gaming Sonic the Hedgehog & MLP popularity

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,021]

In late 2010, everybody came to love the G4 ponies when Friendship is Magic came out.  These ponies who have that amount of success with loads of songs and its comic series.  Fanart in every corner of the internet.  Merchandise available everywhere of MLP in different shapes and sizes.  Given that’s sadly not the same level of success Sonic the Hedgehog has.  He doesn’t have a Bang energy drink flavor, colored popcorn, cupcakes, ice cream, sandwich cookies, fruit rollups, fruit snacks, Starbucks coffee flavor or even a Lucky Charms marshmallow under his belt at grocery stores.  None of the cartoons he has surpasses the 222 episode-count of Friendship is Magic or any of the past MLP cartoons, countless movies, the Pony Life cartoon or the G5 movie and series that is to come.  We didn’t get more out of a hedgehog with that one online 2019 Friendship is Magic short. 

Sonic came into existence in 1991.  But we all know how SEGA went wrong with its bad communication between its international company branches and releasing countless gaming consoles to compete with Nintendo and Sony, which doomed them into only making games for those companies, especially Microsoft.  What if the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise started with the launch of Sonic Adventure?  Meaning classic Sonic, his 4 beloved SEGA Genesis games and the bad games that came after never existed.  Would people have taken Sonic seriously and admire him more than everything that occurred for him in the original timeline if he popped into existence on that fateful hyped-up day of 9/9/99?  The day the SEGA Dreamcast launched.  That would leave a problem for the cartoons and the once beloved Archie Comic series that came before the release of Sonic Adventure.  When in doubt, let’s strengthen our what if scenario in which a cartoon and comic, the latter involving the SatAM characters came out on 9/9/99 also as big promotional extravaganza  

The entire 90s, people would talk about Nirvana, sports and all the pop culture and crazy stuff that happened much of that decade and no blue hedgehog exists.  Let’s again strengthen our what if scenario that not even SEGA was ever around for much of the 90s.  The SEGA Dreamcast console would look different in this alternate timeline than the one we got.  A better design for the machine, perhaps with better graphics packed inside  

I myself remember those tense commercials that aired on MTV in early 1999 that had 9/9/99 on the screen and closed with “It’s Thinking”.  The magazine ads hyping up the console struck me the same way.  Finally got the SEGA Dreamcast for Christmas before the New Millennium arrived.  The beginning of Sonic Adventure impressed me not only with the music, but with that boss fight in the rain against Chaos 0, where you had to jump to attack him in the head.  Chaos 0 would even attack you from the top of flag poles.  The Chaos Monster gave me chills with every new form he took due to the Chaos Emeralds.  Dr. Eggman proved himself boss with his own Super class Star Destroyer, I mean the Egg Carrier  The E-100 Series Robots captured my heart a huge bit. 

What would Crush 40’s alternate version of “Open Your Heart” sound like?  Different arrangements and better guitar riffs?  Close to the Sonic Generations remix?  The original game wowed me with all those characters in that amazing intro.  Given how incredible Sonic looked, with that smile, green eyes, his designed sneakers and him looking taller  Would Big the Cat and his story have been handled better?  Would the game only stick to being playable with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles?  Would girls hold equal footing in the world being Sonic fans, just as Bronies do?  Would a bridge form between the two fanbases?  Would 4 Sonic Adventure sequels also exist to keep the Sonic franchise alive? 

[Splashee 28,563]

15 hours ago, ZiggWheelsManning said:

Given that’s sadly not the same level of success Sonic the Hedgehog has

I think you should watch Super Eyepatch Wolf's Sonic video on YouTube:

Spoiler

 

 

It is true that FIM took over the Internet around 2010. It was new and exciting, and different. But I can tell you, the first time I browsed Internet in 1994 (with a 28k modem), all I found was scans of Sonic art, comics, and Amy Rose. And I liked that as well!

There are huge communities around for both franchises, MLP and Sonic. And I have lived them both. I regret nothing!

Sega messed up, yes! (branching Sonic into everything, and internal drama, and external drama, and internet drama!)
Hasbro messed up, yes! (Firing Lauren Faust, Princess Twilight Sparkle wings win the crown in high school, and internet drama!)

