Summer of Sonic 2021

The topic title is in reference to a British Sonic convention that used to be held in London every year, but the last one was sadly back in 2016 and hasn’t been reconvened since. With Summer basically here, I figured why not celebrate Sonic’s upcoming 30th anniversary (June 21st) with fellow fans here on this forum to discuss and share anything and everything related to the Blue Blur and how they might spend the next few months.

To start off, I think the most ample thing to talk about at the moment is Sega’s announcement for their plans for Sonic for the rest of the year:

Personally? Ngl, it’s not very good. Cameos in other games and bonuses in mobile games are nothing to get excited about and would’ve hardly drawn attention back in the day. It really speaks to the state of franchise if the first thing they announce are Easter Eggs (Lost Judgement looks kinda cool, though, may look out for that). But at least they made up for it with what followed.

Sonic Colours Remastered? Yes please. I’m aware of the ire it draws these days (especially among some Gen Z fans), but at the time it was what the franchise needed and breathed fresh life into it. The game’s graphics are beautiful, but sadly limited by the Wii’s hardware specifications. Upgrading to an HD port is badly needed. The proper 30th anniversary game teased at the very end is sadly far away from completion, and Sonic Team, I assume, know better not to release it half-baked. I’m glad they’re at least trying and making up for it with an update to a modern classic.

I’ve brought a number of compilation games in the past, and still own and prefer the MegaDrive originals, but I don’t mind buying the classics again. So glad they’re including Sonic CD with the other core games this time. It’s part of the Golden Age of Sonic, and deserves to be recognized as such.

For the record, I’m more than aware of the Sonic Netflix series being discussed on these very forums. I just haven’t commented on it because I have no opinion on it (and I’m not terribly fond of Netflix as a company, but that’s another discussion). I’m typically a “wait-and-see” sort of person, so I’m going to reserve judgement until I see results.

Other info going around the rumor mill:

> Sonic 2 movie has basically been confirmed to be in production, and will feature Tails and Knuckles.

> Roger Craig Smith and other actors at Studiopolis who have voiced the cast since 2010, are apparently stepping down. It’s unclear who will succeed them going forward (Mike Pollock, however, might still be voicing Eggman as he’s always done since the 4Kids days. I remember not thinking too highly of his performance back then, but he’s grown into the role splendidly).

> Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, who have been writing the games since Sonic Colours, might be retiring from the series.

This might mark the end of what has been dubbed the “Meta Era” by fans, where the series became more light-hearted and self-aware. I stand by that Colours was what the franchise needed at the time, but I do agree that it ended up setting a bad precedent. The majority of the cast ended up being shafted and didn’t see any proper screen time, most of them being caricatures of what they once were whenever they did show up.

And the storylines got progressively worse. Colours? A fun adventure game focusing on just Sonic and Tails, rather reminiscent of the old cartoon. Generations? An anniversary game to celebrate the games up until that point, so you can let things slide. But Lost World and Forces? They squandered on their own potential and fell flat on their face with poor characterization and weak plot points, with 30-second cutscenes that barely justified anything that was going on. Pontac and Graff are not necessarily bad writers, but they were not suited for staying on for this series long-term. Hopefully, we’ll get new writers who’ll take a look at the Adventure duology and keep in mind what it was about the series that the core fanbase loves.

> Supposedly, chief development of the Sonic franchise going forward has moved from Japan to California, USA. Can’t say I’m entirely thrilled about that but “Japanese Sonic” has effectively been dead since Sonic & the Black Knight. Sonic’s popularity in Japan has likely dwindled a lot compared to how it was in the 90’s and 2000’s and the franchise has been sustained by the Western fandom in the 2010’s, so this decision only makes sense and is basically making it official. I guess we can only see where this will go.

All in all, it definitely seems Sonic Team want to effectively start a new era for Sonic, realizing that the last ten years haven’t actually been all that great. In the 2000s, Sonic may not have been the rock star that he once was, but at least he still had a substantial and loyal following. There was no need for him to fall this hard, and I hope Sonic Team can restore confidence in this franchise with the ambition we used to see.