Mike Arcade

Okay so I have no real list of favorites and least favorites, considering I dropped the series after Gen II though I kept a few tabs on what has gone on since then, I would like to get back into the series though and finally beat any of the Pokemon Games. Yes I never beat any of them, I have this curse with RPGs and never getting them finished, usually due to corrupt save files back when I was a kid. But with Gen I on 3DS I've wanted to and slowly gotten back into it, and with those very interesting Twitch Plays Pokemon Hacks that have been on that channel it's gotten me interested again. I have no qualms or bias against Gen III - VII mind you, I just fell out of it after Gen II. I mean they all looks like really good games but up until somewhat recently they are no major changes to the series story wise, it's the little things that get me, like not having that many Antagonistic Rivals like Blue.Gary or Silver anymore that push you to wanting to best them, granted Gen V did rectify most of this but still. Also I miss the Stadium Series most of all, it's those games in Gen I and II that made you feel like it was all building up towards something when you played them, that way once you are ready you can pop in your game and test the might of your Pokemon in 3D and compete in several big Pokemon Leagues, not to mention the Gym Leader Towers, and those Final Battles with Mewtwo and Silver. I'd love to have those games re-released on say the Wii U and connect the 3DS to Gen I and II, party like it's 1999/2000! While the Gamecube looked like it had some good Pokemon Games we never got Stadium 3 other then Battle Revolution, which wasn't really the same and didn't have that personal connection with no Gym Leader Towers or extra content, yeah you had Coliseum Leaders which is good as the last foes in the Cups in Stadium was pretty much the same, but that wasn't enough for me when I looked it up to get back in there 10 years ago either. With Pokemon since Gen VI being in 3D, and the addition of Pokemon Bank which will have Gen I 3DS Pokemon being able to be stored and transferred over to Gen VII, I'd say it's time for a proper Stadium 3 and re-releases of 1 and 2, Maybe even Gen III - V for the 3DS, that way we can all go against each other in the ultimate test to see whose the very best like no one ever was, to me Pokemon Stadium is that ultimate test, and without it Pokemon is missing something to me, that and we need Pokemon Games with better stories too that aren't just "Collect them all new kid!". XP

Ohh....okay then. ._. Well the question is up there if anyone wants to take a crack at it, I just thought it would be very interesting to point out as they are never mentioned in the fandom and yet in Archie Sonic are behind the scenes on a lot of things. If anyone wants to continue with the previous question that's fine too, if anyone else has a question themselves that can be reconstructed then by all means go ahead.

I'm really liking how this topic is going, so many different interpretations, I'm lovin it! Unless Flynn finally gets around to posting the rest of Lost Hedgehog Tales we'll never know what the intentions of these characters were, all we can do is speculate then. Speaking of which I got a good one right here. What was the intention of The Ancient Walkers and their endgame? See I ask this because they WERE the ones that showed Locke the vision of Knuckles in 20YL which got him to experiment on him in the first place, killed two morally ambiguous magic users while recruiting the 3rd one (Merlin Prower), had a former Knight of the Acorn Kingdom (Sir Connery) kill them, and called Tails The Chosen One. Considering their influence on The Echidnas with Aurora on their side and everything seemingly random in their actions other then taking down Mogul, just what was their deal?

Just been catching up on the sketches F07E, like the Beta Big Sketch, if might just be me but I might like his beta design better then his end result, don't know why. Speaking of which is there anything you can do with Shadow's Beta Design, that would be cool to see. Keep up all the awesome sketches man, and good luck with the artwork for WfM and P&D.

Hello everyone and welcome to the discussion thread for Sonic: Age of Mobius, a series that shows a familiar yet unique Mobius then you are familiar with. This has been a long time in the making and I'm glad it's finally starting to get some footing, I hope you all enjoy the series as it comes out, for now though as of this posting please enjoy the teaser in the Story Thread giving you a taste of a certain event... Keep an eye out for future stories along with any other news and content in this Thread as well folks, Welcome to Mobius.

"Hey, Tim! Hurry up with those dogs," Carl's voice bellowed from the back. "Ah, coming boss." The beagle Mobian was in a frenzy as he finished up dressing the chili dogs with relish and mustard. Those family rushes are always such a hassle, he thought, handing, the bag filled with a dozen chili dogs to the rather portly warthog, "Sorry about the wait, sir." The warthog smiled and snorted, "Well, at least you got ‘em done." After handing out the order to a family of beavers, Carl turned to the blonde beagle, who looked rather tired and seemed to have his thoughts elsewhere. "Snap out of it, Tim." Tim shook from his manager's booming, rough voice. "Sorry about that, Carl; just been thinking about the holidays." "Well, you can't go worrying over everything, Timmy, and you really have gotta focus on work." The warthog's eyes shifted downwards. "Sorry about that, I’m just really nervous tonight with… you know… with Beth and everything…." Tim's ears and head drooped as he ground his heels slightly. Carl could only soften his expression, "Look man, you're young. You got all the time in the world to propose to her; she'd understand, she seems like a nice girl." "No, she is, but this is what I want, and you know it's just jitters is all, worried about the future." "Look, Tim, you can't go worrying about all that, I mean... it took me time to figure out what I wanted to do, and look where I am now!" Carl grinned and raised his arms at his establishment. To Tim, it was no more than a greasy hot dog stand; he could only give a puzzled and uncomfortable look on his face. The warthog continued, "Now, I know it's not grand, but it's what I ended up with. Life is how you make it, and whatever you make of it; I know this doesn't seem much to you, but hey, it makes me happy." Tim gave Carl a reassuring smile, "Thanks man, I'm gonna miss this place." As Tim gathered his backpack and headed off, Carl gave out a kind, yet loud, farewell, "Good luck, Tim! Don't forget to bring the pups over here when they're grown!" Tim could only blush and walk faster away from the Hot Dog Stand as people looked at him with giggles and smiles. As Tim walked along the grass in the cold winter night, he noticed a few strange sounds around him. He stopped briefly and turned around… no one was there. "Man, I really got to work morning shifts in my next job," he sighed to himself. As he continued walking, he heard clangs and footsteps, Though he increased his gait, the footsteps drew in closer toward him. He dared not to look behind him and quickened his pace much faster. Tim then heard a loud crunch, causing him to sprint as far as he could. He turned corners around the buildings and businesses, the footsteps getting further away. He then ducked behind an oak tree in the nearest park and slowly peered around him, with only the plastic playground and benches to keep him company. He gasped, his heart pounding loudly in his ears; the faint smell of what could only be motor oil was still in his nostrils. "What… I don't… I don't even want to know what that was…." He could only mutter to himself as he was slowly reassured that nothing was after him, "Maybe that was all in my mind, I mean like a bad dream, right?" The park was still empty with the biting winter cold on his fur; he shivered at the breeze blowing towards him, "Y-yeah, just my imagi- AKH, AAHH, KLAH!!!" A choking pressure was put on his throat. His breaths shortened. As he tried fighting what was assaulting him, he was slowly being dragged away, his windpipe being compressed he was unable to scream for help. The cold embrace from these hands was all he felt before he managed to let out a shrilling cry…. Sonic: Age of Mobius Coming Soon to Free Scribes of Mobius -------

