Gemlik's and ILO's blog about the Babylon Rogues. If you're a new Sonic fan and just found out about the Babylon Rogues, then welcome! Maybe this blog will help you.
This is Gemlik's and ILO's corner of rants, observations and just us being extremely annoyed by stuff regarding the Babylon Rogues.
Gemlik: If you are an old follower of mine, then you know I'm a huge Babylon Rogues fan. I follow everything about them since the first Riders game released and being a fan of this trio of birds is a bless and a curse.
Bless because they are pretty fun characters to watch, draw and write. They are also very refreshing for the Sonic series. They do not have a melodramatic story like Shadow, but they still have something to tell about them because of their beginnings as descendants of a lost alien race on planet Earth, heritage of a dynasty of thieves and etc.
Curse because a huge chunk of the fanbase is brain dead and cannot understand how the Babylon Rogues are written. I wish official content could counter this problem but if you read IDW, then you know they are not helping at all. Am I saying that the IDW Sonic writers cannot do their job? Nope, I think they can write nice stuff sometimes, but I will say that they can't write the Babylon Rogues most of the time.
I must warn you: English is not my native language and I'm self taught, so be patient with my mistakes. ILO will help me beta read my future posts.
ILO: Hello, I'm ILO, one of the younger Babylon Rogues stans (if there are any, really). I enjoy analyzing their lore thoroughly between the games, comics etc. and discussing about it. Also, Wave's my favorite Rogue. Unfortunately for Gemlik I'll be pestering the blog from now on.
HER ART BLOG
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From now on check the tags in the posts and you will know who's the author of that observation/rant/whatever!
#gemlik's rant and #ILOngated yapping
IDW Sonic Crossworlds | Sonic Riders' Visual identity | Wave and Storm - The Rogues' besties
Gemlik's extra:
Can the Babylon Rogues fight? | Storm the misunderstood | Ode to Wave The Swallow | The Chaotix Casefiles EP.2 | Personal Story with Sonic Riders | ??? (SOON)
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Next project: Import SONIC RIDERS and SONIC RIDERS ZERO GRAVITY Missions lore from my old .doc file.
During the years, l've always seen people picture Jet and Wave to be best friends, with some headcanons even stating that they both already knew each other long before even meeting Storm (which lore-wise I think it doesn't make any sense since they would ALL be knowing each other since birth already, due to their parents and the ones before them being part of the same select dynasty).
But what if I told you the actual best friends were not Jet and Wave, but Storm and Wave?
Hi, It's ILO. This time I wanted to revive and remix a silly topic I spoke about a while ago on my personal blog, so if you've been following me for a while you might find this post familiar.
This post will only mention instances from Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders Zero Gravity and Sonic Racing Crossworlds, also because... there isn't much to say about the rest. Aside from Babylon Rising, they don't interact a lot if not at all in the comics. It's always Wave > Jet < Storm and never a full triangle, and if they do share a word or two it's always about their objective or Jet. Idem with Free Riders.
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Judging by the dynamic they hold throughout the first two Riders game i think it's pretty clear they know each other a lot, and seem also to tolerate one another well:
Wave is sassy and gets aggressive easily, and while others find this annoying or intimidating, Storm not only tolerates it but even pisses her off voluntarily because he KNOWS how she would react.
Let's go in order and speak starting from the first Riders, shall we?
In the first cutscene of the Babylon story in OG Riders he does exactly what just cited, by denying her taking the Babylon Garden's key, even mocking her just to get a laugh.
Not only that, but Wave as well, who was getting visibly angry, instead plays along by seeming cutesy.
Pretty sure if it was someone else she wouldn't have tried with puppy eyes but would've straight up snatched the thing from their hands and maybe even slapped them (which she actually still does later on, lol).
And even when Wave happened to actually get mad at Storm, as some scenes later when Storm returns to Jet lamenting how he lost in the Grand Prix, which might've been the fault of Knux 'special gear, he seems to overreact to a comical extent instead of actually getting hurt by her essentially telling him that he's delusional AND sucks ass at riding EGs (just as much as she's prickly since she's misinterpreted completely what he said.
"But what if he actually did get offended?" Maybe he did? But... come on, look at this
He's SO dramatic about it (and before doing the enormous gasp he gives the NASTIEST side-eye ever), and when Jet calls them out he immediately locks in, same with Wave. My guess is, again, he's used to it and likes to make up some drama.
I say this because whenever Storm would enter Jet's office to report/lament about something and Wave had comments to say, like literally calling him worthless, he would just shove it off.
Literally he just looks at her like this. The fuck do you want?
Also, you can see Wave hinting a little satisfied grin in the process. She enjoys mocking Storm just as much as he does with her.
He's used to this; she is used to this. They like poking fun at one another because they know each other enough to be comfortable doing so, and I think that's as high as you can get in a friendship. Something similar happens in Zg as well, but i'll talk about it later on.
However that of course doesn't mean they never get actually upset when being grating;
They did get angry not too long after the banter for the Babylon Garden's key, by continuously interrupting each other to be the first one to break the big news to Jet, even to the point of both pushing the other.
This whole sequence is just so hilariously stupid I don't even blame Jet for rolling his eyes and sighing hard.
Both turned their back and got all pissy, but immediately went back to normal the second Eggman stepped in. It's nothing really serious after all, it's just the adults acting like dumb kids in front of the ACTUAL kid, which is so ironic.
Not to mention the back slap Storm gives Wave that almost had her fall on the ground for telling Jet they should get going because "he wanted to say it", and all Wave does is give him the bro? eye, acting like she wasn't about to spit her whole left lung out and faceplant.
It's not surprising at all that Storm can't measure the amount of force he's got to use with others. I like to think this was the case with Wave particularly because he deems her as strong enough to handle him, but I digress. This also shows very simply Storm's himbo nature as he doesn't really think little things like this through. It’s these small details that makes me appreciate the first Sonic Riders so much.
Now, back to the topic.
Again, as I said before with the cube, I'm pretty sure Wave would've been LIVID if somebody else did that to her, but she just lets it slide because Storm did it. Again, another pretty good demonstration they're very comfortable with one another.
And before beginning to talk about Zero Gravity... big shout out to the introduction cutscene: Storm got his board stolen and went flying in the air and instead of leaving him behind, Wave goes and catches him, dragging him until they manage to return Type-S back.
Peak friendship if you ask me.
Point is, having 80kg/176 Ibs of weight attached to your Extreme Gear, not even properly balanced, has to be hard as hell, but Wave still went through the hustle in order to carry him along with her and Jet despite him losing his EG. Thus I'd safely say that they also DO care about each other, which people might not realise immediately due to their love language being shitting on one another.
But actually, there's another example of this care being shown. When Jet and Wave were in Green Cave, waiting for Storm to return from his mission, she was visibly agitated wondering what happened to him, going as far as interrupting Jet's nap because of all the noise she was making.
But actually actually, there's another scene that shows this preoccupation, this one in the second game.
With this premise, let's get onto Zero Gravity...
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Unfortunately not much can be said for this game. In general after the first Riders, Wave and Storm spoke to each other very scarcely, in my opinion because of no one knowing how/wanting to properly characterize them, thus washing them down to Jet's personal assistants (which is what they are, but it's NOT a personality trait. It's their damn job), first, and second because this time the game was heavily focusing on story rather than carrying itself mostly by the characters.
