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They say time flies when you’re having fun but this is crazy. Can’t believe it has been this long. Seems like yesterday when I was enjoying what would be my favorite Sega Genesis game.

Words cannot represent the enjoyment and excitement I felt when I first popped in the cartridge and began playing. As the Tails fan I became with Sonic 2, I had to play as him since the beginning.

Many things to love about this fantastic epic, the first one is being able to save your progress with no shortage of save slots. Not only you can continue on the last zone you left, but can replay previously completed zones. Music compositions are a delight, really capture the each zone’s atmosphere.

Playability just kept getting better with new movements and powerups. This is the first time Tails had the ability to fly and swim.

It really felt like a big adventure in a big world and at the time I didn’t know that just “half” of it.

Following up on my post about the Sonic X Japanese dub with English subtitles Blu-Ray collection.

I’m just done re watching (originally watched them in Japanese from April 2003 to March 2004) the first 52 episodes of Sonic X. I didn’t watch episodes 26 and 52 from the Blu Ray because of the missing Off Course songs, while I can understand Discotek did what they could given the circumstances, that’s not the way I remember those episodes so my OG Xbox was of great help there.

Some of my favorite moments form seaosn 1:

10. Episode 47: Cream and Tails playing Jenga.

9. Episode 2: “Shit, 行くぞ” Yup Sonic cursed.

8. Episode 9: Sonic wearing the good luck charm Amy made for him.

7. Episode 30: Tails disarming the bomb. Straight from Sonic Adventure, Tails becomes a city hero.

6. Episode 24: Amy gently blowing Sonic’s ear.

5. Episode 5: Sonic vs Knuckles. Classic Eggman tricking Knuckles into fighting Sonic.

4. Episode 35: Sonic vs Shadow at Prison Island.

3. Episode 50: Tails and Chuck good bye.

2. Episode 34: Shadow finally appears in Sonic X. Finally after months of only seeing him in the intro, the ultimate life form appears in the show.

1. Episode 52. The SonAmy scene. She was willing to wait for Sonic even if it meant reaching old age (she said baachan). If that’s not real love then I don’t know what the heck that is. Really touching. If you excuse me I think I got something in my eye.

 

 

 

Recently I got this collection https://amzn.to/3N2nJOI . A must have (especially) for those of us who originally watched the series in Japanese. At least for me who watched it each week back in 03/04. These would be aired in Japan each Sunday, if memory serves well, the raw was released on Monday and a two or three days later the fan subbed episode was released in all their 320×240 Real Player glory.

 

Video quality is as good as it gets, 480i SD (which looks good on a CRT TV, pictures don’t do it justice) with your choice of 2.0 or 5.1 Japanese audio with English subtitles. The idea of them releasing it in Blu-ray I guess is the convenience of only dealing with two discs. Personally I would have preferred the “inconvenience” of multiple DVDs, no biggie, just a matter of hooking up a really old Blu-ray player with composite output to my CRT TV.

A minor issue I found is related to the insert tracks (by OFF COURSE) on episodes 26 (Kotoba ni Dekinai) and 52 (Natsu no Hi and Midori no Hibi). Just today I watched episode 26, so instead of playing it from the disc I just played the original broadcast episode using my OG Xbox. When the time comes I’ll do the same, or for the sake of nostalgia will use my Win98 PC.

Other than that all is great, all 78 episodes are there plus a few extras on disc 2.

Regarding the Metarex saga, this would be the first time I watch it in Japanese in its entirety. As we know, it wasn’t originally aired in Japanese TV back in ’05. Back then, I watched it in French and I remember it being quite an exciting experience.

 

 

 

 

 

Some people say sequels are not as good as the original. This was one of the exceptions, as it exceeded the original. What can I say that hasn’t been said in the past 30 years? Awesome graphics, soundtrack, controls, challenge, well, awesome everything.

One more time our hero Sonic the Hedgehog is set on an adventure to defeat his nemesis Dr Robotnik and help his friends. But this time he is not alone, sidekick Miles “Tails” Prower is here to help.

