The Jest

Seeing as how I just got the notice from Skype...   Happy B-Day Dylan!  

  Definitely the first game, need it be the original Playstation Version or the Gamecube Remake, the Twin Snakes.   The Original game is the beginning of the plot (Yes, I know technically Snake Eater is the beginning, but It's still number 3 despite being a prequel.) and is a good introduction to the stealth mechanics of the series. Plus it has logs that details the stories of the two NES games before it.   Of the two, I personally recommend the Gamecube Remake. It has a very easy difficulty for beginners like yourself, and has the first-person mechanics introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2. So you can then play MGS2, knowing what to expect with the Mechanics. Plus the graphics are updated, the cutscenes are updated, and yet the story is literally the exact same, not a single line of dialogue changed between the Original and Remake. (Heck, I dare say they outright copied and pasted the voice and script data.)   After that, the rest I'd play in numerical order.

*Looks at the Praetorian*   ...     Ok, at the least, I'm willing to cut a little bit of slack on Penders, since it was somewhat inevitable to bring Lara-Su's father into this, and obviously he couldn't go for Knuckles like he could in the past. A point for not calling him Knuckles and changing up the title name, but they're both a given really; he kind of had to.   At least he tried to deviate, ...though it's hard to call it that when all he basically did was take Future-Knuckles and drew a little bit of hair and goatee...Which, I'm not going to lie, looks silly. Fortunately, he actually because of his...choice of design, he doesn't look that much like Knuckles at all. Take out the cowboy hat and robotic eye, and he'd probably look like just another echidna. (Knuckles has purple eyes, this one has blue.)   I would kind of like the attire design, but the Loincloth just ruins it. If you're going to cover the waist, at least go all the way and give him a pair of pants. Modern-day/slightly-futuristic vest does not work with a brown caveman loincloth. ...Also, that loincloth and his gloves are apparently made of the same fabric...a very odd choice.   If you ask me, this is NOT 3-D Lien-Da bad. I'm not disgusted, so much as getting a chuckle over how silly he looks all-around.

I'm holding off on a PS4 as well, at least until I see some more games on it that I like. I have no intentions on getting an Xbox One whatsoever.   Wii U however? My brother gave one to me on Christmas. Along with Super Smash Bros., Super Mario 3D World, and Hyrule Warriors, and I LOVE every second of playing those games. ^_^

Oh? I thought he was near that super cool Rave.   (Spoiler placed in case of Epilepsy)     ~Let's get down to business, ...To defeat, ...The huns!~

You mean those guys that failed miserably to get Sauron's One Ring? XD   Here's a classic one: Anybody want a Peanut?

like no one ever was   Well then you gotta take the test.   "Our state fair is a great state fair!"

It might also be pretty good for Charmy Bee.   Anybody here watches Jontron?

Yes, it does certainly needs to get going with a good kick to the rear.   Has anybody watched the Princess Bride?

Who keeps going on, and on, and on. XD   Teddie is the Beary Best!

A very excellent choice!   Fun fact: The Author of that Fan Comic is Evan Sterling, who you might know as an Artist for Archie's Sonic Comics.   My favorite Fan Comic, by far, is actually from the same site, literally called "WTF"   For those who want to read it though: I'd advise reading it on your free time, because this is a VERY long comic.   Oh, and a warning: Some bad language is often used in this. so... "Viewers discretion is advised."

Oi, Shinomi-Chan! Here's your cake.     Happy B-day. ^_^

Let me first say I had NO Idea where to put this thing. I originally thought of putting it in the Multiverse of Sonic section, but I figured, since this is essentially interactive (As redundant as that may sound on a forum.) and has sort-of rules to it (More guidelines than rules, really.), I felt it would best be placed here in the Party sector. Now, I'm sure one of you has seen one of before, they're all over the place on youtube, made by several sonic fans. The concept is simple enough, make a slide-show video showing an image of characters and a theme that they believe best fits them as unofficial themes to use in, say, games. Looking at a few recently, I've been inspired to make a topic about theme song finding, and here we are. Now, the point of this topic is Perspective. ...I want you to make a list of characters, with the songs that you think best fit them. Think those character theme videos in a forum format. There are a few things to take note of though: 1. NO ALREADY-MADE SONIC SONGS, ESPECIALLY CRUSH 40! These are official theme songs, so it's really unfair to use them. Of course they fit the characters like a glove, they were MADE to fit them. I wanna hear what YOU think they should be, not what Sega MADE them be. 2. They do not have to be 100% accurate. I've stated before that a true theme song works as a Theme, and as a Song. Save for the ones that were actually made for it, no song in the world were made to perfectly fit these guys. Think of it more as your opinion of what the character is to you in Melody format. 3. If you can help it, I advise staying away from Mainstream. In the end, Numb, Poker face, etc. It's more interesting to go for the songs that not everyone really knows about. Makes it interesting and gives way to perhaps give a more unknown star a little more attention. However, I am NOT prohibiting them. I believe there's a few that could be considered at the least popular in my list. If you really feel they are perfect for the characters you choose then by all means, go right ahead. 4. Due to the...*Ahem* "Sensitivity" of language in this site. If you have a song that holds some swearing or questionable material or anything like that, I'll allow it, but I need you to tag that link with an "(Explicit)" warning like so as a heads up. (Minor-Explicit) if it's not because of language outright and just about the material talked about in the song. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. With that said, I'll start with showing my themes for them first. I didn't find a theme for all of them although some knows that I've tried, (Especially disappointed that I couldn't find one for Metal Sonic of all things, Sorry MS fans. ;_; ) and It's not exactly pitch perfect across the board. ...Some finds I'm proud of, some...Not so much. (Looking at Nicole) But I gave them these songs for one reason or another, and I hope you enjoy the playlist I have, and hopefully many more might, establish.   Sonic the Hedgehog Miles "Tails" Prower Knuckles the Echidna Shadow the Hedgehog(Explicit) Amy Rose (Minor-Explicit) Cream the Rabbit Rouge the Bat E-123 Omega Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik Vector the Crocodile (Minor-Explicit) Espio the Chameleon Charmy Bee Tikal the Echidna Chaos Maria Robotnik Professor Gerald Robotnik Post-Insanity Gerald Robotnik/Bio-Lizard Black Doom G.U.N. Commander Abraham Towers Silver the Hedgehog Blaze the Cat (Explicit) (Credit where it's due: I was introduced by a friend of mine for his character. He is not a member here, and so I will keep his name Anonymous for the sake of privacy.) Marine the Raccoon Dr. Eggman Nega Captain Whiskers Princess Elise Mephiles the Dark (Minor-Explicit) Iblis Solaris (Minor-Explicit) Sonic the Werehog Chip/Light Gaia (Two separate Songs for two separate personae.) Dark Gaia (Minor-Explicit) Jet the Hawk (Minor-Explicit) Wave the Swallow Storm the Albatross Tails Doll ------------------------------- Cosmo the Seedrian (On an Unrelated note, To Skye/any artist on this site: ...Miles "Cloud" Strife. Make it happen! XD ) ------------------------------- Sally Acorn Nicole (This song probably sounds wrong, literally from the first line. But just ignore that little fact and continue on...Or if you prefer, consider that Nicole is technically an AI.) Antoine D'Coolette Bunnie D'Coolette Dr. Julian Kintobor Snively Kintobor Iron Queen Regina (Explicit) Nack the Weasel Bark the Polar Bear Bean the Dynamite Geoffrey St. John Scourge the Hedgehog (Explicit) Rosy the Rascal Ixis Naugus (Minor-Explicit) Mammoth Mogul (Explicit) Predator Hawk Sgt. Simian Flying Frog Lightning Lynx (Before clicking this one, take into consideration Lightning's story, ...and how he may have hoped it would end.) Dr. Finitevus Fiona Fox (Minor-Explicit) Mecha/A.D.A.M. (Credit where it's due, like with Blaze's theme. To use for his character, Cronic introduced me to this one.) Captain Metal Eclypse the Darkling    

