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Part 1: Then...

CONSOLE: Activated. CONTROLLER: Charged. DISC: Inserted. ALL SYSTEMS READY. LAUNCH IN 3...

2...

1...

Upon booting up the game, we're met by the basic SEGA logo, followed by the Sonic Team logo. Why does everyone seem to hate Sonic Team? At least they try to make good games.

Now, the first difference you'll notice between the SD (Wii/PS2) and HD (360/PS3) versions; the opening cutscene here is played before the main menu, while in the HD version, it plays upon starting a new file.

Music: "Cutscene - Opening"; composed by Takahito Eguchi, performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. (First half here, second half here) This song is basically what you can expect for the rest of the soundtrack— sheer, unquestionable awesome.

As for the cutscene itself? Amazing. The animation in this game is nearly Pixar-quality, and this is the scene that best exemplifies it. We start off with a massive fleet of spaceships (must... not... reference... Star Wars...), under the control of everyone's favorite villain, Dr. Robotnik Dr. Eggman. The Doc looks over his mighty armada, laughing, when he looks over and goes "wait what—" Suddenly, there's our protagonist, Sonic. How he got on the ship, I don't really know, but whatever. Sonic plows his way through all of the robots only to be confronted by Eggman, piloting a badass mecha that will never be seen again in the game. After attempting a Macross Missile Massacre, he instead opts to grab the hedgehog with his bot's extendable arms. I would question the logic of this, but trying to blow him up first actually sounds like a logical plan. However, since this is the space level, Sonic should have all of the Chaos Emeralds right now. And it's lucky that we're going for the Good Ending here, because yes he does. Sonic proceeds to go Super, trash Eggman's mecha, and chase after him— laying waste to his fleet in the process.

So, Sonic (whose shoes are really shiny for some reason) finally has Eggbotnik cornered, and what does the Doctor do? He pulls a Wily and asks for forgiveness—
"Dr. Eggman: S-Sonic! I-I'm sorry! R-really! L-look, go easy on me! [He seems to stutter a lot, doesn't he?] I'll turn over a new leaf, I swear! Just give me a chance!"
Good ol' Sonic, Genre Blind as he is, responds with some witty banter—
"Sonic: Well, this is new. Showing remorse, Eggman? If you played nice, I wouldn't have to break all your toys."
OH HEY LOOK IT'S A TRAP WHO SAW THIS COMING. As Sonic has his energy drained, he cries out in pain. (by the way, that infamous Narm face? When I first saw that, it creeped the fuck outta me.) As it turns out, this was Eggman's plan all along. He uses the Chaos Emeralds to power a massive laser, which he then fires at the planet. (Insert obligatory Shoop-da-whoop reference here.) Bada-bing, bada-boom. The world slowly cracks apart, and OH HEY, there's a huge Eldritch Abomination sealed beneath us. Sleep well tonight, folks! Sonic gains a larger, more beastly appearance, which everyone will bitch about for some reason. Eggman mocks him about it ("That's a good look for you— festive!") and dumps Sonic (and the Chaos Emeralds) out of the airlock. As the hedgehog Werehog falls down to Earth, the Eldritch Abomination disperses across the globe, and we go to the title screen.

Music: "The World Adventure - Title Screen"; composed by Tomoya Ohtani.

Alright, time to actually start the game. I switch the control settings (my brother uses the Classic Controller; I use the Nunchuck), create a new file, and OH HEY another cutscene. Typical.

Music: "Cutscene - A New Journey"; composed by Tomoya Ohtani and Takahito Eguchi. No link, because the soundtrack rip that made its way onto Youtube omits the cutscene music.

So, Sonic is falling to the planet, when a barrier slows his fall. He regains consciousness, only for the barrier to vanish. Instant Slapstick! (I have a feeling that faceplants will become a Running Gag in the series, if they haven't already.) We're introduced to a small, winged... dog? Thing? Whatever he is, he seems to have no memory whatsoever. Sonic muses (via asking the audience) if it's because he fell on him, giving him head trauma and potentially causing a brain tumor that will kill him offscreen. Introductions are had, and then the sun rises, turning him into normal Sonic. On with the show, then.

Music: "Apotos - Day", composed by Fumie Kumatani. A rather nice hub theme.

A little bit of dialogue, and we go straight into the tutorial levels. Today's installment will be a double-header, since I'll put up a half-part later for the first level. Aren't you lucky?

Part 1.5: Let's Get This Show on the Road

Music: "Windmill Isle - Day"; composed by Tomoya Ohtani. I rather like most of the day music, and this is no exception.

So, on to the tutorial level. Basic stuff— jumping, drifting, boosting, and goddammit I already know this stuff. Now that that's finished, let's go to an actual level.

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Day Stage 1 - Windmill Isle
Actually, Windmill Isle is a rather strange case, as there are two full acts— every other day stage only features one. Well, this is pretty simple as long as you have the hang of the controls. My first time through, it took a little while to learn the ropes, but over time, I mastered it. So I just blaze through and OH HEY there's an item there. Crap. I'll have to pick it up later. The rest of the stage was pretty uneventful, but I managed to score a nice S Rank.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Moon Medals.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Movie 1, Document 3.

---

Cutscene time! Heh, Sonic can juggle. Some chit-chat, but then the little flying thing is suddenly drawn by the irresistible force of DAN GREEN delicious ice cream. "The whole world can come tumbling down, but they'll still line up for a taste!" I wouldn't say that too loudly, Dan Green Morshu Ice Cream Man. As it turns out, the little guy is rather fond of nachos chocolate, hence Sonic dubs him "Chip". Alright, I guess it's time to find somebody who knows the little bugger.

In Part 2, we'll explore Apotos a little, and deal with the rest of Windmill Isle. Stay tuned.

Part 2: It's All Greek to Me

I know; the pun is horrible. Alright, where did we leave off last time? Oh, that's right, we were just introduced to this game's equivalent of a hub— which is, essentially, a menu screen. You have various locations ("Bell Square", "Flower Street", etc.) What happens when you choose one? Well, let's start off at the "Windmill Coast Street". We meet... an old guy. He greets us, tells us a couple of things, and then we leave. That's pretty much these hub worlds in a nutshell. The HD version of the game is a completely different story, but we're stuck with this for now. We talk to some random dudes, and then go back to the old guy, who has some other crap to say. Mentions something about a 'shrine'. As it turns out, there's a "Sacred Shrine" on the far edge of town, and— oh, Chip found a stone with a sun on it. Good for him? Anyway, we enter the shrine and holy crap—

Music: "Gaia Gate"; composed by Fumie Kumatani. I love this song; it's probably my favorite rendition of the main theme. Sadly, it's a Wasted Song in the HD version.

Welcome to the Gaia Gate, exclusive to the SD version. Most worlds have their own temple, and each one of them is absolutely beautiful. The Apotos gate features a large bell, and some various statues. It also happens to be the only shrine that's properly lit. (By the way, I'm typing this up as I go along. Sonic is currently asleep on the temple floor.) There's a room to the side, with various pedestals. Those will come into play later. Also in the temple are various smaller doors, which—
"Chip: Looks like this door won't open yet, Sonic! We need 33 total Sun Medals and 26 total Moon Medals. Come on, Sonic, let's go find more!"

...

...Shit.

