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Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend, folks. Was in New York getting drunk on catching Pokémon. And getting drunk and catching Pokémon. It was a good weekend, is what I'm getting at. But now, back to reality. And the sad reality is that we need to change how we record emulated games (on the rare occasion we do at all). Unfortunately, the editing laptop, while it does have a shiny new hard drive, still struggles if it's forced to generate video while recording the same video, and the end result is choppy, choppy footage, as is the case with our playthrough of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Game Gear. I want to apologize in advance -- it is bad. The commentary's fine, but the video footage is humiliating, and to add insult to injury the game audio didn't even get recorded, so I've had to go back and add it in post to the best of my ability. If we weren't so under the gun time-wise I would have re-recorded, but with me needing to finish so that I could disappear for the weekend, this was the end result. Sorry guys, this was a huge mess :\ Rush ordering a Game Gear capture card I was waffling on, and if need be we'll utilize a two-laptop setup we've used in the past to circumvent problems like these. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gVrs2Y8qw4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kejcPYlF6aU
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Jul 11, 2016 17:15
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Bringing in the last two episodes -- I'm actually really pleased with Part 3's musical comparison about halfway through. Sonic games reuse their favorite motifs a lot, so I'm sure we'll be seeing more comparisons like these again! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx0UOmoyitg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnL-3DWlG5Y
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Jul 13, 2016 22:33
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Still catching up on this, but: Americans know about Sonic the Comic?
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Jul 14, 2016 14:58
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Americans as a monolithic group? No, but it's fairly common knowledge amongst the american sonic fanbase yeah. Mostly for the fact that your Super Sonic is apparently a sociopath. Also Ric, are you guys going to do Wacky Worlds?  It was sega's attempt at doing Mario Paint, so of course it's got sonic branding. No minigames or freehand drawing though, instead it lets you paste down sprites from a bunch of templates and mess around with their color pallets. There are animated sprites and stuff, nothing major, but the notable thing is that they took an.. interesting path towards making the music of the levels. You don't compose them like in Mario Paint, instead you grab a bunch of preset measures, choose which instrument plays which line, how intensely they play it, and how fast you want the whole thing to go. It's got zero sanity checking whatsoever. If nothing else you can probably squeeze an episode out of it creating the music of your future nightmares. Kurieg fucked around with this message at 15:22 on Jul 14, 2016 |
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Jul 14, 2016 15:08
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I'm loosely aware of Sonic the Comic (one of the guys I used to know an eternity ago on the community websites helps run the fan-continuation, along with Summer of Sonic), and like Kurieg said, I think I'm mostly just aware of it because of Psycho Super Sonic. Not sure exactly when, but we will definitely be covering the various Sonic comics at some point during all this (possibly in the fall, before Pokémon Sun & Moon happen). Wacky Worlds is one I'm on the fence for -- Sonic Eraser we covered because it holds such an unusual place in SEGA/Sonic's history, and because its discovery was an event within the community itself. Unfortunately, SEGA loved slapping Sonic on stuff he had no part in, so if we did all of those, we might be doing this until the day we die (part of the reason we've pre-emptively put conditions down if we ever decide to do a Super Mario Let's Play in the future). My suspicion is that it'll make at least a quick appearance around the time we hit Tails and the Music Maker (because, and I poo poo you not, I do actually own the Pico games -- my mom ran a day care when I was a kid, and she knew most of the boys loved Sonic), since it falls into the vague purview of "edutainment"-style games. As far as Sonic goes right now, we're making our way through Gimmick Mt. Zone and Scrambled Egg Zone, and might I just say, from an editing standpoint I could not be happier to be done editing this set. There are more episodes after these, but the loving furiously stupid fuckup on my part that resulted in the audio mishaps won't happen again for a long time. This is a once every year or so event, and it serves as the "wake up slap" that lets me know I'm getting lazy/sloppy. The video fuckup, on the other hand, has necessitated that we no longer emulate and record on the same device. Thankfully, we've got a little while before we need to do another 8-bit game (1.5 games from now, and we still have the rest of Sonic 2 for Game Gear first anyway), so hopefully that'll be enough time for the Game Gear video out board to arrive and my girlfriend to install it (she's an electrical engineer, and I know only enough about soldering to know I should basically just never touch one). Never again, mates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyUdznTDzs8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCT07UZzgc8 (Ironically, our very first "video fuckup" recording was also a Sonic video, over five years ago. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I. We'll talk about it when we get there, I'm sure.)
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Jul 15, 2016 14:08
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ricdesi posted:My suspicion is that it'll make at least a quick appearance around the time we hit Tails and the Music Maker (because, and I poo poo you not, I do actually own the Pico games -- my mom ran a day care when I was a kid, and she knew most of the boys loved Sonic), since it falls into the vague purview of "edutainment"-style games. I actually have a physical wacky worlds cart. And a 32-X. My childhood was full of bad decisions.