  I'm afraid Dylan has a point. The only thing this would prove is that Penders only has part of the blame, rather then completely. It's not entirely his fault that this happened, but it doesn't change that his actions had caused the reaction it did. (Which, I'll admit, is not his fault.)  Sega reacted the wrong way, in a Paranoid light from fear of yet another attempt at a lawsuit. Removing characters that, by legal right, didn't have to be removed shows an overreaction by emotions of paranoia, and a sense of cowardice for this man, both by Sega, and quite possibly by Archie.   I won't deny this as fact, But Penders did start this debacle in the first place. For justified reasons? Debatable, but I do believe so. But it doesn't change the fact that this would not have happened, had this case not begun by Penders, nor the case regarding Sonic Chronicles.   With that said, Since this is more about Penders then anything else, we've decided to merge it with the Ken Penders topic. ...I have never merged a topic before, so this might get a little weird.

It's such a shame to see a talented voice actor die. While I'll admit I didn't grow up with the Japanese voice acting, (Except Dr. Weil.) there are plenty who have, and for those people, his was a signature voice that could never be replaced.   Though he has died, he has left a legacy as these characters. My condolences and prayers go out to his family, and may he rest in peace.

  Uhh...When did Sonic ever crossover with those two? I'm with James in that I'm confused what you mean. If you mean literal crossovers, ...well, besides SSB, Mario and Sonic, and that Sega All-Star Racing game, I don't think there are any. As a Spyro fan, I can pretty much guarantee Sonic was NEVER in a game with them. ...No, I am not counting Skylanders, because I see Spyro as a guest star of Skylanders, nothing more. I can almost guarantee Sonic was never in a Transformers thing in any medium. ...Or do you mean that those two were in SSB...Because Spyro and Transformers was never in any Super Smash Bros.   If you mean theoretical "fantasy" crossovers that you wish would happen with Sonic, then you probably should change the title to "What franchise do you want the Sonic Franchise to have a crossover with?"

