an emulator once I seem to recall and the controls felt very slippery which would make sense. It'd be nice if they managed to crack the controls though as it still seems like one of the more interesting ones

[Dogg Thang]

This is one of those games that should have been in a collection years ago. I have never played it.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 48 - SegaSonic Cosmo Fighter: Galaxy Patrol
A second ride based game for Sonic and this one took the form of a top down shooter with Sonic battling Robotniks machines to free the animals trapped inside. The game managed to receive a very limited western release in Australia in 1997, four years after its Japanese release.











Odds are not, but ever get to try this one?

[wakka]

Ray the Squirrel is just such a hilarious name. He sounds like some kind of invented two bit hoodlum. Jimmy Fingers and Ray the Squirrel.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 49 - SegaSonic Popcorn Shop
Sega kept pumping them out with this arcade machine that combined a mini-game where Sonic and Tails attempt to operate a popcorn making machine, as Robotnik sabotages it, with a unit that actually produced edible popcorn as you played. Three flavours were available: Salted, Sweet and Chili.







Ever experience this tasty treat?

[wakka]

We need more games where the prize is actual food you can eat.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 50 - Sonic the Fighters
AM2's attempt at forging a fighting game for the franchise followed their usual VF inspired approach with the franchises characters knocking each other out because each owns a chaos emerald and wants to face Robotnik... the game captured the Saturn era 3D visuals well but only saw home release long after that generation ended. The gameplay was too simplistic for the game to be received well enough to be a hit but it has its fans and a later rerelease fully unlocked three previously gated fighters.







Did Sega walk away from this concept to easily?

[Hirst]

I remember the popcorn machine from a magazine at the time, they expressed disgust that one of the available flavours was curry. I'm glad I can remember the flavour selection of a popcorn machine that I've never seen and will never use, that's a lot more useful to know than things like my National Insurance number.