Or… you could just play as Sonic or Tails alone.

Game has plenty of variety, you still have to finish it in one sitting so make sure to obtain continues. Special stages are located at checkpoints instead of at the end of each act (they kinda remind me of Stunn Runner), collect the required rings (or more) before the end of each segment and if you survive you get a chaos emerald. Not only you’ll get to see the “good” ending if you collect all 7 of them (yup more than its predecessor) but also Sonic will be able to transform in “Super Sonic” (obviously inspired from Dragon Ball Z).

Ok, that’s it for now. Thanks to everyone involved in creating such a brilliant game, game that kept us occupied for countless hours and passed the test of time. Here’s to another 30 years of Sonic and Tails.

The game is too elaborated for its own good. It is a good “open world” game but for some (myself included) it just doesn’t fit Sonic. Graphics are very good but wouldn’t say great. Controls are fluid but at the same time things are over complicated, too many moves to learn. The music is excellent, a work of art if you want, unfortunately some tunes are more fitting of another franchise.

After playing for about an hour and 40 minutes I don’t feel I’m making much progress, after the initial cut scene I haven’t seen Amy and Tails for example and only one Eggman cutscene has been triggered.

The game does not feel fast. The amount of collecting, searching and unlocking, some times it feels like a chore. Unfortunately the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive (like the emperor’s new clothes), I’m afraid this open world mechanic could be the future of the series, if that is the case then I’m out.

30 years ago Sonic’s sidekick and best buddy Miles “Tails” Prower made his debut. The game was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Master in Europe and Brazil. He wasn’t playable on said game, his actual playable debut would come the following month on the Genesis. Anyways, thanks to Judy Totoya for coming up with such an awesome character, a character who has been inspiration for many. About 20+ years I made website (in spanish) in his honor here’s the link to the archived site.

Read this article https://hackinformer.com/2022/05/25/hardware-review-krzysiocarts-flashcarts-for-nes-famicom/

I’m glad to see not only these are still being made but improvements were also being made (the ability to save progress in Kirby, Zelda, etc) and there is an NES version.

I bought one of the first ones made years ago, it no longer works unfortunately, but while it did it, it was pretty fun to use with my Retro USB AVS. And while no ED, tons of games work including hacks and homebrews.

I’ll see if I can pick another one.

I say even if you have an ED get one of these, you will be supporting a developer.

Link to the creator’s website http://krzysiobal.com/

 

Paperwork pending but I’m no longer a proud Saab owner. I sold my 2001 9-3 to my trusty mechanic, so I know it is in good hands. I’m gonna miss her but at the same time it was time to let her go. Good memories, lots of fun and lots of things learned these past four years.

If I decide to get another second car I’m sure it wont be as fun but certainly will be easier to maintain.

Anyways, farewell “Tigress” …

Been a while since I posted anything. This one will be brief, more like an exercise. I’ll list ten PC Engine CD games, the first ten that come to mind.

  1. Akumajo Dracula X
  2. Cotton
  3. Gate of Thunder
  4. Sapphire
  5. Renny Blaster
  6. Shubibinman 3
  7. Panic Bomber
  8. Star Parodier
  9. Bonks Adventure 3
  10. Advanced VG

There you go, the first 10 that came to mind.

Good night.

I’m writing this entry using my recently acquired brand new IBM Model M keyboard made in Scotland in 1997. I forgot how awesome these things were/are.

Not to mention the nostalgia factor. I remember those days writing essays in Professional Write (PW) on my Tek 8088 PC or even playing some games like Space Commanders, Alleycat, Chess, Digger, Centipede, etc.

The only key I’m missing is the windows key, I know Ctrl+Esc pulls the start menu which is something but other than that I’m missing some combos like Win+R. Using Sharpkeys I just remapped the right Alt key to the right Windows key. It is asking me to logout, so I’ll do it and let you know how it went.

Update: It worked! Pressing the right Alt behaves as if I’m pressing the Windows Key, shortcuts and everything.

Until the next entry.