Talk:SegaSonic the Hedgehog

FIXUP!
This needs to be fixed up more from all the crappy editing it has had --Blah2 12:38, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

I played this game in an arcade
Hello guys,

I actually played this game in an (American!) arcade. Apparently, it was test-marketed in the U.S.; I played it at Golfland in Milpitas, California, back in 1993. The instructions on the cabinet were all in Japanese, so it was obviously just the normal Japanese version. I remember being absolutely confounded by the game; it seemed almost impossible to play, and I kept losing. Obviously, most U.S. test audiences felt that way, because, as we all know, it never was actually released stateside.--TServo2049 19:40, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

If You need screenshots go to http://www.theghz.com/sonic/segasonic/segasonic.html It's got tons of description of the game as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Patmancav66 (talk • contribs) 19:37, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Sort of Confirming
In 1993 or '94, I saw a very unusual Sonic the Hedgehog game in the arcade section of a Golfland in the San Jose area. I cannot confirm whether it was the Milpitas Golfland, or the one at 976 Blossom Hill Rd, or the one in Sunnyvale; I was 9-10 years old and had no idea that there was more than one Golfland or where any of them were. This particular Sonic game was unusual in a number of ways. The first was that it had an isometric perspective instead of a side-scrolling one; another was that it featured Sonic, a character that I thought at the time was Tails, and a red character that I had never seen before; and instead of the player only controlling one at a time, all three followed each other around like in Sonic Heroes. I didn't pay it much attention at the time, so I can't confirm anything about its difficulty or Japanese writing or anything else. A few months or a year afterward, I heard about Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, and assumed that Knuckles was the red character I had seen in that arcade game. And so, I spent the next TWENTY-FIVE YEARS swearing up and down that knuckles had appeared in a game before Sonic 3, and that I had seen this game at Golfland arcade. Only recently, in a Facebook group dedicated to '90s nostalgia, did I find someone who told me about this alternative explanation.

Now, can I be absolutely, 100% sure that the game I saw was Segasonic the Hedgehog? No. But based on the available evidence and TServo's comment above, I'm about 99.99999% sure. Too many different things line up for it to be a coincidence. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.70.13.107 (talk) 06:49, 23 August 2020 (UTC)

Source

 * http://www.computerandvideogames.com/458636/features/retro-vault-double-dragon-segasonic-the-hedgehog-legends-of-wrestling/ - Nothing new really, but could be used to source some parts of the article. Sergecross73   msg me   16:37, 12 April 2014 (UTC)
 * What exactly did this article say? The archived version isn't loading for me on the Wayback Machine and archive.is redirects to GamesRadar at page 2. JOE  BRO  64  23:03, 12 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Here is the archived page, had to type in the page number into the url to get it to work. It doesn't tell us anything new: https://web.archive.org/web/20141211075407/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/458636/features/retro-vault-double-dragon-segasonic-the-hedgehog-legends-of-wrestling/?page=3 TarkusAB talk 12:36, 15 October 2017 (UTC)

Sourcing
The way I look at it, mentioning a game is a sufficient source. Sourcing statements in this encyclopedia all have one thing common: they mention a particular media wether it's a website, a magazine, or a newspaper. And naming something like a video game pretty says everything to those who want to know where an idea comes from. Duke17 (talk) 15:15, 19 September 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, there are ways to cite games, though just removing the "citation needed" tag that's been there for years is not one of them. Sergecross73   msg me  15:50, 19 September 2015 (UTC)
 * If removing the tag isn't one of them, what more is needed? Duke17 (talk) 15:25, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Adding an actual citation? You can't just "Oh its in the game" or people are going to abuse it. What if someone wrote in "And then Knuckles the Echidna ran in and slapped Sonic in the face" and put in the edit summary "Totally happened in the game, trust me." If that were acceptable, there'd be all sorts of abuse. I'd recommend finding a website/magazine that actually found it to be a noteworthy aspect of the game/character, but there's also a way to directly cite video games as well if need be. Sergecross73   msg me  16:00, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