However, some moments can still be mentioned.
In Zero Gravity, a similiar situation to the last one occurs, and while she is way more laid back about it, she still is the one to notice him missing in the room, following the others' observation of Amy's absence by stating Storm wasn't in the room as well.
In general she seems to be the one worrying about her mate's presence or not, Storm's in particular as he was the one always going on missions or getting lost.
For example how stupidly they act alike when carefully waiting for Jet to extract the Ark of the Cosmos from the altar, even giving them the facepalm right after.
Nothing too see here. Just two besties sharing the grand total of one single brain cell.
This scene is not a big deal, but it's still remarkable to some degree when talking about their friendship. Wave's the intelligent and cynical one, and yet still manages to act as silly as Storm when found in a situation like this. It's like meeting your comfort person after a long day of work, with whom you can be more open with. Also could be that Storm's energy is so strong to be able to influence even a mind as sharp as Wave's.
Now to the bit I was talking about earlier. I won't analyze too further into it as I basically explained earlier what this kind of interaction makes about their relationship. Wave sees a shooting star, and decides to make a wish. Storm notices that and mocks her and basically calls her immature, until he searches for approval from Jet and sees him doing the same. Despite this. Wave seems to ignore what he had to say completely.
It's basically the situation that once took place in OGSR making its comeback in ZG, with the difference that now the roles are reversed
The results are pretty much the same with Storm making fun of Wave, and her giving him the cold shoulder, just like he used to do everytime he burst into Jet's office and Wave was ready to blast roasts.
Mean words don't necessarily cause emotional weight for them when it's the other saying them because, again, they're probably used to that.
Also Storm's comment could've just been something he didn't really think about, just like the slap, and having that in mind just led Wave to ignore him.
Even in this case there's got to be some degree of understanding to know when to actually get hurt by a mean affirmation.
This actually happens when Wave announces to Jet to have found something interesting about the ancient texts they had discovered. She goes on to say she would paraphrase what was written in them, and basically suggested simplifying as much as she possibly could, throwing shade at both Storm and Jet, insinuating they're too stupid to understand what she can.
She didn't smirk or throw a sneaky eye at all; she launched that bomb, didn't bat an eye and then turned her back on them just to rub more salt to the disrespectful wound.
Wave didn't hint a single bit of sarcasm with that, and in fact Storm genuinely looked just as hurt as Jet's ego.
(side note, this was honestly well deserved on Jet's part. I love him just as much as the next person, but he acts like such a massive prick in ZG to the point of being genuinely irritating. I don't know who decided to write him like this, but good on Wave for reminding him who the actual smartest in the room is).
(This dialogue also has a tiny spot in my heart for being the ONLY thing that brought back some of Wave's mean but witty attitude from the first game. She was so plain and watered down in ZG I'm surprised she didn't change name from Wave to Still).
Unfortunately, after this there isn't much left to talk about, BUT the peculiarity of these last things left is the way they communicate without pronouncing a single word.
This happens twice: the first time after finding Jet and reassuring him about obtaining the Ark of the Cosmos Amy has a hold on, and the second time while reacting to Jet's intention of betting on the Ark of the Cosmos while challenging Sonic to a race on their way to Eggman through Crimson Tower.
They didn't babble a single word, but still managed to convey their thoughts to each other.
The first example displays the scenario of just them being in agreement over the plan for what's to come, as Jet accepted Wave's suggestion.
However, the second one in particular shows their bond pretty strongly, because when they heard Jet say what he said, they IMMEDIATELY looked at one another, trying to see if they were thinking the same about what they've just heard, and by their faces of disbelief, my guess is yeah, they did: "Did you hear the same bullshit I heard or??"
So not only the first thing they did before anything else was going to the other one to know about their opinion, but they ended up having the same one and agreeing, too. Thus, this goes to show Wave values Storm opinion more that anybody else's, and viceversa Storm with Wave (without including Jet, of course), and that despite them being opposites they manage to read the other one very well to the point of just needing a look in the eyes to say something.
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And to the third and last little example: Sonic Racing Crossworlds.
As we are all well aware, CW doesn't have a story, but it has some very entertaining and, surprisingly, on character dialogues.
Fortunately the Rogues are a good example of this! And in this case, Wave and Storm finally go back to speaking to one another without Jet being in the damn middle, and what kind of speak? Banter, yay.
They seemed to have returned to petty fights, and this time Storm might want to actually take his revenge from his messy "coworker".
Wave seemed to have some flashbacks... that slap really left a double mark, huh?
I'm going to be honest, I don't have anything to say about these comments. They're there, and don't really have a specific context unlike some other liners they both have with other characters (especially Wave has some very intriguing ones), so l' just leave these screens here and wrap this up.
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Overall, I think Wave and Storm's friendship is quite strong and definitely genuine.
They seem like a duo of best friends I can definitely picture as real people, because this kind of connection and understanding is something you would see happening between two close friends; the snappy comebacks, the kind of pointless but funny arguments...
I'm definitely bitter about the fact that they have been reduced to "Jet's minion and that's it'’s, making them talk exclusively to him and not to each other... at all. I literally cannot picture a single instance in current Sonic media where they have spoken to one another when it was not about Jet, the current situation or any other bullshit.
Again, aside from these examples l've brought up and Babylon Rising, they made them almost completely ignore each other, which is a gigantic shame.
Many people argue that they're just there for comedic relief, and then you don't even properly use them for that purpose? Come on!
Their stupid out of the blue arguments were one of the most entertaining parts of Sonic Riders, and now this schtick is completely gone because no one can bother to properly characterise them and let them have some nuances that make them able to act like ACTUAL people would.
Jet and Wave arguing because Jet wants to be reckless and Wave doesn't isn't funny. Wave isn't the goddamn group mama, she's a cocky control freak, which is why her misunderstanding against Storm after he accused Knuckles of using a modded gear makes more sense than her acting weirdly calm in order to forcefully create contrast between her and Jet.
Storm and Wave are opposites, Jet and Storm are opposites, meanwhile Wave and Jet have several things in common. All can make up for good comedy, but one is UNused, the second is still being used (sometimes too much) and the latter is MISused.
Not to mention that one of the most important aspects that make the dynamics what they are is the group hierarchy.
Jet's got to be more professional and composed around the two because of his status as a leader, thus making him take a more emotional distance from them (which sometimes slips, as already seen: Storm is his loyal sidekick, and Wave is the mechanic/researcher of the group. That's it.
On the other hand, Wave and Storm don't seem to have given actual labels to one another, as they don't need to do so, which allows them to have much less filters with one another, ultimately leading them to act like friends who got put in the same group project. If they did give labels to one another, they wouldn't be based on their group role, but rather on a personality trait.
Remember the first cutscene of the Babylon story in Sonic Riders?
"Nuh-uh, you can't touch that because you're probably gonna do something weird to it!"
That's a label Wave has, the mechanic, but in Storm's head it probably translates to the “workshop-dweller constantly trying to find something to keep her hands busy", even calling her kind of greasy.
