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35 Years of Sonic: What it Means to be a Sonic Fan || Sonic Anniversary Month
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Three Sonic the Hedgehog fans. One mission. Join Satsunami, SuperShadow271 and WysteriaMoth as they navigate through 35 years of the iconic blue blur. From anime adaptations to the best anniversary games, join the trio as they look back on what made this series so iconic.
In this episode, Satsunami looks back at his experience of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise 35 years on. But how has Sonic survived for so long within the gaming landscape? What made it so special for fans? And what does it mean to be a Sonic fan? All of this and more in the next episode of Sonic Anniversary Month!
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Transcript
Introduction to Chatsunami Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami, a Scottish variety podcast that discusses topics from gaming and films to anime and general interest. Join me, your host, Satsunami, as well as the rest of our Chatsunami team for our takes on these very important pop culture topics. Sir, it's clearly a trap. I accept copyright! That happens three times in the film. Every time that general goes, don't do this one thing, he goes, do you know what I'm gonna do? That's the exact thing.
00:00:27
Speaker
It does as well. She had the pointy teeth. What was that about? She looked like Bilbo when he wants the ring back. ah She did, didn't she? I just want the lightsaber one more time. Parasite says, no, you will get back into your office and work. No, says the man in Zoom. yeah Trousers are for the working man. You're bursting into your hotel room. Honey, we need to go.
00:00:50
Speaker
Leave the kids. You can milk an otage. Oh, no.
00:00:58
Speaker
That's the worst thing you've ever said on any of the episodes. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out at our website, chattsunami.com, as well as all good podcast apps. As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated.
00:01:14
Speaker
Stay classy and have banana. This has been chattsunami. I'm sorry.
Sonic Anniversary Month: First Memories of Sonic
00:01:26
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Sonic Anniversary Month. I have a question for all the Millennial Sonic fans out there. What is your first memory of the blue blur?
00:01:37
Speaker
Was it playing on a Sega Mega Drive and watching him dash through each zone with careless abandon? Or was it one of the many adaptations of him. From his debut in the Archie comics, to the plentiful amount of cartoons, Sega's little mascot was everywhere, and ironically enough gave Nintendo's Mario a run for his money. That's not to say he was always the blue hedgehog we knew and loved. as his design went through a multitude of revisions, from rabbits to Theodore Roosevelt in pyjamas. Yeah, that's real.
00:02:07
Speaker
Look up. It's hard to know if we would have cared the same without his iconic design doing the heavy lifting, but the fact was, as soon as he hit the screens in the 90s, children were captivated as he sped through levels in contrast to Mario's gentle jog to the right. I genuinely wonder if the creators back then looked at this game and thought that it would still be here 35 years later.
00:02:30
Speaker
And yet, despite its highs and lows, the series never truly faded away.
Personal Sonic Gaming Experiences
00:02:35
Speaker
I've spoken about this before on the podcast, but I remember my first exposure to Sonic was through my brother playing the original game on the Sega Mega Drive, or Genesis to all you Americans listening. And while I thought it was a cool game, I don't think that it was the game to truly convert me into becoming a true Blue fan.
00:02:53
Speaker
I think it's hard to describe to current generations of gamers, but platforming games were the cornerstone of gaming during that period. For every Mario and Sonic, you had something like Bubsy or that weird McDonald's tie-in game. Again, seriously, look it up. It was a prolific genre that was ripe for succeeding in, but my descent into the Sonic rabbit hole came around 1999 with the release of Sonic Adventure, and oh boy that game awoke me like a sleeper agent. It had everything I wanted from a game.
00:03:24
Speaker
High speed adventure, a colourful cast, and an epic storyline. My first memory of it was watching my brother play on his Dreamcast, where he fought against the water monster Chaos in Station Square.
00:03:36
Speaker
Literally, the first fight of the game has you battling against a liquid god, which is ironically enough what I call my morning coffee. Alas, I remember being ushered out the room by my dad, as we had to go somewhere that day, so I never really got the chance to watch how that fight turned out in the end.
