How I got back into the Sonic fandom after an onslaught of good material · 5:58pm May 27th, 2022
Honestly, I'm still baffled. Last time I was anywhere close to be invested with Sonic the Hedgehog was back when I caught Sonic Boom on my TV. And even then, a mix of archive panic towards the comics Archie, and my general lack of interest for the modern games kept me focused on the TV show.
I did watch Sonic Underground and Sonic X when I was a kid, and I love the original games (1, 2, 3&K. I never got my hands on CD). Hell, even when 'outside of the fandom', I kept replaying them once in a while because they're that good.
Then, earlier this year, when the Sonic 2 movie was about to premiere, and I found the first one on Netflix, I said "screw it, let's watch it".
I was no expecting a perfect movie.
Okay, it isn't perfect, but goddamn, that was one good movie. Great characters, dynamic plot, the dialogue was engaging, and it did feel like bringing the feel of Sonic's character into the screen. Then the second movie dropped, and I was fully into it. Great stuff, Idris Elba acts the hell out of Knuckles, and it was full of game-like moments. If the first one was all about bringing Sonic to the screen, this one brought his entire world with it.
So, okay, I was with Sonic again. Since it was also on Netflix, I caught a couple of episodes from Boom, which were as enjoyable as I remember, until I found out the comics started anew and away from the Archie ones. It happens that, after a lot of legal stuff, Archie lost the Sonic comics license and IDW got it instead.
I always trust IDW on being able to breathe new life into a franchise. Their resume includes Transformers, TMMT, Godzilla. Honestly, if any publisher could start fresh with Sonic, they were the ones. So, I started reading the main series, then caught up with the three miniseries and the 30th anniversary special. It was the first time in over a year I read an entire series in a couple of days that also left me waiting eagerly for the next month's issue.
Now pumped, I started to check the games. Being an old schooler (and not used to playing anything too complex) I immediately gravitated towards Sonic Mania. Even found it free on Epic Games, so I was good to go. It's an amazing game. Between bringing back a lot of cool levels from the original games, the music and giving all of it a spin of its own, it felt like a remix of the games I actually knew and loved.
It even had Flying Battery Zone, my favorite level of all time.
So, overall, I'm interested in Sonic again. Wild stuff.
You should give the Adventure games, Generations, and Project 06 a shot if you're in a Sonic mood..
I usually skip video game movies, mostly cause of Uwe Boll, but I may have to actually watch these then.
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I'll check them out, thanks.
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Oh, understandable. That idiot alone destroyed most of the good will videogames movies could have. But the Sonic movies work better than they have any right to. The first one in particular works great as a standalone film, giving you reasons to care about Sonic and his fight with Robotnik.