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Jul 15, 2016 16:17
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My dad returned my 32X because we didn't realize the metal prongs were required to make it work :[
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Jul 15, 2016 16:44
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Well on top of the metal clips (Which I'm not sure are actually necessary or not, all they do are hold the flaps down though the 'cartridge' has metal connectors on the side?) it's still incredibly touchy. It usually takes five or six tries to actually get all of the contacts to connect properly in the cartridge slot. And you needed to have a power strip with prependicularly aligned outlets because it came with another brick plug. Also it tended to overheat after about two hours of use. I can't even remember where mine is anymore because it eventually became more trouble than it's worth just to play the two decent games it required.
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Jul 15, 2016 17:37
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The extra plug was an enormous pain in the rear end, along with having to plug it into the Genesis with another wire, despite physically plugging into the console itself. I think my favorite game was Kolibri, that weird hummingbird game.
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Jul 15, 2016 17:38
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The 32-x didn't actually have the 16 bit graphics and processor chip, it passed that information back to the genesis. If you were playing a 32 bit game all it used the genesis for was the controller ports. I'm not even sure what kind of eldritch sorcery was involved in getting 32-CD games to work. There was probably human sacrifice involved. And I was right, those little metal clips did basically nothing except 'block extraneous RF Signals' from affecting the 32X's main processor board which was in that solid black bit that you shoved into the Genesis. Remember when I said that it had overheating issues 
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Jul 15, 2016 18:21
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FredMSloniker posted:Since you can't really hear the Sonic Eraser music in the LP itself, here's the tune that plays in 1P and 2P mode. Now you two can DEER DEER DEER DEER! What's this, then?
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Jul 15, 2016 18:38
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Lizard Wizard posted:What's this, then? There's two modes, 1p AND 2p are just two people playing at the same time with no interaction. The one you just linked is the 1p VS 2p mode.
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Jul 15, 2016 18:46
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I'm so thankful my parents took one look at stuff like the 32x and just said no. What a ridiculous system.
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Jul 16, 2016 15:57
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The 32x seemed like an interesting prospect to me. Instead of having to get a new system you can upgrade the old one for about half the price. I always wondered, if Sega had gotten their poo poo together, if it could have worked out. But I'm no tech guy so I have no idea if something like that could even feasibly work.
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Jul 16, 2016 19:07
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It could have possibly worked out if they also sold a standalone model that was ~1.5x the cost of just the 32X on its own. Otherwise you have to buy two consoles (or three, for the exceedingly rare 32X-CD games) just to make it work at all. Super unsustainable, and threw Sega into a funk that kept the Saturn off-kilter the whole time. Friday's video is below, I've been away most of the weekend, so I haven't had as much internet access as I'd like. Tomorrow's Sonic video may be the only one that goes up tomorrow on the channel because of recording schedules, so hooray? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqG6OR3w9RE
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Jul 18, 2016 02:15
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They did release a combo Sega CD/Genesis thing. But it wouldn't work with the 32X because apparently there were issues with overheating and electrical shorts so they hardcoded something into the 32X that made it shut down if it detected a CDX even though the manual had instructions for hooking them up.
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Jul 18, 2016 02:23
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So basically what you're saying is that Sega, for pretty much its entire existence, had no idea what it was doing, and lucked into some golden opportunities by virtue of good software despite really clumsily-sorted hardware? That... sounds pretty reasonable to me, yeesh. GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE: Sonic 2 for Game Gear is nearly over! But not before we deal with this abominable final boss battle, and oh by the way, seizure warning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcWc_sHv-o4
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Jul 18, 2016 18:44
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ricdesi posted:So basically what you're saying is that Sega, for pretty much its entire existence, had no idea what it was doing, and lucked into some golden opportunities by virtue of good software despite really clumsily-sorted hardware? That... sounds pretty reasonable to me, yeesh. Sort of. The issue is, in part, that Sega of Japan told SoA's then president Tom Kalinske to do whatever he felt necessary to ensure Sega succeeded in America, he was the guy who encouraged the price drop, bundling in Sonic, the nintendo attack ads, and the "SEGA!" scream from the commercials. He also, apparently, was in favor of the 32X, since he believed it would have better push through in the US and Europe and didn't like the chip architecture they were planning on using for the Saturn and encouraged them to get in touch with SGI. SOJ refused and eventually SGI signed on with Nintendo for the n64. Then they undercut him by forcing him to release the system early to try and "Beat" The Playstation, but they didn't have the games to compete yet, and the way they stealth distributed the Saturn in america made a lot of stores refuse to carry the system at all. Then Sega shuttered development of the Neptune (A Genesis with the 32X built in) in favor of the Saturn, and things spiraled down from there. Turns out splintering your client base across 3 systems isn't a good idea.
