You Haven't Seen the Last of Me (Burlesque SAGE 2020: SONIC SPEED COURSE IS A TWIST ON A SNES CLASSIC
There’s certainly no shortage of creative ideas among the fanbase, but a game concept I bet nobody ever saw coming was a cross-over between Sonic the Hedgehog and a lesser known Kirby game for the Super Nintendo! Enter: Sonic Speed Course.
If you’re unfamiliar with Kirby’s Dream Course, here’s the scoop: it’s basically a more interactive game of golf with a Kirby backdrop, with special items and enemies to bump into, all from an isometric camera angle. The object of the game is to clear all the enemies on the board and to exit the stage before you run out of energy.
Now, take that concept and replace all the Kirby content with cute, low-poly Sonic and friends… you essentially get Sonic Speed Course. That’s the short version, anyway. This is one of the more interesting projects I’ve played, and I have to say that I enjoyed it! Unlike most Sonic games, this one demands patience and strategy, which might go against the grain for most Sonic fans; that said, it’s a fun time all around if you’re willing to sit down and learn all the gameplay caveats.
Sonic Speed Course is one of many non-conventional fangames available at SAGE this year, and you can check it out at it’s booth at SFGHQ. Stay tuned for more coverage!
SONIC TALK PODCAST, EPISODE 76: THE YEAR OF LUIGI OF SONIC
This episode: Sonic on Series S, and Ian Flynn’s 15th Anniversary
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The Great Podcast Catch-Up pushes towards the finish with this episode from March 2021!
Shigs puts his Xbox Series S through its paces with a bunch of backwards compatible Sonic games, and walks away quite impressed! Nuckles attempts to be the last surviving Mario with Mario 35, and GX roguelikes his way into the lighthearted Dicey Dungeon.
News this month was headlined by the start of filming for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, classic Sonic cartoons hitting Paramount Plus, and most importantly, the announcement of Sonic Prime. We wrap things up with a hearty heap of Ian Flynn talk as he hits 15 years working on Sonic comics.
- 00:45 Intro
- 04:16 Super Mario 35
- 11:44 Dicey Dungeon
- 19:37 Sonic on Xbox Series S
- 27:38 Sonic 2 movie starts filming
- 31:24 IDW Sonic Anniversary comic and upcoming arcs
- 36:27 Sega teases upcoming announcements
- 40:43 Sonic: The Card Game announced
- 46:22 Team Sonic Racing arrives on Luna
- 78:43 Sonic now streaming on Paramount Plus
- 51:34 Sonic Prime crew announced
- 56:29 Next SAGE and Sonic Hacking Contest announced
- 57:23 Ian Flynn’s 15th anniversary writing Sonic
Peace, all, and until next episode!
YUJI NAKA IS NO LONGER WORKING AT SQUARE ENIX
Unfortunately, Balan Wonderworld didn’t have the success that Square Enix hoped for. And unfortunately for Yuji Naka, the game’s director and the former head of Sonic Team, the result has been that he is no longer working at Square Enix.
The news isn’t all that surprising. In fact, Yuji Naka himself said last year that Balan Wonderworld was his “one chance” to make a 3D platformer with the company. And it really seemed that keeping his job there as going to depend on the game doing well.
But, sadly, the game not only failed to get good reviews, but the game also did poorly with sales. And, sadly, less than 3 months after the game released, Yuji Naka confirmed the news on his Facebook page by updating his work info:
In fact, according to his Facebook page, it seems his time at the company ended on April 30th, just a little over a month after the game’s release, and over 3 years after he had been originally hired.
So, what is next for him? Well, that is hard to say. His own studio, Prope, had been reduced to a one-man company a couple of years ago, and it hasn’t released a game in half a decade. Time ill tell what Yuji Naka does next, but all of us at Sonic Stadium wish him the best!
