In this segment of this week’s Podcast Beyond, Akeem Lawanson FINALLY confronts Brian Altano on words that were said about Sonic the Hedgehog as a video game series. Will Brian realize how wrong he was, or will he double down on his thoughts on Sonic, especially after Sonic Frontier just released? Was Sonic Mania not good enough?
Now speaking of colorful characters who Are exploring the Multiverse Um Sonic Prime premieres on on Netflix This week uh that's a show uh we already Have a Sonic game or calm down over There you get your chance we talk about Sonic the Hedgehog in a sec let me do This Segway Um obviously we got Sonic Frontiers we Found out this week that it sold 2.5 Million copies which is very good for You know that little hedgehog Um IGN has sort of a reputation for um Not liking Sonic like we uh I believe We're on the record you know actually Just it came you Yeah yeah so this is the thing you know IGN I will say this officially hates I'm Just kidding I'm not about to say it I'm Not about to say it because it's not It's not true IGN does not hate Sonic I'm just going to make this fast because You know uh you know when you're talking About this particular subject matter you Gotta go fast there was something from IGN's past that I'm sure a lot of people Specifically Brian would have preferred If it just stayed buried beneath the Hundreds of thousands of videos that Have come out since it's posting but With Sonic Frontiers here and you you Heard what what Max just said and the Upcoming Sonic Prime Netflix series upon Us I figured I'd dig up a slice of
Nostalgia to present to you and maybe Have you break down what you meant when You said a few things on an episode of Game scoop about a little blue Hedgehog So I present to you Ryan Right here you see this this is IGN's Pass are you probably asking yourself Yeah what's it I just did that's it's Our past and you're probably saying like What's in this box Brian well look at That oh my God it's it's Sonic that's Right six years ago this is gonna go I I Dredged this up just for you Brian now Six years ago both Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces were two games released by Sega Uh and while talking about Sonic on game Scoop Brian you were you were clearly Kind of wavering you were like biting Your tongue on how you truly felt about Sonic until you decided to just unleash A Litany of hot takes like you were Zooming around lava Reef Zone in Sonic 3. you had this to say I think we're at The point where we need to admit that This was never really a great franchise We keep trying and trying and trying to Find this thing that was never really Actually there wow wow it was never Really a good franchise huh Brian well I'm sorry we're well over believe it or Not 100 Sonic games two movies a Long-running comic book series and six Shows with two of them being voiced by America's lovable 90s blur Jalil white
Did he do that yes he did he was Sonic I Love him if this was I don't know if you Do if this was never really a great Franchise no you don't I doubt hey hey I'm in the middle of something yes you Look when you besmirched Sonic you be Smirched everyone associated with Sonic Okay Brian I'm just gonna say that right Now no it's true now I'm gonna say this Like I doubt we'd still be talking about Him and celebrating his 30th Anniversary If he was never really good I thought July was older than 30 by now who knows He's like Immortal Yes yeah you Brian without taking into Consideration those particular points That I just stated that yes you rudely Interrupted you went even further by Saying this I feel bad for saying it Because Sonic is there is their number One friend is their biggest franchise Ever and they've been chasing this ghost For decades now chasing this ghost is What you said chasing this ghost well I Guess they done found amen rappy which Is not only a deep cut Sonic reference But a ghost a ghost from Sonic Underground it's a ghost what I just Said amen rappy is a ghost from Sonic Underground because Sega done caught That very elusive ghost in which you Claimed they've been chasing and there's Clearly a ghost in the machine as even The mixed reviewed Sonic Unleashed was a
Commercial success selling over 2 Million units Brian yeah 2 million units I'm following the bouncing spin ball Here I'm trying to amen Um Family Matters too hey Matt you're Losing your rings Brian you need to slow Down you're losing those Rings okay look Looking at Sonic's core Foundation here All right we're gonna go back to Sonic's Core Foundation okay Brian going back to Where it all started you had this to say In comparison random comparison to Super Mario World Sonic one is a non issue it's just it's A terrible game Sonic 2 I think is and Sonic Knuckles have redeemed redeemable Aspects within five years of those games You could play Sonic 2 and you could Play Super Mario World in the same Afternoon and you realize which one it's Better which one aged better as if we're Talking about some adult beverages well You know what Sonic 2 is like a nice red Wine blend that's been aged in whiskey Barrels you know you you know you've Given it that like refined taste but Super Mario World being like a nice Tequila bottle you know you you've been Saving when your friends come over for The holidays you just want to crack it Open and enjoy it now what what does This mean Brian you're probably asking Well it means I'm asking that a lot yeah Yeah well it means they're both good and
