Also kind of weird that despite being advertised heavily, Shadow has the least amount of stages in spite of having arguably the most impact on the story.
I think and I could be wrong about this, but I think he wasn't originally planned to be playable; only sonic, knuckles and eggman were. Which also explains why those three have the most stages and power ups compared to their counterparts because they were worked on first.
@@RiiViiMedia2424 He was teased as a new foe for Sonic, but only Sonic, Eggman and Knuckles were planned to be playable originally. The other 3 got added in later. You can see Sonic going through Sky Rail in early trailers, which also explains why it's the only Shadow stage to not fit his particular style of music.
I know I'm late but this has been bugging me for weeks; 'Boku' is misinterpreted in the video, which is a shame because the way Shadow refers to himself already reveals a lot about him. So here's clarification of Shadow's use of the word for anyone interested: Besides the formal and gender-neutral 'watashi' (which is used by women more outside of formal context) the two most common masculine ways to refer to oneself are 'ore' and 'boku'. They're both casual, but 'ore' is somewhat crude and associated with the tough guy type--I can see a character like Knuckles using it. 'Boku' is more youthful and boyish, fitting a character like Tails. This is probably why Shadow's use of 'boku' is more popular with women, who most likely find it endearing as it characterizes a sort of innocence and contrasts with his appearances (compared to 'ore', which you'd typically expect someone like Shadow to use and is probably why the team was divided on this), hence the developer justifying his choice by saying Shadow 'is a very subtle and pure character'. I personally find it cute; it nudges him away from the edgelord role, if only by a bit. I don't mean to criticize such an impressively well-researched video, I just like the character as much as most here do and hate to see an interesting tidbit like that lost due to mistranslation! Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for the in-depth clarification. I don’t speak Japanese myself so I was basing it off of google definitions and their wonderful inaccuracies. You’re not criticizing at all! I’d rather be told so in the future I don’t make the same mistakes :)) Thanks again and glad to hear you enjoyed the video!
IMO Shadow and Rouge have the most complex and fascinating relationship in the whole franchise, how they were forced to work together in the beginning even though they hated each other and from there kept teaming up only out of convenience which grew into a genuine friendship. Its like they try to act like theyre just business partners but secretly care for each other. And its also funny how rouge is so flirtatious with all the boys in the franchise and messes with them but not with shadow
The cool thing about Beta Rouge's design is the concept that her wings were on her arms similar to irl bats than on her back like how you see in her final design.
That would've been really interesting to see if they went with that design and how it would've looked in the final product with the wings on the arms! Thanks for watching :)
Hey thank you! I thought it would be cool delving more into this kinda stuff than more of a typical review style because at this point what more is there really to say about SA1,2 etc ya know?
the name “Nails” was definitely meant to be a mirror of Knuckles’ name since they share the same play style, considering the fact that both names are hand accessories that they use to dig with
A shadow knuckles would be an interesting concept for sure. Thanks for watching!! Also, I checked out your channel and your animations are gorgeous keep up the great work!!
If there's ever a Knuckles Chaotix 2, my one of my ideas for the story are that the Chaotix track down evil counterparts from Knuckles and a few other characters. Since Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, and many others are busy, they get help from Knuckles. As well Mighty will come back to the team, and they will get the help from Ray. Together they fight against the "Shadow" Knuckles and other "Shadowfied" versions of other characters. My other idea were the Team Chaotix, Mighty, and Knuckles working together to defeat the Team Hooligan, a band of criminals in Mobius.
The more I learn about Shiero Maekawa the more I like him. He's stated once that he'd be interested in writing for Sonic again, but they just aren't interested. A lot of the reason why he was bogged down over time had to do with Sonic 06, sense the game reached poor perception they decided it was the writers and artists fault (the people that were being overworked to finish the game), rather than. The people who rushed the game. so pretty much all the artists were let go or moved to lower and lower positions until they were forced to quit. Not many have spoken publicly about that but if you follow it and look into it, that definitely seems to be the case.
I'd love to see Maekawa return for the upcoming sonic games, while I don't think its realistic I'd love to see it happen. It's ashame as if it was released as Sonic 2007 and another run through/edit of the story happened, he would probably still be here today and 06 would have a whole different opinion on it. Thanks for watching and hope you enjoyed!
Not exactly Shadow's final design, but the actual cut scenes Shadow model, with unkempt quills and folded ears (yes, in cut scenes his ear tips bend forward) as well as his healthy look suggest that he is a character that went through a lot in a short amount of time.
The "servant" part of boku is interesting. Thinking about it from the perspective of how he first presents himself to Eggman. He says that he will grant him 1 wish, like a genie freed from a bottle. However, like with a genie in a proverb, you should be careful what you wish for, even if you think the genie is serving you.
My own personal theory that I've had for a while was that Maekawa probably only knew shadow conceptually as a darker sonic and only saw the prototype designs when writing him. With this idea in mind it would make sense why Sonic gets confused with Shadow and arrested. And when looking at the story boards this idea sorta adds up seeing as he's drawn as a darker Sonic (or this is just me looking too deep into things)
Excellent point that would make alot of sense! It would be a classic SEGA move to give the guy only the concept without any word on the actual design lol. He did a great job... and awesome analysis of the situation there!
I may be wrong about this but I've heard that in the Japanese version of SA2 the GUN agency actually knows it's Shadow but tries to frame Sonic in order to hide Shadow and the old events of the space colony from the public
@@nikolaradulovic5283 That's interesting, have to listen to the transcribed Japanese dialogue to get a better context, nonetheless a good thing to consider.
@@nikolaradulovic5283 I never heard that as "in the Japanese version." I've heard that particular explanation of the events, yes, but *I always heard everyone say it was a fan-theory/headcanon.* Then again, I don't speak Japanese, and I've never looked up fan translations of the game's actual Japanese dialogue before either.
Great video dude! some of the OG shadow designed were super wild - it kind of makes sense how the military would've mistaken him for sonic... less so with his final design.
Hey thank you so much I really appreciate it! Shadow's OG designs are crazy! I wonder how they would've translated to 3D though as shadows final was a pretty accurate translation in my opinion
thank you for being one of the few Sonic youtubers who don't talk about Sonic games other then the game your reviewing/talking about, its always so jarring to see someone talk crap about 06/about how Sonic sucks now/how bad Sonic boom is/how SA1 and SA2 have not age well/how Sonic was never good in a video thats not about these games.
SA2 is imo the objective best sonic game (tho 06 is my personal :0), and I think the design, story, and music of this game are fantastic! I feel that tails' and knuckles' (and their counterparts') gameplay style help add the exploration and methodical traditional platforming to the game which are missing from sonic's stages. They are just as fun as sonic's levels imo. A lot of people don't like them, and I didn't the first time around, but every subsequent playthrough they get better and better (and I've played it about 20 times at this point XD). I really hope sega can truly embrace this iteration of sonic and build upon it in the future! I would like to see less linear stages ala Sonic adventure 1 return at the very least.
Yeah I was in the same boat as I am currently 100%ing SA2 right now and on first runs on the story missions the mechs can feel somewhat clunky but as you start using them more and see the idiosyncrasies of it, its incredibly smooth and responsive. I was INCREDIBLY impressed by Eggman's stages, theyre so fun! I was in the camp that SA1 knuckles stages were better but now actually playing both sides there's absolutely no contest as I am in LOVE with Rouge stages..
It's weird to think of Shadow as a "boku" character, he feels more like an "ore" one. The ore pronoun is often used by tough independent males who exert confidence, but boku actually makes sense for him given his relationship with Maria and willingness to cooperate with others.
It's an interesting thing to think about. Shadow comes across as an "ore" character at face value and to many people, they can only see him as an "ore" character (like the Colors/Boom era writers) when they're missing all the nuance that comes from him actually being a "boku" character. People seem to confuse his introverted personality for him being a loner with no regard for anyone else, when he has always worked best in a team and genuinely values the people he builds relationships with. The Shadow in the colors era is not the same Shadow who would almost destroy the world for his best friend and end up saving it for the same person. He's not an arrogant, self-absorbed narcissist who thinks he's the greatest being to ever live. The guy goes as far as to put Sonic above him in the finale of SA2 and goes as far as to stand strong with his friends rather than turn on them when he finds out they'd turn on him in the future in Sonic 06. Sorry for going on a tanget, the whole "boku" vs "ore" thing really gave me a new and perfect analogy to help explain Shadow's true character which I really enjoyed elaborating on.
Looking at concept arts is cool . I think shadow with a missing eye would be cooler . And it's great that Tails was in the game because he was a real hero there
@@icarue993 Its kind of sad that most times the writers are making shadow really seem edgy when he isnt supposed to be "edgy" at all. :/ Edit: nvm I think the scar is fine but I'm good with how shadow looks lmao.