After admiring the scenery for a little while, we notice that one of the doors (the one with a sun on it— must be a coincidence) happens to be glowing. Which means, we can open it. Why do they light up? Beats me. It trails off into a long hallway. Where does it lead?

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Day Stage 1 - Windmill Isle (cont.)

• "Go for the goal ring!"

This is that 'Act 2' I mentioned before. I rather like this level; it has plently of shortcuts and hidden pathways. There are also a bunch of items, if you know where to look. A quick tip, though— right before you leave the 2D section, boost. There's a line of robots right there who will stop you in your tracks. They are cheap. The end of the stage features a mini-boss, the Interceptor. He shows up a lot in the HD version, but only twice here. It's just avoid his (laughably predictable) attacks, attack him, lather, rinse, repeat. It's more of a time waster than anything else, and it does that job rather well.

• RESULT: A Rank; two Moon Medals
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 4 & 32, Documents 17 & 20.

• "Collect rings at top speed!"

After every day level, there are a few sub-missions. Each give you one medal upon completion, and they vary between time-attack, ring-collecting, etc.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: A tablet piece. We'll find out what it does later.

---

Music: "Cutscene - The First Night"; composed by Takahito Eguchi.

Another cutscene! The sun is setting on Apotos, but Chip is still amnesiac. The moment the sun passes the horizon, Sonic transforms back into the beastly thing we saw earlier. By the way, I find this line hilarious:
"Sonic: I just need to be careful who sees me like this."
Indeed you do, fluffy. The moment you're spotted, the Fan Dumb will be on you within seconds. But enough about that; back to the scene. We see the ice cream stand again, and it seems that Dan Green has AAAAAAAAAANGST. In his Wangsting, he knocks a cone of ice cream off of his cart. In a fantastic display of super-human reflexes, Were-Sonic decides to... stretch his arm over 10 feet and grab it. Yeah. He's also notably flippant about it, and just decides that "Hey, this could be useful. Somehow." Oh well; back to the hub.

Music: "Apotos - Night"; composed by Fumie Kumatani. Quite relaxing.

Just talking to the same people as earlier. One guy actually gave me a record (Soundtrack 33). How nice of him. Another dude had a tablet with a moon on it, and he mentioned that a "yellow fox" gave it to him. Oh, gee, I wonder who that sounds like? I suppose we'll find out next time.

Part 3: Creature of the Night

Well, time to head back to the Gaia Gate. Strangely enough, Sonic reverts back to his normal form here, regardless of the time of day. This is Hand Waved somewhere, but I won't bother explaining it. Since we have our Moon Tablet, we can open the door and enter our first night level—

Music: "Windmill Isle - Night"; composed by Fumie Kumatani. Quite nice.

But first: more tutorials! Isn't that fantastic? Jumping, climbing, etc.

Music: "Werehog Battle Theme"; composed by Kenichi Tokoi. You'll be hearing this one a lot.

It's also here that we're introduced to combat— at the moment, Sonic's only got a basic three-hit combo (R-L-R or L-R-L), and the Were-Hammer (L+R). Later on, he'll learn some more tricks, but not nearly as much as in the HD version. Although technically, you'll see more here, since Komodin will be going for a Low Level Run and won't level up his Combat skill. In this game, levelling up is only for the Werehog, and it's automatic— any Dark Gaia Force (red orbs; your EXP for the game) collected during a level will accumulate, unlocking upgrades at various intervals. We also meet our basic enemy here: the Nightmare. To recap: goddammit I already know this stuff! Moving on!

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Night Stage 1 - Windmill Isle

• Act 1 - Moonlit Town

As opposed to the Day levels, the Night levels are actually split into full acts, with 3 Sun Medals each. As a result, there are about 30 more Sun Medals than there are Moon Medals. This is the starting level, which introduces us to a few more things: for starters, some new enemies— Frights (Personally, I like to call them "Magikarps", because they're small, round, (sometimes) red, and they flop around and don't do much. A few hits will dispose of them quickly.) and Killer Bees (*sigh*). We also encounter a new mechanic— a barrier, that requires you to collect three keys. (Sound familiar?) This also shows up frequently, but they're pretty easy to solve.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• UPGRADES: Learned the "Were-Claw" (Dash+Attack).
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Movie 2, Illustration 23.

• Act 2 - Moonsoaked Alleys

A couple of new mechanics here: there are switches and levers, which do... stuff, and various poles and ledges to climb on. By the way, I'd like to mention this game's ranking system. The Day ranks are simple enough to understand— less time, better rank, more medals. The Night ranks, however, are decided by three factors: Time (how fast you complete the level), Rings (how many rings you have), and Force (how much Dark Gaia Force you collect). For each criteria you meet, you get a medal. Meet all three, and it's an S Rank. It's theoretically possible to collect every single Sun Medal without gaining any rank higher than B.

• RESULT: A Rank; two Sun Medals.
• UPGRADES: Combo Level Up (longer combos; now I can do L-R-L-R-L or R-L-R-L-R).
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 30, 64, & 66, Movie 3

• Act 3 - Hill Beneath Starry Skies

For being what is essentially a straight line, this level is actually rather intricate, with a bunch of secrets. The reason being, it's a wide straight line. The end of the level introduces us to the Deep Nightmare, which is a larger version of the regular mook. A fun fact: My first time playing through, this would have been the first level I S-Ranked, had I not neglected to collect one more ring. Today, I made damn sure to collect every ring I came across, and as a result:

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• UPGRADES: Learned the "Were-Wallop" (two or three-hit combo, then L+R).
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 26, 65, & 67; and another tablet fragment.

---

Time for some cutscenes!

Music: "Cutscene - Tails in Trouble!"; by Takahito Eguchi.

Well, our favorite fox has gotten himself into a slight jam. A notable difference between the two versions; this scene plays before the night level in the HD version, and you actually fight the enemies at the end. In the SD version, the giant enemy (the Titan) won't be appearing for a few more levels.

'''Music: "Cutscene - To Spagonia!"; by Takahito Eguchi. Actually quite lovely, if you get a chance to hear it.

We now cut to here, where Were-Sonic has dispatched the foes and Tails comes out for some friendly exposition. He mentions some dude named Professor Pickle, over at the university in our next destination: Spagonia.

Music: "The World Adventure - World Map"; by Tomoya Ohtani.

We leave off at the World Map. See ya next time!

Part 4: The First of Many

...detours, that is.

Before we head off to Italy Spagonia, there are actually a few things I'd like to take care of in Apotos. For starters, there's that item I missed back in Part 1.5. Let's go pick it up, shall we? To be honest, it's not that hard to collect. I barely missed the S-Rank time, but it doesn't matter anyway— I already have all three medals.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustration 57.

Next up, there's a day mission we unlocked: "Reach the goal unscathed!" In this particular mission, you're pitted against the Interceptor, and you have to beat him without getting hit. He's pathetic as ever, and there are no items to collect, so it's an easy mission. Next up, there are more Night tutorial missions. Every time you unlock a new move, you also unlock a tutorial mission here. All you have to do is pull off the move in question, and you win. Technically, you don't even have to kill anything. But since we're here, I might as well explain each of 'em—

• "Were-Claw"— This is a pretty decent move, as it can stun enemies. Stunned enemies can then be picked up and thrown around.
• "Were-Wallop"— I suppose this one is good for combos, but I don't (intentionally) use it much.
• Unleashed mode— this makes your basic moves more powerful, and changes some of your special moves. Learn to love it.
• Bigger combos— The fifth hit in a combo varies— R+L+R+L+R ends with a one-two punch, while L+R+L+R+L finishes with a wide slash. Mix and match at your leisure.

