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.

Has it really been one year for you guys?

Welcome to a very special blog this week, Today I am going to talk about a show on You Tube called The Completionist which is created by Jirard “Dragonrider” Kahlil, Greg Wilmot and Carlos Padilla. Now you might be wondering why I have taken today of all days to talk about the show, well the main reason is today marks the one year anniversary of the show and as a sign of respect and thanks to three of them for bring all this great content to us, I have decided to write blog about them and why I enjoy the show.

 

Let me start of by exampling what The Completionist is, in short it is a video game review show in which Jirard and company will try and one hundred percent complete one game per week and then review it. The three of them have also gone on to creating addition shows over the past year but I will look at them in a bit more detail shortly.

As I said a moment ago the show has been going on for a year now and it hasn’t been plain sailing for them but that has stop them from powering through everything and continuing create top quality content for us each and every week for us to watch.

Now you might be asking yourself what is so special about this video game review show compared to all the others? Well the answer to that question is very simple, do all the others have the humour and detail that these guy’s place into their shows. For you to fully understand what I am talking about I will now spend a bit of time talking about the three of them in a bit more detail along with the content they have created too.

First up we have Jirard Kahlil who spends as much time as he can working on the show whenever he get a chance to due to the fact that he also has responsibility for look after his mother who is his inspiration behind the show and why he completes every game one hundred percent. His role within the show is to capture all of the footage for each episode, complete the game one hundred percent, editing and recording of both video and audio and to help write the scripted. Jirard long term goal with the show is to hopefully turn it into a business.

The next member involved in the creation of the show is Greg Wilmot who is also a very talented musician, vocalist and comedian. Aside from working on the show with Jirard and hosting The Mediocre-ist, Greg also plays for an indie band called Long Black Shadows. His main role with the show is to help write the scripted, editing and recording of sounds and their effects.

Lastly we have Carlos Padilla who is a very talented artist and creates all the art work for each and every episode of the show (I would pay money to buy some of his art).

Now as I said earlier there are other shows that the three of them have created which I have decided to break down into two groups. The first group of shows are what I would call review shows such as The Completionist (the main show), Here Comes a New Challenger which is similar to The Completionist but looks at a newly released game without completing them one hundred percent and suggesting if you should buy it or not. The next show under this heading is the mediocre-ist which is where Greg will then try and finish a game and then review it on what he likes and dislikes about the game. The last show in this section is Arcades which is where they will go out and find hidden arcade’s and spend some time playing the games and enjoying themselves.

The second group of shows are what I would call entertainment shows, this is make up of shows like Top Ten’s and as the title suggests it is a top ten list. Defend It, which is where Jirard and company go to court and try and defend a game that was given a bad review by the internet while giving you reasons as to why you should try this game. Next up is Mail bag which is where Jirard and Greg going though all the mail they have received and answer any questions we may have for the show, lastly there is the Downloadable Cast or DLC which is their weekly pod cast, where they talk about topics they believe effect the gaming industry

As you can see in the last year the three of them have tried to create as much great content as they can so that there is something for everyone to watch and enjoy. With this in mind I should also make a point about why the show has been such a success and that is because of the loyal fan base that Jirard and company have been able to create. A good example of how loyal the fans are is by looking to just a few weeks ago when Jirard and company took it upon themselves to compete and win King of the Web contest. While the contest was going on we as fans were treated to just how much work goes into each and every episode. I just find it so hard to believe that so few people are watching this amazing show.

Before I move on to my thoughts about why I like this show so much I should point out something that I missed and that was the newest addition to the show in the form of Alex Faciane.

The reason that I like this shows so much and why I will just have it playing in the background when I am doing my own work is mainly because each episode is so well writing and edited together that it almost looks like a piece of art. I do hope that the show can continue to grow and become stronger as time goes by and I would also like to thank you guys for inspiring my to continue to do what I love doing.

Keep up all the good work and all the best for future guys.

Until next time.

