10 points to ValleyBell: http://janeway.exotica.org.uk/release.php?id=19102 (DMS files work in WinUAE) Fun fact - that title screen is actually based on the Toyko Toy Show 1990 one. So probably the earliest attempt at replicating something seen in a Sonic the Hedgehog prototype.
Huh. Fascinating. Sonic must have appealed to people from the get-go to have all these reproductions before the game was even out.
There's a different demo, Sonic Attack that was rediscovered a few years ago. The one I posted above is a 1992 demo so doesn't pre-date Sonic. However, "The Adventures of Quik & Silva" debuted on the Amiga in May 1991 and that has Sonic in it. It was fully possible to see Sonic in an Amiga game before you saw him in a Mega Drive one.
I've been wondering about something for a while, when it comes to the Sonic universe, and I figured this thread was as good a place as any, as it's probably not thread-worthy. What's the deal with Super Sonic? I mean, in-universe. When it comes to Super forms, Sonic, Shadow and Silver are the only ones to really get distinct forms, aren't they? Why is this? Originally it was just Sonic, which would make sense production-wise as he's the main character, but with the introduction of other Hedgehogs, it seems like this is something innate to Hedgehogs in this world - they're the furry equivalent of Saiyans. I suppose that would make Sonic the Goku of the series. It feels like there was some barely-realised loose storyline going on, or some notion at least, that there was some kind of prophecy around Sonic. A statue of Sonic, or at least a Hedgehog that looked like him, appeared in the background of Hydrocity Zone, which was followed by the ancient mural in Angel Island's Hidden Palace. I suppose this would be connected to the reason Gerald Robotnik thought a Hedgehog was the ultimate life form, correct? The only other notable transformation is the original Super Tails with the Flicky Army of Death. We know from Flickies' Island that Flickies, or at least the ones on that island, have some weird relation to that island's Giant Rings. Assuming this is the case for Angel Island too, what is drawing the Flickies to Tails? Is it just some attraction to the ring/emerald energy? And what specifically is the relation between rings and Emeralds anyway? It's strange that everyone else's Super forms are essentially just slightly glowy versions of their normal selves - particularly Knuckles, who you'd think would have some weird-ass form since he's so connected to the Master Emerald. Although one could argue that he's shit at his job, and guarded it without really understanding much of what it was and could do. ...this post ended up longer than I anticipated.
Well, I think the reason Super Tails and Super/Hyper Knuckles had such bland designs was simply so that the devs wouldn't have to draw separate sprites for them :v: Time constraints and/or laziness were probably at play here. Then when the Adventure series happened, they wanted Sonic (and Shadow, what with him being his "evil" twin and all) to be the only ones to go Super in order to keep Super Sonic unique, so Super Tails and Super Knuckles didn't get better designs. Then in Sonic 06, it would have been awkward if Sonic and Shadow were able to go Super for the final boss but Silver wasn't, so they created Super Silver as well. Ditto for Burning Blaze in Rush. Plus they were trying to make Silver the next Shadow in terms of popularity, so of course they'd give him his own Super form :v:
You've put more thought into it than anyone working on the games ever has. Super Sonic was designed as a Super Saiyan homage, and the designs and abilities of subsequent super forms and their abilities in the classic series were done for gameplay purposes. The Sonic statues in Hydrocity are just Easter eggs like the Sonic and Tails heads in Casino Night Zone, and the mural in Hidden Palace is just foreshadowing of Doomsday Zone (and if you wanna get technical the “Super Sonic” figure in it isn't even depicted as a hedgehog) Oh, and according to SEGA's current official Sonic bible, only male hedgehogs can turn super now. It's dumb and none of it makes sense
I guess it kind of makes sense from a narrative standpoint. If they made an Amy game, I think she'd probably get a super form. And Blaze still has one, it's just called Burning. "Super Sonic" is just a punny kind of name anyway. It just works so well. Maybe everybody else should get their own prefixes. How about Shining Amy for a "super" form? Perfect Shadow (another DBZ callback that just works)? I think this idea has legs.
Archie did that back in the day. Super Knuckles was always referred to as Hyper Knuckles while Tails was called Turbo Tails.
The impression I get is that Super Sonic started its life as more of a game-breaking joke than a meaningful part of Sonic "lore". Why don't other characters have super forms? Because the name "Super Amy" isn't as clever as "Super Sonic".
Eh. The statues in Hydrocity could be just easter eggs or could implications of the prophecy just like the Hidden Palace mural from the very same game, there's no way to know for sure without asking the devs. As for the Super Sonic figure in mural, you can see what seems to be spines on its back. And actually, I don't really think the suggestion that Gerald was inspired to make the final Shadow a hedgehog by the Sonic imagery in Angel Island's murals, statues and/or prophecies is such a reach, when Sonic Battle revealed that he had studied and was fascinated by Angel Island, and the very game Shadow debuted in established that he liked to recreate Angel Island elements, as shown with the Artificial Chaos in the Ark, or his recreation of the Emerald shrine in the Eclipse Cannon's core. That's a clear trend right here; the notion that he based another of his creations on Angel Island lore isn't so farfetched in my book.
I can't remember. Did the Mania version of Hydrocity have the Sonic statue in the background? And was it the Sonic 3 sprite, or redone with the Mania sprite?
It's not a direct thing, but the Prof. Gerald's Journal (Sonic Battle) mentions he studied "an ancient civilization that could harness the powers of the Chaos Emeralds" which is most likely referring to the ancient Echidna Tribe which lived on Angel Island
It's referring to the Fourth Great Civilization that the Gizoid wiped out. According to Rouge, the Gizoid is 4000 years old: According to the Sonic Adventure strategy guides, Tikal sealed Chaos in the Master Emerald 3000 years ago. Sonic Chronicles messed things up by putting both events into the same "4000 years ago" timeframe and saying that there was more than one Gizoid. Given the cliffhanger, the Ken Penders lawsuits and Sega's stance that Knuckles is the last echidna, it's debatable whether anything in Sonic Chronicles should be considered canonical. As far as Sonic Battle alone is concerned, Gizoid was a singular entity with no connection to the echidnas. But either way, the Gizoid predates the formation of Angel Island.
An old Arabic ad for the Master System, not sure of the country of origin, but I think it's Egypt from the way of talking, but it's more probable that it's from Saudi Arabia
