Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Developer:

Sega Technical Institute

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Release Date:

1994

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Systems:

Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, PC

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm wondering why Sonic 3 & Knuckles has you selecting menu options with a shoe. That's not normal.

You might be wondering why this beautiful looping GIF is missing the horrifying slowdown when the 3D Sonic swoops in. The answer is: it bothered me and I wanted it gone. I did my best to make it true to what the designers intended it to look like though. The game's later releases on more powerful consoles tend to come with authentic emulated slowdown, but the Saturn version included with with Sonic Jam is a proper port, so I used that as a reference to fix the timing. Now the only thing wrong with my GIF is that it's not a video, so I can't hear it say "SEGA!"

Anyway, I'm playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the fourth (and fifth) of the 16-bit Mega Drive/Genesis Sonic platformers! I already covered the first Sonic the Hedgehog back in 2011, but I decided to skip Sonic 2 because it's too similar, and Sonic CD frightens and confuses me. Also, it's Sonic 3's 30th birthday today... in the EU (it came out a few weeks earlier in the US).

Sonic 3 & Knuckles came in two parts released 8 months apart, with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 featuring the first set of levels and the save RAM, and Sonic & Knuckles featuring the second half of the levels and a connector to (optionally) join the two cartridges together. It's like plugging in a Game Genie, except instead of getting cheats you get an expansion pack. It's not the first time two standalone games could be combined like this, DOS game Might and Magic: World of Xeen got there first, but this did it with hardware. And then basically nothing copied it. It remains pretty much unique as far as I'm aware.

The reason it was released in such a weird way is because they had a Happy Meal promotion and TV ad campaign deadline and they were only going to get half the game finished in time. They still charged full price for it though! Personally, I think the lock-on feature was a genius move, as it gave the game some novelty, especially when people learned that it could be combined with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as well! Plus it turned out to be a crucial part of any serious collector's Tower of Power, along with the 32X... another piece of add-on hardware that didn't catch on.

Right, I'm going to give the game an hour or so and write about it. I have played it before, but honestly I think an hour is going to take me well further than anything I've seen before.

Blinx: The Time Sweeper (Xbox)

Developer:

Artoon

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Release Date:

2002

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Systems:

Xbox

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing a game about a cat called Blinx: The Time Sweeper. I gave guest poster mecha-neko plenty of chances to be the one to write this, I know he's a cat person, but he decided to pass so now I'm stuck with it. But there is a good reason why this has to be this particular game on this particular day.

It's because today is the Xbox's 20th birthday and I'm covering an original Xbox exclusive to celebrate! I needed to select a game that was never released on PC but could be played on an Xbox One to make it easier for me to get good screenshots, and once I narrowed my list down to games I could get hold of easily there was only one name left on it. But I think this was probably the best possible choice; I mean it's even got "Only on Xbox" written on the title screen, how perfect is that?

Oh plus it had to be on a 'top ten' list somewhere, that was also important seeing as that's Super Adventures' gimmick this year. Fortunately I found the game on videogamer.com's Top 10 Most Disappointing Console Exclusives. I suppose poor Blinx is probably on a 'Top 10 Failed Mascot Characters' list somewhere as well, seeing as Microsoft straight up abandoned the trademark in 2015. That's not entirely fair though, as he's actually doing pretty well these days as the mascot for the Poorly Aged Things twitter account.

The game's by Japanese developer Artoon, which had a pretty mixed output, with lots of red and yellow scores on their Metacritic page. Though they did also create Blue Dragon and The Last Story with Mistwalker. Unfortunately that really was their last story, as they went defunct in 2010. It was directed by Naoto Ohshima, the legendary character designer who came up with Sonic the Hedgehog. He also directed Sonic CD and Nights into Dreams... and his latest project was designing characters for Balan Wonderworld. So Blinx is actually part of a pretty, uh, remarkable lineage.

Anyway I'm going to give it an hour or so and see what it's like.

Sonic Generations (PC)

Developer:

Sonic Team

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Release Date:

2011

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Systems:

Xbox 360, PS3, Windows

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing Sonic Generations, which is something like the 73rd or 74th Sonic game I think. Somewhere around there.

The reason I'm mentioning this is because this year I'm (mostly) writing about games that have made it onto someone's top 10 list. So when I say this reached #9 on Polygon's The Best 12 Sonic Games Ranked list, you can picture how many games it had to defeat. Sonic's Schoolhouse, Tails' Skypatrol, Sonic Kart 3D X... none of these games could stand against Sonic Generations' might.

Here's some more trivia about the game: it was the first mainline Sonic game to make it to Windows PCs since Sonic Heroes 7 years earlier, it has nothing to do with the movie Star Trek: Generations, and it was made to celebrate Sonic's 20th anniversary.

Oh, plus it's 10 years old, as it's Sonic's 30th anniversary today... which means it came out the same year that Super Adventures started now that I think about it.

I've never been the biggest Sonic fan to be honest, I usually get bored of the games after a level or two, but I've actually finished Sonic Generations before. You'll have to keep reading if you want to know what I think about it though. Or you could just scroll down to the end I suppose, but then you'd be missing out on all the screenshots, many of them with whole paragraphs of text underneath!

Brian the Lion Starring In: 'Rumble In The Jungle' (Amiga) - Guest Post

This week on Super Adventures, mecha-neko has returned to tell you a tale about a lion, called Brian.

Developer:

Reflections

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Release Date:

1994

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Systems:

Amiga 500, 1200, CD32

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Ray and I have played more than a few mascots and almost-mascots for the Amiga, but it's time to show you the last, and best. Introducing Brian the Lion.

