The Sonic The Hedgehog movie is out and it’s a real treat for fans who love the classic SEGA speedster.
There are so many things that creators have done to “stay true” to the franchise. Even the movie poster depicts the blue blur with lightning effects, which is reminiscent of the “Sonic Unleashed” game poster.
While the movie itself is great, and you don’t need to know anything about Sonic going in, there is a lot here that true old school SEGA fans can relate to in the movie.
Here are 5 things from Sonic The Hedgehog Movie that true fans will appreciate:
The Loop De Loops
If you’ve ever played Sonic, you’ve run Loop-de-loops to gain momentum to rocket yourself through stages collecting rings. The game mechanic was so important to the game that it was in the very first level and you were almost forced to run through them.
The movie’s prologue opens with a narration of Sonic’s life. The story of where he was before being warped to Earth is information to new fans. While saying this he does the loop-de-loops and it shows why his home island was ideal.
Although they may be in the back of mind, loops are a core feature in just about every Sonic game and something would feel off if they were missing.
The SuperSpeed
Game fans know that Sonic can run fast enough to possibly the sound barrier. This fact is literally the opening line in the Sonic X theme song.
There is a scene where Sonic runs around the baseball field so fast that he causes an electromagnetic pulse that triggers a blackout.
The movie does an excellent job of capturing this speed. They even add a touch of blue lightning, but this is nothing old fans are unfamiliar with.
The Mushroom Hill Zone
In the movie, Sonic has to warp to a mushroom world. While it may seem random to the general audience, to those who have played the game it is an awesome callback.
The mushroom world shown in the movie is basically the Mushroom Hill Zone from the SEGA Genesis game Sonic and Knuckles. The Mushroom Hill Zone is a very memorable level and a favorite for many fans.
Sonic and Knuckles itself was one of the best Sonic games. The cartridge not only had a revolutionary backward compatibility feature, but it also introduced one of the franchises most like characters (Knuckles).
Sonic’s Portal Rings
The golden ring is are a key element in Sonic’s life. At the beginning of the movie, Long Claw tosses a ring to send Sonic to Earth.
The movie also depicts the scattering of iconic golden rings when Sonic gets hit. They are considered as an energy booster for Sonic which when they get wasted, makes him weak.
But then we have the portal rings. Sonic and other characters have been using them since the beginning. Fans will remember that getting enough rings on a level will spawn a large portal ring at the end that will transport you to a bonus world.
These bonus levels were so important in the early games that I remember losing on purpose if I did not get enough rings so I could redo the level.
Sonic’s Idle Waiting
The cutest and most iconic call-back of all is Sonic’s idle animation.
While standing at the top of the Transamerica Pyramid when Eggman’s Robots drop missiles at Sonic, time screeches to a halt. That is where he stops for a moment, taps his foot, and checks his wrist (as waiting while watching time over his imaginary watch) before running at supersonic speed.
This is something only fans would notice. In the original game, leaving the controller untouched for a few moments would trigger this exact same animation.
While it seemed like just a little easter egg in the game, Sonic would literally look at the player, in a sense breaking the 4th wall. If you played Sonic back then you felt as if he was looking directly at you and it was pretty cool.
