Available on MerseySportLive: https://merseysportlive.co.uk/2026/02/25/hill-dickinson-stadium-to-host-lionesses-against-ukraine-in-june/ The Lionesses are the next team to feature at Everton’s new flagship stadium as they prepare to host Ukraine Women in a World Cup 2027 Qualifier in June. The game against Ukraine will take place at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Tuesday June 9th and will be the women’s final group-stage qualifier ahead of the tournament in Brazil. The 2023 runners-up play their first group stage game in Group C away to Ukraine next Tuesday, in a group which also contains Iceland and holders Spain. They then host Iceland at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground on Saturday 7th March and then welcome Spain, who the Lionesses beat in the 2025 European Championship Final, at Wembley on 14th April. England manager Sarina Wiegman said: “It is very exciting for us to be playing for the first time at Everton’s new stadium. “The city of Liverpool has a rich football history with many connections to the Lionesses over the years, so it will be a very special feeling. “Every game matters and this match will be the last in our qualification campaign. “As always we’ll give our very best to play at our highest level and put ourselves in the best possible place to finish the group strongly.” Strong start to life by the River Mersey It will be the first time an England team plays at the Toffees’ new home. The stadium will host Scotland men’s friendly with Ivory Coast on March 31st. The stadium has had a bright start to life on the Mersey, having already hosted a Rugby League Ashes Test between England and Australia in November to a sell-out crowd, and will welcome the sport back when it hosts Magic Weekend on the first weekend of July. Earlier this week, it was also announced England will be playing Fuji in the rugby Nations Championship a week later on July 11th. Hill Dickinson has already been confirmed as a host venue for the Men’s European Championships in 2028 and is among the 22 proposed stadiums included in the Home Nations’ bid to stage the 2035 Women’s World Cup. England Women’s FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 Qualifiers Ukraine v England – Mardan Sports Complex, Antalya – Tuesday 3 March (5pm GMT) England v Iceland – The City Ground, Nottingham – Saturday 7 March (12.30pm GMT) England v Spain – Wembley Stadium connected by EE, London – Tuesday 14 April (7pm BST) Iceland v England – Laugardalsvöllur Stadium, Reykjavik – Saturday 18 April (5.30pm BST) Spain v England – Venue TBC – Friday 5 June England v Ukraine – Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool – Tuesday 9 June, (8pm (BST)

Available on MerseySportLive: https://merseysportlive.co.uk/2026/02/27/marine-vice-chairman-says-woking-fa-trophy-tie-is-clubs-biggest-game-in-years/ Marine vice chairman Dave McMillan says Saturday’s FA Trophy quarter-final against Woking is one of the club’s biggest fixtures in years, as the Crosby side look to reach the last four for the first time since the early 1990s. Marine, who sit tenth in the National League North , welcome Woking from the division above (National League) at Rossett Park at 3pm on Saturday, standing two games away from the final at Wembley Stadium. McMillan believes the importance of this weekend’s tie speaks for itself. “It’s certainly a massive fixture,” he said. “In context, you’d probably say the playoff final when we beat Macclesfield was bigger in terms of the club’s direction, but in the Trophy it’s the first time in thirty-one years we’ve got this far.” Preparing for big crowds and big occasions McMillan says Marine’s growth in recent years, both on and off the pitch, has helped them prepare for high-stakes fixtures like Saturday’s. “Certainly, logistically, in terms of dealing with bigger crowds, we’ve learned a lot in probably six or seven years,” he said. He added that the club has developed a stronger profile and improved infrastructure to match its ambitions. Marine are expecting one of their biggest crowds of the season, with around 1,000 home tickets already sold for Saturday’s tie. The club has urged supporters to buy in advance, with demand continuing to rise ahead of the quarter-final. Spurs cup tie ‘massive’ for Marine’s growth McMillan reflected on the club’s famous FA Cup third-round tie against Tottenham Hotspur in 2021, which was broadcast live on BBC One and delivered one of the biggest moments in Marine’s history. “If you get to the third round of the cup and you’re live against the Spurs, live on BBC One, then it’s not gonna do any harm in terms of boosting your profile,” he said. “It was a major factor increasing attendances post-COVID… certainly in terms of raising our profile, it was massive.” He said the financial boost from that match allowed Marine to invest heavily in infrastructure. “The Spurs game gave us the opportunity to reinvest that money in the club facilities. “Putting a 3G pitch in, refurbishing the social club, and further ground improvements that we needed to do since we got promoted to National League North.” Financial and emotional stakes in Trophy run With Marine now just two wins from Wembley, McMillan says the FA Trophy offers both financial opportunity and a rare moment of glory. “There’s a financial aspect, certainly in terms of prize money and gate shares,” he said. “I think Spennymoor last season made in excess of 100k just on the final itself. “But even if you didn’t make a penny out of it, for a club of any size to get to Wembley is a once-in-a-generation opportunity really. “We’ve got a very tough game on Saturday, and if we get through that, you’ll certainly have another tough semi-final. “But it’s all about allowing the fans to dream, isn’t it? You want your team to be winning trophies and get promotions.” An all-Merseyside final between Marine and Southport Local rivals Southport are also in quarter-final action on Saturday as they host Yeovil Town . If both progress, there is a possibility of a Marine–Southport final at Wembley. “That’d be absolutely fantastic, wouldn’t it?” McMillan said. “Both clubs have had lots of injury problems, and for both to get to Wembley would be fantastic.” All four quarter-final fixtures have a National League North/South team at home to a National League side, with McMillan saying that there’s a chance a few could progress to the semi-finals. “You’d like to think at least one or two of the Step Two clubs are gonna get through. “Hopefully it’ll be Marine and Southport.” Strong league campaign under Bobby Grant Marine sit tenth in the National League North, just five points off the play-offs under new manager Bobby Grant. McMillan praised the former striker for adapting to the demands of his first senior managerial role. “He’s a rookie manager coming into a very, very tough league,” he said. “We’re comfortably tenth, and given the injury list we’ve had this season, that is an absolutely fantastic achievement.” He praised the dynamic between Grant and the director of football, Neil Young. “They get on really well and complement each other. Bobby would probably also tell you he’s made a few mistakes, but there’s no manager at any level who doesn’t.” Looking ahead, McMillan believes Marine are well on track for a solid end to the season. “We’re on significantly more points than last season with an improved league position. “Whether that’s where we are now, whether that’s in the play-offs, we’ll see. And if you do get play-offs, as we saw when we beat Macclesfield, who knows? “Anything can happen.”

Chilean and American actor Pedro Pascal has had his fair share of action adventures such as saving the galaxy (and Baby Yoda) in The Mandalorian or flirting and fighting through Westeros as Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones, but 2023 was the year Pascal shined the brightest in his darkest acting performance yet. The Last of Us (2023) by HBO tells the story of two characters, Joel Miller played by Pascal and Ellie Williams played by Bella Ramsey, navigating a post-apocalyptic world in this traumatic adaptation of the 2013 video game produced by Naughty Dog. The story involves Joel and Ellie trying to find a cure for the virus that has turned humans into cannibalistic animals. Joel in many ways is like the Mandalorian, both are father-like figures with very caved-in emotions. Joel especially is a broken, damaged character after the loss of his daughter Sarah, who eventually gets his spark back interacting and caring for Ellie, and Pascal uses his experience from past castings to benefit his character to portray a father-daughter relationship that elevates the series to new storytelling heights. Both Pascal and Ramsey provide excellent portrayals of their characters and the trials they must overcome together provide a dynamic that is touching and genuine, despite their grim circumstances. The critics seem to agree, as Pascal won Best Hero at the 2023 MTV Movie + TV Awards, as well as Pascal and Ramsey winning Best Duo. The Last of Us is available to stream on HBO and NOW TV.

Sonic Boom is the hedgehog’s first cartoon animated show, and its humorous writing and brilliant character interactions make for one of Sonic and Co.’s funniest adventures yet.   Sonic is no stranger to being on a TV screen. Even in the franchise’s early years there were three shows aired, two even at the same time, and 2003’s Sonic X was the hedgehog’s first foray into anime. Sonic Boom is the fifth TV series and is the first fully cartoon animated, with full 3D CGI animation enabling for higher quality scenes and character expressions. The show ran from 2014 to 2017 and consisted of two 52-episode long seasons.   The series follows Sonic and his best friends: Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and newcomer Sticks the Badger, battling against Dr Eggman and his henchmen (or should I say henchrobots) Orbot and Cubot in short and witty episodes that boil down to an underlying issue that gets resolved by the end of the episode. Some examples of episodes are when Sonic and Eggman are stuck in a temple that requires teamwork to escape, Knuckles becomes mayor of the village for a day and accepts every proposal the villagers have which causes chaos, and an episode where Sonic and Eggman switch bodies and Sonic in Eggman’s body must get his own body back before Eggman can cause serious damage.   The characters have received drastic overhauls not just to their looks, with proportion sizes changing, but also their tone and personality. Sonic Boom was set to be an alternate universe for the franchise until the video games flopped and the whole idea erased. Sonic is more self-centred, egocentric, and sarcastic, Knuckles is dumb, and Amy is more independent and smarter than her video game counterpart. Dr Eggman is also vastly different, going from a formidable adversary to being flat-out a comedic frenemy to Team Sonic. This was to aid the writing and create a more diverse cast, which works for the better here.   The show is full of fourth wall breaks and self-aware jokes that sometimes make references to other forms of media within the franchise. The character interactions are some of the bests in the entire series, and the new characters are a delightful addition to the cast. Sonic Boom is easily some of Sonic’s best voice acting in the series. The main cast from the games came over to voice their respective characters in Sonic Boom, with stellar performances. The writing enables the voice actors to deliver their character’s range of emotions, for example, Roger Craig Smith as Sonic emphasises the sarcastic and impatient nature of the blue blur extremely well, as well as his massive ego that gets in his way often. The CGI animation is colourful and smooth and enables the characters to be as expressive as they have ever been, enabling the cast to feel more alive and diverse with one another.   Sonic Boom is a cheerful and funny delight of a TV show that does not overstay its welcome. Its mix of action and humour combine to create a show that is engaging, with entertaining characters and some of the best writing in the franchise. It was a shame the show was not successful enough for a third season, but the two seasons we have are well worth a watch. Sonic Boom is now available to stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and YouTube.

From TV screens to movie theatre screens, video games have taken over our lives, and this trend is only going to continue. 2023 was the biggest year for video game adaptations so far, with movies like Gran Turismo, Five Nights at Freddy’s and of course, the Super Mario Bros Movie all hitting the big screen this year to commercial and critical acclaim, with Mario grossing over $1 billion US dollars at the box office. As well as films, we have TV shows like Castlevania: Nocturne and The Last of Us. The latter of which was nominated and even won plenty of awards, such as The Game Award for Best Adaptation, MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Hero, Best Duo, and Best Show. Ten years ago, something like this would have been unheard of. The video game movie genre had tried and failed to gain an audience, with the likes of Mario Bros (1993) and Street Fighter (1994) being unsuccessful in adapting the material to Hollywood glory.   Illumination’s CEO, Chris Meledandri, said “There was this industry idea that video games weren’t adaptable IP.”  This is because a video game is player-focused, the players are responsible for what happens on the screen, and we as an audience are active participants. As opposed to being on film, we as the audience are passive. We react to what is in front of us, but we have no way of altering the story or what happens. Most video games, especially those from the early generations, did not require a story to function. The gameplay was the core focus. While a film would fail to function without a story.   So, what is it that caused the turning point in video game adaptations? Well, one of the reasons has to do with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog  in 2020. The movie released at a perfect time, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, so it was able to have much more exposure as there were not any films releasing for a few months, causing the film to be a commercial success, grossing over 300 million USD, but also being a critical success too.   The film decided to go against the norm of adaptations of 'adapting' the video game onto the big screen, and instead created a new universe, with a new Sonic that was different from the one from the games, with a new personality, new goals, and new origins. Paramount wanted their own version of Sonic and made him more childlike, more immature but willing to learn. They even went all the way to give the hedgehog a complete makeover after the initial reveal had fans in shock at the state of the movie model. Sonic is a massive name in the media regardless, but the film still had to tell a compelling story and show a true interpretation of the blue blur to bring both old and new fans to cinema screens, and it did just that.   Dmitri Johnson was one of the co-producers of the Sonic movie, talked about the success of the movie in an interview from 2021. He talks about how big a success not just the production but the concept of movies that can do well based off video game IP. "Everyone thought (Sonic) was a joke at first, but shortly after the film's release, the incoming calls increased from studios and networks saying, 'Hey, whaddya got next?' Having creative directors and producers onboard is one of the main reasons that these new adaptations are so successful. Sonic 1 and 2 were both directed by Jeff Fowler. Despite his small credential record as a director, he has been a fan of the games for years and even got to work on one of the series’ games, Shadow the Hedgehog, as a visual effect artist. Having someone at the lead who knows the franchise inside and out will make it easier to adapt ideas and concepts that not only will make the product more entertaining but also fit and make sense as well. 2023's The Last of Us TV series is a remarkably close recreation of the original video game from ten years prior. HBO followed Paramount’s approach with Sonic, having someone who has worked on the game take the helm with game producer Neil Druckmann brought on as a producer for the show. It turned out to be a great adaptation of the video game and remains loyal to the IP by having the narrative be a close retelling, just with better shots given the increased budget.     The Mario movie was a joint effort between Illumination and Nintendo, with Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator and supposed ‘father’ of Mario having heavy involvement in the film's production. The 1993 original Mario Bros movie w by a married couple, Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton, and were not involved with Nintendo at all. The Mario movie took a similar approach to the Sonic movie, having a new Mario, with a new voice, a fresh look, a new family, and a new origin. This is not the same Mario as in the games, meaning fans can watch this without feeling they have to interact with the video games to get the most out of it. The two main factors established to make a good adaptation of a video game are that it needs to find the right balance of making something new whilst staying true to the source material. Audience members should be able to watch these films and get the same enjoyment out of them as those who have been fans of the game franchise for years. Secondly, ideally, involvement from the original company to ensure the product is up to their standard is best suited to this practice. Having someone on board who has been a part of the IP to guide the directors and producers so they work hand in hand will create the best possible outcome.   As we move into 2024, multiple video game adaptations are in the works. Sonic 3 and the Last of Us Season 2 are both in development, and Nintendo has recently greenlit the production of the first Legend of Zelda movie, but no word on a sequel to Mario just yet. We have other films upcoming such as a Minecraft movie, Fallout, Borderlands and more. It is a fun time to be a fan of video games, movies, or both!

