Joking Aside

Today I have decided to take a look at something that to me has become more of a pain in recent years in my area and to some point has never had the same following as it does in some other places around the world. What I am talking about is Halloween and how much I dislike some parts of this said social event.

Before I get into the reasons why I have a love hate relationship about this event I will first give you a bit of a history. Halloween was original celebrated by Celtic rich areas around Britain to acknowledge the end of summer and the beginning of the winter, while Christian also celebrate it as All Hallow Eve which is where they celebrate those that have left this worlds to move on to the next before All Saints days. This is also the one time of the year that both Celtic and Christian also believe that those spirits that have been wondering the Earth have one last time to take vengeance.

As you can see from that very short history lesson the roots of Halloween go quite far back into our own past and even though a lot of people may not know the reasons behind Halloween by dressing up as scare and un-dead creatures you are in part acknowledging what it stands for even though you didn’t realise it.

Now I will try and example why I dislike Halloween and it all comes down to the way in which trick or treat is handled.

First off I need to make the point that down here in England mainly the South-eastern part of London not many parents like to take their children out to trick or treat but if they do it is something that has been prearranged in advance with houses in that area. I really don’t have a problem with this because it is done earlier enough in the night so that the parents can get their kids into bed at a respectable time and it is a bit of fun for the youngest.

What I dislike the most about this trick or treat is when you get teenagers aged from fourteen to seventeen deciding that they will attempt to dress up very poorly by placing something over their faces and come up to your house so that their can get some money from you. If you do decided ignore them, they then believe that they have the right to start throwing what they like at your house (I.e. stones and bricks one year). To me this is un-expectable due to two facts one being that it looks like they are begging you for money and coming across as spoiled brat when they can’t get what they want and second they are causing criminal damage to someone else property, what good is that.

I know that between being a kid and adult it can be hard but there are over ways in which to get around this problem but hay what do I know.

To me the best way to celebrate Halloween for me has always been a good old fancy dress Halloween party which consists of a group of friends and family getting together to play some classic Halloween games like bopping for apples while at someone house or function hall. Now I will be honest with everyone here and say that I have only ever been to two of these events and I have thoroughly enjoy myself each time along with everyone else.

As like with most things in the world it is always comes down to the minority who spoils it for the majority and if you do want to throw something at someone house let it at least be toilet paper or eggs.

Until next time.

The Dark Times and Beyond

Last week I took some time out to talk about how good Sonic was for me while I was growing up and I covered every game that I had played from Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Master System all the way up to Sonic Heroes. If you have read last week’s blog you could see that I really enjoyed every game that I had played up to that point and that I was also mentioned something called the “Dark Times” for the franchise and for me this all began with a small little game called Shadow the Hedgehog.

Now before I get into this game I should point out that in my last blog when I spoke about how Shadow had changed completely from the end of Sonic Adventure 2 to the beginning of Sonic Heroes, and that I felt the character was completely different from Shadow I enjoyed loved at the end of Sonic Adventure 2. So when it came to creating Shadow the Hedgehog, Sega and Sonic Team decided to use the Shadow they had created in Sonic Heroes which to me was one of the biggest mistakes.

Now when I heard about Shadow the Hedgehog was in development I had hope that with this story they were going to create a completely new Shadow the Hedgehog similar to before but when I got home to play the game I was completely disappointed with it. The reason for this was due to the fact that the game felt nothing like a Sonic game which I guess was the point of the game but they stuck Sonic characters in the game and gave Shadow the abilities to use guns and vehicles which was something that had never been done before and as I said before it just didn’t sit well with me. If you wanted to create a character that uses guns and vehicles then you should have at least done it at some point in the previous games to enable us to get used to it instead of throwing it in right at the beginning of the game. I am not agree with the use of guns and vehicles in the series because I don’t and I am glad that when I did get round to playing Sonic 06 they had removed that from the character. The other thing that I didn’t like about this game was the amount of ending they decided to have with this game, in my honest opinion six would have been fine but having so many was as if they were trying to extend the life of the game. There is so much wrong with this game along with so much potential that I do hope somewhere down the line I am able to create a blog on how to create a better Shadow the Hedgehog from what we were given.

If you haven’t already guessed by now this is the game for me that created the “Dark Times” for the franchise and the last Sonic game to be released on the then current generation of consoles. Now with no new Sonic game going to be released until the days of the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii I had to find some other way to get my fix for Sonic content, so what better way to do so than to go back in search of old Sonic titles that had been released up to this point until I could afford a new console.

Oh boy how could things have gone from bad to worse for me within a short time span, I should also point out that most of the games that I ended up play where on the PC through an emulators.

