On Leaked Soundtracks and Writing

So, the Sonic 4 Episode 1 Soundtrack has somehow leaked it's way onto the net. I've had a listen and well, what can I say? While there are a couple of outstanding tracks overall, the quality of the tracks as a whole is painfully average. And that's before we even get started on the terrible synth work - soundfonts that make Motoi Sakuraba's worst days look like flashes of genius.

Something about his face just isn't right in this render...

Though, like I said, there are high points. Namely, Lost Labyrinth Zone Act 2, the Invincibility Theme and Mad Gear Zone Act 3, which somehow sounds like it would fit perfectly for both Metropolis Zone and Flying Battery Zone. Can't wait to hear the remixes of that one, that's for sure.

It could be worse...

On a more positive note, I've finally managed to overcome my writers block. So that's good at least. And now that's done, I'm gonna continue with my plan to destroy the world. :3

p.s. I was going over the list of characters that definitely won't appear in Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and noticed something. No mention of Tails, Knuckles, or Cream. Given that she's appeared in 3 of the 5 Dimps Sonic games thus far, I can't help but wonder, (and hope lol.)

On Photoshop and my PSP

Time for some more showing off on my part, I think. Here's 6 wallpaper's I've created for the PSP then... Click for full size.

Ah yes, Tales of the- REPLICAAAAAAAA!

Hugo is a Badtoucher. Just ask Emilia.

THE HAIR IS ONLY PURPLE BECAUSE OF THE GRADIENT THAT'S OVER IT!!!

O hai thar, ToD splash screen ^^

Pascal lookin kinda "Graceful" there. *shot*

Combo breaker of awesome and win. :3

And there we have it. Can you guess which one I'm using right now?

On Writers Block and Decisions.

A man once said to me, "U mad?"

Yes. Very. :3

Naturally, my answer was yes. That is why I'm split between playing 2 different games right now. On the one hand, I have Namco Tales Studio's Tales of Rebirth, for PS2, which I'm around halfway through. On the other, I have Level 5's Jeanne D'Arc, for PSP, which I've gotten a little into, but far enough to know the titular heroine's special attack is uber broken. So, I have a decision to make. Common sense dictates that I should play Tales of Rebirth first and finish Jeanne D'Arc while I'm away on holiday. But as anyone who knows me in person will attest, I've never been one for being sensible in that regard. So, (And given the people that I know are going to read this, I know the results will be somewhat skewed,) I'll ask the audience, so to speak. Which one first?

So... Fire... Hurr hurr hurr...

And writers block. Oh boy... You know, having to write a character that isn't yours is really, really hard.

Mabee iff u getz cheezburgr I getz bettr.

So, how does one go about writing an introduction for a shy, emotionally repressed hero who can't really fight? You know, that's probably the single most clichéd character archetype in existence, but I'm still having trouble with it... The role reversal doesn't really help either, as it's the heroine of the story who's the strong one and the main protagonist, so...

I can has hint?

My hands are stinging!

So, as a finisher to the week's theme, I decided to upload all my best times, as of last night.

I know I could go faster if I could air dash consistently...

Attack of the duplicate times again. Though all are sub 40!

Finally, a half decent time for Tails...

Lol, even though it's a huge improvement, he's still the slowest...

And naturally, the champion is saved for last. Or is she...?

Those were the best times as of last night. Last night was 18 hours ago. I have played the game since then. And I have beat Amy's time. How? Well with Cream of course. Now, though I don't have a video of my own, I can show how I did it. My run was based on the following video, with exactly the same route used;



And now, my own screencap with the new time;

Behold, the closest I'm ever going to get to any kind of World Record.
(0:35:8X is the fastest time for Cream.)

On conquering and continuation of a theme.

Welcome back to Evil Sapphie's Pit of Lulz. Last time, I discussed my general dislike for my fellow Sonic fans and in keeping with the theme of the week, I am going to talk about the Sonic games some more. Bet you didn't see that one coming. So anyway, the whole purpose of this post is simply to announce that I have finally cracked the sub 40 second barrier on Sonic Advance 2's first level, Leaf Forest Zone, Act One. Even greater is the rage any "True Sonic Fan" is going to feel when they read the following statement. I did it with Amy Rose. Yes, the slow pink fuzzball who according to most of the fanbase, needs to go die in a fire.

Times 2 and 3 are identical, as you'll notice.

Ironically, she is strictly speaking the second fastest character in the game, behind Sonic of course, as she shares his speed and moveset, but lacks his ability to accelerate quickly with an air dash, (which is an annoying move to pull off without a decent controller, believe me, since I'm emulating the game on my PSP and controlling it with the infamous PSP 1000 D-Pad. I do own Sonic Advance 2 physically, though, just for the record.)