25 years on, Ocarina of Time meets Studio Ghibli in this wonderfully animated fan film. The announcement of a live action Legend Of Zelda movie is exciting film and video game fans alike. While we wait for Sony Pictures and Wes Ball to work their magic, we have talented fan projects to enjoy in the meantime, that capture Hyrule in their own style. This animation comes to us from YouTuber RwanLink. It is a short fan-film retelling the early events in  Ocarina of Time , in the style of a Studio Ghibli film. The Japanese animation studio well known for multiple animation films such as Howl's Moving Castle and The Boy and the Heron  has captivated the hearts of many with their fantastic animation work, their excellent storytelling and phenomenal score. Hayao Miyazaki, director of Studio Ghibli, is a master at world building and creating full of life characters in his work. RwanLink  takes all this inspiration and more in an 18-minute video which took him six hundred hours within a four-month time span to make. It recreates the opening act of the game where main character Link ventures into Castle Town to find Princess Zelda. The Nintendo 64 classic breathes new life through jaw-dropping animation and beautiful music that makes the original look even more dated 25 years after its release. As RwanLink  puts it, "As a passionate admirer of Studio Ghibli films, I drew inspiration from their aesthetic and seamlessly incorporated it into the world of Zelda Ocarina of Time, paying homage to the game's 25th anniversary". Here is the video in all its glory:

Like many people, I love many things—family, friends, food, parties, sports, games. There are many people I care for in this world, people that are important and mean a lot to me, that I think about each day, that I look up to, but none have impacted me in the unique way this blue anthropomorphic hedgehog has. A lot of people in my life ask me what I find so special about Sonic the Hedgehog, claiming that he’s just a video game character for children, and while that is entirely true, he is also one of the most important characters I have come across in my life so far, and this will tell you why. But first, I thought it be better to provide some clarity with my statement. This piece will explain why I love Sonic the Hedgehog and everything about the series, from the music, games, characters, movies, TV shows, collaborations, food, you name it. I am obsessed and have been from a very young age. This franchise has given me so much in times I had so little, and I will forever be grateful for finding Sonic how I did, and how he has been there for me when I needed someone. This video will explain why I have all these feelings, and what some people say are delusional feelings for something that is not real, but I hope to highlight the magic of this character today. My history with this franchise started back in the summer of 2006. I was only a 4-year-old boy, fresh out of nappies and able to walk fully, talk fully, and I started finding interests and hobbies. As a family, we went on our first holiday since my sister and I were born, a caravan trip down to Devon, England. I do not remember much about the trip, aside from dropping a whole ice cream on my shirt, as well as a trip to McDonald's. This was no ordinary trip, however. Back in the day, McDonald's used to have areas in the restaurant for play areas for the younger children, and these would sometimes include game booths, these beefy computers that had game consoles connected to them where you could play demos of certain games. There were two GameCube kiosks available, one with Mario Kart Double Dash and the other with a game called Sonic Heroes. Interestingly, I felt more invested in Double Dash than Heroes, but this was my first ever time playing a video game, in McDonalds, makes sense cos I was a fat little shit back in the day. I forced my dad to go the day after, not even for food but to play again. This time I gave Sonic Heroes a try, and I took to Seaside Hill like a duck to water. It was seamless, I was playing a Sonic game properly. Yes, I was unable to get past the stage, but I was using all three character’s moves to progress through the stage. I remember loving it so much that I asked my parents for a GameCube that Christmas, which fit with both Double Dash and Heroes, along with other games like Mario Party 4, Shrek 2, and Mario Sunshine. Back then I am not sure why I was drawn so much to Heroes, but all I knew was that it was cool. The game was cool, and I felt cool playing it, and that is the way I look at Sonic today. GameCube kiosk found in McDonalds. I then went back and played all the other GameCube titles, both Adventure games, and Mega Collection, but missed Shadow because my parents hate fun and could not tolerate a 5-year-old playing a game about a black hedgehog shooting guns. My childhood was Nintendo-focused, so I had a DS, Wii and 3DS with the key Sonic games on there, before skipping the Wii U generation and thus, falling off track with Sonic from 2014 onwards. It was not till the Sonic Movie in 2020 that got me back into the franchise, funnily enough, the time that Sonic started gaining momentum back as a mainstay pop culture icon. Since then, we've not been much apart. I still grossly wait in anticipation for Sonic 3, Shadow Generations and more that Sonic and SEGA have up his sleeve waiting to be announced, and I am so happy with the trajectory the series has taken over the past few years. But let us settle the question, why is Sonic so likeable? Well, the answer is simple, despite being an alien, so unlike a normal human being, to me, he feels more human than some real humans in the franchise like Eggman, heck he feels more human than humans inhabiting our world today. Sonic was created by SEGA as a rival to the happy, lucky-go nature of Nintendo and Super Mario. Mario is a very light-hearted character, always happy, cheerful, and easy to express through limited storage space, especially in 8- and 16-bit form. Sonic Team wanted something to differentiate themselves, so they took the meaning of ‘cool’ to mean his attitude, with Naoto Oshima describing his no-nonsense, no-order following attitude, whilst always fighting for what he believed in. This has been the core of Sonic’s character for the past 33 years. He has always done what he believes is right, which does present difficulties as sometimes he can be in the wrong, but it is that confidence he has in himself and his decisions that I find cool and inspiring. Yes, in concept, it is very selfish for Sonic to only do what he believes in, take the ending of Sonic and the Black Knight for example. Merlina wants the world to continue forever, but Sonic does not believe any good will come for a world that lasts forever, instead believing that enjoying the here and now is worth more than lasting forever, with him going as far as calling that ‘lame.’ This all culminates in what is my favourite piece of dialogue ever said by the blue blur, once he defeats Merlina in her super godlike form. These are genuine words to live by, and it is something I think about a lot. Sonic did not mean unwell against Merlina, she only turned ‘evil’ at the very end of the game after assisting Sonic during his adventure. Sonic does not think ill of her even after she plotted against him, he respects and admires Merlina’s wish for a world that lasts forever, but he believes that a world like that would be no fun. A world that we can enjoy today is a world worth living in, and he is right. Yes, the world our society lives in today is not perfect, hell, there is a lot wrong with it, especially if you are like me and live in Britain. But nothing lasts forever, and one day we might look back at these days in our lives and regret not living it to the fullest, and that is what I believe Sonic means when saying this to Merlina, and indirectly to us, the audience too. The fact he says "At least, that's what I figure" , exemplifies what his character is. He does not know the right or wrong answers himself, he just does what he believes is right and what makes sense to him. This is what drives him to make the decisions he does. It is inspiring words from a cute little blue ball, a cute little blue ball with a sword in his hand this time, but it is true, he is an inspiring character not just through his words but through his actions too. His philosophy of doing what he believes is right plays a big part in his motives for an adventure. Take the latest game in the franchise, Sonic Frontiers for example. In the game, Sonic is faced with trying to rescue his friends from cyberspace, with an unknown voice entity guiding him on what to do through his adventure to save them. He does not know who this voice belongs to, nor where they come from or what they are, but because they are helping him find his friends, it does not matter to him. His friends are his most important asset, and he believes saving them is the right thing to do, whatever the reason. However, saving his friends in turn corrupts Sonic with cyber energy that progresses over the game to the point where Sonic is in visible pain. Take the first cutscene where Amy is rescued on Kronos Island to when Sonic arrives on Rhea Island for the first time and look how physically and mentally drained, he looks.   The difference in phrasing, the way he laughs, it is like he is making fun of his ideals, how doing what he believes is right is draining himself away. It all ends when he gets fully taken over by the corruption. Not before another one of my favourite cutscenes in Sonic history and another reason I love the character so much . Now mind, the transition back to gameplay where you can launch Sonic off the tower with no problem and him doing 62 different tricks in the air does make this seem off, the cutscene itself shows Sonic in so much pain, that it hurt me seeing him in a state like that. You can tell from the tone of Sage’s voice that she is also hurt by his state, she has been warning him throughout the game that Sonic cannot beat the cyber corruption, that he is fighting a losing battle, and that saving his friends wouldn’t work, but his passion and love for his friends is what keeps him going, what keeps him smiling. The smile wasn’t like a ‘hey Sage, look at me I’m still standing' sort of smile, it was like an acknowledgement smile, he understood what Sage meant, and to smile through the pain was to show that he would keep going for as long as this lets up. It broke my heart to see Sonic in so much pain, but he would do anything to save his friends, and that is what I find so touching and inspiring. Not that he is inspiring people to nearly kill themselves to save their friends, but to show the importance of friendship and how important friends mean to every one of us. Sonic is no one without his friends, you could argue, and it shows the lengths he will go to save them. Another reason I love this cutscene so much is his facial expressions. He looks up to see Sage, listens to what she says, takes a deep breath, smiles, and gets going again. With every setback, we can always get up, take a deep breath, smile, and get going again. Sonic makes me smile a lot, from the music to the characters, levels, and story, to other means like fanart, merchandise and more. Something about him and the franchise makes me feel happy, like a warm and fuzzy kinda feeling. It is this importance of smiling that is integral to his character. Yes, he has an attitude, but he always has a smile on his face. Both last two cutscenes showed two vastly different versions of Sonic in two completely different states, the only constant was the smile. I have a lot of problems with Sonic 06 especially Sonic’s relationship with Princess Elise. But the cutscene at the end of the game reminds me of the importance of his character and how he makes me feel. Elise does not want to blow the flame out because it would mean Sonic and herself would never meet, their adventure together would not exist anymore. But Sonic says "Elise, just smile." It emphasises the point made in the cutscene after Dusty Desert, where Sonic says to Elise that "your smile is all I need", that a smile can go so far to someone. Elise meant a lot to Sonic, maybe not romantically but was someone he genuinely cared about, and as sad as he was to practically null and void the connection between the two, all he needed in their final moments was for her to smile, and he would be happy. I would say I am quite a positive person. I like to smile and be happy, but don’t we all? Well, the world does not work like that does it? We live in a community of negative, evil people who do not make us want to smile and make us question why we smile in the first place. But smiling is not hard, it takes no effort to smile at someone, something, in the mirror, whatever. Sometimes, a smile at someone is all they need, like what Sonic needed from Elise. It sounds corny that I smile a lot because of Sonic, but he has given so much to me and made me smile a lot that, I want to repay those smiles too. The topic of Sonic smiling leads me to my next point why I love this character so much, and it is the effect he has on other people. Anyone with knowledge about the series, the stories and the characters know that Sonic is a very stable character, with no real character arc across a game. Only really through the Sonic movies have we seen Sonic change from the start to the finish. It is usually Sonic’s effect on others that bears more meaning and causes more change to his friends or enemies because of it. The most recent example is Sage from Frontiers, heck, everyone from Frontiers had a character arc. From Knuckles ready to take the stress off himself as the guardian of the Master Emerald, to Tails wanting to step out of Sonics shadow and prove to himself that he is a useful ally, Sage is by far the most impacted out of the lot. Sonic and Sage spend a lot of time together throughout the game. At first, Sage is programmed to stop Sonic from releasing the entity we know as the End, but she with the help of the Titans cannot stop Supersonic. She realises there is more to him than meets the eye, not only is he strong, but he is quirky, friendly and a joy for other people to be around, so much so that she envies him and his friends for having these moments, and how she feels the same way with her Dad, Eggman. Sonic gains a lot of her respect and encourages Eggman to team up with Sonic because of how strong he is, to the point where we discuss earlier where she is upset over the corrupted state, he is in on Rhea Island. Thankfully once things resolve