---

Okay, fine, let's actually go to Spagonia.

Music: "Spagonia - Day"; by Kenichi Tokoi. This hub music just gets better and better, doesn't it?

The first few people know nothing about this "Professor Pickle" chap, so we go to a back alley and run into a young man, who appears to be the Prof's assistant. This would be a good time to mention that this is one of, if not the only NPC who doesn't have a name. Seriously, what's this guy called? Anyway, he tells us that he doesn't know where the professor is, either; instead, he leads us to the Pickle Lab to explain more.

Music: "Dr. Pickle's Laboratory"; not sure who composed it. I dislike this song, for a reason that will become apparent later.

OH HEY, it's a cutscene. So the assistant (voiced by Jason Griffith) explains that the professor has, in fact, been kidnapped.
"...and a whole pack of robots!"
So, Tails figures out that Dr. Eggman took the prof and his research, and is holding him in Mazuri. Wait, what? We have to leave already? We just got here!

...

...Fine. I guess next time, we're going to Mazuri.

Part 5: I Better Get Frequent-Flier Miles for This

This episode has been brought to you by three tracks exclusive to the HD version: "Tornado - To Spagonia" & "Savannah Citadel - Night", both composed by Fumie Kumatani; "Savannah Citadel - Day", composed by Tomoya Ohtani.

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Music: "Mazuri - Night"; by Fumie Kumatani. Rather peaceful.

It's the middle of the night, and there's nary a soul around. Gee, maybe it's because everyone's asleep? But hey, we found some sort of mysterious hole...

Music: "Cutscene - Same as Ever"; by Takahito Eguchi

OH HEY it's the Professor. Wow, that was eas— wait. I think I know why Eggman locked the prof up: in order to seal the almighty power of DAN GREEN. Anyway, we bust Professor Green out, and bring back some documents with us. By the way, I love this little exchange: Chip: *pulls chocolate out of Hammerspace* Want some chocolate, Professor? Pickle: Why, don't mind if I do! *takes bar* Sonic and Tails (in background): *look at each other and shrug*

Music: "Cutscene - Gaia Manuscripts"; by Takahito Eguchi. I hate this song. It's a massive screw-up! There's a rather ambient little tune in the background; I have no problem with that. However, even in the frikkin' OST, it also has THIS layered on top of it! It doesn't match the mood, the tempo, nothing! But I've rambled long enough.

Hoo boy. Lots of exposition here. Gaia Manuscripts, ancient stuff, Dark Gaia, Chaos Emeralds, Gaia Temples, fixing the planet, blah blah blah. Did I mention we're already back in Spagonia? What, does the voice of Dan Green give Pickle the ability to teleport? In that case, what about the Ice Cream Man? But I digress.

So, we now have a way to repair the planet— restoring the Chaos Emeralds (which, in case I didn't explain properly you forgot, had their power drained by Eggman), via each of the Gaia Temples. This, in turn, will restore each continent. Somehow. Hopefully, nothing will have fallen off, and the oceans won't have completely drained by then.

So, where are the Gaia Temples? Well, I guess Dan Green Professor Pickle still has to decipher the Manuscripts, but he's already figured out there's a temple... back... in... Mazuri.

GAH!

Part 6: Oh Hey, We're Actually Doing Something

So, after going back and forth, we're right back where we started last time— heading off to Mazuri.

Music: "Mazuri - Day"; by Fumie Kumatani.

Another cutscene, already? Geez.

Music: "Cutscene - Eggman Again"; by Takahito Eguchi.

(I kinda like this cutscene. The people are animated really well, and they throw in a nice bit of humor to it.) So, the Doc has all of the villagers cornered, with a line of robots... raising their arms up all scary-like. Or something. Anyway, Eggman's looking for information regarding the Mazuran (Mazurian? Mazurite?) Temple of Gaia. One of the young villagers seems to disagree, so he... chucks a rock at Eggman. Instant Slapstick!

Music: "Cutscene - Sonic Appears"; by Takahito Eguchi.

Just when the doctor is about to sic his robots on the villagers, Sonic appears. There's some not-so-friendly banter, and Eggman Exits Stage Left. Oh well; back to the hub.

Well, the villagers are useless once again, except for the village elder: he takes those two tablet fragments we collected back in Apotos, and fuses them to make a Planet Tablet. (An NPC who actually does something? I'm shocked.) Well, with that finished, we can now access the Mazuri Gaia Gate.

To be frank, I'm actually not sure what this particular gate is supposed to resemble— I just know that it still looks pretty. It's relatively dark (except for some torches here and there), so Sonic reverts to his Werehog form. Seriously, temple guys, get some proper lighting installed. There's a room with a bunch of pedestals, nearly identical to the one in Apotos. However, one of the pedestals is glowing— I wonder where that one will take me, considering I've only been to one other temple. Anyway, since we have our Planet Tablet (which has a star on it for some reason), we can access the only level door in Mazuri, and guess what?

Music: "Cutscene - The Egg Beetle"; by Takahito Eguchi.

Yep, it's time for a boss! This is the only daytime boss that has a cutscene beforehand, since it's the first one.

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Music: ''Boss Battle - Day"; by Hideaki Kobayashi. Technically, you also hear this against the Interceptor, but I forgot to mention it.

Boss 1 - Egg Beetle The Egg Beetle is a mech with a set of giant pincers, with a slot for the Egg-O-Matic. All of the Day bosses are fought while running, akin to Sonic Advance 2. In the first segment, he drops Weighted Companion Cubes at you, while the second is a 2D area where you have to dodge missiles. There's really no trick to beating him— just collect rings and boost that sucker to death. And for that, we get a single moon medal. Whoop de do.

---

Music: "Cutscene - Temple Activated!"; by Takahito Eguchi.

(A quick note— the scene preceding this is the only time in the HD version where the Gaia Gate music is played. Kind of a shame, really.) We finally find the first Gaia Temple, and head inside. There's a long hallway, with a pedestal at the end.

1. Place Emerald in Pedestal.
2. ???
3. Profit!

As is turns out, this Emerald was the green one. But what's more interesting is what's happening outside:

Music: "Cutscene - Planet Pieces"; by— oh, you should know who does all of the cutscene music by now.

We are treated to a glorious scene of the "continent" (with both Apotos and Mazuri) descending back towards its proper place. (Technically, they should just be "pieces"— the world map shows Apotos and Spagonia on the same landmass, just with a massive crack between them.) Anyway... one down, and six to go. This could take a while.

We're then shown yet another short cutscene, where Tails (Riddle me this, fox: where have you been the whole time?) gives Sonic and Chip a replay of... the cutscene we just saw. Whatever... I guess next time, we'll have to go back to Spagonia (again?) to learn what our next destination is. See you then.

This is gonna be awesome! I can't wait for Eggmanland!

[++UMMMMM....]

I think you're going to hit me for saying that.