00:03:52
Speaker
It wouldn't be until later in my life, where I would pick up both Sonic Adventure and its sequel, aptly named Sonic Adventure 2, which only solidified my devotion. But now, as a 30... year old. I've got to ask the question that I'm sure many Sonic fans ask themselves. What made the Sonic franchise so great? How has it lasted for so long? And how much living and learning do we really need to do? Well, grab your Chaos Emerald and join me as we spin dash into 35 years of Sonic.
00:04:22
Speaker
As I said, Sonic has been a formative part of my life,
Nostalgia and Sonic's Golden Age
00:04:26
Speaker
with Sonic CD being the first game that I played at the turn of the millennium. But it wouldn't be until the rise of the digital age that we saw just how far those gloved hands reached, with countless fans creating their own fan characters to live in the world of their hero.
00:04:41
Speaker
Fun fact, actually. I fully intend to do an episode on this topic eventually, but apparently the first documented Sonic original character created and sent to Sega was a drawing submitted to the now-defunct service Sega Channel, and they were called Kurt the Hedgehog.
00:04:58
Speaker
Things certainly felt different back then, as we saw him in countless properties, from the Archie comics to the cartoon adaptations. It was hard to get away if you were a fan of gaming, and trust me, we will certainly be talking about Sonic's animated debuts this Friday, regardless. It was a golden age, which I think is something that has permeated into today's perception of him, that being his nostalgic draw. To me, the retro age and his rise into the 3D games were the pinnacle of when Sonic was at its popularity, and in a world that is quite frankly a little toasty with conflict right now, provides a cosy blanket of nostalgia. It's pretty much why I think, despite their missteps as of late, companies like Nintendo have also managed to carve themselves into this niche too. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Whether you think they aged well or not, the golden age of Sonic represented for many a time of stability in younger millennial lives. myself included, between working and other adult commitments.
00:05:59
Speaker
We all have that comfort series that we gravitate towards at our lowest, which is why it still continues to be popular today. That's not to mention the scales of the games themselves, where the original games stayed within their
Impact of Sonic's Expanding Cast
00:06:12
Speaker
purview of stop the evil genius from taking over the world. The stakes were ramped up with every iteration. Soon we saw a metallic version of Sonic, a water god called Chaos who would threaten the world, and even a scorned inventor who wished to destroy the world as revenge for what his enemies took from him. I've said it before, but if you would like to hear my full thoughts on those particular games, then we have a whole Sonic Month in Season 2 about them.
00:06:37
Speaker
They somewhat changed the way I saw how games could be made, and while all not the first game to do this, nor maybe the most advanced or groundbreaking, it was still shocking that they turned the concept of this speedy blue hedgehog into a dramatic and sometimes captivating narrative.
00:06:54
Speaker
Then the cast began to expand, with fan-favorite characters such as Tails the Fox, equals the Echidna, and Amy Rose joining Sonic and his adventures. Then we got Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat who became fast fan favourites.
00:07:08
Speaker
To the extent that Shadow himself probably rivalled Sonic in popularity. Remember this point because we will get back to it. While it was definitely a point of critique by the time Sonic Heroes rolled around, the large roster of characters was definitely noticeable.
00:07:23
Speaker
I feel the issue was more the implementation that was more detrimental rather than the characters themselves. While the characterisation of even Sonic varied depending on the medium you were seeing him through, as well as whether it was a western or eastern perspective, you still got a core character who was a cool hero that fought for his freedom to do whatever he wanted. That and the Dragon Ball-esque transformations with the Chaos Emeralds probably helped to up the cool factor, but that's a whole other conversation.
Sega's Transition and Sonic Experiments
00:07:52
Speaker
In 2001, Sega decided to leave the console market in exchange for becoming a third-party developer for multiple consoles which, for any other company, could have put them at risk. And yet, somehow they persevered, allowing them to experiment with various types of games, which to me was a key selling point.