themselves, she is quick to support Sonic whilst still being loyal to Eggman, culminating in the original ending where she sacrifices herself to save Sonic. The second ending…eh it is a shame she survives as it makes the original less impactful, but it doesn’t take away from the fact she had a complete character arc based on her interactions with Sonic, turning her from an AI robot killing machine to an AI robot that had feelings. Sage develops feelings of wanting friendship and family like Sonic has. I always think back to Sonic and Shadow’s relationship in Sonic Adventure 2 as another important moment to demonstrate Sonic’s effect on those around him. This is the game Shadow debuts in and is the inspiration for the upcoming Sonic Movie 3. From the moment Shadow is released from captivity on Prison Island by none other than Dr. Eggman, he is fully bent on getting revenge on the people of Earth for what happened to his best friend Maria. The ultimate lifeform is cocky, and arrogant and will not let anything or anyone stop him from his mission, tricking Eggman into a false reality as the Dr. thought they could work together to rule the world. Shadow’s motives do not change until the very end when Amy comes in and tries to voice with Shadow that the people of Earth are good, but I feel the cracks in Shadow's motives start to shift when with Sonic. Their relationship starts with Shadow making a mockery of Sonic, leading to the blue blur being prisoned again. Shadow does not see Sonic as a foe until their fight in the jungle of Prison Island. Shadow does not see Sonic as a worthy competitor, but after the fight, it feels like the respect between the two increases, despite no dialogue between the two. It is not until the final fight aboard the arc that Shadow feels Sonic is a worthy adversary to him, complimenting the fact Sonic saved himself from the capsule through Chaos Control. Shadow thought he was the best, and that no one could match him, but Sonic does, and Shadow admires that. It is one of the reasons he agrees to team up with Sonic in the end to save the arc from crashing into Earth. Yes, their relationship has been a bit more complicated since, but I pray that Sonic 3 portrays this growth in Shadow as he gains more respect for Sonic well. Speaking of Sonic vs Shadow, the final fight between the two starts with Shadow asking what Sonic even is, to which Sonic replies... I feel this could be his slogan, his motto, his reason for doing what he does. Nothing explains Sonic as a character better than his own words. Yes, he has got superhuman powers and can run at the speed of sound, but at the end of the day, he is just a normal guy who loves the thrill of adventure. He finds enjoyment and fun from running through countless loop-de-loops, he loves adventuring with his friends, and he loves stopping Eggman from whatever scheme he cooks up. Sonic does not do it because he must, it is not a job for him, even if he says it is. No one is telling him he needs to do it. He saves the day through the goodwill of his heart and how he just enjoys all the adventures he goes on. Sonic does not get tired of saving animals, eating chilli dogs, or spoiling Eggman Day, he finds it fun. There are things we do that also invoke this sense of enjoyment and fun. It may be something like going to a theme park, going to the beach, playing a video game, or watching your favourite sport. These are all adventures, no matter how big or small they seem. We should enjoy these adventures like Sonic enjoys his and continue to do the things we enjoy. When do we see Sonic doing things he does not enjoy? Very rarely. I mean we know he dislikes swimming, but we all must face our fears. This brings me over nicely to something not a lot of people talk about when they say they love Sonic’s character, and that is the music. There is a difference between liking the music for being music and liking the music, the lyrics, and the meaning behind it all. I believe some of the best Sonic music oozes the essence of the character with every sound bite, lyric and instrument. I quite frankly could make cases for at least ten songs, but I will point out three that I believe describe the character the best, which being It Doesn't Matter , Sonic's theme from Adventure, His World from 06 and Undefeatable from Sonic Frontiers. These are not only some of the best bangers in the series, but they feel like the most ‘Sonic’ songs, at least to me. It Doesn't Matter feels like Sonics thoughts and feelings portrayed as a song. "It Doesn't Matter now what happens I will never give up the fight.” Sonic is not bothered by what other people think about him and his actions, he lives for himself and his friends, and he does what he believes in, purely for himself. It also tells a story about not giving up, and how he will never stop until he has accomplished his goal, however big or small that is. “As long as the voice inside me says go,” It is the core belief in himself to carry himself forward that advances him towards his goal, without his confidence in himself he would not be able to believe in himself. I always like to compare It Doesn't Matter, Sonics theme, to Believe in Myself, Tails theme, and how different their two attitudes are. Tails looks up to Sonic, not because of his supernatural abilities, but for his confidence and his attitude, having the courage to stand up for what is right. Believe in Myself is a lot about envying Sonic, and wanting to be like Sonic, but Tails realises that you can’t be someone else, you can only be yourself, and having that belief in enables him to stand up for himself and eventually, saving the whole of Station Square. The instrumentals as well are so upbeat, inspiring, yet hard-core with the electric guitar being the highlight. His World is a hugely different song from It Does not Matter. Rather than being a song from Sonic, this is talking about him, and how cool he is. Describing him as kicking ass, putting on a show. If Sonic had a walkout song, this would be it. He sounds like a threat, someone not to be messed with, it is HIS World. The rap heavy, drums, guitar, and vocals all symphonies together to publicise the character up through his Adventure. This song gets me publicised every time I hear it, it is like a cool bombastic arrangement of everything that makes Sonic so formidable. Last is Undefeatable, which is abstract from normal Sonic vocal tracks. Having Kellin Quinn on vocals for a metal-heavy song for the first boss in the game was a heavy switch for most of us when we first experienced it, but what an experience it was. People are calling Undefeatable this generation ‘Live and Learn,’ and for good reason. The lyrics symbolise the struggles Sonic and Sega have gone through in recent years, but how giving up is never an option. “Running from the past is a losing game, it never brings you glory.” It describes a perspective change, about facing your fears and taking a risk. Frontiers as a game was a massive risk for Sonic Team. Many open world games have failed to make a lasting impact the way games like Elden Ring or Breath of the Wild did, and while very flawed, Frontiers stuck the landing. Sonic himself takes a lot of risks in this game, but how his spirit and belief are what makes him ‘Undefeatable.’ Sonic himself is not Undefeatable, you can thank Master Kocos trial for that. It is his strength to get back up again that makes him never lose. The second verse perfectly describes this risk, change, and why it is worth a chance. “I’ll give it what it takes, I’ll find another way, I used to never know, but now it’s crystal clear, this feeling is just a ghost.” Life is about finding out, stepping outside your comfort zone, and taking risks. But the fundamental message behind this track remains, to not give up. Drawing back to Adventure. It does not matter how cool or powerful Sonic is, he always bounces back, with a smile on his face, and is ready to go again. The ending is my favourite part of this song, a more sombre version of the chorus as Sonic smashes through the core or Giganto to finish him off. Not only do I find Sonic cool as a person, and a character, but it helps that his design is symbolic of a hero, of someone cool and with attitude. Whatever design of Sonic you like most, the core of his character remains intact. I have always loved his blue shine, his abnormally large gloves every cartoon animal seems to have, his little nose, his quills that Sonic fans still argue about to this day, and his shoes. You look at him and instantly think, yes, he knows what is up. He does not exert the feeling of light-hearted, innocence that Mario gives, Sonic, especially with his smirks, gives off personality, there is a character behind that design. Some of my favourite renders are unsurprisingly from Uewaka, the GOAT of Sonic art, with his Adventure art, with a special mention to Smash Brawls’ artwork of Sonic. I am not an overall fan of Brawl's art style, but it works for Sonic, giving him a 06 looking shade whilst looking like his normal self. There have been multiple iterations of Sonics, across multiple media platforms, and whilst I’ll probably cover my opinions on these versions of Sonic at a later date, I want to mention Movie Sonic, and why he brings a much needed side and representation to Sonic that would seem out of place for in-game Sonic. For those unaware, Movie Sonic is an alien on our planet, and spends the first 10 years on our planet alone, he just wants friends. He’s a lot more naïve, innocent and impractical than game Sonic, but he develops a sense of maturity over the two movies, and you compare the growth he has had from the start of Movie 1 to even the Knuckles show, where he still is naïve, cute and very much ‘a kid’, but at the same time he feels closer to the Sonic we know and love, with that kick-ass attitude, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for his character in Sonic 3. Movie Sonic is very different from Game Sonic, but the core character is still in tact. Sonic is at some of his best in Frontiers, and for a serious story, he sure knows when and how to stay serious, even if it may be hard for someone who for the decade prior could not go two sentences without a humours chip of dialogue. We see this perfectly in the cutscene with Knuckles atop the ancient pillar. Sonic is ready to say something funny, or something to increase the sexual tension between the two, before noticing Knuckles’ sad expression. Sonic stays serious with his usual quips, turning the conversation from something deep to something light-hearted. He does not like to be serious, but he has evolved to highlight sympathy and console those who need it, take Amy's reaction to the Koco passing on Kronos, whilst he seems unaffected by a flashback, he sees Amy's bereavement and comforts her. This serious nature of his character usually would not with, but for a story about death, pain, and torture it works. I will always love the revision of the final boss with the End, not just because Sonic is the most anime, shonen and badass I have ever seen, but because he is so serious and focused, he only speaks once during the entire fight. It emphasises the threat of the End, and how much power and effort Sonic is going through to defeat this entity, saving the world in the process. It is also important to understand the opposing side of his character, the fun, quirky, light-hearted nature of Sonic. Never have I seen someone so excited and happy when a chilli dog is put in front of him. He is a happy guy who loves doing what he does. He loves spending time with friends, having fun and enjoying the world. Too many protagonists of video games provoke these feelings of negativity and doubt and are usually troubled by something or someone. Sonic has problems too, but he always seems positive and hopeful for his future, no matter what happens. It is this cheerful outlook that keeps him going, and it is admirable. He is a very admirable hedgehog, both through his ability to save the day, but also in the way he does it. There's not many things Sonic loves more than his chilli dogs. Finally, I want to talk about my favourite cutscene from Sonic Unleashed. It is when Chip regains his memory and realises his purpose as Light Gaia, as he sets off to depart Sonic and save the world from Dark Gaia himself. Not only do I love Chips' dialogue here, addressing Sonics' persistence to continue fighting and never letting negative thoughts control him, but Sonics a one in a one-in-a-million type of person, he is special. It is the same reason he could escape Cyberspace in Frontiers whilst his friends could not. Sonic may be powerful, fast and funny, but to me, he’s a friend. A loyal friend is someone who will go to lengths beyond for someone, to support them, to cheer them, to encourage them. We all need friends, some of us may have loads whilst some may only have a few. But our loyal friends have a bit of Sonic in them, who are there for someone whenever needed to help, guide, or have a laugh. I feel like I could talk to Sonic about anything, relationship issues, feelings of doubt, or just for a gossip session, Sonic would be the type of person I could gab for hours, and neither would get bored. But the important thing is, he is there for the ones he cares about when needed. But we must not forget the times Sonics friends have been there for Sonic when he has been in a bad state. Frontiers saw the gang sacrifice themselves back to Cyberspace for him. Tom Maddie, Tails, and Knuckles helped shape Sonics character in the movies, the boat scene was especially important for his character development and seeing Tom as more a father figure than a friend. Sonic still needs his friends.   Sonic the Hedgehog as a character is not perfect. Sometimes his morals and beliefs have led him down traps that he requires his friends to save himself from, sometimes he is not always right, sometimes he loses, but that is what makes Sonic, Sonic. The way he pushes through adversity, pain, and loss, always trying to lift people's spirits and see the good in everything, is why he is so inspiring. I have only listed a few reasons why Sonic means so much to me as a character because he feels like a real person. He acts, talks, and interacts like any other human. He cares for his friends, and cares for the good of the world, all without giving up on what he believes is right. Sonic has been a big part of my 22 years on Earth, we’ve both had lots of difficulties between the two of us, but like friends do, we stick together, no matter what. Thanks for helping me Reach for the Stars Sonic, until the next adventure.

