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Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
- Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
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Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
NeoMetallix > 01-28-2024, 01:52 PM
Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
Are you new to the Sonic franchise or maybe haven't paid attention since the 90s? If you are interested in learning more about it but don't know where to start, Sonic Blast has curated content and sorted it to help you on your journey learning about our favorite hedgehog!
You've probably seen an image of Sonic at some point, or at least heard of him in passing, but what you might not know is who Sonic is, why he was created, or what he's up to nowadays. This thread is here to answer those questions.
- Where did Sonic originate?
In the early 90s, the video game company Sega decided they needed a mascot who could stand up to the popularity of Nintendo's Mario. They held a contest to create one, and the result was Sonic the Hedgehog: A cool, super-fast hedgehog with American influence. Sonic's first game was a smash hit for Sega, and spawned an entire franchise around the blue blur.
- Is Sonic just a video game series?
No! Sonic started as a video game but quickly morphed into more. Sonic has had many different media in the form of books, comic books, TV shows, and movies! The Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic partnership lasted for 24 years, 1993 – 2017 with over 500 books in total released. IDW picked up the helm in 2017 and is still ongoing. This means the Sonic franchise has had a comicbook series lasting for over 30 years!
Several TV shows have aired. The 1990s had Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog(aka SatAM), and Sonic Underground. Early 2000s had an anime version called Sonic X. More recently we had the Sonic Boom TV series and just wrapping up recently the highly popular Sonic Prime. Knuckles has a TV show airing on Paramount +.
Paramount has released multiple Sonic the Hedgehog movies starting in 2020.
- I am interested in the games, where should I start?
After more than 30 years, you can expect there to be MANY different games and game styles. This lies to your personal preferences as there are 2D games, 3D games, Racing games, etc all with completely different styles of gameplay.
If you want to see how Sonic started out the best game in the initial run of games would be Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Sonic 3 was too big to finish on time and got split into two games: Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. Both of them can be combined into one game and this is the pinnacle of the original series. You can get a great version of it on PC called Sonic 3 A.I.R. or in Sonic Origins that is a recent release on most platforms.
A good secondary start would be Sonic Adventure 2. This is a game that released 10 years after the first game and is regarded as one of the best in the 3D series by fans. It can be played on Xbox and PC pretty easily now days. On PlayStation you're going to need a PS3.
- Cash is tight, what can I do without spending a lot?
If money is an issue, there is a GREAT thing about Sonic that doesn't apply to nearly any other franchise. Sega does not care if you use Sonic in media as long as you do not sell it for profit. Thus a ton of fan games have been made and are free to download, the most popular being Sonic Robo Blast 2. That would be a good start for your first fan game.
- I have more questions, can someone answer them?
Our very own member @ has set up a Q&A topic where you can ask any question about the franchise!https://sonicblast.org/Thread-The-Sonic-ask-box
Original Message Wrote:Where I advertise I keep hearing a lot of people say they have no idea about Sonic or aren't interested and I know not everybody will be interested but I was thinking of creating an official beginners guide for people with no experience with the franchise.
The purpose of this thread is to work together on a guide that will help those who have no familiarity with the franchise or maybe they did but haven't paid attention since the 90s.
We should think what would be good material(games, shows, movies, comics) that would be a good starter introduction for those curious and/or willing to give the blue blur a try. - Where did Sonic originate?
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RE: Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
Tominique > 01-28-2024, 02:22 PM
First thing that comes to mind is the TailsTube videos. They're all about catching people up on the very basics of the franchise. And I mean veeeeeeery basics.
At the time of writing this, they're up to episode 6. Already explaining some of the characters, the setting, even the Classic and Modern split.
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RE: Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
.....NOW LOADING > 01-28-2024, 10:02 PM
This is a cool idea, I will help out if you need any. -
RE: Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
NeoMetallix > 01-29-2024, 06:56 AM
(01-28-2024, 02:22 PM)Tominique Wrote: First thing that comes to mind is the TailsTube videos. They're all about catching people up on the very basics of the franchise. And I mean veeeeeeery basics.
At the time of writing this, they're up to episode 6. Already explaining some of the characters, the setting, even the Classic and Modern split.
[Video: https://youtu.be/Nmzc8L8zTBk?si=XopVZTzKp2NbfK1t]
That would be a good series to show. Thanks for pointing that out. I think for starting games we should split it up between games that can be accessed with modern hardware(although Steam has most games) and games that require older hardware to play. -
RE: Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
Josiahblaze > 01-29-2024, 03:00 PM
(01-29-2024, 02:16 PM)NeoMetallix Wrote: @ I started the intro in the quote on the first post. Since you said you would help write, what else should I put and where do we go from here?
Hm....We could continue with something like:
Quote:"You've probably seen an image of Sonic at some point, or at least heard of him in passing, but what you might not know is who Sonic is, why he was created, or what he's up to nowadays. This thread is here to answer those questions."
"In the early 90s, the videogame company Sega decided they needed a mascot who could stand up to the popularity of Nintendo's Mario. They held a contest to create one, and the result was Sonic the Hedgehog: A cool, super-fast hedgehog with American influence. Sonic's first game was a smash hit for Sega, and spawned an entire franchise around the blue blur." -
RE: Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
Sonicfan059 > 02-08-2024, 10:54 AM
This is morphing into something pretty cool. I will think of some things to add. It is hard though because I have to think like someone who has no clue and I have been a fan most of my life.
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RE: Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
.....NOW LOADING > 02-11-2024, 08:18 AM
I would say someone who never played sonic should start with mobile or fan games. They are free and have no barrier to entry. -
RE: Sonic Blast Beginner's Guide
User 544 > 02-11-2024, 09:52 PM
Thank you so much for making this beginner's guide! It really comes in handy and you did a fantastic job making it. 👍