Sonic Triple Trouble Special     The cover of this one is ok, showing just about the closest possible thing to the cover of the game, but apparently couldn't fit in Robotnik for some reason. Granted, Robotnik isn't as much involved in this comic as he is in the other comics. But it feels like false-advertising when you call it Triple Trouble, and only show two of the supposed three enemies of the game. You couldn't have just removed Tails or at least made him smaller for a transluscent image of Robotnik's head? ...You know, ....Like they did on the cover of the actual game?     -----------------------------   Story 1: Triple Trouble   So the Comic begins with Robotnik talking briefly about the Chaos Emerald, and, of course, gloats at how he managed to obtain one for his own. I can't help but wonder where he got it since they're all locked up in the Special Stage save for Knuckle's emerald. But then again, that also always bugged me in the games as well, since they always say in the manual of two and three to make sure he doesn't claim them, when they're in a different dimension altogether, possibly to prevent someone like him from getting them in the first pla-     Anyways, he intends to use this emerald to...well...   "It will drive my largest and most inefficient mega-engine, polluting the globe in days!" Dr. Robotnik     ...First off and foremost, I don't think Inefficient means what you think it means. Secondly, ...Really doc? You have the power of a God literally in the palm of your hand, and you use it to pollute the planet as fast as possible? Wouldn't you want to use the Emerald for...oh, I don't know, killing Sonic and Co by putting it in a super weapon or something? Seriously, Robotnik, you REALLY need to get your priorities straight if polluting the earth > destroying the Freedom Fighters once and for all. You'll have plenty of free time to wreck Mobius' eco system when they're dead.   So Robotnik places it on a 3-pronged device for energy siphoning into his...*sigh*...Pollution machine, when Crabmeat panics and tells him that he set the machine for 6-prongs instead of 3, resulting in some kind of energy imbalance that blows up his machine and, somehow, split the Chaos Emerald in half.   ...     I'll admit, I'm no energy expert here, nor an electrician, so anyone who is good at that field of science may feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here. That said, I do have some degree of basic programming knowledge, and I'm fairly certain the situation would not reach this level of exaggerated and explosive results. Assuming that the siphon is designed to occur via these prongs absorbing the energy through some sort of small tubes, (Because why else would the number of prongs matter this much?) programming the device for 6 prongs rather than 3 prongs would just make the prongs absorb less energy. This is because it was programmed with three extra prongs and the program assumes that there's more prongs then there actually are and result in the three prongs just absorbing less energy then they should. The amount of energy drained with 6 prongs rather than 3 would be an equal 100% draining power, just that it's done by a different number of these prongs. It shouldn't be causing some energy fluctuation that results in a big explosion, it should be barely able to work at 50%, like it's powered by an eternally low-powered battery. Crabmeat shouldn't be in fear of it blowing up, he should in fear of Robotnik crushing his very soul in a compressor for weakening his pollution device.   Now if it was the exact opposite, 6 prongs when programmed for 3 prongs, THEN that might have worked, as the six would be draining a LOT of energy because the program assumes there's only 3 when in reality there's 6 gulping up the energy at a time, resulting in a 200% energy charge. ...Or it would just mean that it'd use only the three prongs instead. But you never know, right? If Pen-...Errm, Gallagher, really wanted this to be the scenario, the reverse seems to work as the better catalyst. ...Or, you know, throw a rock at it or something to make it malfunction. Again, this is the 90s, you can get away with this.   Anyways, So the sucker blows up and the emerald not only splits in half but rockets, ...ROCKETS up into orbit going in completely different directions, and in response, Robotnik calls a Bounty Hunters R Us (How much you wanna bet it's run by a Giraffe named Jeff?) to hire a bounty hunter to get it back.   "They must be retrieved! Half a Chaos Emerald can be dangerously erratic and powerful!" ~ Dr. Robotnik   HAHAHA, I'll say! In fact I dare say that half a chaos emerald is apparently STRONGER than a whole one! Don't believe me? Well let's start a counter of the things that a half a Chaos Emerald can do, that we never see a Chaos Emerald actually do before or even since. Let's start with Rocketing into ORBIT without any propulsion powerful enough to pull it off, followed by shooting themselves from that orbit to parts unknown like post-dragon summoned dragon balls!   Chaos Halfsy!: 1   So we cut to Sonic eating a chili dog...or based on the perspective and the way he's eating it, a Sloppy Joe (Who eats chili dogs side-ways like that? That kind of position would make the hands, or in this case the glove, incredibly messy.) when Tail comes in needing Sonic to come to the control room since Rotor picked up something on the ...grid-screen? Unless you treat Robotnik's badniks like chess pieces, that seems like a pretty odd method for survailence. But, I guess if it works...   "I thought Rotor was working on that customized Submarine for you?"~ Sonic   Well he was, until he realized that he was making an armed submarine with a freaking drill on the front and equipped with active torpedoes for a child.   Anyways, Rotor detects the Half Chaos Emerald as it lands towards the Great Forest. detecting that its power is off the charts. But it's just half a Chaos Emerald right? Surely it wouldn't have as much an impact as a whole chaos emerald would.   *Looks at the next page* HOLY-...   "Through the magic of the Chaos Emerald, we're witnessing the creation of a new Zone!"     So, let me see if I got this straight: ...When a normal chaos emerald drops to the ground nothing happens. ...But when a Half of a chaos emerald drops to the ground, it manipulates the fabric of reality itself to create an entirely new AREA OF LAND IN AN INSTANT!?   Chaos Halfsy!: 2   Ok, this is jumping ahead in the series a little, but one of the main antagonist of Knuckles' story had the power of 14 chaos emeralds, and we only saw him make a mountain and a city at most. So, just to be clear, a HALF chaos emerald, is apparently just as powerful as 14 Chaos Emeralds, if not more so.   So Sonic heads off to the new zone that just appeared from HALF of a chaos emerald, when, just behind his dust comes his newest opponent, though still a silhouette from the smoke.   