It’s fair to say that we are eating pretty well as Sonic fans right now. With the new release of Sonic x Shadow Generations amassing positive reviews, becoming the first 3D Sonic game since the Sonic Adventure games to score an 80+ on Metacritic, and the upcoming Sonic Movie 3 waiting to unleash onto our cinema screens in December, not to mention the prequel animation, Shadow Dark Beginnings, or the new mobile game, Sonic Rumble, sometimes its hard to keep up with how much content we are receiving nowadays. So, it’s crazy to think that not even 5 years ago we only had mere crumbs content-wise. It’s only because of the Sonic Movies and the popularity sprung forth afterwards, that Sonic Team and SEGA have used it as a springboard to create more new projects for all the new fans to sink their teeth into. One of these new games was the latest instalment in the 3D Sonic franchise, Sonic Frontiers, and the 8th of November was the 2nd anniversary of the release. This essay will go into the game and everything surrounding it, its impact on me and others and what the future holds because of this game. But let’s go back, to 2017 more specifically. Ironically, the 7th of November was the 7th anniversary of Sonic Forces, the latest game before Frontiers. The game is notoriously bland, mundane and lacking ambition. The levels are a shadow of what came before in the boost line of games from Unleashed or Generations, the story falls flat and the game is boring and not fun to play with. It felt like an insult to say this game was made by the same developers as Sonic Colours and Generations when Forces missed the mark by some distance, more distance than Sonic goes through in one Forces level. The next few years were torture for Sonic fans, as we awaited news on the next Sonic game with bated breath. We had multiple leaks and rumours, some suggesting the game was going to be another boost game, others saying it would lean more into an Adventure style game, and some even saying it would be an entirely new style of Sonic game. Nothing was concrete enough, however, and we had to wait till May 2021 for our first official confirmation of the next Sonic game. COVID was finally ending, and things were looking up for the world. Which is ironically around the time Sonic Team started pulling their finger out and showing us what they have been cooking up for the past 4 years. It was May 27th 2021 and we laid our eyes on this: That 30 seconds was enough to last 6 months of speculation. No sooner than 2 hours after the live stream ended, the game was found out as “Sonic Rangers”, as per a code hidden within the video’s data. People were quick to point out leaks on 4chan earlier in the year from playtesters talking about this same ‘Sonic Rangers’. These play-testers described a Sonic game that was an open-world experience, akin to Zelda: Breath of the Wild, with a large island full of platforming and challenges, and a massive Shadow of the Colossus monster that you have to defeat. Fans were quick to point out their scepticism as most playtesters weren’t too optimistic with their experience, and an overall concern for how a Sonic game would work in an open-spaced environment amidst the oversaturation of most games nowadays taking the open world route, trying to follow in Breath of the Wild’s footsteps. All these fears would be exemplified in December of that year when the Game Awards revealed the second trailer for our new game, now titled Sonic Frontiers, which showcased a massive sprawling landscape and finished with a teaser of something massive Sonic must overcome. With a holiday release date planned for the next year, fans were disappointed more wasn’t shown. We never saw Sonic interact with the environment, aside from one still shot that confirmed some of the fans’ biggest fear, that is the model was reused from Sonic Forces, fit with the shorter quills, bigger body and lighter skin tone. This debate still rages on to this day, and for the life of me, I can’t quite see the point (literally). That’s Sonic fans for you though. Then came June 2022, and finally we were about to see what Sonic Frontiers was all about. SEGA had teamed up with IGN to let the video game outlier showcase their game in what they called an ‘IGN First’. The 1st of June 2022 has got to go down as one of the most disappointing days to be a Sonic fan ever, the gameplay was revealed to a collective groan from the community, as 4 years of waiting came to an end to see something straight out of tech demo. The video showed Sonic exploring the first island of the game, soon to be called Kronos Island. He was climbing towers, completing puzzles but ultimately, just running around the world. The consensus was that whilst it looked fun, it didn’t look like there was anything to do, and a lot of things looked unfinished or not polished. The day after, we were given a showcase dedicated to the combat of the game, and this was met with an even groan-er reception. Combat has never been a strong suit in Sonic games, you can thank Sonic Unleashed and the Werehog for that, but this was Sonic’s first experience (aside from Sonic the Fighters), at hand-to-hand combat that wasn’t just spin dashes or homing attacks. These animations looked even more unpolished, scaring more fans that maybe this was going to be not the game they were hoping for. The Sonic Central the week after didn’t do much to change public discourse, but the game was available to play on the show floor at that year’s Summer Games Fest. There, guests were able to play through a good portion of the game, although no footage was able to be recorded. Players commented that the game was fun and that the IGN gameplay was very different to the game they played. IGN had commented that the gameplay they were given was from an early build of the game, which gave fans hope that things might be looking brighter. Then came the Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase in late June 2022, and this was ironically the best we’ve seen the game so far. Despite showcasing a graphically low-scale version as it was running on the Switch, the game looked hyped. We saw our first taste of cyberspace too, the typical 2d and 3d boost levels we’ve come to know in the game’s past, and a cutscene was teased too. After this, something started to click for Sonic Frontiers. Gamescom showed arguably the best trailer yet, with more footage coming from the show floor this time from people who genuinely enjoyed their time with it. Previews were coming out and despite a few problems, were overwhelmingly positive for a game that looked dead in the dumps just a few months prior. Tokyo Game Show was the place where they revealed Super Sonic was making a return and for the first time in Sonic history would be used for something other than the final boss. We had that amazing Knuckles prologue called “Divergence”, that debuted a week before release that set ourselves up nicely, and a few days prior, reviews started to treacle in and the majority of them were positive. A lot praised Frontier’s new ideas, the controls and exploration, as well as the graphics and overall quality, whilst a few criticised all these points and saw it as a step backwards. I guess the only thing we could do was see the game for ourselves. I remember my experience with Sonic Frontiers very well. It was a busy period of the year for me, with exams and assignments due so I was only able to play for up to an hour a night. Sonic Frontiers is by far the longest Sonic game to finish and probably to complete too. The amount of content is impressive considering Forces Prior took about 3 hours to go through. I remember I was going through one island a week, so it wasn’t really until around Christmas time that I beat the game for good. Twitter and social media as a whole were terrible to go through during these times, with spoilers galore from people who had finished the game mere days or hours after release, I’m surprised my experience wasn’t tainted by any of these people. My experience was overall positive, and I can say I still enjoy Sonic Frontiers to this day. The way I’ve always described the game to my friends is “The best 7/10 game I’ve ever played”. It is way too flawed to be anything higher, and the problems I have with the game are some big problems that I’d usually take higher issue with, but I can’t help but love the game as a result. I think the main reason I love the game the way I do is because it has heart and ambition. This feels like the most ambitious game in the series since Sonic 06, and unlike Sonic 06, this game is finished for the most part. Some of my favourite games aren’t just incredible for their gameplay, story, mechanics or music, but I can tell when developers poor their heart and soul to create the best piece of media possible. Games like Super Mario Galaxy, Smash Ultimate, and Zelda Breath of the Wild, all showcase the heart and ambition that makes them the masterpieces they are. Even take smaller games like Celeste or Hades and you can see how much detail is packed into these small Indie games that adds to their experiences too. I will happily take a flawed game with a lot of heart rather than a great game with no ambition. It’s where I fall with games like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. That game is nothing short of a masterpiece, but I feel like they only made it because of the success of the Switch and in particular BOTW that they deemed a follow-up necessary. I had a lot of fun playing TOTK, but it didn’t capture the magic of BOTW and I felt a bit let down. Sonic Frontiers on the other hand doesn’t know what it wants to do all the time but is giving it its all to put on a show despite its limitations. Frontiers itself is a good game. I’d say one of my favourite things about the game is the exploration and control of Sonic. This is easily the best Sonic has ever controlled in a 3D space and exploring these vast, sprawling islands is a joy with Sonic’s new moves in tow. Just the feeling of Sonic tricking off ramps, grinding on rails across islands and using the landscape to his advantage is serotonin I didn’t realise I needed. Gone are the linear paths of past boost games, here Sonic has as much freedom as a bird in the wind to go wherever he wants. The combat is also quite fun too. Sonic has a skill tree in this game that allows him to unlock new moves with the necessary skill points. The enemies are quite varied in ways to attack and pulling off a cool combo is very satisfying, despite how clunky it feels at first. The graphics too are great as a whole, the game ran smoothly at 60fps on my PC and it was overall nice to look at. One big talking point about this game was the story, and more specifically, the voice direction and the writing. The past decade of Sonic games was very light-hearted, Saturday morning cartoon-esque, even despite Sonic Forces presenting a darker story at first, however, Frontiers promised to be more sombre and mysterious in tone. This, paired with Ian Flynn at the helm of the writing team for the first time on a game, made for a story that was a lot more serious than normal. The voice direction was also changed, getting the characters to sound more adult-like, to add to this serious tone presented. Roger Craig Smith, the voice actor for Sonic, talks about the directional change and the challenge presented to him in a panel a few months after the game had come out here: Sonic sounding a lot more mature was an interesting choice. It does work with the serious nature of the game and I enjoyed Roger’s performance, but I think the whole thing was a little too much and should be toned down for the next game. We went from too cartoony to too serious and it’s a little jarring going from Lost World, especially to Frontiers. Some of the cutscenes in this game are quality though. One of my favourites is when Sonic is asked what is his end goal, to which he replies: Oh yeah, Sage. Sage is one of the strongest parts of the game. For being an AI-developed robot from Eggman, there is a lot to like about this new girl. She goes through a whole personality arc going from an AI robot that is programmed to stop Sonic, to liking and admiring Sonic to the point she asks her father (Eggman) to team up with him to save the world. Her relationship with Dr Eggman makes the 300 IQ genius feel more human, having someone he truly cares for instead of using as a weapon against Sonic. There are some brilliant scenes of him and Sage interacting in Cyberspace, with the two of them bonding and you can see Eggman starting to warm up to her and think of her as more than just another one of his henchmen. This becomes evident when at the end of the base game, he looks upset to let Sage go up to space to help Sonic defeat the end, and then the proceeding ending shows him in distress as Sage sacrifices herself to destroy the end. Eggman truly lost, in the original ending of Frontiers, and it is great to see him become more emotional whilst still being serious. The new ending has Sage and Eggman together at the end of the game, with Eggman praising how well she did during the final battle, and that they can go home together. It will be interesting to see the dynamic of these two in future instalments, as you’d imagine that Sage will be there so long as Eggman is, and Eggman is in all Sonic games. Sage is easily the best character they have created since Silver the Hedgehog and will probably be a part of the main cast sooner down the line. Speaking of the main cast, I did enjoy the characters and how they were portrayed across this adventure. Instead of cluttering all of Sonic’s friends into one adventure like Forces tried to do, Sonic Team focused on the core characters of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy Rose (technically Big too but it's confirmed he’s part of Sonic’s imagination). All 4 of these characters have changed to adhere to the more serious tone, as we’ve mentioned with Sonic, but it works for the atmosphere Frontiers presented. Amy is the first character you will encounter on Kronos Island, and overall she has matured enough to no longer be obsessed with Sonic, and instead use that love and spread it across the world to make it a better place, which sounds cliché but is a direction I like. She still has that extravagant personality that is sometimes over the top, like how distraught she was over the death of the Koco (that were already dead), but she has calmed down in this game considerably from games past. Knuckles in Sonic Frontiers is my favourite iteration of the character (aside from Movies) since the Adventure days. Starting with the prologue, his performance is incredible. He is not only a threat again, but his history is finally being respected and utilized, even for a brief time. Divergence  was the first time since Sonic Rivals we saw Angel Island and the Master Emerald, and Knuckles’ role as the protector and guardian of the Master Emerald too. It means a lot to people that lore is being respected and utilized in stories, instead of just ignoring it each game it seemed. That is all thanks to the help of the new lore team and the writers for the game, specifically Ian Flynn, who has been the lead writer for the IDW comic book series, being tasked to write the story for Frontiers. Overall, Ian did a stellar job with the task he was given. Sonic Team gave him the core concept of Frontiers, and he was asked to create a story and dialogue to match, of which he did a great deal right. As mentioned, he has made Knuckles a respectable adversary to Sonic again, Amy is less emotional but still a very good representation, and Tails…well Tails is difficult to explain. If one character has had it worse in the past 15 or so years of Sonic, it has to be Tails. From being Sonic’s reliable sidekick, who overcame his challenges and was able to save Station Square from Eggman to being too frightened over the presence of Chaos 0 in Sonic Forces, the 2010s weren’t kind for our favourite two-tailed fox. Tails was one character Ian Flynn wanted to get right, and he has shown through Sonic IDW that he can make Tails more badass and formidable with Sonic too, but with Frontiers he wanted something different for Tails. In Frontiers, Tails has a sort of identity crisis, questioning if he is good enough to be Sonic’s sidekick, questioning his wrongdoings in the past, like how scared he got when Infinite attacked, instead of being strong and fighting like he knows he can. This isn’t helped by being trapped in Cyberspace and having other versions of Tails telling him he’s not good enough. To me, it doesn’t excuse how poor he has been in the past 10 years, but it is great that Sonic Team want to right these wrongs and turn a clean page with Tails. Another thing to note is how Sonic barely changes through the course of this game. His personality in this game is back to being his best. He maybe isn’t as quirky and mischievous as he has been in games like Sonic Adventure 2, he reminds me a lot of Sonic Unleashed Sonic. He fits with the seriousness of the game but also is still himself. A bundle of energy that enjoys everything he does. A big part of this game is Sonic saving his friends, and his resilience to do anything to save them makes him the lovable hero he is. However, trying to save his friends in turn destroys and corrupts him with this cyber-energy, that eventually takes over him. Beforehand, one of the game’s best cutscenes that showcase Sonic’s personality takes place: This cutscene just exemplifies how cool this character is. He knows what he’s doing is hurting him, but he won’t give up until he has to, because he needs to use this energy to save his friends. Even with how much pain he is in, he still smiles and looks ahead, letting nothing stop him. I go more into this in my essay about Sonic as a character, but I am so happy with how he is represented in Frontiers, and I hope this direction for the character continues, maybe with a bit more sass and cheek that we love him for in the future. The game has 5 islands we can explore, platform and fight enemies in. 5 sounds a lot, and whilst it is, 3 of them very much overlap and make for 3 unique islands. Kronos is the first island we are brought on, and it is a great introduction to the world