00:08:10
Speaker
look This may sound like heresy as a Sonic fan, but while I would consider Mario games to be the most consistently well made, with the exception of maybe Hotel Mario, but well, we don't talk about that, I didn't feel it did enough to stand out per game. i mean, Super Mario Sunshine and Galaxy were definitely the standouts at the time, but they still maintained their core identity. Sonic on the other hand would blindside you, where one game would have you skipping through a windy valley to being blown up in space literally in the next game, and then in the next game you would be joined by your friends in a dream team trio and vibrant locales. They didn't always hit the mark, but my god they were memorable. And that is something I also think is surprising about the franchise. It's resilience. Now you don't have to listen to me beat the long-dead proverbial horse here, but around 2005, a rather perplexing entry came out known as Shadow the Hedgehog, named of course after the popular character from Sonic Adventure 2. But unlike Sonic, who was a cocky little woodland critter, stopping evil scientists like Dr. Eggman, the company caved into the pressure of children who wanted to see Sonic hold a gun, and instead gave on to Shadow. Why they did this, I have no idea. Not even Google will tell me.
00:09:25
Speaker
While maybe not the worst entry, it was certainly baffling. That being said, I was hyped as hell at the time since he was indeed my favourite character of the time, and still is to a degree.
00:09:36
Speaker
Top spot of course going to my boy Big the Cat. But this unfortunately ushered in what many now consider to be the Dark Age
The 'Dark Age' and Fan Passion
00:09:43
Speaker
of Sonic. with fumble after fumble being put out there. From the now infamous Sonic 06 to the mixed storybook series, the franchise was at an all-time low.
00:09:52
Speaker
Passionate Sonic fans tried to defend the flaws of 06, but while it had a banging soundtrack and interesting ideas, the execution was just objectively terrible and we lost what could have been a really great game. Heck, even today people still ask what could have been, with creators such as Chaos X remaking levels of the game.
00:10:12
Speaker
But with better gameplay. I have to say that is a really fun game to play. If you want to play that, then search for Project 06. It is brilliant. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done though, and Sonic was suddenly no longer cool to enjoy. if anything, it was like being a nerd in the 90s, where if you admitted to it, you would be scorned and ridiculed for liking such a childish thing.
00:10:35
Speaker
I think the thing that annoys me isn't so much that people would move away from the franchise. After all, at this point it was around 15 years old and it's hard for any series to stay fresh for so long. No, instead my annoyance stems from the revisionism at the time.
00:10:52
Speaker
For years after, Sonic 06 would be a punchline for how bad the games could be, and even when we got good games it would still never be enough. The breaking point however came during a 2016 episode of the IGN show Game Scoop, where one of the hosts confidently proclaimed that Sonic was never good. And while many people have given their opinions on this, I have to say I couldn't disagree more with this statement.
00:11:16
Speaker
That's not to say I think this period of Sonic is sacrosanct and can never be made fun of. Far from it. But between sites like IGN and even the official Sonic social media page joining in the self-deprecation humour, it made fans feel like they were wrong for enjoying the series.
00:11:33
Speaker
Some others even pointed out the more undesirable parts of the fandom which, well yeah, that doesn't exactly help, isn't anything new from any other long-running
The Creative Sonic Fan Community
00:11:43
Speaker
franchise. But at the risk of sounding sentimental and a little cheesy, I think for better or worse the community is what helped Sonic survive for so long. I joked about it in past episodes and even earlier when I talked about Sonic original characters, or OCs for short.
00:11:59
Speaker
But even growing up in the 2000s, it was a way for people to fully immerse themselves into the world. Whether they were nothing more than a DBZ knockoff or maybe considered a little edgy. It fostered a community where fans could share in what they loved the most in gaming at the time. And heck, even nowadays, people still do this. However, the Sonic fandom isn't just held together by that.
00:12:22
Speaker
It is a melting pot of amazing creatives, from artists to voice actors and even musicians. The possibilities are never-ending. I mean, just look at the utterly talented Chakra X who created the animation Nazo Unleashed.
00:12:36
Speaker
Someone who then went on to work on his own animations. You've even got Team Season, which I hope to get this, I'm pronouncing that correct, and is working on a fan version of Season 3 for Sonic Sat AM.
