Obscure Origin stories: Sonic The Hedgehog

It’s funny that a lot of the real origin stories for beloved characters remain buried under years of speculation, when the truth is out there lurking, hidden in the brush, but there nonetheless for those who will look for it.

It’s in there, go ahead, don’t be a wimp!

Well this time I’ve searched the depths of the “Internet” to bring you the origin story of one SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. Ok to be honest I read it in a comic book when I was younger but I didn’t fully remember all of the details so I DID search the internet a little. It was released as an advertisment/mini comic book.

I actually like the story. It has Sonic starting off on his homeworld of Mobius, that’s the name of the place every Sonic game takes place. Well, until perhaps 1998 whenthey revamped the story for Sonic Adventure, however this origin story still fits.

In the beginning of the comic Sonic is being chased by one Dr. Ivo Robotnik AKA Eggman. Sonic is too fast which leads Eggman to crash his ship in his haste to catch him. Sonic then attacks all of the Badniks he has with him, releasing the animals inside. After Eggman flees the other animals suggest they should go see Dr. Ovi Kintobor surely the good doctor could help sort this guy out? No silly animals don’t you see what they did there? With the names? Dr Ovi Kintobor is just Dr. Ivo Robotnik spelled backwards!

Right so how did this happen? How did Ovi become Ivo? Well without further delay, here’s the full comic I dug out of the internet just for my too cool readers!

I actually really like this story. It explains why he’s collecting the rings and why he’s this bright blue color. The fact that Eggman is contributing to his own terrible condition by making Sonic drop the rings he’s only collecting to help him is great in my eyes. I’m a sucker for tragic bad guys and heroes who want nothing more than to save them(i.e Batman and two face’s relationship in the animated series). If you didn’t know the origin to Sonic before, well, now you know!

Oh also there’s something floating around called the Sonic Bible which is basically the same story but its a novel and talks more about Sonic’s family. I might upload that later if you guys want me too :).
Thanks For reading!

Sincerely,

Brian Bell-Wiseguy Industries

Toy Story Sega Genesis Review

I got a Sega Genesis rather late in the game…and by late I mean Dreamcast was out. Oh well I loved it nonetheless because my parents were awesome enough to get me one for my birthday. With it came Ms. Pacman, Jurassic Park, Sonic Spinball, and Toy story. I’ll get to the other games later I promise, but now we are on Toy Story, focus people focus!

This is a game by Disney Interactive Studios. It came out in April of 1996 on SNES, Sega Genesis, and PC. These versions were pretty much identical save one or two levels that Sega threw in so this review could technically cover those systems as well. First things first lets get to the story!

STORYLINE

So if you don’t know this storyline…Randy Newman’s piano gently weeps for your childhood. However I will give you the basis you sad misguided individual (Seriously why are you still here? Go watch this its 2013! Are you back? Great wasn’t it? You’ve got two more movies, the last one makes grown men cry, have fun). For the rest of you, the game storyline is exactly the same as the movie. Moving on to-

CAST OF CHARACTERS 

Woody-The main character that you will control. His basic functions are pretty easy to grasp. A or C to jump and B to use his drawstring as a whip. This can disrupt flight patterns and tie up other enemies. 

Buzz- You never play as Buzz but he has a new incarnation in the game. Nightmare buzz! He fires real lasers and is surrounded by fireballs. But usually he’s just you’re average, everyday, toy that thinks he’s a real “space rangeeeeeer.”

R/C-This is a nice change up, in the Sega version there are two levels where you control the R/C car. You must pick up batteries to keep the car running and complete your tasks. He is the only other character you control outside of Woody and technically Rex.

Rex- Rex is here and you ride on his back for one level.

The rest of the cast all make appearances and at one point are your enemies after you knock Buzz out of the window.

GAMEPLAY

A lot of variety here, usually it is a 2D scroller, however it makes a switch notably in the claw machine to a 3D format.

Woody’s whip doesn’t destroy anything, rather it wraps them up temporarily. This gives you the need to keep going forward as to go back would be to put yourself in harms way again.

For children this game may be rather tough. I remember when I first got the game I could not get past that 3D area in the claw machine.

The R/C controls are slippery but doable.

It gets a little repetitive around the Sid level, but the bosses and R/C mode move it along nicely.

Overall the gameplay is pretty good. I have a few gripes about the R/C mode, the difficulty regarding the target demographic. You can go into the options menu and add a few lives, and there is a option to take off the story leaving straight gameplay which is cool but, I have to have my stories. Overall a good time could be had by all.

GRAPHICS

Graphics are pretty good for a Sega Genesis game. Not as bright as the SNES version but still good. The 3d levels look GREAT though a little pixelated until you move Woody in closer.

DOES IT STAND OR FALL?

Well as I was playing this game several times I found myself a little bored, being used to high impact, shocking games from today that need a twist every two seconds, or a vehicle or a new way to destroy something. It had a few things thrown in to catch your attention but not quite enough. I’d say it kneels. It doesn’t completely fall on its face in today’s world, you can play it but you’d put it down before finishing it. I would still recommend it for a new gamer to play just for the reference that movie games CAN INDEED be good.

Four Stars! Not a bad game right? But still its starting to creak in it’s old age, we still love it but it just doesn’t grab that Frisbee out the air like it used to.

What would happen if it were released today?

Well lets just look at what happened when Toy Story 3’s video game was released. Positive reviews all around mate! Many were surprised but the game did really well on every platform except the Wii, which, is a whole ‘nother review for a whole ‘nother day.

So if you have someone who incessantly babbles on about how it’d be impossible to make a good video game from a movie, get a Sega Genesis with Toy Story, and turn it on.

Thanks for reading! My readers are awesome! Stick around for more articles!

Sincerely,

Just some guy with a computer

Video Games Based on Movies

What happened to those great games like Aladdin, Toy Story, Goldeneye, Super Star Wars: Empire strikes back. Why is it that today movie studios don’t give the video game industry the respect it deserves? They could probably double their profits if they just would give the video game studio a little more time to develop the game. Unfortunately now when a game is released along side a movie (or a movie along side a game…Miss Chun-Li) The verdict is usually bad reviews all around. Granted all movie games back in the 90s weren’t great, I’m looking at you Back to the future NES and you, forever you E.T. However it seemed a lot more went into the movie video games back then. So my next review will be Toy Story on Sega Genesis. And then after that I will post a good ole fashion movie review of a movie that if you haven’t seen it you should! Thanks everyone you’re great!

ATTENTION: OLD SCHOOL VIDEO GAME REVIEWS HERE!

I grew up in the 90s, the age of children’s shows being good enough to win daytime Emmys, backwards clothing, hip hops first beef to get way out of control, and of course, the roaring ascension of video games.

One of the things that has aggravated me over the years is the refusal of most of the big video game sites to update their reviews on classic games. Don’t get me wrong I love most of these sites, however they won’t admit the fact that most people still love their old games and are constantly introducing new people to old games and they need a point of reference to make sure their judgement isn’t clouded by fond childhood memories.

So Wiseguy Industries is here to help you make sure you didn’t like crappy games like E.T just because it was the only game in his collection your big brother let you play. Tomorrow I will be uploading the first review of a classic game most of you will remember. Donkey Kong Country! My rating system will be fairly simple. I will rate it overall with Five stars. Five being the best, one being the worst. Then I will give an in depth rating on graphics, controls, story, gameplay, characters, and most important of all, how it stands up over time. I will also give my thoughts on how this game would have fared if released today with upgraded features that reflect the times.

I hope you guys will tune in! Thanks for reading I appreciate all of you!

Sincerely

A Wise-Guy