Angry Video Game Nerd fulfills demand for angry Sonic ’06 review

Fans would understand if Cinemassacre’s top show Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN) called it a day. After all, it began in 2004 and someone can only go so long before wishing to move on to other projects.

But the Nerd, or James Rolfe, still takes many requests for game reviews. One of the most popular requests is Sonic the Hedgehog for the Xbox 360. Gamers know this maligned series entry more popularly as Sonic ’06.

Officially Episode 145, the Sonic ’06 review was uploaded earlier last week.

Rolfe has opted to keep the episodes going, albeit in more sporadic time intervals than 10 years ago. Once in a while “bad” episodes leaving show followers scratching their heads are turned in, but this is not one of them.

The video starts off with a shortened intro theme with clips from an awesome AVGN game (although fake).

Then, the Nerd appears on screen and refers to Episode 116, where he briefly touched upon a few Sonic games. He remarks how people still request for Sonic ’06, even after that episode.

Rolfe soon gets into explaining the intro for Sonic ’06.

Contrary to popular assumption, the Angry Video Game Nerd never became popular solely based on anger alone. The best episodes provided history and context behind the anger. An actual game review went along with whatever funny skit Rolfe produced.

Rolfe does not need to go in full rage mode or use skits to make a successful episode. When the game’s faults are discussed in a normal tone, it usually comes off as informative and interesting.

For example, Rolfe explains the constant loading screens in Sonic ’06. He also points out the jarring environment where Sonic interacts with actual human characters (with apparently poor lip syncing animations).

Afterwards, Rolfe chooses to “greenscreen” himself into the game and mock the unsynchronized talking animation.

But, he went back to the controlled pace and points out how the same character models are used throughout town.

After discussing the glitches, Rolfe comes up with a bit where Tails jumps off the rail into the water. He then uses the greenscreen again to put himself in the game and remark how Tails “couldn’t take it anymore.” Once again, it is a funny segment. Rolfe does not force himself to go over-the-top crazy in order to pick up a few laughs. He is more subtle now.

Most of the review repeats this cycle.

At the end of this solid Sonic ’06 review is a sadistic ending. The Nerd takes the game box into a dungeon and starts whipping it relentlessly! The segment is short, but after a long and detailed explanation of the game’s faults, watching this Sonic the Hedgehog game beaten down brought a fitting end to the video. What an awful Sonic game.

What does all of this mean in relation to other Angry Video Game Nerd episodes?

This one is without a doubt a solid entry. The classic Nerd formula always contained a mix of serious discussion and skits. For the Christmas episode, Rolfe deviated from the formula and relied more on the mayhem. No one can blame him for experimenting once in a while after all these years. This time, he nails down what works best.

In recent times, Rolfe has focused more on movie reviews as well as James and Mike Mondays, so do not expect a new episode anytime soon. But, look forward to whenever those episodes do appear.

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