My headcanon: Shadow has a scar- _his fur just grows over it so you can't see it!_ X^D Serious response though: If you like scars, have you tried looking for pictures of Scourge The Hedgehog from the Archie comics? It's a chest wound instead of a face wound though...
Someone posted the Nails the Bat artwork on Facebook a while ago. I developed from it this whole backstory about how she was an Alabama gal who dreamed of making it big in Nashville. And I want to see this developed in some form!!
I know right?!? That’s also interesting as I could totally see the old Rouge design being inspiration for the girl in Daigasso Band Brothers...good catch on that!
@@hugoflores1093 no actually, he can be a great director, but since things he did shows that he is incompetent. Look at Splash Dashes video on sonic boom.
dear people saying shadow shouldnt use guns or know how to operate vehicles hes a military weapon/unit what compitent military doesnt allow its units to use guns
modern knuckles confirmed to be able to go super in sonic chronicles it was stated in the thingy about the chaos emeralds
Reading all the comments on this video and seeing everyone respect Shadow and the Story writer of SA2 is giving me a happy, yet melancholy feeling. •́ ‿ ,•̀
It certainly would be an interesting take on his design! His Boom design just looks weird to me for some reason although I do like everyone else's designs even Sonics lol
@@Eldarin And yet he'd still be just some grouchy jerk in that universe! I learned to tolerate Shadow in the main universe, but Boom Shadow is just a huge jerk because he wants to be.
Great video, never knew Shadow and Rouge had such a complicated history! Nails the Bat would've been a hilarious name for her, but seeing how her design eventually turned out, it might've been for the better that they changed it to avoid people making inappropiate "nail" jokes...
I'm glad I actually watched the whole video before commenting, as I was almost going to mention the idea of only half of the playable characters being playable at first only to hear you say thay same thing. What I do want to mention is that most of your audio of the game seems to be in mono for some reason; I find it really distracting while wearing headphones, but it’s not a big deal, and this video is otherwise great. EDIT: What I find interesting about the design for Shadow shown at 3:29 is that it's clearly based off Metal Sonic, which makes me wonder if Shadow's backstory was different at some point; maybe he was meant to be a new, improved model of Metal Sonic, a la Neo Metal Sonic from Heroes, or even the basis of Metal. Either way, if this is true, it's possible that was the original version of that design, and the one on the bottom left was actually an updated version to accommodate for his new backstory by dropping any resemblance of Metal.
I appreciate the feedback on the audio, I'll certainly work on that for the future. I personally recorded the cutscenes so it must be something to do with my game recording software(thanks nvidia shadowplay lol). Thanks for watching!!
This video got me hooked to your channel! You are so underrated, (like jeez only 720?!) Your videos scream quality and I can't wait for more videos! Keep up the great work! 👍
It makes my day hearing this! Thanks so much and also I love your profile picture that's such a cool drawing of Super Shadow. Hope you enjoy the videos to come!
@@Eldarin Shadow & Rouge’s look amazing as it is, hopefully Sega brings back one of shadow’s Older content art design to make a into a character in a future Sonic game
I agree! What i really want to see and honestly surprised they haven’t capitalized on this in past games is unlockable skins like say crash 4. Would be a cool way of doing fan service and lets them put in rather obscure designs that may have never seen the light of day in 3D before
@@Eldarin lol don't we have one that is pretty iconic being your compering your self to me your not even good enough to be my fake or it starts with this a jewel containing the ultimate power. Lol but great vid man surprisingly I never knew about some of the early stuff of sa2 only really knew about the beta.and the stuff on shadow was really interesting.
@@_SYDGAMING_ lawl thats my mistake, I wasn't being clear...I meant if shadow started saying Obi-Wan lines haha. or what if Obi-Wan said Shadow lines 0_0... Im glad you enjoyed the video and you were able to take something new away from watching it!
@@Eldarin lol now that would be brilliant if we got some lines of shadow saying some obi-wan lines or vice versa. Yup that true as they say it's a better day when you learn something new.
The people designing Shadow must've REALLY wanted him to be missing an eye; out of all the concept arts of him, that's the one injury that's consistently there on most of the pictures (I've seen some of the ones w/ the cape be interpreted as him missing an arm, as well).
I agree! I wouldn’t have been surprised they went into the vault and took some of these Shadow concepts to base infinite off of. Certainly an interesting topic to think about
It wouldn't be the first time old art got used to inspire a new character concept. For starters, *Vector The Crocodile* is actually a scrapped character from Sonic's original 1991 game. (He was gonna be the keyboardist in Sonic's rock band: sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_Band )
Apparently in the Archie comics series, anthro-animals in Sonic's world can breed with other "species" of anthro-animals. Maybe she's part chihuahua on her father's side or something.
Something that I really like about shadow's design, although it might of not been intentional seeing his Early designs is the fact he resembles the hedgehog depicted in Sonic 3's altar when you fight against Knuckles, and this actually makes a lot of sense for the story, seeing as this not only gives shadow more of a connection towards Sonic but it also makes sense with how Gerald robotnik designed the insides of the Arc based on the master emerald altar to use the chaos emerald's power, it's almost as if Shadow was directly based on that, as we know that Gerald also knew about the master emerald altar.
I literally cannot believe that you only have about 2k subs and just started about 6 months ago. The quality of your videos is insane. Instantly subbed. This scenario reminds me of The Game Apologist. He just suddenly existed and it was amazing. I hope you get the recognition and success that this type of stuff warrants.
Hey thanks so much this really made my night reading this, it means a lot for such kind words. I know how cheesy it sounds, but I have a lot of passion for this franchise and just being able to talk about sonic and have open discussions that don’t just devolve into “gaem = good or bad” makes me so happy to see. Thanks for the watch and sub and hope you enjoy the ride!
@@Eldarin I relate to that very much! I have a lot to say about Sonic. I am so glad that you are brave enough to share this for everyone to see. Also, don't be afraid to make content about other franchises. I know that some people are scared that their audience won't like the rest of their content, but we are fans of YOU, not just Sonic. Have a great day, mate. I am so glad that I could improve your day!
I find it curious how Shadow's concept versions look a lot like Scourge the hedgehog and even Infinite. I figure the Scourge comparison is just coincidental, but I wonder if Sega dug up this old concept art for Shadow when they were trying to make Infinite. Specifically the gray one with the white tipped quills and the red eyes. Fuse that with the one beside it with the one red eye, and then put a mask on it, and it really gives me Infinite vibes.
That is a very good point! That is a very plausible idea about Infinite as they did the same with Blaze originally since her concept art was based off of Shadow. I hope they start to drop all the stuff about Forces because I am genuinely curious as to what happened during development in that game
Great video, some interesting stuff in there. Definitely glad we didn't end up with any of those earlier designs for either of them lol, the final designs are just perfect imo. Shame these two have gotten hard sidelined and ruined by the current writers and Sega themselves. They'll still always be among my favorites for their earlier appearances though.
Thanks so much for the kind words on the video! I agree theyre final designs are perfect and Im right with ya with Shadow and Rouge being up there as some of the best in the series (their previous interpretations ofc.) Thanks for watching!
For future Sonic the Hedgehog series: I want Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform to get a "New Female Character (swordfighter)" as a new rival. Similar to: 1.) Karai (from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) 2.) Ravager/Rose Wilson (from Teen Titans, DC Universe) 3.) Blade (from Azure Striker Gunvolt, Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX) 4.) Mara Jade Skywalker (from Star Wars; Expanded Universe) 5.) And more *Hint:* Just to try something different for Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform. And to keep away from Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends for some reason.
I agree! So much crazy stuff that could've happened to an already crazy game lol! Also I saw your profile pic and Mario 64 is a fantastic game (shocker to literally no one) I just played it for the first time with the 3DAS collection on Switch and it was some of the most fun I had in a video game. Completely off topic I know but thought you'd get a kick out of a "new" 64 fan hahaha
Wait, wasn't Blaze the original antagonist for SA2? Before Terios was a thing? With same black-red color scheme and more artificial look, almost like a ghost?
I personally have never heard of that before as I thought she was introduced for Sonic Rush and then retconned for '06. What I did find though was her OG concept art which was done back in 2005 mirrors shadow quite a lot! I'm gonna go more into this when I talk about the Rush games but hopefully this makes sense. (lastminutecontinue.com/news/christmasdayblaze/)
I'm surprised Shadow uses "boku" in the Japanese version of SA2. I figured that Shadow would have referred to himself as "ore-sama" (a prideful self-centered term), like Vegeta does, however it does make more sense.