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Jul 18, 2016 19:20
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I always wished we had Segata Sanshiro here in the States. I think kids in the 90s would have been all about a huge, angry, Wolverine-haired judo master being an absolute badass. At some point (not entirely sure when, maybe near the end of the year as a Christmas special), I want to produce a long, standalone video about the full breadth of the turn from the 4th to the 5th generation of gaming in the mid-90s. It seems like nearly every major player in gaming at the time played some role in the paradigm shift, and it'd be awesome to be able to present the whole thing in a single narrative. And yeah, shattering your base is just... never a smart call. Anywho, holy poo poo, we're finally done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM6MzIveG5E
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Jul 19, 2016 19:06
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I think if Sega had released the 32X as a standalone with backwards compatibility, and actually threw it's publishing weight behind it, it would have done a lot better. It was basically the Saturn's graphical chipset with the Genesis's backend processing, it would have been a great stepping stone between the two systems and it wouldn't have had all the contingent weirdness that came with Sega's addon addiction. Which was apparently Kalinske's plan but getting any actual truths out of that era in Sega's lifespan is pretty difficult. as SOA, SOE, and SOJ all had different ideas about what to do with the fifth generation. The saturn had amazing market penetration in Japan but they basically gave the war to Sony on a silver platter here in the US.
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Jul 19, 2016 19:25
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2hawt4RecordingSoftware
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Jul 19, 2016 22:53
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Kurieg posted:Sort of. The issue is, in part, that Sega of Japan told SoA's then president Tom Kalinske to do whatever he felt necessary to ensure Sega succeeded in America, he was the guy who encouraged the price drop, bundling in Sonic, the nintendo attack ads, and the "SEGA!" scream from the commercials. He also, apparently, was in favor of the 32X, since he believed it would have better push through in the US and Europe and didn't like the chip architecture they were planning on using for the Saturn and encouraged them to get in touch with SGI. SOJ refused and eventually SGI signed on with Nintendo for the n64. Then they undercut him by forcing him to release the system early to try and "Beat" The Playstation, but they didn't have the games to compete yet, and the way they stealth distributed the Saturn in america made a lot of stores refuse to carry the system at all. Then Sega shuttered development of the Neptune (A Genesis with the 32X built in) in favor of the Saturn, and things spiraled down from there. Well, if you deliberately sabotage the gently caress out of it because you don't like the fact that the ideas came from a gaijin, it isn't.
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Jul 21, 2016 20:03
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Which is weird because he proved that he knew what he was doing with the Genesis.
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Jul 21, 2016 20:24
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Hey guys, just a quick heads-up, I know it's been a couple days -- the next video is on its way in the next two days, I just haven't been able to get John to sit still long enough to record a live bit, but once I do it (and the other two episodes you're owed this week) will go up. Should be good times, sorry for the delay!
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Jul 22, 2016 04:17
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Last delay, we're squaring away the live stuff tonight and pushing on ahead. In the meantime, we made a special reaction video for the Sonic Mania and Project Sonic 2017 trailers, check this shiz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adHuMD6yp6A
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Jul 26, 2016 22:00
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Wow, Mania looks great. It's smart of them to only use the Sonic 3 & Knuckles cast for trailers and stuff. Like you guys said, I'd be cool seeing Shadow and Blaze get put in later as DLC for cheap. The idea of a Sonic Generations 2 is a bit confusing. It just seems too soon to go back to that well. I guess if it's some wholly original plot that could be interesting.
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Jul 27, 2016 02:49
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Seems like when it's anniversary time, they keep insisting that they're going back to the roots by way of reducing the case back down to Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. But we all remember how Sonic '06 went, so many grains of salt. That said, Taxman is an excellent Sonic developer, so with him at the helm I have no doubt Sonic Mania will be fantastic, even if it does ultimately feel like "the best fangame" instead of a legitimate entry. Project Sonic 2017... well, we're gonna have to wait and see. Curious what news will come out over the next 18 months. Anyway, after EXTENSIVE delays, the next real video is FINALLY online: Sonic the Hedgehog 2! This is by far the longest intro that's been entirely devoted to the game's development (instead of the metaplot stuff like in some of the Mega Man videos) that we've ever done, so by all means please utilize the Skip button if you just wanna get to the game. As far as making up for lost time -- Parts 1-3 were initially meant for Wednesday through Friday of the week before last, so Parts 2 and 3 will go up tomorrow. Parts 4-8, meant for this past week, will go up over the coming week. The game that follows Sonic 2 will be going up in double doses for the week after that, and after that's taken care of, we should be all good. Hopefully you guys dig this one, I put a shitton of extra editing effort into this intro, it's a lot denser than usual, and honestly Sonic 2 is just an ironclad classic that I think we can all enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy197KrHho4
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Jul 31, 2016 04:16
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Eh, Generations was a very good game if you ignore the final boss fight Of course I am also also damaged enough to actually like Unleashed, though they made more than their fair share of bad design decisions with that one as well. The storybook series can gently caress off and die though.
