Idea for a new Sonic game

[Meira-Bates]

I forgot how this thought came to me, but I was thinking... Do any other Sonic fans here think it'd be neat to have a game based on Sonic SatAM or the Sonic Archie comics that was sorta like Sonic Adventure, where each character had thier own part of the story you could play through? I thought more on this. The Archie version of the Sonic universe is chockfull of freedom fighting teams besides the normal ol' Knothole freedom fighters some of us know and love. Though I stopped reading the comics back years ago, I still think this could be a neat concept to work with...

There could be the Sonic Adventure style game for the Knothole freedom fighters and maybe the Chaotix too, and then there could be either a Sonic Adventure 2 style, Sonic Heros style, or RPGish style game for each of the lesser known freedom fighter teams and maybe the forces of evil as well...

It's probably a silly idea, especaily since the Archie comics adapt to fit the Sonic games as much as they can...but I think it'd be pretty neat to play someone like Bunnie Rabbot, Rob O' the Hedge', Barbie Koala, St. Jhon, and a good deal of other random characters within the Sonic Archie Comics various freedom fighting teams. It's probably way too big when you get down to it though, considering how many diffrent teams there are and how many members are in those teams...

[Dane E5R]

Kinda cool idea, although I'm not too keen on Archie's Sonic universe. Sally is such a damn ho.

[Meira-Bates]

Originally Posted by Elite5Raph

Kinda cool idea, although I'm not too keen on Archie's Sonic universe. Sally is such a damn ho.

I agree with you on that Sally statement.

[ThirdMarioBro]

I have a friend who would kill you for that statement, whatever. Still it's a cool idea for a game, if done properly (Sonic Epoch was a SatAM fan game that sucked so badly). Too bad it'll never happen.

[Bowser_Koopa]

actually i don't thik is a good idea, thanks to my brother's influence i guess, he one day bought a sonic comic after the sa2 battle hype, which he read, which he preserved so he could sell...cuz he hated it so much, he could't sell it so he gave it to me, i read it and i think the artwork/style was really baaaaaad....only the story at the end is kinda good its called "young at theart", i don't know much cuz this is the only one i got but still the art suuuuuucckkkkss.........then again this is just my opinion, and my point of view, just so u could see it in a different way, i do like sonic i just don't like his comics >_<

[Meira-Bates]

I thought the comics were better before they started trying to make them into the Sonic Adventure games X.x but anyhow...the style varies, diffrent artists now and then.

[Anarchistguy]

I LOATHE the Archie Sonic Comics now, but we gotta admit Spaz (the guy who draws the covers) is pretty damn good. Did any of you see his artwork on the "Sonic Adventure 2" adaptation? GOD D*MN!!!

[Meira-Bates]

Spaz rocks, yeah ^.^

[Bowser_Koopa]

*psst*....maybe some links would help

[Meira-Bates]

I wasn't sure what you wanted a link to but here's some links...

http://www.sonichq.org/comics/scans/sonic1-25.html
This gallery has site has lots (if not all) the sonic comic covers (Archie and non-Archie) scanned (Archie wise I wouldn't pay attention to any covers before #34...I stopped really following the story line not long after 51, though I read a couple of the other issues, thus my knowing of Rob O' the Hedge')

http://www.sonichq.org/comics/images...ge/sonic98.jpg
I'm not sure since I didn't read it, but I'm guessing this is the comic cover anarchistguy was talking about.

[Anarchistguy]

When I was talking about Sonic #98, I meant Spaz penciled the story too.

[Meira-Bates]

Ah ok, wonder if that site has any scans of that issue then...

EDIT: And they do!

http://www.sonichq.org/images/scans/...nic/shadow.jpg

http://www.sonichq.org/images/scans/...c/toofast1.jpg

http://www.sonichq.org/images/scans/...c/toofast2.jpg

http://www.sonichq.org/images/scans/...onic/maria.jpg (This ones sort of a spoiler if you are in earlier parts of playing SA2)

copy and paste to see the images

[Bowser_Koopa]

those sa2 are much better than the one i have O.o

this is the cover kinda fools, you

this is the main story, horrible! >.<

this is the las page story, it has better art

[ThirdMarioBro]

The comics used to be much better in the old days. Ever since Ken Penders became boss, the comics went down the crapper. The artwork almost always sucks, except for when Steven Butler is the penciler. Then the art is always good. I miss those days. I personally don't hold any hope for the comic ever digging itself out of the hole it's in now. I'll always subscribe though. I could never abandon Sonic, even if all the good elements have been stripped out of the comic.

[Meira-Bates]

Originally Posted by ThirdMarioBro

The comics used to be much better in the old days. Ever since Ken Penders became boss, the comics went down the crapper. The artwork almost always sucks, except for when Steven Butler is the penciler. Then the art is always good. I miss those days. I personally don't hold any hope for the comic ever digging itself out of the hole it's in now.

There's another statement I agree with...X.x

[Dane E5R]

I haven't read much of the recent stuff, but Ken Penders seemed like a great guy when I talked to him. Oh well. And I think J. Axer's a damn fine penciler. Skimming through the books and seeing his work almost made me pick up those issues. If he were to take over as the full time penciler, then I'd definitely re-subscribe. And Sally's still a ho.

[Leo656]

Since Sally's a major character in my first (and apparently most-read) fanfic which was a crossover between the TMNT and Archie Sonic, I'm gonna have to say.... No Comment.