I was surprised too that Shadow doesn't use something cockier like Vegeta but its awesome also in my opinion at least as it gives an extra layer to his character as although he gives this ""ultimate"" (no pun intended) confident outward appearance, deep down he believes himself to be a servant to Gerald Robotnik and Maria's wishes. Really cool characterization by Maekawa in my opinion. About Iizuka also, I believe he still have alot of great ideas but he let everyone get into his head about "what sonic should be" and not what HIS vision of the franchise which is where this decline characterization decline starts to happen in my opinion. If the guy got some true confidence in himself back and did some crazy stuff like in the ""dark"" era again but just gave it his all I feel alot of the fanbase would be satisifed...its just we've gotten these games where the ideas on paper are excellent but in execution, it becomes half baked and hollow giving the feeling of "what could've been". That's my take at least!
Rouge is def one of my favorite characters in the franchise. Her attitude and able to hold her own as a female character (and leader in heroes for team dark) always made her one of my favorites.
7:05 this line is a little different in Japanese, which is more like "Aren't you the fake here? Actually, aren't we on completely different levels for you to be called a fake?", which gives a much more badass feeling to the character than in the English translation, which he sounds too cocky in my opinion. I'm pretty sure SA2 at the beggining was planned to have only Sonic, Knucles and Eggman as playable characters as seen in the first trailer (I mean, why wouldn't they show at least show Tails?), Shadow and Tails would appear only on cutscenes (I'm not sure about rouge, but she would probably be much more present in the "Knuckles Campaign" as a rival), so Tails, Rouge and Shadow and all the system of Hero and Dark side were implemented later in the game, which explains why these 3 characters have only 4 stages, compared to 5 for Knuckles and Eggman and 6 for Sonic, that's also probably why they used the Kart racing minigame to compensate as one stage for Tails and Rouge (it's pretty clear that the Kart racing minigame is pretty basic and lack a lot of polish, so it also seems to be a rushed addition just to add more stages), developers didn't have enough time to create some new stages so they gave Sky Rail for Shadow, and I believe at the beginning Sky Rail as Sonic would happen after the President cutscene and then Sonic goes to the mountains on the way to the Pyramid, which in the final version there is no stage between these two scenes, which makes much more sense than Route 280 (Rouge) and Sky Rail (Shadow), which doesn't help much in the plot since they don't even catch Tails, also I think Sky Rail is too easy and short for it to be almost the last stage, which also makes much more sense considering there lack of a Sonic stage between Green Forest and Pyramid Cave, which was supposed to be like this: Sonic (Green Forest) > Knuckles (Pumpkin Hill) > Tails (Mission Street) > Knuckles (Aquatic Mine) > Tails (Route 101) > *Sonic (Sky Rail)* > Tails (Hidden Base) > Sonic (Pyramid Cave)... In the final version there are 5 levels in a row without any Sonic stages, where it probably was supposed to be 3-4 considering the Kart racing stage was maybe a later addition.
Hey there! thats really interesting how the whole translation differs from Japanese to English. I just got done this week getting all 180 emblems for SA2 and I can agree on Tails being added later as his levels don't feel as well designed as composed to Eggman's in my opinion which are such fun mech stages. As for Shadow I would've been interested to see lets say they took an extra couple of months..what other speed stages we would've gotten. I imagine Sonic would've kept Sky Rail and maybe balanced that out with Shadow stages because Sky Rail story wise with Shadow is just really out of place and I would've been interested to see if we would've gotten a pyramid cave themed level for Shadow or a whole new location...really interesting to ponder, ya know? Anyways thanks for writing this out it was a really interesting read. Thanks for watching also and hope you enjoyed the video!
@@Eldarin Yeah, I think the only Shadow stage where is pretty well done in Radical Highway, White Jungle is too easy and short, especially when you consider that there is unused object placement that makes getting all rings in this stage impossible, Final Chase gravity mechanic lack a lot of polish also, and I'm pretty sure Rouge's Mad Space is the last stage to be completed since it's the last level ID in the game's code, which explains why this level also lacked some revision, especially because of all those small platforms far away from each other at the bottom, which takes too much time to go to most areas, the A-Rank requirement is extremely unfair, is 14000 points, which is too much considering Death Chamber and Meteor Herd was 12000 points, considering how big Mad Space is, it heavily depends on luck sometimes, which seems the developers barely tested the stage, so they thought "oh It's the last level so let's just put a higher score requirement". Just like SA1 you can see the game was pretty rushed, with probably less than 2 years, and they couldn't even extend the production time because in March 31, 2001, Sega announced they discontinued the console, since SA2 was released 3 months after the console was officially discontinued, they couldn't wait too much, that's probably when they decided to discard the "World Ranking" system since they realized the console was dead so there is no reason to maintain a World Ranking server, which seems to be almost complete when you see some older builds, which also makes sense to think they thought this would be the last Sonic game, like in the Hero Story Preview where the narrator says "Farewell Sonic... Forever". I still think SA2 is the best Sonic game but I always wanted it to have more production time, to add and improve more stages, cutscenes, etc.
That's a really good point! I love White Jungle but it is really easy once you know what to do. I remeber reading somewhere that SA1 was made in 8 months but I don't have a source on that so take it with a grain of salt. Maybe in a remake they can put those things that were left on the cutting room into the final game :D
@@sanglish18 It would literally ONLY be Sonic Team that could rush a game in 10 months, still have it be fantastic, and have it impact the franchise LOL. I hope this year we finally get a game thats been in the oven long enough to not be considered "rushed" in some aspect
After watching the other most recent SA2, I watched a few others, and I have to say, this is actually pretty solid content my dude. I’m quite surprised. This is very informative, and interesting. Keep this up, I’m sure once people find this channel they’ll like it! I’d love to see more.
Thank you so much and welcome aboard! More is on the way dont worry! I am also doing other games than just the Sonic franchise (obvious key focus though dw) so if you have any suggestions I'll 100% take a look!
@@Eldarin I'm a big Sonic fan, and while I have many other interests, but they're not the most interesting to discuss. And games I like, like Hollow Knight have had almost all content already stated. But yeah, I'll be excited to see the other things!
I know right?! I didn’t know you could change the language in game in the options so I definitely plan on doing something similar..thanks for watching and hope you enjoyed :)
WOW, Thank God that the algorithm put this video for me. Wow, where have you been all this time? Haha, love your channel and your content, you totally earned a subscriber. Keep going, man, peace ✌🏻
Subscriber no. 857 here, just saying that I found this channel before it will inevitably blow up. Seriously though, I love little development tidbits like this. Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much for subscribing it really means alot to me hearing feedback like this. I'm the same way and since Sonic is a franchise that has always pushed the technical limits of games the development has always interested me!
@@Eldarin Oh you want based? The Alpha of Awe. The Brute of Brawn. The Cultivator of Chaos. The Duke of Domination. The Exterminator of Eggs. The Fiercest of Fighters. The Greatest of Glory. The Height of Heroism. The Imperator of Intellectualism. The Jarl of Justice. The King of Knights. The Lancelot of Loquaciousness. The Master of Mortality. The Naysayer of Noobs. The Overlord of Obituaries. The Pioneer of Power. The Que-hagen of Quixote. The Ruler of Rulers. The Smiter of Sonic. The Taskmaster of Trembles. The Undertaker of Ultimate. The Victor over many Victims. The Waster of Wrestlers. The Xenophobe of Xenogeny. The Yardmaster of Yesteryear. The Zhar of the Zeti. THE INDOMITUS REX THE ALPHA OF ALPHAS THE KING OF KINGS THE LORD OF LORDS THE JUSTICIAR OF JUSTICE THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM CHADOW THE HEDGEHOG APEXPREDATORdow the POWERFUL ROUNDHOUSEKICKdow the STRIKING INSURMOUNTABLEdow the UNSURPASSABLE INDOMITABLEdow the UNYIELDING COOLdow the COOLEST MYSTERYdow the WORDLY TANKdow the RESOLUTE UNSTOPPABLEdow the ENDER CHAOSdow the BLASTER JUGGERNAUGHTdow the FEARED DISCIPLINEDdow the ENLIGHTENED CONFIDENCEdow the NEVERLOSING POTENTdow the VIRILE ALMIGHTYdow the INVINCIBLE VALORdow the DAUNTLESS IMPERVIOUSdow the DOMINATOR INVICTUSdow the ETERNAL MAELSTROMdow the TITANIC CONTROLdow the SPACE-TIME CONTROLLING IMPERATIVEdow the CHOSEN ONE BEHEMOTHdow the MASTODONIC MONSTERdow the TERRIFYING KNIGHTdow the GALLANT DEITYdow the ULTIMATE SKATEdow the LEGEND SUPERNOVAdow the TRANSIENT KINGCHAD THE CHAD DOWCHAD THE HEDGE CHADHOG THE DOW SHADCHAD THE CHAD THE CHAD OF CHADS ENCHAD CHADOW CHADCHAD CHAD CHADCHAD ENTER CHADOW ------> Click play ua-cam.com/video/8V1pMQKDPco/v-deo.html
I feel like Shadow & Rouge should’ve only been in this game and never appered (misspelling) again minus a cameo for Rouge and some refrence to Shadow along with SA2. Also these are awsome designs. Another thing I believe Rouge is 18 I think
Thanks for watching! And I agree as it certainly lessened the impact of Shadows death. I think there is a way to keep characters relevant without bribing them back if that makes sense
Hey there! No not exactly, its a really bad dialogue translation. In Shadow the Hedgehog one of the endings is Shadow finds out he was an android (as the question was raised if he was the real shadow in heroes) and that's the final line of that ending which became a meme. I'm a little foggy on Shadow's story as I haven't played it for a long time but Im pretty sure thats the gist of it. Thanks for watching and hope you enjoyed :)
Rogue was originally going to be called "Nails". The irony is killing me. Rogue, the dark counterpart to a character named Knuckles, was called Nails. XD
Hey thanks so much! I am using a blue yeti but have some stock audio filters worked on it to make it sound richer...look at this video compared to say my sonic CD video for comparison. If you want me to send you my list let me know!