Punky Skunk (PSX)

Developer:

Ukiyotei

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Release Date:

1998 (96 in Japan)

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Systems:

PlayStation

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing another mascot platformer! Because they take less time than trying to figure out a strategy game or get anywhere in an RPG and I'm trying to keep these posts coming out weekly.

Punky Skunk's been on my 'to play' list for a long while now, so long that I can't even remember if I ever knew what it is. I do know that the internet hates it though, as poor Punky's turned up on Game Informer's 'Worst Character Names' list, EGM's worst mascot list and IGN's 'Great Games With Silly Names' article... as an example of a game that really does suck as badly as its title suggests.

To be fair you know you've hit the bottom of the mascot barrel when you've reached 'skunk'. No one wants to play as a skunk, punky or otherwise (that's why Pepé Le Pew never got a game). Also the title screen isn't exactly giving the best first impression. All the dithering and scruffy lines makes it look like they scanned it in but didn't have time to clean it up afterwards. It's basically the same as the box art though so I suppose Punky's face is meant to look like it's been scribbled in a notebook.

Okay I'm going to keep playing until I've beaten the first boss, or died trying, or gnawed my own hands off, whichever happens first.

Mr. Nutz: Hoppin' Mad (Amiga) - Guest Post

Hello everyone!

It's a cold and windy winter night here in mecha-neko-land, so I'm back with a Christmas present of sorts to warm you all up. It's called Mr. Nutz: Hoppin' Mad!

This is a 90s platformer which I'd thought had fallen through the cracks and never got a release. I saw a few previews of it in Amiga magazines, tons of adverts and then nothing at all. There were Mr. Nutzes for the SNES, Mega Drive and even the Game Boy, so I thought the Amiga had just been left behind. But in fact we did get Mr. Nutz right on time in 1994, well after everybody knew the Amiga was toast, as a small gift for the loyal or desperate few.

It's an Amiga 500 game though, so you might want to pack up whatever few expectations you have left right now.

That said, this is one swish title screen. Uncompromising. Nutz in your face, followed by a fist.

Boy, I could have described that better for sure.

Quik the Thunder Rabbit (Amiga)

I'm done with those 'P' games now for the year so today I'm finally moving onto 'Q', starting with 1994 Amiga platformer Quik the Thunder Rabbit; not to be confused with other Amiga games like Quik n' Silva or Qwak. Or the Nesquik Bunny for that matter.

The logo up there's kind of weird as it implies Quik will be a mechanical construct with a red helmet, the Mega Man of lagomorphs, but he's nothing like that. I've only played the game before very briefly, but I know enough about it to know that I won't be playing as a robot rabbit. He's called 'The Thunder Rabbit' because he's fast as lightning (or a well known console mascot hedgehog), not because he runs off electricity or has the powers of Thor or anything like that.

Fire and Ice (Amiga)

And the final 'F' game I'll be playing this year shall be... Fire and Ice, AKA. Fire & Ice: The Daring Adventures of Cool Coyote according to the front of the box. It's entirely unrelated to the 1993 NES puzzle game Fire 'n Ice in case that's something you were wondering about.

Amiga Power once described this game as being "Magic Pockets, but fast and good", so I'm expecting great things from it. Actually I've played this one loads of times and I already know exactly what its like, I'm just playing it for nostalgia or whatever, but I won't spoil what my opinion of it is just yet.

Crash Bandicoot (PSX)

Today's 'C' game is Naughty Dog's PlayStation platformer pioneer Crash Bandicoot, or as I call it Banjo Kazooie. I dunno why I do that, the games aren't even all that similar as far as I know, I just continually end up saying the wrong name without fail and it's kind of annoying. So if you catch me slipping up, let me know in a comment and I'll get it sorted out. Seriously.

It should be noted that I haven't played a lot of early 3D platformers, so there's a giant black hole within my heart where my nostalgia should be. But that's fine! It means I can look at the game unbiased and unburdened by things like accumulated skills and experience, with no way to get sidetracked comparing it other games in the genre. If you're after 30 screenshots of a low polygon bandicoot falling down the first bottomless pit in the game, you're definitely reading the right article.

Sonic Adventure 2 (PC)

Today I've been forced (well, asked nicely) to take a look at Sonic Adventure 2, which is something like the 30th of the Sonic games if you count the spin-offs, but the very last to be released on a Sega console. Not that I'll be playing the Dreamcast version; I'm actually going to be checking out the Windows port released a mere 11 years later.

Even before its started it's already proven to be a massive disappointment to me: it didn't have the 'say-gah' jingle at the start.

Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel (SNES)

Today I'm having a brief go at Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel by Turok developers Iguana. This is actually a spin-off of mascot platformer Aero the Acro-Bat, which I don't recall being very fond of. Though I played the game two years ago so all I remember of it now is the clowns... so many clowns.

Donk! The Samurai Duck! (Amiga) - Guest Post

! ! !

Bubsy is 3D in "Furbitten Planet" (PSX) - Guest Post

It's time for everybody's favourite video game cat! And he's playing Bubsy 3D!

There are no words for what the title screen music sounds like. No, wait, it sounds broken. (YouTube link).

Aero the Acro-Bat (Genesis/Mega Drive)

How does a bat end up in the circus anyway?

Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales (Jaguar)

They could have gone with 'furry tails' but they didn't have the nerve to commit to a pun of that magnitude. 'Fractured Furry Tails' has a very different meaning now that I think about it, but it'll be just as fitting after I'm through with the guy.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis/Mega Drive)

GOOD RETRO GAME WEEK, day 7.

That logo's not messing around. Chrome text, a ribbon, stars, wings, and Sonic himself waving at us in the center.

Plus the Sonic theme is excellent.

Knuckles' Chaotix (32X)

I'm really sorry you had to see this.