Well let's see, for now we aren't sure if this is Generations 2 of some kind, though it seems more likely. Personally I would like to see the Time Stones being involved and Eggman messing around with time travel on a more global scale rather then just being contained in Little Planet, Soleanna, or that White Space place. That and with them you don't need any sort of Chaos Control crud or Time Eaters, especially since you already have the Time Stones existing so there is Time Travel in the first place, it's why 06 was so aggravating to me on how Time Travel was handled, at least the Time Eater I could forgive and Sonic CD was referenced as happening, that and it didn't go rampant and rogue like every other Elderic Abomination in the series. It makes me wonder if they are going to do something smart and interesting, which would be asking a lot really in Sega Sonic. XP So I'm gonna call Time Shenanigans on this one...which is pretty obvious and until further info is released I'll speculate and hope that the Time Stones are involved. Though it makes me wonder with all of this going on, are they going to end up rebooting the whole series? I mean other then the redesigns starting from Sonic Adventure, which is sort of a reboot like with Previous Character Ages but otherwise most previous games apparent happened during that time, it makes me wonder if that'll happen. Will we get a new and better Redesign? Or will everything be alls well that ends well like every other time? Probably the latter but we can dream.

Good question, ehh I always saw myself as a Wolf years ago, but in recent times I'd either go for some sort of Feline like a Tiger, a Hybrid of a Feline and Canine, or a Ferret as some would say that fits me well. XP

Why was Rosemary how she is in Archie Sonic? That is a very good question, well let's see from what we know of her she and her husband were both captured and kept on an alien world for over a decade, with no apparent attempt at escape. They were inspired by The Bem's Council to use their ideas once they got back to Mobius, if they got back to Mobius though if Sonic never ran into them I'm sure they would have died there. Afterwards they pulled their own coup, now granted considering the Acorn Kingdom's track record it's no surprise someone had enough distaste for them to pull this off, HOWEVER what doesn't justify this is they pulled this on a King who just started out and then let a Mad Wizard and his Puppet take over. The Bem amoral as they are, are basically the end result of what both The Acorn Kingdom and Echidna Society would be if they were left unopposed if you ask me. Thing is though Rosemary and Amadeus fail to see the irony in putting in a system that is just as easily corruptible as very kingdom they brought down, and ended up as such. Rosemary is more of the brains in the operation if you ask me, what we are given is a person who tries to make their home into something they want it to be not only for them, but for her son who she never got to raise, there are a number of factors when it comes to her really. Though that's mostly speculation, what we got is someone who is suppose to be an antagonist to our heroes, as in how these previous factions actually are rather then how they were framed by Penders and Bollers in the past. So both Rosemary and Council of Acorns are essentially villains from inside the system that the heroes work for, much like how both Acorn Kingdom and Echidna Society actually came off in the past issues. As for the Source of All, they had no apparent clue of it, because if they did they would have used it against The Acorns had they known, that and it was meant to be a secret originally anyway. In the end, sadly we didn't get to see any actual conflict with the Freedom Fighters herself or Sally, which would have been great to have and a huge missed opportunity. Rosemary wanted to make a change for Family and get her Son back, but in the end is no better then those who ruled over her, others, or conquered Mobius.

