Sonic and I have had a rocky past. Sure we had our fun in the 16-bit era when I first got my hands on a Sega Genesis and the original Sonic the Hedgehog. As the series progressed to include Knuckles and its crazy snap-on cartridge, I was rapidly losing interest in the little blue guy. Then along came the Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure which hooked me once again. That is until I came across the levels starring anyone but Sonic. When I hit the first Big the Cat section, I left the game for good. I’ve played a few levels from random other entries in the series, but Sonic Generations is the first time since the classic games that I’ve completed a Sonic the Hedgehog game.

I bring this anecdotal history of my time with the franchise up, not to disparage the fans of the game or the franchise itself. I bring it up only because SEGA has made it very apparent that Sonic Generations is for the long time fans of the franchise, and after playing most of the console version, I wanted to see how the 3DS entry stacked up as a modern platformer.

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Last year, Sonic Colors showed me that 3D Sonic games could be fun again. Of course, this was the very same year that Sonic 4 dashed my hopes of a quality 2D Sonic experience. So when it was announced that the next game in the series would feature both styles of play, I was skeptical of SEGA’s ability to handle the classic stages.

It turns out they actually learned from their mistakes… well, most of them anyway. Sonic Generations, while not perfect, manages to be a rather successful blend of old and new Sonic gameplay that’s fun in spite of its shortcomings.

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It’s so tough to take an objective look at Sonic games these days. The series seems better known for the arguing and turmoil following a new title’s announcement than the games themselves (which, in fairness, are more often than not mediocre). I haven’t even been looking forward to Sonic Generations, if anything for a want of staying out of the muck. But while strolling through SEGA’s setup for the title, which I’ll admit was pretty nice with its little museum of Sonic memorabilia over the ages, I spotted an unattended demo on a 3DS system and gave it a whirl.

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In 2005, the OverClocked ReMix community took on the challenge of remixing the entire soundtrack to Sonic The Hedgehog 2 with Hedgehog Heaven. In 2006, they arranged the music of Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles with Project Chaos.

Now, almost five years later, the remix trilogy will finally be complete with The Sound of Speed, an album of new interpretations of the music from the original Sonic the Hedgehog. The thirteen track album marks the community’s 25th project release.
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Finally, there’s an album with remixes of those Cyborg Justice songs you’ve been dying to hear all these years! What’s that? You aren’t familiar with Cyborg Justice?! I guess I’ll let you slip by this time seeing as how I barely recall it myself (other than a vague memory of it inspiring me to make some clay figures of robots with interchangeable parts).

Joking aside, game and TV composer Brian Davis’ new album, In Memory of the Mega Drive, features a very interesting collection of music. The 50-track album covers a variety of songs from the system known to North America as the SEGA Genesis. (more…)

Well, it happened. We got a 3D Sonic game that’s actually pretty fun. Now that we’ve grabbed some sweet rings, saved an alien race of marketable creatures, and spouted off the cheesiest of dialogue, it’s time to pass the torch to you.

That’s right, we’re giving away our review copy of Sonic Colors (Wii) to one lucky reader. Just read the rules below and let us know your favorite color in the comments. It doesn’t have to be one of the colors represented in Sonic Colors. If “Puke Green” or “Neon Brown” is your favorite, go for it (you weirdo). A winner could be you!

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"Sonic Colors gets rid of the stuff nobody asked for in the first place."

If you went back in time and asked me if I’d rather play yet another 3D Sonic or a new 2D Sonic on an HD console, I would have definitely chosen the latter. But here we are at the tail end of 2010. Both Sonic 4 and Sonic Colors have released and it’s the 3D entry I’ll be looking back on more fondly.

The premise is simple enough. Dr. Robotnik claims to have changed his ways and has created an amusement park in space to make up for his misdeeds. Of course, Robotnik is still evil afterall (even the characters themselves make light of his predictability) and it’s up to Sonic (with a little support on the sidelines from Tails) to put a stop to his diabolical plan.

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"What have I become?"

In a very special fifth episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, we discuss the abomination that is “Sonic Unleashed”. Jesse shares his thoughts on “Gradius Rebirth”, while Jonah has been playing “Johnny Platform’s Biscuit Romp”. Luke tells us all about violence the game… I mean “Mad World” for the Wii.

In the news, we talk about the upcoming Chrono Cross Arrange Album coming out for the games 10th anniversary, and we even play a clip in the break. There is more Fable 2 DLC on the way? Good times! Also Bioshock 2 and more.

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"The Good Ol' Days"

As I had mentioned in my Tetris article, we had always had game systems in our household growing up (much to the chagrin of our parents). The NES had served us well for many years. So many years, in fact, that it completely stopped working. Jesse still blames that copy of Mappy we rented. It was the last game that ever worked on that console…

We were surprised when our mom came to us with a deal. If we were able to come up with half of the money, she and our dad would make up the difference on a new game system. The Super NES was out, but the price point was just too high. The Genesis had been out for a while, and one of my older brothers, who was coming up with the majority of our share of the money, preferred the Genesis. He had rented one a few months before this and was taken in by Altered Beast. I can’t speak for him. I wasn’t allowed to play it because of all the monsters and the killing. Still, the Genesis now came with Sonic the Hedgehog, which I was dying to play.

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