@@Eldarin Your right, this one sounds much better. The audio in your Sonic CD video sounds similar to what I get straight from my Blue Snowball mic. I'd love to know what filters your using. Oh, and BTW good job with your videos!
It's normal for her to not have "wings" because a bat wings are their arm (you can even see elbow extension) , so basically Rouge now is supposed to have 4 arm, imo, Rouge character design makes no sense, i still like her, but the bat species proprieties were quit not respected, like she can see while bats shouldn't and has super strong legs, while normal bats have very weak legs (it's they can't stand on the floor and stand on roofs). I found the legs is not big of a deal, i found interesting to make the opposite of what logically should have been the case, but im kinda disapointed for the sight part, i think it would have made some interesting stuff and add a bit more "uniquness" into it, espeacially for a spy to have developed hearing alowing her to "see" in the dark
Thats such an interesting take on the matter...it would've been perfect if she had her night vision and it was used in place for the treasure scope(and maybe make that upgrade a tad more useful)! Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video :)
I remember when shadow got his own game in 2005, one UK publication said something extremely stupid: "ah look what they have done to sonic they've stereotyped him, they've turned him black they've given him a gun and a attitude" I wish I'd kept that magazine that kinda slack reviewing probably wouldn't really be tolerated in this day and age
Wow really? Dang, I always was a fan of Shadow the Hedgehog when I was younger...I am curious how I will feel about it now that I'm older though. The music is 10/10 either way in my book though. Thanks for watching :)
I'm trying to for the mainline games but for the handhelds and such I'm gonna try to fit them in around where they would be canonically but it may not be 100% accurate
@@Eldarin nice but I gotta ask does 06 count I mean it happened then the hedgehog gang and princess Fiona from Shrek did the thing so that 06 didn't happen but then you go to crisis city and fight silver in generations so yeah idk sonic lore is confusing
@@Poindexstar i have to say I love how you referred to Elise as frickin FIONA FROM SHREK LOL. I'm gonna cover that in release order so after Shadow, Im super excited to cover 06 as I haven't played it in a very long time since it came out and I loved it so Im curious what Im gonna think about it now
Also kind of weird that despite being advertised heavily, Shadow has the least amount of stages in spite of having arguably the most impact on the story.
I agree its very weird but I have a feeling its just a classic case of Sonic Team rushing dev time and cutting stuff...who knows
I think and I could be wrong about this, but I think he wasn't originally planned to be playable; only sonic, knuckles and eggman were. Which also explains why those three have the most stages and power ups compared to their counterparts because they were worked on first.
@@LavenderAyane Is that based on the trailer? Don't forget that Shadow was teased in that very trailer.
Yeah, but that's part of what made him so mysterious, at the time
@@RiiViiMedia2424 He was teased as a new foe for Sonic, but only Sonic, Eggman and Knuckles were planned to be playable originally. The other 3 got added in later. You can see Sonic going through Sky Rail in early trailers, which also explains why it's the only Shadow stage to not fit his particular style of music.
I know I'm late but this has been bugging me for weeks; 'Boku' is misinterpreted in the video, which is a shame because the way Shadow refers to himself already reveals a lot about him. So here's clarification of Shadow's use of the word for anyone interested: Besides the formal and gender-neutral 'watashi' (which is used by women more outside of formal context) the two most common masculine ways to refer to oneself are 'ore' and 'boku'. They're both casual, but 'ore' is somewhat crude and associated with the tough guy type--I can see a character like Knuckles using it. 'Boku' is more youthful and boyish, fitting a character like Tails. This is probably why Shadow's use of 'boku' is more popular with women, who most likely find it endearing as it characterizes a sort of innocence and contrasts with his appearances (compared to 'ore', which you'd typically expect someone like Shadow to use and is probably why the team was divided on this), hence the developer justifying his choice by saying Shadow 'is a very subtle and pure character'. I personally find it cute; it nudges him away from the edgelord role, if only by a bit. I don't mean to criticize such an impressively well-researched video, I just like the character as much as most here do and hate to see an interesting tidbit like that lost due to mistranslation! Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for the in-depth clarification. I don’t speak Japanese myself so I was basing it off of google definitions and their wonderful inaccuracies. You’re not criticizing at all! I’d rather be told so in the future I don’t make the same mistakes :)) Thanks again and glad to hear you enjoyed the video!
Essentially it's "gap moe"
@@MsMvsc Exactly! That's a perfect way to put it.
@@MsMvsc Gap moe shadow the hedgehog, never through i see that
IMO Shadow and Rouge have the most complex and fascinating relationship in the whole franchise, how they were forced to work together in the beginning even though they hated each other and from there kept teaming up only out of convenience which grew into a genuine friendship. Its like they try to act like theyre just business partners but secretly care for each other. And its also funny how rouge is so flirtatious with all the boys in the franchise and messes with them but not with shadow
I 100% agree, I absolutely ADORE their dynamic! Its one of the best parts of the series in my opinion. Thanks for watching :)
Whoever decided to have Shadow's quills mirror Super Sonic was a genius.
@Zero Bullet's Somehow I never made that connection but holy shit.
The cool thing about Beta Rouge's design is the concept that her wings were on her arms similar to irl bats than on her back like how you see in her final design.
That would've been really interesting to see if they went with that design and how it would've looked in the final product with the wings on the arms! Thanks for watching :)
@@Eldarin Yeah, I can see why they changed it tho as I can easily see it being a pain to animate. No problem, I enjoyed the video!
This is the sort of content growing 30 year olds crave.
Hey thank you! I thought it would be cool delving more into this kinda stuff than more of a typical review style because at this point what more is there really to say about SA1,2 etc ya know?
Im 30 this year
@@nojolie happy early birthday!
Hey hey now, we're still young at heart. Don't put us 30 yos out like that!
ayo chill i just turned 20 !
the name “Nails” was definitely meant to be a mirror of Knuckles’ name since they share the same play style, considering the fact that both names are hand accessories that they use to dig with
It could also kinda be a mirror to "Tails", too, since they're both able to fly (and also they both have kart-racer levels)
rouge the bat is such an underrated character. she deserves so much more. she’s super cool.
I 100% agree! Thanks for watching
A lot of characters deserve so much more. All of the characters honestly.
@@espurrseyes42 yes like silver and blaze too they got overshadowed by the reception 06 got :/
@@groove.mp4Chaotix
Yea
Nails the Bat and Terios the Hedgehog were the newcomers in Sonic Adventure 2
imagine if those were the names that stuck lol
I actually kinda like Nails. Kinda reminds me of Knives from Scott Pilgrim
alright alright
who tf decided 'nails' would be a good name?
*W H O 👏 T H E 👏 F U C K 👏*
@@pretzeldragon2975
GIRL I-
@@Eldarin Tails and Nails having similar names would cause _so much confusion._ X^D
Original Shadow looks more like Knuckles. That would be kinda cool to have a shadow version of Knuckles.
A shadow knuckles would be an interesting concept for sure. Thanks for watching!! Also, I checked out your channel and your animations are gorgeous keep up the great work!!
Ankles?
That's Rouge
If there's ever a Knuckles Chaotix 2, my one of my ideas for the story are that the Chaotix track down evil counterparts from Knuckles and a few other characters. Since Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, and many others are busy, they get help from Knuckles. As well Mighty will come back to the team, and they will get the help from Ray. Together they fight against the "Shadow" Knuckles and other "Shadowfied" versions of other characters.