 

But the true wonderful thing is the fans, and the dedication of the fans.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

I know how you feel. I remember the Sonic fanbase being by far one of the largest fanbases. As @Splashee said, when FIM came along, things changed. Yes, there was the Sonic x Rainbow Dash ship that sailed, but other than that...it felt like FiM was the big craze...

Now that it FiM is done and Sonic's 30th anniversary is coming up, I hope there is a comeback...for it would be a shame if the hype stays low...Sonic is one of the most iconic video game legends, and he ought to have the proper recognition and celebration for his 30 years of existence.  

[Jon the VGNerd 885]

I completely lost interest with Sonic, along with Sega because of their pathetic business decisions and their inability to listen to the fans. Especially with how obsessed Sega is with their mascot and are in total denial that almost the majority of Sonic games do not meet expectations, which also includes Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 06. Sega and Sonic Team never even bothered to write an apology letter to their dumpster fire of a game that was Sonic 06. And years later, they basically paid no attention to it and never bothered making any sort of patches or improvements. This isn't Sega being greedy, this is Sega being completely selfish to their own fanbase, yet the same fanbase, aka the Sonic fandom, are filled with overprotective and self-centered people who can't get their facts straight that Sega continues to go down a downwards spiral. Yes, Yakuza and Persona are good games, but it doesn't excuse Sega for being so closed-minded because their obsession with Sonic games will eventually be the death of them.

Also, for Sonic celebrating its 30th anniversary... I think Sega views their own fictional character as a god and superior than Mario. Yeah no, I'm not really at all looking to see Sonic improve. Sega and Sonic Team tried that with Sonic Forces and it was nothing more than a disappointment. Yeah, you get to create your own Sonic character, but its completely short-lived. Yes, the past Sonic games were good, but even then they get overshadowed by much later, bad games that will linger much longer than the good ones.

The Dreamcast was Sega's last, good console before completely abandoning it altogether. The fact that there hasn't been a new Sega console shows that Sega themselves had stopped caring. Yeah, the original Xbox is the Dreamcast's spiritual successor because some of the Sega games were included into the console, but it still feels like Sega has lost touch on who they really are. And the Sonic fandom itself isn't any better either. They're filled with hostile and overly-obsessed community that apparently wants their characters paired with canon characters and its just painful to watch. And they get trigger happy with it too if you were to criticize most Sonic games that were obviously bad and they're quick to berate you, no matter how valid you can try to be. And so far, there hasn't been a new Sonic game with the release of the PS5 and Series S/X, which isn't surprising anymore. And when they do release it, it'll simply receive mediocre reviews like almost every other Sonic game Sega releases because Sega never learns from their mistakes, same goes for Sonic Team, and years later, they still continue in doing so anyway. They'd rather ditch all other games they made in the past and make nothing but Sonic games altogether. If a non-Sonic game is released and becomes popular and sells really well, don't expect them to make any sequel because they simply have no desire in doing so. They'll just slip back to their pathetic ways just to make themselves feel better.

I used to like Sonic, yes. But the franchise, and the Sonic games, have overstayed their welcome. It's time for newer and possible better games, and even a new console too. That is, if Sega should stop being so self-centered about themselves and start listening to the community. But knowing Sega, any and all suggestions will simply fall on deaf ears like always.

[Clawdeen 12,189]

First off there’s an amazing Sonic the Hedgehog Gfuel flavor that sold out pretty quickly on its launch day. I think about a year or so ago. They came out in cans and a collectors edition. If it weren’t for my presale access I wouldn’t have been able to get it because it sold out so fast. I remember people freaking out over that, not as much as the Crash Bandicoot flavor mind you, that flavor sold out insanely fast. By the time I got the alert it was out, it was gone. The artwork on the cans are gorgeous and every time I’m out in public and I’m drinking one I always get stopped and asked about them. The amount of Omg that’s Sonic/Crash, where did you get that that I hear. People still really love both of these characters.