Part 7: 2-4 Split

We seem to be travelling around a lot, aren't we? I mean, backtracking is fairly typical, but as a part of the story? Not quite as frequent. Anyway, let's go back to Spagonia.

And we're met with a cutscene... yay? Sonic's walking down the street around midnight, when he's ambushed by— oh, no. It's her. Everyone's favorite pink hedgehog, Amy Rose, jumps onto Sonic and... oh wait, she must have mistaken him for someone else. Like she usually does. Bitch. In a nice bit of Hidden Depths to Sonic's character, he almost feels rejected when Amy doesn't recognise him. And Chip's not much help; after some failed attempts to cheer Sonic up, he gives up and shrugs at the audience. "Oh hey Fourth Wall; I didn't see you there."

Music: "Spagonia - Night"; by Kenichi Tokoi. This one's really nice.

How about a quick stroll around Spagonia? Nothing really that interesting, except the Nameless Assistant seems to be slightly irritable tonight. Seriously, take a chill pill or something. We go to talk to the prof about it, and he informs us that we'll need to have an intervention for him, as he has fallen prey to the influence of drugs alchohol Dark Gaia. Apparently, the Eldritch Abomination gains power during the night, and can affect people's personalities. Since no one cares about the assistant, we'll put that on the back-burner for now. Afterward, we learn of two more Gaia Temples: one in Spagonia (we actually get to do somthing here?), and another in... Holoska. Where the hell is Holoska?

Upon returning to the World Map, it seems that the Spagonian populace has some more to say. I guess we might as well check it out. Checking the main street, we encounter two young kids. One of them actually gives me a Moon Tablet, saying that "his granddad gave it to him". Heh. Nice kid. The lady over at the bakery gives us a record (Soundtrack 39), the assistant's still moody, and... that's about it. I considered going to the Gaia Gate, but first, let's check out Holoska.

Music: "Holoska - Day"; by Fumie Kumatani. Out of all the hub themes, this one has to be my favorite. It's just so pretty...

So, this is the resident Slippy Slidey Ice World. It's currently inhabited by a senile old man ("aren't you that seal we ate yesterday?"), a couple, and their young child. Apparently, the father is kind of a wimp, and his wife wants him to go over to the shrine. We agree to go in his stead, so she gives us a Sun Tablet, and— wait.

...We have two options, don't we? Crap. It looks like that's the case. Well, since we're at a fork in the road, I'm actually going to let you guys decide where I visit first: Spagonia (Night) or Holoska (Day). (Hopefully, I can get a decision by tomorrow afternoon, since that's when I usually do this stuff.)

Part 8: Hedgehogs On Ice

With a landslide avalanche victory of... one vote, we're taking on Holoska first. There's nothing to do in the hub for now, so we move on straight to the Gaia Gate. This particular gate is a temple coated in ice. There's just the faintest bit of light peeking in, and it provides a beautiful effect. But, since we've got our Sun Tablet, on with the show!

Music: "Cool Edge - Day"; by Tomoya Ohtani. It's all-around ~awesome~, and it has a kickin' bass line.

Well, there's actually a tutorial mission first. most stages introduce you to a new gimmick, although in the SD version, you have all of your abilities from the start. These are pretty redundant, as a result. This particular tutorial introduces us to the Stomp. Moving on...

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Day Stage 2 - Cool Edge

• Go for the goal ring

Welcome to your first Difficulty Spike of the game, folks. Windmill Isle is cake, but Cool Edge might kill you once or twice if you're out of practice. I have a feeling the lack of a Savannah Citadel level in between might have something to do with it. We start off on a bobsled (akin to the snowboarding in Adventure, etc.), which I still have trouble controlling effectively. Before the cliff, be sure to hit the boost pad, or else you'll go careening into the water below. Everything after that takes place in a massive icy cavern, which still looks amazing. Some giant icicles will fall from the ceiling, but they're just obstacles— there is one item, though, that can be tricky to get without aiming for it. All in all, this wasn't my best run. I'll have to go deal with that stuff later.

• RESULT: B Rank; one Moon Medal.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 33 & 73

• Collect rings at top speed

This one's simple— collect 150 rings. It starts you off at the 2D bobsled portion. A quick tip for item hunters— try to avoid some rings if you can, 'cause in a few cases, there will be items at the very end, and you might reach your goal beforehand otherwise. It doesn't seem to be the case here, though, so we go onward.

• Don't break anything along the way

Ugh. I dislike this mission. My first time through, this is one of the early missions that gave me the most trouble. The trick here is that there's a bunch of ice here, and you have to reach the goal (within a 1:30 time limit) without touching any of it. Go too fast, and you're toast without lightning-fast reflexes. I'm pretty sure you're meant to use the Quick Step, but it doesn't work as well— Sonic keeps shifting back over and running into stuff anyway.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Another tablet fragment.

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Well, I suppose that's all for now. Tomorrow, we take on the level you guys (and by that, I mean Cliche) didn't choose.

Part 9: Spagonian Escapades

So, let's recap what we've done in Spagonia thus far: We've gone there, done nothing and went straight to Mazuri; came back with the professor, and then went to Mazuri again; opened up a level, but decided to go to Holoska instead. Dammit, Spagonia, stop being such a tease. Can we actually do something here now?

As it turns out, yes. Now that we have a Moon Tablet, we can enter the Spagonian Gaia Gate; and my god. This particular temple resembles a cathedral, with stained glass and fountains everywhere. And it is amazing— this is, by far, my favorite of the Gaia Gates. Sadly, we have no time for sightseeing; it's time to enter the next night level:

Music: "Rooftop Run - Night"; by Tomoya Ohtani. Actually, Ohtani composed most of the day tracks, but this is the only night track he did.

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Night Stage 2 - Rooftop Run

• Act 1 - Alleys of Spagonia

This one's mostly linear. Go over here, do some platforming, beat stuff up, repeat. There are a bunch of items off the beaten path, though. We're also introduced to a new enemy— the Dark Bat. This level has two varieties: the basic version (completely harmless), and the Sniper version (Ugh). A few aerial attacks should do them in— once your Attack's leveled up enough, you can take them in one hit (CATHARSIS!) The last section of the level takes place over some rooftops, with some alleys below if you fall down. There's a bunch of stuff down in the alleys, but I couldn't be bothered to collect it right now.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals
• UPGRADES: Attack Level Up.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Document 1; Movie 4; Illustrations 15, 24 & 79

• Act 2 - Jet Black Back Streets

Try saying that 5 times fast. Anyway, why are there spikes and buzzsaws in the middle of the road? Is the security here really that tight? Anyway, we're introduced here to the Dark Master— your basic wizard enemy. This one doesn't do anything special, but later "Master"s do. The end of this level features an obstacle course of sorts— this one took me a lot of tries to do my first time around. Admittedly, the camera doesn't help much. Today, I beat it in one attempt. Go me?

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals
• UPGRADES: Learned the "Beatdown".
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 38 & 70; Movie 5

• Act 3 - The Great Aqueduct

This is another stage that's linear, but not linear. It takes place atop a large wall, and it's fairly intricate— one item even requires you to backtrack all the way to the beginning of the stage. It's also somewhat precarious— the wall isn't very well maintained, so chunks of it have fallen off. Conviently, there are Dark Bats you can use to swing your way across. Oh, and that Dark Master I mentioned? Now we meet the Fright Master. It's surrounded by a squad of Magikarps Frights, and if you kill them all, it summons more. All in all, it's not hard to beat.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals
• UPGRADES: A larger Unleashed gauge.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Movie 12; Illustration 20; another tablet fragment.

