The GHZ Forum

Randomly I discovered that not only is the Sonic OVA out of print (unsurprising) but it's also rare, or at least in demand enough to command ridiculous prices. With prices starting at nearly $50 for a library copy(!) you'd think it was 1998 and we were talking about the 2-part Japanese VHS release. (Did it even come out on DVD there, I wonder?)

I wonder if it's time for Funimation or someone to rescue it? Maybe Sega themselves should put it on iTunes? Do they even care? (No, of course not!)

O_o Geez, maybe I SHOULDN'T get rid of my VHS copy then...

damn. I wish I bought that a couple years back. I was going to get it if I could find a copy with the japanese voices instead of the dub (I'm not one of those I don't watch dubbed anime snob types, but man, the english voices in that ova were pretty bad).

Hopefully it comes out on netflix.

All the DVD releases have Japanese language, btw (and of course the horrible dub).

I'm rich!!

e: wait, no I'm not! I gave it to a charity shop three months ago. I guess the charity's rich now.

Well, at least Sonic's was released internationally. Mario's OVA never left Japan or the VHS format! It's a damn shame too, considering how early in these series' inception these were; nothing yet was crystallized (read: stagnated), you get these weird one-off characters like Sara and Prince Haru (the latter spends the majority of the film as a Eugene the Jeep-like dog). Mario's OVA even originated flying ships and swinging Bowser (who was voiced by a woman!) by the tail.

Also, Mega Man's was a travelogue of Japan. (it's expensive, too)

I guess the historical importance of these are lost on everyone but us, and they just assume we already own them (I don't ).

MegaMan's was even more interesting because the first episode of that one even used the ENGLISH names and logo--the other two eps. went back to the Japanese names, but it's pretty good evidence that at least part of it was SUPPOSED to be localized.

...unless it was and I just don't know it yet...

G.Silver wrote:All the DVD releases have Japanese language, btw (and of course the horrible dub).

Are you sure? I remember when I was a kid and netflix just came out, I rented it on DVD when the movie just came out as well and I'm pretty sure it did not have japanese voices. I remember looking for a long time but could not find it at all.

Weird! I wonder if they made a special version for rentals? The versions you can buy on Amazon (if you're feeling fiscally irresponsible, that is) all have a subtitle option.

I sold my DVD of it on eBay for $13.

Son of a..

cjmcray wrote:I sold my DVD of it on eBay for $13.

Son of a..

Just bought it on ebay for $13.

The DVD was re-released around the time of Sonic Heroes. I remember hearing at the time that it was a dub only version, which is pretty damn strange - you'd think they'd have just reprinted the original disc.

Sonic Heroes is nearly 10 years old. Fuck me. I remember when Sonic 1 was 10.

Also, so sez Wikipedia: "In 2004, Sonic Heroes was the sixth bestselling game in the United Kingdom overall." ??????

Popcorn wrote: Also, so sez Wikipedia: "In 2004, Sonic Heroes was the sixth bestselling game in the United Kingdom overall." ??????

To be fair, Sonic Heroes was more or less the starting point for when Sonic games really started to suck. I mean, Sonic Adventure 2 was a pretty decent game. How could the next possibly blow?

Also, I remember liking Sonic Heroes. My teenage self was a moron.

I remember sorrrta liking heroes when it came out. I seem to remember thinking the levels felt very sparse looking/unfinished and that the bosses were lame. I wasn't bothered at all at the incessant chatter between teammates like I am now though.

This probably isn't a discussion that should get started again but for me SA2 is the absolute point where the series went to pot. What should have been a simple tightening of SA1 turned into an even clunkier, less ambitious, melodramatic and unfocused experience that has spawned legions of fans with terrible taste. It didn't even share the same gameplay engine of the first game at all. Much less the spirit.

The chao garden was better though!

Radrappy wrote:The chao garden was better though!

But the Chao garden music wasn't as good.

true, true.

Did anybody else like the music in sonic heroes? I thought overall I liked the level music in Sonic Heroes more than SA2 (probably mostly because the music in SA2 reflected the characters and not the level) but SA1 is by far the best music out of all the games in that generation.

Also back on subject, in the Sonic OVA the music that plays when sonic fights metal sonic for the second time on the ice area was hype.

I think the OVA has a pretty great soundtrack all the way through, definitely part of what makes it so enjoyable.

The OVA is pretty decent once you've immediately thrown the English dub into the trash.

I do wish some of the animation was a little more hard-edged like the animated sequences found in CD.

The only thing I still clearly remember from the OVA was that amazing music in the beginning before Sonic and Tails on the beach. So it was a great nostalgia hit to hear that tune in a cutscene in Sonic Before The Sequel, and then this f'ing amazing track in ATS.

On this planet, riding my bike
I notice, I notice,

I like the OVA! It has a great setting. Flying continents, connected loosely by ribbons of glaciers, hovering over the ruins of a post-apocalyptic earth. It's so... pointlessly evocative.