Late to the Party: Sonic Orgins

orgive the clichéd sentiment, but even after 31 years of blazing across all manner of screens, SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog does show any sign of slowing down. Riding the hype train of the recent film’s success at the Box-Office in the same year the little guy turns 31, the folks at SEGA and Sonic Team in collaboration with the talented folks at HeadCannon took to the task of releasing yet another Classic Sonic Collection, Sonic Origins. The collection features Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, and the first re-release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles in over a decade; each one optimized with the same Retro Engine Sonic Mania ran on, enhancing these cult-favorite titles with a sizable HD upgrade for the current generation of gaming.

Despite the number of times some of these titles have been re-released, Sonic Team and company have boasted that this new arrangement will come loaded with more passion and fandom than we’ve seen from the likes of Sonic Jam or Sonic Mega Collection. While some of those claims are founded, I can’t quite help but feel like Sonic Origins struggles to live up to the potential it had, let alone the hype going into the whole thing.

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PPR Presents Limelight: Knuckles' Chaotix-26th Anniversary

wenty-six years ago this week in Japan, the Edgy Echidna in red who won the hearts of SEGA fans across the world decided to push his luck with the crowd even further with a brand new solo outing, Knuckles’ Chaotix, the flagship title for the new SEGA Genesis add-on console, the SEGA 32X.

As ambitious as it was, the 32-bit spinoff was a commercial flop, a flop that hasn’t seen a re-release since the ill-fated GameTap subscription service. Anyone who’s listened to the show the last twelve years knows just how much I love this damn game. For as obscure as it is, it’s legacy has carried on through the years with its colorful cast, and influences across a number of games, including the recent masterpiece that is Sonic Mania Plus. While the odds of getting an HD Re-release are as likely as SEGA announcing the Dreamcast 2,  I thought it would be nice to show this quirky little game some High-Definition love with an impromptu stream later tonight! Join me Saturday night, 04/24/2021, 5:45 PM Pacific Standard Time on our Twitch as I try to play through ith the best ending, and open that faithful door into Summer.

QCF: Turrican Flashback

he Western and Eastern history video games have always had their place in the main zeitgeist of video game culture, but what about the other, other West? The one that ran their television displays at 50HZ PAL output had a crap-load of gradient color schemes, and an obsession with hurting players with falling water drops—yeah, I’m talking about the European slice of gaming.

While the folks “across the pond” were able to get their own localizations of household brands like Nintendo and SEGA, there was one other name synonymous with the European gaming scene & that was Commodore Amiga.

Even though there isn’t a lot of love for the Amiga legacy outside of those who group on it, there’s been one common denominator that has seamlessly harmonized across all three regions—Turrican.

Factor 5’s Sci-Fi Run ‘n Gun has been hosted across numerous platforms, but none more celebrated than the titles that have graced the Amiga 1200, Super NES, and even the Sega Genesis, and now with the help of Ratalaika Games, Factor 5 has released an upgraded collection of the four best titles in the franchise with Turrican Flashback. Looking beyond the appeal of collecting these overlooked classics into one convenient collection, the labor of love that went into optimizing these games, and fleshing out every little quality of life enhancement and nuance imaginable is what really sets this title apart from nostalgia packages. Turrican Flashback may be one of the finest curations of a retro game set ever to be programmed.

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PPR Presents Play Play: Rocket Knight Adventures

ey all! We’re finally returning to consistent Play Play videos again, and we cannot wait to highlight one of the most slept-on, overlooked franchises in all of gaming, the Rocket Knight Adventures franchise. Arguably, people who are familiar with the series claim that the property ultimately peaked where it began with the original, but we disagree, as we take the time to explore the series as a whole starting with this first entry. In this video, we’ll be asking ourselves the important questions like is it a Run ‘n Gun, or a Platformer, and does Bacon taste crispier when it’s on SEGA.

Join George and Ser on this fiery, yet furry romp into Konami’s first full-fledged Mascot title for the Sega Genesis—without any “Only 90’s kids will remember’ memes for your viewing pleasure!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

QCF: Sonic Mania

he power of fandom is a fickle force to be reckoned with; the passionate devotion of a dedicated following can either propel the object of said affection to perpetual stardom, or alienate any sort of appeal it may have had with an obsessive toxicity that could stigmatize it beyond repair, for years upon years.

This sort of phenomenon has struck a number of video game franchises, but none have been more affected by it quite like the Sonic the Hedgehog property. The speedy SEGA mascot has been an industry icon for over 25 years, and yet has fallen from the place of universal acclaim, into a spot of irreverent polarization. These two camps are broken down into the somewhat ambivalent spectators who barely bother to care about him, and those who still swear their loyalty to the spikey-haired hero, in spite of the checkered past that he’s led in recent in years.

It’s been clear for near a decade now that most of the folks still on Sonic Team have forgotten what made the character so appealing in the first place, but it’s only now that SEGA has finally arrived at that same conclusion. The big wigs have tried a myriad of ideas to reinvent their icon, and most have them have fallen flat; why not give the reigns to the only force that could give their star mascot the justice that he deserves—the fans themselves.

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PPR Presents Limelight: Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection

t some point in our lives, we have to admit the cold hard truth that every one of us face (some sooner than others) and it’s simply that we’re old as shit. Not to fear though, reaching a certain age, allows us to relive some of the sweeter moments from our childhood with a reverence that holds the same vibrant jubilation we felt in our child hood; take the Sega Genesis for example—that wonderful dumb box of 16-bit joy, it just hit 25 years of age yesterday.

That’s right; twenty, five, years….

So of course, what better way to celebrate the milestone then to stream the biggest assortment of Genesis titles ever compiled into one collective game for all you beautiful people in Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection—there’s way more to show off than Sonic here folks.

Join George as he plays through a random order of the games available, at the mercy of his whim, or yours, depending on how loud y’all can get in the Twitch chat, we’ll be starting off tonight on August 15, at 8:30 PM, Pacific standard time.

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!