of Frontiers. There is good enemy variety, platforming challenges, and lots of room to explore for goodies and character interactions. It is a bit basic looking, with not much environmental variety, and it is a little small compared to other islands, and that is because half of it was used for Rhea Island (Island 4), to extend the game. Ares Island is next, and this is by far the best island in the game. There is so much to do, the atmosphere is great and the challenges are a lot more engaging. It is a blast to traverse, apart from a few narrow instances, but I loved how open and broad it was overall. The same can’t be said about Chaos Island, unfortunately. It’s such a shame, because in concept this should be my favourite island, but is let down by the abundance of 2D sections, and don’t get me started on that Pinball minigame at the end. Rhea Island is the second half of Kronos and is just a platforming challenge where 6 towers appear and you have to climb up them. It’s such a shame that there was no point exploring the island as there is nothing to do except the towers. Ouranos is the final island and is way too similar to Kronos to be unique, which leaves the end of the game feeling slightly rushed. There is a steady difficulty increase from island to island which is good, with enemies that were present on Kronos being given buffed and upgraded versions on Ouranos, and with levelling Sonic’s character up it led to an enjoyable difficulty increase. Each island is home to 7 cyberspace portals (Ouranos has 9 for some reason), which allows Sonic to access his traditional boost levels. Honestly…I don’t know what happened here but it’s clear not a lot of thought or effort was put into this part of the game. Most levels are reused from 3D games prior, like Sonic Unleashed, Adventure 2 and especially Generations, and with the same 4 environments of Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary and a City, it made for the least enjoyable part of the game. It doesn’t help that Sonic controls a lot worse in these levels than in the open-zone areas, his boost feels super slow, and ironically can’t kill enemies when you boost into them, unlike games prior. There are 30 levels in total and only about 5 are worth playing again. That includes 1-2, which is notorious for its extraordinarily hard S-rank time. Most S ranks in cyberspace are very easy to obtain, unlike past games the ranking is only defined by what time you finish the level. However, 1-2 is easily the hardest to obtain an S rank, which makes the level more fun to do so. But when you look at how you go fast in the level, it goes against everything Sonic is for. Taking the lower path, avoiding dash panels, avoiding enemies, it's very strange and I am so glad Sonic Team have learnt their lesson with Shadow Generations on how to create great 3D as well as 2D stages and we can only hope that translates into the next mainline entry. Something Shadow Generations doesn’t have however is Super Sonic (or Super Shadow in that case). At the end of each island and after collecting 6 chaos emeralds, Sonic will encounter the boss of the island, collect the 7th emerald usually from the head of the Titan, turn Super Sonic and fight using the new moves he has picked up on his adventure. These are the highlights of the game for sure, becoming the biggest spectacle shows we’ve seen maybe in Sonic history. Seeing Super Sonic kick ass to these massive weapons of destruction has never been more satisfying, and better yet is how good Super Sonic controls. Unlike past games, Super Sonic uses Sonic’s base move-set to attack and deal damage, instead of having an entirely new move-set that is usually quite clunky. Better yet, we get to turn Super 4 times in the playthrough and destroy 4 Titans as well as the End. The fights can be a tad finicky and unpolished, but they more than makeup for it in spectacle, and nothing makes it more badass than the music that accompanies these boss battles. I wanted to wait and talk about the music because, for me, this is on par with Sonic Unleashed and Sonic 06 for the best soundtrack in Sonic history. The soundtrack is incredibly diverse in genres, from rock and heavy metal to EDM, to lofi, it has everything. The movement music for each island is something I wish more games were utilized. As you progress through each island, the motif of the music starts getting louder, with more instruments, and melodies, to the point it feels more alive, as you discover more about the island itself. Take Chaos Island as a perfect example. The difference between the 1st movement and the 7th movement is night and day, with the 7th movement being one of the best pieces in the entire game. Chaos Island (1st mvt.): Chaos Island (7th mvt.) The music in cyberspace is EDM mania. A lot of songs take inspiration from Sonic Forces, but the intensity has been amplified tenfold. Some tracks are incredible, whilst others feel like you’re in a terrible nightclub at 2 am. Overall, cyberspace tracks are fun to listen to at the time, but not many have made it onto my playlist. A hidden gem of a track is the Fishing minigame music. As well as the 7 cyberspace portals per map, there is also a portal that takes you to a fishing minigame with Big the Cat, where you can fish for extra tokens, upgrades and even Eggman memos, where you can hear Eggman’s thoughts out loud basically. The music is very chill, and it is great to listen to when studying. Tracks that aren’t great to study with our the tracks accompanying the Titan battles. I can’t express how much Undefeatable has done to the Sonic community in the past 2 years. As cool and raw as the Titan boss battles are, they would be nothing without the music. I don’t know what Ohtani and his band were cooking when making this, but they cooked hard. Sonic vocal songs are always a standout and are some of my favourite songs of all time. Iconic names like Live and Learn, His World, Endless Possibilities, and Escape from the City, just to name a few, are synonymous with video game music in general and they set apart Sonic from other games like his. When we heard the main theme of Sonic Frontiers, titled “I’m Here”, back in September 2022, two months before release, everyone was excited about the vocal songs in this game. Most Sonic games give us at least 2, a main theme, and a final boss or credits theme. So if we were getting that, we were going to be happy, but Ohtani-san and the sound team blew us out of the water with not 2, or 3, or 4, or 5, but in total, including DLC, we got NINE (9) vocal tracks. That also includes the theme by Japanese pop group One OK Rock, titled “Vandalise”, which would be one of the credit songs. None of them, however, are as formidable and iconic as how Undefeatable was when we heard it for the first time. Instead of Crush 40 or Cash Cash, or anyone else SEGA has teamed up with in the past to make Sonic music, Sleeping with Sirens lead vocalist, Kellin Quinn was chosen for the role of lead vocalist for most of the new vocal tracks. Sleeping with Sirens is an American rock band that has been going on for around 15 years now, and they specialise in rock and heavy hardcore music. This is not usually the sort of music Sonic is known for, rock yes, but heavy metal not so much. It didn’t matter, however, because the songs Kellin sang for Sonic Frontiers were some of the best in the series. I will go in-depth as to the magic of each of Undefeatable, Break Through It All and Find Your Flame, but they all are magical songs and fit perfectly for the climax of the boss fight. Kellin’s vocal range is astonishing, especially considering he’s been doing this for nearly 20 years, and people are right to praise him and welcome him into the Sonic community with open arms. To hear these songs live as well during the Sonic Symphony was a genuine dream come true too. Whilst Kellin provides the vocals for the first 3 bosses, the final boss is, not a vocal theme, and isn’t even a Sonic boss fight. After the final titan “Supreme” is defeated, Sonic, with the help of Sage who inhabits the spirit of Supreme, travel up to space to confront The End . The End is a massive purple moon that in all honesty, is a subpar final boss. Not only because you play a game of Toho to defeat it, but also because it is quite a forgettable character if you can even call it a character. The whole game, a voice is commanding Sonic to destroy the Titans to save his friends, which also happens to be the end. Sonic by keeping his friends in turn releases the entity and so they have to stop it. It's a mediocre ending to what is a credible game outright, with such high highs it is disappointing to end on a low note. Good thing there’s DLC right? Not even a month after the game was released, SEGA released a roadmap detailing 3 portions of free DLC content that they planned on releasing later down the road. Everyone turned their attention to the final piece of DLC, which included a new story as well as new playable characters, but we’ll get to that in a moment. The first batch of DLC was released in March 2023 and included a Photo Mode, a Jukebox a Boss Rush and Cyberspace Challenges. Honestly, only the Jukebox was interesting to me as it finally gave us something to explore on Rhea Island, collecting music tokens that can be used in the in-game Jukebox to listen to a variety of songs from the game’s past. Update 2 was released to coincide with Sonic’s birthday, which gave the blue blur and his friends new outfits, as well as the islands’ a fresh coat of birthday paint. New overworld challenges were added in the form of the “Action Chain Challenge”, which ironically has some of the best music in the game. Upon completing all of these challenges, we were given the Spin Dash as a reward. This is the first time in a boost game the spin dash was used, and as broken as it is to use, it isn’t half fun. Finally, the 3rd and final update gave us 3 new playable characters in the form of Amy, Knuckles and Tails, that were available within the new story that aimed to change the ending of the main game, which was most people’s complaints with the base game. The Final Horizon update is easily the best and worst part of the updates. This is the first time since Sonic 06 we can play a character that isn’t Sonic, or someone like Sonic. It is a joy to play as these characters again, and they all play very distinctly to one another which is great. But it is clear to see the corners that were cut to get this out, a lack of polish and some confusing decisions made the experience less smooth than I would have liked. A disappointing part of the DLC is that Ouranos is the same, just more platforms are added for challenges, and with the hideous pop-in already present, makes some parts incredibly stupid to look at. Flying over the whole island in Tail’s OP Cyclone from Adventure 2 is equally cool as it is hilariously bad. The main campaign has Amy, Tails and Knuckles taking on various challenges to gather the Chaos Emeralds, whilst Sonic has to take on incredibly difficult tower challenges that surpass the base game’s difficulty by some margin. The four towers Sonic has to climb are substantially more intense than the ones present on Rhea Island, with numerous tight spaces and multiple enemies trying to stop your progress, and if you fall, you go back. These were quite contentious around the release as m any fans were upset at how difficult it was. To me, it was alright and I enjoyed the challenge, the base game was way too easy and for people to complain about a bit of challenge shows how hand-holding games are nowadays, especially Sonic games. People can just go back to Sonic Forces if they want an easy game to play. However, regardless of how people found the towers, it wouldn’t compare to the final challenge that awaited the players. After clearing the final tower, to fully power Sonic up through the cyber corruption, the player must overcome Master Koco’s trial. This consists of facing all 3 Titans on Level 1 with 400 rings for all 3. This was hell on release. I spent hours upon hours trying to beat the trial to no avail. Streamers were spending even longer and failing. It was way too difficult, because of the Wyvern boss fight. One important thing to mention is that the trial only allows you to perfect parry, which only allows you 3 frames a second to parry correctly, and the only way to attack Wyvern is once it's been parried. The problem is that you have to perfect parry twice in a matter of seconds, and then 3 times in the second phase. After over 5 hours of trying, I was finally able to complete the challenge and advance to the final battle. The final, final boss has got to be in my top 10 moments in Sonic history. All of the pain and anguish we experienced hours before went away as soon as we saw a new form unleashed onto our screens. The final horizon update was a means to create a new, different ending to the disappointment we experienced in the base game, and boy they delivered. Sonic channels all the energy he has acquired from passing the trials faced before him, to level up his Super Sonic form to something even more powerful. If you thought Super Sonic was raw, think again, because this form of Sonic can deflect major balls of energy with the swipe of the hand, unbelievable. The fight itself is a bit finicky and confusing if you don’t know what you’re doing, and of course, SEGA doesn’t tell you what you are supposed to do to win, but ignoring that, the scene and spectacle make it incredible to experience. Kellin Quinn was brought back to cover the main theme ‘I’m Here’, and of course he killed it. The climax of the fight sees Sonic sucker punching Supreme up into the End, for him to go into Supreme’s gun, now in control of Dr Eggman, and transfer the final bit of energy to transform into the form of Cyber Sonic. Cyber Sonic then gets shot into Supreme and the End, destroying them both in one go, whilst Kellin is killing it in the background. Words can’t describe how seeing this for the first time felt, but my goodness it is one of those moments that make you love video games as a medium. And that is the best way I can describe Sonic Frontiers. It reminded me why I love this character and this series so much. I had the most enjoyable time playing this game, despite its flaws, I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face every time I played it. Well, maybe not the Master Koco trial, but aside from that, I loved my time playing Sonic Frontiers. It is admirable how this game came to be, it was Sonic Team stepping outside their comfort zone, trying something risky that could have easily not paid off. They had a lot to prove after the anticlimax that was Sonic Forces, and with the momentum building for the franchise as a result of the success of the movie, it was a wave they wanted to ride on not be swept under. They rode that wave a little bit with a little bit of wobble, but they took the landing. As of today, 2 years after its release, Sonic Frontiers is the best-selling 3D sonic game in history, surpassing the previous holder Sonic Heroes, with at least 3.5 million copies sold (May 2023). This has allowed the Sonic team to expand their budget, hire more staff and spend more on the development of future projects, and we can see that in Shadow Generations. The cutscenes in that game are stellar, a far cry from the stiff animations of some cutscenes from Frontiers. It is exciting to see these plans come to fruition at Sonic Team, and their listening to feedback makes me hopeful that the next Sonic game they create can be their best one yet. I’d like to finish the same way Sonic Frontiers finishes as a game. The final credits sequence is paired with the final vocal song called “One Way Dream”, sung by Nathan Sharp (also known as NateWantsToBattle), and is the perfect way to cap off the game. For those unaware, One Way Dream was Sonic Team’s message to their fans, and the vocals symbolise this message in a very poignant way. It was a thank you message, but also a lesson in never giving up. I will go into detail another time about the song, but the lyrics “Dreams are big, eyes are wide”, and “Obstacles are no excuse, come with me there’s nothing to lose”, are optimistic about the future, and how dealing with setbacks make us stronger. “They said we’d break, they said we’d lose, but here we are, what else is new?”. Sonic Team respects and admires their fans for sticking with them through hardship, and One Way Dream is their thank you to us for believing in them, and what a gift it is. Easily one of the best songs in the series and is the best symbol of hope I could wish for. For some context, this game came out around the same time I started university. It was a difficult time for me, getting used to new surroundings, new people, new challenges, and new obstacles, and I was struggling to get to grips with my new life at first. Eventually, it got better and now I am on my way to graduating next summer, but Sonic Frontiers helped me escape from the difficulties of university life, to reconnect with someone who means a lot to me, who has also gone through the thick of it, but Sonic is the meaning of not giving up. We’ve seen this as early as the 90s, Sonic has been put in situations that looked like there was no coming back, but he has proved time and time again that with courage, heart, and believing in yourself, any adversary can be overcome. Thank you Sonic Team for always helping me get up, when sometimes I didn’t believe in myself, I knew Sonic would. That is what Sonic and Sonic Frontiers in particular mean to me as not just a game, but a piece of media too. Life is about taking risks and doing things you would never dream about, but it is only through these risks that we learn more about ourselves and what we are capable of. Life is no fun if we don’t take these risks, to go on new adventures. The mentality to be able to do these feats is something we all must learn to face, to step out of that comfort zone is so difficult at first, but have a little faith, believe in yourself, and boost your spirit off the ground. Sonic Team, thank you for everything you have given to me, and what you have taught me, and I can’t wait for what you have lined up next. Until the next frontier, James.