(I know it's a common saying to use, but can you imagine if he meant to call her literally greasy? Mean as hell but 10 times funnier).
So, Jet is really the only one who needs to have a precise mind scheme of what the group is as he's the one leading it, whereas Wave and Storm find themselves on the same level, just following orders, which probably had them develop a more sincere bond.
Like, what is more sincere than this?
"This sucks I'll make that mf go here next time". Group project core, and of course all the work goes to the nerd.
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This is all I have to say about this topic, and to conclude this essay, here’s a little compilation of Storm and Wave's interactions! Direct or indirect.
This was an old one I made with the Japanese dub and no subtitles, unfortunately, but I might leave this as a place holder to replace with the English compilation. So for now just enjoy their Japanese voices, which I personally prefer over the English ones (but not over the Italian's).
As usual, sorry for eventual grammar/syntax errors. In some parts I was rambling a bit so I hope my points are still clear.
This is all from me for now.
Bye, cunt (c u next time).
Babylon News - May 22nd 2026 - Wendy's is releasing Sonic 35th anniversary cards, including the Rogues.
Gemilk's here, again. As of now this is in UK only, but the card checklist hints that it will be distributed elsewhere, including Italy!
Fun part of this: There is no open Wendy's in Italy yet. They announced the first restourant to open in Milan 9 months ago, but it's nowhere to be found yet. (My usual luck, ngh)!
Anyway, you can find Jet, Wave and Storm to collect! The card boxes change character as well. (I've seen Shadow, Amy, Tails and Silver boxes). I wonder if there are Jet, Wave or Storm boxes as well. I will upload this post if I'll find photos of Wave and Storm cards.
Update 1: Found Storm! Why don't they use the superior CW render instead of Free Riders' one?
Source: HERE
Update 2: Found Wave!
Are they using the best Wave render for the back but the worst render on the front? Graphic designers what are you doing?
Sonic Riders Zero Gravity Decompilation is a work in progress!
Hello! Gemlik's here. I suppose this is a nice news to share with you.
If you ever wanted to play Sonic Riders Zero Gravity natively on PC, then there is a chance that dream will happen in the future, because people have started decompiling the beta build of the game.
Last Christmas Hidden Palace, a group of people focused to preserve prototype games, showed off two prototypes of ZG, one for PS2 and the other for Wii. These builds are very close to the final release and they have got an official debug menu in them, which turned out to be useful for the people who've started this project.
We all know that the best way to play ZG on PC right now is to LEGALLY (pfft) buy the original game and using it on Dolphin Emulator with the code that removes motion blur, but I think the decompiled version of the game will allow better mods and it won't suffer from emulation issues.
Click HERE to see the decomp. status
Click HERE to read and download the proto build of ZG for Wii
Click HERE to read and download the proto build of ZG for PS2
Well... hello, it's ILO.
I was going to post a ''new'' essay, but currently in my zone, for some reason, connection is bad... REALLY bad, and tumblr nuked all i had done right now as it wasn't able to save my draft and didn't even let me modify the post.
I saved it on word nonetheless, but I currently don't have time to redo everything from the formatting and everything else, so in the meantime I'll just leave you with this picture and let you wonder what the topic is about.
bye.
At this point in time we can all agree the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise, despite its plethora of never ending problems (mostly self inflicted, let's be honest), has managed to still carry on to this day and on because like few other mascots, the general image of the series has become iconic.
What's also interesting is how especially in the 2000s, every game seemed to ONLY have in common the fact that they had Sonic in them. They were unique in their own way and didn't seem to restrain themselves from trying a new vibe,
but to me personally a couple of games sparked curiosity:
Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders Zero Gravity.
Hi, it's ILO. I've been pondering and researching about this topic for some days, and i wanted to ramble about it.
Note: i won't talk about gameplay, story and the characters. I'll only talk about the games' possible aesthetic direction, the vibe let's say.
Why did they spark curiosity?
Looking at the list of STHs 2000s games, they all seemed to have a general dark, more serious tone, which ended right before the 10s. And if they were not dark, they leaned into a less fantastical ambience like the Adventure series, which was heavily inspired by the real world for its environments, without many filters. Hell there was literally the president of what was VERY clearly the United States.
But to this list, there were some exceptions with the main games, such as Sonic Heroes that followed the formula of the classic games, and the Riders series.
Even upon looking at the general 2000s games roster, Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders Zero Gravity seemed to stand out on their own pretty well, and it's hard to categorize both in a specific circle, the first Riders especially.
However, you can clearly tell it's an older spinoff even by the logos alone, but that doesn't mean that's it's aged badly.
What i mean by that is that both games have at their core a particular aesthetic: Retrofuturism.
Quote from the Aestethics Wiki:
''Retrofuturism is a movement in the creative arts that visualizes the future through the lens of a past era's technological and cultural understanding. It represents the "remembering of anticipation"—how previous generations envisioned what was to come. This aesthetic is characterized by blending old-fashioned or "retro" styles with futuristic technology.''
Retrofuturism is a term that by definition is actually a macro concept from which different branches grow, categorized by decades.
Both Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders Zero Gravity fall in this wider group, but despite being released in the span of 2 years only (2006 and 2008 respectively), they follow different branches and are the result of amalgamations of other styles.
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Let's start with Sonic Riders.
As i mentioned before, Sonic Riders was personally the one harder to categorize in a single group. The game is undoubtedly inspired by a possible technological future, but despite this it still implements natural elements. It's neither total electronics or total green: it's armonious, something that is already suggested in the first menu that pops up right after the 2D intro;
the flashy logo with Sonic's silouhette and elements that comunicate speed, such as the R's long leg, the speed lines and italics of the japanese title that give a refined and polished look to the whole thing, contrasting the almost overwhelming design of techological gadgets of that era; the arrows opening a box with the menu options available... all of which sit on the picture of a cloudy sky and a warping effect to recreate the movement of the wind, which only reinforces the idea of liberty, a very key concept to Sonic.
The only element that brings together all this is the color blue, which is often synonym for freedom and digital.
All of this to say... Sonic Riders probably falls right in between Y2K Futurism (1997-2004) and Frutiger Aero (2004-2013);
Quote from the Aestethics Wiki on Y2K Futurism:
''[...] The movement was defined by a widespread sense of optimism for the new millennium, fueled by the dot-com boom and advancements in computer technology. It presented a vision of the future that was sleek, clean, and highly technological.''
Quote from the Aestethics Wiki on Frutiger Aero:
''It is characterized by its use of skeuomorphism, glossy textures, cloudy skies, nature-oriented imagery (tropical fish, water, bubbles), lens flares, auroras, and bokeh, Frutiger fonts, and a color palette of white, green, and blue. The aesthetic's timeline coincides with the early days of Web 2.0 and the transition from feature phones to smartphones.''
The game is not old and techno-focused enough to totally be the former, but neither has elements skeuomorphic and fishy, literally, enough to be the latter.
Even by looking at the available stages you can see a good mix between technology/''human'' made and nature, despite the overall prominent digital vibe from the UI.
(Also, the game gives off this concept itself by the sole existence of Digital Dimension, which is a stage where you go from trespassing the gates of hell right into paradise, only to be catapulted into a plain room full of LEDs, probably insinuating everything was an illusion.)
