Nice to see Black Sonic being relevant again. Considering how huge he was in mid 00’s, it’s sad that he was treated like a Shadow of his former self for such a long time. I hope he can have friends now in comics.
The most hilarious part of all this to me is how far SEGA will go to channel Shadow's fandom without EVER acknowledging that he used guns in a game once. That's why I think an STH remake, or even a rerelease, will never, ever happen.
Well they did acknowledge it... In Lego Dimensions... Although the whole DLC pack felt more fanmade than official with it's use of Mecha Sonic Mk 1 and 2, and bringing back Chaos for no apparent reason.
I want this bike so damn bad! Reminds me of the Miradon bike that was made recently. I always think it's awesome when video game companies partner with random companies to make cool things like this.
I really wanted to make fun of this and how edgy it is, but I just can't. It is just that unironically cool.
But neither of them are June 23rd birthday guys! I feel like "offensive" is a bit strong. But like it was said: Knuckles isn't being ignored wholesale. And last year the focus was on the core four characters of the franchise. So it makes sense for them to do a bit of synergy. I think it's silly the site is also pushing Superstars since it doesn't really have anything to do with Shadow (except Sonic's cosplay of him), but, eh.
Most of the backlash towards this campaign I've seen pretty much boils down to people who dont like Shadow or modern sonic getting mad that Shadow gets a marketing campaign and scrambling to find a reason to justify this campaign being objectively bad. Its okay guys. You can dislike Shadow. You dont need to have an excuse.
Like it or not, the character is no doubt insanely popular, and seems to have grown only moreso with time. I'm ultimately a classic guy, but I definitely had my Shadow phase during those teen years. Admitting you actually liked his content back then was... well... tough in this community. Granted, heroes and the 05 game kind of made me give up on him ever truly getting good content. He had a few good moments in Sonic X, was largely forgettable in the comics, and only had good storyline elements in parts of the 06 cutescenes, while his actual gameplay was just... not good. Shadow 05 became super meme-worthy for all the wrong reasons, but it took us a decade to even accept that, and it's still a terrible game for all intents and purposes. Our resident Vegeta trope knockoff never really got to shine all that effectively outside of SA2 itself. Everything else was tapping into his hype more than giving him any content of substance. And only since forces did he somewhat begin to emerge again.
I find it ridiculous that there's 'backlash' against a marketing campaign. Just ignore it if it isn't for you, it isn't difficult. Go outside. See a movie (that isn't Sonic).
Twitter user MimiiPyon's attending the motorcycle event. Some things to note are that they're playing Westopolis' theme. And there's very basic details of Shadow's backstory, somehow entirely overlooking Maria. (Granted this may be to surprise unfamiliar fans when Sonic movie 3 comes around) There's also Sonic and Shadow bike motorcycle helmets.
The fact that SEGA are actively celebrating iconography from a well known and understood piece of shit game is truly commendable.
To be fair, it was only a matter of time given how open they are about 06 now. Sonic Team has not shied away from their mistakes for nearly a decade now and that's definitely commendable.
I honestly find this indulging in Shadow refreshing. We all know the game was awful. But I'd much rather have SEGA use material straightforwardly than constantly be ironic and self deprecating all of the time.
Agreed, there are certainly some really, really bad aspects about Shadow's game but i don't think it was totally irredeemable at all, the game itself just kinda stinks. I certainly preferred it when aliens werent't involved in shadow's backstory, but it happened and I think its totally fine to acknowledge it, make something better out of it
I think SEGA is aware Shadow the Hedgehog is not a very good game, but there's a lot of aspect of it people like. I hope they will use more of his SA2, 2006 or even Prime as base for his characterization tho' for future. Well, let's see how the movies will handle him too. Honestly, I'm glad we're over of this "Shadow on a bike" or "Sonic with a sword" is a "cringey" thing. Like, Shadow05 did not sucked because he was on bike itself.
I think the big thing with the Shadow game was that it came at the worst possible time. The fandom at the time wasn't particularly high on the series' sudden shift to a strong focus on storytelling that took itself seriously, so for Sega to take things so much in that direction, apparently without a shred of irony or self-awareness, brought things to the point of absurdity and was received exactly as well as you'd expect. That and the fact the game sucked more dick than an actor in a porno Now we're so far removed from that context that I think seeing Shadow on a motorcycle is far more palatable than, and nowhere near as ridiculous as it was in 2005.
After more than a decade of Colors-esque writing it's definitely the right time to embrace some of the series' sillier elements again, but hopefully with a bit more self-awareness this time around. I still think the bike is cool.