Unpopular Opinions? Oh boy where do I even begin....well...*cracks his knuckles* 1. While the game play itself can be argued with by fans, Story and Lore wise Sonic Heroes (along with Sonic X) began the official downfall for the series. 2. Sonic X is the worst show in the whole series, our main hero is not redeemable nor even a hero at all, low budged, poorly animated, poorly written with little bright spots and no matter what dub or sub you follow it's a pain to go through no matter what. 3. Unless someone is from the UK, pretty much no one reads Sonic The Comic and to a much lesser extent Sonic The Comic Online, which is a shame as both comics despite some silliness here and there (as rare as it is) are WAY better then Archie Sonic as a whole, far more better in every single way. 4. The Sonic OVA despite it's faults would have been a much better Anime Series had it been successful, which it wasn't because Sega has no idea how to market it's own mascot in Japan, Ironically enough. 5. As insane as it is, AoSTH despite it's erratic and drug fueled look is much better then people think of it, no really I'm surprised as this Robotnik despite being a joke can be a life threatening danger to Sonic and Tails unlike say Boom Eggman. 6. If it had much better music or had it's Music Videos removed, Sonic Underground could have been a much better show, the premise itself if I may say needed to be revised a bit as well. 7. Sonic SatAM is the best Sonic show ever, no contest. However I will say that as a basis for all Sonic Lore and Medium it is tied with STC, though it ranks it a little higher then STC due to Character Development. 8. Sonic Boom when it comes to the Games and Show is a big disappointment in how it was handled, the first wave of games failed to pick up momentum and Rise of Lyric bombed somehow bigger then Sonic 06, and the show itself was the exact opposite of what it should be, though I will say it has it's moments as strange as that sounds coming from me, it's still pretty weak overall and could be so much better. 9. I actually don't mind Boom Knuckles, honestly him being a complete idiot was just the series going full circle, at least they had the decency to remove him being the Guardian of the Master Emerald, at least I hope they did. Though the thought of him forgetting about the ME and the island sinking to the depths of the ocean does give me laughs. 10. Cosmo and Zooey are completely overrated. One was designed to be a punching bag you feel bad for, attached, then metaphorically hung so you can cry your eyes out, her death was even foreshadowed in a few occasions but is otherwise uninteresting. The Other is a complete block of wood and looks like she could be passed off as Tails' Sister. 11. Archie Sonic both Pre and Post Reboot are Overrated no matter who you ask, on that note... 12. Archie Sonic Post Reboot is slightly better then Pre Reboot if only because Pre Reboot and it's lore, culture, and society is so messed up. 13. On that note anyone who still likes the Echidnas as a Society from Pre-Reboot is completely wrong, as they and Knuckles' Bloodline is one of the most messed up, sexist, and racist faction I've ever seen in fiction, not to mention the incest subtext of Knuckles and Julie-Su's family line, this whole list could be derived of the echidnas in Archie Sonic. 14. This is messed up, but when I found out that Finitevus wiped out Albion and most of the Echidnas...I was actually cheering him for that...because with how the Echidnas are and were written in the comic it got me to cheer for the genocidal maniac. 15. For all intent and purpose, or lack thereof, I always thought The Ancient Walkers and Acorn Kingdom in Archie Sonic were villains, or at least ended up coming off that way. 16. Despite his Kingpin look and being a poorly written Mammoth Version of Vandal Savage, Mogul I'd say could be considered an Anti-Villain of sorts and a lesser evil then those mentioned above. 17. Sonic Xtreme, even if it was released wouldn't have been a good game no matter what, maybe a mediocre game or a so bad it's good game like Sonic R, but not a really good game. 18. Cream the Rabbit other then being a game breaker in Sonic Advance 2 and 3 has no real use lore and story wise and is just there, she's only Amy's friend or girl she babysits and that's it, nothing else. 19. Speaking of which her Mom is completely useless as well and brings nothing to the series other then being a Yes Woman in Sonic X and Sonic Rush. 20. They really should have done something with Sonic Chronicles and on that note every character they abandoned in the games. 21. Sally Acorn and the Knothole Freedom Fighters are some of if not the best characters in the series next to Sonic and Tails, regardless of what anyone else thinks. 22. Shadow either should have stayed dead or come back in a much different way in the games, perhaps involving cloning or something, and give a reason on why he's based on a Hedgehog of all Mobians Officially, and that's not even getting into the whole Alien DNA thing. 23. Sonic and all Sega Sonic Characters should have origins and a past, along with real names. 24. Most Mobians shouldn't be multicolored with no good reason, can we just cut that oddity once and for all and give some reason and rationality as to why some characters get these multicolored fur? 25. The first 2 Riders games I would actually call pretty dang good and some of the better games during a rather bleak time. 26. Tails Adventures is one of the best games of the series and should be a good example on how spin-offs of the series could be handled. 27. Knuckles Chaotix should have been a better game, but rather comes off as unfinished sadly. 28. Sonic Team should do it's own thing rather then just making Sonic Games all the time, I like Nights and Billy Hatcher, yeah they can be silly but at least they are pretty good games. 29. Sonic 06 could have worked, if only it was finished and it's story heavily rewritten to replace Elise with Blaze and take place in her world. 30. The series shouldn't shy away to having different sub series and go out of bounds, after all Megaman despite it's multiple incarnations worked out very well overall. 31. Time to put this down, Sonic and Amy excluding STC and Sonic Boom where they're ages are ambiguous other then being around the same age DOES NOT WORK AT ALL.. Not to mention the thought of a 15 year old with a 12 year old is not only creepy but illegal in any civilized modern society. Which is something these fans don't seem to understand, on that note Tails and Fiona is just as creepy even more so, while Tails crushing on her is understandable them actually being together in that way is literally impossible, and there is no real way you can write it in the Archie Sonic continuity to justify it, both ships in their official ages and canon is completely wrong and these random ships are just as wrong. They really need to get it through there heads here, I know I'm not the only one who noticed this but this double standard most of the fandom regarding these two has to stop. On that note upon further research the ages of characters in Sonic Boom aren't officially confirmed and are rather shrugged upon as seen here with a very contradictory answer So regarding that if they're Sega Ages don't apply to Sonic Boom, which they might not considering Zooey looks almost around Sonic or Amy's age, then Perci as seen in one episode would be a much better fit for Tails to end up with. At least they have something in common rather then Zooey being a block of wood, though only if their Game Ages don't apply which might be the case as again there is no straight answer given from anyone regarding ages. It's probably the same case as in STC as they aren't given any ages either, and to end off my long list... 32. STC Sonic is the Best Offical Incarnation in the whole series, hands down and without a doubt. Thank you good night! @_@ *Stands his ground*

Nice Review Akessel, be waiting for you to put more stuff up here. Really nice views on Spark of Life, it's been awhile since I read it but I always did thought it was a decent story. I was never one who hated on it due to Nicole's New Origins due to the whole Nikki thing, which in of itself is confusing to me since she's part Nikki but isn't, but I will say that it's a much better and less convoluted origin then the one Penders came up with. I can tell it's origins were based on the SatAM Origin when you think about it, and while people can complain about it and have some problems with it I'd much rather choose this over the one from the Pre-Reboot. That and as you pointed out Big and Sally's lines in the Arc are really great, it's nice to see a more active Sally in this Arc which I think everyone can agree on and tend to forget. Also I'm a sucker for stuff being adapted like the Red Star Rings and having Isolated Island is a nice bonus if you'd ask me, that means the events of Chaotix did happen in the comic! Though I am confused on one particular matter and it's nothing to do with the review or the arc, rather since all the games are Canon in the Post-Reboot, including Chaotix and the Chaos Rings, wouldn't the Red Star Rings and Chaos Rings be generally the same? I dunno maybe it's the difference on how they are created. I'd really like to see more reviews from you Akessel, you bring in a nice and interesting viewpoint that I don't think is said so often when it comes to the Post-Reboot Comic, reviews of it and from any other media I'd be all for and await it.

