Re: I finally got my care package from Alessandro...

From: Alessandro Sanasi <sanasi_at_deco.franken.de>
Date: 25 Feb 1995 15:19:00 +0100

On 24 Feb 95, Fred Sloniker wrote:

> Along with the pages, I got a
> pack of Panini stickers (mostly small chunks of screenshots, like a water
> monitor and the victory pose of Sonic and Tails from Sonic 3)

There are _228_ different stickers available for the sticker album, but
each pack holds only _five_ of them. There are also screenshots of the
weekday cartoon (the 'Subterranean Sonic' episode) as well as some drawn
pictures of the characters / Badniks.

> and a card offering a tip for Sonic 2.

Not all collector cards are game tips cards. The others have cool pictures
on them like the one with Sonic sitting in a chair wearing sunglasses or
the one with Tails saying 'Prower Power'. The two prism cards I have (out
of six) show the same motives that are on the SEGA telephone cards.

> * The drawing in the Fleetway comics looks little like the Archie comic
> or the cartoons.

The Fleetway comic is mainly based on the games, remember? .]

> If I had to draw an analogy to anything Americans might
> have seen, the only thing that comes to mind is the painting of Sonic,
> Knuckles, Tails, and the gang in the Sonic 3 hintbook. Not quite
> on-model, but okay-looking except for a few goofs (everyone has five
> digits, for instance,

In later issues of the Archie comic Sonic & Tails _also_ have five fingers
(although they should have only four according to the cartoon).

> and the characters introduced for the comic look
> too much like humans with animal masks). Not better or worse, IMHO, but
> certainly different.

But don't forget that the _important_ characters (Sonic / Tails /
Knuckles) look like they should (IMHO) and not like Archie is doing them
with too thick arms, too small heads, Knuckles without the 'special' smile
we know from the posters etc.

> * The style of the stories is completely different; they seem to be aimed
> at a slightly older audience, and thus instead of the relentless
> slapstick of the Archie comics, we get superhero-style plots, complete
> with three-issue slugfests. Also, since the stories are based more
> closely on the games, they sometimes read a little like transcripts of
> role-playing game sessions, i.e., rather dull when you're not controlling
> the protagonist.

Only _a few_ stories are partially based on the games because this is what
people want to see when a new game hits the market. Archie does the same
although _their_ stories have open endings and _no_ real plot at all (look
at the ripoff of 'Sonic Spinball' in issue #6 or 'S&K' in issue #13).

All the other stories in the Fleetway comic are _completely_ new although
they sometimes occur at places we know from the games (Chemical Plant /
Casino Night / Green Hills / Mystical Caves etc.). But there are also a
lot of new places (like the 'Nameless Zone' where Tails is called to in
most of his solo stories to fight some enemies in a middle-aged magical
environment) and a lot of new characters like the Marxio Brothers (three
electricians who control the Casino Night Zone).

> The major difference is the change in supporting cast characters;

Because the SatAM cartoon can't be seen in England (as far as I know).

> instead
> of Sally, Bunnie, and the rest, we have Amy Rose (the pink hedgehog from
> the Sonic CD game), Porker Lewis (a cowardly pig with technical skills
> who reminds me vaguely of Antoine, but isn't nearly as annoying), a male
> rabbit (whose name I never did see),

His name is Johnny Lightfoot.

> and Kintobor (a floating holographic
> head who looks like the generic egghead professor and is apparently
> intended to be Robotnik's good counterpart).

In the Fleetway storyline, a malfunction in one of Kintobors inventions
transformed him into the evil Robotnik (also a nice example for backwards
spelling). However, his former personality got caught in one of the Power
Rings and was implemented into the computer by Porker Lewis.

> The base of the resistance
> is also a sophisticated underground bunker, complete with TVs and various
> electronic gear.

This bunker once was Kintobors secret laboratory.

> If anyone wants more details, feel free to ask me (or him, of course).
>
> Oh, by the way: that was a very sneaky thing to do, Alessandro, packing a
> cliffhanger into that envelope. (:3

?? Did I forget to copy some of the pages? Darn...

Take it easy


Alessandro
---
You get what anyone gets. You get a lifetime.

Received on Sat Feb 25 1995 - 18:47:31 PST