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The GHZ

@theghz.bsky.social

Learnings from the hadalpelagic depths of Sonic history, served with a side of Drano cookies. Since 1997!

335 Posts190 Follower85 Folgt
The GHZ@theghz.bsky.social · 2w ago

In this 1997 E3 vid recently posted at VGHF you can hear an early version of Super Sonic Racing playing in the Sonic R demo. I’ve never heard this before. I think it’s TJ Davis? But it’s not the version we hear in the final game. Sonic R footage starts at about 48:35

Electronic Entertainment Expo 1997, "Sony, Sega, etc." [Hi8]

View Electronic Entertainment Expo 1997, "Sony, Sega, etc." [Hi8] in the Video Game History Foundation Library – Digital Archive.

archive.gamehistory.org

The GHZ@theghz.bsky.social · 4w ago

The July 10 release date is probably a myth (can't find any source for it), but this is a game I'd love to know more about. How, who, why. There should be no debate about the worst Sonic game ever because this is clearly it. Also, PC aside, Sonic's first appearance on a non-Sega console

Bad Game Hall of Fame@bghof.com · 4w ago

'Sonic Jam' for the Tiger Game Com released on this day in 1998. Tiger's attempt to condense the Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis trilogy cuts more corners than one could possibly imagine -- crushing it into greyscale, culling most of the levels, and severely compromising performance.

The GHZ@theghz.bsky.social · last mo.

Hey, your favorite Saturn game turns 30 today Don't worry, here's a smattering of facts to take your mind off your own mortality: 🧵 #1: Yes, NiGHTS is canonically agender. Naoto Ōshima explains: “[NiGHTS] is a master of the dream world and so is neither male or female. Hence the ambiguous design.”

Japanese cover of NiGHTS on Saturn. From Segaretro.orgPhoto of some key members of the NiGHTS team. From left: character designer Naoto Ōshima, producer Yūji Naka, sound designer Tomoko Sasaki, and programmer Takuya Matsumoto. On the far right is Takao Miyoshi, who was a designer on Christmas NiGHTS but doesn’t seem to have been involved in the original game (I believe he was working on Sonic 3D Blast at the time). Photo from the January 1997 issue of Hyper Saturn, page 82.Photo of lead game designer Takashi Iizuka. From the September 25, 1998 issue of Sega Saturn Magazine, page 46.Render of NiGHTS with the agender pride flag in the background
The GHZ@theghz.bsky.social · 2mo ago

And here we go, coincidentally in time for Sonic's 35th bday, the entire Sonic 1 development timeline—or at least our best understanding of it—in three bite-size chunks. I've already talked about 1988-1990 in detail in earlier posts, so let's take a look at 1991 and the final lead-up to release 🧵

Graphic showing the development timeline of Sonic 1 from 1988-1989Graphic showing the development timeline of Sonic 1 in 1990Graphic showing the development timeline of Sonic 1 in 1991
Sonic the Comic the Podcast@sonicpodcast.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The STCTP community has recently begun an initiative to FINALLY produce new hi-res scans of Fleetway's Sonic the Comic, straight from the original issues, complete with ALL the pages, including ads, compos, pin-ups and more! Check them out, and join up if you want to help contribute! stcscans.zone

Sonic the Comic Rescan Project | High-Quality Fleetway STC Scans

Download high-resolution, complete 600 DPI scans of Fleetway's Sonic the Comic. The ultimate STC archive for fans, preserving every issue and special.

stcscans.zone

The GHZ@theghz.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Somehow I managed to miss this news for half a year, but Hiroshi Kubota, aka Jimita, sound programmer on Sonic 1, passed away last year. He also worked on Sonic 2 and was in the special thanks of Sonic CD. So we've now lost 2 of the original seven members of Sonic Team xcancel.com/k_namickey/s...

Hiroshi Kubota circa 1994, from the April 1994 issue of Harmony, page 12.Screenshot of the Sonic 1 closing credits showing "Jimita" (Hiroshi Kubota) and "Macky" (Yukifumi Makino) sharing a credit for "sound program"
Sonic The Hedgeblog@sonichedgeblog.bsky.social · 3mo ago

A previously unknown early screenshot of the original 'Sonic The Hedgehog' has been unearthed by Black Squirrel over on Sonic Retro! Here it shows an early iteration of the Buzz Bomber with a visor style for it's head, early totem heads, and Sonic yet to be jumping in a ball!