---

Oh, it looks like we've got a cutscene! And HEY! There's an awesome party going on. Oh wait, these people are possessed. Crap. The Nameless Assistant is flirting with Amy (which brings up some disturbing imagery, unless it's somehow a gender-flipped Take That to Sonic '06), and everyone's just acting weird. Chip takes a photo of the festivities, which somehow causes an exorcism to occur; and then—

A wild Nightmare attacked! Sonic pressed random buttons! The Nightmare was defeated! Sonic gained 30 XP.

...And repeat. No, really. It's set up as a mock-RPG battle. It's so convoluted, it's downright hilarious. After dispatching the Nightmares (Freaking Random Drops. Where's my Sword of Kings?), we're treated to another short cutscene, where everything is back to normal. Assistant: What was I just doing? [You don't wanna know, kid.] Amy realizes that the big, fluffy monster is indeed her Sonic (after he's already skedaddled), while Dan Green Professor Pickle arrives and sets the record straight.

We should go see the Prof about this, but we'll save that for next time.

Part 10: Let's Not Go to China

Well, we're still in Spagonia, where we go to the professor. Amy is also there, where she apologizes for not recognizing Sonic. Pickle informs us that he's made progress in discovering more temples— we now have a new destination: Chun-nan.

Music: "Chun-nan - Night"; by Kenichi Tokoi. Really pretty.

So, if the name didn't tip you off, Chun-nan is this game's Expy of China. And I guess our arrival here was well-timed, as this village is in trouble— the elder has vanished. Everyone's in an uproar (except for one chick, who gave me Soundtrack 41), and we agree to go find the man for them. We're putting a lot of people out of a job here, aren't we? By the way:
Useless NPC Shuifon: There's a holy shrine not far from here... What do you mean, "That again."?
So, it seems we have a Moon Tablet now. Hooray?

And Now For Something Completely Different. It's time for another detour— I'm going to go collect a few medals, and maybe some items while I'm at it. Why? Well, you'll see. First off, another pointless Werehog tutorial mission— this time, it's the Beatdown. It's pretty simple— pick up an enemy (they usually need to be stunned first, though), and then L+R. It's very satistying to watch. After that, we've got another extra mission in Windmill Isle (Day): "Time Attack! Race for the goal!" This one takes place in Act 2, and initially gives you 40 seconds— every checkpoint you pass gives you more time, though.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Soundtrack 13.

There's also a Time Attack mission in Holoska, which works basically the same way. I will admit; it's easy to miss one of the items here.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Documents 21 & 22.

...Which just leaves the matter of medals. If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go improve some ranks.

• Cool Edge - Day - S Rank; two Moon Medals.
  • ITEMS OBTAINED: Document 9.
• Windmill Isle - Day (2) - S Rank; one Moon Medal. Freaking Interceptor, wasting my time.
• Windmill Isle - Night (Moonsoaked Alleys) - A Rank; one Sun Medal. This one's easy enough to S-Rank, but I only needed the Time medal, so I sped through the level.

I guess that's all I can do for now. My count currently stands at 28 Sun Medals and 23 Moon Medals. See you next time!

Part 11: Gaia Gate Interlude - Prelude to Puzzlement

Well, now you know what I was collectng all of the medals for. Perhaps you're curious as to what's actually behind all of those doors, strewn throughout the Gaia Gates? Well, it's about time we found out. I don't have many doors unlocked right now, but there's still plenty of stuff inside.

---

• Apotos - Door 2

Open sesame! We go down a long corridor, into a large, spacious room. There's no sunlight in here, so we revert back to Werehog. There's a pole, so I jump and... miss completely. Don't worry— you won't lose any lives in here; you'll just respawn at the entrance, and everything will reset. Actually grabbing on, we climb up to the next platform and find our first item capsule (Soundtrack 31). Moving forward, there's a conveyor belt, moving way too fast for the Werehog; but what's this? There's a patch of sunlight shining from the ceiling. It's here that we're introduced to the main mechanic for these Gaia Gate puzzles: switching back and forth between Hedgehog and Werehog. Stepping in the patch of sun will revert you to normal Sonic, but only temporarily; you're given just enough time to do whatever you need to do. In this case, you need to run past the conveyor belt, nabbing Soundtrack 47 in the process, and landing safely on the other side. You can grab Soundtrack 4 as well, and that's everything in this particular room. All in all, it's a nice introduction— later temples and later puzzles will become more complex.

• Mazuri - Door 1

The first step here consists of a small bit of platforming— jump across to reach the higher ledge. This gives you access to a switch (activating another platform) and another spotlight. Using Sonic to Lightspeed Dash (which we happen to know already), we reach another ledge, with Illustration 63. I was quick enough to reach the platform on the other side (via the lift we activated) and crawl under the fence to attain a 1-Up. These raise your maximum life count— now I can begin a stage with 3 extra lives, as opposed to 2. And believe me, they'll be very important later on.

• Spagonia - Door 3

Well, it gives us Secret Mission 1 right off of the bat. Apparently, we unlocked a mission in Apotos. Anyway, this room has a unique puzzle: there are beams of light coming from the walls, and you're given metal crates to block them with. We collect Soundtrack 6, and place some more crates. The trick to this area is, you need to avoid the light— you can only lift these crates as the Werehog. This took me a few tries to figure out my first time through, but now I can solve it without a problem. We get another 1-Up for our troubles, but wait! There's more! Not placing a crate on the pressure switch (thus, not reversing the direction of the conveyor belt nets you Secret Mission 3, somewhere in Holoska. -sigh- I wish I could take these crates back out to the main area; what fun I could have.

• Holoska - Door 3

Another item is given to us from the get-go; this time Soundtrack 5. We start out pretty simple:

1. Revert to normal Sonic.
2. Run across conveyor belt.
3. ???
4. Profit! (And by that, I mean collect another 1-Up. And I think I used this joke already.)

After this, you lift up the door (it can only be opened from this side, by the way) and grab the crate from the entrance. Upon doing so, it's only a matter of using it to reach the higher ledges, gaining yet another 1-Up (not that I'm complaining, mind you) and Soundtrack 14. And it seems we can bring the crate out this time! It doesn't accomplish anything, though.

---

And, well, that's all there is to it. We unlocked some stuff, increased our life count, et cetera, et cetera. I guess that's all for the Interlude. Maybe tomorrow, we'll actually do something interesting.

Part 12: Big Trouble in Little Chun-nan

Well, we're stocked up on lives, so let's kick off a new page and jump straight into the action!

Music: "Dragon Road - Night"; by Kenichi Tokoi. Very much awesome.

---

Night Stage 3 - Dragon Road

• Act 1 - The Floating Shrine

If you like platforming, then you're in for a treat today. The first part of this level takes place in a long corridor, littered with walls you can destroy for some various goodies. I feel sorry for the people who have to fix this stuff. This stage also introduces us to a couple new enemies— Little Rexes (who are only annoying in swarms), and a red variation of the basic Nightmare. We then cross a bunch of bridges, and end off in front of a large structure; I believe this is the eponymous shrine. By the way, make sure to take the right entrance first: you'll need to open the upper door before you can reach the Goal Ring.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• UPGRADES: Larger health meter.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Movie 13, Illustrations 81 & 84.

