Sonic The Hedgehog: A Legacy Of Brilliance From A Failed System - #VideoGame #Blog

Sonic maybe running around in different video game consoles, but that wasn't always the case...

These days, 'Sonic The Hedgehog' is known for the video games that have been done for such systems as, 'Playstation', or, 'Nintendo Wii', but before Sonic became mostly a secondary character on various cross-platform systems,  Sonic brought to prominence the, 'Sega Genesis', in the same way that, 'Mario' brought to prominence the, 'Nintendo'!

And speaking of that... 

Ok, so not only did Sonic help bring the, 'Sega Genesis' to prominence, but one of the other things that it did was to make Sega dominate the video game market from the early 1990s, really up to when Sony released the, 'Playstation', and Microsoft brought to the world, the, 'X-Box'! 

The Sega Genesis was so popular in the 1990s, that it gave, 'Nintendo' a run for it's money!

And yet another thing that Sonic really did kind of help do very well, was to do with merchandising and cartoons for the 90s, what Mario did for the 1980s! 

Now to speak about the series... Ok, so the fact is, is I have connected Sonic and Mario very close together, and the truth is, is that, 'Yes' they have some connection, but the truth is, is they are two very different video games and let me explain what I mean by this: 

1. Sonic is an animal in a world that has mostly animals in it. Mario is a human that was transported to a world with his brother that is sort of a mix of both humans and various animals. 

2. In the Mario games, the big bad is a dinosaur, while in Sonic The Hedgehog, the big bad is a human. 

3. In most of the Mario games, Mario and Luigi are trying to save a, 'Princess' and Sonic and Tails are trying to save the Animal populace of his world. 

Sonic & Mario have their similarities and differences, but in the end, one of the main things that they both did is to bring to prominence their respective video game systems they started off with, and the companies they came from!

Now as far as the franchise itself goes, Sonic The Hedgehog... The best things about this franchise, is that in no matter what platform the current, 'Sonic' game is under, the characters are always kid friendly, and the games are always fun for all ages... And the truth... Sega may have failed in it's video game system design, but the truth is, is Sonic will always translate to the next generation! 

Chrono Cross (2000) - Video Game Review

Official Score = 2 Devils

In Hollywood these days, one of the things that it seems like the studios are doing are making a sequels to movies that came out 20 or 30 years ago... Now I haven't seen all of these, but again I have to wonder... Why? I mean most of these sequels that are coming out generally seem to be majorly past their prime!

Now as for video games, I feel like video games have a shorter window of what could be considered to be an acceptable time frame between sequels and what not... And so that is just one of the reasons that I hate to say it, but I was pretty disappointed in: Chrono Cross (2000)!

A sort of a mixed bag...

Developed and Published by Square Enix, and released in Japan in 1999 and in America in 2000 for Sony's 'Playstion', this game tells the story of the character, 'Serge' who after discovering that there is a parallel world in which he dies, he goes out on a quest to find out where the divergence between the two realities happened!

Now I am going to be honest with you guys and say that this game is not horrible, it is actually a lot of fun! The  main problem that I personally had with it, is that Chrono Trigger was a truly amazing game, and as a sequel it was really disappointing... So much so that for me... It really detracted from the game itself... As a stand alone game though, this game was actually pretty fun!

Final Fantasy (1987) - Video Game Review

Official Score = 3 Devils 

When I was a kid, one of the things that I had really wanted was a video game system of my very own, I had found out about them because when I was still in school, one of the things that the Principal let us do, is they let one of the kids (who had, it seemed like most of the available video games, and systems of the mid 80s...) And so of course I really wanted one!

Well my mom wouldn't let me have one... Not sure exactly why, to much violence in video games I reckon (in the mid to late 80s, that was starting to become an issue for a lot of folks, especially when it came to their kids...)

Well to the least, my Dad ended up getting me a Nintendo (I know, I am starting to feel really old,) anyway he got that with a Basketball game that was fun, but another game that was pretty addicting to my dad when he first got it for me, and is still one of my favorite games... (Albeit more Fantasy the Science Fiction... But there is enough of that to make it count...) That game is Final Fantasy (1987)!