My other idea were the Team Chaotix, Mighty, and Knuckles working together to defeat the Team Hooligan, a band of criminals in Mobius.
the closest we ever got to that is probably Shade from Sonic Chronicles, but we'll probably never see her again which is a shame.
That infinite edit is amazing
thank you so much! im happy to hear you found it funny :)
This vid was so good! Yeah I agree that it’s a shame that there isn’t more rouge info out there but your analysis was still awesome!!
thank u sm
Really enjoying these short little dives into the hyper-specific topics. Great work!
thanks so much im really happy to hear your enjoying the new form of videos, stay tuned! :)
Shadow's concept art looks like Sonic's edgier, older brother while Rouge's concept art looks like Amy's older, edgier sister. XD
They edgy twins lmaoo, thanks for watching!
The more I learn about Shiero Maekawa the more I like him.
He's stated once that he'd be interested in writing for Sonic again, but they just aren't interested. A lot of the reason why he was bogged down over time had to do with Sonic 06, sense the game reached poor perception they decided it was the writers and artists fault (the people that were being overworked to finish the game), rather than. The people who rushed the game. so pretty much all the artists were let go or moved to lower and lower positions until they were forced to quit. Not many have spoken publicly about that but if you follow it and look into it, that definitely seems to be the case.
I'd love to see Maekawa return for the upcoming sonic games, while I don't think its realistic I'd love to see it happen. It's ashame as if it was released as Sonic 2007 and another run through/edit of the story happened, he would probably still be here today and 06 would have a whole different opinion on it. Thanks for watching and hope you enjoyed!
Not exactly Shadow's final design, but the actual cut scenes Shadow model, with unkempt quills and folded ears (yes, in cut scenes his ear tips bend forward) as well as his healthy look suggest that he is a character that went through a lot in a short amount of time.
The "servant" part of boku is interesting. Thinking about it from the perspective of how he first presents himself to Eggman. He says that he will grant him 1 wish, like a genie freed from a bottle. However, like with a genie in a proverb, you should be careful what you wish for, even if you think the genie is serving you.
That's a really good assessment/analysis of that line. Thanks for watching!
My own personal theory that I've had for a while was that Maekawa probably only knew shadow conceptually as a darker sonic and only saw the prototype designs when writing him. With this idea in mind it would make sense why Sonic gets confused with Shadow and arrested. And when looking at the story boards this idea sorta adds up seeing as he's drawn as a darker Sonic (or this is just me looking too deep into things)
Excellent point that would make alot of sense! It would be a classic SEGA move to give the guy only the concept without any word on the actual design lol. He did a great job... and awesome analysis of the situation there!
@@Eldarin @Eldarin thanks lol, also great video didn't know alot of the background info regarding the characters.
I may be wrong about this but I've heard that in the Japanese version of SA2 the GUN agency actually knows it's Shadow but tries to frame Sonic in order to hide Shadow and the old events of the space colony from the public
@@nikolaradulovic5283 That's interesting, have to listen to the transcribed Japanese dialogue to get a better context, nonetheless a good thing to consider.
@@nikolaradulovic5283 I never heard that as "in the Japanese version." I've heard that particular explanation of the events, yes, but *I always heard everyone say it was a fan-theory/headcanon.*
Then again, I don't speak Japanese, and I've never looked up fan translations of the game's actual Japanese dialogue before either.
i like rouge and knuckles dynamic as he was stated to be shy around women, while rouge literally has a massive heart on her chest
Great video dude! some of the OG shadow designed were super wild - it kind of makes sense how the military would've mistaken him for sonic... less so with his final design.
Hey thank you so much I really appreciate it! Shadow's OG designs are crazy! I wonder how they would've translated to 3D though as shadows final was a pretty accurate translation in my opinion
Yeah it wouldve been pretty interesting to see some cutscenes with them! Though i do think they went with the best design in the end xD
thank you for being one of the few Sonic youtubers who don't talk about Sonic games other then the game your reviewing/talking about, its always so jarring to see someone talk crap about 06/about how Sonic sucks now/how bad Sonic boom is/how SA1 and SA2 have not age well/how Sonic was never good in a video thats not about these games.
SA2 is imo the objective best sonic game (tho 06 is my personal :0), and I think the design, story, and music of this game are fantastic! I feel that tails' and knuckles' (and their counterparts') gameplay style help add the exploration and methodical traditional platforming to the game which are missing from sonic's stages. They are just as fun as sonic's levels imo. A lot of people don't like them, and I didn't the first time around, but every subsequent playthrough they get better and better (and I've played it about 20 times at this point XD). I really hope sega can truly embrace this iteration of sonic and build upon it in the future! I would like to see less linear stages ala Sonic adventure 1 return at the very least.
Yeah I was in the same boat as I am currently 100%ing SA2 right now and on first runs on the story missions the mechs can feel somewhat clunky but as you start using them more and see the idiosyncrasies of it, its incredibly smooth and responsive. I was INCREDIBLY impressed by Eggman's stages, theyre so fun! I was in the camp that SA1 knuckles stages were better but now actually playing both sides there's absolutely no contest as I am in LOVE with Rouge stages..
@@Eldarin how does the music for these stages make play it more like how you feel when you hear the music in sa2
and when p-06 project is FULLY finished for pc play it more
It's weird to think of Shadow as a "boku" character, he feels more like an "ore" one. The ore pronoun is often used by tough independent males who exert confidence, but boku actually makes sense for him given his relationship with Maria and willingness to cooperate with others.
It's an interesting thing to think about. Shadow comes across as an "ore" character at face value and to many people, they can only see him as an "ore" character (like the Colors/Boom era writers) when they're missing all the nuance that comes from him actually being a "boku" character. People seem to confuse his introverted personality for him being a loner with no regard for anyone else, when he has always worked best in a team and genuinely values the people he builds relationships with. The Shadow in the colors era is not the same Shadow who would almost destroy the world for his best friend and end up saving it for the same person. He's not an arrogant, self-absorbed narcissist who thinks he's the greatest being to ever live. The guy goes as far as to put Sonic above him in the finale of SA2 and goes as far as to stand strong with his friends rather than turn on them when he finds out they'd turn on him in the future in Sonic 06.
Sorry for going on a tanget, the whole "boku" vs "ore" thing really gave me a new and perfect analogy to help explain Shadow's true character which I really enjoyed elaborating on.
Looking at concept arts is cool .
I think shadow with a missing eye would be cooler .
And it's great that Tails was in the game because he was a real hero there
I wish Shadow had a scar still. Imagine how cool that would look when he went Super....
_T_ *H*_ I_ *S* _I_ *S* _W_ *H* _O_ *I* _A_ *M*
too edgy... I'm surprised they managed even edgier designs and went with the least edgy
@@icarue993 Its kind of sad that most times the writers are making shadow really seem edgy when he isnt supposed to be "edgy" at all. :/
Edit: nvm I think the scar is fine but I'm good with how shadow looks lmao.
My headcanon: Shadow has a scar- _his fur just grows over it so you can't see it!_ X^D
Serious response though: If you like scars, have you tried looking for pictures of Scourge The Hedgehog from the Archie comics? It's a chest wound instead of a face wound though...
but why never answered the most demanding question: Why the huge badonkers?
Ballast to keep her level when she flies?
Rouge and Shadow have such a great friendship that I didn’t see them as shipped as others, that i feel they should get dived into more.
Someone posted the Nails the Bat artwork on Facebook a while ago. I developed from it this whole backstory about how she was an Alabama gal who dreamed of making it big in Nashville. And I want to see this developed in some form!!
Always wondered if that older design of Rouge was carried into that bat in Daigasso Band Brothers,
Would be nice to say Nintendo copied Sega for once.
I know right?!? That’s also interesting as I could totally see the old Rouge design being inspiration for the girl in Daigasso Band Brothers...good catch on that!
Man am I glad I found you
great content dude, keep it up!
Hey thanks so much! Welcome and I hope you enjoy the content😺
Damn this was one of the last times illzuka was competent 😔👊
id love to see what goes through that guys mind on a daily basis...so many crazy good and bad ideas he's had
Iizuka can be a great director, but SEGA of America keeps screwing him over
Shadow The Hedgehog (Game) is so much better in the japanese script
@@hugoflores1093 no actually, he can be a great director, but since things he did shows that he is incompetent. Look at Splash Dashes video on sonic boom.
@@jefferysmith6740
You mean LS Mark?
@@SteveCrafts2k yeah, that’s his friend
See SA2 I click💯
a person of culture I see... thanks for watching!
8:32 sky rail is really beautiful always. Reminds me of the fall. The pumpkins Shadow and Rouge are so Halloween-esque My favorite.
dear people saying shadow shouldnt use guns or know how to operate vehicles
hes a military weapon/unit what compitent military doesnt allow its units to use guns
modern knuckles confirmed to be able to go super in sonic chronicles it was stated in the thingy about the chaos emeralds
I absolutely adore how the prototype Shadows look like fan OCs
Lol I agree! Hope you enjoyed the video!!
