Sonic 4 Episode II: First Impressions

The game has come out and the dust has now settled. Many, many Sonic fans held their breath as they turned on their consoles, downloaded the game and continued the Mega Drive-esque adventure Sega had promised. We at Kung Pow Pixel have now finished the game cooperatively and separately and our opinions of the game are starting to form and solidify. This site's clearly not about formal reviews, but we thought it might be nice to share our personal opinions on the new game for those who might want a second opinion before opening their wallets.

So, for those who are interested, hit the jump to hear what we think of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II!

Queen's Day Bargain Hunt

April 30th is the official birthday of the Dutch queen, it is called 'Koninginnedag' (Queen's Day), and on this day it is tradtional for flea markets to be held all over the country. There was one near us in Donderberg,  Roermond, so I made my way down there in the hope of snagging some gaming goodies.

It appears that in the Netherlands gaming did not really take off until the GameCube/PS2/Xbox generation. Occassionally we see the odd PSX/PSOne at fleamarkets, but it is rare to see anything older. At this year's Koninginnedag it was not much different, GameCube games being the stand out items at the market, where I picked up five quality titles for the bargain price of 10 Euros.

I'm pretty chuffed with the titles I picked up as there were some future classics there, which I never would have expected to find.

Click through to check them out!

Sonic: What the Fans Think

Sonic the Hedgehog as a character and a series has an infamous legion of devout followers which are always the first to buy up any Sonic related the game, and always the first to criticise it. I myself am an avid Sonic fan and have accepted that Sonic's glory days are over, although that's not to say that a second era of Sonic greatness may well be on its way. Even so, it amazes me just ho much time and energy Sonic fans will go to to highlight this fact with, admittedly, very humorous results.

Hit the jump to see two peculiar Sonic videos I have stumbled across recently that I would like to share with you all.

DIY Sonic 4 Episode ii Genesis cart, case and manual

Barry the Nomad over at The Nomad Junkyard has recently posed a quick-and-easy how-to guide on creating a Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode ii Genesis cartridge and case label, along with a full printed manual. This project can be added to his previous how-to guides on creating the same for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode i and Sonic Generations.

I'm really into fan-made Genesis and Mega Drive game cases and reproduction carts and am really impressed with Barry's latest offering. It comes just in time for Sonic 4 Episode II's imminent release; a release I'm personally very excited about.

 While I haven't bit the bullet and attempted to create something like this myself, I do have a few old Sports games and dead cartridges that may be worth dismantling in order to create something fresh and new. Are any of you readers owners of any well made retro carts? Or perhaps you've made a customer game case yourself? I'd love to hear about it, so please leave a comment below!

<Source: SegaBits>

Leaked Xbox Live Arcade forthcoming games

Xbox Live arcade has some great games, and at affordable prices too (usually >_>), so I was interested to see this list of rumoured releases over at The Sonic Stadium.

Included in this list are re-releases of some classics, such as Sonic Adventure 2 and the Sega Vintage collections and also some exciting new releases such as Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 and Rock Band Blitz.

I am looking forward to spending some money!