A classic!

Originally developed for the: Famicom, and which would later be released on the NES. MSX2, Wonderswan Color, Playstation, Gameboy Advance, various mobile phones over the years, PSP, Virtual Console as well as for the, 'Playstation Network' tells the story of how when fours warriors of light appear, each carrying orbs that kind of control the 4 elements (earth, wind, water & fire.)

Now these orbs are currently all dark, and so monsters and the like are being allowed to run rampant, and it is the mission of the Warriors Of Light to destroy the monsters, and to bring the Orbs back to life!

The fighting sequence may look a little lame... But what do you expect? I mean this game came out in 1987... And to this day is still a total blast! 

Now this game is a total blast, and I will say this, despite the fact that this game is old, it is still so good, that I myself am currently playing it on an old phone of mine that I kept just so that I could beat it!

The only problem with this game is this, the Final Fantasy series is known for the players getting in to a lot of moments when they are going to have to fight, and the first one is no different, the problem is, is this happens a little to much, to the point  where it can start to get a little irritating, and thus can make long term play a little rough!

Check it out, it maybe old, but it is fun!

The Evolution Of The Video Game Soundtrack: From Analog Music ThroughMovie Styled Video Game Soundtracks

A program used by Mac computers to create computer generated music.

Most people recognize that video game soundtracks in the modern day are becoming more and more like Movie or TV soundtracks... But before this really began to take shape, at the beginning of the world of video games... well as it turns out, most video games had computer generated music, and before that, Cassette or LP generated music.

Some of the music that has been computer generated... Well in the early days was pretty horrible, and well, if you really dig in to it, there are some truly fun scores (such as: Super Mario Bros. (Believe it or not, it is a fun soundtrack) and even Final Fantasy 7!)

To really understand this progression, lets really start with the progression of computer generated music (I mean after all, computer generated music is where video game music got it's start.)

In this case, the first computer to generate music was a computer called the, 'CSIRAC', (which stands for: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Automatic Computer.) Now I can give you all the technical jargon if you want (but that is probably not much use for what we are working toward in this blog.)

The earliest known computer to play music.

To say the least, this computer (which is one of the oldest first generation electronic computers ever built,) was built in Australia in the late 40s by Trevor Pearcy & Maston Beard and which in the early 50s would be programmed by a mathematician by the name of Geoff Hill to generate music.

Since then, there has been many advancements in the programming for computer generated music, leading up to, and for our purposes, the first video game to ever play computer generated music...

Now before I continue on I should also mention the direct predecessor to computer generated music for video games...

Like movies, in the case of video games, early video game music was played on independent systems separate from the video game itself.

You see, in the 1970s, when arcades were really having their Golden Age, video game music would be played in analogue form (on cassette tapes, or on LPs.) Well to say the least this proved to be unworkable, and the age of computer generated music was born!

You see, it turns out that a more workable solution for this was to insert a computer chip that would create music from electric impulses created from the games code in to analog music.

Well to say the least, starting with Gun Fight (1975)... A game which proved to be one of the earliest examples of computer generated music for games, we find video games getting better and better computer generated music... Leading to (what I would say), would be some great early computer generated music from such awesome NES games as (well besides what I mentioned above,) such stuff as: Contra (1987), Mega Man (1987) & even Castlevania (1987), to name a few!

Castlevania... A fun game, with a fun computer generated soundtrack! 

And you know what? This music just kept getting better and better, with the passage from, '8 Bit' games to, '16 Bit' games, as well as the advent of the first Playstation, etc... I am going to go so far as to say that the height of singularly computer created music format for video games was with the advent of the first, 'Playstation.'

Don't get me wrong, there has been a ton of fun video game soundtracks to come out before this, but some of the video game soundtracks that came out with the first playstation were truly... Amazing! A great example again is, Final Fantasy 7! I mean the music for this video game was truly prolific , to the point where one could have been said to be a, 'Computer Generated Opera!'

Now I don't exactly know when the change first started occurring (I unfortunately had a bit of an absence from the world of video games,) but I did notice that as time has gone on, and leading (at the very least up until the XBox 360,) that video game soundtracks have become less computer generated, and more like movie soundtracks!