I do agree, though, as a fan of the comic from the start (I have every issue, including all the mini-series and specials and Super Specials, etc.) that the quality of the book has been hit or miss the last couple years. I think the first sharp decline in the book happened around issue 50, when Sega asked that the focus of the book be placed solely on Sonic and Tails like in the games, with everyone else taking a backseat. That was the first time that sales took a sharp downturn and that fans almost unanimously said they didn't care for the direction the book was headed in. Ever since issue 100, it's almost like the main purpose of the book has been to UNDO all the mistakes Archie made between issues 50 and 100 thanks to Sega's demands.

Take it from me, do NOT judge the comic by the Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 adaptations, as they were among the lowest points in the history of the entire book. When doing the SA1 adaptation, Archie was cut off at the knees by Sega at every turn, since the SA game was still being made and Sega outright refused to allow Archie access to anything more than a few clips here and there and a few pages of dialog. Most of the plot and dialog was deciphered by a member of the Archie staff playing a Japanese copy of Sonic Adventure and using a translation engine. There was no way for it NOT to suck. The whole thing was a disaster, and it was all Sega's fault.

The SA2 one-shot story was an even bigger mess, sheerly because of the timing. There was an ongoing story taking place in the comics leading up to the milestone issue 100. Suddenly, with little advance warning, Sega demands that Archie slap together an adaptation of SA2 to run in issue 97 or 98 or whichever it was, completely interrupting the story that was already going on. Sega's will be done, however, and the adaptation ran, very poorly squeezed in between the events of the ongoing story. The issue covered the game in only the loosest sense of the word, and ending on a cliffhanger with a disclaimer saying "To be continued in the new Sonic Adventure 2 game for Sega Dreamcast!", it was more like an advertisement than anything else. The whole idea was pointless and stupid.

What Sega always failed to grasp about the Archie comic until recently is that it has its own continuity entirely seperate from the games, and its own fanbase, a large number of which don't even play the games and became Sonic fans through the comic or the SatAm cartoon or whatever. Not that the two fandoms are mutually exclusive, but the properties themselves are extremely different. Though Archie Sonic always stayed related to the games, it never went so far as to adhere to them entirely, because let's face it: a comic book that was strictly about Sonic and Tails running around collecting rings would likely not have made it to 130 issues and counting. People didn't read it and keep reading it because they wanted it to be exactly like the games, they read it the way people read "Expanded Universe" Star Wars novels or "Elseworlds" and "What If" comics and any other form of escapist entertainment. A lot of game fans don't like it, b/c it has almost nothing in common with the games aside from the fact that all the game characters do exist in the comic. And that's fine, that's their prerogative, but that's still judging it for something it was never intended to be.

What I never got about Sega is why they were, for a time, so strict about how every time a new version of Sonic appeared, they needed to be represented in the comic. When SA came out, it needed to be shoehorned into the comic despite the fact that it just didn't fit very well. When the horrible Sonic Underground cartoon came out, there was an issue of the comic devoted to THAT as well. It was as if Sega HADN'T approved the creation of Sally and the other Freedom Fighters for the American version of Sonic (Sega defines all the different variations of Sonic by seperating them by region. Archie/SatAM Sonic is referred to as "Sonic America". The video games and Sonic X are referred to as "Sonic Japan". And Sonic Underground is referred to as "Sonic Europe"). It's kinda like how right now in the Superman comics, since "Smallville" is so successful, DC has been "advised" by Warner Bros. to make certain parts of the comic more like "Smallville" even though they're nothing alike.

My opinion: Sega approved the version of Sonic that appeared in America, the SatAM/Archie one. Whether they did it because they thought it would fail, well, that's their problem. The fact is that the comic is most likely what kept the character from dying out in the late-90s when other mascot characters with "attitude" like Crash and Bubsy went belly-up. Without any new games or 'toons coming out, the Archie comic was the only Sonic there was for a few years, and it made little to no sense why Sega would attempt to sabotage the only thing keeping their mascot character afloat. They probably thought they were doing the right thing, but it'd be like if Mirage TMNT suddenly started trying to cram stuff from the old TMNT cartoon into the new Mirage book; the two are so dissimilar that it would do nothing but create confusion in the long run. One is one, the other is the other, let them peacefully (and seperately) co-exist, is the way I feel.

Thankfully, Sega has even come to see it this way as well, finally. With Sonic X coming out, many feared that the Sonic comic was going to be completely revamped, that the past ten years of issues would be ignored and things would "restart" along the Sonic X plotline. Instead, Sega has officially said that Archie has complete discretion as to whether or not to even reference Sonic X at all, or to ignore it entirely. The editors mentioned this in the latest issue, and though it seems as though they are going to do something Sonic X-related at some point, they don't have to, and it probably won't be anything major.

As for the artists on the book I like, I was always partial to Art Mawhinney, Pat Spaziante, Steven Butler, and J. Axer. Sadly, the book had some really piss-poor art going on for a while but it's been better lately. Ron Lim in particular needs to never, ever come back. I know Sally's got a tough job being a Princess and all, but his depiction of her always looked like she was strung out on smack...

Now, finally, as to whether or not the Archie Sonicverse would work as a game... it'd be interesting, and I'd like to see an attempt, but I doubt it'll ever happen, and even if it did it would probably just confuse things more than they already have been. Just as I don't think the comics should be forced to adapt every little thing from the games, I don't think the comic AS a game would make for that good a fit either. Could be interesting, though.

[Bowser_Koopa]

you want me to read all that !?

[Meira-Bates]

I liked Leo's message myself ^.^ dunno how to reply to it, but it's good. And with that news, maybe I'll start checking back in with the comics at some point.

[Bowser_Koopa]

i'm too lazy to read it, tell me what he said in two lines