The Completionist website

http://thatonevideogamer.com

All published work

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL37DA718ACF6B1323&feature=plcp

Don’t forget to follow the show on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr

http://www.facebook.com/TheCompletionist
http://www.twitter.com/JKCompletesIt

http://www.twitter.com/McSquaresVille

https://twitter.com/GrizzlyCP3

http://www.twitter.com/FacianeA

http://www.thatonevideojirard.tumblr.com

What’s so special about you?

After last week’s trip down memory lane it got me thinking about another topic that I wanted to talk about which we all grow up with and to a point carries on with us throughout our lives. If you take a few moments to think about it can you remember the animal or creature that you have spend most of all of your life up to this point saying is your favourite?

The first thing I will ask you to do is to think about the first time someone ask you what your favourite animal or creature was? We have all had this conversation when we were younger but do we really know why we have chosen this animal's and what went through our minds before we came to this conclusion.

Now I will be honest with you, that I don’t really remember why I chose my favourite animal and I hope that there was nothing that swayed me when I original made that decision but I do know that there was something that did reinforce my reasoning.

Now before I get into what my favourite animal is, I will take a moment to talk about what factors I believe play a part in us making that decision. For me one of the biggest factors I believe that could help in making this decision for us is what your parents or close friends of your parents do. A good example of this would be that an old friend of mine took it upon herself to get her friends new born baby everything from clothes to toys that looked like a giraffe, which was their favourite animal.

As you can see from this example, the friend was trying to make an impact on what the baby likes from an earlier age and it has been proven with studies that babies are able to learn and relate to objects quicker and easier while they are growing up, so you could say the friend is making the choice for them. Now I also know that parents sometimes do the same thing but do it without even realising it. There is nothing wrong with this and it’s not your fault for doing this because for all you know it could be your very own human nature doing this.

The other example that I will use has nothing to do with us but with other forms of medium that we us for entertaining are children but it can also have an effect on their favourite animal and what they like and dislike throughout their lives. This medium that I am referring to is television. If you take a moment to think about it, does your favourite animal come from a television show or another medium because you might not have realised this before or you did and never gave it a second fought about it.

In my honesty opinion that is fine due to the fact you were placed in front of this medium to entertain you while your parents were doing something very import and as a by product you also may have discovered your favourite animal or creature and again this may have be your own choice.

While we are talking about entertainment medium’s here I will now take this opportunity to let you know that my favourite animal is a Hedgehog and that the Sonic the Hedgehog series helped in reinforcing my love of the animal.

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if your parents, other medium or yourself made the decision as long as you where happy with it.

Until next time

Blast from the Past

“A wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.”

What better way than to start a today’s blog than by using a definition of a word from the dictionary. Today I will be looking at the term Nostalgia and what this means to us, before I start there is one thing that I have noticed and that is we all seem to us the definition of the word when we are talking about our fond memories to one another but when we talk about video games we seem to us the word so readily, so why is this?

Now my understanding behind these small details is that when we are talking about our past it just does seem right to mention the word nostalgia while we are talking about something personal because it just doesn’t give us the depth we are trying to portrait, but when we talking about a video game we use the word nostalgia straight away mainly to get the person you are talking to, to have a look at the game so that they can understand the depth for themselves.

The reason that I have decided to talk about this topic today is mainly because without our past experiences we wouldn’t be the people we are today and we also wouldn’t get others to partake in what we have done or will do. Now what could I possible mean by all this, well if you think about it for a moment. If you were to talk to a close friend of yours that has just come back from a holiday that they really enjoyed and it was a place that you have through about going to and haven’t got round to it thus far and you hear how good it was from them, you might then consider going. Once you have then decided to go on this holiday and come back from it you will take it upon yourself tell said friend and others what you like out about the holiday. The two of you who have already gone on this holiday will then reminisce about it which in turn could have a positive effect on other to go on the same holiday one day.

Now nostalgia can also be very subtle and what I mean by this, is if you think about some of your favourite music track, your mind for some reason will bring up a memory that bought you joy from your past for no reason at all. A good example for me would be from an artist called Sonique and the track was called “It Feels So Good”. Now there is a part in this track that reminds me of the time when I was younger playing a video game called F-Zero-X(A futuristic racing game), where my mum made a comment about how good I was at a certain part of the race and whenever this part of the song comes on, my mind will always go back to that moment in time and play it out as if it was the first time.