Crackdown for the: XBox 360 is a great example of a video game that has an almost, 'movie' like sound track to it!

I reckon that as long as video games keep getting better and better and the lines between movies and video games get more and more blurred, that in the end, the soundtracks will as well!

For more information, please check out these examples:

Final Fantasy. An Evolution From, 'Fantasy' To, 'Sci-fi Fantasy'!

Final Fantasy 3 for the Super Nintendo (as seen above), is the first earliest example of a Final Fantasy game that has begun to make the transition from, 'Fantasy' to, 'Science Fiction/Fantasy'.

When I was younger I was one of the last people in my circle of friends to get a, 'Nintendo'... I think at least part of that maybe the fact that my Mom, (like a lot of other mom's out there,) probably thought that there was to much violence in the games that were being released, and thought it wise not to get one...

Well never-the-less, eventually I was able to get one from my Dad... So my Dad ends up picking up the video game system with one of the, 'Basketball' games that came out at the time, and a game that would be come one of my favorite video game series of all time... That game being, 'Final Fantasy.'

Now for me, I was pretty lucky, because my dad ended up playing it so much before he got it to me, that he ended up laminating the maps and the like (he did such a good job preserving these maps, that they were actually in mint condition up till an old friend of mine accidentally sold them about 10 years ago...

This game I would say is still one of the better Final Fantasy game to have ever come out!

Needless to say I was a little bit miffed about that... But it did show the importance that the game did hold, and still does hold for me... And you know what? Like most video game series, this series just kept getting better and better!

Well I can't say that entirely (I hate to say it but I never actually had the chance to play the sequel... But I did have the chance to play the third one... And hot damn was that a fun game!

You see, the first Final Fantasy game was a primarily, 'fantasy' game... And you know that was a total blast, I mean being able to fight demons and monster and big bads and all sorts of creepy crawleys... Well if you haven't tried it, then I would say do so... You won't regret it if you are a fan of ancient games!
Well when the third one came out, it was this awesome fusion of kind of both... The ancient fantasy style game that made the first one such an amazing great time, but with an added technological element, that not only made it even more exciting, but in the end, this nice fusion of both, really made it for a more epic story line!

To this day... Still a classic series!

But wait... There is more!

You see when Sony released the, 'Playstation', One of the games that was released on to this system was, 'Final Fantasy 7', and the truth is, is this game expanded on the concept of a, 'Science Fiction Fantasy' game even further!

Well, this one was a bit more Science Fiction then Fantasy, you see, in this game, you could almost see the fictionalized version of semi-modern day/futuristic cities... But with the characters that have to right the global wrong, they rely on stuff like, 'Magic', and swords and shields and what not (the stuff that made the fantasy aspect of this series so great,) but also more modern weaponry and the like!

This game is to the Sony, 'Playstation' what the first one was to Nintendo's, 'NES' and, 'Famicom'.

In the end, I hate to say it, but I haven't been in the position to play much more of these games (a situation I intend to rectify,) I mean I heard that there is potentially at least one game that brings together the heroes from the entire series together... But unfortunately I really don't know much more then that... I do hope though, they continued to use the whole, 'Sci-fi/Fantasy' aspect in more games... It was pretty fun!

The First Home Video Game System... wracked With Controversy

The Magnavox Odyssey... The video game system that started the revolution!

We all know video game systems like, 'The XBox One' or, 'The Playstation 4', but before that, and even before such classics as, 'The Sega Genesis', or the, 'Super Nintendo', or even before, 'The Atari 2600', or 'Commodore 64', there was a video game system that could be said to be either directly or indirectly the mother of every thing we as gamer's treasure in our current video game systems!

What I mean by this, is that the first home video game console, a video game console, which was released back in 1972, and which sold 100,000 games in it's first year was Magnavox's 'Odyssey'!

A blast from the past right... I mean when was the last time you bought something that had that label?

Two people playing one of the oldest video games ever made for a home console!

But the truth is, is that like every great innovation, there are others that will quickly come out with their own versions of it, trying to make it better...