Okay it's about time I throw down and tackle this topic. So, Sonic and His Worthless Friends, well when it comes to friends that's kind of a loose term here in this case, other then Tails, Blaze, Knuckles most of the time, and maybe Amy everyone else are more like acquaintances, however Worthless Acquaintances doesn't roll off the tongue that well. Here's the thing, I would say that mostly but potentially all of them are useful and can bring in a good dynamic depending on the story when regarding Sega Sonic. Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Silver, and Blaze are the easiest ones that are the most useful in terms of meaning to a story depending on what that is. While Amy, Cream, Big, Marine, and The Chaotix on how they have been in most of their appearances are really tough to pan down and have general meaning in a story due to their poor fate in being nothing but the comedic relief in a story with no real impact to the events of events unless it's ends up as a result of a Deus Ex Machina just in the nic of time. Granted Amy wasn't like that in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, but by Heroes and Sonic X by extension degraded her. Stranger brings in a very good question when it comes to the Sega Sonic Cast, without Sonic can they support a game on their own? While he complements Tails on his own character there is a good reason for that, thing is Tails HAS proved himself as being able to go on his own, such as in the Spin Off Tails Skypatrol and the prequel Tails Adventures, he's more then capable in being his own star, or even getting his own sub-series with a cast of new characters on his own. I can say the same with a lot of others really, while Knuckles did get a game of his own, not only is it's continuity in question but it was originally called just Chaotix in Japan, thing is Knuckles was more of an afterthought in the middle of development as Espio was originally the star character under the 32X World Sign Post in the Opening. I think Knuckles does need his own chance at the spotlight for real this time, same goes for Shadow as well despite his own botched game though I feel Rouge and Omega would be trickier to handle. Blaze having her own adventures in her world could be a whole other series as well, Silver having time travel adventures can bring about some interesting things too, even Big and The Chaotix could have their own wacky adventures, I mean they got a good amount of fans and it could work, like a huge fishing adventure catching crazy aquatic sea life like a Giant Squid, or solve mysteries with The Chaotix going around town and stuff. Now as crazy as it sounds perhaps Amy COULD hold an adventure on her own, but that would be very hard to pull off, everyone else however I have doubt they could hold it on their own. As for obscure characters such as Mighty, Ray, Fang, Bean, Bark, and maybe Honey they could all be a part of their own spin off series together if they decided to bring them back. I mean Mighty and Ray are very similar to Sonic and Tails, it could work and with Fang apparently being from Another Dimension you could have it so that they live in some alternate world or something...which would raise more continuity questions. XP Those are just some general thoughts on the Sega Sonic cast, I mean there are others like Gemrel and Shade that I didn't mention, though while they have been left in the dust I don't know if they have enough going for them to warrent a Spin Off, Shade maybe as a support for Knuckles but I dunno, also we need Gemrel back for a Sonic Fighting game of sorts, in the style of Battle, Fighters, or even Smash. Everyone had a general purpose and meaning in the series from the classic games all the way up to SA2, once Heroes began everything went straight down the toilet when it comes to the supporting cast, granted there are exceptions like the Advance Series and Battle, along with the Riders series I could argue, and of course the Rush games brought along Blaze and had her own Arc. Otherwise it's just been a jumbled mess, how is it that Nintendo whose Mario characters are overall flat deep down in most aspects have their characters evolve and get EXCELLENT spin off games while Sonic has gotten so few of mostly mixed quality? They just don't know how to handle these characters, I'd like for them to test the waters on this and get a passionate dev team with creative control on them so the Sega Sonic Series can be expanded outwards to new heights, along with the Main Series of course. I hope they can bring them back in a big way, back to their roots of who they are without going to far off the rails, let's just hope whenever they return, and believe me they will, that it'll be in the best way possible. On a side note is it just me or can you track the Prelude to the Downfall of Sega Sonic all the way back to Heroes and Sonic X?

We just might have to if this keeps up. That's okay, I can help out and make a list on that topic if it's started. If I can make sense of Sega Sonic and it's Chronology I can make sense of anything, ANYTHING. @_@

Well unless it's suppose to be an accurate simulation of a real life pinball machine, all pinball games act and play differently when it comes to their physics, it's a matter of taste.

