The Amy Thread

Rokkan · Apr 9, 2009

Amy Rose was first shown in Sonic CD as Sonic's girlfriend/fangirl. The essence of the character was to be a cute, feminine version of Sonic, so that players can relate her to Sonic and easily see her as a girlfriend, specially watching as she holds and cuddles Sonic in Palmtree Panic, Collision Chaos and Stardust Speedway zones, with hearts pouring out of her.

There's no denial - she was very cute, a bit stereotyped but really cute.

She saw Sonic as a idealized picture, and wanted to have him stop running so that he could be all hers, not noticing that doing that, Sonic will lose his essence - he's a free person, which runs as the wind flows, and plays by his own rules.
Sonic Drift and Sonic R also introduced her a compact, cute, and specially retro car, although they're different - one is red, another is blue and has eyes and mouth, but both are very classy, per se.

Also, in Sonic the Fighters, she was introduced to the Piko Piko Hammer, a magical hammer which is her main weapon.
So, outside being kidnapped by Metal Sonic in Sonic CD, Classic Amy didn't do much at all. Although she loved Sonic, that's all we know about her. How is she? Is she a spoiled kid? Is she mature? What does she likes or hates besides loving Sonic (and probably hating Eggman). The classic games had no speak at all, so it was hard to know what kind of girl she exactly was. Artworks, TV shows, instruction booklets and movies helped us to know what kind of characters were Tails and Knuckles, but Amy?

Was Amy more than just a stereotype character?

And then, after years without any new "canonical" Sonic game, we had Sonic Adventure.
Sonic Adventure, because of the RPG-esque exploration and storyline, characters had their characteristics and personalities properly explored, but Amy was different this time around, very different indeed.

The design was completely re-made to make her a bit more independent, more than just a girly Sonic. She dropped some of her retro characteristics to make room to something more clean and modern.
Her personality was just as predicted - Girly, feminine. Cares about other creatures, be it lesser or bigger than her (the flicky and Gamma respectively), a daydreamer, easily distracted. But she didn't have a strong personality at all though.

Then, came Sonic Adventure 2.
Amy in this one had the same personality than the first one, but multiplyied over. You could, unlike in the first one, very easily tell her personality, she was very distracted, very delighted, and you could really tell she was in love with Sonic. And she cared about Shadow and the safety of everyone in the ARK too, which triggered Shadow's memory from Maria, and thus, saved them all from death and a global crysis.

As everyone already knows, Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 were the pinnacle of the 3D Sonic, not counting Unleashed. Almost everyone agrees that Sonic Heroes had a bit of a quality fall than what the Adventures were.
It was Sonic Heroes which started her "Marry me or die" personality. In this game, she still was girly, but had a bossy personality and looked aggresive and very obsessed with Sonic. In the later games, she lost her cute essence and started looking aggresive and obsessive. Every little thing is a reason so that she could lift her hammer up and crush Sonic's bones to death.

So, Retro, what do you think about her? Do you prefer Classic or Modern Amy, what personality do you think fits her more, what was her best performance, would you like a game starring her, anyway, general thoughts about this character.

Bareirito · Apr 10, 2009

I think the Retro style fit her perfectly, the new is very... odd. -_-
By the way, as I said, the Retro Amy is better. Because she wasn't made to be 'agressive' as you said. By the way, it's my opinion, shoot your own opinions, guys. =P

Hybrid Project Alpha · Apr 10, 2009

I would play an Amy game, I didn't like how slow she was in SA1 or how she was constantly stalked by a relentless indestructible robot, but I liked how she controlled and the hammer made combat more interesting than just wildly mashing A

Bareirito · Apr 10, 2009

Hybrid Project Alpha said:

I would play an Amy game, I didn't like how slow she was in SA1 or how she was constantly stalked by a relentless indestructible robot, but I liked how she controlled and the hammer made combat more interesting than just wildly mashing A
Click to expand...

Yes, I don't like she being agressive, she can have any weapon for defence. If they decide to make her playable they must not forget about the hammer.

Jayextee · Apr 10, 2009

No.

I used to think Sonic occupied it's own niche, not quite being this or that. Except, every single bad cliche it can bring out in order to make itself more generic and less individual is slowly being injected into the veins of the franchise like a sadistic poison.

Of course, the damsel-in-distress cliche is right up there with the 'evil version of the main character' one in terms of being dated and retarded, why wouldn't I be a little... against focus on Amy? :3

muteKi · Apr 10, 2009

Jayextee said:

No.

I used to think Sonic occupied it's own niche, not quite being this or that. Except, every single bad cliche it can bring out in order to make itself more generic and less individual is slowly being injected into the veins of the franchise like a sadistic poison.

Of course, the damsel-in-distress cliche is right up there with the 'evil version of the main character' one in terms of being dated and retarded, why wouldn't I be a little... against focus on Amy? :3
Click to expand...