Well the truth is, is rather it is right or wrong to do that, for everything to go ahead, we always need to be putting out better product right... Well with Magnavox being the first to make it in to the home video game market, they had competition almost immediately!

What I mean by this is that Magnavox started protecting what was theirs when they sued Atari for patent infringement, when Atari released, 'Pong' as it looked extremely similar to Magnavox's, 'Tennis' game...

The Odyssey's 'Tennis', and the Atari 2600's 'Pong'... 2 very similar games that caused some friction at the dawn of the home console games!

Well ultimately, they settled out of court, but in the following years they would end up suing other big name companies such as: Mattel, Coleco, Seeburg & Activision... They would either win or settle these cases!

Ultimately, 'The Odyssey' line would continue to come out with fresh consoles until 1978, when, 'The Odyssey 2' was released... Now apparently this was the first of it's type to be a fully programmable system... Since then, in 1997, an emulator was created for the Odyssey 2...

This system may have ended up having a little bit of a checkered past... But you can't beat the first of it's kind, and the generations of boy and girls that have been entertained because that system will continue on for generations to come!

Five Classic Racing Games From The Past

The 80s saw a major burst in to the mainstream of video games that of racing  games... But it wasn't until the 90s that I would say that these types of video games reached their apex! What I mean by this is that racing games from back in the 80s and 90s were some of the best games to have been released ever.

Don't get me wrong, I imagine there are some good first person racing games that have come out since the new millennium, but the problem is, is that there is just something that is not right about having a first person view of a racing game that you don't control with a steering wheel control, and the truth is is that none of these games from back then really put that type of pretension out there!

So I thought that you guys might enjoy a list of some of the classics that really made racing games great from back then!

At number 5: Excitebike (1985):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320"] Excitebike is one of those games that helped make racing games popular.[/caption]

 

For more information on this game, please enjoy this scene from the classic Nintendo game: Excitebike (1985):

http://youtu.be/k6UZC7nXRHM

At number 4: F-Zero (1991):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="333"] F-Zero... Can you say awesome?[/caption]

 

For more information on this game, please, (click here:) other wise, please check out this scene from the classic Super Nintendo game: F-Zero (1991):

http://youtu.be/2T5u9nD_I0I

At number 3: Rock N' Roll Racing (1993):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="354"] A classic racing game with a brutal twist![/caption]

 

For more information on this game, please, (click here:) other wise,  please check out this scene from the classic Super Nintendo game: Rock N' Roll Racing (1993):

http://youtu.be/1sPrZW2wXP4

At number 2: Super Mario Kart (1992):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] This game is a true classic that has spawned its own separate legacy and franchise from it's parent game, 'Super Mario Bros.'[/caption]

For more information on this game, please check out this scene from the classic Super Nintendo game: Super Mario Kart (1992):

http://youtu.be/sZkxJhsP384

At number 1: The Need For Speed (1994):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320"] This is one of the first games that I thought had a better first person racing style then any of the other games to come out before it.[/caption]

For more information on this game, please check out this scene from the classic Playstation game: The Need For Speed (1994):

http://youtu.be/H3ArDaEEMxk

5 Classic Japanese Commercials For 5 Classic Video Game Systems

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="427"] Nintendo is one of the most historically relevant video game manufacturers of all time... Most of the video games & consoles that we all grew up with had their beginning largely in Japan![/caption]

You know, most people may not know this, but for most of the 20th century, and even today (although not as much today, as it had been in the past), but Japan was the dominating force behind Video Games and their consoles...

Nintendo is a great example of this... Even though, 'Nintendo' and it's accompanying video games and consoles are all over the world, and are still a dominating force in American Video Gamming... The company was formed in Japan with just about all of the generations of their video games originating in Japan.

Sega is another good example of this, It is true that Sega doesn't really do video game consoles anymore, but they still do video games, and just about all of that also has it's roots in Japan as well!