Ehh it's fine dude, I mean you really gotta like Pinball to like it

When it came to Aleah Baker's work I was mainly talking about that last page with Clove and Cassia as that emotional part that was pretty good, I'd say it is only because it was one of the few moments with actual emotion the comic has had for quite awhile, when you're stuck reading borderline status quo for nearly 3 years since this Reboot has been makes you starved for any kind of emotional connection, which the comic barely has nowadays. Actually forgot about Spark of Life, didn't even remember that she wrote it. Two Steps Back, One Step Forward? I dunno, though you do raise a good question on how the Freedom Fighters weren't recognized by them, it's been awhile since I read those stories, other then that one part I just mentioned I barely remember or care about anything about the Reboot, which is just sad really as I originally had some hopes for it. You raise a very interesting point on why anyone would work for Eggman though, granted some sources like Sonic Underground have dabbled into it but the main thing is I guess is that people ally with him despite being a complete nut job because they don't seem to think Freedom Fighters and the like can win in the end, so other then those crazies who either actually believe in Eggman or those who want power of their own ally with hiim to get some piece of that pie are some reasons on why I think some people end up with him. ...which raises a LOT of questions really, at least the whole Dark Egg Legion thing was Eggman usurping the weakened Dark Legion Echidnas and forced many others to join him or else, that and the weak willed who joined the moment he knocked on their doorstep like the Platypus Mobians or Bunnie's Uncle with Former Robians. So in a Reboot World closer to Sega Sonic's Canon, with a Sonic that's basically from the games, how DID it get so bad that Eggman got people to join him and his Eggman Empire anyway? Did Sonic and the Freedom Fighters just screw up big time? See this is why I would have preferred that they just started from Sonic 1 and go on from there, now it's pretty much too late. That Origin Story Arc coming up just further aggravates me as they should have just started off with that, since the whole memories from the Pre-Reboot can't ever be followed up on made that in the first Story Arc completely pointless, granted there was no real way to win other then flipping Penders the bird but hey at least it wouldn't be a mess like it is now with no real backgrounds or attachments to these new versions of characters we're familiar with. So ehh, I don't hate the Post-Reboot, I'm just board with it as it can't offer me and others who feel the same way a comic that we liked or at least tolerated it to see how messed up it can get, I know I'm not the only one here who thinks that but hey if others enjoy it that's fine, but there's much better stuff out there.

Thanks Daddler, thought it would be nice to have everyone look over and see what everyone thinks about the plans these writers had, granted I've done this topic before about 2 years ago and had my own opinons on them, granted that was before anything from Lost Hedgehog Tales came out but still thoughts can change so I figured why not, and to see what some of our members who haven't seen this topic before think about them as well.

Yeah I've played it, it's pretty fun. You even get NiGHTS and Samba De Amigo Boards for the Pinball as well, if you want a good pinball game on the GBA other then that Mario One then yeah it's pretty good. Granted it's not like Sonic Spinball where you use Sonic as the ball, honestly if that concept was refined more that would be much more fun. Still, for what it is you can't go wrong with it. Yeah the story really doesn't matter in this case, it's not really interesting, reuses sprites and uses the stages and backgrounds from Sonic Advance 1, but they are nice settings though to have a Pinball game in. I'd only recommend it if you really like Sonic, Sega, and Pinball. XP

Hi there, again I'm sorry about the wait but it's about time to get to business here, here is my review on WarTraveller's Freedom Dies with Me Prologue. Description Freedom Dies with Me opens up in a fire pit version of Freedom Planet, with phrases like "Verdant Flames" and Screams setting the happy go lucky world we are in for, setting up the tone of the prologue. We are given well detailed on who the characters and what they look like are for the characters, even the nameless guard is given a mild description of his own. The writer tends to avoid the trappings of inexperienced writers giving a world you can visualize, though I would say that there are lack of details in the writing as you can see it, but you can't completely feel the ruined world that it's become. Because of the pacing and more straightforward descriptions there are some hiccups here and there, I can't exactly get into the world as much as I would like though it is a good first attempt. The humor is hit or miss, and while the references bog down the story a bit there is one that subverts what you think is a joke and ends up as an attack, which was pretty clever. Some of the references got a bit distracting such as the eye and jelly part, knowing where that comes from didn't really get a laugh out of me. When we got to Lilac despite her insanity I did feel a small part of who she once was in despair at what she has become, while you also felt the sorrow and regret from Carol at the end. Though the scenes are detailed enough they aren't as detailed as they could be. Memes and references aside the characters feel alive though dreary due to the setting, which is natural in a post apocalyptic world. Overall details aside the descriptions have a lot of things going for it, just needs an extra push to it and given an emotional touch the same way Lilac and Carol have. Pacing We are given a 3rd person perspective following Master and Blade from beginning to end, following and somewhat getting to know these characters, we follow them well and through without any unnecessary cutaways to other characters with no context, keeping it simple but effective as we follow his journey all the way to his portal hopping leap across time. When first meeting Master here