First up was Sonic 3D Blast and let me tell you this game doesn’t even come close to its name. Bad controls, bad graphics and a very bad camera angle all in all made this one of the worst Sonic games that I had played. If I could find away to remove the memory of this game from my mind I would do anything for it, the whole goal of the game if I remember correctly was to collect five birds and take them to the goal ring with you. You would think that this wouldn’t be so hard but that is where you would be wrong because this little birds fly in a line behind you and if one of them gets hit and you don’t know about it you can end up spending the next ten to fifteen minutes trying to find it. This game wasn’t hard it was just frustrating and something I would not recommend to anyone.

Next on the list was Sonic R, trust when I say that this game is something that you will find at the bottom of the barrel and something you should never touch. This to me is the worse game I have ever played and it single handily made me not touch any Sonic racing game until two years ago when I picked up Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing which is a Mario Kart clone but a good one though. If you still don’t believe me then go look it up on You Tube.

The next lot of games that I decided to play where a bunch that shall we say again didn’t sit well with me and that I didn’t play more than an hour of. Those games are Sonic Chaos, Sonic Spin Ball, Triple Trouble and Sonic Labyrinth. First up we have Sonic Chaos which is for the Sega Master System but with Tails added on, think Sonic 2 on the Sega Mega Drive. The game controlled like the pervious Master System games but I just didn’t enjoy the game and didn’t understand where I was going for half the time. Sonic Spin Ball was a Mega Drive game and like Sonic Chaos I didn’t know what the hell me goal was, I understood that I need to get to the top of the level but each time I went up I so easier fell back down again. If you understand pin ball physics then you might be able to play this game better than me. Lastly we have both Sonic Triple Trouble and Sonic Labyrinth. Sonic Triple Trouble tries to be a Sonic 3 and Knuckles clone but is nowhere near it by a long shot and as for Sonic Labyrinth let’s just try and pretend that I never saw or played this game ever. The best way that I could describe this game is if you have ever played Kirby’s Dream Course, because it is like that game but one hundred percent slower and boring.

As you might have guessed by this point in my life I had, had enough of bad Sonic games to last me a life time and to a point it had also put me off the franchise completely because I just had this feeling that Sonic Team and Sega where going to continue to throw out bad Sonic games. How there was one game that to me bought the end of the “Dark Times” of the franchise but before I talk about that game I will talk about the two games that I bought after this said game and those games in question are Sonic and the Secret Ring and SONIC THE HEDGEHOG or Sonic 06.

First off let’s talk about Sonic and the Secret Ring. I will be the first person to admit that this game was not the best but it did create one good thing for the franchise that did go into some of the later Sonic games and that was for Sonic to only be able to go in one direction which was forward. Now Sonic and the Secret Ring was the start of the Storybook Series and that this game was based on the collective works titled Arabian Nights. My biggest problem with this game is the controls, yes Sonic Team tried to simplify the controls to just the Wii remote which was good idea but for some parts of the game the controls just become too frustrating which in turn made it impossible for me and my girlfriend to complete this game.

The last game for in the “Dark Times” was a little game called Sonic 06, a game that a lot of people to this day believe to be the worst Sonic game to be ever created. For me that title belongs to Sonic R but I would agree that it is one of the worst Sonic games out there, like I said with Sonic Heroes I believe that this game need a lot more time in development and that to a point Sonic Team and Sega had completely lost touch with series as a whole. The best way in which I can explain myself is that if you look at the main story you can see that it is all over the place and everything just seems to happen without explaining how they got to that conclusion. Another great example is the amount of bugs that litter the game making some of the levels unplayable like all the super speed stages. The other main problem with this game comes from the load times, as it just takes too long for the game to load and takes you away from experience. There are probably some redeeming features to this game and part of me would love to replay the game again but due to want I already know about the game it makes it hard for me to go back.

After finishing the story part of Sonic 06 the next Sonic game that I played was the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 version of Sonic Unleashed but as I also mentioned I also played a Sonic game before the Secret Ring and Sonic 06 which was the Wii version of this game. Both games follow the same story but the only differences between the two version is that the Wii version of the game has a lot less levels and the towns that you could visited where map based with sections that you could click on. Of course you could say that the graphics where different between the two games but that is what you would expect from a HD and Non HD gaming console. Sonic Unleashed was also able to correct a lot of mistakes that the pervious Sonic titles had done, for example the game would go from 3D to 2D in certain parts of the game trying to make you feel like you are playing one of the Mega Drive classic. Another part that they had also correct was the 3D parts of the game in which they had taken the best bits from Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic and the Secret Ring to try and streamline the levels which was a good idea. Now the last thing about the game was the ability to become a Werehog, now a lot of people didn’t like this parts of the game mainly because like myself and others, Sonic games should be fast and having a character that is slow and chucky like the Werehog just doesn’t set right. I will admit that I didn’t enjoy them as much as the day levels but when I first started to play the Werehog stages I did enjoy them but there were just too many of them throughout the game and that the last level also started to annoy me because you would go from Sonic to Werehog and back again so many times. As a whole I really enjoyed this game and for me it ended what was known as the “Dark Times” for me because it was as if both Sonic Team and Sega decided to respect of their character again.