Available on MerseySportLive: https://merseysportlive.co.uk/2026/02/11/fans-considering-cancelling-season-tickets-over-lack-of-disability-access-at-hill-dickinson/ Everton fans with disabilities are in a state of trouble as access to matchdays at Hill Dickinson are becoming increasingly prominent. Six months after the team first played at the venue, many Everton supporters have been full of praise for their new waterfront stadium thanks to its modern facilities and stadium architecture that brings fans closer to the game in a way that the Toffees’ old stadium, Goodison Park, was so renowned for. The stadium was built with inclusivity in mind, with the concourses featuring high-tech connectivity and social spaces, while premium hospitality offerings have expanded to give fans more to enjoy on matchday. Despite this, criticisms have arisen in the past few weeks from supporters admitting their concerns with stadium access, particularly supporters with disabilities. Fans have complained of access to and from the grounds, with issues around parking for blue badge holders and taxi drop-off points being a good distance away from the stadium when cars could be dropped off outside Goodison. Some fans are contemplating giving up their season tickets they’ve held for decades due to the difficulties they face on matchdays. Transport to the stadium is still a work in progress, but with only one train station within walking distance (Sandhills), it creates problems for those unable to walk the 1.5 miles, approximately a 20-minute walk. Roads close to the stadium like Waterloo and Regent Road close two hours before kick-off and leave supporters having to walk at least 20 minutes to and from games. For some long-term supporters, these challenges are causing serious frustration. John Roberts, 77, who has held a season ticket for 20 years, said: “I was excited to visit the new ground. It’s obviously frustrating, it’s a beautiful stadium but it wasn’t built for people with blue badges”. He described the taxi pick-up and drop-off restrictions issue, having to walk a “painful 20 minutes to get into the taxi”. Barry Harrison, 85, who had a season ticket from 1966 up until last season, said the walk from Sandhills nearly killed him, and is thinking of chucking his ticket in. Public transport options remain limited, with Sandhills taking in an average of 16,000 passengers on matchdays, and a further 7,000 being on shuttlebuses, a record from last night’s game against Bournemouth. Plans for a £25 million investment at Sandhills aim to expand the queuing area outside the station and improve access. Another issue fans have raised concern about regards the increase in midweek and evening fixtures. Shiela from Crosby, speaking on BBC Radio Merseyside said: “My husband’s a season ticket holder, and because of these night games that are getting continuous now, getting home at night is a nightmare. “Picking him up, every road around the ground is blocked off and I don’t understand why. “At Goodison, it was only Goodison Road that was blocked off, which allowed traffic to flow freely.” Last night saw another defeat at home for the Toffees as Bournemouth came from behind to win 2-1, as Everton face Manchester United at home on Monday February 23 rd to see if they can win at home for the first time since December 6 th .

Everton survived a 75-minute long display with 10 men after Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s wonder goal was enough to bring Everton only their 2 nd  ever Premier League win at Old Trafford in a dismal 1 year anniversary for United manager Ruben Amorim. The 10-men stood strong after one of the strangest incidents in recent Premier League memory saw Idrissa Gana Gueye sent off after a dispute with teammate Michael Keane over a poor pass was nearly punished by Bruno Fernandes. The Senegalese international slapped the English defender with the manager Tony Harrington sending him off on the spot for violent conduct. Everton manager David Moyes was surprised by the incident and if anything liked his players fighting one another. “Maybe the referee could have thought more about the red card. “But you know, I quite like my players fighting each other and getting annoyed with each other. That's part of it. You want that resilience”, said the Scotsman. Everton had started the game stronger than United, and even after the dismissal were largely on top. The decisive moment of the game came in the 29 th  minute. A great piece of play saw Dewsbury-Hall get the ball from James Garner, and after the ball ricocheted off Yoro, the midfielder looked up and curled a beautiful shot into the top corner of Senne Lammens net. From then on, the game plan for Everton was simple: defend, and defend they did. United had plenty of the ball, over 65% and 23 shots in the time after the goal but never looked like scoring. Their best chance came late in the second half when Joshua Zirkzee, filling in for the injured pair of Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha, headed a Luke Shaw cross goalwards, but a brilliant stop from Jordan Pickford kept him out. The result ends Man United’s impressive 5-game unbeaten streak, and a run of 4 home game victories on the trot, as Amorim goes back to the drawing board and slams his players for not being better. “I felt we were not there with the intensity. They deserved the win. “(A step back) yes. Especially in the way we played the game. Forget the result (being bad), I was more concerned by the feeling I had during the game”, said the Portuguese manager. David Moyes was delighted with his teams performance and reaction to being a man behind as the Scottish manager finally wins at Old Trafford as the opposition manager for the first time in 18 attempts. "Incredibly proud of the players and the supporters here today because we've had so many encounters here where we've not got a result. "We've come close but not been able to get over the line, we've got over the line with 10-men, which is the hardest way to get a result here”, said the Toffees manager. The result leapfrogs Everton into 11 th , above rivals Liverpool and level with Man United only on goals scored. Written by James Costello You can watch match highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqWw4jOrJTQ

Next year marks the end of the road (for now) for two of Formula One’s most historic venues. The Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort will be departing the F1 calendar after 2026. Spain will still have a presence thanks to the arrival of the Madrid Grand Prix next year keeping Spanish fans happy as they seek to continue supporting their home heroes at the racetrack. The Dutch, however, are less fortunate with no suitable replacement leaving 4-time world champion Max Verstappen without a home race. Not like that’ll stop the Dutch army from travelling to circuits nearby or far away. We already see Verstappen grandstands in places like Spa and Spielberg. But still, it stings that Zandvoort, a circuit revolutionised since its reintroduction 35 years after it left the F1 calendar and has come alive as a result of the success of Max Verstappen will no longer feature on the calendar. So, I took it upon myself to attend both races in 2025 and see for myself. Which race should you experience while you still can? To answer that, I’ll compare them across 10 categories from transport and facilities to the atmosphere and the quality of the race before deciding which event is the better experience and worth the money. Getting to and from the Circuit/Transport In Barcelona, I stayed in a hostel just a 5 minute walk from the metro train station. From there, it was only a few stops to get the train station that takes you to Montemelo, the closest stop to the circuit. Then you could either walk half an hour through quite a handful of market stalls full of F1 merch and food and drink, or a free shuttlebus was available that dropped you within 5 minutes of the circuit. However, the shuttlebus was extremely busy on the Saturday and Sunday and I waited over 15 minutes for one on the Saturday so just ended up walking on the Sunday. All in all, the trip from my hotel to the track took about 1 hour 15 minutes, impressive given how far the circuit is from Barcelona. I should also mention that I did set off quite early on days to avoid heavy traffic flow and to catch all the on-track action. On Sunday I set off around half 6 in the morning as the first bit of on track action started around half 8, hence the busier and longer wait on the Sunday. Zandvoort was more or less the same. We stayed in a hotel close to the Noord train station, and then from there it was a 5 minute train ride to Amsterdam Central, where frequent trains straight to Zandvoort were easily found after following all the orange. You were rarely waiting more than 5 minutes for a train to arrive, most of the time there were 2 trains waiting so you could easily sit down, same in Barcelona. From Zandvoort station, a pleasant walk along the promenade eventually led to our gate at the far end of the circuit. Once again, you couldn’t go 100 yards without coming across a merch or food stand, they were even giving out free food at a few stalls if you were there early enough. There was even a Nintendo Switch 2 booth that opened up on the way back if people wanted to do more racing. Not to mention the few beach bars that were open from pretty early in the morning that were a nice stop on the way back. Since track action started later in Zandvoort than Barcelona, we could leave later and enjoy breakfast without feeling rushed. For as flawless and smooth as getting to the circuit was, it was the exact opposite getting back. My word, leaving the circuit was brutal. Both Fridays thankfully had minimal trouble, we were waiting next to no time to get back on to the train. The same could not be said about Saturday and Sunday. Expect to wait one to two hours in endless queues for a train if you arrive at any normal time. I even tried to delay my trip back to the station on both Sundays to try and avoid the heaviest of traffic, which didn’t work. Thankfully, once you had passed the initial waiting and were at the station, trains arrived very swiftly indeed, a saving grace after waiting in a line for 2 hours. Unfortunately, by using public transport this is going to happen, either you leave before everyone does or you wait till much later to head to the station. Next time I’ll skip the podium and make an early dart, as I’ve heard those who did were on a train within minutes. Queues lasted up to 2 hours on some days. Both cities had efficient, affordable transport to the circuit, but suffered from painful post-race exits. I’ll give Zandvoort the edge as the scenery nearby is nicer and more atmospheric. Circuit Facilities This details everything available once in the circuit. Firstly, security were fine, and bag checks were very quick as I had already checked beforehand what was allowed to bring in. Zandvoort doesn’t allow any food and only a 0.5 litre bottle of water that can be refilled, whereas in Barcelona I brought a load of goodies, 2 1.5 litres of water which came in very handy with the conditions there. That meant that in Zandvoort’s case you had to venture to the food stalls to get food, and as much as I wanted to avoid them, you can’t really go 10 hours without food. Where we were sat, in the Pit Grandstand, there were plenty of food vendors a short distance either side of the grandstands, with plenty of diverse foods available. Obviously, your usual Pizza, Chips, Burgers, Chicken were available but there were also Gyros and Turkish Pizzas that were nice. For around 10 euros for food, its what you’d expect to pay at a venue like that. I didn’t even bother with drinks as it seemed like the queue for beverages were twice the size of any food stall, and there were more drink stalls than anything there. I don’t know if it were because you weren’t allowed to take in your own drinks, but I had no incentive to even bother getting a drink that wasn’t water. Refill stations were plentiful if a little spread out. Once you got to one there were about 6 or 7 little dispensers next to each other so waiting was negligible, and they were all nice and clean. What wasn’t nice and clean however were the toilets (duh). I was surprised at the lack of hygiene at the multiple toilets available, as Zandvoort opted for toilets you would see at festivals. Only one sink too and soap was sparce especially towards the end of the day, so I was lucky I had hand sanitizer on hand. Toilets were unisex, although there were plastic urinals off to the side where most of the men went, but you were still queueing as one which slowed things down. Of course, there were plenty of merchandise stands inside the circuit, especially at the Fanzone. Of course, they were overpriced but interestingly they were doing a 30% discount on a lot of products after the race finished to incentivise more people to buy their stock. This didn’t happen at Barcelona as far as I’m aware, however I had no intentions of buying merch there either when you can get cheaper elsewhere. Speaking of Barcelona, I have to say I was more impressed with their facilities. Whilst I did not buy any food inside the circuit, I did notice that the prices were similar, although I did buy a few ice creams on the days and they were about 3 euros each, but they were worth it for the coldness alone. Each grandstand had a dedicated toilet for both men’s and women’s, and thankfully as guys you take a lot less time queuing for a toilet but still having the differentiation is great. Water refill stations were a lot more common due to the temperature; however, you were queuing for a lot longer. Lastly, whilst WIFI wasn’t available at the circuit, connection was good and I was able to use my phone all the time, which came in handy as both tickets were on my phone. I’m definitely giving Barcelona the edge on this one for overall being cleaner and less chaotic, especially allowing you to bring your own food is a huge cost-effective bonus as well. Trackside Activities Both circuits had fanzones within easy reach of my grandstand, no more than a 10 minute walk away, but each delivered a different experience. Some of the activities at Barcelona were spread across the circuit, perfect for those that were situated a fair distance away from