So I thought that it might be fun to see, 5 Classic Japanese Commercials For 5 Classic Video Game Systems:

Color TV Game (1977 - 1980):

http://youtu.be/hvEQIjSNbv8

Famicom (1983 - 2003):

http://youtu.be/2Ll4XbatNB4

Sega: Master System (1986 - 1996):

http://youtu.be/DHReBmIKscs

Atari 2600 (1977 - 1992):

http://youtu.be/0YLwftwWZlQ

Playstation (1994 - 2006):

http://youtu.be/BEuBYE6je_U

5 Great Soundtracks From 5 Classic Video Games From 5 Classic Video Game Consoles

It is an unfortunate stereotype that most of the time people associate older video game music with computer generated sounds that didn't have any vision or originality to it... This couldn't be further from the truth! As a matter of fact I would say that these unsung geniuses actually deserve a lot of credit for assembling some truly amazing music for people to enjoy while playing their video games!

I learned this one day, when I was writing a guest blog and I happened to stumble on to the original, 'Contra' soundtrack from the original NES video game from the 1980s! So I thought that would be kind of fun to discuss here, '5 Great Songs From 5 Classic Video Games From 5 Classic Video Game Consoles.'

At number 5: Contra (1987) for the NES:

http://youtu.be/O04bPRzqEEk

At number 4: Sonic The Hedgehog (1991) for the Sega Genesis:

http://youtu.be/cDd_GlynA6A

At Number 3: Super Mario Mario World (1990) for the Super Nintendo:

http://youtu.be/R0aoqbDNKaA

At Number 2: Earthworm Jim Special Edition (1994) for the Sega CD:

http://youtu.be/VCbEBGcPagA

At number 1: Final Fantasy VII (1997) Composed By: For the Playstation:

http://youtu.be/l-EH6r9sSmQ

I hope you enjoyed these soundtracks, and I hope that it gives you a bigger insight in to how awesome some of these video game soundtracks truly were!

Resident Evil (1996) - Video Game Review

[caption id="attachment_385" align="alignright" width="353"] Official Score = 2 Devils[/caption]

When I was a kid, my mother generally was not particularly thrilled with the fact that I played video games, or the type of video games that I really enjoyed playing... I don't know why this was...

I mean I know that some mother's don't like the violence in video games, and the perceived effects that it has on kids... (Trust me when I say that, that, along with the concepts that violence in media translates in to crime in the real world is a bunch of bullshit... I personally have been a horror movie/video game fan for almost my entire life, and I think anyone who uses video games for their own launching pad for becoming violent, has some more deep seeded issues to work out then playing a video game...) Another reason that mother's may not be particular fans of these video games is because oft times they can be derogatory toward women (the first time I saw something like this was with scantily clad and naked women on the video game, 'Duke Nukem 3D'...

Well what ever the reason, I ended up having to play a lot of the video games that I enjoyed at a friends house because I always seemed to be about one step behind the trend... And that is how I got to play, 'Resident Evil' (1996)!

Now, this video game which was developed and published by, 'Capcom' for the, 'Playstation' as well as eventually other mediums, told the story of how an elite para-military commando team by the name of, 'S.T.A.R.S. ends up after being abandoned by the Helicopter Pilot that was supposed to rescue them, run in to a mansion that is supposed to be abandoned, in an attempt to get away from seriously dangerous dogs...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="620"] This mansion doesn't seem to be as abandoned everyone believes![/caption]

Once inside though the team ends up sort of breaking up and as they investigate this seemingly abandoned mansion... As they are making their way through the mansion, they will find something out about the, 'Umbrella Corporation' that no one on Earth will ever forget!

[caption id="attachment_2083" align="aligncenter" width="600"] These guys are about to be in a world of hurt that no one will ever forget![/caption]

In the end, this video game is fun, I mean it was the first game of it's type that I had ever seen that I had really enjoyed! But the truth is, is I didn't like the controls all of that much and in all truth I found this game to be a little underdeveloped in the graphics area, as well as how the bad guys were programmed... Fortunately this would be handled in subsequent games!

In the end though, if you are looking for a kick ass, Horror/Shooter game to get in to... I would say start with this one... I mean this game may not be the best in the world, but it started a franchise that I truly don't think that anyone will ever forget!

http://youtu.be/bdrbLeTx-xM

Flagship Video Games And Their Importance To The Systems They Help Sustain

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="470"] 'Halo'... A classic video game that has proven to be a, 'flagship game' for Microsoft's, 'XBox' video game consoles![/caption]

Over the decades now there have been quite a few video game systems and a slowly growing number of companies that are producing these systems that have such relevance in the pop culture of that time... But what is it that holds their sustainability as well as it does? What keeps throngs of people of most ages coming back for more? Well I am going to have to say that it is the flagship game that is keeping these systems and the companies that build them afloat...

