Sonic the Hedgehog - Softonic English

The fourth Sonic movie receives an official release date

The Sonic movie series has proven to be a phenomenon at the box office, grossing over $1.2 billion worldwide in just three films over a span of six years. The latest release, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, became a financial success, reaching $490 million at the box office with a budget of $122 million. This remarkable performance has renewed interest in the iconic character and his universe, establishing a solid fan base eager for new adventures on the big screen. There is just over a year left until we can see it The director Jeff Fowler […]

The Sonic movie series has proven to be a phenomenon at the box office, grossing over $1.2 billion worldwide in just three films over a span of six years. The latest release, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, became a financial success, reaching $490 million at the box office with a budget of $122 million. This remarkable performance has renewed interest in the iconic character and his universe, establishing a solid fan base eager for new adventures on the big screen.

There is just over a year left until we can see it

Director Jeff Fowler has recently shared an update on the start of filming for the highly anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog 4, which is scheduled to be released on March 19, 2027. In a statement on Instagram, Fowler showcased Amy Rose’s famous Piko Piko hammer, suggesting the arrival of new characters to the franchise, including Amy and the fearsome Metal Sonic, a classic antagonist of the saga.

Although an official synopsis has not yet been revealed, it is speculated that the plot of Sonic 4 may take elements from Sonic CD from 1993, a video game that introduced Metal Sonic. According to the post-credit teaser of Sonic 3, a showdown between Sonic and Dr. Robotnik is anticipated for control of the Time Stones, a key element in the story that allows for time manipulation.

With the increase in ticket sales that has characterized previous releases, it is likely that Sonic 4 will continue this upward trend at the box office, further solidifying the success of this series for Paramount Pictures. Speculations about the inclusion of more characters, both heroes and villains from the vast Sonic universe, further fuel the anticipation among fans, which could ensure a prolonged presence of the blue hedgehog in theaters in the near future.

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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will receive a new live-action movie, although not without some buts

Paramount Pictures is developing a new live-action movie based on the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a move that underscores the studio’s renewed interest in this popular franchise. The film will be produced by Neal H. Moritz, known for his work on the successful Sonic the Hedgehog series. This legacy of successful family projects adds an additional layer of credibility to the project, suggesting that Paramount is looking for an approach that can appeal to both children and adults. The turtles are returning to the big screen. No further details about the plot or cast have been confirmed, but it is expected […]

Paramount Pictures is developing a new live-action movie based on the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a move that underscores the studio’s renewed interest in this popular franchise. The film will be produced by Neal H. Moritz, known for his work on the successful Sonic the Hedgehog series. This legacy of successful family projects adds an additional layer of credibility to the project, suggesting that Paramount is seeking an approach that can appeal to both children and adults.

The turtles return to the cinema

No further details about the plot or cast have been confirmed, but the film is expected to focus on the main characters of the series: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and presumably, Michelangelo. Over the years, these characters have become symbols of pop culture, and their return to the big screen has generated expectations among both franchise fans and new viewers.

The family-oriented approach to production is indicative of Paramount’s strategy to revive beloved stories with an accessible narrative for diverse audiences. With multiple adaptations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles over the decades, this new movie could offer a blend of nostalgia and freshness, capturing the spirit of the original series while adapting to modern cinematic sensibilities.

While specific details about the direction or format of the movie have not yet been revealed, the announcement has generated rumors in the community. There are speculations about the possibility of a mix of modern technology and live action, something that could resonate with the current success of superhero franchises and animated films. Paramount is clearly making a strong bet on the Ninja Turtles, and the development of this movie demonstrates the studio’s confidence in the franchise’s potential.

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While everyone’s hating on Sonic, let’s look back on the Super Mario Bros movie

Scared about Sonic? Let’s remember 1993’s Super Mario Bros movie.

After decades of disappointments, expectations for video game movies are mercifully low. Though dozens of video game movies have been made, the number of not just good, but decent video game movies can be counted on one hand. Games that seemingly would translate into excellent movies like Assassin’s Creed, Street Fighter, and Resident Evil were butchered into unrecognizable cash grabs that were seemingly terrified of their source material. To date, the single live-action video game movie that has a ‘Fresh’ score on Rotten Tomatoes is “Detective Pikachu.”