So as you can see nostalgia has played two massive parts, one being getting other to partake in a similar holiday or hobbies and the other in bring back a very import and special moment from your past, but there is also one part of nostalgia that can also be very dangerous. 

If you read the first part of the definition you will clearly see what I am talking about “A wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life.” If you have ever heard the saying “You are living in the past” then you will know that some people will take it upon themselves to try and relive those memories or not move forward with their lives.

A good example I could us is by getting dumped by your girlfriend/boyfriend because you did something stupid and then decided to chase after said person to try and get them back because of all the good memories the two of you shared. What I believe you should do is take what you learned from that relationship and apply it to your new girlfriend/boyfriend without repeating what you did last time and don’t ever talk about your good memories you and your ex shared directly to your new girlfriend/boyfriend.

As I said before Nostalgia is a part of us and without it we wouldn’t be the people we are today. All I will say is enjoy and share your good memories with one another but don’t try and relive them.

Until next time

Does this feel right?

I was going to write a blog about nostalgia this week but after hearing some very funny news about someone I used to know I decided that I would write a blog about getting engaged to someone. Now the news came from an old friend of mine who decided to post on their Facebook page that she was now engaged to her boyfriend, now normally I wouldn’t think much of it but without going into too much detail about this couple it got me thinking about when is it a good time to ask someone to marry you?

Now as I said I am not going into too much detail about them but what I will say is this, is it right to agree to marry your first true boyfriend or girlfriend, is it alright to marry someone you don’t know very well and when is the best time to ask the question? Now before I start answering these questions I do know that some couples are lucky enough to choice the right person to begin with and are able to have a very happy life together but I also know that there are those that do get married to their first love and end up getting divorced later down the line. Now you could say that because of my past relationship here I am a little bias about what I have just said and what I am about to say next, but I do believe that for any relationship to work you needed to know what you like and dislike in a relationship and how to handle any problems that could appear while in the relationship. I am also aware like a lot of people that there is no way that we can learn everything we need to know about the art of relationships from when we start seeing the opposite sex and that every day we are with them we learn something new about them, ourselves and what we want in a relationship. So getting engaged to your first love isn’t the best thing to do in my opinion because you are only basing everything you know on that one person, which nicely links into the second part of my question.

Should you marry someone you don’t really know? My answer to that question would be no, due to the fact that if you don’t really know someone how will you be able to trust them. I have noticed throughout any of my relationships, that you will not be able to learn everything you want to know about that person straight away and that the longer you are together the more they well open up to you and the more you will be able to trust them.

Now the final part is when is the right time to pop the question? Based on what I have heard and seen from other couples they have gotten engaged from six months to ten years and above (This blog will go on forever if I decided to talk about Ten years and above, but that is for another time). Now based upon my past experience I believe that no couple should be get engaged within the first two years of their relationship because this is what they call the honeymoon period and second you have yet to experience living with your other half.

Now I am going to make myself as crystal clear as I can here, I do not mean living together in your boyfriend/girlfriends parents house or staying a few nights round your partners place but actuality living with each other for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and three hundred and sixty-five days a year. If you haven’t even done that then you can’t say you really know that person because what you will find and I can vouch for this with my previous girlfriends is that if they stay a few weeks round your place you make sure everything is perfect. Now if you are living with them, day in and day out your true colours start to appear after a few months which at that point you will know if they are for you or not.

Now If you can comfortable says that you know this person inside and out and that you have spend over a year living together in your own house then I believe that you are then at least ready to start thinking about getting engaged. If you haven’t met these points within the first two years then don’t worry about it because for a relationship to truly work it is going to take time and patience from both parties.

Now if you haven’t already guessed by reading this blog, the couple in question haven’t met what I believe to be the correct criteria for getting engaged because they have been dating for less than two years and haven’t even lived with one another by themselves within that time frame, but as I have said a few times since I started writing this blog this is what I believe and not everyone has the same view as I do.

All I can say is that I wish them both all the best and I do hope that it does work out for the both of them.

Until next time