we are given his wake up call in the sense of "What the heck happened last night?" all groggy and messed up. Combat is fluid and has a good ounce of weight to it, you get to feel every stab and bleeding wound from the shock of it, though with the fight against the guard it was rather unclear if this blade went through Master's arm or just nicked it, that could have just been sarcasm though. When confronting War Lilac just as I thought things we're going to go bad in terms of pacing and narrative as she starts to Monologue we literally get a Chekhov's Gun as he shoots Lilac down dead, which I really didn't expect. I liked how that scene went down, considering Master has only used his fists and Blade in his fights up to that point despite giving a well detailed description of his gun you end up forgetting that it existed despite being there, having it well established only to pull it off like this in terms of how he fought deceived me in the gun being carried, it was like I had the gun in the back of my mind in my thoughts briefly recalling that it existed only to use it just when he needed to, that scene was a good payoff and a great example of Chekhov's Gun, I was impressed. No frills pacing but enough details and a coherent structure on how the story is paced, it got the job done and was easy to follow, which is a good thing for this kind of action adventure story. Characters Now we get to the weakest part of the story, now when I say weakest part I don't mean all the characters as I felt the broken friendship from Carol and Lilac's fevered and forced insanity by a mad man. However, my main problem comes from the main characters themselves, that being "Master" and Blade of Hysteria. Blade here at first starts of gruff and not so nice, as expected from a Sword that causes Insanity, I do find that appealing talking to a Sword that drives you crazy. However he then quickly turns into our comedic foil spouting a meme or two, which was more distracting then anything else but not too bad. Thing is though my problem with him is the fact is that he can do ANYTHING, test out liquids and drink them, can see and smell despite not having eyes, okay drinking things aside being a possessed blade I can let that go. What I can't let go is that just by plunging him into a computer he can simply hack a computer, which really through me off here. That and his random Chain Sword Transformation upon fighting the guard was out of nowhere, it seems like Blade has the tools to do anything and get out of any situation, I could look over sight, smell, and even drinking liquid but hacking computers is a bit too weird. Is it a mystical weapon or technological weapon, or both? It seems to lean more ot the former which only makes the PC hacking all the more jarrying. The worse case however has to be "Master", for one we don't even know his name, he's just called Master by Blade and we are never given a name of any sorts rather then a title. I mean I can accept that as I think the intention was to make him a puzzle you get to hang out with and solve, but the thing is you don't even get a description aside from clothing and a scar, I can be fine with not knowing who he is, but can I at least get a resemblance of what he is? Seems like a former villain looking...maybe not for redemption, but rather just wanders around ending up in crazy adventures. That would be fine and all but it feels like I just jumped into the middle of a series about halfway through the series here. Aside from his mentioned horrible actions that he only justifies under insanity, I don't get that much of a feel of him which dampers the story a bit. I want to get to know more about him but these mentions of adventures past don't get me to care, rather they want me to see those previous adventures. It's not great to find that your main character is someone who isn't letting us know who or what he is, he seems intersting but I just don't know or get enough of a feel on him to understand and connect with our main character here, which is the weakest part of The Prologue. Grammar Other then one typo, grammar must have been spell checked, everything was in place and didn't sound awkward anywhere that I noticed, kudos. Analysis Freedom Dies with Me is an interesting tale following the story of a character that is one big question mark on who or what he is, though thankfully we are given character interactions between himself and his talking Sword, however said Blade can do just about anything that is needed of him and seems to be like a skeleton key to get out of a situation or finding out information, thankfully however those moments are few and far between when it comes to our little object of a co-protagonist, however he is a little too flat and comes of as comical relief that while not grating, needs some better material. The lanescape is a ruined wasteland that was best handled in the first paragraph, otherwise we burn through the setting rather quickly before getting into the story. Fights are well paced though the conclusion of the first fight needed a bit more polishing, while the second fight ended with a literal Checkov's Gun done well. The ending kinda falls apart with contrivences of Portal Guns and Time Travel without much explanation. Most poorly of all is when we meet a character that can give us some answers she conveiently can't remember or recall anything the past 4 years, despite said apocalypse happening around that time. While the ending was frustrating and messy, our main character more of an enigma and undefined, I am genuinely interested on how this story is going to play out and I want to find out just who our mysterious main character is. Overall, Freedom Dies with Me Prologue is a good attempt of a draft whose hiccups either come from writing choices in terms of how to carry the main characters or lack of detail, if further detail was given regarding the main character on what he even looks like along with our setting the opening of this series could be very good. As it is now though it's not as good as it could, even if not edited I believe that the story coming forward holds much promise as the writer here learns from his mistakes and has no need to use contrivences or lack of detail. I look forward to further updates and chapters.