Will ‘Sonic’ be a blue, blurry disaster?

Even with expectations at an all-time low, general audiences could not possibly have been prepared for the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog trailer. If you’ve somehow missed it, here you go:

This trailer didn’t just set the internet on fire, it transformed it into a blazing hellscape. Sitting at 32 million views and nearly 700k dislikes, the trailer was brutally mocked by fans and nonfans alike. Sonic’s bizarre, not-quite-realistic-but-not-quite-cartoony redesign was by far the most common source of mockery. From his dirty-looking fur to his tiny spaced out eyes, to his unnerving uncanny valley proportions, Sonic’s “realistic” design became the subject of thousands of hilariously mean-spirited memes and tweets.

sonic movie design teeth — Whoever decided to give Sonic human teeth needs to be psychologically evaluated

The online uproar was so intense that Paramount actually delayed the movie from its original release date of November all the way to February in order to redesign the iconic character. Funnily enough, this seems to be the first time ever that a major movie studio has actually listened to the internet mob (think of all the petitions that rabid fans create to recast superheroes).

Taking a little more time to make Sonic just right.#novfxartistswereharmedinthemakingofthismovie pic.twitter.com/gxhu9lhU76

— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 24, 2019

While it’s good that the filmmakers are redoing Sonic’s horrid design, the same probably can’t be said about the rest of the movie. Instead of featuring the whimsical loop-de-loops and checkered plains of the video games, the movie takes place in a lifeless realistic setting. Even worse, the movie borrows the same soulless “What if a cartoon entered OUR WORLD?” plot of live-action cartoon movies like “Alvin & the Chipmunks” and “The Smurfs,” a subgenre that hasn’t even been popular or successful in nearly a decade. They even used the tired “cartoon character and human meet and scream AAAAAAAAAAAHHH at each other” gag.

At the very least, the casting of Ben Schwartz as Sonic is actually an inspired choice, as his cocky attitude fits Sonic like the gloves he isn’t wearing. Most notably, Jim Carrey (cast as Sonic’s nemesis Dr. Robotnik/Eggman) seems to have left his recent pretentious antics behind to give a refreshingly 90s performance in this movie.

It’s sad that Sonic’s first leap to the big screen is such a lifeless monstrosity, as the franchise has already been the butt of jokes and scathing memes for years. However, history has shown us that even beloved video game franchises are not immune to bizarre live-action movies, including the most cherished video game series of all time: Super Mario Bros.

A look back at 1993’s Super Mario Bros movie

We’ve seen this movie dozens of times we still can’t quite believe that it exists. Seriously, just watch the trailer and try to make sense of what’s happening.

Yes, you just saw Bob Hoskins team up with John Leguizamo to fight Dennis Hopper’s King Koopa. The craziest part is that when this movie came out in 1993, there were no audience expectations of what a video game movie should be. At the time, the thought of adapting something as low brow as a video game into a movie was considered preposterous. After the movie’s release, critics, filmmakers, and general audiences were left scratching their heads, having gained no new insight into the future of video game movies. For those who haven’t seen the movie, allow us to (attempt) to explain the film.

At the beginning of the movie, a short animation plays that explains how the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs actually created an alternate dimension called Dinohattan where people evolved from dinosaurs rather than apes. The plumbing brothers Mario Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi Mario (John Leguizamo) travel to Dinohattan as they try to rescue Luigi’s love interest Daisy (Samantha Mathis). Daisy has been kidnapped by King Koopa (Dennis Hopper) because she has the last shard of the meteorite, which Koopa needs in order to merge the dimensions under his iron fist.

If that sounds confusing, that’s because it is. The plot only resembles the paper-thin story of the games if you squint really hard and look from every angle. But you need to keep in mind that there was no groundwork as to what a video game movie should be, much less for a live-action adaptation of a story that’s literally just “rescue the princess.”

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The filmmakers deserve some credit for taking a mainstream family-friendly property like Mario and trying to make something unique, surreal, and dark. Unfortunately, the film can’t hit the mark as a dark comedy due to panicked executives lightening the tone of the film and making it more family-friendly. This clash is most apparent when you consider the contrast between the dystopian set design and the script.