• Act 2 - Rising Dragon Falls

From what I've heard, this particular level is Love It Or Hate It. Personally, I love it— it's very platforming-oriented, and said platforming is really well designed. The shtick here is, the later half of the stage comprises of a massive waterfall, with various rocks and poles jutting out. The goal is to reach the very top, and make sure not to fall back down. It likely depends on how good you are with the Werehog— you can control him well, this stage is really fun; you can't, this stage is really bad. Again, I'm certainly the former.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• UPGRADES: More attack power. Killing things, yay!
• ITEMS OBTAINED" Illustrations 27, 68, & 78; Movie 6

• Act 3 - Path to Darkness

For the record, this stage is why I was so keen to collect those 1-Ups. Compared to the first two acts, this particular level requires utmost caution, lest you go sailing over the edge. Most of this level is essentially the Great Wall of China Chun-nan, and while it provides a nice view, it's somewhat dilapidated and very precarious. This is especially true for the last battle, which takes place atop various high platforms.

Music: "Vs. Titan & Big Mother"; by Kenichi Tokoi. It gets really good near the end, but it probably won't last that long in-game.

We're also given a proper introduction to our first night mini-boss: the Titan. It's somewhat powerful, and likes to knock you around, but there's a simple strategy to defeating it: presuming you have Unleashed mode at the ready, use it, go up to the Titan, and air-combo the shit out of him. Hopefully, it'll do the trick.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Movie 7; Illustrations 53 & 82; Soundtrack 19; yet another tablet fragment.

---

So, that's the end of this part. We'll see what happens ne— wait. What? We have to fight a boss now? Oh, fine then.

Music: "Boss Battle - Night"; by Hideaki Kobayashi. I like how this one throws in a riff from a Sonic Riders: ZG track. By the way, is it "Hideki" or "Hideaki"?

• Boss 2 - Dark Gaia Phoenix

Yes, upon finishing the stage, Werehog and co. are suddenly ambushed by a large bird-thing. It happens to be on fire, so conventional methods are out the window. Instead, you need to throw barrels of water at it, thus forcing it to return to the center to recharge— this happens to be the precise time to wail on it. Lather, rinse, QTE, repeat. Given enough practice, this boss is an absolute pushover. Otherwise, you might get knocked around quite a bit; and the camera will not help you. There's also something annoying about this fight: there are only two ranks. Miss the S-rank mark by a millisecond, and it's an instant C-rank for you. Huzzah.

• RESULT: S Rank; one Sun Medal
• UPGRADES: Larger Unleashed gauge.

---

Oh hey, it's the elder dude that we were supposed to look for. Yay? Sure enough, now he assembles our tablet fragments, giving us access to a boss that we just fought. Nuts to that; let's restore another Chaos Emerald— this time, it's the red one. Progress! And... another cutscene! Jeez! It's explained that the bird we just fought was meant to guard the temple, but went berserk when the emeralds were drained. It's actually rather pretty. By the way, why does Chip offer the bird chocolate? That stuff's toxic to birds. And then, why does the phoenix take it anyway?

Music: "Cutscene - Eggman's Idea"; actually by Hideaki Kobayashi this time.

But we're not done yet. Time for yet another cutscene. I'm not really complaining, since this is one of the best scenes in the game. There are no words for it, just... have a look.

And with that, I am out of here. Goodbye, and see you next time.

Part 13: Utterly Forked

Don't mind this part being a few hours later than usual. That's just me being lazy.

Well, after that last unnecessarily long part, let's head back to Spaghettionia, to learn where we're headed next. As it turns out, our next destinations are Spagonia and Chun-nan. Aka, where we just were. An old man in Spagonia gives us a Sun Tablet, which could be used to open up another level, but let's check Chun-nan first— I've got a hunch that something's up there as well.

Music: "Chun-nan - Day"; by Kenichi Tokoi. Meh— it's a good song, just a little too upbeat for my tastes, compared to the night version.

By the way, did you know that a little kid in the village had Soundtrack 40 in his pocket? I'd ask how it got there, and how the record hasn't been crushed yet, but I'd rather not question it. Anyway, we talk to some more people, and get... another Sun Tablet.

This again? Yep, we've stumbled over another split. Since I have no idea which stage to tackle first, I could theoretically end this episode right here. However, we haven't actually done much. I can't leave off like this, so... mission time!

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Windmill Isle (Day)

• Gather rings at top speed!

Yep, it's another one of these. It takes place in the first segment of Act 2, and you need 100 rings. That's pretty much all there is to it; I don't think there are any items to find here.

Cool Edge (Day)

• Time Attack! Race for the goal!

It's another mission involving those checkpoints. This time, it's the bobsled portion. This one might give you trouble if you miss enough checkpoints. I actually cut it a little close, myself— only 5 seconds left.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Document 11.

---

Well, I guess that's all I can do for now. Now, I'll let you guys decide, once again, where I'm heading next: Spagonia (Day) or Chun-nan (Day).

"Forked". That's actually a good pun because its Spaghettionia.

HEY, KOMODIN!

I'm enjoying the other liveblogs around here. They talk about lots of interesting stuff!

Part 14: Re-Oriented

The viewer hath spoken! Yes, singular. It looks like we're heading back to Chun-nan next. We're in for a treat— this level is awesome; the music, the scenery, everything. Shall we begin?

Music: "Dragon Road - Day"; by Kenichi Tokoi. I. Freaking. Love. This song. The best day theme, if not the absolute best song in the game.

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Day Stage 3 - Dragon Road

• Go for the goal ring!

This stage is actually somewhat of an interesting case. There are several extra paths that use various techniques you haven't been taught yet, like the Lightspeed Dash or (if you went here instead of Spagonia) the Wall Jump. It's also an area where you can't collect every item in one go— near the beginning, the path splits into three routes— two of them have a capsule. This level is actually somewhat of a challenge— most of it is over water, and some areas will throw spears at you. It seems like you should've taken on Spagonia first, despite a certain factor that will come into play later that makes this appear to be the canon order. All in all, a really fun stage. No dragons, though. Strange...

• RESULT: S Rank; three Moon Medals. This, despite the fact that I died twice.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 2 & 12.

• Collect rings at top speed!

200 rings? That sounds like a bit much for this point in the game. Well, the path is littered with rings, and most of these missions will let you loop back to pick up more. You can't go all the way back, though— if you don't collect enough rings by a certain point, then you're basically screwed.

• Don't break anything along the way!

Heh. Oddly enough, this one isn't quite as difficult as Holoska. Most of the pots are placed near the walls, so as long as you take it slowly and stay near the middle, you should be fine.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Yet another tablet fragment.

---

Well, that was neat. Next time, we'll hit up Spagon— actually, we won't. I have a little something special planned for next time. See ya!

Part 15: Progress Report

This is somewhat of a special occasion, as Part 15 happens to fall on the exact date I actually turn 15. Happy birthday to me~ To celebrate, I figured we should take a breather, and check out all the cool stuff we've gathered so far in the story. Seeing as we've already been through 3 day levels and 3 night levels, our gallery should be well-stocked by now. Let's hear the oh-so-pretty "shving" of unlocked items, and have ourselves a look.