Sonic The Hedgehog
The GHZ@theghz.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Timeline of Sonic 1 development, PART 3 Bitty recap: Sonic is shown for the first time at the Tokyo Toy Show, held from June 7-10, 1990. By this point, his design is finalized, and the core team of Naoto Ōshima, Yūji Naka, Hirokazu Yasuhara, Jina Ishiwatari (and maybe Rieko Kodama) is in place.

Mid or late Summer 1990: Naoto Ōshima takes a personal trip to New York and solicits opinions from passerby in Central Park about some of the character designs he had come up with during the Sonic creation process Late summer or early fall 1990 (probably): Sega instructs all artists to submit an idea for a corporate mascot character October 1990: Sega is listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange November 7, 1990: Dreams Come True kicks off their “Wonder 3” tour November 21, 1990: The Super Famicom is launched along with Super Mario World December 7, 1990: Sega files its first trademark applications for SonicSonic 1 on display at Tokyo Toy Show in June, 1990
VGDensetsu@vgdensetsu.bsky.social · 4mo ago

"(Hirokazu) Yasuhara talked about the long hours he worked at Sega, which were sometimes up to 18 hours a day, during the process of Sonic’s creation." fscollegian.com/2026/02/crea...

Creator of Sonic the Hedgehog presents his story at Fresno State

The original Sonic the Hedgehog level designer, Hirokazu Yasuhara, came to Fresno State on Feb. 20 to talk about how he first got into the gaming industry, how to design video game levels to be enjoyable to the player and the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog. Lori Clune, a history professor at Fresno State, and...

fscollegian.com

The GHZ@theghz.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Timeline of Sonic 1 development, part 2 Bitty recap: In summer or fall of 1989, after the July reveal of Mario World, Naoto Ōshima pitches his first og game, Twins Special, outlining the ways he plans to outdo the new Mario. His pitch falls flat, but Yūji Naka joins him and helps get things moving.

Image 0: Timeline of Sonic 1 development, part 2: First half of 1990. Fall/Winter 1989 – March 1990: Hirokazu Yasuhara joins the team. Gameplay and character design are hashed out. March 27, 1990: Naoto Ōshima makes his second formal pitch for the project. Sonic’s design seems to be mostly nailed down, but he doesn’t have a name yet. April – June 1990: Sonic’s design is finalized and he is given his name. Jina Ishiwatari joins the team. Rieko Kodama may have joined around this time as well, or a little later. June 7-10, 1990: Sonic is shown publicly for the first time at the Tokyo Toy Show in Chiba.Photo of Naoto Ōshima with a giant Sonic plushie circa 1991. Shared by Ōshima on twitterTiny illegible scan of Ōshima’s original 22-page Twins Special proposal document. The final page has a screenshot of Super Mario World copied, evidently, from the August 18, 1989 issue of Famimaga. Shared on twitter by former Sega game designer Tetsuo Shin’yuYūji Naka with a costumed Sonic circa 1992. From note.com/beep21/n/n5336480dfcd0
The GHZ@theghz.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Where do baby hedgehogs come from? Not from company mascot contests, despite what you’ve probably heard (tho that was a thing that happened, too). How did Sonic 1 REALLY come to be? Plotting the milestones on a timeline is hard because we have so few concrete dates, but let's connect some dots 🧵

Timeline of Sonic 1 development Part 1: 1988 - 1989 1988/10/05 – 06: The 26th AM Show is held in Tokyo. Yūji Naka sees Daimakaimura 1988/10/29: The Mega Drive is released in Japan 1988/11/21: Nintendo unveils the Super Famicom 1988/11 or 12: Naka begins working on the MD port of Daimakaimura 1989/05: The Daimakaimura MD master ROM is completed 1989, May or later: Naka begins working on Metal Lancer 1989/??: Naoto Ōshima meets Shigeru Miyamoto and is inspired to make a game to rival Mario 1989/07/28: Nintendo reveals Super Mario World under its working title of Mario 4 1989/08/03: Daimakaimura on MD is released 1989, after July: Ōshima formally proposes his Mario killer, Twins Special Second half of 1989 (probably): Metal Lancer is scrapped Second half of 1989 (probably): Naka joins Ōshima on the Twins Special project