At the time of the movie’s release, gritty urban reimaginings of beloved franchises were extremely popular, including 1989’s “Batman” and 1990’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

Acclaimed production designer David Snyder (who helped invent cyberpunk by designing the sets of “Blade Runner”) designed Dinohattan to be a primal, aggressive, and oppressive satire of modern urban life. Snyder enjoyed the opportunity to design the hellish city at multiple levels, as he was limited to the street level while working on “Blade Runner.” He referred the bloodthirsty reptilian art style as “New Brutalism,” reasoning that since the residents of Dinohattan evolved from dinosaurs, they would be significantly more primordial and savage than human beings, with their architecture and city design reflecting their aggressiveness. Speaking on the setting of “Super Mario Bros,” Snyder said: “We’ve designed this film with the idea of looking at New York while on some mind-altering drugs.”

Before shooting began, worried studio executives demanded the film’s script be rewritten to be more childlike. Unfortunately, the dinopunk sets were already built, which, as impressive as the set design is, leads to a jarring clash of tone between script and visuals in the final film.

Even with its weird tonal inconsistencies, Super Mario Bros is not an awful film, despite what Bob Hoskins thinks. It’s a bizarre and ineffective adaptation of a beloved property sure, but if they renamed the characters and called the movie “Dino Punks” or something, then the film could have been hailed as a cult classic today. The cast all put on charming performances and have chemistry with one another, the effects were outstanding at the time (and still hold up today, especially the animatronic Yoshi), and the surreal world of Dinohattan is something to behold.

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What will the audience think?

This brings us to the million dollar question: will “Sonic the Hedgehog” overtake “Super Mario Bros” as the most infamous video game movie ever made? We think it’s possible, though both films attract a ton of negative attention for completely opposite reasons. “Sonic the Hedgehog” appears to be a movie that is incredibly safe, soulless, and stale, yet it completely disregards the source material. There is not a hint of artistry or passion for the property evident in the trailer; the film might as well have been made in a factory.

“Super Mario Bros,” on the other hand, is ambitious almost to a fault. While the film angered fans by not resembling the game at all, the crew bravely set out to create the next “Ghostbusters;” a dark, surreal comedy-adventure that was quite unlike anything audiences had ever seen. The clear amount of ambition and talent that went into “Super Mario Bros” has caused audiences to slowly warm to it in recent years. We can’t expect the same will happen for Sonic.

10 best GameCube games

What games made the Nintendo GameCube legendary?

The early 2000s was a monumental turning point in video game history. Sony began the new millennium with the PlayStation 2, and Microsoft ended 2001 with the Xbox. These two systems were pillars in video game history.

However, we’re not here to talk about those two consoles. We are here to discuss the one that came out between these two, the Nintendo GameCube.

During this time, Nintendo was going through a weird era. Sure, they were definitely still doing well. The Nintendo 64 left a great legacy and the Game Boy Advance came out earlier that year and had phenomenal sales. Unfortunately, the Gamecube did not sell as well as the Xbox, and not nearly as well as the PlayStation 2.

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With that being said, that doesn’t mean the GameCube didn’t have great games. The GameCube had a rich library of games that set it up for success. The Xbox and PS2 just had a leg-up with revolutionary first-person shooters like Halo and regularly updating franchises like Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter.

For this list, we looked for the games that still made the GameCube worth buying. They didn’t win the console war, but they did win over the fans.

Top 10 GameCube games

10. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

A lot of the reason why people buy Nintendo’s mobile consoles like the Nintendo DS and the Game Boy Advance is so that they can play Pokémon games. While fans wanted Pokémon games on Nintendo’s home consoles, we never expected them.

Not only did the GameCube get a Pokémon game, but it got the best home console Pokémon game ever made. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness has some of the same mechanics as your typical Pokémon game, but it focuses more on the story rather than collecting mons and badges.

It’s also a much harder Pokémon game than what we were used to seeing. The final boss is so hard it just seems cruel. Also, rather than you getting the opportunity to hunt in the wild for whatever mons you want, you are at the mercy of using only the mons you snagged from other trainers.

If you’re a Pokémon fan, you can’t go wrong with this classic.

