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 Hello hello everybody, and welcome to The Super Sonic Let's Play, a walk (or maybe a run?) down memory lane, revisiting the very first mascot to pose a threat to the Mushroom Kingdom. Over the years, the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has seen its highs and its lows, and while its current situation isn't nearly as dire as Mega Man's, it seems like SEGA could use a gentle reminder about what made the Blue Blur such an important and iconic fixture of the '90s. In honor of the hedgehog's 25th birthday (and the fifth anniversary of Sonic Week, the very first Let's Plays our channel ever created), we're taking on the whole franchise from spiky head to pointed toe. Along the way, we'll be investigating the development process for not just the early successful games like the Genesis trilogy, but also the outsourced Game Gear and Master System games, the SEGA Pico, the dork age of the mid-'90s, the revival of the franchise amidst the collapse of SEGA's hardware department at the turn of the century, the budding friendship with Nintendo, and the experimental 2010s. Is it possible for SEGA to save Sonic from fading into obscurity, or turning into a shell of its former self like Mega Man? Let's find out! PART 1: The Genesis (1991 - 1994)
PART 2: The End of the Genesis (1995 - 1997)
PART 3: The Adventure (1999 - 2005)
ricdesi fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Jan 15, 2019 |
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Jul 3, 2016 04:57
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Are you gonna do Sonic and the Secret Rings or Sonic and the Black Knight? Those are...I actually still don't know what I feel about them actually... Oh god you're doing Sonic 06 you absolute madman. Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Jul 3, 2016 |
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Jul 3, 2016 06:12
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We are indeed, ha. I never got into those, but I played... one of them? Not sure which, in college. Wasn't really a big fan, it just felt like my least favorite part of all the 3D Sonic games, as a full game on its own. But hey, it's been a decade, who knows? Maybe it'll be a welcome break from other stuff by the time it comes around.
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Jul 3, 2016 06:18
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I am excited to partake in this Complete Entertainment Solution
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Jul 3, 2016 10:03
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I hope when you get to Shadow the Hedgehog you do the Gamecube version because I kinda got sick of listening to the other LP on here constantly showing off glitches and complaining about basic controls that were clearly porting issues but didn't mention that up front. ...This is assuming you're playing it at all.
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Jul 3, 2016 17:05
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Okay apparently that Sonic Dreams Collection is actually supposed to be a parody of the fandom.
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Jul 3, 2016 18:54
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It very much is, I honestly did not expect that I was going to have to explain that to John, but apparently my ruse was just too drat convincing. I love it so very much, but christ I'd be lying if I said it didn't equally creep me the gently caress out.SSNeoman posted:Oh god you're doing Sonic 06 you absolute madman. Best part - I'm reasonably sure I'm the only one on the team who's ever played it. It's every loving ounce as horrible and incomplete as any review or Let's Play would have you believe. I will break John. And it will be beautiful. TCat posted:I hope when you get to Shadow the Hedgehog you do the Gamecube version because I kinda got sick of listening to the other LP on here constantly showing off glitches and complaining about basic controls that were clearly porting issues but didn't mention that up front. Definitely playing it, and one of the "riskier" ones in the whole series, if I'm honest. I'm actually a big fan of both Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog despite their reputations, so they'll both be tough sells to the rest of the team. As far as the version of the game goes, it'll be really on the fence. If we don't play the originals for any given game, we'll definitely be highlighting the version differences, and pointing out flaws that are definitely not the original game's fault. The GameCube is particularly tricky because it's one of the few systems that we can only record with RCA cables, which gives us incredibly fuzzy footage. In the end, we'll probably wind up emulating the GameCube version so we can at least get a sharp enough image so it won't be super distracting.
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Jul 3, 2016 19:27
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As crappy as Sonic Boom is, it's much shorter, not as buggy, and less filled with bullshit than the steaming pile that is Sonic 2006. It's been more than eight years since the Pokecapn LP of that game and the words "Radical Train" still bring back images of hell.
