Continuing the Shadow'y stuff, I have to say that they tickled my nostalgia really well, Shads covered the Casino Park one, I tingled with glee when I saw the Carni Isle barrel of doom 😀
Other things I noticed:
* The annoying bit of Final Rush after the 6th checkpoint (upwall grind, just before Mystic Melody) is one of the areas you fly past during the flying sections of "The ARK" except the platforms are all smashed up, but it's very easy to notice which bit I'm talking about, just before the 3rd defense barrier.
That made me giddy :3
Final Boss in Shadow screams like the Biolizard did...
No, honestly, it's true...
And no, im not spoilering it and saying who the final boss is, and it's not a spoiler to say that there IS a boss... 
Just to make sure I don't spoil anyone with an element of "Shadow the Hedgehog's" Last Story:
Spoilers (Select To Read): There's a neat throw back to SA2 when Shadow goes "Super." He makes the same hand guesture (only now it's not lewd because he's doing it with both hands...) 
I wanted to see that too, but it was really more of a DBZ power-up pose, the dice shake motion was closed eyes, serene expression, shake fist, then open eyes in sudden or- power-surge
A while back when I played SA2 on Dreamcast, I went into the Chao Garden with Sonic and I pet a chao on the head too much. I walked away a little, and it looked really dizzy. Then he sort of started hitting his head with his hand to get himself focused. It was funny and cute.
Sonic Adventure 2 Neutral Chao Garden (I think) You are able to run along the walls Prince Of Persia stlye as Eggman. (Well not Prince of Persia style but still running along the walls) Just get some speed up and then try to sideways run up the grey wall to the left of the garden.
I back with more things I notice.
Knuckles doesn't seem to guard the Master Emerald anymore.
Eggman stop turing animals into robots
Chaotix's Team Blast "Chaotix Recital" might be a tribute to Vector who was orginally going to be in Sonic 1
I also notice and it might sense to why Mighty isn't in Sonic Heroes. I'm thinking Sonic Team wanted a team composed of cold-blooded animals. And since armadillos are warm blooded, that's the reason he wasn't in (at least that's what I think 
)
And I was under the impression Insects didnt have bloodstreams?
Of course, I dropped bioligy a couple of years ago so i'm no expert on the subject 
As far as I know, they don't have bloodstreams in the "traditional" sense, but there is fluid being moved around. I think though that it's more or a matter of automatically associating "cold-blooded" with "ectotherms" in general, which would include insects.
You cant be cold blooded if you dont have blood... I mean, I've just been checking, the insides of most insects are just one massive sticky goo and oxygen and other stuff moves around of it's own accord... There was a special word for it but I've forgotten it... Some scientist I am 
Anyway, yeah, their invertibrates, but I wouldn't class them as cold blooded. Besides, even if we were I'd hardly look at Chaotix's personality and think "Ooh, cold blooded people..." That's for killers and psycopaths generally... Something only Espio could even remotely suit...
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* The annoying bit of Final Rush after the 6th checkpoint (upwall grind, just before Mystic Melody) is one of the areas you fly past during the flying sections of "The ARK" except the platforms are all smashed up, but it's very easy to notice which bit I'm talking about, just before the 3rd defense barrier.
I can't believe someone else noticed that. As soon as Shadow went flying through that I instantly got a sense of deja vu.
Something I was told about Sonic Adventure: When listening to the more rapid, upbeat version of Final Egg's BGM, the Emerald Hill music can be heard, but it doesn't sound quite the same. It's like all the notes were taken up a notch or something like that.
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Eggman stop[sic] turing[sic] animals into robots
No he didn't. Did you not notice the fact that in Sonic Adventure, small animals come out of the enemy robots (including the E-100 series), or that in Sonic Adventure 2, you can obtain small animals from the robots in the pyramid levels?
If you're referring to Heroes and Shadow, it's because animals wouldn't serve a gameplay purpose in those games.
In Sonic Adventure 2 on metal harbor, did anyone ever wonder were that missile was headed?
Sonic Rush is the first game with the new Eggman Mechs which has animal power, though. His designed army seems to have a different power-source, which is fair enough. He's been switching and changing for years now, least we forget the Sonic CD Flower Power bots.
I like to imagine that Eggman was inspired by the power source his grandfather created (Chaos Drives) and crafted his own new source based on them - the Power Cores from Heroes. Being based on chaos energy would also explain why they can boost the heroes' abilities.