9. Soul Calibur 2

Soul Calibur 2 was on the PS2 and Xbox as well as the GameCube. However, what made it better on the GameCube was the inclusion of our favorite sword-wielding fairy boy, Link. Each game had its exclusive character depending on what console you played. Xbox got the comic book character Spawn, and the PS2 got Mishima from Tekken.

Both of those characters were fun, but they’re no Link.

Soul Calibur 2 is a tournament fighter game where the characters fight with swords, staffs, axes, nunchaku, and even magic. Sure, you can mash buttons and do fairly well, but the more experienced player plays the game like a chess match.

8. Mario Kart: Double Dash

If you were to ask the average Mario Kart fan which game in the series is their favorite, you probably wouldn’t hear anyone mention Mario Kart: Double Dash. However, the game is still a lot of fun.

Double Dash had a unique mechanic where you picked two characters instead of one. One character sits up front driving the kart while the other one sits in back throwing items at other drivers.

This made for some interesting decisions. Maybe you want to have a lighter character up front like Toad, and then throw a heavy character like Donkey Kong on the back to help balance it out.

This might not be our favorite Mario Kart game, but we can pop this one in any day of the week.

7. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle

First, let’s start this off right:

Ahh, if only Sonic’s transition to film went over as well as his transition to Nintendo.

After the demise of the Sega Dreamcast, Sonic the Hedgehog made his way over to the Nintendo GameCube. His stay had… mixed results. Sonic Heroes was a decent title, but the original Sonic Adventure had quite possibly the ugliest talking animation ever.

That said, the crown jewel was Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. The game was animated well for the time, and the gameplay had actual 3D platforming mechanics fitting for the blue hedgehog.

This was the first Sonic title to get the 3D formula right. It wasn’t buggy and game-breaking like future titles, and it was more polished and clean than its predecessor.

The game also introduced us to Shadow the Hedgehog who would go on to be a major anti-hero in the series. The game was divided into a hero and villain side where you could choose to play on the side of good or evil. Each side had three different types of levels. Sonic and Shadow had fast-paced 3D platforming levels. Knuckles and Rouge were treasure hunters in a race to collect all the pieces of the Master Emerald. Tails and Dr. Eggman drove their mechs through levels, shooting down everything in their paths.

One of the things that really makes this game stick out is the Chao Garden. Chao are blue fairy-like creatures that also look like onions.

In the game, you raise them from the moment they hatch. You feed them, train them, and take care of them. It definitely is not enough to merit its own game, but it’s definitely a fun break from the main game.

6. Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64 set the course for every 3D platformer thereafter. The essence of the game is in its control. Mario feels like he can move wherever you want him to go. His limits are not set by the game, but by your own limitations as a gamer.

That game set such a high standard that Super Mario Sunshine, unfortunately, did not entirely meet. However, that doesn’t mean that this game isn’t fun.

Super Mario Sunshine is an absolute jam. The same feeling of control from Super Mario 64 is still present here. Also, this time Mario has a water hose/water-powered jetpack called FLUDD. This tool gives Mario a whole new dimension to how he can maneuver through the world.

You might be thinking, “Okay, so why isn’t this game as good as Super Mario 64?” Its shortcoming lies in its level designs. When you think of Mario 64, your mind jumps to Bomb-Omb Battlefield, Shifting Sands Land, or Wet-Dry World. Mario Sunshine just doesn’t have the same memorable worlds.

Mario Sunshine is a great game, but it is far from being a legend.

5. Metroid Prime

Nobody thought this game was going to work out as well as it did.

While Link and Mario had 3D incarnations on the Nintendo 64, our favorite bounty-hunting baddie Samus did not get a game. Our thought process was that we couldn’t get a Metroid game was because a 3D Metroid game wasn’t possible. Thank God we were wrong.

Metroid Prime didn’t have the online multiplayer of the Halo franchise, but it had the best alien-hunting campaign of its time. The labyrinth of the original Metroid games is back in a 3D environment that translated so well to the GameCube.

You get to use Samus’s power-ups like the Morph Ball and Grapple Beam to navigate the 3D environment. Eventually, you get to take down some of the most challenging bosses in video game history.

4. Resident Evil 4

The video game era of the early 2000s was defined by graphics.