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Jul 3, 2016 19:45
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"Sonic 06" and "absolute madman" have been associated a lot, but Sonic 06 isn't even hard to complete, just buggy. If the game were buggy in a fashion that made it frustrating beyond belief, I think that'd make more sense, but as it is it's just an easy-to-beat mess. Radical Train in particular isn't nearly as difficult as folks make it out to be, it only takes a couple tries before you figure out what you do to not trigger your instantaneous and hilarious glitch-based death.
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Jul 4, 2016 15:22
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I take it you've never seen the final stage in the Sonic 2006 LP that the pokecapn crew did. It was frustrating just to watch And instant deaths in high-speed sections are a stupid idea. Even Sonic Boom showed mercy in those sections.
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Jul 4, 2016 21:23
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Christ almighty, I remember Radical Train. What a mess. The whole game is a drat mess, I think I gave up on Sonic after that awful experience. I've never seen a hype train just go full-on extinction event like that before. It's a little ways out still, but you better believe when it comes time to play it, we're gonna be ready, locked and loaded. As far as what we're up to now, today's out final episode of the Master System version of Sonic the Hedgehog... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drreBUQNbGY ...and tomorrow (night) we'll be stepping into something much more bizarre.
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Jul 4, 2016 23:18
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Y-Hat posted:I take it you've never seen the final stage in the Sonic 2006 LP that the pokecapn crew did. It was frustrating just to watch And instant deaths in high-speed sections are a stupid idea. Even Sonic Boom showed mercy in those sections. I haven't watched any of PokeCapn's let's plays, I'm just speaking from my own experiences with the game.
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Jul 5, 2016 00:42
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I found a good example. Just because a game is broken and bad doesn't mean it can't be played well.
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Jul 5, 2016 06:47
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I'm still working my way through the videos, but I've noticed that the first few, at least, have the little clips at the end that you're supposed to be able to click on to jump to other videos - but the annotation that makes them work is missing.
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Jul 6, 2016 01:54
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GamesAreSupernice posted:I found a good example.
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Jul 6, 2016 02:23
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Yeah, you can also see some spots where the game hitches, he tries hopping off the railing to hit the spring and it doesn't let him detach the first time. Also those springs at the end of the conveyor belts aren't 100% solid and you can slide underneath them to your death sometimes.
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Jul 6, 2016 03:22
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And it's still a platformer where you have to wrestle with the controls and dedicate yourself to jumps with no way to fix your mistakes. Unless you're Rouge or Omega, and note how much easier their levels are.
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Jul 6, 2016 05:29
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Yeah, it's also pretty obvious that guy memorized the mach speed section. That said, if there's one thing that Sonic 2006 did right, it's The Music.
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Jul 6, 2016 05:37
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The video of the second part of the 8-bit Sonic playthrough is dropping frames left and right. Was this a recording error or an encoding error? Edit for example: for instance, around 10:50, when you say 'Sky Base Zone is a giant pain in the rear end', there's some serious frame loss.
FredMSloniker fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Jul 6, 2016 |
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Jul 6, 2016 07:33
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Oh weird, I didn't see any of that during editing... You might be right, I think that's an encoding error. That's frustrating, the editing laptop must have been straining or something. Thanks for the heads up! And yeah, the annotations need fixing, I'm jumping on that this morning, they should be fixed by this afternoon.
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Jul 6, 2016 13:21
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It's not the only affected video. I didn't notice any issues with the Genesis Sonic videos, but you should probably re-watch, or just re-encode, the 8-bit ones. Oh, and since I managed to fail to say it in my last two posts: I'm really digging your LP! While I wait for the next video, I'm watching your Dreamy Let's Play. As you might guess, it's relevant to my interests.