Meanwhile, on the Floating Island, Knuckles is apparently enjoying a long-overdue vacation from his guardianship. ...Despite, you know, a hero's work never truly being done when it comes to the inhabitants of the island. Suddenly he notices that the Sun is now glowing green and giving everything under it a glowing green tint.   "It better not threaten the floating island, unless it wants to mess with me, Knuckles the Echidna!"~ Knuckles   Knuckles the Echidna: Willing to Punch out the Sun itself if it threatens the Island. Also, remember this image of Knuckles in the third panel. I won't say why, but let's just say that I think Penders either asked Gallagher to make it, or was inspired by it.   So everything goes back to normal as its revealed that a green meteor covered up the sun while on its way towards this island. ...I'm fairly certain that if that was the illuminated object, unless it somehow got bigger than its suppose to be, that it wouldn't cover the entire island in a green tint,  nor last as long as it did under said tint.   But yeah, the Emerald lands near the summit of the tallest mountain of the Dragon Spine Mountain Range...A mountain range that, despite being infamous for being impossible to climb, will never be seen or mentioned after this special. Luckily Knuckles can glide through the air, and...apparently Gallagher wanted to scientifically explain how this works.   "By working up a head of steam, my dreadlocks fan out and I can glide over the razor sharp foothills to investigate this mystery."~ Knuckles the Echidna   What exactly are those dreadlocks made of if they can carry your entire body and make you glide as a result?   Anyways he lands on the main mountain and begins climbing with by slamming his spiked knuckles into the rock for support. ...One could ask if that's a painful process, since, well, he is still slamming his knuckle bones, however sharp they may be, into solid stone. But like the Gliding, it's better to ignore that and place it in your suspension of disbelief box. So he climbs up the mountain and finds the hole that holds the Chaos Emerald half inside.   "And it's still burrowing into the Rock!"~ Knuckles the Echidna   So assuming an emerald is sharp and capable of drilling through solid matter, which, ok, I'll give a whole emerald that credit, it's capable of continuing after being launched into the mountain with only a little lost momentum?   Chaos Halfsy!: 3   So the drilling caused by the emerald half apparently destabilizes the mountain Knuckles is, I guess it hit a vital mountain pillar or something, and lead Knuckles to do the smart thing and glide on out of there. ...Only to be bonked in the head while gliding and currently falling towards his imminent stage fatality, and they end Chapter one on that dark aspect...   So after that, We look at the next page where Sonic heads for the new zone and finds...finds...Wh-What the-Oh, OH, OH GOOD LORD!     Ok, I know this is still early to be doing this but...This is a record breaker. I am completely and utterly baffled by the very first panel of a comic page. Where do I begin with this? Well, let's start off with the one thing we can't get around: It's a Tardis, it's a freaking Tardis!   Secondly, Oh, the many appearance questions, like why it looks like a circus tent, or why is this zone apparently called "Triple Trouble". Why is there a police light on top the box? Why are there three entrances? Do the three entrance go into three different areas? Why are there three words of "In You Go" on the top of the Entrances? To top it off, without Knuckles there or even Robotnik, I must stress this again: WHY IS IT CALLED TRIPLE TROUBLE!? GAAAH!   Thirdly and finally: The Half Chaos Emerald not only manipulated reality to create a whole new  zone, a whole new area of land on the planet, but manipulated dimensional space to compress that new area of land into a circus tent-like Tardis the size of an escape pod?   Chaos Halfsy!: 4   Now that we're finally off that panel, We see the silhouette figure from before talking to Robotnik while spying on Sonic, ...and unwisely, yet sensibly shuts him up with a mute button.   "The Computer in my Sky-cycle is programmed to mimic Sonic's every move." ~ ???   ...   I'm going to assume you mean "TRACK" Sonic's every move. Since I don't care how advanced it is, I think it'd be very difficult to mimic a person's every move without a freaking set of arms and legs. Ignoring that, who the heck designed his sky-cycle's computer if it can track a hedgehog that could break the sound barrier with his feet if he wanted to!?   So we FINALLY turn the next page when...Oh, this just keeps getting better. The next two pages have Sonic, still in this place, going through SIX different zones instead of one like we thought, and they're ALL compressed in that single place!    ...Did the Half Chaos Emerald just Out-Tardis the Tardis!?   Chaos Halfsy!: 5   Ok, I get what Gallagher was trying to do here. This is a Game Adaptation, a tie-in for Sonic Triple Trouble, and as such he needed to put those worlds onto the map, and yes, they'll probably never use them again after this, and they don't, and I understand this is for kids technically, but even still. There had to be a more sensible way of doing this then dropping a half of an emerald down and boom magical Tardis. There's just...Wait a minute...The next page, Atomic destroyer...Is that Robotnik? ...How the...But how is he...I...I...Oh, just show it.     And for the record, I'm adding creaing a temporal duplicate of somebody as an additional power from these half emeralds.   Chaos Halfsy!: 6   So after that little mess, Sonic races out of the realm's exit into what I can only assume is the core area of the Tardis in the form of a small chamber for the Chaos Emerald Half. Shutting down the...umm...What is he shutting down? Did they explain that anywhere? ...Anyways, he turns off...whatever he turned off, and gets the emerald, only to be blind sided by a backshot by what I can only guess is a giant stun gun, where held by the silhouette now in color. Ladies and Gentlemen, for the first time in Archie comics, meet Nack the Weasel, the infamous gunslinging bounty hunting weasel, ...And he won't appear in much of anything I will be reviewing, but he will be appearing in plenty of issues and stories that Skye will be reviewing so keep an eye out.   So Chapter 2 ends on that note as we enter chapter three with Nack contacting Eggman and reports his achievement to him, a dazed up Sonic tied up by a rock. He, of course, does the mercenary trick of wanting double for any extra demands, to which Robotnik accepts (and is most likely lying) as Nack grabs Sonic and heads for the other emerald half.   Meanwhile, Knuckles is just waking up, apparently surviving his self-kabob, saved by three masked...dinosaurs?   Actually not just any dinosaurs, these are the Ancient Walkers, a triad of immortal god-like dinosaurs that work as sort of a cross between guardians and watchers of Mobius, and they are the beings I refer to when I say the phrase "The Walkers wills it.". Personally I like them; their masks have a signature design you can immediately recognize, and they rarely ever talk, giving hints in some other ways for the people who seeks their advice. They're important in both Sonic and Knuckles' story lines, so expect to see them often in both my and Skye's reviews.   