Mmmmm... Interstellar Ice Cream...

Also, I have no idea how I managed to get exactly 0:40:28 twice. Granted, I took the same route both times, but to match times on a perfect run is still surprising. The extra 1.4 seconds came from a perfectly timed jump around 3/4 of the way through the course that enabled me to skip one of the rotating swing arms - those things have a huge impact on your overall time if you land on one.

A time attacker's worst nightmare...

Anyway, to close the post I would like to offer the following up to anyone that reads this post: Anyone think they can do better?

p.s. I've been on board with Sonic since the days of the Master System and I like Amy, Cream and Big. And I don't like Shadow. Far too "Serious Business" for my liking.

p.p.s. Screw you if you disagree.

p.p.p.s. I promise not to talk about Sonic in my next post. Possibly.

On Hypocrisy and Slime.

As a semi continuation of my previous post, I present you with the following statement; The Sonic fan base is a bunch of self serving hypocrites that need to be dropped into a river of bio slime.

One river of slime. Enjoy.

Perhaps I should actually make some effort to explain. Now, the Sonic Fanbase are a very hard to please lot, it's widely known. The only thing they tend to agree on is that Sonic '06 sucked hard. So why are they hypocrites? Simple. A vast majority of them are known to be very critical of the use of bottomless pits in more recent Sonic Games. For example, I would say things started to get out of hand after Sonic Adventure 2, while others would say anything past Sonic & Knuckles should never have been made. Nonetheless, they are a problem in the more recent games as they are used as a very cheap way of adding challenge to the game. Now, why does this make Sonic Fans hypocrites? Well, you're familiar with the phrase "think you can do better," correct? Well, let's put that into application, shall we? I'm talking hacks. The sublime Megamix hacks aside, most all of the level edits available for Sonic 1 & 2 are designed with frustrating amounts of bottomless pits. Granted, they are meant to be harder than the original game, but blind jumping onto a moving platform that's as wide as Sonic is? Give me a break...

The S Factor. It's got it.

Although, there are games besides Megamix which do it right. S Factor being a good example - That game is damned hard, but not because there's a massive bottomless pit in Act 2 of the first zone. It's the boss I can't kill and for me, that's the way it should be. Also, speed shoes music is made of awesome and win. End of story.

And that, ladies and gents, is why Sonic Fans need to be dropped in a river of hate - inducing slime. It'll do them some good.

On not updating regularly;

Well, it's been half a month since I last updated, due mostly to procrastination on my part and the fact that I can't really think of much to write about. So I'll talk about a game I started playing recently. It's called "Sonic the Hedgehog Megamix". As stated by the information page on Sonic Retro,

"Sonic the Hedgehog Megamix (commonly shortened to Sonic Megamix) is a multiperson assembly modification of the original Sonic the Hedgehog video game for the Sega Mega Drive, headed up by Team Megamix and released for the Sega Mega CD. The game features the ability to play as one of five different characters: Sonic The Hedgehog, Mighty the Armadillo, Shadow the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails Prower, or Knuckles the Echidna. It features an extensive reworking of the original game with new art, music, abilities and layouts, among other things."

To the uninitiated, this means it is a fan hack of the original Sonic The Hedgehog, incorporating gameplay elements from the other Mega Drive Sonic Games, such as the elemental shields from Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It is unquestionably the best game hack I've ever played, due in no small part to the dedication of the team behind it. The levels, for example are well designed and absolutely huge - even the first stage will take well over 2 minutes to complete on a speed run. There's also a definite emphasis on non lethal traps, as opposed to the infamous bottomless pits of the recent Sonic games.

The amazing Misty Maze Zone.

The most notable thing about this game, however, is the Misty Maze zone, this game's interpretation of the Labyrinth Zone. The art for it is absolutely gorgeous, especially the custom background, which is a work of (pixel) art! The design of the level is absolutely devious in places as well. The biggest downside to the game, (other than including Shadow, *hiss*, who is a total Sonic Clone, instead of say, Blaze,) is that it is for the Sega CD/Mega CD addon. But these days, that is like to a minor inconvenience at worst.

Do yourself a favour and pick it up from here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TALES SKIT AVATAR RP!

Nice and to the point. Just the way it should be. In association with DISCO CHOPPAH Inc. Because it's FA-Bu-Lous!

Props to Augla for organising the whole thing and to Geno for saving us all from our own incompetence. Whatever would we do without you?