Still love the animals used as power sources though. I wonder if we'll ever see them again in a 3D game. Whilst the videos we've seen of StH (360, PS3) present the game in a far from completed state, I'm guessing that the robots are not going to relinquish animals in the final version. I reckon it would be interesting in a new game if, upon destroying some of the larger and/or more powerful enemies, a human being popped out and thanked Sonic. Heh, a bit whacked, but surely humans would be a better power source than tiny animals. It'd be very Matrix - which means it would perhaps be more suited to something like Shadow the Hedgehog 2 (just pretend it'd be a good game and not a repeat of the current one ).
"I also notice and it might sense to why Mighty isn't in Sonic Heroes. I'm thinking Sonic Team wanted a team composed of cold-blooded animals."
I think it's more that they just wanted a non-mammalian team (plus the fact they look quite different to the rest of the 'furry' characters, whereas Mighty doesn't. I think Iizuka actually said the idea of using them because they were unique).
Something I read on Wikipedia:
There are two bosses with a peculiar note about them in Shadow; namely, Black Bull and Blue Falcon. Why? Because they're both F-Zero cars, and both belong to important characters (Black Shadow and Captain Falcon, respectively). Certainly this is not a coincidence, considering Sega made F-Zero GX...
Yes yes, I actually noticed the Black Bull bit. Guess I haven't made it to Blue Falcon yet.
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Final Boss in Shadow screams like the Biolizard did...
No, honestly, it's true...
Did ya notice that Biolizard used the Perfect Chaos scream?
No, honestly, it's true...
Did anyone notice the musical similarities between Emerald Coast from SA and Labyrinth Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog? At precisely 0:54 seconds into "Azure Blue World", it uses a musical riff extremely similar to that of Labyrnith Zone's BGM at 0:35. Give it a try.
While I'm at it, anyone notice the arcitectural and color similarities between the Echidna tirbe's village in the past and Marble Garden Zone? Makes me think Maybe Marble Garden zone is that place's (or one similar to its) ruins. Also, since Hydrocity is right under Marble Garden, and Lost World is right underneath the temple ruins, it makes you think: Could Lost World be somewhat of a remake/part of Hydrocity?
Just a few of my little musings
Perfect Chaos
Biolizard
Metal Overlord
*Final boss in Shadow*
...
Metal Overlord as it's the only one which doesnt recycle screams off it's predeccesors...
Biolizard is also the odd one out being the only one that isn't some Super-powered transformation.
Biolizard's scream is similar to Perfect Chaos', but it's definitely not the same one. BL's is shorter and.. well, I always thought it sounded a bit like a cougar.
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Biolizard is also the odd one out being the only one that isn't some Super-powered transformation.
Only in the sense that it doesn't change its appearance.
It certainly grows larger, however, and it is using the power of the Chaos emeralds at the same time Sonic and Shadow are (or maybe that's just my understanding?)
Also, Biolizard's scream isn't the same as PC's.
1. The echidnas' architecture encompasses several styles, notably Mesoamerican (SA) and Egyptian (S&K,SA2).
2. You go from Lava Reef Zone to Hidden Palace Zone in S&K, and, when you're on Angel Island in SA, the entrance to Red Mountain is suspiciously near the Shrine of the Master Emerald.
3. In Sonic the Hedgehog for the Game Gear, the first three Zones are Green Hill, Bridge, and Jungle. In Act 2 of Neo Green Hill Zone in Sonic Advance, the stage starts out Green Hill-styled; in the middle, it changes to a dense, almost jungle-like forest; and the Zone's Boss is fought on a bridge.
4. In Sonic Heroes, far from being the slow, boring creatures we all might see in England, EACH AND EVERY HEDGEHOG IS A SPEED CHARACTER. So, it's not just Sonic....
5. Sonic's car in Sonic Drift and Sonic Drift 2 and Tails' walker in Sonic Adventure 2 are both named Cyclone. Wouldn't that get confusing?
6. Most of the vehicles Sonic and co. use have wind-related names: the Tornado and Tornado 2, both Cyclones, the Breeze, the Tempest, the Whirlwind S7, and the Egg Typhoon.
7. At the end of Sonic the Fighters, Eggman's saucer is in space WITHOUT HIM BEING PROTECTED FROM THE VACUUM OF SPACE! Man, that geriatric glob of grease (fat old guy) can survive just about anything.
8. Some in-depth fans would tell you that Sonic and Co. haven't been to Westside Island since Sonic 2 on the Genesis. But, wasn't Fang/Nack's stage in Sonic the Fighters Casino Night?
9. This last one is a bit more obvious, but I think it's neat, so I'm including it:
In Japan, the Doc has always been called Eggman, but us old-shool American gamers know him better as Robotnik. Sonic Adventure 2 finally put the confusion to rest: Eggman's grandpa and cousin's last name is Robotnik. So, the guy's LEGAL name is Robotnik, but he goes by Eggman.
