Sonic The Hedgehog Games

[Mr. 0]

It's also how nothing of value really happens in IDW besides maybe the Metal Virus which gets resolved because the concept of a zombie apocalypse only works as a side story or an end game story not something that happens in the middle of what is supposed to be an ongoing book.

IIRC it was done because Ian needed time to expand the worldbuilding, but that arc did fuckall except shock value everywhere and be waay too long. It was blatant filler and too extreme for an all ages comic, especially at the start.

https://info.sonicretro.org/Metal_Virus

https://www.reddit.com/r/SonicTheHedgehog/comments/194po1r/was_this_foreshadowing_the_metal_virus/

According to atsimu, Metal Virus was leftover ideas from the Archie days:

The Metal Virus was originally conceived for Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. A previous editor for the comic asked Ian Flynn to include a zombie story in the Sonic comics due to the popularity of Afterlife with Archie and The Walking Dead. Flynn was initially hesitant to do it because he didn't feel it would work with Sonic, and by the time it would come out people would be tired of zombie stories. He was still told to make it work, and he eventually came up with an idea he liked, but the upper management of Archie didn't want it to steal the thunder of Afterlife with Archie so he had to shelve the idea. Ian Flynn didn't want to give up on the idea of the story though so he asked multiple times if he could do it.

In the original story, it would have replaced the original concept of Roboticization in the post-Super Genesis Wave reboot. Not much development beyond that was done at the time. Had the series not been cancelled, the Metal Virus would have been introduced post-issue #300.

After the first arc of the IDW Sonic comics was completed, Ian Flynn brought back his old Metal Virus idea and pitched it to IDW Publishing and Sega, to his surprise it was approved. He didn't get much push back at all on the story from either side and got to tell the story he wanted to tell.[2][3]

There's even concept art for this era for a character called Mimic:

 

[Buzz Killington]

In other words, all of IDW's best ideas are what was left of Archie Sonic. I think that's pretty obvious to anyone who's read it, though.

 

[Snake of Diamond]

In other words, all of IDW's best ideas are what was left of Archie Sonic. I think that's pretty obvious to anyone who's read it, though.

IDW itself just feels like a continuation of Reboot Archie and not helped by the fact it's roughly the same team. Further thunkprovoking that the very idea of the comic should have just not existed after Reboot Archie was canned.

IDW wants to try to be (allegedly) as open as Archie but shot itself in the foot by trying to line itself up with Game Sonic.

 

[Newcomer 42]

IDW itself just feels like a continuation of Reboot Archie and not helped by the fact it's roughly the same team. Further thunkprovoking that the very idea of the comic should have just not existed after Reboot Archie was canned.

Probably part of the last story arcs of Archie, where Ian went full retard and had an endless string of drama one after the other, getting to borderline hilarious at times due to how forced it felt (IIRC he had to redo a scene killing a beloved secondary character because fans complained). IDW starts with a zombie arc that comes out of nowhere and makes no sense as an opening arc, especially since it has no consequences, which makes the arc feel like a waste of time and an exaggerated escalation.

 

[Snake of Diamond]

Probably part of the last story arcs of Archie, where Ian went full retard and had an endless string of drama one after the other, getting to borderline hilarious at times due to how forced it felt (IIRC he had to redo a scene killing a beloved secondary character because fans complained). IDW starts with a zombie arc that comes out of nowhere and makes no sense as an opening arc, especially since it has no consequences, which makes the arc feel like a waste of time and an exaggerated escalation.

I love how people act like IDW has no melodrama meanwhile the Metal Arc shoots all that in the face by having characters get infected/"die" in really stupid ways to raise the stakes of the events. The thing I talked about with some friends is that if we are to take this seriously the characters would have immediately solved this in record time. The comic waters everyone down to make this reasonable meanwhile we've seen these same characters struggle a bit but work together to stop world ending gods every tuesday.

 

[Pixy]

Knuckles is responsible for the deaths of 80% of the restoration in Forces alone. One would think that might weigh on his head a bit.

 

[Retarded Weeb]

Knuckles is responsible for the deaths of 80% of the restoration in Forces alone. One would think that might weigh on his head a bit.

You would think, but he's got very strong muscles and a very hard head. It's gonna take a lot more than that to weigh him down.

 

[Plumber's Crack]

IDW itself just feels like a continuation of Reboot Archie and not helped by the fact it's roughly the same team. Further thunkprovoking that the very idea of the comic should have just not existed after Reboot Archie was canned.

IDW wants to try to be (allegedly) as open as Archie but shot itself in the foot by trying to line itself up with Game Sonic.

IDW was fucked the very moment they made it an official part of canon instead of an alternate universe sequel to Forces. A lot of decisions that were made with the comic at that point (Eggman being unusually retarded in Metal Virus arc, Sonic being morally righteous MCU superhero, etc.) ended up just clashing with what was already established in the games. And of course as @Newcomer 42 has already bought up many times in the past, now the comics are forced into a limbo of low stakes plotlines that can't directly interfere with what happens in canon along with none of the main cast being allowed to actually develop beyond surface level characterization.

 

[Snake of Diamond]

IDW was fucked the very moment they made it an official part of canon instead of an alternate universe sequel to Forces. A lot of decisions that were made with the comic at that point (Eggman being unusually retarded in Metal Virus arc, Sonic being morally righteous MCU superhero, etc.) ended up just clashing with what was already established in the games. And of course as @Newcomer 42 has already bought up many times in the past, now the comics are forced into a limbo of low stakes plotlines that can't directly interfere with what happens in canon along with none of the main cast being allowed to actually develop beyond surface level characterization.