Yeah I'm writing a review for the Prologue, sorry it's taken this long but it'll be up soon.

Boy where do I even begin? I mean I got a LOT to say, though that's normal for me after all. When it comes to writers, while their are the main 4 show runners, that begin Michael Gallagher, Ken Penders, Karl Bollers, and Ian Flynn, there are other writers throughout the comics over the years that did some work in making it to what it is today, or at least having a few notes here and there so on that behalf I'll just point out every writer possible from each era if I can, why would I harm myself like this? Well your about to know me then from seeing this so let me begin. Well for one there's Michael Gallagher of course, whose work on the comic consists of comical stories rather then a narrative story arc or anything like that, and for a time when it started out it was fine. I mean nothing ground breaking but nice funny comics that weren't really offensive or any negative way, some feel good comics to brighten up your day. More mysteriously enough is the creation of the Downunda Freedom Fighters, Athair, and the infamous Ancient Walkers along with Tails given the major role of being The Chosen One, which has had no context to those concepts to this very day. Though he did leave the comic eventually he did show up every once in awhile, such as in issue 180, while he did stick around for a long time he ended up giving the reigns to the comic to Ken Penders... Before you go to that part however, it should be noted that he's worked on MAD Magazine, and has had extensive work done with Marvel, such as a run on Guardians of The Galaxy back in the day, he seems to pop up working with Marvel every now and then. Ken Penders...there have been a lot of things said about him, especially considering his actions and not to mention his writing as it's been pointed out in recent times, like it or not though he's the reason why the comic's world and background was the way it was, and he's of course also the reason why it was completely destroyed. I have looked into this man and his work far more then any sane human being should, to the point of several moments of psychotic episodes even. @_@ He would praise and go up and down about his inspirations from Jack Kirby, Silver Age Comics, and Star Trek, which is fine as those are some great pieces of fiction you can read, sans how insane the Silver Age can be. However there is something that must be understood, that being Penders thinks he understands the writing and worlds, but rather takes it in the complete, opposite direction of what they are in terms of Meaning and Morality. I would go so far to say that he's ironically the very antithesis of Jack Kirby, his works end up being very uncomfortable on how Sexist, Racist, Atheistic, and Morally Twisted when you look back and read them. Yet he will sing that he was the savior of the comic and say how revolutionary and progressive it is, it's astounding just how utterly insane he acts. At times I have to convince myself it isn't real or is a part of the biggest practical joke in comic book history, yet I fear that is not the case. However his works made the backdrop of what the comic's previous world was, whether that was a good or bad backdrop is up for the history books now. Angelo DeCesare however I feel is underrated when it comes to his contributions in Archie Sonic that were early on in the series, as far as I know he's a recurring writer for Archie Comics. His stories in the comic we're mostly side stories and more Character Driven Stories rather then the main plot. However I feel that if he would have been given a bigger role as a writer things could have been better overall. In some other time and place it was Angelo instead of Penders that became the head writer, I mean he's pretty much his opposite when you think about it, if the comic could've lasted whose to say it would have, nobody knows. As I was typing this I did find this interesting article about him that I believe must be him, sounds like a really nice guy, check it out and read it here. http://wizardworld.com/angelodecesare.html Frank Strom, whose background is yet again unknown, even more so then Angelo. However most noticeably he was the one who created Monkey Khan and the Dragon Kingdom, which offered more to the world of Mobius rather then just an Echidna Fest. The early issues really could have used more world building. His previous works come from DC Comics, stuff for Cartoon Network in Comics, and stuff that shouldn't really be mentioned for a good reason. Was very surprised about that last part, hence why I'm not linking his work biography. o_o Mike Kanterovich is an enigma that should be looked into more, he's an early contributor to the comic, but only co-worked with Penders Exclusivity. From what I can remember he's the guy that BROUGH Penders on the comic in the first place, after the early issues before 50 he left and let the fate of the comic be under Penders capable hands...worked out well didn't it? He's had many issues penned by him from Marvel actually. Dan Slott is an interesting case, as he's mainly known for his Marvel works even to this day in the past and present for his work on Spider-Man, and yet when he wrote for Archie Sonic the only thing he contributed was Zonic, the Zone Cops, and a bunch of parody zones. Why is that exactly considering how extensive his work has been over the years? The only thing I could conclude is that Dan Slott did not care about his work at Archie Comics, and for Sonic just decided to goof around and make parodies, which is just a waste really. At last I get to Karl Bollers, whose work has been quite polarizing during and after his time has passed from Archie Sonic. Before the comic he too worked for Marvel in some degree, though not as much as previous writers before him, but enough. He was handed the whole series while Penders went on to write the Knuckles Comic. Bollers is the only other major writer next to Penders to contribute a lot with the background of Mobius and a number of Characters that we're either fan favorites or extremely infamous. His plans for the comic as well we're very head turning too, and the way he took many characters into an unfamiliar direction was both strange and to many infuriating. This is the guy who made the slap, and made Sonic indirectly responsible for the death of Billions due to EVE's actions. Half way through his run and from what he planned made the series out to be some kind of parody or version of The X-Men in a way, though thankfully his plans didn't go that far. There has been rumors of conflict between Bollers and Penders during that time, and eventually Bollers jump ship to Marvel on a more regular basis when he was given a chance and never looked back. Many of his choices and why he wanted to do them remains unknown to this very day and is one of the biggest mysteries in Archie Sonic, just what was Bollers Perspective during that Chaotic Time? Well from what I can tell he ain't talking, and seems like he just wants to move as far away from it as possible, can't exactly blame him but perhaps one day he could shed light on the subject. Also a little known fact is about the writer Benny Lee during Bollers Era, it's Bollers under a different name. Just to warn you under that name the stories are going to be rough to read through. I'm down to the last two main writers in the comic so far, that being of course the married duo of Ian Flynn and Aleah Baker. To be fair it was Ian at first who worked on the comic and became the main head writer despite being a mostly unknown at the time when he first debuted, thing is for years he tried to break in on Archie Sonic and was once a fan on forums and comics way back in the early 2000's. He made a number of fan comics before his Official Debut on Archie Sonic, during that time being known as Ian Potto (Coincidentally sharing a similar name scheme like me when it comes to online handles. XD). He made one reboot comic under the title Ultimate Sonic, similar to the Marvel Ultimate Universe which debuted at the time, a comic about Bean, Bark, and Big. Then of course there is the rather infamous and nowadays Archaic Fan Comic of his, Other M. A Comic where Sonic of the Archie Sonicverse is transported by Eggman to another world that flips over what he knows, where Knuckles and Tails are villains while Fiona is a Freedom Fighter alongside him. While it does have some interesting concepts and ideas the writing and especially the artwork is very rough and has not aged well. The first 15 or so issues were rather rough when Ian debuted at Archie Sonic as well, and involved a lot of clean house that Flynn had to do, as in kill off a bunch of characters. He did seem to somewhat get his groove on though in later issues, though fan reaction ended up as mixed to positive...until the Reboot. When the Reboot happened everything went to complete chaos in the Archie Sonic Fandom, though many tend to forget that it is not Ian's fault for that happening, however he is the one who made the comic partially in the direction it's been going to this very day, for better or worse. However since that happened it has lost many of it's former readership because of it and due to Sega's mandates as well. I can;'t find it but he does have a sort of manuscript regarding the differences between pre and post-reboot, as well as it saying why Sally and Sonic don't work together along with how Sonic doesn't need the Freedom Fighters, they need him. That was the worst thing I ever saw from him, and yet I wonder as a result of literally dropping over a 100 issues of planned content and starting from scratch that Flynn is disillusioned with Archie Sonic, along with the mandates of Sega and the fandom in general. I wouldn't be surprised if he held a contempt for all of them at this point and is just doing as much as he can with the book to make it enjoyable to not only himself, but to what fans are left along side newly gained ones. I don't know too much about Aleah Baker, yet she has somewhat recently become a writer for some of the stories lately, her writing tends to be pretty good and lets you care about the characters that are mainly in the spotlight of that story, in that case Clove and Cassia. She not only created them but also 3 of the 4 Ninja Brides, the Aquatic Mobians, Relic the Pika, and the redesigns of Mighty, Ray, and the unseen redesigns of Saffron and Hershey. I do enjoy her work, though I do think it is slightly hampered due to mandates as well. If both of them we're free of those mandates I'm sure their writing could really shine, however due to how the comic is nowadays I doubt that can happen as of now, yet I do wish them the best of luck even though I'm not really interested in the comic in recent times. I'll have to get to the artists at another post here, but I hope you find this post here about the writers very enlightening, though I can't read their minds and know for sure what's going on with them those are my interpretations for the writers over the years on Archie Sonic. I'm not sure if the comic has much of a future, but we'll see what happens to the very end, it's gone on this long for a reason after all, well actually I'd say it was perfect, planet aligning timing in the comic's history that is why it's stuck around for so long, either way I want to hear what you guys think about the writers, till my next post.