(Notice that juicy, juicy typo on the bottom there? ''Exterme Gear'' instead of ''Extreme Gear''. Truly aesthetics.)
The style of the first Riders' menu was very, very simple, but it did its job pretty well in terms of what it wasy trying to convey. The TV static, the kind of random beehive pattern and the not-so-well-cut spinning target back there just add to the authenticity and the trashy look the game had going on.
Talking about trashy... Sonic Riders not only is the child of two Retrofuturistic movements fo the 2000s/early 10s that portray pretty technology and advancement, but it was also grounded, grungy, in a 90s way. In a Nu-Metal way, perhaps.
For this context, Nu-Metal is tricky to describe, as unlike the movements mentioned until this point, Nu-Metal is a music genre rather than a full rounded aesthetic.
Quoting from the Aesthetics Wiki on Nu-Metal:
''[...] The genre is defined by its fusion of heavy metal and alternative rock with a wide range of other influences, most notably hip-hop, industrial, funk, and grunge. [...]''
''Key features: Angst, rage, defiance, emotiveness, decaying visuals, atmospheric sludge, industrial settings.''
It makes sense since, as cited, one of the key feature of the Nu-Metal genre is industrialism, and that's exactly how the urban environment seems to be portrayed as in the game: it feels more industrial rather than technological.
Unlike its successor Zero Gravity, Sonic Riders feels very dirty at times. It doesn't portray a perfect digital utopia at all. This city (Metal City i assume), used as the primary environment for the cover art and some promotional posters, looks very unwashed and rudimental, almost brutalist.
This might appear completely different in the intro cutscene in CG, but it's really just the night lighting that ironically enough makes the city look more colorful.
Aside from some fancy air billboards and the police cars, the structures still look bulky and primitive. In game it doesn't look any cleaner, honestly.
And after this small discourse about Nu-Metal, now it's the perfect time to mention what reinforces the idea that this game takes inspiration from the movement... significant inspiration: in the 2D intro animation, not only the gang dives down until they reach what seems like a typical city neighborhood, but on the walls there's a reference to Limp Bizkit's 1999 album ''Significant Other''.
Limp Bizkit are a predominant figure when it comes to this group. And besides, they sell the vibe quite well. The music for the game seemed to have followed this genre's melody as well, especially with Sonic Speed Riders and Catch Me If You Can, songs that definitely fall in that category. (May in another universe one of these two be sang by them).
(Small parenthesis about the fonts before ending this first part: there's nothing particular to mention. The game utilises the Rodin font pretty heavily, first introduced in the 90s and then succeded by New Rodin. This font seemed like the standard choice for games at the time.
What i do want to mention however is the brand new font they used specifically for this game: Babylon Treasure.
It's an interesting font that somehow manages to create the illusion of the letters being hand written, highlighted by the gaps that mimick the hand naturally breaking lines in order to be able to comfortably draw different shapes. It's like how they would've been engraved on rock tablets in the past, despite taking place in UI, a modern element of the digital screen. Pretty fitting, considering it is allegedly named after the Babylon Rogues, notorious group originated from a dynasty of ancient, technologically advanced aliens.
This font can be seen especially in the names of the tricks performed while playing. Apparently, Team Sonic never bothered to make an actual type for this, but you can find one created by fans online.)
So, what can all of this summed up into?
Sonic Riders looked into the future while mantaining its feet on the ground, and no matter what fancy airboard you own, you still live in a dirty city in which you have to make your way into, confidently, with that same board.
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Now, onto Sonic Riders Zero Gravity.
Already by the menu, you can tell there's a huge difference on how the games approach the technological/digital aspect of their image;
Zero Gravity dives head first into the futurism, no looking back.
The logo now has lost the roundness that made it compatible with the natural background it was displayed on, replacing it with sharp edges and an even stronger sense of hurry with ALL the texts being in italic, and the ''II'' made to look like giant arrows urging you to move the fuck out. The colors went from soft to neon, and even got darker as proven by the red, which got much richer.
The cloudy, azure sky has been completely discarded in favor of a blueprint, depicting Sonic's Blue Star and an Ark of the Cosmos, accompanied by texts on the screen and flowy graphics, and the map of the stages was made to look like holograms.
Zero Gravity has almost completely abandoned what little nature there was and is completely techno-focused.
The fonts are mostly still the same with New Rodin being used. The only difference is with the gradient and the colored outline, making the texts look almost as they were neon signs.
The environment got even flashier, a bit edgier, and with a strong predominance on blue, almost teal, purple, with a pinch of orange to still maintain that industrial feeling (and also because, very simply, blue and orange are complementary colors, it's a great way to create focus).
Notice how this time around there's literally two nature-centered stages? They aren't even that natural, because if you haven't played the game, at least in Botanical Kingdom there are giant hornets flying around the stage... robot hornets.
Gigan Rocks is pretty tame, however Gigan Device it's all about ancient technology, so...
This time, the game falls quite well into the aforementioned Y2K Futurism, with the difference that, unlike Sonic Riders, Zero Gravity falls less into the Nu-Metal group and inserts itself more into the Cyberpunk space, aesthetically speaking.
Quote from the Aesthetics Wiki for Cyberpunk:
''[...] Cyberpunk favors dense, neon-lit cityscapes [...]''
There isn't much to quote: what makes Cyberpunk memorable is the distinct look of the dark and incredibly busy cityscape, littered with colorful neon lights. Many of the stages have that exact vibe, despite some not even being located in a proper city but rather inside a building. It might be unlikely this was a direct source of inspiration for the game direction, but some points still check out.
(I'd also like to briefly point out that one of the core concepts of this genre is the rebellion against a surveillance controlled by the mega corporations... guess what Sonic and his teammates gotta do? Stop Eggman, who is the head of a giant corporation that produces beserk robots that chase people around to get what he wants. But i digress.)
Also, this one might be a massive reach, but regarding some designs for the menus I'd might dare to say there's a microscopic pinch of Synthwave, or rather Laser Grid, which is pretty self-explainatory.
Despite all this, this game still got the industrial and dirty look from the first Riders, very well displayed in the intro cutscene in CG.
Smog who? No wonder people drive around in plastic pipes, that air looks BAAAAD.
Compared to Sonic Riders, with Zero Gravity there's a bit less to talk about, and not because it's less interesting and detailed than its predecessor, actually the opposite as the UI is WAY more detailed and polished. Zero Gravity follows a precise direction, while being its own self, and some points that i have already brought up before can be applied here again.
Sonic Riders Zero Gravity is set in a technology-first world, one that has still a lot of development to do, but that is slowly dragging everyone's life into the digital space, one that the Babylonians reached long before them.
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I still wanted to briefly talk about the Extreme Gears. Even thought not much can be still said, EGs are definitely an important aesthetic statement for both games, as they are the primary elemente the games' mechanics revolve around.
I feel like the designs for the Extreme Gears encapsulate perfectly the game's artistic direction:
Sonic Riders' has simple but bulky, rudimentary airboards that even use giant chunks of metal grids as ground to keep the feet steady; the skates are literally just ice skates, and some the air bikes are kind of silly.