@@Eldarin Haha I did!
Great video! Honestly some of the Rouge concept art looked like Amy!
Thank you :) and now that you say that I totally see it... her art does look like Amy! Great eye!
@@Eldarin thanks!
Reading all the comments on this video and seeing everyone respect Shadow and the Story writer of SA2 is giving me a happy, yet melancholy feeling.
•́ ‿ ,•̀
Great video! Love anyone who gives the franchise attention matched with good research. Instant subscription. Keep up the good work!
Hey! Thanks so much really means alot to hear that! Stay tuned as I have some new stuff coming very soon :)
Now that we think about it, Boom Shadow would look cool with a scar on one side of his face and an eyepatch on his non-scarred part
It certainly would be an interesting take on his design! His Boom design just looks weird to me for some reason although I do like everyone else's designs even Sonics lol
@@Eldarin And yet he'd still be just some grouchy jerk in that universe! I learned to tolerate Shadow in the main universe, but Boom Shadow is just a huge jerk because he wants to be.
Great videos man, this channel will definitely blow up and I will be there to see all the greatness this channel has to offer 😊
aw thank you so much for the kind words, I really appreciate it. Buckle in for the ride!
Great video, never knew Shadow and Rouge had such a complicated history!
Nails the Bat would've been a hilarious name for her, but seeing how her design eventually turned out, it might've been for the better that they changed it to avoid people making inappropiate "nail" jokes...
wow so glad i found (i mean pop up in my recommendations) your channel, this video was super well done !! cant wait for future videos :D
Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy what’s to come :)
Dude your videos never dissapoint.
thank you so much! it means alot to hear you guys are enjoying them :)
@@Eldarin No problem dude! :)
I'm glad I actually watched the whole video before commenting, as I was almost going to mention the idea of only half of the playable characters being playable at first only to hear you say thay same thing. What I do want to mention is that most of your audio of the game seems to be in mono for some reason; I find it really distracting while wearing headphones, but it’s not a big deal, and this video is otherwise great.
EDIT: What I find interesting about the design for Shadow shown at 3:29 is that it's clearly based off Metal Sonic, which makes me wonder if Shadow's backstory was different at some point; maybe he was meant to be a new, improved model of Metal Sonic, a la Neo Metal Sonic from Heroes, or even the basis of Metal. Either way, if this is true, it's possible that was the original version of that design, and the one on the bottom left was actually an updated version to accommodate for his new backstory by dropping any resemblance of Metal.
I appreciate the feedback on the audio, I'll certainly work on that for the future. I personally recorded the cutscenes so it must be something to do with my game recording software(thanks nvidia shadowplay lol). Thanks for watching!!
This video got me hooked to your channel! You are so underrated, (like jeez only 720?!) Your videos scream quality and I can't wait for more videos! Keep up the great work! 👍
It makes my day hearing this! Thanks so much and also I love your profile picture that's such a cool drawing of Super Shadow. Hope you enjoy the videos to come!
well I learn something today Never knew Shadow & Rouge had different content art from now
Do you prefer the originals or the final?
@@Eldarin Shadow & Rouge’s look amazing as it is, hopefully Sega brings back one of shadow’s Older content art design to make a into a character in a future Sonic game
I agree! What i really want to see and honestly surprised they haven’t capitalized on this in past games is unlockable skins like say crash 4. Would be a cool way of doing fan service and lets them put in rather obscure designs that may have never seen the light of day in 3D before
Awesome stuff!! Really enjoyed learning more about my favourite Sonic game! :)
Bruh i just found your channel and I love it, You’re personality and content is amazing hopefully more great comes to you. ❤️
Early shadow looks really cool like a mix of scrounge and obiwan
I definitely see the Obi-Wan resemblance with the cowl and such. All we need is some of the iconic lines for him to say now hahahha
@@Eldarin lol don't we have one that is pretty iconic being your compering your self to me your not even good enough to be my fake or it starts with this a jewel containing the ultimate power. Lol but great vid man surprisingly I never knew about some of the early stuff of sa2 only really knew about the beta.and the stuff on shadow was really interesting.
@@_SYDGAMING_ lawl thats my mistake, I wasn't being clear...I meant if shadow started saying Obi-Wan lines haha. or what if Obi-Wan said Shadow lines 0_0... Im glad you enjoyed the video and you were able to take something new away from watching it!
@@Eldarin lol now that would be brilliant if we got some lines of shadow saying some obi-wan lines or vice versa. Yup that true as they say it's a better day when you learn something new.
Awesome vid, loved it
ay thank you for watching! thats awesome you enjoyed the video, it makes me happy to hear
The people designing Shadow must've REALLY wanted him to be missing an eye; out of all the concept arts of him, that's the one injury that's consistently there on most of the pictures (I've seen some of the ones w/ the cape be interpreted as him missing an arm, as well).
2:58
Wow, I’m getting some serious Infinite vibes from that one in the bottom-middle
I agree! I wouldn’t have been surprised they went into the vault and took some of these Shadow concepts to base infinite off of. Certainly an interesting topic to think about
It wouldn't be the first time old art got used to inspire a new character concept.
For starters, *Vector The Crocodile* is actually a scrapped character from Sonic's original 1991 game. (He was gonna be the keyboardist in Sonic's rock band: sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_Band )
Legit need a Rouge tomb raiding spin off lol
That would be so awesome! Having a linear adventure(not like the sub series lol) like game would be cool as heck
Anyone notice that rogue has the skull shape of an applehead chihuahua?
LMAO I laughed too hard at this, now I can’t unsee it hahahaha
Lol
Apparently in the Archie comics series, anthro-animals in Sonic's world can breed with other "species" of anthro-animals. Maybe she's part chihuahua on her father's side or something.
Something that I really like about shadow's design, although it might of not been intentional seeing his Early designs is the fact he resembles the hedgehog depicted in Sonic 3's altar when you fight against Knuckles, and this actually makes a lot of sense for the story, seeing as this not only gives shadow more of a connection towards Sonic but it also makes sense with how Gerald robotnik designed the insides of the Arc based on the master emerald altar to use the chaos emerald's power, it's almost as if Shadow was directly based on that, as we know that Gerald also knew about the master emerald altar.
8:49 also in "the trail" sonic has his classic shoes! instead of soap shoes.
I literally cannot believe that you only have about 2k subs and just started about 6 months ago. The quality of your videos is insane. Instantly subbed. This scenario reminds me of The Game Apologist. He just suddenly existed and it was amazing. I hope you get the recognition and success that this type of stuff warrants.
Hey thanks so much this really made my night reading this, it means a lot for such kind words. I know how cheesy it sounds, but I have a lot of passion for this franchise and just being able to talk about sonic and have open discussions that don’t just devolve into “gaem = good or bad” makes me so happy to see. Thanks for the watch and sub and hope you enjoy the ride!
@@Eldarin I relate to that very much! I have a lot to say about Sonic. I am so glad that you are brave enough to share this for everyone to see. Also, don't be afraid to make content about other franchises. I know that some people are scared that their audience won't like the rest of their content, but we are fans of YOU, not just Sonic. Have a great day, mate. I am so glad that I could improve your day!
Underrated UA-camr
Thank you so much, it seriously means a lot to hear that :D
I find it curious how Shadow's concept versions look a lot like Scourge the hedgehog and even Infinite. I figure the Scourge comparison is just coincidental, but I wonder if Sega dug up this old concept art for Shadow when they were trying to make Infinite. Specifically the gray one with the white tipped quills and the red eyes. Fuse that with the one beside it with the one red eye, and then put a mask on it, and it really gives me Infinite vibes.
That is a very good point! That is a very plausible idea about Infinite as they did the same with Blaze originally since her concept art was based off of Shadow. I hope they start to drop all the stuff about Forces because I am genuinely curious as to what happened during development in that game
Awesome Video
Great video, some interesting stuff in there. Definitely glad we didn't end up with any of those earlier designs for either of them lol, the final designs are just perfect imo. Shame these two have gotten hard sidelined and ruined by the current writers and Sega themselves. They'll still always be among my favorites for their earlier appearances though.
Thanks so much for the kind words on the video! I agree theyre final designs are perfect and Im right with ya with Shadow and Rouge being up there as some of the best in the series (their previous interpretations ofc.) Thanks for watching!
this video was amazing man, absolutely amazing analysis.