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Jul 6, 2016 17:23
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FredMSloniker posted:As you might guess, it's relevant to my interests. You don't say? :P It's funny, I think in today's episode we even land the "Waddle Dee Ball" sticker, haha. Well I'm glad you're enjoying our stuff so far, thank you! Today's episode got a particularly strong "YES" out of me, should go live in about 10 minutes. The 8-bit stuff I'll have to keep a better eye on -- we're using OBS and an emulator (still trying to procure a Game Gear capture board from France, it's about as painless a process as it sounds like it would be), and I suspect the laptop's struggling to display and record at the same time. There's always something. Also quickly trying to construct the new recording PC, once that's up and running a lot of this should be much much smoother. EDIT: And I somehow managed to export Part 12 again. So while the real Part 13 exports and uploads... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiO6WYVsCRU I cannot believe we're actually playing this monstrosity. ricdesi fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Jul 6, 2016 |
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Jul 6, 2016 19:49
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Is the music loop for that seriously 30 seconds? Also: 
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Jul 6, 2016 20:42
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Kurieg posted:Is the music loop for that seriously 30 seconds? If you're referring to the Kingdom Valley Water track, it's from one of the very short (very poorly thought out) "speed up" sections, so the time was probably appropriate.
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Jul 6, 2016 21:02
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No, he edited the next episode into his last post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiO6WYVsCRU I like the Kingdom Valley track, most of '06's music is pretty good.
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Jul 6, 2016 21:04
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ricdesi posted:The 8-bit stuff I'll have to keep a better eye on -- we're using OBS and an emulator (still trying to procure a Game Gear capture board from France, it's about as painless a process as it sounds like it would be), and I suspect the laptop's struggling to display and record at the same time. There's always something. Also quickly trying to construct the new recording PC, once that's up and running a lot of this should be much much smoother. Are you recording at 60 FPS? Because if so, don't.
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Jul 6, 2016 21:14
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*bursts into the thread sweating and panting* DID SOMEBODY SAY SONIC?! No but seriously, a historical and loving look at the video game series that defined my childhood is exactly what my heart needs. Thank you so much for doing this. With Sonic, I think a lot of LPs tend to pick up...I dunno, Shadow, and then just take the piss out of the whole series. Which is totally fine, but I think the best LPs are of games that the person likes. Loves for the really top tier LPs. One of the best parts of Sonic Adventure DX was giving me the ability to play stuff like Sonic Drift and Triple Trouble. If there is ever a way I can contribute to this, let me know.
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Jul 6, 2016 23:11
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Kurieg posted:Is the music loop for that seriously 30 seconds? Yes. :| Kurieg posted:Also: YES!  Lizard Wizard posted:Are you recording at 60 FPS? Because if so, don't. Weirdly enough, I hadn't been (and was planning on double-checking the recording setup in order to actually bump it up to 60 to match the rest of our stuff. The new SSHD was definitely a temporary solution to a permanent problem in terms of recording, I might experiment a bit with it tonight before we record the next game. SonicRulez posted:*bursts into the thread sweating and panting* WELCOME WELCOME! I think (even more than our Mega Man series), this one's gonna be an emotional ride. Partly because the Sonic series was always a pretty linear assortment of good, then awful, then good, then HORRIBLE, and back to good again. On the plus side, Sega and Sonic Team still visibly CARE about Sonic, they just might be misguided in their efforts (as opposed to the abusive drunk dad that is Capcom, who's basically ignored Mega Man for six years now, and is replacing it with the "new hip model"). Even just through these first three games, I've already learned more than I expected to about the history of the franchise, and I'm particularly intrigued to learn more about its fated journey through the turn of the century. The Mega Let's Play gets to focus on a franchise that's inevitably doomed, but the Super Sonic Let's Play gets to focus on a franchise that struggles, but its heart is usually in the right place. Plus, I've been waiting five years for an excuse to force these yokels to play Sonic 2006. We won't get to it in time for its 10th anniversary, sadly, but it will be in there. As far as Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog go, I'm among those folks who actually really enjoyed both of them, and don't think they "ruined" the franchise or the Adventure formula in any way. Not to mention, the Shadow Arc is actually one of the better incremental storylines the franchise has ever put together, even if it's a little inconsistent and occasionally mildly retconny. When the Franchise Play is over, I think I'd like to start exploring Sonic fangames in a similar vein to Razor & Zenon, but that's an idea for 2018 Rick, not 2016 Rick.