00:12:49
Speaker
Even a few months ago, I got the chance to talk to Taronic from the online skit show Sonic Paradox, which is such an integral part of the fanbase that you would be hard-pressed to find a Sonic fan who doesn't know about them. Also, that was a great episode, by the way, and a lovely chap. so you should definitely check out that episode after you listen to this one. But this goes even further with shows like Sonic and Tails R, which was released during the lockdowns, where voice actors of the series were brought together to release a pretty decent audio serial. That's not to mention the games that Sonic is inspired to be created, including one of my personal favourite series, Spark the Electric Jester. And don't get me started on the music because I could be here all day. Just know that I absolutely adore the music that's come out of this series.
00:13:35
Speaker
From artists such as Crush 40, Zebra Head, Bowling for Soup, Bentley Jones, Tea Loops, Jun Sinoye, and Johnny Gioelli, which I know they're technically part of Crush 40, but I just have to shout them out. Each one is so iconic in their own way, and there's so many that I've missed out, but genuinely I could be here forever. Before you ask,
00:13:55
Speaker
Yes, we do have an episode on this very topic, and yes I do blast out Sonic music while driving along. Not to mention the Sonic in Concert shows next year, as well as the Speed of Sound Tour. I am definitely attending the Sonic in Concert, and hopefully I'll be attending the Speed of Sound Tour, fingers crossed if I can get tickets. But if Crush 40 is listening and you want give me a free one, please, I will be a eternally grateful, but above all else. It has led me to not only meet some amazing people in the community but also forge friendships with folk who I am so glad to have in my life. In particular, Wisteria Moth and Super Shadow 271, who you heard last week. They have been my co-hosts this month and they are so incredible. You should 100% check them out after this episode's done. While we may have our disagreements about certain things in the franchise, it is still a topic that has brought us together as friends. Something I've also noticed as well, which is quite funny, is that my friends who aren't even Sonic fans have started referencing things from the franchise, including Big the Cat going from an inside joke to potentially our favourite character non-ironically.
Sonic's Influence on Friendships and Gaming Renaissance
00:15:03
Speaker
Funny enough as well, when we did Sonic Month in Season 2, my co-host Adam, who had barely played any Sonic games before that, actually suggested that we should go ahead and do it because I was a massive fan and he went out and bought the games that he had to to play. I was so surprised at how committed he was to that.
00:15:22
Speaker
Sonic is a series that has always been near and dear to me, and it always will be. While I felt self-conscious about expressing myself as a fan of the franchise in my teenage years, I've somewhat matured to a point in my life where I'm glad to have experienced it. Is it perfect?
00:15:36
Speaker
Absolutely not. But with the success of the films and the latest games, I am so happy to see that Sonic is no longer this taboo subject in gaming anymore. I'm also glad to see that even the official Sonic social media pages are now fully embracing the history of the series, rather than once again self-deprecating. This even extends to the works of the IDW comics, where writers such as Ian Flynn pay homage to what came before, and even in the game Sonic X Shadow Generations, is not afraid to touch the more controversial parts of the series.
00:16:07
Speaker
Looking at you, Mephiles. It honestly feels really cool to see a classic gaming renaissance happening right now with a new movie. Mario film that just came out, as well as the new Tomb Raider and even Rayman games also on the horizon. Now new generation of Sonic fans will get to experience the series in a way that we did all those years ago, and I couldn't be happier. So here's the 35 years.
00:16:29
Speaker
But what are your favourite memories of the franchise? Got any the games that you think are the best? Feel free to reach out and let us know. But as always, thank you all so so much for listening to this episode of Chatsunami. If you'd like to hear more episodes from ourselves, then Check us out our website, chatsthanami.com, as well as all good podcast apps. Huge shout out to our Pandalorian patrons, Robotic Battles, Hosted, and Cryptic 1991. Thank you all so much for the support. And if you would like early access to episodes, exclusive content, as well as a whole host of other our content, then you can check us out our Patreon page, patreon.com forward slash chatsthanami. This podcast is a proud member of the PodPack Collective. For more information, check us out our Twitter slash X page at PodPackCollect.
00:17:12
Speaker
As always, thank you all so much for listening. Stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated.