This weekend I went to Sonic-Con. It was near where I live. Typical anime/video game convention stuff, but this one had more of a focus on Sonic the Hedgehog games and characters. It’s the first they’ve ever had, so was it a speedy success or a big blue bomb? Well, you’ll just have to read on to find out.

The main reason why I went is because I have a good friend who set up a table in the art vendor area. My good friend has his own Web comic and sells his artwork online, and you can visit his page at www.aorange.com. But be warned that some of his work isn’t exactly family friendly. Anyway, at the convention he sold buttons and artwork, and did commissions. I thought it might be fun to help him run his booth, so I spent the afternoon with him.

You can read more about the Sonic Con event here. I guess the big draw was that voice actors from the cartoon show were going to be there, but I didn’t see them. My good friend got some stuff signed from them, though, so that made him happy. Another area had arcade machines set to free play, so I thought that was kind of cool.

All in all, though, I think the Sonic Con convention was a big dud. Most businesses in the dealer room were packing up by 2:30. And I guess since I’m spoiled by bigger events like PAX, Sonic Con felt rather disappointing to me. Before I left, I took a picture of the sign they duct taped to the front entrance of the hotel that the convention was at. I think it sums up the underwhelming atmosphere overall.

But you know, I got to spend time with my friend, help him sell buttons, and he had fun. So I guess it wasn’t a total loss.

Cary’s Favorite Sonic Games

Yeah I was hoping to take a bunch of really cool pictures and write a big ol’ blog about Sonic Con. Since that didn’t happen, I guess I’ll talk about my favorite Sonic games.

Now, I’m not a big Sonic fan at all. I don’t like most of his games. The 2-D ones are full of cheap deaths, traps you can’t see because you’re going too fast, and fairly rudimentary gameplay. And most of the 3-D Sonics are a buggy mess. Plus, I don’t like Sonic as a character either. The whole ‘too cool’ attitude doesn’t do it for me.

However, I can’t totally bash Sonic because there are a handful of his games that I actually DO like! So, when a new Sonic game comes out, I try and give it a fair chance before I bash it. Because who knows? I might just like it! And also, I can’t completely bash Sonic because so many kids love the games and characters. And anything kids like that much can’t be all bad either.

So anyway, here’s a list of my top five favorite Sonic games (actually it’s the only ones I truly like).

Sonic 3

I never understood why so many liked the very first Sonic game. The sequel made me take notice, because it had Tails and a cool pinball level in the Casino Night Zone. But it was really the third game that I really liked. I appreciated being able to save, play as Tails only, and I liked the graphics and music. Plus, I thought the level design was better, too. And the bonus levels were similar to Pac-Man, and you know how I feel about Pac-Man! I even thought the Sonic & Knuckles add on cart was clever, even though it was just a way for them to resell the unfinished parts of Sonic 3.

Sonic 3-D Blast

I’m talking about the Saturn version, as it was far superior to the Genesis one. Sonic 3-D Blast combined two of my favorite classic arcade games: Marble Madness and Flicky.

Sonic Spinball

One thing I did like about Sonic 2 was the Casino Night pinball level. When I first played it, I thought they could make a whole game out of that level. And they kind of did, as Sonic Spinball was a pinball title with Sonic as the ball. I love pinball games, so there you go.

Sonic Adventure

Even though it had bugs and bad camera angles like the rest, I didn’t mind the first 3-D one as much for some reason. You really didn’t need good camera angles in the first one. Plus, Tails got his own adventure and they introduced my other favorite Sonic character: Big the Cat. I like big, stupid characters, but also, Sonic fans seems to hate him, so I’m all for liking something that Sonic fans hate (just joking). He’s like the opposite of Sonic. He’s slow and his gameplay in Sonic Adventure involves fishing! I love the irony!

Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing

Sonic’s been in a lot of racing games: Sonic Drift, Sonic R, heck, there’s even a new Kinect game called Sonic Free Riders! Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing was basically Mario Kart with Sega characters, but it was a darn fun kart clone! Especially on Xbox LIVE. Plus, any game that lets you play as pink-haired space reporter Ulala can’t be ALL bad. She’s my pretend girlfriend. Ha ha! Just joking! Other favorite racers of mine included Tails, Big the Cat, Opa Opa, Amigo, and the Bonanza Bros.

And that’s my top five favorites. Kind of a strange list, I know, but keep in mind I’m not much of a Sonic fan! There are other Sonic games I think deserve honorable mention, though. Like Sonic 4, which I think is a step in the right direction for classic 2-D Sonic. I also enjoyed the Sonic Advance games on the GBA, except the second one. But I have to say another thing that’ll anger most Sonic fans: I think Ristar was a better game than any of the Sonic titles!

This won’t be the last of Sonic you’ll hear from me! After next week, I’ll post a review of the new Kinect game: Sonic Free Riders, so keep a look out for that. And maybe later I’ll get to review Sonic Colors, too!

Pop Quiz!

If you can name my two favorite Sonic characters, and my favorite non-Sonic Sega character, you’ll win all seven Chaos Emeralds and then you’ll be able to turn Super! 🙂

In the comments section, tell me your favorite Sonic games, Sonic characters, and favorite non-Sonic Sega stars! –Cary

Tags: Misc