Nobody thought that the GameCube had the same graphics capabilities of the Xbox or the PS2. People thought GameCube games had such cartoonish graphics because they couldn’t make characters look realistic. Resident Evil 4 was the game that shut them all up.

Resident Evil 4 is about an agent named Leon who is sent into essentially a cultist’s dystopia where he needs to find and rescue the president’s daughter. While there, Leon encounters humans infected with a parasite that takes over their mind and makes them stronger.

Throughout the game, the bosses get harder as your arsenal of guns gets larger. The game isn’t about bringing the biggest, baddest gun to the fight, but bringing the right equipment for the job. Plug in this game, and you’re in for arguably the best Resident Evil game in the entire franchise.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

After the success of Ocarina of Time and Majora Mask, fans of the Zelda franchise were expecting another fantastic title just as dark as its predecessors. We were also expecting more realistic graphics. What we got wasn’t exactly dark:

So many fans wrote off “The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker” based on the graphics alone. Those fans missed out on an incredible game.

Wind Waker has some of the best sword-fighting mechanics in any video game. Link moves around like a Jedi, parrying blows while flipping through the air.

The story is also great. Link is on a journey to rescue his sister who was kidnapped by a giant albatross. From there, he gets roped into a mission by a talking boat to defeat the evil Ganondorf while unlocking secrets from Hyrule’s past.

Along the way, you meet a colorful cast of characters while you sail the high seas in one of the best adventures in the series.

2. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess feels like the Zelda game fans wanted for the GameCube. The game is dark and abysmal. Everywhere you go, you encounter characters who just seem to have zero joy left in them. However, once you get to know them, they inspire you, even more, to conquer evil and save the land of Hyrule.

Also, we finally got the graphics we wanted:

Speaking of characters, Twilight Princess introduced us to Midna who is, without a doubt, the best companion to journey alongside Link in any Zelda game. Midna is charismatic, sassy, and, most importantly, flawed. Throughout the game, we see the chinks in her armor as she lets her guard down more and more to the player. By the end, you care about her making it out alive more than Link.

The game was released as a launch title for the Nintendo Wii as well as one of the final titles for the GameCube. Although the game is pretty fun on the Wii, the GameCube was the console that not only deserved it but made it a legend.

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee

The more we thought about it, the more we realized that there simply is not another GameCube game worth of this spot.

Super Smash Bros Melee is not only the best Smash Bros. game and the best GameCube game, but it’s quite possibly the best platforming fighting game ever created.

Three Super Smash Bros. games have been released since Melee, and yet this is the one you still see at tournaments.

The fighting is fast-paced and fluid in a way that Nintendo hasn’t been able to capture since. When you plug this in, hours fly by without you noticing.

Melee showed truly what the GameCube could be. It showed that it could have you and three friends huddle on a cramped couch that smelled like Cheetos and stale Dr. Pepper, and you’d be fine with it.

Wrapping up

Yeah, Pikmin didn’t make the list. We’re sorry, there just wasn’t enough room. What games do you think should have made the list? Let us know in the comments below? As for us, we have to go 1v1 Fox only on Final Destination.

‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ trailer is so horrifying that Sonic is being redesigned

Grab a crucifix and a barf bag: the “Sonic the Hedgehog” trailer is here.

This trailer makes the Super Mario Bros. movie look like “Citizen Kane:”

Paramount Pictures released the trailer for the upcoming live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie, which is set to come out in November. We have consulted several religious texts, and although this is not technically a sign of the apocalypse, we recommend you stay on guard.

So bad it’s being redesigned

The film is being directed by Jeff Fowler. Fowler only has a single other directing credit to his name on IMDb, an animated short about a gopher stealing produce.

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After the trailer dropped and the viewers vomited on their screens, Fowler took to Twitter to give us some hope.

Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design & you want changes. It’s going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be… #sonicmovie #gottafixfast ?✌️

— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 2, 2019

That’s right, Sonic is being redesigned.

Sonic looks bad, but the trailer has other issues which we will talk about below. At this point, we’re not sure if we want a better-looking Sonic or for the project to be scrapped altogether.

The trailer itself

The trailer gives us our first official look at the live-action blue hedgehog. He’s blue, he has spiky hair, and he has red shoes just like Sonic does in the video games. However, he is also uncomfortably lanky, and looks like what you’d get if a Furby mated with an alien from “Avatar.”

