Thanks to the lovely Dreadknux and TSS staff, I have had a copy of the album for perusal and I thought I’d do a personal review of the album for EC.

The album itself boasts 45 tracks of which some are original as well as remixes of songs throughout the “generations” as it were of Sonic’s history. We’re talking about games that span throughout the “Classic” era on the Mega Drive/Genesis to the “Dreamcast” era to the “Modern” era, as well as take useage from some handheld titles and throwing a bit of a Generation-esque spin on some titles, like the track below from FreenInGreen:

For an album that comprises over 4 discs worth of music, it’s a spectacular piece of work, and an amazing piece of community interaction.

That’s not to say it’s all gold though. While it is ALOT of music provided by the community, there are some low points within the album, things that just don’t seem right. But I think it’s fair to say that the good on the album far outweighs the bad, and don’t get me wrong, there is ALOT of good on this 4 discs worth of awesome. Like the track below from Plumegeist:

For the nostalgia fan in you, it’s really good to listen to the album without the song titles showing and then realising what certain tracks are from which games. You get that warm feeling when you hear that familiar tune without watching the title for the track.

You can download the album for free by following this link.

Today, i’ll be bringing you another bit of musical flair by You Tube user Vernian Process. The video’s in general, are, as the title of this post may have given away, suitably titled Sonic Symphony.

As you can see, it’s a medley of Sonic tracks from a specific Classic Era styled game using an orchestral only piece. So far, there are 5 videos on the subject matter, all echoing the Classic Era nicely. they comprise of Sonic 1, as you can see above, but also Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic and Knuckles and Sonic CD.

If you like what you’re listening to, the creator of said pieces has offered them all up for download in one free easy zip file for you to access and listen to.

For those of you, who don’t check out her not one, but two fantastic galleries, then you may have missed these two stunning pieces done back in the day. Which you can check out, after the jump.

The first is subtitled Super Sonic Generations, which is a fantastic bit of art done before the release of Sonic Generations:

Co-incidently, if you were interested in owning this piece, you can check out and purchase one by following this link.

The second is the aptly named Star Studded Sonics, which, you’ll be able to see by just checking the image below:

With this piece, Feniiku also held a colouring competition, which, has closed by now, but you can still check out the winners and their take on her art piece, by following this link.

There are a lot of medleys out there, but I’m a sucker for a good guitar medley, and thusly I bring you this one. By YouTube user ferdk16, it doesn’t really hit a note wrong, and is really enjoyable to listen too.

If you want to see more of ferdk16′s work, and I do recommend you do, if you like your guitar versions of classic VG tracks, you can visit his channel by clicking the link.

As you can see, it’s a very strong image, showing an image which will remind readers of the Running Wild arc, which as people who attended Summer of Sonic (or watched on the stream), will know about a small portion of that comic made into a motion comic:

If you want to see more of SuB0rD1n4nc3-W0rK5’ work, and I suggest checking out his piece entitled GHZ FIZZ, you can click the link.

More recently, we’ve seen the re-release of Sonic CD onto most digital platforms, but it did not include the Vocal versions of You Can Do Anything or Cosmic Eternity – Believe In Yourself, and even more recently then that, it was mentioned on my Twitter feed, that there isn’t really a “full” version of You Can Do Anything. Well, YouTube user n00neimp0rtant, more noticed for his Sonic Blast piece, had created this extended, remix version back in 2008.

If you want to see more of n00neimp0rtant’s work, where you can also see his Sonic Blast 2 piece, you can click the link.

The Artist Alley will be focussing on some of those pieces of fan art and musical genius, that unless you look for it, you’ll very rarely see it.

Today’s piece is a piece called “Back to Basics”, if you follow me on Twitter, you would of seen me link this over the holiday period, and it was met by such a following, I thought I would place it on here, for a wider audience.

It’s a very Genesis era piece, and one, that I’m sure a lot of the nostalgia hogs will enjoy. the lighting effects, as well as it’s very basic premise, make it an amazing piece to behold.

If you want to see more of Default-Deviant’s work, and I STRONGLY suggest checking out his piece entitled Blue Spheres, you can click the link.

2011 was a big year for Sonic, his 20th actually, and SEGA didn’t miss a trick with this, proceeding to drown us all in merch (seriously stop my bank keeps calling to complain). We had not one but two official conventions Sonic Boom (USA) and The Summer of Sonic (UK) both of which were a huge success (although I can only speak for one). Oh and of course let’s not forget the games, Sonic Generations hit the mark nicely, we also got another Mario and Sonic which I suppose will keep the kids happy, and the Sonic CD re-release for everything (and I do mean everything).

So overall a very good year on the Sonic front. On a more personal note 2011 was a very busy year for me, I moved home, job and had various ‘issues’ thrown my way over the course of the year, oh and I came down with a serious case of My Little Pony Fanboyism (I’m still trying to get better from that… one day at a time) so I can safely say 2011 has been far from boring.

All through this though there’s been Emerald Coast, while yes I haven’t kept it the most up to date at times I do keep coming back to it. I’d also like to take a moment to thank Nemain, Titans Creed, and Angry Fox for being such great staff and continuing to contribute content to the site, I don’t know what I’d do without you guys!

Looking forward to 2012, I could make a load of promises with what I have lined up for you but I’ve learned the second I make these promises they become almost impossible to deliver, so all I’ll say is I have ideas and work/mind permitting I will hopefully be able to put a few of them out there for all to see this year.

Happy New Year!

The first London Gaming Con takes place next weekend (3rd – 4th December) and it promises to be an event to remember, not just for gaming fans but Sonic fans especially. With bands, parties and guests in addition to tournaments galore there will be plenty to do.

What’s even better is on the Sunday it’s party time for Sonic as his 20th birthday is celebrated until the early hours of the morning, including the highlights:

- Sonic Blindfolded (All day)
- The Team Sonic v Mario Showdown! (Afternoon)
- Sonic v Mario Cosplay Contest! (Afternoon)
- Sonic Pub Quiz (Afternoon)
- Zonic Live-Singing (Afternoon)
- Sonic Evening Party with SonicStadium (7pm to 10pm)
- Club SEGA Party bought to you by RadioSEGA (10pm to midnight)
- Sonic Generations Speed-Run Contests (All day)
- Sonic 2 MD Speed-Run Contest (All day)
- Possible Sonic-Screenings (Fingers crossed!)
- More to come as we get it confirmed. Stay tuned!

So yeah looks like a pretty good set-up, if you can get yourself to London I’d say it’s worth going to, click here for more information.