Day 51 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Sonic & Knuckles

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was apparently such a big game it had to be split into two, the latter half was Sonic & Knuckles.

Owning S&K not only allowed you to play a brand new adventure as either Sonic or Knuckles, it also expanded the adventure in Sonic 3 and allowed you to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2. This was achieved by plugging either Sonic 2 or 3 into the top of the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge.

This is the only Mega Drive/Genesis game that I know of that doesn't come in the standard plastic box, it comes in a horrible cardboard box, meaning this is possibly the most difficult Mega Drive game to find in good condition.

Sonic & Knuckles was still brilliant; the additional content was certainly worth the additional cost and playing as Knuckles was a refreshing change to playing as Sonic. He was able to reach areas Sonic couldn't get to thanks to his ability to climb walls and glide through the air.

Special thanks to my sister for getting me Sonic and Knuckles for my birthday. ^_^

Day 48 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: T-Shirts and Hoodies

I had a wander through some more photos and came across this one of Oscar and Rosie as kittens (I think they're about 4 months old), and me in my Sonic T-Shirt.

So I thought I'd share the rest of my gaming wardrobe... 

My Fave

Hmm, now that I look at these photos I think I could do with some more gaming clothes, like this. ^_^

Day 44 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Import Games

Thanks to the internet and international shopping websites like eBay and Amazon, it's never been easier to pick up games you may have missed out on in the past. You might not have heard of certain games at the time they were released, if they were even released in your home country at all, and sometimes it's fun to discover variations on games you already own. And it's those variations that I want to look at in this post.

The PAL version (or European version) of Sonic the Hedgehog for example came with a bland pink and white cover and the booklet was printed in greyscale, which could be considered criminal in comparison to what I'm going to show you in a moment.

Sonic the Hedgehog (PAL Version)

Now here's the NTSC-J version (or Japanese version) and look at the difference!

Sonic the Hedgehog (NTSC-J Version)

The cover is so much more vibrant than the PAL release and the booklet is even crammed with hand drawn images of Sonic, Robotnik and other characters from the game. Sega of Europe possibly changed the design because they didn't think the NTSC-J design would appeal to European gamers, a real shame as the Japanese offering is fantastic.

I also discovered that NTSC-J Mega Drive/Genesis cartridges are shaped differently to PAL cartridges so they won't play on European systems. The curved plastic bumpers on either side of the cartridge prevent it from fitting in the cartridge slot.

PAL Cartridge (left) and NTSC-J Cartridge (Right)

I could make this post go on for a lot longer but I think I'll save more import related gaming for a future post or perhaps even a YouTube video. (^_-) If you know of any more fun import gaming related quirks drop me a comment as I'd be happy to hear about it. ^_^

Day 26 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Sonic the Hedgehog

Today marks Sonic's 23rd anniversary, so let's celebrate with a 100 Happy Gaming Days post.

Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, providing Sega with a much needed mascot that could rival Nintendo and Mario.

The story-line for Sonic was pretty simple; the mad scientist Dr Robotnik has turned a bunch of cute animal critters into horrible robots and it's up to Sonic to save them. The game is very well paced with the Green Hill Zone allowing you to get to grips with Sonic's controls and super speed, with later levels introducing new enemies and hazards for you to overcome. 

Sonic the Hedgehog also featured a flawless soundtrack, the Starlight Zone theme being my favourite, setting the standard for all future soundtracks in the Sonic series.      

I remember getting a Mega Drive bundled with Sonic the Hedgehog for my birthday. It took me ages to defeat Dr Robotnik at the end of the Green Hill Zone, it didn't help that I discovered the now-notorious level select cheat, but at least I can now say I can beat Sonic the Hedgehog honestly...sort of.

Some might say the years haven't been kind to gaming's favourite hedgehog, but I think that we can all agree that the first game is a timeless classic that's chock full of memorable moments. Everyone remembers the first time they raced through a loop at breakneck speed, destroyed their first badnik or when they discovered their first Chaos Emerald. Let me know your favourite Sonic memories in the comments section below and I'll be back tomorrow with another Happy Gaming Day.

Happy Birthday Sonic.

Day Nine: Play Expo

I've been going to Play Expo for the last two years and I've recently picked up my tickets for this years event in October. It's held at Manchester's Event City venue, which is a stones throw away from the Trafford Centre, and for a whole weekend it's crammed with games as far as the eye can see.

Last year Nintendo were there to show off Zelda: A Link Between Worlds about a month before it's official release in the UK, along with Sonic Lost Worlds and a playable demo of the upcoming Mario Kart 8! I imagine Nintendo will be back this year and seeing as Super Smash Bros Wii U has a planned Winter release they'll hopefully be bringing it along.

Ubisoft were there last year with Assassins Creed 4 demoing on PS4, also about a month before the PS4 was on sale, so as you can imagine there was queue that rivaled the Great Wall of China. The same can also be said for the Oculus Rift which was attracting a lot of attention, hopefully they'll be back this year as I wasn't prepared to wait in the queue last time around, and Namco also made an appearance to torment gamers with Dark Souls 2.

Then of course there's the retro games with several hundred machines on offer from the Atari 2600 to the PS2; so I was certainly spoiled for choice. This was accompanied by a huge selection of arcade cabinets and pinball machines, ensuring that everyone who attends goes home happy. There's also little hubs set up for people to play tournaments on Super Mario Kart, Doom and plenty other titles so if you want to have a little competition you're covered.

There's also a large number of stalls selling games for pretty much every platform imaginable, along with some great gaming merchandise and handycrafts as well, I picked up this Blastoise T-Shirt last year.

Cosplayers are also welcomed with a load of people turning up in fantastic outfits and there's usually talks with various designers sharing their cosplaying tips.

This year is already shaping up to be something special as they've just announced the screen.play feature, which is promising meet and greets with Hollywood movie stars, photo opportunities, film props and movie cars. 

The thing that I'm looking forward to most though is the Classic Gaming Championships, and the final is going to be held at Play Expo. I'm going to enter the heats at NERG in July so wish me luck, I'm probably going to need it.