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So, the guy's LEGAL name is Robotnik, but he goes by Eggman.
I'm pretty sure most people knew a good while before Sonic Adventure 2 that his name was "Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik".
Has the name Ivo ever actually been mentioned in the games continuity, though? I have very dim memories of it being in the English instruction manual for Sonic 1, but I'm pretty sure I'm wrong about that...
But, (another freaking thing I notice, I'm good at stuff like this) if the evil doctor's was suppose to be originally called Eggman, shouldn't Gerald and Maria's last name be Eggman too? After all, before Sonic Team appected Robotnik as his offical last name it's always been Eggman before.
Compromise?
I may as well mention here as a "little thing I noticed" that Emerald Hill's music borrows a sequence of six notes from Green Hill.
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I may as well mention here as a "little thing I noticed" that Emerald Hill's music borrows a sequence of six notes from Green Hill.
And those types of things fall into the realm of that which we like to call 'coincidence'.
With 'Robotnik' officially being his true surname, I can't understand why people can't accept 'Eggman' as his first, given name. Cruel name to call your child, surely, but seeing as he was always Eggman in Japan long before SA1, with no mentioning of it being a nickname, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume his real, full name is '[Dr.] Eggman Robotnik' (because honestly, I think SoA have given up explaining the name change as a nickname - they haven't mentioned that it is a nickname since SA1's instruction booklet). I really don't think 'Ivo' has ever been used in a canon-itised way (don't be confused by the text on his SA2 walker - that says 'EVO') for the games, japanese nor american. They call the Prof. by his first name ('Professor Gerald'), so why wouldn't they do the same for Doctor Eggman?
"In Sonic Heroes, far from being the slow, boring creatures we all might see in England, EACH AND EVERY HEDGEHOG IS A SPEED CHARACTER. So, it's not just Sonic..."
Heheh, it's actually a myth that hedgehogs are slow. I guess it comes from the fact that they get killed on the road so often - but that's not due to their speed (well, certainly they ARE slower than a speeding vehicle) but rather the fact they freeze when hit by bright lights. In fact, just today I was out at 4.45am taking photographs of the first hints of light peeking over the horizon, I encountered two hedgies (they're LOUD, man! Rustling around and snuffling like crazy) and took photos of both of them. The first one froze from the flash (had to turn it on in order for him to show up on film). I'm not sure I caught the first one, he was too fast, and scampered down a dark 'alley' between a shed and fence. I probably got a nice picture of his spiky ass XD
And boring? My dog certainly disagrees with you - he'll sit whimpering at one until we come and check it out and say "Oh wow, it's a hedgehog, good boy, we see it now, come inside".. heheh.
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5. Sonic's car in Sonic Drift and Sonic Drift 2 and Tails' walker in Sonic Adventure 2 are both named Cyclone. Wouldn't that get confusing?
Then call it Tornado III. Same difference.
Naka's already come clean in an interview about Eggman's "Dr. Eggman" moniker being something the character started calling himself, his real name to be considered a mystery. Naturally, this was long after SA2 was released so one can only guess that he was trying to makes sense the introduction of the Robotnik name into the round guy's family tree.
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And those types of things fall into the realm of that which we like to call 'coincidence'.
I'm pretty sure that the first two games had the same composer, and the fact that they named the first level of the second game in homage to that of the first game leads me to believe that there's a very good chance it was intentional. Especially since it wasn't just random notes in the midst of everything but the main melody of Green Hill at the start of its own segment, not to mention that Sonic often games reuse/remix/rearrange tunes.
In Green Hill act 1 for Sonic1 Master System (don't know about GG) there is a big slope with a ramp at the end. If you are fast enough (there are some speed shoes nearby if I'm not mistaken) you can be shot high up in the air and out of the screen! If you keep on pressing right you can fly above the ENTIRE stage and finish the act! XD This probably is some knd of glitch, but I loved doing it all the time!
^That sounds cool. Another thing I noticed, is that in Sonic Adventure 2, Knuckles had more "rounder" eyes, but in Shadow the Hedgehog, he had more "pointier" eyes, not unlike Shadow's. I'd prefer SA2's character model.
You mean McKnux the Crime Dog? Woof.
When I'd said "boring", I'd kinda meant to most people. I happen to think they're neat.
Another thing I'd noticed: People complain that Knuckles no longer protects the Master Emerald. In Sonic Heroes, if Eggman ruled the world, doesn't that kind of mean he'd take over Angel Island as well? Same goes for the Black Arms in Shadow the Hedgehog.
Has anyone noticed, in SA1 just before you face Eggman's first boss he says i'm Dr. Robotnik!