What is a flagship game you ask?

Well simply put, in the Navy a flagship is a ship that distinguishes itself from the rest, (you know, bigger, faster, stronger, or whatever,) and a.'Flagship Video Game' does that for the system it represents, and is so popular that it helps cement the company that makes it for life!

A great example of this is, 'Super Mario Bros.' (1983), this game was so popular that it extremely out paced the competition (including the original, 'Donkey Kong' game, a game which was the first to ever to feature a, 'Mario Bro.')

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Super Mario Bros. (1983), a game which helped make the, 'Nintendo' video game consoles the consoles they are today![/caption]

Since the release of, 'Super Mario Bros.', Nintendo has been a force not to be messed with, both in Japan, and North America, having outlasted all of the Video Game companies that have come before it, and maintaining itself in the current world of Video Gaming between, 'Sony' (with the, 'Playstation') and, 'Microsoft' (with the XBox)!

And as long as, 'Mario' &, 'Luigi' and the rest of the, 'Koopa Troopa' maintain their popularity amongst fans of almost any age at this point, Nintendo will remain a force not to be messed with for ever!

That was an aged veteran of a Flagship game, I thought that I would mention a newer one that I thought that you guys might find to be interesting, and that is of, 'Master Chief' from the, 'Halo' series, and what that series has done for really the world of gaming in the whole!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] Master Chief as he is about to kick as in the, 'Halo' video game series, A, 'Flagship video game' for Microsoft's, 'XBox' video game consoles![/caption]

You see, at the time that the, 'XBox' was first released it had some very stiff competition... What I mean by that is that this gaming system was released in 2001, during a time in which, 'Playstation' had already proved itself, having just released its second generation system, and had to go up against 2 seasoned vets like, 'Nintendo' and, 'Sega' (both of whom had by this point, several generations of Video Game systems that had been out for decades, and in which Nintendo was currently marketing their, 'Nintendo Game Cube' and Sega, (which unfortunately would end up being on their final video game system,) would be marketing the, 'Sega Dreamcast'...)

Well, the Xbox ended up doing so well, and with their flagship game like, 'Halo' it was no wonder that they were able to survive, and not only did they survive well, but I would personally say that the, 'Xbox' and, 'Halo' are probably the best of their kind to have been released in the millennium!

Unfortunately though, this would knock Sega out of making consoles (which is a shame seeing as their video consoles and the games that went with them were so much fun!) But for many years though, their video game consoles with the help of their Flagship video game, 'Sonic The Hedgehog', were so popular that I would say that they were barely out matched by, 'Super Mario Bros.' and the various Nintendo video game systems that beat them!

If you were born in the 1980s or before, you might remember the good old days, when you used to sit and run all over that Island as, 'Sonic' as you tried to capture the, 'Chaos Emeralds' from the evil, 'Dr. Robotnik' and his goons that were trying to destroy his world on the, 'Sega Genesis' int he video game, 'Sonic The Hedgehog', and some of the successor games and systems in Sega's repertoire of Video game consoles and games of the time!

[caption id="attachment_1743" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Sonic The Hedgehog is such a popular character and game that even after, 'Sega' stopped making video game consoles, 'Sonic' has still continued on strong![/caption]

 As a matter of fact, their Flagship Video game was so popular, that after Sega stopped making video game consoles and switched over to making Video Games for other companies, 'Sonic The Hedgehog' has continued to be an extremely popular character and video game!

So in the end the question is... Does the Video Game Console make gaming fun, or is it the Video Game that makes gaming fun... Well I will say that obviously that the system does help, but in the end I think it is the video game that makes the experience worth it!

http://youtu.be/xkD7L2QFwR0

http://youtu.be/5A54A2OoNoo

http://youtu.be/v0kHiEME0Vk