It's experimentation. They don't look too coherent one next to another, also because that's literally what was going on behind production.
But aside from the behind the scenes, it reflects pretty well what stated previously about the vibe of the game: futuristic but a bit grungy, all over the place. It's authentic.
Zero Gravity on the other hand has Extreme Gears that really want to make themselves look futuristic:
''Hello bitch, it's the future''
These boards are incredibly flashy, and even more bulky. These EGs really look like the vehicle adaptation of late 90s/ early 2000s devices, like the iMac G3.
And gotta say, these also look a bit ugly, but i've personally grown to like them. Their ugliness is charming (except from Jet and Storm's boards. Those are just fucking ugly). My words are the same ones as for the Sonic Rider's Extreme Gears: it's futuristic, this time a lot more advanced, but there's still that dirty, industrial undertone that reminds you that everything is still developing, and that this is not a perfect utopia.
---
In conclusion, the Riders games are a really cool example of retro futurism of the mid-late 2000s, and i'm really not surprised that some people are starting to dig their aesthetics a lot more now that the Y2K movement is being revived, together with a lot more subgenres.
They were a messy project that had a very cool idea as the supporting columns. The art direction, especially for the 2nd game, is phenomenal and very worth of analysis. In recent times i feel like every attempt i see to make something futuristic is incredibly stale and tacky, and having these two games exist is great for inspiration, and they really are for me. Their vibe is one of the major reasons why i love them dearly and why i keep having inspiration to draw at all. They're really rad, and the soundtracks kick ass so hard.
---
I could make a billion parts about this topic. I really love talking about this aspect of the Riders's series. There's so much more i want to say, like the music, and the unfortunately now dead websites... all that i might add in the future, either by making a new post or by modifying this essay. That being said, if for whateve reason you come back to this post and see it looking different compared to what you have been left to, you're not going crazy; i am.
Nonetheless i'll still have to touch this essay up as i'm sure the moment this will go online, there will be a never ending sea of grammar errors, possibly paired with phrases that don't make much sense, as i wrote this all night long. So, sorry if some parts are a bit gibberish.
Also yes i said TWO, not THREE. I'm absolutely not wasting time talking about Free Riders.
This post turned out way longer than i had anticipated (as usual), but i hope it won't be too much of a boring read.
That's all. Bye, cunt (c u next time).
I promised some positive posts about the Babylon Rogues after that painful read of the IDW comics. Now that's out of the way, let me talk about THE purple barn swallow that me and few other enlightened people care about.
Wave The Swallow
Talking about Wave without my big ass bias is pretty hard, but what if I tell you the glazing around this character is kind of... merited? I don't think there is any Wave fan that boast her merits to the point it gets out of her character.
Let's start from the ABC of this character:
Wave is the brain, strategist and mechanic of the present generation of Babylon Rogues. Wave's a 18 years old woman (or was, SEGA removed characters ages) and she's the only female member of the group.
Wave is VERY smart and she will get whatever chance to rub it on your face. She's always act so smug and full of herself as soon her eyes drop on her next "victim", criticizing everyone and everything that she doesn't think it's up to her standards. Wave's so full of herself that complimenting people directly is not in her vocabulary, but she would admit to herself that maybe her rivals/enemies are not THAT bad with what they do.
Wave's father was the mechanic of the previous group of Rogues, so I suppose he taught her daughter what he knows and she went beyond the more experience she gained by herself. Nobody, not even Eggman or Tails, can get at her level when it comes to create Extreme Gears. Her knowledge and craftsmanship are unmatched!
Wave is the one who maintains the airship and builds, updates and tunes the team's Extreme Gears. Not only that because, as stated before, she's the strategist. It means Wave puts down plans of their heists, studying and drawing every single centimeter of the map the Rogues will explore in their job. Wave can also create other tools. In fact we've seen some examples, such as radars to track the Arks of Cosmos, her tablet, her small PC necklace and various types of explosives, such as TNT packs with timer, small bombs and missiles.
It's shown that sometimes, when Jet is too lazy to work, Wave takes charge of everything, or else "nothing ever gets done here". Could we assume that she's the real leader but respects Jet's position and leaves him take all the merits? We lose this detail in the next games, because Wave seems more passive and respects all Jet's decisions... Almost. Wave still tamper with people's EXGs despite Jet hates to cheat in EXG races.
「エクストリームギア」の改造から盗賊船の修理までこなす、「バビロン盗賊団」のスーパーメカニック。また、情報解析、分析、作戦立案から提案までもこなす名参謀でもある。
"The Babylon Rogues’ super mechanic, capable of everything from modifying the Extreme Gears to repairing the pirate ship. She is also a renowned strategist, handling information analysis, tactical planning and even proposals."
- Sources:
Sonic Channel / Windii (translations)
Sonic Riders official website
Sonic Riders manual.
Sonic Riders - Heroes and Babylon Story
Archie Comics' Sonic Universe #23
Design
I think character design never peaked after Wave blessed us with her presence. :P
Like Jet and Storm, Wave's design theme is "air pirate". Jet has got pirate boots, Storm has got his huge necklace and Wave's got her iconic white bandana.
Whoever created Wave didn't stop there. He/she cracked their knuckles, drew a white fluffy tank top, bell-bottom trousers/jeans with dark purple flame tribals and proposed it to SEGA like they didn't drop one of the hottest shit in the franchise.
No seriously, I can't stop glazing this choice of outfit and how it represents rebellious girls from the early 2000s. Bell-bottom trousers origin from the 70s, but they returned trendy back in those years. Tank tops ditto as above.
Wave sports some high heel, flaming red boots and giant golden rings at her wrists, like if the crazy good outfit described before was not enough for you!
Also one small observation that one of my followers shared with me: the red orb Wave wears at her neck could also be a way to represent barn swallow red neck/chest. I wonder if this was casual or just pure genius.
Speculation time:
I suspect Wave was the last designed rogue for the team. Not only her placement in the roster in Riders and ZG is the last slot, but also because in one early builds of the first game, Wave is the only character with broken and beta animations, hinting she was added last in the whole game code.
Plus you can see that Wave's designer, which I suspect is Uekawa at this point, took some details from Jet's scrapped designs to craft Wave.
Bandana
Pointy feathers
Boots with zipper
Gloves detail
Wave's relationship with other characters.
Wave and Jet
Wave sees Jet as an unreliable young brother, but still respects him as the leader of the Babylon Rogues. You can see throughout the games that Wave has got lots of trust an hope laid on the young green hawk to do great things. Sometimes she wishes Jet wasn't so lazy with his job so that she doesn't take his place momentarily and fix things herself.
Even if Jet doesn't show it often, he would compliment or show appreciation for her and her work, as you will see in the comic in the next paragraph. Jet trusts Wave 100% when it comes to upgrade his beloved Type-J or any other decisions. Jet will always ask Wave first what she thinks about the situation. (Example: Chaotix Case Files or the unused voice line in Crossworlds, where Jet asks "how to use this" to Wave).
Wave and Storm
Wave sees Storm as her goofy co-worker. She would mock him for his failures, point out how much he sucks at riding her Extreme Gears and just comand him around when it's needed. Storm would counter attack her by not let her getting items she wants to study, implying she's a big ass nerd. Storm likes to "race" Wave to see who gets approved by Jet.