I often argue this but canon is just a word in modern fandoms. A lot of people who are in these communties don't know any of the terminolgy just that actual fans use them in discussions since they know what they are talking about. These people want to be in the group because they feel left out of everything (for good reason once you get to know them) so we get people talking about and saying things are canon without understanding what canon even means. We are constantly told things are canon but nobody thinks about how they actually fit just that there's some arbitrary way it fits.

IDW to me can't be canon for the simple fact it dates itself by having its narrative hinging on a game Sega seems to care very little about. There's no problem at all with Alternate Universes but we are seeing less of that in most long running series' that just want to have narratives be a confusing and convoluted straight line.

 

[The ATF Disliked That]

Kristen Bell has been casted as Amy Rose for Sonic 4.

 

[Vyse Inglebard]

Kristen Bell has been casted as Amy Rose for Sonic 4.

Again, an actually pretty solid choice. The casting department for the Sonic movies honestly have been knocking it out of the park. Something that can't be said for...

other video game adaptations.

 

[starborn427614]

Again, an actually pretty solid choice. The casting department for the Sonic movies honestly have been knocking it out of the park. Something that can't be said for...
View attachment 8578442
other video game adaptations.

Charlie Day, Jack Black and surprisingly Keegan-Micheal Key are the stand outs (in terms of voice work, if not writing). Peach's VA is kind of nothing and while inoffensive in the final film Chris Pratt simply doesn't do anything so memorable that it couldn't be done by someone else. Ben Schwartz, on the other hand, is easily up there with Jaleel White and Jason Griffith in terms of Sonic performances.

 

[NerdShamer]

Again, an actually pretty solid choice. The casting department for the Sonic movies honestly have been knocking it out of the park. Something that can't be said for...
View attachment 8578442
other video game adaptations.

To be fair, Jack Black usually carries the shitty movies that he stars in. But you also have Illumination's autistic attention to detail to help salvage the plot.

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

Now we wait to see if Metal Sonic gets voiced. Robert Patrick is still my choice.

 

[Newcomer 42]

Checked the latest Chaotix audio story. It seems they're meant to set up future games, as at least these remember that GUN is a thing, as well as the Abraham guy, not seen since Shadow the game IIRC. Chances are the newcomer is the villain if she's not meant to be part of the protagonist cast. The Tangle and the Crying Woof pair was an introduction to be used and forgotten about, just like Jet and his gang.
...Unless for the villain the idea is to recycle the Zeti, again.

 

[The Lawgiver]

There's even concept art for this era for a character called Mimic:

Oh hey he kinda actually looks like an octopus here and not a shitty purple knuckles

 

[Snake of Diamond]

People overreacted so hard back then. I can understand people being weirded out, but you'd think it was penetration the way people went on about MUH KISSING A HUMAN GIRL.

Also, Elise giving Sonic this look will always be funny to me:

The humans look like mid 2000s 3D anime characters you'd find in a final fantasy game. To me they were stylized enough but were still "realistic" so even without the context of why Elise kissed Sonic it never grossed me out (I never took it that seriously this franchise is full of weirder shit).

 

[Postmodernist Disaster]

Now we wait to see if Metal Sonic gets voiced. Robert Patrick is still my choice.

A lot of videos have popped up in my feed with James Spader as Metal because of his voice work as Ultron in the MCU. Tbf, I'm more of the idea Metal being mute or talking only in chirps when he's in his regular form, but I can see Spader fitting as Neo Metal quite well.

 

[The Lawgiver]

A lot of videos have popped up in my feed with James Spader as Metal because of his voice work as Ultron in the MCU. Tbf, I'm more of the idea Metal being mute or talking only in chirps when he's in his regular form, but I can see Spader fitting as Neo Metal quite well.

I like metal being able to talk and don't like the "completely mute" metal of the post heroes sonic games. Heroes while his only first real 3d appearance shows he can talk in both base form and neo metal form and the impression for me and probably a lot of people that were kids at the time and had previously seen the anime sonic movie that was out back then was that "he can talk but prefers not to unless he really has some shit to say" since literally everything in that movie is him going "bloopybloopybleebloop" and other character's just kinda sorta vaguely getting what he's saying till he's literally being fucking melted by magma and speaks one fucking line of actual words.

I don't know where the fuck the consensus of "oh he can just be reprogrammed so he probably just can't talk anymore and is just a drone now" came from among sonic fans but given there's clones of him as the teaser for sonic 3 we're gonna get either an army of disposable metals and one actual og guy that's his own character or just a bunch of useless metal clones where one gains awareness and revolts or whatever.

 

[Snake of Diamond]

I like metal being able to talk and don't like the "completely mute" metal of the post heroes sonic games. Heroes while his only first real 3d appearance shows he can talk in both base form and neo metal form and the impression for me and probably a lot of people that were kids at the time and had previously seen the anime sonic movie that was out back then was that "he can talk but prefers not to unless he really has some shit to say" since literally everything in that movie is him going "bloopybloopybleebloop" and other character's just kinda sorta vaguely getting what he's saying till he's literally being fucking melted by magma and speaks one fucking line of actual words.

I don't know where the fuck the consensus of "oh he can just be reprogrammed so he probably just can't talk anymore and is just a drone now" came from among sonic fans but given there's clones of him as the teaser for sonic 3 we're gonna get either an army of disposable metals and one actual og guy that's his own character or just a bunch of useless metal clones where one gains awareness and revolts or whatever.

probably comes from the franchise being more streamlined and gamey over the years where all the personality is slowly being sucked away. Metal shows up and is treated like a goomba now.