Em E. Lee

Before I write any further, let's establish some vital ground rules:

Well, then: After I thought he really couldn't outdo himself after Ridley, Joker, Banjo-Kazooie, and even the Piranha Plant combined, Masahiro Sakurai-san has proven yet again that he can still totally break the Smash Bros. fanbase with his incredible announcements.

Look out.

clouds of haze loom

I sometimes feel at-odds with certain sections of gaming fandom, especially when it comes to SEGA and their mascot franchise Sonic the Hedgehog. For one thing, I'm still a huge fan of the franchise, have been since I was a kid (it was really the series that first really got me into gaming, actually), but then I also tend to be way more positive and relaxed towards it than most people seem to; sometimes, it's to the point where I feel like that extremely vocally negative minority would probably eat me alive if I tried to explain my opinions to them. I mean, for one thing, I don't think Sonic Forces is that bad, I think it's still totally worth playing, but then I also love Sonic Unleashed and its story. I believe that both classic and modern Sonic games have their individual merits, and I'm very proud of SEGA for experimenting and daring to try something different with the character over the years. And—for some reason, probably my most controversial opinion in this article—I don't think the Sonic film design is nearly as bad as everyone says it is (which is something I definitely want to discuss further in a future piece).

Well, this certainly caught me by surprise.