Gfuel is slowly making its way into stores. Now I don’t know how long this Sonic flavor will be available or if it’s even sold physically in store but it’s there, it exists and it sold out on launch. The amount of comments I hear in person is insane. I had no idea just how much these characters were still loved by people outside of the internet fan bases until being approached by so many people in person. Crash and Sonic both have touched the lives of a lot of people, especially as kids. There’s a lot of love for them, regardless of how much merch,tv episodes,movies,etc is going on.

That being said you are right in that there’s not as much in store merch seen. I think I’ve seen a Sonic shirt in like a Walmart or left over sonic boom toys in discount sections in certain stores. Which is a shame. Not that Segas store doesn’t have a lot of cool stuff, it would be nice to buy this sort of stuff in person. To see it in person again. Every once in awhile you’ll come across a shirt in a Hot topic or Spencer’s. I’m not gonna complain because there’s things I still love to this day that have pretty much completely died. 
 

As long as I still find some form of amusement and entertainment  out of the games is what matters to me. The only Sonic related thing I’ve played that I’ve 100% not liked was Knuckles Chaotix. I really wanted to like that game, especially because I used to read the knuckles comics as a kid but I just couldn’t get into it. It was too difficult for me as a kid. I even tried to play it again a few years ago and it just....it’s not for me.

I enjoyed games like Sonic 3D blast as a kid. Now did I know what was going on? Absolutely not. It looked weird to me but I still found amusement from it. From Sonic R and it’s controls, Dr Robotniks Mean Bean Machine to Sonic the Fighters(Loved playing as Fang. Always struggled fighting him and Bark though. Bean was kinda tough too). As long as I’m still liking the games to a point where I can find enjoyment and amusement, I could care less about the fan base size or merch. I like what I like regardless of how many people like it. 

Even if they stopped making games that I would buy, Sonic will always hold a special place in my heart. The memories of my interactions within the community, my OCs, the games I played as a kid and so on. That seems to be the case with some of the people who’ve approached me on my energy drink and ended up talking to me about Sonic. Even if they aren’t actively playing the games or apart of the community, he holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts. 

[Splashee 28,563]

55 minutes ago, Blitzo said:

The only Sonic related thing I’ve played that I’ve 100% not liked was Knuckles Chaotix.

It was a difficult game to play, as it was only available to the 32X hardware, which required you to have both the Sega Genesis and the Super 32X add-on. And even so, finding the game was difficult. I think I never even saw it here.
I first played it when it was possible to emulate the game at like 5 frames a second, and it didn't even show things correctly. I thought it was going to be good once it was emulated better, but it turned out, it was just not fun. Music was great though!

55 minutes ago, Blitzo said:

I enjoyed games like Sonic 3D blast as a kid.

Sega Genesis or Sega Saturn version?

The game has one big problem, and that was the controls; hard to move Sonic around the map.

 

Sonic R has that song.... "Super Sonic Racing", which is.... getting stuck in my head all the time!

[Clawdeen 12,189]

1 hour ago, Splashee said:

It was a difficult game to play, as it was only available to the 32X hardware, which required you to have both the Sega Genesis and the Super 32X add-on. And even so, finding the game was difficult. I think I never even saw it here.
I first played it when it was possible to emulate the game at like 5 frames a second, and it didn't even show things correctly. I thought it was going to be good once it was emulated better, but it turned out, it was just not fun. Music was great though!

Sega Genesis or Sega Saturn version?

The game has one big problem, and that was the controls; hard to move Sonic around the map.

 

Sonic R has that song.... "Super Sonic Racing", which is.... getting stuck in my head all the time!

I played the genesis version. I feel like a good chunk of that game for me was trying to figure out what I was even supposed to do lol.I was a kid when I played it so I thought it would of had more direction lol. Sonic R is where I definitely struggled with controlling the characters. Loved the music out of Sonic R though. Especially this one

I’d always hope they would have redone Knuckles Chaotix and made it like Sonic,Sonic 2 and Sonic 3. The whole rubber band thing with the characters was so hard to control/figure out. I watched a full let’s play of the game on YouTube since I never got hardly anywhere playing it myself. I didn’t like the way they did the special stages in the game either. I did find it cool how Espio changed colors though.