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Jul 7, 2016 15:54
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Since you can't really hear the Sonic Eraser music in the LP itself, here's the tune that plays in 1P and 2P mode. Now you two can DEER DEER DEER DEER! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA4QXAsTPXc
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Jul 8, 2016 05:11
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People who weren't that experienced with the genesis could produce some truly terrifying music. Particularly if they just shoved a straight sawtooth wave into the Sample slot. Thankfully this game's sound guy figured out what the hell he was doing by the time he got tapped again, he was one of the composers for Sonic 3/& Knuckles. Kurieg fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Jul 8, 2016 |
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Jul 8, 2016 06:09
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DEER DEER DEER DEER DEER DEER deer deer... Glad to be rid of that loving music, though admittedly I am a bit ashamed that we didn't actually complete Round Mode. Maybe it can come back for a side-by-side when we get to Mean Bean Machine's Puzzle Mode, we'll see. For those who didn't see last night's video yet, prepare for WORLD RECORD DOMINANCE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-9I-d8ovsk Kurieg posted:People who weren't that experienced with the genesis could produce some truly terrifying music. Particularly if they just shoved a straight sawtooth wave into the Sample slot. I don't know what it is about the Genesis, but it seems like the spectrum of good-to-bad is so much wider than the SNES. Sawtooth is a dangerous tool. Kurieg posted:Thankfully this game's sound guy figured out what the hell he was doing by the time he got tapped again, he was one of the composers for Sonic 3/& Knuckles. Oh my god, you're right.
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Jul 8, 2016 15:36
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This game strikes me as something that they threw together in a ludicrously short timeframe. And the music in this game sounds like something written over a weekend, or shorter. It's a niche game distributed over a niche network to a very small number of people so they probably didn't care if it blew out your eardrums. That said.  Oh god it gets faster
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Jul 8, 2016 16:03
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It's hard to say exactly how much time was spent on it (though it looks like there were at least four individuals working on it). The only things we know for sure are that:
It's unclear if the game began development after the release of Sonic the Hedgehog, and while he could have been somewhat trivially added to the game at the end of development, the use of pre-existing Sonic 1 assets, as well as some new ones, suggests at least a tiny bit of the development came later in the summer. If I had to take an absolute wild stab, I'd just tell people "Fall 1991". But yeah, niche * niche * niche = "who gives a poo poo, just finish it so I can go home, it's Friday". And yeah, the longer you play, THE FASTER IT DEER DEER DEER DEER DEER DEER
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Jul 8, 2016 16:44
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Wow, I'd never even heard of Sonic Eraser. What an odd little game. I always thought Sonic 2 came like immediately after the original. In my childhood there was Sonic, Sonic 2, Spinball, 3&K, and then complete silence until the Dreamcast. I've gone back and filled the gap since then, but who knew about this? I wonder what guy was thinking "This game's almost done....eh, throw Sonic somewhere in there."
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Jul 8, 2016 17:46
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Technically Sonic 2 on the Game Gear came out before Sonic 2 on the Genesis.
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Jul 8, 2016 17:48
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SonicRulez posted:Sonic, Sonic 2, Spinball, 3&K, and then complete silence until the Dreamcast. I am deeply sorry for the impending destruction of your worldview of Sonic from 1995-1998. It's gonna be ugly. Kurieg posted:Technically Sonic 2 on the Game Gear came out before Sonic 2 on the Genesis. It sure did. T-minus 150 minutes.
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Jul 8, 2016 18:28
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ricdesi posted:I am deeply sorry for the impending destruction of your worldview of Sonic from 1995-1998. It's gonna be ugly. Or even before that, do you guys have access to Wacky Worlds?
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Jul 8, 2016 19:20
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Sonic 8-bit was literally the first video game I owned (the Game Gear version though).
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Jul 8, 2016 19:42
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I'm so confused. Sonic 2 was done first, but the GG version shipped first?
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Jul 10, 2016 16:44
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 16:12 |
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Sort of. Looking at the release dates it seems like what happened was that Sega of Europe was doing something weird. As they're the only region that got a Master System Release, and released the game gear version a full month before the Mega Drive version. In japan they were released on the same day. And in America the GG Version was released a week earlier than the Genesis version which could just be as simple as Toys R Us breaking street date, because they did that a lot back then.
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Jul 10, 2016 18:16
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