---

ART - A neat little gallery of concept art.

• Enemy Art
  • 2 - Aero-Cannon. "These flying blue baddies launch missles at you through the air." Pricks.
  • 4 - Interceptor. "A massive foe from the narrow alleys of Apotos Village." Wimp.
  • 12 - Egg Flame. "A touch from these foes can burn anything to smoldering ash." We've only seen one of these so far (in Dragon Road Day, right where this item capsule is), but we'll encounter more of them later.
  • 15 - Dark Bat Sniper. "This souped-up Dark Bat opens fire from above." Yeah, well, you can fuck off.
  • 20 - Dark Master. "These wizards are easily recognized for their pointy blue hats." Friggin' wizards.
  • 23 - Nightmare. "The lowest of the low, Nightmares are the quintessential chump baddies." Heh, chumps.
  • 24 - Deep Nightmare. "Powered-up versions of the Nightmares: a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger." "Still just as pathetic."
  • 26 - Little Rex. "These guys will chase you like a dog runs down the mail truck." Admittedly, they're almost kinda cute.
  • 27 - Dark Fright. "The sheer numbers of these creeps make them a pain to deal with." I still call them Magikarps.
• Stage Art
  • 2 - "Windmill Isle 2 - The Sun-Bleached Pathway". I would so use this as a desktop background.
  • 4 - "Windmill Isle 3 - The White Tower's Great Bell". For the record, most of the stage art consists of copious amounts of Scenery Porn.
  • 5 - "Cool Edge 1 - Daytime Panorama". Case in point.
  • 10 - "Rooftop Run 3 (Day)". The rooftops here are actually somewhat red, when they're more orange or brownish in-game.
  • 25 - "Chun-nan Village (Night)". Nicely lit little town, isn't it?
  • 29 - "Movie Still 2 - Crashing Surf". Aka, the "obligatory shoop-da-whoop-reference laser". The movie stills are more like storyboard images, rather than actual frames from any of the cutscenes.
  • 35 - "Professor Pickle's Lab". Complete with the man Dan himself.
• Villager Art - Most NPCs in the game have their own page of concept art, which is nice. No two people share the same model, and they're all very Pixar-esque.
  • 1 - Apotos Village - Alexis
  • 2 - Apotos Village - Lambros
  • 3 - Apotos Village - Eric
  • 4 - Apotos Village - Gregorios
  • 5 - Mazuri Village - Kwami
  • 7 - Mazuri Village - Kofi
  • 10 - Holoska Village - Jari-Thure
  • 15 - Spagonia Village - Otto
  • 16 - Spagonia Village - Denise
  • 18 - Chun-nan Village - Useless NPC Shuifon
  • 19 - Chun-nan Village - Zonshen
  • 21 - Chun-nan Village - Hualin

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MUSIC - The game's incredibly awesome soundtrack. Is there anything else to say?

• 4 - Day Stage - Windmill Isle
• 5 - Day Stage - Cool Edge
• 6 - Day Stage - Rooftop Run (Not providing a link, 'cause we haven't gone there yet. I'll give it a proper introduction when we actually take on that level.)
• 13 - Night Stage - Intro: Windmill Isle (By the way, the 6-to-8 second intros for the night levels are given their own seperate tracks in the OST. I find this amusing.)
• 14 - Night Stage - Windmill Isle
• 19 - Night Stage - Intro: Dragon Road
• 31 - Village - Gaia Gate
• 33 - Village - Apotos - Night
• 39 - Village - Spagonia - Night
• 40 - Village - Chun-nan - Day
• 41 - Village - Chun-nan - Night
• 42 - Jingle - Stage Clear

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MOVIES - Cutscenes.

• 1 - The Werehog's Fall
• 2 - Chip and the Chocolate Sundae
• 3 - The First Night
• 4 - Tails in Trouble!
• 5 - The Kidnapped Professor (And a whole pack o' robots!)
• 6 - A Daring Rescue
• 7 - The Gaia Manuscripts (Rrrrrr...)
• 12 - A Case of Mistaken Identity
• 13 - Amy's Shake-up

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SECRET DOCUMENTS - Now, I'm actually not gonna bother with these. They're pretty much hints for the game, ranging from using various moves, to where you can find various items capsules; most of which you'd likely have already found. I will, however, let you know that I have documents 1, 3, 9, 11, 17, 20, 21, and 22.

---

TOTAL COUNT:

• 28 Illustrations
• 12 Music Tracks
• 10 Movies
• 8 Secret Documents
• 58 items in total.

Did you enjoy this little side trip? Even if you didn't, we'll actually be taking on Rooftop Run next time, so that's something for you to look forward to. Stay tuned!

Part 16: Back to Business

Sorry for the delays. I've been real busy lately— actually, I haven't. I've just been procrastinating.

Anyway, it's now time to go for the Spagonia day stage, which we probably should've gone to before Chun-nan. But whatever.

Music: "Rooftop Run - Day"; by Tomoya Ohtani. Widely regarded as one of the best songs in the game, and here it is in all its glory.

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Day Stage 4 - Rooftop Run

• Go for the goal ring!

This stage is ludricrously fun. It has all sorts of paths and places to go, and you can boost your cares away. However, there are a few items that are somewhat off the beaten path, such as a capsule hidden behind a pile of boxes, or accessed via a barely noticeable rail. The end of the stage pits you against an Aero Chaser. It flies around, shoots rockets and lasers, and can't really be beaten— just run to the end. In the HD version, they tend to appear in groups of 3. Overall, a pretty damn good level. By the way, did I mention that I Quick Stepped out of the path of an item at the very last stretch of the level? Yeah.

• RESULT: A Rank; two Moon Medals.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Document 7, Illustration 37.

• Collect rings at top speed!

Your basic 200-rings mission. Nothing that special, except there's an area you can only access with the Lightspeed Dash, which you still haven't been taught how to do yet.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: A tablet fragment, if you can call that an item.

---

Now all that's left to do is see the Professor. We'll deal with that next time, but there's something I want to show you before I go. After completing Rooftop Run Day, you unlock a couple of missions. One of them... is a tutorial. For the Wall Jump. Which you've probably used a few times already.

...

WHAT IS THE POINT

Part 17: Insert Obligatory 'Deviled Egg' Pun Here

It's been a while since we've had a boss, hasn't it? Well, first things first— stuff to collect. It was brought to my attention after Part 15 that I was too lazy to go and grab some records from the NPCs. We have plenty of time, so let's deal with that. (By the way, whenever you've beaten a world, you can switch between day and night at will. I CONTROL THE SUN AND MOON. I AM YOUR GOD. So, an old man in Apotos gives us Soundtrack 32. (And a secret mission, to boot!) A young man in Mazuri has AAAAAAAANGST during the night, but an older man gave us Soundtrack 35 for answering a question. (I actually chose the wrong answer first, just to see what he'd say.) A woman at the village shop gave us Soundtrack 34. (Free of charge, I'm assuming— we never actually get to buy anything in the SD version, anywhere.) A young girl in Holoska gave us Soundtrack 36, while a different girl in Spagonia gave us #38. Nice people. Speaking of Spagonia, we've got shit to do here; let's get on with it. By the way, what is it with old men being able to put together tablet pieces? Without further ado: Boss!