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The trailer is set to “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio. The song does not fit at all and just makes the trailer all the more awkward. It’s like playing “Mambo No. 5” at your grandma’s funeral. Think back to past Sonic titles like “Sonic Adventure 2 Battle” and “Sonic Heroes.” The songs that pop out are all high energy songs like “City Escape.” Basically, if you’re going to put a rap song in a Sonic trailer, it’d better be “Pumpkin Hill.”

The film stars James Marsden as a cop named Tom Wachowski. Wachowski stumbles across Sonic, and together they team up to stop Dr. Robotnik played by Jim Carrey. Sonic is voiced by Ben Schwartz. You might remember him as Jean-Ralphio from “Parks and Recreation.” How would Jean-Ralphio describe this trailer?

The trailer ends with our first look at Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. Viewers in the comments section seem to agree that his performance looks like the only redeeming quality.

Carrey doesn’t have the same portly physique we expect of Dr. Robotnik, but he does have some of the same quirky mannerisms. He is very full of himself and hellbent on thwarting the dastardly hedgehog.

In summary

To put it bluntly, you can skip this movie. Carrey might get a laugh or two, but if the trailer is anything like the movie, the tone looks completely off. You have better ways to spend your time than seeing “Sonic.” Go outside, read a book, or play an old, classic Sonic game. Heck, take a page from Sonic’s book and go for a run. Above all else, avoid this film at all costs.

5 worst video game movies of all time

Video games and movies have rarely every mixed, but what are the worst of the worst?

If that trailer for “Sonic the Hedgehog” proved anything, it’s that video games should not be adapted into movies.

Throughout the ages, only a handful have been decent. The Tomb Raider movies have their moments, and the first Mortal Kombat film was awesome.

However, for every good one we got, we had a dozen stinkers. For this list, we decided to give you the worst of the worst. In order to qualify, the movie has to be based on the game and not a different interpretation. For example, the animated Pokémon movies are based on the anime, not the game.

Is there any hope?

Even though the Sonic movie looks awful, we have our hopes up for “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.”

That movie looks like it might have decent CGI, a fun story, and hilarious acting from Ryan Reynolds.

Did we miss any other disasters? Let us know in the comments below!

5 best winter levels in games

Stay cool with these classic winter levels.

There’s no better way to wrap up the holidays than by revisiting gaming’s best winter levels (there are probably better ways, but let’s forget about those for now). Many games over the years have tried to capture the spirit of the holiday season, but these five games showed the greatest holiday cheer.

5 best winter levels in video game history

5. Cool Cool Mountain – Super Mario 64

So cool, it had to be said twice, Super Mario 64’s Cool Cool Mountain was the first time gamers got to see a well-done winter level in 3-D. This iconic winter romp has Mario fighting snowmen and searching the mountain for lost penguin babies. The challenge that most gamers probably remember is the intense slide race against the giant mama penguin. You can slide into a certain spot on the wall to skip half the course, but the penguin will see through your treacherous ways and scold you for cheating. In retaliation, you can hurl her precious baby off of a cliff.

You can listen to Cool Cool Mountain’s iconic music below, but it’s not quite the same without the ear-piercing shrieking of the baby penguins.

4. Ice Cap Zone – Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Many fans consider Sonic 3 to be the best in the trilogy (yes, trilogy. There never was a Sonic 4). The game expands upon the fast-paced, momentum-based platforming of previous entries by adding plenty of power-ups and more complex, explorable levels. Ice Cap Zone is a particular standout. The level ramps up the attitude right away by putting Sonic on a snowboard.

Back in the ’90s, Sonic’s cocky attitude let him stand out against other video game mascots and putting him on something as tubular as a snowboard solidified him as the coolest of the cool. Sure you’re forced to crash the snowboard pretty quickly, but it’s still pretty awesome. Oh, and we need to discuss the music:

The game’s soundtrack had input from none other than Michael Jackson. For the Ice Cap Zone, in particular, Jackson brought in Brad Buxer, keyboardist of The Jetzons. While some have said that Ice Cap Zone contains interpolations/samples of MJ’s Smooth Criminal, there is no doubt that the song is a repackaging of The Jetzons song “Hard Times”.