Hey thank you so much! I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed the video, means alot hearing such kind words
@@Eldarin
:)
For future Sonic the Hedgehog series: I want Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform to get a "New Female Character (swordfighter)" as a new rival. Similar to:
1.) Karai (from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
2.) Ravager/Rose Wilson (from Teen Titans, DC Universe)
3.) Blade (from Azure Striker Gunvolt, Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX)
4.) Mara Jade Skywalker (from Star Wars; Expanded Universe)
5.) And more
*Hint:* Just to try something different for Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform. And to keep away from Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends for some reason.
For nearly 600 subs this channel higher quality then some youtubers with 10k so props
Thanks so much I really appreciate the kind words!! Also, great taste...Die Lit is one of my favorite albums!!!
Great Video Man! Hope to see more like it, keep up the good work!
I really appreciate it thank you! Stay tuned for more
Amazing video dude! I love SA2 and it's amazing to think of what we could've had if different decisions were made.
I agree! So much crazy stuff that could've happened to an already crazy game lol! Also I saw your profile pic and Mario 64 is a fantastic game (shocker to literally no one) I just played it for the first time with the 3DAS collection on Switch and it was some of the most fun I had in a video game. Completely off topic I know but thought you'd get a kick out of a "new" 64 fan hahaha
Wait, wasn't Blaze the original antagonist for SA2? Before Terios was a thing? With same black-red color scheme and more artificial look, almost like a ghost?
yes but maybe later he talk about it in sonic rush concept art video
I personally have never heard of that before as I thought she was introduced for Sonic Rush and then retconned for '06. What I did find though was her OG concept art which was done back in 2005 mirrors shadow quite a lot! I'm gonna go more into this when I talk about the Rush games but hopefully this makes sense. (lastminutecontinue.com/news/christmasdayblaze/)
assuming im doing a sonic rush concept art video, eh? ;) (I kid..I kid...but i probably will since everyone is enjoying these)
@@Eldarin Gonna be waiting for those, no pressure through.
Thank you for your content!
I'm surprised Shadow uses "boku" in the Japanese version of SA2. I figured that Shadow would have referred to himself as "ore-sama" (a prideful self-centered term), like Vegeta does, however it does make more sense.
I was surprised too that Shadow doesn't use something cockier like Vegeta but its awesome also in my opinion at least as it gives an extra layer to his character as although he gives this ""ultimate"" (no pun intended) confident outward appearance, deep down he believes himself to be a servant to Gerald Robotnik and Maria's wishes. Really cool characterization by Maekawa in my opinion. About Iizuka also, I believe he still have alot of great ideas but he let everyone get into his head about "what sonic should be" and not what HIS vision of the franchise which is where this decline characterization decline starts to happen in my opinion. If the guy got some true confidence in himself back and did some crazy stuff like in the ""dark"" era again but just gave it his all I feel alot of the fanbase would be satisifed...its just we've gotten these games where the ideas on paper are excellent but in execution, it becomes half baked and hollow giving the feeling of "what could've been". That's my take at least!
overall, shadow is confident, but not overly arrogant like vegeta is. i’m not too surprised to hear this.
Nails is a pretty cool name
Rouge is def one of my favorite characters in the franchise. Her attitude and able to hold her own as a female character (and leader in heroes for team dark) always made her one of my favorites.
Amen to that! Rouge is so awesome and is also a favorite of mine...thanks for watching!!
7:05 this line is a little different in Japanese, which is more like "Aren't you the fake here? Actually, aren't we on completely different levels for you to be called a fake?", which gives a much more badass feeling to the character than in the English translation, which he sounds too cocky in my opinion.
I'm pretty sure SA2 at the beggining was planned to have only Sonic, Knucles and Eggman as playable characters as seen in the first trailer (I mean, why wouldn't they show at least show Tails?), Shadow and Tails would appear only on cutscenes (I'm not sure about rouge, but she would probably be much more present in the "Knuckles Campaign" as a rival), so Tails, Rouge and Shadow and all the system of Hero and Dark side were implemented later in the game, which explains why these 3 characters have only 4 stages, compared to 5 for Knuckles and Eggman and 6 for Sonic, that's also probably why they used the Kart racing minigame to compensate as one stage for Tails and Rouge (it's pretty clear that the Kart racing minigame is pretty basic and lack a lot of polish, so it also seems to be a rushed addition just to add more stages), developers didn't have enough time to create some new stages so they gave Sky Rail for Shadow, and I believe at the beginning Sky Rail as Sonic would happen after the President cutscene and then Sonic goes to the mountains on the way to the Pyramid, which in the final version there is no stage between these two scenes, which makes much more sense than Route 280 (Rouge) and Sky Rail (Shadow), which doesn't help much in the plot since they don't even catch Tails, also I think Sky Rail is too easy and short for it to be almost the last stage, which also makes much more sense considering there lack of a Sonic stage between Green Forest and Pyramid Cave, which was supposed to be like this:
Sonic (Green Forest) > Knuckles (Pumpkin Hill) > Tails (Mission Street) > Knuckles (Aquatic Mine) > Tails (Route 101) > *Sonic (Sky Rail)* > Tails (Hidden Base) > Sonic (Pyramid Cave)...
In the final version there are 5 levels in a row without any Sonic stages, where it probably was supposed to be 3-4 considering the Kart racing stage was maybe a later addition.
Hey there! thats really interesting how the whole translation differs from Japanese to English. I just got done this week getting all 180 emblems for SA2 and I can agree on Tails being added later as his levels don't feel as well designed as composed to Eggman's in my opinion which are such fun mech stages. As for Shadow I would've been interested to see lets say they took an extra couple of months..what other speed stages we would've gotten. I imagine Sonic would've kept Sky Rail and maybe balanced that out with Shadow stages because Sky Rail story wise with Shadow is just really out of place and I would've been interested to see if we would've gotten a pyramid cave themed level for Shadow or a whole new location...really interesting to ponder, ya know? Anyways thanks for writing this out it was a really interesting read. Thanks for watching also and hope you enjoyed the video!
@@Eldarin Yeah, I think the only Shadow stage where is pretty well done in Radical Highway, White Jungle is too easy and short, especially when you consider that there is unused object placement that makes getting all rings in this stage impossible, Final Chase gravity mechanic lack a lot of polish also, and I'm pretty sure Rouge's Mad Space is the last stage to be completed since it's the last level ID in the game's code, which explains why this level also lacked some revision, especially because of all those small platforms far away from each other at the bottom, which takes too much time to go to most areas, the A-Rank requirement is extremely unfair, is 14000 points, which is too much considering Death Chamber and Meteor Herd was 12000 points, considering how big Mad Space is, it heavily depends on luck sometimes, which seems the developers barely tested the stage, so they thought "oh It's the last level so let's just put a higher score requirement". Just like SA1 you can see the game was pretty rushed, with probably less than 2 years, and they couldn't even extend the production time because in March 31, 2001, Sega announced they discontinued the console, since SA2 was released 3 months after the console was officially discontinued, they couldn't wait too much, that's probably when they decided to discard the "World Ranking" system since they realized the console was dead so there is no reason to maintain a World Ranking server, which seems to be almost complete when you see some older builds, which also makes sense to think they thought this would be the last Sonic game, like in the Hero Story Preview where the narrator says "Farewell Sonic... Forever".
I still think SA2 is the best Sonic game but I always wanted it to have more production time, to add and improve more stages, cutscenes, etc.
That's a really good point! I love White Jungle but it is really easy once you know what to do. I remeber reading somewhere that SA1 was made in 8 months but I don't have a source on that so take it with a grain of salt. Maybe in a remake they can put those things that were left on the cutting room into the final game :D
@@Eldarin actually it was 10 months, but it's still a very short time, back when Sonic Team did good games despite having rushed development :\
@@sanglish18 It would literally ONLY be Sonic Team that could rush a game in 10 months, still have it be fantastic, and have it impact the franchise LOL. I hope this year we finally get a game thats been in the oven long enough to not be considered "rushed" in some aspect
After watching the other most recent SA2, I watched a few others, and I have to say, this is actually pretty solid content my dude. I’m quite surprised. This is very informative, and interesting. Keep this up, I’m sure once people find this channel they’ll like it! I’d love to see more.
Thank you so much and welcome aboard! More is on the way dont worry! I am also doing other games than just the Sonic franchise (obvious key focus though dw) so if you have any suggestions I'll 100% take a look!
@@Eldarin I'm a big Sonic fan, and while I have many other interests, but they're not the most interesting to discuss. And games I like, like Hollow Knight have had almost all content already stated. But yeah, I'll be excited to see the other things!
When I was a kid, and saw this games trailer on sonic mega collection, I thought his name was Turbo
_my name is Turbo the Hedgehog...and to the people of this planet...I promise you _*_REVENGE!_*
The whole 'boku' stuff makes me want to replay all of SA2 in Japanese now. It's not like I spent a good piece of my life playing that game already.