Of course all this bullying is just their dumb way to show affection. Wave gets sick worried about Storm when he doesn't return back from his missions and Storm thinks Wave is the best techie ever. Sometimes Wave feels alone without Storm around. You will see this later in the trivia.
Wave and Tails
Wave doesn't hate Tails. She sees him as an interesting rival and he's probably the only character that she respects in terms of mechanical knowledge. Wave will never admit it to him though, not even on her death bed!
Tails can be annoyed by Wave's arrogance, but he doesn't seem to hold resentment towards her. Tails genuinely compliments Wave's craftmanship in Riders and Free Riders, even if Wave mistakely takes it as sarcasm. (Which confirms her insecurities in her hard work. I will explain it later).
Wave is like an onion, or a cake... Something about layers...
Up until now I talked about the most known trivia about Wave, but there are small hints about certain aspects of her character that people could miss if they don't pay enough attention or just don't care enough.
Underneath that puffed tank top chest and enormous ego, Wave hides a part of herself that she shows to no one. Wave is pretty much an insecure person and struggles to accept compliments, as strange as it sound from someone who's got a massive ego.
In THIS comic, Wave shows her usual cool attitude to Jet, being unamused when he compliments her. As soon Jet walks away, Wave completely flips her attitude, acting like a little girl and jumping around because she was appreciated for her hard job! Wave returns back to her normal self as soon Storm catches her acting silly.
Wave is also a tiny bit anxious when things don't go as planned. She gets irritated or lose control of her cool, showing a tender side Wave would never show normally. Wave's morale is very fragile and it can crumble like a sand castle, especially if her hard work goes wasted, thus failing the mission.
Maybe I'm reading a little too much in these animations, but the last gif looks like she's having a panic attack or recovering from it. We know Wave got pushed away by SCR-HD in that cutscene, but this doesn't look like a reaction to physical pain. Plus the surprise attack of that robot made her act like this:
Wave seems like someone who can't improvise when she gets ambushed, which seems a normal flaw for someone who organizes every single step in their plan. It's kind of weird for a thief to be this nervous on the field, but these oddities make a character stand out from the other "band of thieves" in other media.
However Wave shows that she's capable to problem solving mistakes on the go.
In Sonic Riders, Wave catches Storm on time after Knuckles knocks him out of his board. Wave shows some fast thinking here. Could it be that Wave is more comfortable in solving problems when she's riding her EXG? Maybe, but not only that.
After Wave realises that Tails' theory about the Lightless Black was correct, she's still able to give a working solution to her team and Team Sonic. Keep in mind but she didn't know the Arks could create a black hole until Tails explained it to everyone. It's not surprising because Wave seems possess physics and chemistry knowledge knowing what she does for living.
Random trivia, go!
Wave knows something or two about relationships, I guess. lol
Wave hates to run. Lazy ass. (Just like me fr fr).
Instead of admitting that Cream was surprisingly good with tricks, Wave changes subject and talks about the camera technology. Wave will continue to deny Cream's skills, even to herself, until at the end when she just gives up and admits that the kid is really good.
Wave and her silly beliefs.
Heh. Acting like a bully to Storm everytime he's around you but then you want him by your side when you feel lost. Adorable.
Wave's morale is very fragile when she works hard but it gets wasted in no time.
Wave the hypocrite! Fun fact: She was having a beef with Sonic here and it won't be the last time. :P
Wave fears the children. THINK OF THE ADULTS!!!
Wave thinks Sonic is not a gentleman.
💅
Wave hates impatient people as much as she hates dumbass people.
Wave can't stand Knuckles, no matter what!
In ZG, Eggman would've loved to hire Wave as his henchwoman and he would love to use her technology for his projects. (Sadly I can't post pics because of 30 pics limit, so trust me on this).
In ZG, Eggman considers only himself and Wave as super mechanic in the world. Poor Tails...
Sonic Racing Crossworlds
Wave is body shaming Big. Wave: "You're gonna peel out just trying to accelerate all that mass at once."
Wave can't stand rich and/or privileged people, starting with Blaze. Wave: "This competition is for real racers. Not hoity-toity princesses who sit around all day giving orders". "Did I scuff your shoes, princess?"
According to Wave, Shadow's air shoes are just 50 years old Extreme Gears.
Wave has got a morbid obsessions with opening and studying Metal Sonic and Omega. (+1 point on Wave's italian VA because her tone makes it sound malicious and evil).
Wave would love to try and install SAGE into her Extreme Gear. Woman... She's a digital kid...
Wave is interested in weaponry and not just explosives, according to her dialogue VS Omega. Wave: "Chassis is too bulky for my tastes, but the ammo supply storage is impressive. Might be worth studying."
Wave's dialogue if the player was Espio was so on point in italian. Give it a listen! Wave: "Do you even know how to race? Or are you just gonna pose the whole time while shouting "NiNjA PoWuR"?
Wave believes the Zeti live in the Stone Age. lol Wave: "I hear you still use stone masonry on Lost Hex. Do you even know how to operate these things"?
When Wave boosts in the game (kart only), she poses like her Production I.G artwork. If Wave chooses the crossworld ring to travel into, then she will pose like the Sonic Channel artwork.
Wave's in-game model is broken in all versions of the game. The jiggle physics applied to her face makes her eyelids and beak too bouncy, resulting in weird graphic bugs. As writing this, SEGA still didn't fix this issue. (And probably they never will. 70€ game y'all).
According to the japanese script of the game, Wave and Rouge are rivals when it comes to stealing stuff. If you play as Rouge and go against Wave, then the latter will say: "I often run into you during my thieving jobs! I'll pay you back, Rouge!"
According to Sage, Wave's mechanical genius rivals Dr. Eggman's but she doesn't understand why she doesn't want to conquer the world. Wave simply replies that she's happy in what she does and world domination looks like an annoying chore to her.
Miscellaneous trivia
Talking about graphic issues. In the first Riders game you can see Wave's in-game model being unfinished. Her arms are very lowpoly and you can see this mistake most of the time. This was fixed in Zero Gravity.
Wave is the only Babylon Rogue that lack of the black and red stripes around her eyes. It could be a babylonian male/female dismorphism, but this is just my theory.
Wave is the only Babylon Rogue that can hide her tomial teeth (the zigzag thingies in the beak). Check out my drawing for more info HERE.
For unknown reason Wave's tribal flames on her arms were colored dark purple when they first released her artwork to the public, but the same artwork was changed, coloring the tribals in lavander at the last minute. This mistake was left untouched in the animated intro of Sonic Riders because I suppose it was too late to fix all the frames in the animation. However this mistake was fixed on the japanese website, cover art and instruction manual of the game. I guess this mistake originated from Production I.G. because Wave's in-game model always had lavander flames, even in the Tokyo Games Show build of the game. (September 2005).
When Sonic Riders was announced at Tokyo Games Show 2005, journalists would confuse Wave The Swallow with "Web The Swallow" or "Wave The Sparrow".
Wave thinks Blaze's outfit is pretty good. (0:22)
At first impact Wave could be confused for a tomboy, but in reality she's very femminine. Pretty cool considering most of the time women that work as mechanic in media tend to be tomboyish.