Anyways, even so, it's probably not wise to have a pointy stick that could very easily be assumed to be a weapon to loom overhead psycho-style. But I guess the pointiness is needed to work like a pen. Gotta say, they're impressive artists. They managed to make colorful murals from just a single bowl of red paint.   So according to the murals they gave Knuckles: The emerald that shot out and is currently digging through his island is heading for the chaos that's keeping the Island he lives on afloat via a magnetic attraction to it. But since it's an unstable half emerald waiting to go nuclear, if it hits touches the whole emerald, the energy imbalance will cause an explosion of nuclear proportions and blow the Island to kingdom come.   ...Ok, So it's capable of a magnetic attraction with another Chaos Emeralds to a point where it can dig through solid stone...   Chaos Halfsy!: 7   ...and once touching a whole emerald, can cause a giant explosion capable of annihilating an entire continent?   Chaos Halfsy!: 8   Now, ok, to be fair...It's possible the magnetic attraction part doesn't count. You could say that, since Tails stated in Sonic Adventures 2 that the Chaos Emeralds all share a magnetic attraction to each other, and that they can use that to find other emeralds, so the Emeralds DO already have that ability. ...I say, however, that I can guarantee that a Chaos emerald wouldn't be DRILLING THROUGH SOLID STONE to get to the other emeralds. I bet if Tails had a half emerald instead of a whole one in his hands at the time, it'll fly out of his hands, head to space, penetrate the space colony ARK and cause a power imbalance that blows the ARK to kingdom come and possibly take the planet with it!   So Knuckles Panics that he needs to get back to the Island so that he can stop this from happening, and the Ancient Walkers reply by putting the paint to his nose to make him smell it. ...So that's why Boom Knuckles lost all his intelligence. It makes so much sense now! Also, apparently the Pterodactyl can change its size, since in one panel he's normal, and the next he's on other's mask beak.   Anyways, the next thing Knuckles knows, he's back on his island in a forest, and just in time as Nack comes driving through with the other emerald half and Sonic in tow. Doing what Knuckles does best: Making assumptions, he does what he also does best as Nack heads his way: hides in the bushes for a surprise uppercut to the Weasel's face. Because if it can work on Super Sonic, it can work on anything.   The Sky cycle lands in the ocean with Sonic in the trunk, waking up in his worse nightmare.Heading up to the surface and spotting Knuckles and an unconscious weasel, the two do what THEY do best: Make assumptions about each other and start yet another brawl. CUE THE FIGHT MUSIC!   Uhh...Knux, Isn't there something more important you have to do? A certain half-cut god emerald to stop...it's still digging you know...no? You just want to fight with Sonic yet again? ...Alright, I'm sure the emerald can wait for you to settle your score with him for the upteenth ti-     So they continued to fight until Robotnik's impatient leads him to contact Nack and ask about the location of the other half, to which Knuckles and Sonic stopped fighting to try and puppet Nack into responding. After this, Knuckles apparently remembered that his island only has seconds before doomsday and the two head towards the Chaos chamber with the emerald in hand. They come with second to spare and throws the half emerald at the other half, automatically merging them into a whole emerald and gives a hammer to the laws of physics yet again.   Chaos Halfsy!: 9   (The couple of times whole emeralds did merge together, it was with special conditions being met, so it counts.)   So as the emerald merges the two are teleported back to the surface with the emerald that caused this mess vanished from their hand. They of course start blaming each other but realize wuickly it wasn't cause of either of them. Sonic decides to head on home, by using the remote control switch on Nack's apparently waterproof sky-cycle, ties him up, and with the two still not trusting of each other, Sonic runs on home with the day saved.   But wait, what happened to the emerald? Well, apparently the Ancient Walkers knew Chaos Control before anyone else, so they sent Sonic and Knuckles back to the surface, drew a circle in some sort of wasteland and summons the emerald to that circle. How did that worked? Why do they have the emerald now? What do they do with that emerald? Never explained. At least not to my memory. I'd guess it has something to do with the story arc of a certain main character, but I don't necessarily remember.   And that was Triple Trouble...What can I even say about this? It's one of the most insane sonic comics I've seen thus far, and I've seen Sonic In Your Face....AND the Fleetway stuff!   Now, to Gallagher's credit. Like I said, this is the 90s. Logic back then was still recovering from a labotomy it was given in the 80s and was replaced by its brother which became known as comic logic, but no one remembered to mention that he's a middle school drop out. So you can get away with this kind of insanity back then without much problem. Plus, I saw the story of the actual game, where Robotnik was trying to, guess what, BUILD AN EMERALD POWERED SUPER WEAPON and Knuckles was HELPING him do that, while Nack was just around in the neighborhood. So obviously things had to be changed and Nack and Knuckles had to be rearranged in terms of position. Plus, like I also said, you had to bring in 6 zones from a Game Gear game that probably will never be explored again.   That said, something called Triple Trouble, should have three forces fighting against Sonic and Robotnik was the only one not doing crap. All he did was make this situation happen, call up Nack and ordered him around. He couldn't have at least sent a Badnik to assist or something? At least Knuckles and Sonic had their fight. Yeah it was for a dumb reason, but they had it.   Overall, Not quite a terrible story, but one that could have been done a whole lot better.   5/10   ------------------------   Normally, I'd skip story two since it's a Tails one. ...BUT, since it's in the middle and it's short, I'll give a small review of it.   Story 2: Submersible Rehearsal   It's very much an average, but not bad solo comic with Tails. I still can't help but question Rotor making a submarine with a drill and active torpedoes. No, I don't care if it's without oil, (Which, by the way, sounds very hypocritical for these supposedly freedom fighting environmentalists. Let's stop Robotnik from polluting the air with his factories and machines by using oil-fueled machines of our own. Classy.) If you're going to treat him like a child, DON'T WEAPONIZE HIS PERSONAL SUBMARINE!   