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Jul 31, 2016 07:31
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Sonic 2 is the best game ever for younger siblings. You can let them play without them affecting anything. And for the tougher bosses, you can focus on dodging and let Tails do the heavy lifting. Here's to hoping you guys pull off all 7 Chaos Emeralds!
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Jul 31, 2016 14:02
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Oh yes. As a big brother with a sister four years younger than me, just hand off Player 2 and let them do whatever the gently caress they want while you focus on clearing the level. Was wonderful, ha. So, in order to start us catching up, yesterday we put up two episodes, keeping things moving a bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_H5JS-fgpA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZvesRJM8v4
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Aug 1, 2016 16:42
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So we're continuing on our way through the middle of Sonic 2, and... I gotta be honest, I'm not sure if we're gonna get Super Sonic. Abominable, I know... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy9gvuZsMYA
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Aug 2, 2016 23:14
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ricdesi posted:I gotta be honest, I'm not sure if we're gonna get Super Sonic. I'm crushed. You must persevere! Run harder!
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Aug 3, 2016 02:25
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Running as hard as I can, but these goddamn seahorse motherfuckers are going to be the death of me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlbzbXEeBRA
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Aug 3, 2016 04:19
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So which one of you is the one with the Ricky Ricardo laugh? I've heard it in other videos, though not this one.
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Aug 4, 2016 02:36
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Oh boy, haha that would be Ben. John goes out of his way sometimes to get him to do it, because once Ben starts he has basically no control over it. I feel like everyone's got "two tiers" of laughing -- a lot of folks have a silent second laugh like me and John, but Ben goes all Ricky Ricardo like you said, ha. Hoping to finish off the Chaos Emeralds, but the seahorses and crabs are definitely not leaving us laughing... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijsbS2hmjYY
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Aug 4, 2016 15:41
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This thread got me into your massive, massive backlog of YouTube videos. I'm currently working my way through the Mega Let's Play. And I ran across an eminently GIFfable moment: https://zippy.gfycat.com/ElaborateCautiousHarpseal.webm e: The Gfycat URL contains 'Elaborate Cautious Harpseal'. Not the most compelling Maverick name, but...
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Aug 4, 2016 23:17
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Experience bij
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Aug 5, 2016 07:22
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FredMSloniker posted:This thread got me into your massive, massive backlog of YouTube videos. I'm currently working my way through the Mega Let's Play. Aw, thank you! Glad you found more stuff on there that interested you! And uh... yeah, we're coming up on our 2500th video sometime in August, I should really start planning something for that... Still working on making dpad.FM into something more than just a redirect to YouTube, since the Playlist functionality there isn't super conducive to finding series easily when there are so many of them (I think we're around 120 games in?). If I can find some time to make it into something useful this month, I'll definitely make mention of it here (and probably in the videos themselves too)! The Wily Wars, by the way, is where our ridiculous-rear end "time travel plot" got started. We hosed up while playing the game, because the cartridge didn't actually track progress properly. You had to use a GameShark code to actually unlock Wily Tower -- unfortunately, we accidentally used a code that unlocked the FINAL AREA of Wily Tower, and didn't realize it until we'd already beaten the game. So we had to get the right code and play the levels before that, and upload them in the correct order, but we decided to have a little fun with it. And a year later, we're still messing with this thread, because why the hell not. Couple nods in the Super Sonic and Dreamy series, but we try to keep those mostly metaplot-free. FredMSloniker posted:And I ran across an eminently GIFfable moment: Oh man, this GIF is AMAZING. Do you mind if I post that up on Twitter? Also, here! Have a present! http://i.imgur.com/vz7Ng0T.gifv As far as Sonic 2 goes, I am happy to present a positive spin on the ending we got: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv6XU0JlzPA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks-Xac8BmEA
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Aug 7, 2016 00:11
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An animated Clerks reference? Well played, The Dpad, well played. And yeah, the music weirdness with dreams come true was sort of resolved in the mid 2000s, cause in addition to the incredibly off putting 06 end credits, advance three had several green hill zone remixes.
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Aug 7, 2016 00:35
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ricdesi posted:Oh man, this GIF is AMAZING. Do you mind if I post that up on Twitter? Please do! And if I get inspired to make any more D-pad fanart, what's the best venue for me to share it with you?
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Aug 7, 2016 01:36
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