Wave uses a giant wrench as melee weapon. That thing looks very heavy to hold, yet she can swing it no problem when she's riding her Type-W.
The Type-W in Sonic Riders Zero Gravity has got a stylized barn swallow drawn on it. When the EXG changes into air ride form, its wings spread!
The Type-W in Sonic Free Riders is the only Type board to have stylized flames drawn on it.
The Babylon Rogues names are connected to water and air phenomenons. Stream Jets influences storms where to move, which the latter creates waves in the ocean.
Also "Wave the Swallow" is a pun itself. Waves swallow everything underneath them. Duh.
Wave, like the rest of the Rogues, is a neutral aligned character.
Wave's hobbies consist of studying ruins and treasures from her ancestors. In mission mode of Sonic Riders, if you get silver rank in mission 3 of Dark Desert, Wave says she loves to explore mysterious places and will continue to study further, even when her mission is over.
Wave seems to have keen eyes when it comes to details or recognize material and other stuff. For example: Wave didn't need to touch or even get closer to understand that the Magic Carpet was an Extreme Gear, meanwhile Tails had to touch it and look it a little to recognize that the fabric is made with the same material as the Extreme Gears.
Wave has one of the best X tricks in ZG, in my opinion. Gravity is nothing to her!
Wave's wrench gets an upgrade in ZG. If you hit someone with it, then the victim gets paralyzed for a little while.
Conclusion
What to say except Wave's my favourite fictional character ever created? Yeah, I'm not joking. I know there are so many well written, well developed characters out there, but nobody hits as hard as Wave to me. Perhaps it is because I grew up with her. I remember back in 2006 I used to create weird theories about her, like that her rings at the wrists act like Shadow's or the fact that she can fly without wings. This last theory comes from the fact that Wave doesn't move anything when she flies with Extreme Gears NOT BUILT to be flying/hovering in the rings. (I was just 10 years old, don't judge me)! I used to struggle at drawing Wave because I could never get her beak right or her details correctly. I was enamoured of Wave (probably she was the first sign I was gay, idk) and I wanted to be like her. I used to ride my bike or skate around my place thinking I was Wave in Metal City, doing some sick tricks and imitating her sassy pose when winning with skate gears. This one:
20 years later and I'm not smart, arrogant (maybe...) or athletic like her. Sigh! Last time I tried to do tricks on my skateboard I broke my ass. However she turned me into a nerdy girl that tinkers with technology and I'm curious about everything around me.
I must admit I was shivering when Crossworlds announced all the Rogues would come back playable AND with Extreme Gears. It is stupid for a woman on her 30s (almost) to act like this, but I never felt so happy for a Sonic game since Zero Gravity! The fact that Wave is still alive after so many years... Hell, I can't explain how I felt in that moment. There are no words to describe it. It was like seeing a good old friend returning back to you.
Excluding my bias for a second, I think Wave's a great Sonic character overall, even underrated. The Sonic series really lack of morally grey female characters and Wave fills the spot perfectly. Like the rest of the Rogues, Wave is a character that reflects freedom: she does whatever she wants alongside Jet and Storm. Wave is a wanderer that never stop searching new inspirations and new people to rub her arrogance on. Wave really could be used more in the franchise, but her problem is that she cannot do anything unless Jet is involved. This will make her development impossible, which sucks honestly.
Tell me what's your favourite thing about Wave and why do you love her so much!
Ciao!
Lately I opened Twitter to post few artworks to keep that account alive and I noticed there was a trend about posting your unpopular opinions about Sonic characters. Usually people would praise their niche favourite but I personally wanted to tackle a problem I've got with the Rogues since Riders.
We all know the Babylon Rogues were born as group and each one of them are important gears to make the machine work, if you get what I mean.
However something always felt off with me: Jet The Hawk overshadowing Wave and Storm.
Wait! Hold your horses!
I know Jet is the leader of the group, the face that represents the whole thing and SEGA will just focus on him when it comes to develop the Rogues. As much as it makes sense, I think Wave and Storm shouldn't be left behind.
My real problem with this logic is that Jet can appear without the other two, but Wave and/or Storm can't appear if Jet is not involved.
This really bugs me because Wave and Storm are forced to never develop as characters, thus making them stagnant. It's already happening in the marketing guide of the brand.
Jet didn't get that "DO NOT mix with other characters". Crazy to see this shit but it makes me think about it.
Why? Why Wave and Storm cannot mix with other characters? Why are they exclusive to Riders?
To be fair, this is an old marketing style guide (less than 10 years old as far as I know). I dunno if this is still relevant today, but I won't be surprised if it is. Notice also how they use the far superior ZG renders in this style guide, but Jet is using the 2010-present model instead. It's funny.
Talking about the games and other media:
Jet managed to appear in different Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games titles alone, and even with little screen time, they showed us some interesting traits or interactions with him and other characters.
Wave was barely playable in one Olympic Game and then get removed in the last title of the series. (Figures...)
I only played the 3DS version of Rio 2016 100%, but I don't remember any new trait or interesting Wave dialogue in that version of the game. This was the first and last time Wave was by herself and not with any of the other Rogues.
Storm... This character got the worst case scenario of the trio. He never appeared in any Olympic Games or any other game alone. The only time there was a story about him only is a mini comic about Storm racing to the "all you can eat" resturant.
This situation sucks so much. I wish we had more time to give to each these characters. I don't mean full arc stories, but some one shot stories where we see Wave and Storm do something we don't expect.
Slice of life? Some interesting encounter? Fighting perhaps? Maybe discovering secret interests? Anything goes, as long as it isn't written like Jet's own solo story in IDW.
I want to compare the Rogues with Team Chaotix. Even they have the strict rule to be a team but they happen to do things in solo, at least Espio and Vector can. I do not remember Charmy doing something by himself, but correct me if I'm wrong here.
Still, with the recent Chaotix Case Files podcasts, each member of the team had their screentime to show off their character.
I wanna go further and say that Chaotix Casefiles' Rogues episode was just about Jet being a goofball. Yes, Wave and Storm were there to be active and do the commentary on Jet and Vector EXG race but we don't see more of what we already know about those characters.
Which is a shame because Wave is a well layered character that never gets explored.
Even Storm needs some development as character. I love him, but he's probably the least worked on character of the team.
PS: I would also to talk about how the Babylon Rogues' main theme song, "Catch me if you can", is more about Jet than the team.
Probably there is just one line that could talk about them as team:
[...] "We are born to dream in a world full of seeing what we never could reach"
The rest is just about Jet's goals and dreams. I love that song, but I would be lying if that's disappointing.
Which brings me to think about Crossworlds. When you win a Grand Prix, each character has got a winning jingle.
Jet has got "Catch me if you can" ZG remix.
But Wave and Storm?
Wave's got a remix of "Full Speed Ahead", from ZG score. This was used for Eggman sneaking away from the Babylon Rogues' airship after stealing their Ark of Cosmos.
Storm's got "Eggman again!" from Sonic Riders.
...Why did they use Eggman's theme songs for Wave and Storm? Beats me but this doesn't help the fact that Wave and Storm aren't seen as full characters from SEGA. Just some sidekick to Jet.