the ‘main’ grandstands, with a few stalls that would usually be in the Fanzone further down the circuit around Turn 9. Zandvoort however, had everything in one place, including the Blast Simulators, Pit Stop Challenges, F1 Simulators and most importantly, the main stage itself, and what a stage it was. It really makes it feel like I was at Glastonbury, outshining even the British GP Stage, which is even used for a festival! They weren’t kidding when they said to bring the atmosphere to the main stage, because that’s what happened. Driver Q&A and DJ sets kept it buzzing all weekend, and while I didn’t stay for the late-night shows (getting home would’ve been near impossible), the atmosphere by day was already electric. There was so much open space which when getting in in the early hours made it appear quite empty; it was soon filled up. Barcelona similarly had quite a spacious area at the stage, although without a runway like Zandvoort had it was a little harder to get a  clearer view of the drivers. Both fanzones offered a lot of unique stalls adhering to the place you were. In Spain, they even had a self-service shop where you could buy your essentials with next to no queue. Other activities like the LEGO stall, Match Attax stall and the Podium were present, which were unsurprisingly busy throughout the day. What the Netherlands exceeded massively with however, was the access to the free F1 Academy Paddock. Whenever the girls were not competing, you could freely enter both paddocks to walk around, see the cars and the drivers were ever present there too to sign things and take pictures. That was awesome and gave us the fans a rare level of access for free! Barcelona’s Fanzone was solid and well ran, but Zandvoort’s festival atmosphere with the addition of the F1 Academy Paddock access made it the clear winner for trackside activities. Grandstands/General Admission Experience For Barcelona I was sat in the J Grandstand which was halfway down the main straight. My view for the weekend was great, you could see a good chunk of the straight and into Turn 1 too, as well as the exit of Turn 5 and into Turn 6. The screens were well placed, and we could keep up with what was going on during the races. Most of the overtaking and action came on the straight down to Turn 1, with the feeder series providing some great and sometimes chaotic action into the braking zone. The grandstand was unsurprisingly uncovered which worked great for my tan, but it was very warm. It was ideal that one of the entry gates was outside the grandstand meaning I could go straight to my seat once inside the venue. When I wasn’t baking alive in my seat, I hunted for shady spots with good views. You were able to walk around the whole circuit fairly easily, albeit the last part of the track was blocked off with walls so you could only see the track if you were situated in those grandstands. I found that the hill next to the Turn 7 chicane was ideal, even if I struggled to stay out of the sun. I was there for the second half of Friday, watching FP2 as well as the feeder series qualifying. It was a great view, as you could see my grandstand from the other side, but the tight and tricky chicane made for a few off track moments and spins which made it a worthy spot. You really get a sense of speed difference between the different cars there that you don’t see as much when on a straight, so it was good to both sides of that. One frustration was fans standing on the edge of the stand, blocking views, which led to staff constantly stepping in. I remember getting shouted at for standing up to see the safety car restart, which I found odd. Not intentional, but my grandstand at the Dutch Grand Prix was also on the main straight heading into Turn 1. Both tracks are quite different, with Barcelona’s main straight being over 1km long and Zandvoort’s being around 600m, so you could see the entire main straight which was great. What was vastly different however was that we could see the entire pit lane, whereas I could only see the pit exit at Barcelona. I was at an angle at Zandvoort where you could about see the cars in the fast lane, but all activity towards the garage I could see very clearly. We were sat opposite the Aston Martin garage, potentially a good omen as both scored points that weekend. What was a shame however is that you were denied access to a lot of the General Admission areas if you didn’t have a GA ticket, which in concept makes sense to allow GA users better seats and views, but not even on the Friday were we allowed to venture elsewhere to find some cool views of the track. Our view was good enough that we saw a lot of action, but it would have been nice to see more technical parts of the track that GA users could have done. No cover for our grandstand but it wasn’t as much of a deal in Zandvoort, with some good sun but we weren’t boiling alive, and the grandstand once again was close to one of the entry gates. I preferred our view at Zandvoort with the pit lane being in full view, but the lack of GA made it sting a little. Crowd vibe & energy Unsurprisingly both circuits’ fans were amazing, loud and chaotic across the weekend. The Spanish were very passionate for their home heroes of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, but a lot were in more support for the 2 time world champion, whereas in Zandvoort a lot of noise came for Max Verstappen. At both circuits, fan favourites like the two McLarens, Ferraris and the Mercedes were well cheered for two, with Nico Hulkenberg given a lot of cheers at Zandvoort for being what he described as the closest to a home race. The Spanish would cheer Fernando on every time he passed us which was great, in a similar fashion to when the Tifosi cheered on both Ferraris every lap when I went to Monza, less so for Max though. There was of course a massive cheer for him when Lando Norris retired, which I think is partially down to the fact Lando isn’t as liked to the Dutch fans now, as well as the fact it promoted Verstappen up to 2 nd . As a Verstappen fan, I of course experienced pain in Spain with his incident with Russell and his subsequent penalty, and elation with what was a great result at the time, only now surpassed with his excellent weekend in Monza, so its hard for me to not prefer Zandvoort. However, one big distinction that will give it the edge was the pre-race atmosphere. Whereas Barcelona felt like a bit of a drag to wait for lights out, it was non-stop energy at Zandvoort. We were lucky enough to have a DJ on the podium who would keep the energy high with loads of songs, dances and good vibes. The crowd provided a lot of entertainment on the screens which made for great vibes and made the build-up that much more exciting. We were all given flags that we would wave in tandem with music, as well as a giant tifo. The hour before lights out felt like a blur, and the music only stopped once the formation lap got underway. Both crowds were great during the racing action, but Zandvoort created a pre-race atmosphere I haven’t experienced at a grand prix before that definitely made the experience that much more memorable. Support Races I know not everyone goes to the grand prix to watch the support races, but not only are they more than not more entertaining than the F1, but I feel for the price you pay for these tickets its worth getting the most value out of them and sometimes these races are really good. Yes, maybe getting up a lot earlier to watch them might be a struggle, but they sure do wake you up with the amount of racing action you usually see. Both Barcelona and Zandvoort had different series taking place with the F1, which made sure the days weren’t spent twiddling our thumbs waiting for the F1 to start. In Barcelona, F2, F3 and the Porsche Supercup were on display whereas in Zandvoort, we had the Porsche as well as F1 Academy, which are the female drivers. Barcelona has an instant edge as I do follow the F2 and F3 series quite closely and will watch their races back home anyway when I get the chance, whereas I am not as interested in F1 Academy nor Porsche. However, that didn’t stop the races being great to watch. In Zandvoort, there were plenty of battles, incidents and action to keep us watching. Barcelona had some great racing, and lots of incidents at Turn 1 especially. Overall, Barcelona was more action packed and had a lot more events going on, which was sometimes difficult to keep up with and left little time to go and leave your seat but if that works for you then great, it did work for me. You will get a bit more downtime in Zandvoort. F2 and F3 were great appetisers before the F1. If you prefer F1 Academy you may find Zandvoort more interesting as they have confirmed to be going back there for 2026, but my vote goes to Barcelona with F2 and F3 never failing to disappoint. The Race Well, the main event, what you are really paying and coming to see at a grand prix. All will be for nothing if the race is dull and boring right? Not really. My first grand prix I went to was the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, which was dominated by Max Verstappen, but I was so overwhelmed by being at a grand prix that I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Since then, all the races I’ve gone to I have really enjoyed for more reasons you may expect. But you are hoping that the race is good. Obviously as a Max fan I want him to win, but that didn’t stop me from supporting Lewis Hamilton at the British GP last year or Charles Leclerc at Monza last year. Both races I went to this year were won by Oscar Piastri, but I found they were very entertaining in different ways. At Spain, whilst not much happened out front in terms of racing action, we knew that Max was on a different strategy with a 3 stop as opposed to a 2 stop, which failed as a result of the safety car. He had to put on a set of hards instead of softs which led to him being passed by Leclerc and temporarily by Russell, before the team told Max to give the place back and then…yeah not my proudest moment wearing orange within the grandstand. Obviously, you would need to know enough about strategy to get the most enjoyment as just watching from afar made it look a little dull, but as a strategy head myself I found it fascinating…until it wasn’t for Max! Zandvoort of course had the multiple safety cars, the two Ferraris crashing out and of course Lando’s DNF leading to Isack Hadjar’s first podium in F1. The race was more chaotic than anything, but that’s what made it all the more entertaining. It did rain for a brief period, but not enough to affect the track or the drivers. Of course, we had a massive downpour about 20 minutes after the race finished, but that’s usual. Compare that to the beautiful sunny weather of Barcelona. I would say that both races were good, not one’s I was desperate to watch back however, but both had me entertained for different reasons, the strategy of Spain and the drama of the Dutch. Hadjar’s first podium in F1 made things extra special at Zandvoort. Weather One of the most unpredictable things when going on a holiday to a grand prix is the weather and what to bring. Thankfully, you can kind of expect the sorts of temperatures and humidity you can expect at both venues to best prepare for the weekend. In Spain, it was warm, averaging around 30 degrees Celsius over my 5 days there. Make sure to take plenty of suncream, water and always wear a hat or you will suffer. It was a race to find shade during lull periods as walking in the heat past 9am in the morning was terrible, another reason to arrive at the circuit early and avoid train congestion in peak heat. It was fabulous weather for a holiday, and it was great exploring Barcelona for a few days in the weather, but you will bake alive if not prepared at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya. Zandvoort on the other hand, was far more mixed. From sunshine, to rain, it had it all. Temperatures over the week hovered around the low to mid 20’s, so it was always warm, even if the sun never shone its face for most of the weekend. Still, very important to bring suncream as it was the dangerous sun that would burn you when you would least expect it. The rain that we got on the Sunday didn’t do enough to affect the race and was just an inconvenience but served as a reminder to never travel without a poncho. Spain was a lot easier to predict and made for less packing ideally, whereas Zandvoort felt too similar to home, packing shorts, trousers, waterproofs, everything you would wear on a daily basis here in the UK. Barcelona was great weather for a holiday and as long as you come prepared, you will be ok, and I overall preferred it. Price Grand Prix’s are expensive these days, and it seems like they will continue to increase in price as F1 becomes even more popular and in demand. There are very few venues that you can attend over the 3 days for less than £1000. I will only breakdown my costs over the weekends, rather than delve into prices for different tickets or accommodation. As good as General Admission can be in terms of going on a budget, I think it is worth forking out a bit more money for a guaranteed seat in a grandstand. My flights into Barcelona and Amsterdam were reasonably priced, with Barcelona being £300 for a return from Liverpool and Amsterdam being £350 from Manchester per person. My accommodation was a lot better in Amsterdam but it came at a cost. Whereas my 2 star hotel in Barcelona was only £750 for 4 nights, it was £1100 for my hotel in Amsterdam. However, there will definitely be cheaper places if you look elsewhere, we just wanted a close place to the trains. Speaking of train prices, both are relatively reasonable. In Spain, you could purchase a 5 day pass that would allow you to go on all the public transport options in the city, including buses, metro and the train to Montmelo. It worked out around £30 per person. In contrast, that was the same amount for a 3 day pass in Amsterdam, so we had to buy 2 of them as we were there for 6 days. The grandstand tickets at Barcelona were around £500 per person, whereas my (better) grandstand tickets at Zandvoort were £700 per person. I think both were worth their prices for the view and experience, and usually the more expensive the better the view, though if I were going again next year I would look elsewhere to