Also, how the heck did he suck all the oil from the Seagull anyways? Must have been a pain. Anyways, he heads down, destroys a rebuilt underwater roboticizer, once again saving the day without anyone knowing it.   Nothing special, but nothing that harmful either.   6/10   -----------------------   Story 3: First Contact   So much for that vacation, eh Knux?   The comic begins with him apparently saving the hide of Vector the Crocodile who...wow, he was really skinny back then huh...and stereotypical with his words, though a stereotype of what I leave up to you. But possible stereotype aside, one must wonder why a crocodile would be travelling anywhere near a freaking volcano in the first place.   Anyways, after Knuckles saved his croc friend from getting a red-hot bubble bath, he apparently has...'dreadlock-smelling-sense' I guess, and hears a low sound coming from behind some bushes. The only thing being there is a rock with the word "Archimedes".   "Archimedes? Sounds like a History Lesson" ~ Knuckles   Actually it's more like a Math lesson, since the name comes from a historical mathmatician of the same name.   Anyways, confused by how quickly the one who etched the name on solid rock like that and disappearing without him knowing it, he decides to investigate. He first heads to a bird named Catweazle and asks if he saw anything, to which says no and Knuckles walks off. Bye Catweazle, looking forward to never seeing you again.   As Knuckles thinks about it, he gets blasted by a bit of fire, to which he dodges. I told you it wasn't a good idea to have a volcano underneath the ground. No, actually it's one of the giant flamethrowing marbles from way back in Sonic #13. ...I can't help but wonder why one would be here since they don't exactly have arms to carry off the Chaos Emerald, and I'd assume Robotnik would have used his resources for other approaches. Maybe he just forgot about it, but if that's the case, why would it have activated now?   "Well, I'm through being everyone's pigeon." ~ Knuckles   ...Huh.   So Knuckles hides behind a rock and ponders about the situation. Since one of Robotnik's robots are here, it's easy to assume Robotnik himself is as well. As such he quickly disposes of the robot by...Throwing flaming mud at it?   You know what? I think that just answered my question. Robotnik just didn't care and left it there. Clearly it must have been a malfunctioning defect if it can blow up because it got mud on it.   So after that pathetic display on the marble's part, he walks to find Robotnik, only to find one of the lumberjacks from Sonic and Knuckles. Which leads me to once again ask: Why is it there? Did Robotnik have a shortage of wood to burn to power something now that his pollution device's chaos emerald is gone? As you might expect Knuckles makes quick work of that bot as well, rather easily I might add if a simple kick to the face made it blow up. It's no wonder now how Sonic always takes them down, their armor is apparently made of alluminum foil.   One bad cut pun later, Knuckles is about ready to restart his search when suddenly he drops down below right into the Chaos Chamber. ...Uhh, isn't Knuckles supposed to know every last thing about the island's secret passages? Or did the one he's chasing actually make a giant hole that leads into the Chaos Chamber on his own? Either way, probably not a good idea to have a hole in the sealing of the most important room on the island.   He then gets what I could only assume is a telepathic conversation with the person he's been chasing, assuming he's Robotnik and vowing to throw him off the island.   "First you think I'm some hedgehog, then a Mad Tyrant!" ~ ???   Well, yeah, I'm sure you noticed by now, he might be smart but he's not too bright. Anyways, the person claims himself to be Archimedes, the name he imprinted on the rock for Knuckles to find. He claims that Knuckles is apparently having a lesson, part of which being this little game of hide and seek.   "Only when you can find me, will we know that you are capable of seeing the answer within the question." ~ Archimedes   ...So you want him to play Jeopardy then?   "You are too quick to act, not one to reflect." ~ Archimedes   REALLY NOW? Is that right? Oh, this is rich, coming from the guy who would one day sever Archie from ever being able to 'reflect' on the past again, due to a rather spontaneous lawsuit on YOUR part.   Now to his credit, this was said long ago, in the 90s. I'm sure that back then he never thought that this would ever happen like it did, and there was no way he could have known that this was going to happen. I understand that. Even so, I can't help but be amused by the sheer irony of those words; and don't even get me STARTED on the irony it creates for Sega themselves. Remind me again what Sonic Team was doing 8 years ago?     That's what I thought. ^_^ (For the record, I'm actually a fan of both Sonic Unleashed and Sonic and the Black Knight. This is purely satirical.)   So Archimedes takes his leave, leaving Knuckles to echo in the Chaos Chamber as to how to find him, and our comic ends with Knuckles sitting by a cliffside talking with Vector, stating how he needs to solve the puzzle of Archimedes.   This was, much like the last story of the last issue, not much to write home about. It continued what will be the start of Knuckle's solo story, but not much actually happened. It was a small chase to catch Archimedes which led to fighting two classic angel island bots, and the revelation that Archimedes was in fact the same person that Knuckles chased in Fire Drill. Catweazle I don't think ever appears again, and in fact Vector and Archimedes is the only other ones besides Knuckles that will. Still, it wasn't bad, just...average, nothing to really write home about.   6/10   ------------------------------------------   Which just about sums up this entire special. None of it is bad per se, ok, except for a few things in Triple Trouble, but besides that, it wasn't bad, just...average, just ok. As a Game Adaptation, I suppose it does the best it could, albeit by rushing through the stages, and it's not a bad first outing for Nack the Weasel's debut into Archie. But it could have been so much more though. Triple Trouble promises the idea that Sonic and Tails would have to fight against Knuckles, Nack, and Robotnik, and while Tails got his own solo story, Robotnik doesn't even do much of anything in this story whatsoever. All he does is cause the start of the story, hires Nack, and orders him around. That's it. Sonic and Robotnik don't even have an encounter with each other what so ever. I understand they couldn't use the actual story of the game, since that would make Knuckles look like an idiot, and kudos for choosing not to do that. But there's still could've been SO MUCH you could do with a concept like this, and with that in mind it just seems ultimately lazy.   6/10   Next Issue: Knuckles' Chaotix!