And in SA2 when he gives the message to the Eggman Empire, in the background it says Robotnik.
And in the Shadow Game, Shadow in one of the levels he falls down a hole and then my screen says GAME OVER, return to energiser.
Uh, what? The screen definitely says "black out" when you lose all your lives...
Ignore SA1, he refers to himself as Robotnik because Eggman doesn't have mouth movements to synchronise. It's painfully obvious that SoA are clutching to straws to maintain the Robotnik moniker.
Yeah, but Gerald and Maria's last name is Robotnik EVEN IN JAPAN.
Yes, I'm aware of that. SA2 was the first time that US and Japan combined. The name Robotnik has been seen in the series throughout and Naka insists that it was always Eggman's name, but SoA clearly depicts characters with voice movement calling him Eggman and non-movement (Gamma/Eggman) saying Robotnik.
Thusly it's just annoying in SA1, in SA2 Japan starts using the name Robotnik so the voice acting matches.
Oops...
Guess I misinterpreted what you meant. Sorry.
Back to things I noticed...
In Sonic Advance 3, the Alter Emerald music is actually a remix of the Holly Summit Music in Sonic Battle. Also, Emerl's theme, the end credit music (I THINK), and variations of other tracks in Sonic Battle have also been remixed in Sonic Advance 3 (Start Demo, Nonaggression, etc.).
Also, the Special Stage Music used in SAdv 1 and 2 has been remixed for 3, as well as another Vs. Track. The music playing while waiting for a link connection in SAdv 1 is played in SAdv 2 when you select single game pak mode in the multiplayer menu.
*Whew!*
And I read somewhere that the main menu music in Sonic Advance 3 was a remix of some Chao race menu music one of the SA games. Is that true?
I'm pretty sure there's a website somewhere which lists every musical recycle/reference used in the Sonic series to date.
Anyone know the URL and if it's still updated?
Sorry Craig, don't know the URL to that.
But anyways, I was thinking about Shadow the Hedgehog, after finishing his game a week ago (exactly to the hour, coincidently o.o), somewhere along the lines, Spoilers (Select To Read): I think it was when Black Doom was explaining to Shadow about his origin in the Last Story. Black Doom refers to Shadow as The Ultimate Life Force.
Can't remember if that was mentioned or not, but, sheesh, what'supwitdat?
EDIT: Sorry about not making it a spoiler, I swear I've seen the "how to make a spoiler tag" thing almost a hundred times, yet it's not drilled into my head yet. u__u;
Spoiler tags added. - Super Power of Team Work Penguin
The Bladed Spinners from Sonic Adventure 1 (normal or DX: Director's Cut) are in Sonic Advance 2 and 3.
One of my favorite things about SA1 was the stories behind the walking stick figures in Station Square. The girl who was too shy to talk to the Burger Shop guy, and ended up asking for a job to work with him. The man who boasted about his skyscraper, and then whines when Eggman busts a hole in it. The train employees who go on strike just long enough for Amy to be kidnapped. The girl who admits she thought the Burger Shop statue was a real person. The woman who is addicted to the Casino, and tries to stop herself from going there, but blows her savings when Sonic and Tails are knocked out. The antique shop owner who didn't care about his lack of business. The little girl and her mother waiting for the girls father to come back from exploring the Mystic Ruins (and you can go find him. Sometimes I wish I could just pick him up like the Burger Shop statue and take him home. ;_;) And a few more noteworthy ones I don't remember.
I just loved how much thought was put into that game.
Well, I was playing Shadow today, and BOY, THE NOSTALGIA!
Just play that level where you race Sonic to the Emerald...can't remember what it was called, but it looks almost EXACTLY like Final Chase/Rush from SA2! Same with the other space stages, and various cutscenes show bits from those stages floating in the background, like the lights for example. Even the little noises made when you go grinding the rail through the ring-things are the same! And there's a certain part where you run along a stretch of road almost exactly like the never-ending highway from the final Sonic/Shadow battle...
There was something else too, but I forgot.
Turtle Guy: Yeah, man. The NPCs in SA1 were great. They were so nice to me *sniff* SA1 is still my fave ever game. It feels so alive, and there was so much thought, effort and creativity put into it. The badniks had great, detailed, vibrant designs - as did the worlds (what didn't here?). I've spent hours just looking around this game, wishing I could really go to these places.
Something I've noticed: In the Gems Collection gallery, there's a'Treasured Artworks' (think that's correct) picture which is concept art for Sonic 1, and features some strange monsters and Sonic's human girlfriend. Cool thing is there's also an early Eggman in the image - who's suit is black, making him look quite... Nega