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Boss 3 - Egg Devil Ray
It's another daytime boss. This one is actually rather enjoyable— not too easy, but not too cheap. Oddly enough, this particular mech resembles a fish more than any type of ray— perhaps Eggman needs to do a little more research? Ah well, I guess "Devil Ray" invokes Rule Of Cool here. Surrounding the actual machine is several smaller turrets, which will fire lasers. After trying to laser you for a while, the Devil Ray's shield will go down and you can score a hit on it. The battle will sometimes transition to a 2D section, or a 3D top-down view that vaguely resembles a Bullet Hell.

• RESULT: S Rank; one Moon Medal.

---

Here's another question for you— why do we always end off having to go visit Professor Pickle? Oh, who cares.

Part 18: The Long, Icy Road

So, according to the Professor, our next destination is Holoska. We head over there, talk to some people, and get ourselves a Moon Tablet. On to business!

Music: "Cool Edge - Night"; by Fumie Kumatani. Love it. Probably the second best night theme in the game.

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Night Stage 4 - Cool Edge

• Act 1 - The Aurora Snowfields

I'm rather fond of Cool Edge Night. The music is awesome, the scenery is amazing, and the levels feature a lot of platforming. That being said, this act actually had the last Sun Medal I collected my first time through— I forgot to clear it when we rented the game, and that Force medal eluded me for a while afterward. Here, we're given a proper introduction to the Egg Blizzard (a cousin of the Egg Typhoon). They appeared during the Day level, but only for a short time. We also meet an SD-version-exclusive enemy: the Spike. Contrary to its name, it's not spiky, and it's actually rather round. They function as Action Bombs for you to throw. As for the actual level, there's also a section featuring giant snowballs, and let me tell you: if you're not careful to avoid them, you will be raped. All in all, just collect as much stuff as you can and go for the goal.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 19, 34, & 35.

• Act 2 - Ice Floe

This is likely the most platform-intensive level in the whole game. It can be a bit precarious at times, but if you're good at controlling the Werehog, you should be fine. If you're not? You will despise this level. With a passion.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 18, 72, & 75; Movie 8.

• Act 3 - The Temple of Ice

Why does this level remind me of a Zelda dungeon? Anyway, this temple has a lot of doors and switches, as well as various obstacles. Overall, it's not too hard, but there is one room that's an utter pain: You need three keys, but one of them is up on a higher level, where you need to cross thin ice platforms to reach it. This would be all fine and dandy, except there are Dark Bat Snipers gunning for you, with the intent to knock you off of the platforms. What's worse, you may end up falling off while trying to take them out! I'd recommend a midair attack. After beating that and the rest of the level, you're pitted against a pair of Darknuts Dark Titans. There are also Spikes in the room, but they're more for annoyance.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• UPGRADES: Larger health meter.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 13, 39, & 83; Movie 14. And a tablet piece.

---

Back to the professor, then? Typical.

Part 19: Back with— Well, Not Much of a Vengeance

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE!

Well, it's been a while. Two months? To be honest, I forget where we left off.

...?

Oh, that's right: a boss.

...

SON OF A—

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• Boss 4 - Dark Moray

So, upon reaching the core of the ice world, our Werehog friend stumbles into a wide chamber, where the aforementioned eel-thing is conviently thawed out and awakened. Let's do this!

This particular fight has two phases— destroying the shield around the center platform, and then going for the boss itself. Taking out the shield requires destroying various generator-like structures around it. Up until the third 'wave', the Moray shouldn't give you any trouble— you only need to worry about the flunkies guarding the outer platform. Once you've brought down the shield, here's where things get a little tricky. The boss will try to hit you with SHOOP DA WOOP ice breath, ice bombs, and general flailing around like a madman. Hitting it a few times will cause it to drop canisters which can be used to freeze it. They aren't required, but they're a massive help. Take out enough of his health, and he sends you to the outer arena and regenerates the shield. Repeat the procedure twice more, with more enemies to deal with each time. A WINNER IS YOU.

• RESULT: S Rank; one Sun Medal.

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We restore the Light Blue emerald, and that's enough for now. Not much of a way to kick things off again, but I'll take it. See you next time!

Part 20: Turning Up the Heat

(This is the first update after the forum was archived and the LB moved over here. It kinda bugs me how I can only post in comments, since it means I've essentially been Demoted to Extra in my own damn liveblog.)

Professor Pickle has decided to move! Can I have your lab now? Anyway, it seems he's moving to our next destination— Shamar.

Music: "Cutscene - Project Dark Gaia"; by Hideaki Kobayashi.

Oh, quick cutscene. Eggman has an idea! Wonder where that will go.

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Music: "Shamar - Day"; by Kenichi Tokoi. Pretty damn catchy.

We quickly fly off to Shamar, and upon talking to people, we find that they got here before us. How? Oh, forget it. More text, get tablet, Gaia Gate. This particular temple resembles some sort of Arabian palace, with fire and such. Pretty neat, but that's not what we're here for.

Music: "Arid Sands - Day"; by Tomoya Ohtani. Pretty average, as far as day music goes.

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Day Stage 5 - Arid Sands

• Go for the Goal Ring!

My first time through this game, I was actually rather fond of this level. It had a nice amount of difficulty, and there's all sorts of stuff you can pull off. Amusing anecdote: When I was trying to S Rank this level, I was going smoothly until the twisty portion with all the spikes. I tried to Lightspeed Dash through, but I boosted accidentally. I avoided all of the spikes and continued on unscathed to my S Rank. 'Twas awesome.

• RESULT: B Rank, 1 Moon Medal. I was a little reckless. Sue me.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustration 6.

(Then we're given a quick tutorial for the Lightspeed Dash. Boost into a trail of rings, and you follow it. It'd be a good idea to note that you could do this the entire time. Including in the stage we just played. Moving on!)

• Gather rings at top speed!

270. No problem. This is set in the level's 2D section, which vaguely reminds me of Desert Palace from Sonic 3. We also encounter a new enemy, which I've only seen in the Wii version— a turret. Tricky bastards.

• Don't break anything along the way!

This seems like it wouldn't be out of place in Sonic and the Secret Rings. Given the location, it's incredibly fitting. I adore how a jar will implode if you step even a meter close to it. I say the Holoska one's harder, though.

• Gather rings at top speed! Again!

Only 70 this time, though rings are kinda scarce. This is set in another 2D section, which still reminds me of Desert Palace. This area has a different layout, and a few more turrets— we'll see this again later.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Soundtrack 8, and a tablet fragment.

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Vague stuff from Chip, and back to the conveniently-located professor. I'll be away from home for a week or two, so I likely won't have another update until January. Happy holidays, everyone!

Oh wow, a low-level run. I'm amused, Komodin. The Sonic Colors liveblog seems to be going great as well.

It's been 11 days since I commented. Where's the update? I'm looking forward to it! By the way, I should seriously get the HTML link system memorized. It seems so much harder than I thought.

Hey, guys! You're not gonna believe how amazed I am at how well-written this is! Its good/great/awesome/outstanding [[link:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Memes/VideoGames AMAZING!]]

Hey, Blueeyedrat! I got Super [[Dragonball Saiyan Sonic today, in Sonic Colors!

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