Have absolutely nothing to do with one Another's inherent enjoyment by anyone Now I say all this Brian because I wish I could have been on that couch during That game scoop according to the Finn Sonic and be the objective voice to Everyone else who were just in agreement With your statement exotic was never Good Sonic was always good you can fight Me about it but using words because you Know you your words set me on a path Brian that would see me changing the Trajectory of my professional career Becoming an Entertainer all for the sole Purpose of one day confronting you with The about those statements many years Ago you know I was actually going to be A dentist at one point but here I am Defending a little blue spiky demon blue Demon asking you Brian why'd you have Such harsh words about sega's Golden Blue Boy Well first of all Oh I could have been looking inside her Mouths right now but no because of you Brian I'm here Let me apologize for a couple things the First is that you would be making so Much more money right now I know I know The second is you're right I apologize I think that when I said Sonic was never good what I meant to say Was like to me Sonic has never been like
Truly great although Sonic had been Consistently good many times before and Since after in 2016 when I made those Comments it wasn't exactly the best ERA For Sonic we hadn't gotten Mania yet we Hadn't gotten you know this this new era That we're in now we didn't get the Sonic movies in terms of comparing him To Mario uh I'll defer you to Sega who Did that first that was their entire Marketing for that character to begin With their entire marketing was Basically like this is what we have we Have blast processing and Mario's fat Ass walking real slow with his old Dinosaur do not have those things so They're going slow but I will say this To the camera and to you particularly And specifically Akeem Sonic fans I am sorry for saying that Sonic was never good that was wrong that Was incorrect I have since come around On that character I have watched the Movies with my kid and enjoyed them Immensely Sonic Frontiers is fun I liked Sonic Colors I liked Sonic Generations I Liked Sonic Mania I actually was in New Jersey a couple years ago rummaging Through some of my old trash that I had As a kid and I found a t-shirt that I Made in school in the 90s That said Sega does what Nintendo and This is I'm a huge I'm a huge Nintendo Fan I've been on Nintendo voice chat for
Years not going back on there now yeah I Know they're never let me back on and I I basically had I had a picture of Mario With the you know with the no smoking With a crossed out thing on it and I Went hard on that dude and so like I Really I was there I bought Sonic 2 when It first came out about Sonic and Knuckles when it first came out I made That whole Tower of uh Genesis Peripherals that plugged into each other That you know people could hop over it Was like four feet tall of just like Weird plastic that plugged into each Other Um You're right I was wrong when I went on That show I was remarking on what had Been like a recent era and what happened There is I ended up speaking on behalf Of all of IGN and that's unfair because By that point in time IGN had uh Published several several very positive Sonic reviews across multiple platforms I bought Sonic Advance on the Game Boy Advance I enjoyed it I my thing with him Was that I've never truly connected with His games in the same way I have with Mario but that's okay because I think That like no matter what Something we can all agree on Is that Sonic has been good and it's It's it's Crash Bandicoot that's never Been oh okay here we go look you know
What but before you you dig yourself an Even deeper hole Brian uh it's really Let's get it Sonic you've been good You've been great in fact you've been Bad too like let's not you have been Better you've been naughty but Crash Bandicoot you have really just been [ __ ] this up for 25 years Brian I Want to present you with this I want I Want you to describe to the audience What I am holding up Um I think you okay that's great yeah Put sonic around on my shoulder it's a Beautiful I you know he's a sweet sweet Little man right there you're holding up An l and that's for me and I want you to Take this this is yours I will I'll take That I'll take that L it lights up and Everything too so it's just for you no Keep it warm at night Sonic YouTubers Clipped us out It's good Sonic has been great and Sonic One day will be tremendous and I'm sorry That Akeem put him in a small casket Back there hey you put him in this no You did you bodied my boy you bodied my Boy I didn't do this I had to Drudge it Up And buy a child's casket for a doll Akeem That you did that okay I got I got this From a Barbie set okay I have more Questions wait what There's just so many questions arising