I thought you loved Sonic CD though.

Incidentally, Amy as Sonic without most of his special moves would be fun to play as. No dash, no spin jump, just a girl and maybe a hammer to swing around; after all, she has to defend herself somehow, right?

Clutch · Apr 10, 2009

I thought she was best character-wise in Sonic Adventure. There she didn't seem like such a psychotic , touchy, exaggerated character that it was no wonder Sonic was on edge around her.

In the Sonic Adventure cut scenes it seems like she's a character who genuinely has a thing for him and just wants to spend time having fun with him while Sonic's attitude around her seems more due to his own personality and him seeing her as a liability (Which she appears to resolve to fix at the end of her story...which seems to be ignored afterward).

Though I think she may work well like Knuckles and Tails do, as additional playable characters in a main game, I don't see a solo game working out too well for her without it being too bland.

doc eggfan · Apr 10, 2009

What, like this?
\

I'm surprised it hasn't happened already.

GIHunter · Apr 10, 2009

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (muteKi @ Apr 9 2009, 06:10 PM)

Rokkan · Apr 10, 2009

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GIHunter @ Apr 9 2009, 09:13 PM)
[/quote]

In Sonic Advance 3 she has spin-jump and spin-dash, I'm pretty sure of it.
The game you're looking for is Sonic Advance 1, in which Amy was basically a Hard-Mode because of her lack of abilities.

Jayextee · Apr 10, 2009

GIHunter said:

muteKi said:

Incidentally, Amy as Sonic without most of his special moves would be fun to play as. No dash, no spin jump, just a girl and maybe a hammer to swing around; after all, she has to defend herself somehow, right?
Click to expand...

What, sort of like in this game?

(Sonic Advance 3 image)
Click to expand...

No way, just the hammer would win, sort of like the gameplay in Hamsters, an obscure Archimedes game I thought was a neat idea; charge up the hammer and let rip, it's how you jump/attack/everything. I mean, Amy's gameplay has hinted at this anyway.

NintendoBrad · Apr 10, 2009

Her classic design is her best design. It's a shame they changed it.

Clutch said:

I thought she was best character-wise in Sonic Adventure. There she didn't seem like such a psychotic , touchy, exaggerated character that it was no wonder Sonic was on edge around her.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more.

Hodgy · Apr 10, 2009

Neither tbh, she shouldv'e never of existed ¬_¬

PC2 · Apr 10, 2009

I'm glad they did away with the old Amy, as she was cliche sexist anime schoolgirl trash. The new Amy's personality is much better, her craziness is what makes her unique and at times funny. I honestly don't see how people could prefer the boring stock damsel in distress over the new Amy, who actually has a personality of some sort.

Sonic Warrior TJ · Apr 10, 2009

I think Amy could work in a Prince of Persia type game, with more focus on her hammer abilties. What if you could rack up crazy combos with that thing? You could get a lot more inventive than they've been in the past. I'm sure she could do more with her hammer than just...bop someone with it.

Hybrid Project Alpha · Apr 10, 2009

make her like Hammer Kirby lol

Blue Blood · Apr 10, 2009

"My Sweet Passion" from SA1 is in Black Knight, only it was renamed to "The Kings Peril" (the King being Sonic). I just thought it was mildly amusing, and a clever way to display their relationship.

test-object · Apr 10, 2009

I like how her obsession gives her some personality, although not the exact right one.

She, unlike Peach, is not afraid to dirty her hands if her hero is in trouble. If Princess Peach has some minions at disposal, she'll send those. Amy on the other hand will take em all out with a big fucking hammer, even if she's surrounded by tons of sidecharacters willing to help!

On the other hand, her stalking image IS a bit of a pain. First time playing Heroes and hearing her yell "This time there's no way out of marrying me!" I cringed. A restraining order is needed for a fictitious character that is supposed to be like-able? And since when does marriage result in a fight of life and death?

Enzo Aquarius · Apr 10, 2009

If anybody wants to see any more appearances of the old skool Amy, read some of the earlier Archie comics prior to her transformation to her present-day self in issue 79. She originally appears in the Sonic CD special, issue 25, then appears again in issue 40 onwards.

Now, in terms of her original character, it's only common that a character gets a love-interest or somebody that has a crush on them. Amy Rose wasn't as popular as Tails was back then, but she was introduced well, though they got rid of the whole 'tarot card' deal that Amy supposedly used to originally chase after Sonic. If they kept this ideal, she would be a totally different character than she is today...as long as she doesn't lose the hammer. The Piko Piko Hammer kicks ass.

Ell678 · Apr 10, 2009

She was ok. Then in Sonic Adventure 2 her voice seemed to get more annoying, and has got even worse since. Her lines are getting worse, and the way she seems to constantly mistake....well, everything for Sonic is just predictable and annoying.

The Amy Thread

Useful Searches