Currently watching the livestream from Comic Con. Can't believe all the asinine stuff that has happened over the last 15 years. Infighting within the different communities, rifts in the direction of the main games, early and prototype discoveries, theories come to fact, hoaxes lost to time, awkward childish stupidity, genuine love for the history that these games have in our lives... I am absolutely impressed at the fact that community members have managed to actually succeed and become a part of the very thing they and we all love; I have nothing but respect and praise for Taxman and Stealth and Skyler and anyone else from CulT, Retro, Classic, and any other factions who may have become a part of this whole spectacle (I remember being a dumb teenager in high school having an argument with Stealth on Area51 a decade and a half ago lol). I lost track of all the crazy awesome stuff people were doing about 10 years ago, disassemblies, coding, modding, creating, resource sites like SFGHQ, Hacking CulT, and probably plenty of other stuff that slips my mind... I wish I could have been more invested in any of it, but some people just have more passion, and they made things happen I think it's ludicrous and awesome that Sega has gone to the effort of making this kind of event. It shows that they're trying to acknowledge and include all the different parts of their fanbase, and I love that the people they've had on stage, who have worked on the games over the years in one way or another, are actually excited to be part of the celebration It doesn't matter where you fall on the Sonic fan spectrum, this is really something special that I think we can all appreciate. Time passes and people get older. I'm 32 and supposed to be some kind of "adult," but I can still fire up my Genesis and enjoy Sonic as much as I did when I was f*cking 7 or 8 years old. I barely come here even to lurk anymore, but I'll never not be a fan of this stupid blue marketing icon. Long live Sonic Long live the fans Long live the arguments Long live the community Long live CulT Long live all you fantastic idiots who can't get enough of "Sonic," in whatever form. the idea of Sonic means something different to all of us, because we inject that idea with our own experiences. We make it our own thing, for better or worse, awesome or perverse, whether you're a newbie or a dinosaur, Sonic is part of all of us I'm just happy to have shared any of this nonsense with my personal friends back in the day as a kid, and the sea of weirdos on the internet more recently. I'm excited for Mania, not sure what to do with Hello Kitty, and dunno what else may come in the next 10+ years, but I'm sure we'll still be lapping this sh*t up until we succumb to carpal tunnel, or blindness, or marriage, or whatever ill fate happens to impede our pursuit of going fast.
I was 6 years old when Sonic the Hedgehog hit. I was actually already a sega fan, my family had got a Sega Master System in 1986. My Dad was big into video games too, and fueled my fanboy tendencies. We didn't just have a Sega Master System, we were SMS fanboys, which was a unique experience in the US. We kept up with releases and argued with my cousin that Sega was better than Nintendo. We didn't go to blockbuster because they stopped carrying SMS games. I remember being so incredibly jealous of Super Mario Bros, the only game that really made me want an NES. I had Alex Kidd (the lost stars) and Wonderboy and stuff like that, but nothing as straight forward and excellent as Mario Bros. I was literally the perfect demographic when Sonic the Hedgehog hit. I immediately fell in love. I begged my parents for a Genesis and Sonic for christmas and they obliged. It was awe from the moment I picked up the controller. More than just the game, Sonic was the school yard hero that let me put Nintendo fans in their place. I was really lucky over the years to follow Sega so closely. I got a Sega Game Gear in 92, and with it Sonic the Hedgehog (and Castle of Illusioni). From that moment on, I have received every Sonic game that has come out, in order, as they release. I still play and collect the games, and the big games still get me really excited. I'll never stop liking this franchise. When it does things right, it does things really right. I'm thrilled right now as a Sonic fan. Soon as the stream ends, I'm gonna run to my game room and play some Sega Genesis and Sonic the Hedgehog.
I wish I could say I had that much of a gaming pedigree with Sega, but I was an NES kid at the beginning. I had a friend whose parents always got him the latest stuff, so he had a Genesis when it was new, but we just liked Mario more... until Sonic launched. Sonic changed everything I thought games could be at the time; fast, responsive, demanding, visually and audibly arresting (for a kid, of course lol). F-Zero was about the only other satisfyingly "fast" game at the time, but you can't compare racing games to platformers (F-Zero happens to be another favorite series of mine). Sonic turned me into a Sega kid from that point. I admittedly didnt even know the SMS existed until sometime in the mid 90s, and I've never quite found a 'special place" for it in my gaming interests, but I respect it :P I like Sonic enough to justify getting all 5 of the SMS games, so the machine serves at least some purpose in my collection :D After all these years, I've grown to love all sorts of games, but I'll never be able to completely break away from "Sonic." Like you said, when they do something right, it's really right (I still get giddy with excitement when I think about Colors or Generations!). And after things like Adventure 2, 2006, Unleashed, 4, etc, I've learned to just accept that some games are gonna either objectively suck, or at the very least not appeal to me... and I'm able to look past them and still find other things about "Sonic" that I can enjoy (not gonna lie, the absurdity of the current Sonic Twitter and other PR stuff is amazing on principle. They know their audience too well lol) Most of all, I like that getting older allows me to reflect on the series as a whole, and continually gain better appreciation for the games and everything that this phenomenon has been responsible for. I'm not gonna be up playing Sonic tonight, it's already after 1am, and I have other hobbies waiting for my attention this weekend, but I'll certainly fire up a Genesis playlist while I'm in the garage tomorrow...
I aggree! And I lived through it and it only seems to get faster and faster. I remember getting the 15th blue special packaging on the dreamcast
I got a Sega Genesis for Christmas 1994. It came with Sonic 2. If it weren't for that, I don't know if I ever would've gotten into Sonic. I'm glad I did.