Super Sonic Inspiration
I played Sonic 2 before, and I know how Sonic looks when he's in Super Sonic mode. Although that anon user didn't provide any links or whatever with his edit, it does seem plausible. Ray does kinda look like Super Sonic. Red White Blue and Yellow (talk) 21:55, 16 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Well, that's original research without a source, so we're going to need a source for that claim. Sergecross73   msg me  22:15, 16 October 2015 (UTC)

Expansion
I just wanted to let everyone know that the Russian version of this article has a ton of information and sources that could be used here. JOE BRO  64  22:21, 10 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Also, there are several magazine articles that indicate a 32X version of the game was once planned. JOE  BRO  64  23:35, 10 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Nice work. I'm usually up on my Sonic factoids, but I did not ever know a 32x version was planned. Good find. Sergecross73   msg me  12:23, 11 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Did you already go through and pull from their sources? Seems like there is still more stuff on there than here currently. I'd suggest sifting through everything there and carrying over here before doing the GAR. TarkusAB talk 22:54, 12 October 2017 (UTC)
 * I've got all the English ones here except this one, which doesn't say anything we don't know (and confuses Ray for Tails). There is a French article though, but I'm not too well-versed in foreign languages. It's apparently "brief coverage" of its appearance at CES 1993. JOE  BRO  64  23:00, 12 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Download google translate on your phone and use the camera feature. Take a picture of the French text, and it will translate it for you. This is what I got:
 * Not satisfied with his unsuccessful success on our dear little consoles, Sonic arrives in Arcade. It was to be expected, given the mastery of the "Arcade technology" by Sega, which regularly releases us hits that make real ravages in the games room. Regarding the game in particular, Sega adopted an isometric 3D view, reminding us of arcade hits like the notorious and ancestral "Zaxxon", or like the last small "ViewPoint" of SNK. The Sega fetish characters are obviously present, that is to say Tails and Sonic. Besides, you can play two simultaneously by controlling each one of the heroes of the Sega world that you know so well. Normally, it should not be long to disembark in France, so be ready for the shock of "Sonic Arcade".
 * I think the only thing worth mentioning is that the 3D view reminded them of Zaxxon and Viewpoint in the reception section. Also, i found it funny how it translated "Sega fetish characters"...lol TarkusAB talk 23:37, 12 October 2017 (UTC)
 * The article currently words it as "SegaSonic was favorably compared to Zaxxon and Viewpoint". Is...that what they're saying? The article's content makes it sound like they said "The game is great, much like Zaxxon" whereas the source itself sounds more like its saying "This game is like Zaxxon". Sergecross73   msg me  12:41, 13 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Agreed, magazine does not specify favorability. TarkusAB talk 13:35, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

"SegaSonic series"
The article now claims that it is one of four games in the SegaSonic series of spinoff games. Is...there any source that defines/declares such a sub-series delineation? I skimmed the sources given, and none of them seemed to actually say this. I was going to just reword it to something like "titles with SegaSonic in the name", but even that doesn't seem to be true, given the inclusion of "Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car". Sergecross73  msg me  18:42, 12 October 2017 (UTC)