From this it's it's a yeah it's no Motel I'll say it again I apologize to Sonic Fans I apologize to Sega Sonic is a is a Great character he's super fun jillo White is awesome I don't even know why We got we dragged him into this [ __ ] but Uh Sonic is good Sonic has been great And Sonic will continue to uh endure for Generations and entertain children and Adults all over the world and Crash Bandicoot needs to step his [ __ ] up Brian Brian so you sit Brian so you would say you like Sonic Yes okay name one Sonic level Green Hill Zone I'm at smython me I said The bar too low yeah um Casino Zone nice Name three Sonic characters Sonic the Hedgehog that aren't that aren't Sonic Tails or Knuckles Max the Echidna Supersonic Tails Knuckles Big the cat Um Amy okay you're a hardcore fan you're A hardcore hot Nick I thought you might Have been your own do they name the rats And the rabbits that they put in the Garbage cans at the end of levels do They have names no they're not they're Not rats there's although I think there Are rats but they're they're wild Animals okay all right all right wild Animals okay rats can be wild then this Has been an emotional Journey Um I was gonna jump to Crash Bandicoot's Defense you know because he used to be
The Sony spokesman but he's a Microsoft Property now so [ __ ] that guy Deuces is a PlayStation Now five years from now we're gonna have To defend crash someone's gonna be on Somebody probably probably a lawyer Because he's going to hit somebody with His car I don't know what to tell you The guy needs help Um did you see how Jackie was at the Game awards he was yeah yeah he's Definitely going through something oh Boy I came Thank you and again to you I apologize Directly uh into Sonic fans I apologize And Hakeem I'm sorry that Um that my comments put you on this Journey that brought you here Instead of becoming a dentist where You'd be a lot richer look I'm fine my Parents are the ones that are Disappointed they were like what really Because of a guy on the internet you're Gonna this is what you want to do son All right yeah start taking classes at Second City on the plus side can I can I Point out that if you brought a a Child's casket with a doll in it to a Dentist's office probably wouldn't go as Well right true that is true I mean trust me you don't want to know How I how I found this casket okay I'm just trying to even have you ever
Seen that okay have you ever seen the Movie Pet Cemetery put it back in the Ground it came just it doesn't need to Be here right now it's exhumed we got This corpse out we breathed some new Life into it that L looks like it's Really there though it's very well done Yeah that's really good because it is Sitting at home we have some movie Magic Making it look like Brian is a huge Loser yep it takes movie Magic too All right okay I got the Avatar team Working behind the scenes No we've been trying to do this bit for Like for like well that's true three Months now and yeah it has exceeded all Of my expectations on every human like One or both of you had coveted at some Point like I don't we were trying to Frame this around the release of Frontiers like yeah we were basically Like we I I came you were like you're Gonna let me on Beyond huh all right I Got some I got some words I wanna I got Something I want to say to Brian Brian's Like oh boy uh yeah so anyway I went the Extra mile I clipped out I watched I Don't know how many times I watched that Episode of Game scoop probably like 16 17 times and and I I will you just like Doing pull-ups like Clubber Lang and Being like I'm coming for you Exactly every with every single because With every single passing day we got new
Information about about either Sonic Prime Sonic Frontiers like you said Earlier man yeah exactly like it just I Just kept getting more and more ammo at A certain point I just had to stop like And you guys know that because in our in Our morning meetings you know something New would come up about Sonic and you Would say hey more ammo for a game like No I gotta stop I just got Brian's gonna Get if they're not eat already if There's anything that Sonic fans Understand it's going really fast and Then suddenly stopping because an object Popped up that broke all the momentum For the level Sonic is that is the thing that is that Sonic is good all right I don't like the Spikes okay [Music]