So not too long ago our buddy boy Skye decided to do a review series detailing all of the Sonic comics of the Archie series. ...not an easy feat with that, I wish him the bet of luck. However, in a way he has inspired me to try my hand at reviewing as well. So, I decided to review the Archie series as well. But if I did ALL of them like Skye is, it'd be redundant. Skye has a good sense of critical skill, There's nothing I could add to his reviews. That and, honestly, as much as I love Sonic and the Freedom Fighters, I grew up with Knuckles and the Chaotix as my point of interest. What Sonic comics I actually had a physical copy of, somehow and someway involved the Rad Red: Sonic and Knuckles, Knuckles #25, and Sonic #121. (Yeah, imagine my reaction to THAT Knuckles story without context. o.o; ) So, If Skye is going to be reviewing all the comics of Sonic, then I shall be his Knuckles and spin-off into my own short-lived mini-series. ^_^ As you may have already guessed, I am ONLY reviewing the Knuckles stories. The stories in which he, or the Chaotix, are the main protagonists. Sonic stories WITH Knuckles in them, do not count, ...though with a few exceptions. (Such as his debut story.) To put it simply, if Knuckles is not a centerpiece of the story, I'm not reviewing it. This also means any stories, main or side, that does not involve Knuckles or the Chaotix, I am not going to review. For example, I am going to review "This Island Hedgehog" of Sonic #13, but I will not review "Space in yo' face". Likewise, I will not review Sonic #121's "The Prince and the Revolution", nor "Songbird", but I will review "Afterlife Part 1". If there's a Sonic and Knuckles story where they're both equally important, I will review that as well, like the Special literally called Sonic and Knuckles. However, I AM going to be using Skye's guide and keep it in chronological order. Thanks again for that guide, Skye. ^^ I will critique art whenever I can but the only covers I'm critiquing is of the Knuckles the Echidna comics and the Sonic Universe Comics that focus on him. I must admit I'm not as good with critiquing art as I am with critiquing plot and character, so please bear with me as I try. One more thing: I am doing complete reviews of the stories at hand so there WILL be spoilers ahead. With that said...I am the Crimson Critic. *Puts on a blood red baseball cap* ...Actually, since I'm reviewing comics rather than games or movies...*Replaces baseball cap with a red fedora* I am The Jest, and welcome to Atop the Red Wall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #13: This Island Hedgehog Our story begins, almost exactly how it did in the games actually...Except that Sonic, of course doesn't have the Chaos emeralds and as such, cannot sadly turn super sonic and jump off the plane just to show off his chaos powers. Another difference being Robotnik came here on a hovercraft, rather than crash-landing there when Sonic screwed up his Death Egg...by blowing up a giant mech that wasn't in anyway connected to the Death Egg, so it begs to question how he actually pulled it off... Huh. ...Actually, the only reason in the games that he knows about the "Floating Island" as its called at the moment was really because his landing there was a freak accident, so how DID he know about this place anyways if it's suppose to be just a lege- Anyways, as they head towards the island, wondering what kind of sorcery is keeping it high and detached from any sign of ground, correctly pointing out that clearly it has to be a Chaos emerald (Because as we ALL know, Chaos energy is to this series as nuclear radiation is to any superhero comics. Remember that, cause I'll back to it on a later review.) A mysterious red arm with a very unfair-looking boxing glove on him starts dishing out the "unwelcome mat" right through the Tornado, ...or as it's really called, A rocket-propelled fist missile with a mat decoration. (...Like the chaos energy, I'll get back to that later in another review.) As they land safely they conclude that Robotnik must be behind this, right before Master Hand's abusive uncle decides to apparently signal in the batter blimp as Tails calls it, and giant marble as I'll call it, ...which burns up the entire forest and apparently the side of a mountain. ...Ignoring the latter silly moment of burning up the side of a mountain like that, does anybody notice that the supposed guardian is outright LETTING the giant flamethrowing marble start a forest fire on his island? At least in Sonic 3 it was implied that it was doing this behind his back, and could blame Sonic and Tails on the destruction. But here it looks like he outright initiated the marble to start it. What the crap? Anyways, the fire is about to hit Sonic when...suddenly an energy shield pops in. ...Because the Walkers wills it? Using this to his advantage he jumps into a pond to evade the giant marble and drops into what I could only describe as Hydrocity's back alley...or going by the tunnel and water pressure, a rather giant sewer system...Oh, and Sonic's Deus Ex Shield, fulfilling its purpose, conveniantly disappears, reminding Sonic why this was a terrible idea. Though not to worry, they broke through the wall into the actual Hydrocity...or rather a giant brick tank that is pretending to be hydrocity...and look, they even ask the readers to help out...though help out with what exactly? They're already out of the-...oh wait, they're back in a suction tunnel in next panel and the player failed, (What'd be hilarious is if the kid who was doing this was actually pretty good at the games and got frustrated when the comic outright said he/she failed.) the pressure's too much for the two to handle, resulting in Tails falling into the tunnel and Sonic blacking out. ...Well...That went dark pretty fast. But no, of course they're not dead. Now they're in a pitch black place, apparently very much dry, and tied up as a spotlight shines on an empty space near by. ...I would ask where they are, but Sonic already did that for me, and was answered with a basic "I'm not telling" answer. The voice is not of Robotnik, however, like they thought, as the ever mysterious stalker steps into the light to reveal...Rocky Bal-chidna? No, it's Knuckles the Echidna, the apparent last guardian of the Island and its ...Chaos Emerald. ...*Walks out of the room for a second and looks at the instruction manual to Sonic the Hedgehog 3* So, normally I'd rant about this, as this used to bug the crap out of me during my read through of this series from the first time I heard about it. But it seems that, indeed, the manual says he does guard the Chaos emeralds as oppose to the Master Emerald he guards nowadays. Seeing as how this was made during and for the release of Sonic 3, this is justified. Anyways, if you've played Sonic 3 already, then you know the deal from here. Knuckles is the guardian of the Chaos Emeralds but was tricked by Robotnik into believing that he was a good guy while Sonic was a thief attempting to steal the Emeralds from him. (Which is most likely disguised as a reason why Boom Knuckles has an Intelligence Debuff, when in reality, Knuckles is only naive to social activity since he's been almost alone all of his li-...But, I digress.) This ends Part 1, and in Part 2 we see Robotnik and ever-the-verbal-punching-bag-Snivley watching from their hovercraft...I think, as Knuckles interrogates Sonic and Tails. After a little wisecracking as to be expected by Sonic and Tails. Knuckles, of course, gives them a chance to leave his island before he basically makes kabobs out of them with those gloves of his, to which Robotnik is understandably...disappointed. "KNUCKLES!! Is your brain as tiny as the insects you devour?" ~ Dr. Robotnik Apparently Sonic Team seems to think so. -.-; (Ok, Ok...I'll try my best to keep the Sonic Boom jokes to a minimum at least.) Also, noticing that question now after all this time, ...well, you'll see the irony of those words later on. Anyways, upon basically responding to that with essentially a verbal version of the finger, Robotnik decides to take matters into his own hands, and sees that C-alliteration x2 Crabmeat has, somehow, gotten the Chaos Emerald from the place where it was taken. I'd ask how he managed to pull that out of the chamber it was in without anyone noticing since, well, let's just say there'd be a pretty good sign of gravity feeling a tad lighter. But I'll ignore that seeing how neither the chamber in question nor its purpose has been introduced, possibly even made creatively speaking, yet. Turn to the next page and we see Sonic and Tails racing towards the Emerald with Knuckles noticing and taking a shortcut before realizing the Chaos Emerald was gone...from a pillar of stones...out in the open... Did I say I'd ask how Crabmeat managed to get it from a chamber? I meant that I'd ask how it was a good idea to leave such an important emerald out in the open and TRAP-LESS...on an altar of gray stones just to make it stand out even more? If you didn't have a proper hiding space, why didn't you just keep it with you on hand? Guarantee that would have been much safer, and it's not like Robotnik wouldn't have a chance pickpocket it from him so the story still would have continued like it does. Anyways, long story short, Knuckles realizes that he's been duped by Robotnik since it's pretty obvious that Sonic and Tails didn't take it, as they're just then heading there. They team up, head for Robotnik, destroy his daily unit of swatbots, making him retreat on his...apparently malfunctioning hovercraft, (So this might have been a freak landing after all.) and thanks to Knuckles picking up all the pieces of the tornado, (Must have been a pain...) and Sonic putting it back together in practically an instant, the duo fly off into the sunset with Knuckles looking on, making the accurate prediction that this won't be the last time we see of him. ...Technically that it won't be the last time he sees of them; different words, same meaning. Now art-wise I don't necessarily have a problem with the art. The Island looks rather excellent, albeit undetailed with the background and all, and the characters all look fine...save for Knuckles. ...I don't know, it's probably just me, and I can't quite put my finger on why even if it is, but something about his design seems...off. Maybe it's simply because I'm more use to the modern version of him, since he seems like a complete duplicate of his Original game self...in concept art. But even still, seeing him in the Genesis game he debuted in and looking at him here...something just doesn't feel right to me about it. Overall...The story was alright. It has a few problems, but as the single tie-in to Sonic 3, it served its purpose well enough, even gave a little kid-friendly interaction even much like a couple other stories in Sonic. It also did well as the first outing of the Rad-Red himself and showed him for what he is: somewhat intelligent, somewhat cunning, (Certain exceptions aside) but ultimately sheltered and gullible therefore to outside forces. Honestly though, I think Fleetway did his debut a bit better, giving him 4 issues, 3 of which plays off the fact that he was basically Robotnik's version of Sonic (Besides Metal Sonic, of course.) and Sonic's equal rival until Sonic and Knuckles, of which the fourth issue seems to have been based off of, set the record straight. But regardless, as a stand-alone single issue, it did good with what it had. As such, I give it a 7/10. And speaking of Sonic and Knuckles... Next Issue: Sonic and Knuckles Special!

