Ep 66: Sonic the Hedgehog Review

Topic: Sonic the Hedgehog Review

 

Mom and I return from our adventures both watching and playing Sonic the Hedgehog.  It's also about time we talk about the strange and weird world of Sonic's fandom, which is probably similar to that of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, though perhaps a bit more toxic.

 

 

Sonic Mania

 

 

 

Sonic Movie

When the initial trailer came out for Sonic the Hedgehog, it was a much different thing than what we were expecting.  Due to the fan/internet backlash over the look of Sonic in the trailer, the movie was postponed from November 2019 to February 2020. 

 

While critics panned the movie as too formulaic, repeats of similar movie tropes, and a basic fish out of water screen play, fans enjoyed the film, and it’s to-date, had a better opening weekend over Detective Pikachu and is currently the second highest grossing movie of 2020.

 

 

 

Sonic Fandom:

 

What happened in the wake of Sonic Games

Much like how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles spawned a number of anthropomorphic cartoons trying to sell their toy lines, video games followed suit.  A more video games came out mimicking Sonic’s speed and game play, creating an animal mascot character go along with it, with hundreds of imitators trying to create their own mascot and game franchise. 

 

This caused Sonic to feel diluted and his attitude seemed so common, that a modern take seemed more like a parody in of itself.  This caused a lot of issue, as the character itself didn’t age well in to the 2000s and beyond, with Sonic trying to keep this edgy and attitude like aura about himself, but his games not exactly succeeding in promoting and showcasing him quite the way fans have really remember him being.

 

Fan Created Original Characters (OC)

• Sonic’s world, which is very appealing to some, has spawned lots of fan created characters
• Most character have element of Sonic or other characters in the franchise, with many seeing just Sonic in a different color beside the Iconic Blue, and/or his spikes rotated backwards. Additional accessories like Goggles, scarves, belts, hats, etc, are not uncommon as well. 
• Some of these characters are very edgy, likely a reflection of teenagers who grew up with Sonic as a kid, expressing their confused maturity in their OC characters
• So many OC characters created, that you can try to google your name + ‘The Hedgehog’ to find an OC out there.

https://www.deviantart.com/midnite-delight/art/Ireland-the-Hedgehog-2013-2014-412884185

https://imgur.com/r/thehedgehog/syUde

 

Fan Generated Content:

• Fan Comics using Sprites from the games
  • More comics have transitioned away from Sprites and into full artwork, with MANY long running comic series
  • Comic creator Tyson Hesse developed a strange Comic version of Sonic eventually got to work on the Sonic Comics by Archie, also got to do animation for Sonic Mania and even helped with the Sonic redesign for the 2020 Sonic The Hedgehog film
• Fan Animations using sprites from the games
• exe – A horrific CreepyPasta story
  • CreepyPasta are fanfic horror stories
  • The Story of Sonic.exe tells of a kid who was given a copy of Sonic.exe via CD to play at home. The game shows various characters, encountering horrific violence and dismembered bodies, via a Sonic the Hedgehog with black and red eyes. 

 

Fan Created Games

• Many fans using the Classic sprite to make games, while others made games based off the Adventure/3d games.
• Most fan games are unlicensed and fan creations, with little input from Sega or Sonic Team
• Sonic Amateur Game Expo: a yearly, online event to showcase Sonic fan games, both finished and in production
• One Christian Whitehead was a sonic game creator, who pitched a licensed Sonic Classic game to Sega, and created Sonic Mania with a number of Sonic Fan Game creators. He previously helped rebuilt Various Sonic games for newer media, including Sonic CD and Sonic 1 & 2 for newer consoles and devices.

 

Fan themselves:

• Sonics fans have a wide gambit between there likes and dislikes in the Sonic games and community.
• A lot of fans prefer the Classic Sonic, while others prefer the 3d Sonic, and neither side really like what happened.
• Sonic fans seems to never be all that happy with anything that comes out Sonic Related
• A large majority of the fan base is spurred by Nostalgia
• Some find the Sonic Fandom bizarre and ravenous, too emotionally attached to their beloved characters and games to see proper reason.

 

After years of Sonic Fans having poor games and negative stigma placed upon the community, many fans began to turn on Sonic, but rather than abandoning Sonic, their frustration and disappointment began to show in the Fan Content.  Much of the content in the Fandom began becoming more satirical, both all the games and their content, but also against the fans as well.  Much of the content created now for Sonic seems to be distorted and bizarre, which is hard to tell if it’s mocking, trolling, a parody, satirical, or honest and genuine. 

 

What is well known is that many people who were a part of developing the Sonic fan content in the early days, have since gone on to become stewards of Sonic going forward, with many now developing his games, making his comics, and even helping craft his movies.

 

Big Shout Out to Super Eyepatch Wolf for ideas and discussion on this topic.  Check out his original video on Sonic's Fandom.