cheaper grandstands as I would imagine the prices will increase again. At the circuit, prices were relatively similar. You’re going to be paying around 10 euros for water and a beer, 10 euros for food, and the merchandise was and will always be a joke. If you want to get merchandise there, make sure you try out the vendors on the way to the circuit because they will usually have it at reduced or retail prices, as they always increase the price at the circuit. They didn’t allow cash in either sites as far as I’m aware, so always bring card as payment. Value for money wise, I think both are pretty similar, of course I am not including any other prices like places we went to in Barcelona or Amsterdam, just the grand prix experience. You can make your experience as cheap or as expensive as you want, I am happy with what I paid for and felt like both were equally good value for money. Ultimately, it will always cost to go to a grand prix, but the experience you have can be tailored to fit whatever budget you want (so long as its enough!). Area One of the biggest perks of going to a grand prix in Europe is that most circuits are within reach of brilliant cities, meaning you can make more of your trip than just the race (even though that’s worth it on its own!). Barcelona and Amsterdam are two of Europe’s most attractive destinations, and what makes them even better is how different they are. Barcelona is a beautiful place with so many incredible places and things to see. I went and saw the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, as well as exploring the city of Barcelona was a blast. During race week, there was even a free F1 event in the main plaza where you could see historic cars, try simulators, buy merch, and dive into the history of the Spanish Grand Prix. And of course, the food — the tapas I had away from the circuit was fantastic, and I only wished we’d had a couple more days to enjoy more of it. Amsterdam is a totally different vibe from Barcelona in many ways. The city is a lot less warm in contrast, but it is stunning to walk through. The canals, narrow buildings, and architecture was amazing and is really unique to anything I’ve ever seen before. Food was top notch, the number of things to do or see kept us busy and the weather was nice enough where we could stroll around at leisure. ne thing to keep in mind though — the bikes. They won’t stop for you, so stay alert! And, of course, Amsterdam offers the Red Light District, something you won’t find in Barcelona. Park Guell Just a handsome man enjoying the sights of Amsterdam. Both cities were easy to traverse, packed with personality, and perfectly complemented the grand prix experience. Which one you prefer depends on what vibe you want from your trip, personally, I loved Amsterdam just a bit more. Conclusion It’s sad that at least for now, the Spanish and Dutch Grand Prix’s will bid adieu next year in favour of other tracks that will not hold the legacy these two grounds have. The Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya has had flack from F1 fans for years for not producing great races (and rightly so), but lets not forget all the great races we have had there before. 1996, the only wet race there ever, being Michael Schumacher’s first win in the scarlet red of Ferrari, 2012 seeing Pastor Maldonado win in what is still Williams’ latest win to date and of course, 2016, Max Verstappen being the youngest grand prix winner ever as both Mercedes took each other out of the race on the first lap. It has gotten a little stale over the years as it became the camping ground for pre-season testing, and even I had fears when booking this trip that this race might be underwhelming. Firstly, it wasn’t, I enjoyed the race, and the whole weekend. Great weather, facilities, support races, all less than an hour away from Barcelona makes it a great place to go. Zandvoort has only re-emerged onto the calendar for a few years now, but re-emerged it has been. Max Verstappen easily has the most passionate fanbase of any F1 driver in the history of the sport, and they finally have a place at home to cheer him on. If you are looking for great atmosphere, Zandvoort has it in spades, and whilst the races are great, they sometimes come 2 nd  place to the party vibes the circuit entails. You can’t go wrong with either choice, but for me, go Zandvoort. Go to the Dutch Grand Prix even if you are not a big Max fan, as I am certain you will be a fan of the shenanigans that go on there. Just make sure to book an extra week off to recover!

It’s official: the highly anticipated sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie  will be based on Super Mario Galaxy . For many, Galaxy  is their favourite Mario game of all time; for me, it’s my favourite game, period. There’s something magical about its quiet, cosmic emptiness, its emotional storybook backstory, and its imaginative level design. Galaxies like Good Egg, Space Junk, Beach Bowl, Ghostly Galaxy, and of course, Gusty Garden, have never left me. The music especially made Galaxy unforgettable, so when the Nintendo Direct revealed the sequel with the game’s main menu theme, I got emotional. In hindsight, the use of Gusty Garden during the credits of the first film might have been our first hint at where the series was headed. The film doesn’t release until next April, and news is likely months away. If it follows the marketing cycle of the first film, the trailer will drop in October or November. That gives us time to speculate on what the movie could include: characters, storylines, galaxies, and above all, its music. This movie has the potential to be something special, but in order to do that, it has to do the Galaxy games justice. The reason why Sonic 3 especially was so well praised was not just because it was a fantastic movie, it represented the story of Sonic Adventure 2 so well and Shadow as a character. Yes they changed his backstory, made Maria different and tweaked some of the game’s key plot points to fit in the movie universe (using Sonic as a catalyst to change Shadow’s motives instead of Amy), but it all felt natural to fans of Shadow to see this new take that felt faithful to the ultimate lifeform. There were a lot of Sonic Adventure 2 fans who walked away happy that one of their favourite games’ was so well represented in movie form, let’s hope Nintendo and Illumination can continue this trend of great adaptations of certain video games. The Importance of Rosalina In the Nintendo Direct, Chris Meledandri was quick to point out that the movie takes inspiration from BOTH Super Mario Galaxy games, as well as more Mario games too. This makes sense, they do not want to do a basic retelling of the galaxy games. Mario now being a transmedia franchise means Illumination need to put their own spin on well-established ideas, hopefully produce some of their own in this movie that will keep avid Galaxy fans like me surprised. What won’t be a surprise however will be Rosalina’s inclusion in the film. When you think of Mario Galaxy, Rosalina is (for me) the one key part of the games. She has the most fleshed out backstory out of the whole Mario cast, which makes her an easy candidate for a character they can include in a movie, and showcase this story to a new audience. However, Rosalina cannot just be another Peach in this movie. Having two female leads, two princesses no less who coincidentally are rulers over a cute species, could create a problem, so they need to balance both parties and their roles to make them unique, especially to those unaware of Rosalina as a character. In the original Galaxy, not only is she powerful, but she is wise, a motherly figure, and with her comes the emotional weight that her storybook entails, whilst Peach still keeps her personality from the first film. If done right, this could give the film two distinct female leads who complement one another rather than overlap. In terms of Rosalina’s voice, it doesn’t really matter to me so long as the performance is a bit melancholy compared to Peach, not as energetic and a voice fit for a mother. Scarlett Johansson is of course a name thrown about, especially as she has voiced in Illumination work before in Sing, or they choose someone like Natalie Portman who is well versed in playing characters from space. Or they could just go with Sydney Sweeney or Sabrina Carpenter because they have the money for that. Either way, as long as they turn up in Rosalina cosplay, I will be there for it… Other New Characters Yoshi is almost certain to appear after the post-credits tease of the first film. While many Yoshi’s popped up before, this one feels like the  Yoshi—the one who joins in on every spin-off. A likely choice would be to keep him voiceless beyond classic sound bites from Kazumi Totaka, a “Groot-style” approach that feels right. I also think Bowser Jr. has a great chance to appear in this film. He is an integral part of both Galaxy games, showing up in every other ‘main’ boss fight either as the boss itself or introducing the boss to Mario. He could also give Bowser some character development, as we know from the games, he is a caring father figure. Keegan-Michael Key has teased the inclusion of “deep cuts.” For Galaxy , that could mean characters like Lubba (from Galaxy 2 ), Polari, or quirky NPCs like the Star Bunnies or Gizmos, as well as the Honey Queen. If Illumination expands beyond Galaxy , we could see obscure Mario villains like Tatanga ( Super Mario Land ) or Wart ( Super Mario Bros. 2 ). Cameos from Wario or Waluigi also feel likely, perhaps even as a post-credits gag. Questions a Sequel Must Answer One lingering question from the first film is Bowser’s fate. Will Kamek free him? Will Bowser Jr. save his father? Regardless, Bowser will almost certainly return as the main villain. With Galaxy’s finale set at the heart of the universe, Bowser’s Galaxy Reactor is tailor-made for a climactic sequence with Mario and Luigi spinning Bowser out of the atmosphere. Another question is will Luigi have more of a major role in this film? I hope the answer is yes. Charlie Day was such a perfect casting that it was a shame he was stuck to being the ‘damsel in distress.’ I hope this movie lets Luigi shine. Just like the Galaxy games, I can see Mario and Luigi doing their own things, or they could stick by each other’s side, I will be there. Yoshi needs to find a way to the Mushroom Kingdom too, as I think we will be leaving Brooklyn and Mario’s family behind, as well as Donkey Kong too, with Seth Rogen not coming back to voice the ape. I think that the biggest question from the last movie is relating to Peach’s’ ‘lot of galaxies’ quote when at the campsite. I think there is more than meets the eye to this Princess, especially with Peach’s lack of backstory in the first film. She isn’t from the ‘real world’ like Mario and Luigi, and in fact could be related somehow to Rosalina. Why else would she mention the ‘galaxies’ line? This could be a thread the sequel explores. In terms of Bowser and his motives, I think he will want to take over the universe in this film, just this time without Peach. As much as it would make sense having Peach kidnapped as that is one of the game’s pivotal plot points, with Rosalina helping Mario to find his ‘special one,’ I can’t see a way Peach could get kidnapped in this universe. In the last 3 mainline Mario games with Peach in it, she has only been kidnapped once, so I think Nintendo are starting to change the stance of the ‘damsel-in-distress’ role nowadays. I think Rosalina will help Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach and Toad to help stop Bowser from taking over the universe, with Mario and Luigi collecting power stars to fuel the Comet Observatory.   Galaxies Locations in this film have so much potential. I think we will only spend the first 10-20% of the film on ground, with the rest in the galaxies above, which gives a lot of potential for the locals we visit. In the key title art for the film, we can see a few teasers for galaxies in the word ‘Galaxy’ itself. Such as Bowser’s UFO (which could mean Peach’s castle is taken to the skies), Gusty Garden Galaxy, Gateway Galaxy and what could be Honeyhive Galaxy. Expect Gateway to serve as the meeting point with Rosalina, while Gusty Garden is all but guaranteed for its iconic music. Honeyhive could introduce the Honey Queen, while a fiery showdown on a lava planet could nod to Melty Molten Galaxy. I think Good Egg Galaxy deserves to be there too, or Sky Station/Yoshi Star Galaxy if we are talking about Galaxy 2 locations as well, but the roster so far is good. Music If there’s one thing Illumination must get right, it’s the soundtrack. Brian Tyler’s score for the first film was outstanding, and Galaxy’s  orchestral music is already cinematic perfection. Please, no licensed pop songs— Galaxy ’s score deserves to stand on its own. He has the chance to make one of gaming’s most sacred soundtracks even better. At minimum, these tracks are essential: The Star Festival Gateway Galaxy Comet Observatory Gusty Garden Galaxy Space Junk Galaxy Buoy Base Galaxy Battlerock Galaxy Toy Time Galaxy Bowser Jr.’s Battle Theme Bowser’s Galaxy Reactor These tracks will get me emotional, but there are certain tracks in Mario Galaxy that will make me run through a box of tissues very quick: Luma, Family, Birth, and ‘A Wish.’ Nintendo if I am not bawling my eyes out you have not done a good enough job. Especially ‘A Wish,’ assuming that the ending is similar, with the Luma’s sacrificing themselves to save the black hole, man it makes me emotional just thinking about it. Welcome, Welcome New Galaxies (and beyond?) Beyond Galaxy , the future of Nintendo films is wide open. A Luigi’s Mansion  movie would be a perfect next step, giving Luigi the spotlight he deserves. A Donkey Kong spinoff also seems inevitable, especially with Seth Rogen’s involvement uncertain. But for now, Galaxy  is the big test. This movie already means a lot to me. Adapting my favourite piece of media full stop for a new audience is a big task, and I know Nintendo and Illumination know what’s at stake. Nintendo could have played it safe by creating another original Mario story, but choosing Galaxy shows confidence. If they capture its wonder, melancholy, and joy, they won’t just have another billion-dollar hit—they’ll create something truly special.