Thanks you two, I appreciate it. ^_^

Thank you guys. I really appreciate it. ^_^

First off, The poll you see above your heads right now involves the third part of this announcement. So I suggest reading that before making your decision. -------------- Alright, so after about a week or so of contemplating and talking with the others. I have three Announcements to make: First off, the important stuff: Our resident mod, Cheery, aka Shadow, has been with us for a long while now. He hasn't exactly been a perfect staffer, but then again, I don't think any of us could be considered perfect. I don't know how to say this, so I'll say it out right: ...As of this moment, Cheery will no longer be a Moderator of Sonic Scanf. ...Instead, he shall take that blue banner... ...And paint it red. :) Yes, that's right. While cheery has had the blue banner of Moderator for a while now, in the shadows he has always been an unofficial Red-banner, having had access to Admin permission for a while now. So technically it's not a promotion; he always had the Admin power, but now he has the badge to match. So with that said, Cheery is now, officially, an Administrator of Sonic Scanf. ----------------------------- But now that he is, and with Geoffrey absent with so far no telling of when he'll come back, (Though knowing him, he eventually WILL return, rest assured.) that makes Lino the only Moderator left. So with that said, Announcement 2: We are hiring Mods. As the Forum gets bigger and bigger by the day, we need to get some more staff that can assist in keeping things nice and orderly. We are looking for at least one more mod, Four at most. This way we'd have an Odd 5 members of Moderation, 6 when Geoffrey inevitably returns, and in that case we'd have two mods overseeing three areas. (The Sonic The Hedgehog, Misc, and Forum Games areas.) Even if we have just one, it would help. But we're not going to just pick you out of the crowds. The last time we did that for Lino-while it worked out in the end-from what I heard, there was some bad vibes coming off the decision. So to prevent that from happening again: We've decided to hand out an Application here. Name: Age: Experience(?): (Have you been a staffer at another place before? If so, for what and how long? If not, simply write "N/A") Why do you want to be a Mod?: (Please explain this to the best of your ability.) What makes you think you have what it takes to be a Mod?: (Please explain this to the best of your ability.) If you were to be a Mod, do you understand and accept the Responsibility of one?: (A simple Yes/No will do.) If you want to be a Mod of Sonic Scanf, Fill this out and send it to us via PM, whoever you feel is most online. Keep in mind that we're still the judges, and that we are determining our decision based not only on how you fill this application, (Though it certainly will help you out if it's nicely filled.) but your overall stay here on this site, not by length but by action. We are only accepting 4 at Maximum. Once we have that amount, I will announce it and basically close the job openings. --------------------------------------- Now for something less important, but a little treat in store for all the RPers out there. Especially you guys in the RP-mania and Free-play Mania topics: You see, I was looking at the Russian version of this Site one day when I notice one particular thing they have that we don't. ...An Area known as "Free-Play". I took a look at it and...well, I decided to use it, to copy it from there and paste it here. While some of it is to essentially give as much content here as they would there. (There's only one more feature barring this that is exclusive, but I don't think we necessarily need it...not yet anyways.) The Main reason is the interesting premise. Basically Free-Play is just that, A proverbial sandbox expanded into an area-wide proverbial world of sand. Imagine if you will areas specifically for giant locations like Mobius, and each topic in said area is a location like Central City that people can go in and out of. People would enter one place for one reason or another, leave, and head to their next destination, or topic, and entering there. For example: Someone can enter a topic designed for Central City, do what they want to get done, then leave and go to another topic designed for Green Hill Zone or something like that. The story would possibly be small, but like any good Sandbox game, once the story is over, you can still continue to do what you wish. Who knows, maybe your actions will cause a new story to unfold to replace the one that ended. So as to not Overwhelm you, There are only three planets: Mobius (Sonic) Cyberspace (Nicole) Earth 200X (Megaman) The Free-play area would be supervised by staff, specifically myself, Lino, and when Geoffrey comes back, I'll probably ask him to oversee it with me as well. But before I do that, before I actually make it, I want to know what you think of it. This is where the Poll comes in. Simply put: if enough people says yes or even maybe, I will make it. If not, I won't. I want you to decide if this idea should be realized. Well, that's all three updates. Cheery's an Admin now (Though really, he's been an Admin for sometime now, he just now has the banner to officially confirm it.), 4 spots in the Moderators are open, and there's potential new RPing area. I hope this is to your liking. Thanks for Reading. :D