sonic and shadow games: July 2009

Friday, July 31, 2009

Introducing Barry the Nomad!

We have a new writer for Sega Memories! I personally invited him over after enjoying his write ups on all Sega hand held related goings on over at his blog the Nomad Junkyard, especially his most recent post on the Comic Con exclusive Metal Sonic figure he picked up, not to mention the 'Lost in New York' and Jet Set radio artwork posts. With Barry on the team we now have an American perspective of Sega nostalgia-y type things to share!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

They finally arrived! The Classic Sonic Vinyl Figures

To say these have been a pain in the arse to find for sale is an understatement. I ordered them from Forbidden Planet way back in march (along with the 12" statue, which is actually now in stock over at Play-Asia if you're willing to pay the shipping fees) and just today I finally got a set of the First4Figures Classic Sonic vinyl toys, and they do not disappoint.

Here they are in the packaging, which is luckily that kind that lets you place it back in the box if and when you please rather than some sodding blister pack that needs to be slaughtered to open up.

Here's the back of the box. It says 'Series 1' so hopefully one day we'll get more of these. I'd be all up for a set of Metal Sonic, Amy Rose and Robotnik myself. Considering how long it took these ones to fruition I doubt we'll see a series two, though. Please prove me wrong, First4Figures!

More often than not with figures the photo on the box looks a darn sight better than the figure you get in the box itself, but in this case that's not the case. They really do look just as good as they did in the early promo photos. The quality of these toys is up there with the Japanese Mario figures that have been floating about for the last few years, they're simply brilliant.

Sonic is the odd one of the bunch in that he's not in a standing pose, rather a mid run which makes sense as running is what he's known for. For the toy to stand upright the little black stand has littles in dents for the feet to sit inside which work nicely (unlike so many figure stands I've had before that are far too fiddly).

He hasn't got much of an expression going on so this is probably the figure with the least character of the three, but that's not saying much as it's still a whole lot better than 90% of previous Sonic toys. The pose looks great, especially from the side.

The Tails figure is, lets be honest here.. the best Tails shaped lump of plastic to ever be molded. Tails in particular has been a character that companies have rarely got right in toy form: normally he ends up with a smashed-in-the-face-with-a-shovel look. Just compare this new toy to this rather wonky Sonic Adventure one from 1999:

HURRRRRR. DURRRRR. HURRR DURRR.

DERP DERP DERP.

I really cannot fault this one, they've nailed it. My favorite of the three, which is also what I said about the Classic Sonic range plush toys that came out last year. Basing his design on the far cuter Japanese artwork was a very smart move. The proportions are just right, and he has such a joyous smile on his face. What's not to like.

The Knuckles figure is also excellently designed. Again the proportions are as close to the old Japanese artwork as you're going to get. The pose is nice and despite his fits covering up a lot of his chest they haven't forgotten his collar/birthmark//whatever that thing is supposed to be. Even his tail goes wonky at the end like it should. It's the simplicity yet attention to detail that makes these such a brilliant set.

If you can hunt these down I would defiantly recommended buying them. These are quite possible the nicest Sonic figures to have ever been produced, they really are that good. The bar has been raised by First4Figures for quality after years of mostly wonky Sonic merchandise and I hope their 12" Sonic statue is as high quality as these are, though unlike the statue these are a measly £10-15 each so they're also a bargain for how well designed they are (you'd never get a Mickey Mouse Vinyl toy for this kind of price, for example).

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The web's best free online games and wallpapers

Check out this latest post in the England, Thailand and Other Things blog because it promises to give you the best free online games and wallpapers on the web:

(Quote)
Disney and Pixar online games

Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, Ice Age and other CG movie online games

Naruto and Ben 10 online games

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa online games

Disney's Bolt online games

Pokemon online games

SpongeBob SquarePants online games

Mario, Sonic, Nintendo and Sega online games

Monsters vs. Aliens online games

Star Trek online games

Power Rangers online games

Pixar's UP online games

Transformers 2 online games

Tom & Jerry, Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Wacky Races, Hong Kong Phooey and Looney Tunes online games
(End quote)

The web's best free online games and wallpapers

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Flash online games that run directly within this blog

Don't know if you've ever seen them, but there are three Mario and Sonic online games that actually run directly within this blog, so you can enjoy them here without having to go to another site and mess about with clicking through loads of links, trying to avoid pop-ups, and so on.

You can either go to the home page of this blog, if you aren't already there, and jump to the bottom of the page (hint: press the "End" key to do that in one quick and easy step) - you'll find the three games in posts from January and February 2008.

Or you can go directly to the relevant blog posts here:

A nice little Mario "time-waster" game

Mario & Sonic Online Game Recommendations - Part 6
(This post is about the classic 1980's Nintendo "Game & Watch" LCD handheld games, and includes links to a number of Flash recreations of those lovely little games, as well as the "in-blog" one)

A Flash online Super Sonic jigsaw puzzle...

You can find these games plus 150 more free Mario and Sonic online games in MarioSonicGames.com, a site with no annoying pop-ups, no click-thru links, no tricks, no gimmicks - just loads of lovely free online games for you to enjoy!

PS. There's also an "in-blog" game over in the England, Thailand and Other Things blog if you're interested in that too..... A great little Scooby-Doo web-browser game