The last game that I have played in the Sonic series was last year’s released Sonic Generations and by god who would have guessed that they had got so much right. I will be honest with you and say that the story for this game was not the greats and to a part very forgettable but to be able to playing some of your favourite levels from the last twenty years in both 2D and 3D was something that you could only dream of. I would have like them to have at least put more levels into the game but I think I could live without them. My only other problem with this game was the final boss battle due to all the other characters comment at the start of the level and throughout, but if you change the volume controls you can remove that from the game.

I know that since I started this part of the blog I haven’t really said much about the graphics and the reason for that is since Sonic Heroes the graphics as a whole haven’t really change apart from getting bright and a little be more smooth each time round. It is as if Sonic Team and Sega have found the graphic style they have been looking for and have only tweaks it when needed to.

After everything that has been said and done I am still a fan of the Sonic Series and yes I will admit that I am one of the sad people that will probably end up buy the next Sonic title when it is released but if Sega and Sonic Team can continue to create Sonic games in the same calibre as Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Generations then there shouldn’t be a problem.

Until next time.

Addtion notes

Now before I end this blog there are a few Sonic titles that I have missed out and not spoken about because of two reasons, one being that I have bought the game and not played them or that I have bought this games and have started playing them and not completed them. Examples of these games would be all three Sonic Advance games, both Sonic DS games, Sonic 4 episodes 1 and 2, Sonic Colours and lastly Sonic and the Black Knight. I will be honest and say that I have seen my sister play this game and based on what I have seen I have very low hopes for this game and have no wish in playing this game.

The Good Old Day of Sonic the Hedgehog

First of all before we start, I should point out that this week blog will go over two weeks due to the fact that there is so much to cover on this topic. Now if you have been reading my blog from the beginning you would already know that Sonic the Hedgehog has been linked to pervious blogs, so today I will be taking you on a trip down memory lane again to talk about how I came into contact with each of the Sonic games and what I liked or disliked about the games. 

Now my first experience with any kind of Sonic game was Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 for the Sega Master System, Now from what I do remember of this two games is that I really enjoyed them but I do remember that Sonic 2 was a lot hard than the first. The reason that I say it was hardest of the two games is because if you lost all you lives you would then lose a Chaos Emerald at random that you have collected and in turn would make it impossible to get to the final level Crystal Egg Zone. To me one of the hardest parts of this game was trying to get the third Chaos Emerald from act 2 in the Aqua Lake Zone because this level takes places underwater and for you to collect the Chaos Emerald, you need to come off the main path of the level where there are no air bubble sections to collect the Emerald and come back on the main path to get air. Don’t get me wrong these two games where great for their time but once you have played Sonic the Hedgehog on the Mega Drive or any of the later games on that system you realise that there are better sonic games out there.

As I said before, this two games where what interjected me into the Sonic series but it wasn’t until Christmas of 1995 in which I was then able to play another game and this one was Sonic and Knuckles. I still remember the first time I playing this game and not knowing what I was supposed to do and in turn not liking it as much as I do now (I will explain why in a minute). I played as both Sonic and Knuckles and finished the game without collecting all the Chaos Emeralds for each character, so at the time in my life I was unaware that the two characters had super forms until a few years later, mainly because that Christmas I got another game that I have made sure that I play each and every year in one shape or another but that’s is for another time.

I could be wrong about the date but I think it wasn’t until Summer of 1996 that are household got are hands on are very first Sega Mega Drive at which point the first sonic games that we picked up where Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic 2. Now I will be completely honest with in saying that in my opinion the original Sonic the Hedgehog was a master piece and to this day and age it still holds up to the test of time. The game play hands like that dream car you always wanted and the graphics where beautiful to look at. The game did everything that it needed too and to a point is the basis for the rest of the 2D era of games.