I know right?! I didn’t know you could change the language in game in the options so I definitely plan on doing something similar..thanks for watching and hope you enjoyed :)
Lmao if they kept her name it would've been Knuckles and Nails, that's actually a really cute couple name imo
WOW, Thank God that the algorithm put this video for me. Wow, where have you been all this time? Haha, love your channel and your content, you totally earned a subscriber. Keep going, man, peace ✌🏻
Thanks so much and welcome aboard! im so happy to hear you are enjoying the content! stay tuned for more ^_^
Subscriber no. 857 here, just saying that I found this channel before it will inevitably blow up.
Seriously though, I love little development tidbits like this. Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much for subscribing it really means alot to me hearing feedback like this. I'm the same way and since Sonic is a franchise that has always pushed the technical limits of games the development has always interested me!
I think this channel will brow up
Hey thanks so much it really means alot to hear that :)
wait, there is some infinite ideas in here....
idk how this got in my reccomended but i like it
Ayyyy welcome! Really happy to hear you enjoyed the video, thanks for watching!
BIG
FAT
BAT
TATS
based
@@Eldarin Oh you want based?
The Alpha of Awe. The Brute of Brawn. The Cultivator of Chaos. The Duke of Domination. The Exterminator of Eggs. The Fiercest of Fighters. The Greatest of Glory. The Height of Heroism. The Imperator of Intellectualism. The Jarl of Justice. The King of Knights. The Lancelot of Loquaciousness. The Master of Mortality. The Naysayer of Noobs. The Overlord of Obituaries. The Pioneer of Power. The Que-hagen of Quixote. The Ruler of Rulers. The Smiter of Sonic. The Taskmaster of Trembles. The Undertaker of Ultimate. The Victor over many Victims. The Waster of Wrestlers. The Xenophobe of Xenogeny. The Yardmaster of Yesteryear. The Zhar of the Zeti.
THE INDOMITUS REX
THE ALPHA OF ALPHAS
THE KING OF KINGS
THE LORD OF LORDS
THE JUSTICIAR OF JUSTICE
THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM
CHADOW THE HEDGEHOG
APEXPREDATORdow the POWERFUL
ROUNDHOUSEKICKdow the STRIKING
INSURMOUNTABLEdow the UNSURPASSABLE
INDOMITABLEdow the UNYIELDING
COOLdow the COOLEST
MYSTERYdow the WORDLY
TANKdow the RESOLUTE
UNSTOPPABLEdow the ENDER
CHAOSdow the BLASTER
JUGGERNAUGHTdow the FEARED
DISCIPLINEDdow the ENLIGHTENED
CONFIDENCEdow the NEVERLOSING
POTENTdow the VIRILE
ALMIGHTYdow the INVINCIBLE
VALORdow the DAUNTLESS
IMPERVIOUSdow the DOMINATOR
INVICTUSdow the ETERNAL
MAELSTROMdow the TITANIC
CONTROLdow the SPACE-TIME CONTROLLING
IMPERATIVEdow the CHOSEN ONE
BEHEMOTHdow the MASTODONIC
MONSTERdow the TERRIFYING
KNIGHTdow the GALLANT
DEITYdow the ULTIMATE
SKATEdow the LEGEND
SUPERNOVAdow the TRANSIENT
KINGCHAD THE CHAD
DOWCHAD THE HEDGE
CHADHOG THE DOW
SHADCHAD THE CHAD
THE CHAD OF CHADS
ENCHAD CHADOW
CHADCHAD CHAD CHADCHAD
ENTER CHADOW
------> Click play ua-cam.com/video/8V1pMQKDPco/v-deo.html
this was amazing thank you for this lol. (also I love the shadow vocal tracks
*AMEN.* 😊😊😊
5:10 Dayum!
Pff I wanna know how the designers who drew all those concept designs felt when Takashi Iizuka went "Nah, just recolour Super Sonic, that'll do"
Ah these intricate designs I see...hmm let’s go with sonic but black and red
Your videos are very well put together. 👏
Hey just wanted to say thanks so much I really appreciate it, it means alot :D
I feel like Shadow & Rouge should’ve only been in this game and never appered (misspelling) again minus a cameo for Rouge and some refrence to Shadow along with SA2.
Also these are awsome designs.
Another thing I believe Rouge is 18 I think
Thanks for watching! And I agree as it certainly lessened the impact of Shadows death. I think there is a way to keep characters relevant without bribing them back if that makes sense
@@Eldarin
Agreed wish he was dead he was at his best in Sonic Adventure 2 and at best 2006 and Heroes (not couting anything beyond the main games).
Pretty sure whoever designed rouge the bat was secretly into dominatrix fetish.
Jesus christ, weren't you at like 800 subs last night? What an explosion
I honestly have no clue what happened but this has completely shocked me I’m not even gonna lie
rogue is definitely developed.
;)
Hey eldarin you forgot another sonic rival in the intro knuckles
his little cresent fur thing symbolizes the moon and sonics belly the sun
chronicles confirms one of my fav characters can go super in the modern games knuckles
Your right Knuckles how could I forget! Knuckles is so cool, thank you for watching and hope you enjoyed :D
Intressting video
Hey thanks so much, happy to hear you enjoyed it :D
@@Eldarin Your welcome :D
Shadow was venom snake before venom snake
_Metal Gear Shadow: The Ultimate Lifeform_
1:30 Wait. Shadow's last name is Android?
Hey there! No not exactly, its a really bad dialogue translation. In Shadow the Hedgehog one of the endings is Shadow finds out he was an android (as the question was raised if he was the real shadow in heroes) and that's the final line of that ending which became a meme. I'm a little foggy on Shadow's story as I haven't played it for a long time but Im pretty sure thats the gist of it. Thanks for watching and hope you enjoyed :)
Rogue was originally going to be called "Nails". The irony is killing me. Rogue, the dark counterpart to a character named Knuckles, was called Nails. XD
I totally see the Amy resemblance! And yeah that’s a good point it’s quite funny how “nails” being the counterpart to knuckles similar to the hand lol
What mic are you using? Sounds great!
Hey thanks so much! I am using a blue yeti but have some stock audio filters worked on it to make it sound richer...look at this video compared to say my sonic CD video for comparison. If you want me to send you my list let me know!
@@Eldarin Your right, this one sounds much better. The audio in your Sonic CD video sounds similar to what I get straight from my Blue Snowball mic. I'd love to know what filters your using. Oh, and BTW good job with your videos!
@@apetrey hey there, do you have a way a twitter or something I can send it to you thru?
@@Eldarin Thanks man! I just added you on Twitter.
It's normal for her to not have "wings" because a bat wings are their arm (you can even see elbow extension) , so basically Rouge now is supposed to have 4 arm, imo, Rouge character design makes no sense, i still like her, but the bat species proprieties were quit not respected, like she can see while bats shouldn't and has super strong legs, while normal bats have very weak legs (it's they can't stand on the floor and stand on roofs). I found the legs is not big of a deal, i found interesting to make the opposite of what logically should have been the case, but im kinda disapointed for the sight part, i think it would have made some interesting stuff and add a bit more "uniquness" into it, espeacially for a spy to have developed hearing alowing her to "see" in the dark
Thats such an interesting take on the matter...it would've been perfect if she had her night vision and it was used in place for the treasure scope(and maybe make that upgrade a tad more useful)! Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video :)
do you think the lines in her ears signify echolocation?
I remember when shadow got his own game in 2005, one UK publication said something extremely stupid: "ah look what they have done to sonic they've stereotyped him, they've turned him black they've given him a gun and a attitude" I wish I'd kept that magazine that kinda slack reviewing probably wouldn't really be tolerated in this day and age
Wow really? Dang, I always was a fan of Shadow the Hedgehog when I was younger...I am curious how I will feel about it now that I'm older though. The music is 10/10 either way in my book though. Thanks for watching :)
2nd Shadow design looks like he listens to Evanescence
@@Outta-hz1ej hey nothing wrong with evanescence!!!
"I'm Rouge the bat, but you can call me Rouge."
Uh, oookay..
Wait he's making videos on sonic games in cannon order :0
I'm trying to for the mainline games but for the handhelds and such I'm gonna try to fit them in around where they would be canonically but it may not be 100% accurate
@@Eldarin nice but I gotta ask does 06 count I mean it happened then the hedgehog gang and princess Fiona from Shrek did the thing so that 06 didn't happen but then you go to crisis city and fight silver in generations so yeah idk sonic lore is confusing
@@Poindexstar i have to say I love how you referred to Elise as frickin FIONA FROM SHREK LOL. I'm gonna cover that in release order so after Shadow, Im super excited to cover 06 as I haven't played it in a very long time since it came out and I loved it so Im curious what Im gonna think about it now