“Hard Times” didn’t actually get a formal release until 2008 as part of a Jetzons compilation record. Both versions of the song sound amazing, and Sonic’s connection to Michael Jackson is definitely one of the more mysterious pieces of gaming trivia.

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3. Snow Barrel Blast – Donkey Kong Country

This list entry is a little bit different, as I don’t actually like this level at all. In fact, I despise Snow Barrel Blast with every fiber of my being, and now I finally have a chance to talk about it. The slippery ground and the barely-controllable barrel cannons were the bane of my existence when I was 8 years old, and it still took me like 20 tries to beat this level as a grown-ass man.

The Donkey Kong Country games are amazing, but they are filled with absolutely brutal levels. Even among all the other BS levels, Snow Barrel Blast stands out as a Herculean test of patience and rage control. There is nothing more soul-crushing than seeing your helpless Kong fly into the freezing abyss because you missed one barrel cannon shot out of 25109837. I wish I could meet the designer of this level so I could rip their cold, black heart out of their chest with my bare hands.

Music’s pretty great though.

2. Your Town – Animal Crossing

This entry may not technically be an actual level, but the Animal Crossing games handle winter so well there’s no way I could leave them off the list. The Animal Crossing games run in real time, so the in-game seasons reflect the real-life ones. Various festive items pop up around your town in winter. Pine trees suddenly become covered in Christmas lights. Snowmen heads appear, requiring you to roll them an appropriate body. Villagers build igloos where they host cozy minigames and cook delicious chowder.

The whole winter season culminates in Toy Day, a non-denominational winter celebration that features a reindeer named Jingle dressed as Santa. In New Leaf, Jingle lets the player dress as Santa and deliver the presents directly to their neighbors, giving them the perfect way to spread holiday cheer.

The chowder song soothes my soul and it’ll probably soothe yours too.

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1. Freezeezy Peak – Banjo-Kazooie

The best winter level of the 64-bit era, Freezeezy Peak is a masterpiece of theming and level design. The level features a friendly giant snowman that you can climb and slide down, in addition to several very unfriendly snowmen who chuck snowballs at you with unflinching accuracy. Seriously, those snowy bastards could hit a gnat’s eye three miles away while blindfolded, and it doesn’t help that you constantly hear their evil laughter echoing throughout the level.

In addition to snowmen, the level also features defenseless talking Christmas lights, sliding walruses, and sledding polar bears. The level absolutely nails the Christmas atmosphere, which is really impressive considering the limitations of early 3-D game design. As with most levels in Banjo-Kazooie, the level feels more like a lived-in world than a 3-D playground, giving the game plenty of character. Freezeezy Peak is gaming’s standout winter level even with all of those hellish snowmen.

Plus, the music sounds like something out of a stop-motion Christmas classic.

Any festive levels we missed? Let us know!

5 weirdest product placements in games

Uh, what’s that thing doing in your video game?

Any economist can tell you that video games are a goldmine. High profile games like Grand Theft Auto V have generated more revenue than any movie that’s ever released. Naturally, advertisers want in on the action. Just like in movies, the logic is that if a product is featured in a popular game, people are more likely to buy it. Product placement must be used carefully, however, as it can easily stick out like a sore thumb and turn people off from both the game and the product. Whether they worked or not, here are the five weirdest product placements that have ever been featured in a video game.

5 weirdest product placements in games

5. Mercedes-Benz in Mario Kart 8

Mayonnaise-colored Benz I push Miracle Whips!

Seeing Mario and friends hurling bananas and Koopa shells at each other out of a Benz will never not be hilarious. It’s so jarring that it actually works. It’s common for car companies to license their vehicles for racing games, but usually, it’s for realistic racers like Forza, not kart racers. Funnily enough, some car brands like Toyota don’t allow their cars to be featured in video games at all, because they fear that their brand would become devalued. Then, a luxury brand like Mercedes hops straight into the Mushroom Kingdom. You can’t exactly blame Mercedes-Benz for wanting their cars featured in the most popular racing game in the world, even if that game is cartoon chaos. Plus, the crossover gave us this amazing commercial:

These 10 NES cartridges are worth a fortune

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4. Everquest II and Pizza Hut

Since the dawn of time MMO players and pizza deliveries have had a symbiotic relationship: one cannot exist without the other. Realizing this, Pizza Hut teamed up with popular MMO Everquest II to allow players to order pizza in-game. If you’re hours into a raid and IRL starvation is preventing you from getting your hard-earned loot, simply type “/pizza” into the all chat to get a pizza at your door within minutes. While many people mock MMO players for their fast food addictions, you have to hand it to Pizza Hut for this stroke of marketing genius.