release outside japan
I don't think this game was released outside Japan. The source here citing a worldwide release is KLOV which says "Class: Wide Release", but I don't think that means worldwide release. The game is completely in Japanese text and there are no english flyers I've seen. TarkusAB talk 17:26, 10 December 2017 (UTC)
 * The game was actually released in North America, but it was test launched and never fully localized. Sonic Jam says the NA release was in September, but I'm not sure if that's true since the release dates in the game contradict some of the ones RSes say. JOE  BRO  64  20:15, 10 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Sounds like it wasn't really localized then. It was demoed at a couple shows, a couple journalists talked about it, but there is no core evidence it came overseas. I agree Sonic Jam museum is wrong a lot. Not to mention there is no English ROM I know of. Sega would have never released the game overseas with Japanese text in it. TarkusAB talk 00:27, 11 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Sounds like you can say it was planned, but it doesn't sound like it really happened. Sergecross73   msg me  00:37, 11 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I fixed this. I'd also like to mention that the History of Sonic the Hedgehog book by Pix 'n' Love makes this same error. If anyone can find an English flyer or unmodified English ROM, we can discuss again. TarkusAB talk 00:56, 11 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I highly doubt any reliable sources have covered this, but it seems like a localization was planned... JOE BRO  64  01:01, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
 * It was absolutely, positively, definitely released in a few locations outside of Japan, including at least one of the Golfland arcades in or near San Jose, California. Unfortunately, proof will be hard to come by because 8-year-olds weren't running around with iPhones and taking video of everything back then. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.70.13.107 (talk) 06:59, 23 August 2020 (UTC)
 * I hear you, but Wikipedia goes by what can be verified, not just what people claim to be true. Sergecross73   msg me  14:08, 23 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Jumping on a very old thread here to say that I remember seeing Segasonic the Hedgehog in SegaWorld in London back in the '90s. I don't have a photo of my own but I found this one: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3349/1529/400/segaworld07.jpg from here: http://sega-memories.blogspot.com/2007/09/segaworld-part-2.html which shows the cabinet in SegaWorld. 86.1.173.221 (talk) 11:29, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

Release Date
Is there a source for the October 1993 release date? Sega's website says June 1993. http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicChannel/history/1993.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.121.179.31 (talk) 00:36, 19 March 2018 (UTC)
 * https://sega-interactive.co.jp/special/history/title/sonic.html JOE BRO  64  00:43, 19 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Interesting that two Sega websites give different release dates. Do we have any reason to go with one or the other? TarkusAB talk 01:55, 19 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that's a bit odd... but I'm pretty sure the link the IP provided is using the same dates from Sonic Jam, which has a ton of inaccuracies. JOE BRO  64  23:15, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

"John S" commentary
In regards to this change of mine and this response by JoeBro
 * I'm curious, since I can't read the source material - you objected to the addition of "graphics" before the statement about the game's "fuzziness". What exactly is he referring to in that part if he's not talking about the graphics? Honest question, I wondered if I was missing the context here. I couldn't think of anything else that he could be referring to.
 * Also, for the record, when I made the comment not sure a direct quote is warranted for such a short, basic comment of calling a game bad, I didn't mean to imply the commentary from the book wasn't substantial or anything. I just meant that I didn't think it made sense to use the direct quote of "[SegaSonic the Hedgehog] is not a good game" because it was a pretty basic concept that could be easily paraphrased, that's all. Sergecross73   msg me  19:22, 20 March 2018 (UTC)
 * 1) The exact quote about the fuzziness is: "The controls are imprecise with a noticeable feeling of, not quite input lag, but an irritating fuzziness." He's talking about the controls.
 * 2) I get a bit messy with quotes, and I was a bit tired when I put it in. That's my rationale for the "bad game" commentary.
 * JOE BRO  64  19:32, 20 March 2018 (UTC)
 * I scanned the source material for Joe, it's here: here. TarkusAB talk 19:33, 20 March 2018 (UTC)
 * It's a short paragraph, but it's got some good commentary (I didn't like having only three opinions in the reception section). JOE BRO  64  19:37, 20 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Yeah, its a good addition, especially for such an obscure and older game. I find the "fuzziness" comment slightly confusing, but I think the current wording handles it well enough. Sergecross73   msg me  19:41, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

Sega Ages note
In regards to the recently added bit about the possibility of a Switch port if the Sega Ages line does well - Sega ended the Switches Sega Ages line about six months later. I can't imagine it was because it was doing well. So, I'm not really sure if it's worth mentioning or not. Feels pretty unlikely. Sergecross73  msg me  21:11, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

2024 sources
Time Extension has been giving the game some coverage this year. Nothing huge, but this is a relatively short article, so it could be useful for expansion.


 * 1) https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/01/rare-segasonic-arcade-game-has-been-dumped-and-preserved
 * 2) https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/06/insanely-rare-sonic-arcade-game-crops-up-on-japanese-resale-site

Of note, I can't recall if we ever had an RS confirm an English/international version. These discuss that. Sergecross73  msg me  18:11, 6 June 2024 (UTC)