Sonic 2 on the other hand did everything that Sonic the Hedgehog did but added some small details to mix like the iconic Spin dash and Super Sonic. The games graphics were almost the same as Sonic the Hedgehog with minor changes make to it, while the game play was again almost the same apart from when you collected all seven Chaos Emeralds and fifty rings because within a seconds of jumping you would then change automatically into Super Sonic. Now because of this small detail I didn’t really enjoy Sonic 2 as must and this to a point explains why out of the four games on the Sega Mega Drive I would always rate last, I just feel that if they gave the option to change into Super Sonic when you wanted to I might have enjoyed this game more.

Now it wasn’t until later in 1997 in which I was able to get my hands on both Sonic 3 and Knuckles because by this point I had heard that you needed to play both games together to get the best experience out of them. Once I had both of them I just couldn’t stop playing them until I had discovered everything that there was about this games and it was at this point that I learned that in order to complete the game one hundred percent you need to collect all seven Chaos Emeralds to unlock Sonics final level. To me Sonic 3 and Knuckles are the best 2D Sonic games you will find around and with game play that was made perfect from Sonic 2 in the sense of allowing you to turn into your super form when you wanted (minus Knuckles) and graphics that where only slightly improved upon from Sonic 2.

Now after completing this game a few time I was then challenged by my older brother to complete Sonic 3 and Knuckles without losing a life and to collect all fourteen Chaos Emeralds on both Sonic on his own and Knuckles by the end of the day. In short I was able to complete this challenged without any problem but if you were to ask me to do that same challenged again I don’t think I would be able to but I would at least give it a short.

It wasn’t until autumn 2003 in which I was able to get my hands on the next Sonic game and too me this was the best 3D Sonic game that was created and some would say it was also the last great Sonic game before the “Dark Times” and that game is Sonic Adventure 2. The one thing that I have had trouble trying to understand for years is why Sonic Team hasn’t used the best parts of this game to create and even better game but I think that would be a blog for another time.

Back to Sonic Adventure 2, I should point out I have not been able to play this game on its original system but I was able to play in on the Nintendo GameCube and as I said before this is my favourite 3D Sonic game that was created. You don’t have to play the first Sonic Adventure game to understand the story but some of the story elements surround the Chaos Emeralds have been taken over into the second game but aren’t in as much detail as the first. There are two reasons that I like this game one of them being the story because no Sonic game before hand had a story like this and second being the introduction of new characters and the ability to us mech’s.

I know that there were some problems with this game like the camera and small bug’s but after a while of playing you learn to work around them. The only other problem that I did have with this game was that it made it almost impossible for me to play the first Sonic Adventure due to the fact that a lot of the problems that were in the first game where corrected by the second and that the game play and graphics had been completely overhauled for the second game. Don’t get me wrong the first game is good but if you were like me who played the second one first it does make playing the first game a lot harder and as you can tell the next game I play was Sonic Adventure.

Now out of all the Sonic games, the first Sonic Adventure is the only game that I have not fully played and because of that I don’t really have much to say about it which in turns makes it hard to give this game the justice it deserves. I can only hope that when I do get some free time that I do take the time to replay this game again fully.

It was a almost a year later that I then played the next sonic game in the series and that is Sonic Heroes, Now I know that a lot of people say that this game was the start of the “Dark Time” for Sonic because it left behind a lot of what made the previous games so great but to me I will admit that it wasn’t as good as Sonic Adventure 2 but overall it is still a great game and the Team based system of the game worked out very well.

Yes my biggest problem with the game was the fact that you had to play all the levels four times in which to complete the game and that the easiest way to get all the Chaos Emeralds were to use Team Rose. As a whole this game had more good than bad going for it and no I don’t believe that this game started the “Dark times” for the franchise but I believe if the game spent a bit more time in development it could have been a lot better. Overall the story was okay but I do believe that it could have been a lot better because it felt like all the characters had completely change from the way there where in Sonic Adventure 2 to Sonic Heroes. Sonic sounded too cocky, Shadow was nothing like he was by the end of Sonic Adventure 2, Rouge and Knuckles relationship from the last game wasn't there and lastly Metal Sonic was nothing like what I was lead to believe he was. If this things could have been changed the game in my opinion could have been a lot better.

As you can see by this point in my life I found Sonic games to be at their best and that after playing Sonic Heroes I then noticed a change in the games themselves. Sonic Heroes in my opinion was the last great Sonic game for some time and that the next game to be released was the start of the Dark Time for Sonic due to how bad this next game was and the realisation that I had also discovered older Sonic games that where bad as well.

With that in mind come back next week when I complete my look back at Sonic the Hedgehog in “The Dark Times and Beyond.”

Until next time.