Finally, a pizza delivery service for me!

3. Burnout Paradise and Barack Obama

Back in 2008, then president-elect Barack Obama was noted for using the internet to advertise his campaign. He took it a step further and bought advertising space in the racer Burnout Paradise. Burnout Paradise is famous for its massive open world that spans multiple American states. Billboards for Obama appeared in-game in Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Colorado, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wisconsin, states that had voted Republican in the last election cycle. It’s unknown how well this campaign strategy worked, but look forward to seeing Trump’s face plastered all over the next GTA come 2020.

2. Sonic Adventure 2 and Soap Shoes

Sonic’s iconic buckle shoes vs. his TUBULAR Soap shoes

Sonic fans may have noticed that in Sonic Adventure 2 the titular blue hedgehog wears brand-new shoes. The new shoes are Soap shoes, which is actually a real brand of extreme sporting shoes. The shoes had a hard plastic indent on the bottom that allowed wearers to “grind” on rails, like so:

I will give you $50 if you can find a more early-2000’s picture than this one

As if Sonic wasn’t radical enough already, Sega teamed up with Soap to let the blue blur grind rails. I didn’t know anyone who wore Soap shoes back then, but I can only assume that attempts to grind rails with them led to countless injuries. Remember kids, just because Sonic can grind on rails and run through loops doesn’t mean you can.

Note: The final product placement truly needs to be seen to be believed. I truly believe, deep within the recesses of my heart, that no one will ever top how absolutely baffling this next product placement is.

1. Skittles and Darkened Skye

Look at the above screenshot, what do you see? At first glance, it may just look like another mid-2000’s fantasy game. But if you look in the bottom left corner, something looks extremely out of place. That something is a Skittle.

Back in 2002, publisher Simon & Shuster wanted to make video games based on Mars candy, like M&M’s and Skittles. After securing the rights to use the candies, S&S quickly got their developers at work creating the candy based games. The developers of Darkened Skye initially refused to make a Skittles-based game, but eventually agreed to make it on the condition that it would be a humorous fantasy game.

In Darkened Skye, the player uses different magic based on differently colored Skittles. It’s clear that the developers knew that making a high-fantasy Skittles game was incredibly stupid. as the characters in-game constantly use self-deprecating humor. The most hilarious part is that Skittles do not appear at all on the game’s box art, which instead appears as a normal fantasy game. I can only imagine the poor kid who bought the game expecting an epic fantasy adventure only to find themselves using the magical power of Skittles™ candy!

Do you think these ads actually worked? Any weird crossovers we missed? Let us know!

There is just over a year left until we can see it

The turtles return to the cinema

Will ‘Sonic’ be a blue, blurry disaster?

A look back at 1993’s Super Mario Bros movie

What will the audience think?

Top 10 GameCube games

10. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

9. Soul Calibur 2

8. Mario Kart: Double Dash

7. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle

6. Super Mario Sunshine

5. Metroid Prime

4. Resident Evil 4

3. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

2. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee

Wrapping up

So bad it’s being redesigned

The trailer itself

In summary

Top 5 worst video game movies

5. Warcraft

4. Double Dragon

3. Doom

2. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

Is there any hope?

5 best winter levels in video game history

5. Cool Cool Mountain – Super Mario 64

4. Ice Cap Zone – Sonic the Hedgehog 3

3. Snow Barrel Blast – Donkey Kong Country

2. Your Town – Animal Crossing

1. Freezeezy Peak – Banjo-Kazooie

5 weirdest product placements in games

5. Mercedes-Benz in Mario Kart 8

4. Everquest II and Pizza Hut

3. Burnout Paradise and Barack Obama

2. Sonic Adventure 2 and Soap Shoes

1. Skittles and Darkened Skye