This was an old topic I created back in my old forum days a few years back, so I thought it was time to bring it back. In here we'll discuss the unused concepts that Archie Sonic has developed but never went through with over the years, that include Lost Hedgehog Tales and everything from Penders and Bollers Era. I'll provide links down below, if anyone can find anything I missed out on please let me know, on that note let's look over what could have been... Ken Penders and Karl Bollers: http://archiesonic.wikia.com/wiki/Abandoned_and_Unused_Concepts http://www.kenpenders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=122 http://archive.today/bacT Ian Flynn: http://archiesonic.wikia.com/wiki/Ian_Flynn's_Unused_Concepts http://bumbleking.com/fandom/lost-hedgehog-tales/ NOTE: This topic got merged with an older one, saves up clutter after all. XP

Exactly, now you're getting it. Although to be fair, Vector ended up shipping them first before the whole love lake thing, that's when they first started to get close, or at least have Tails develop a thing for her anyway.

Ah that's what you might think of at first glance, you see him running around and fighting, that much is true. He does have Heroic Moments though, such as helping that Helen girl, or saving the day, the best way to describe it is the scene in Disney's Hercules, where Zeus tells his son that he is not a True Hero. It's like that, he doesn't have the spirit of a true hero, I know that sounds transparent but let me give you an example. In Episode 4 He and his friends are looking for the first Chaos Emerald, we do see him look around for it a bit, only for him to decide to wait for his friends and quit searching, don't you think he should keep searching or think that just maybe Eggman might be looking for it too? Good example, Sonic doesn't like to be cooped up in a Cruise ship, so what does he do? He manipulates Tails, Chris, Chuck, and Amy by flirting with her in order to get off the ship, I am not even kidding you, mind you this is a jerk moment for Sonic, which some incarnations have been known to be an ass like say STC Sonic, but the thing is any other Sonic would NEVER manipulate his friends to get what he wants, let alone flirt with a 12 YEAR OLD GIRL. That's pretty bad no matter how you try to frame it, and people ship these two together mind you. Throughout the show he's shown to be lazy and borderline apathetic, not having almost any close moments with his "friends" other then maybe Chris, speaking of which considering Chris' emotional and abandonment issues Sonic NEVER steps in to call out Chris' Parents on their actions, considering how absent minded and neglectful they are. Sonic had OVER A YEAR to call them out or help Chris get through his problems that are very clear to see, but does nothing until Chris ends up kidnapping him basically. If it were almost any other Sonic, don't you think he would have done something, anything? Which goes on to my next point, he's very distant with his friends. He doesn't really do anything with them and only does something unless he's forced to, or when there's danger going on. In fact Sonic only acts when Eggman is causing crap or any of his friends are captured or in danger. He only acts right when there is danger afoot, unlike say doing something with his friends like actively hanging out with them, helping them collect Chaos Emeralds, and so forth. He does none of that, most damaging of all his incredibly poor choice when first facing Dark Oak, rather then retreating to fight again with the Emeralds, he scatters them ACROSS THE UNIVERSE in order for him to not get the Emeralds. I can't even begin to tell you how much of a HORRIBLE IDEA that was, it's a short term solution for a long term problem, it also may have caused other worlds who were inhabited to be in danger due to having a Chaos Emerald on them, thus endangering the lives of Billions, Trillions even. And in term could have prevented the events that had Tails with no apparent choice to kill Cosmo, which you KNOW must have Emotionally and Psychologically Damaged him, and in Sonic giving him this news as Tails cries beneath him as he just stands there, not comforting him on his lost. HE JUST STANDS THERE, no hug or anything, just lets him cry without comfort or anything. I can go on, but these key examples show that the Sonic of Sonic X is Not a True Hero, at best he's a kid who does good deeds for thrils, at worst he's a manipulative, lazy, and apathetic Hedgehog who is only a Hero in Name Only. That's why I say he's no hero, he lacks the will to act until lives are in danger and is unhealthy to not only his friends, but to himself as well. He's tied with being the worst Sonic in the whole Series in my humble viewing, and that's saying something. Now I'm not saying that deep down he doesn't care about his friends or people in general, otherwise why would he help anyone if that's the case other then thrills? Which could also be the case, but he doesn't think about his actions, the consequences of them, and due to his distance can't express his own feelings, saving lives seems to be the only way he can express anything. He's got the Spirit, but his Mind and Heart isn't in the right place.

Daddler I just gotta say, this was extremely hard to figure out. Since Sonic X to me is the weakest show in the series (and poorly animated too XP), though I will say that the scene with the former GUN Soldier was really interesting and one of my favorite parts of the show, it's in Episode 37 where we are given a name and a face for the man who shot Maria...I mean now THAT is something note worthy, and you can tell this is a man who has been haunted by that moment for the rest of his life, it could have been better but it was actually pretty good. Otherwise...it's a mishandled series that can be a literal pain to watch and confusing at times. The English Dub cut up anything with a slight twinge of humanity and sharpness, while the originally intended and uncut English Sub shows that the show was still a mess overall with how they handled just about every level of Character, Story, Premise, and Setting. With how Sonic is and how the show ends up I do wonder if TMS Entertainment, the animation studio behind Sonic X, had ulterior motives and were caught up with Sega Mandates during a time before they became infamous, hence why Sonic X is how we know of it today. Consider how Sonic himself is in the show it makes me wonder if that thought might be true, as it's been rumored but never confirmed that Season 3 was so dark because of the changes 4Kids did to the English Dub. If that rumor was true, could there have been a similar thing that happened between TMS and Sega? It's all speculation on my end, but what I mean by how Sonic is...let me put it this way, while I can confidently say that Sonic of SatAM is a Hero, I can surely say with no benefit of a doubt that Sonic of Sonic X is NOT a Hero, at all. That's just me though, anyone else got a favorite episode or scene? I'd love to hear what you all think.