The saddest part is that there is a track in the official OST of the first Riders game that could be used, called "theme of babylonians". This was never used in the game. You could hear a rearranged, and shorter, version of it called "legends of babylonians" (For reference: when Tails explains their legend to Sonic and friends). If they cared enough they could've created two different jingles for Wave and Storm by using that track. It fits, it's about their babylonian legacy and it's just the right thing to do.
That's it. Probably this is just venting. I needed to get it out from my system.
If you play Sonic Rumble Party, and you're a fan of Wave, chance is that you want this sticker to add in your collection! It's in the new Secret Rings event, for free.
New and official Jet The Hawk wallpaper from Sonic Channel!
Rough translation by Google. (Will fix later).
"Hello! This is Hayane Tomoko! April is here, and the wind is getting gentler, making you want to go outside. It's the start of a new fiscal year!
This month's wallpaper features Jet, a highly skilled air racer who controls the wind more skillfully than anyone else!"
"Treasures in both hands" - currently scrutinizing the best!?
The first thing that catches your eye is the rimless glasses, with the frame only covering the top half! Their smart and sharp style is quite different from my usual goggles, and I couldn't help but do a double-take.
Did he choose it himself, or was it a gift from the members of the "Babylon Rogues" gang that Jet leads, who said something like, "Jet-sama, please use this to assess the treasures"? Just imagining it is fun! (Wave gifted him a pair of glasses? Oh!)
He's got a bag full of gold coins in one hand and a gold bar in the other. Despite his defiant smile, the imbalance of his greedy style is so typical of Jet and just fantastic!
His sharp gaze, visible through his glasses, seems unlikely to miss even the slightest sparkle of a treasure.
What happened to the treasure...?
With the treasures in both hands, is he going to invest all of them first to strengthen his EX Gear? But what about the rest? "We'll celebrate once we beat him, but today we can have a pre-celebration, right?"
...or maybe he's generously using them on a party that includes Wave and Storm.
The night is filled with confident laughter. Yet, the next morning, he'll likely be the first to get up, piloting his enhanced EX Gear and honing his skills as the "Legendary Wind Rider."
He transforms his high pride into stoicism, relentlessly pursuing victory. I think that attitude is what makes Jet such an unfairly cool, "genuine" rival character!
This month's top recommendation!
Be sure to download this wallpaper and harness Jet's wild power!
On X, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the wallpaper and your predictions about the situation using the hashtag #ソニかつ
I can almost hear Jet's voice coolly muttering, "Well, I might as well splurge on this much..." ♪
Well then, see you next time!
SOURCE:
ダウンロード PC スマホ こんにちは。速音トモコです！ 風がやわらかくなって、外に飛び出したくなる4月。新年度のはじまりですね♪ そんな今月のかべがみで主役を張るのは、その風を誰よりも巧みに操るスゴ腕エアレーサー「ジェット」です！ 「両...
Yo, Gemlik's here. Did Sonic Rumble resolve my 20 years old dilemma?
Let's be honest: Wave's design was never consistent throughout her existence, especially her beak. Sometimes official artists draw it smooth, sometimes they draw it zig-zagged. 3D models in the Riders trilogy, Olympic Games, Speed Battle, Dash and Crossworlds show Wave's beak to be just smooth. What's the truth?
Well, it looks like Sonic Rumble resolved this dilemma for me! I observed her model a lot (it's my main skin after all) and I noticed Wave has zig-zagged beak too, but unlike Jet and Storm the zig-zagged beak is only shown with particular emotions, such as anger, being scared or focused. If Wave is smirking, smiling or has neutral expressions then it's smooth.
If you play Sonic Rumble Party, then there is a brand new sticker for you. It's in the new Easter Free Pass, so start grinding for the cutest boy! It's the first Storm sticker too!
No, it's not an April Fools'! It's real and you can see it by yourself.
Sunday Topic: Storm, the misunderstood member of the Babylon Rogues!
Hello! Gemlik's here! Today I want to talk about Storm The Albatross as character.
Usually he's described by the fanbase as useless, an idiot and a forgettable character, but he really is: the most loyal, hard working and cutest member of the Babylon Rogues!
QUICK BIO:
Storm is a 19 years old (or was, they removed the age to every Sonic character) albatross and the muscle of the Babylon Rogues. He's a force of nature that can crush boulders with no efforts. However Storm's not very nimble on feet, he's clumsy and has got a quick temper. Sometimes he will stutter with words or shows to not be the sharpest tool in the shed.
Despite his flaws, Storm would do anything to please his boss and he succeeds his solo missions too. For example, Storm managed to sneak inside Ice Factory to grab a small chip containing Eggman's diary by himself in the first Riders game and he followed Amy from Meteortech to Aquatic Capital just to not let the pink hedgehog get away with the Ark of the Cosmos, plus found a second one after one of Eggman's security robots exploded.
Like, he didn't use his EXG to follow Amy. Both character ran on feet from the first circle to the second one. If that's not dedication and hard work to please Jet, then I dunno what to tell you!
DESIGN:
Back then, people often described Storm as "another Big the Cat", which is totally wrong! Both design and intelligence.
First of all, the difference of the body shape of both characters: Big is a circle and Storm is more an oval or a reversed triangle. According to body shapes, Big is shown to be a friendly and chill plus sized cat meanwhile Storm is supposed to be a menacing athletic bird. Big is 2 m tall and Storm is just 1,40 m tall. The latter is probably the smallest Power type next to Knuckles!
Storm lost some details between the Production IG artwork to the official Sonic Channel artwork, such as a longer beak (which real albatross do have and I have no idea why SEGA changed it) and these very small pupils turned into bigger round blue eyes. In Sonic Racing Crossworlds, Storm's eyelids were changed from grey to black. Honestly I like them black but it can be a problem if you want see the character from far.
TRIVIA:
- Storm is afraid of dark places and ghosts.
Storm thinks he's photogenic. (And he is in my humble opinion!)
Storm actually worries about his team, even rivals, if they are in trouble.
Storm relieves his stress by using his physical force.
According to Eggman, Storm's skills in handling gravity with the Ark of the Cosmos could "lay waste to the entire town".
Storm is slow only on feet, but on EXG he's impressively fast.
Storm seems to be a party dude. He does the hand wave dance as airboard trick in ZG! I added extra unused voicelines from Crossworlds as proof too. Ahah!
It looks like Storm is the Babylon Rogues' chef. Not only he's very interested in food and how to eat free of charge (Sonic 25th anniversary comic from Sonic Channel) but he's shown cooking and serving meals to his team. (IDW Sonic #71)
Storm and Wave bicker a lot during Sonic Riders, but despite everything they really care for eachother. They just don't show it face to face.
Storm thinks Vector is fat in the japanese dialogue of Sonic Racing Crossworlds.
In Crossworlds, for some reason I don't understand, Storm seems to have a crush on Amy Rose. He keeps stuttering, being shy and just weird when he needs to interact with her. It's a miracle they removed the age to every character... If you know, you know.
Storm confuses Sonic for Shadow and viceversa for some reason. Plus he thinks Silver is his big fan and cosplayer. Weird writing.
Storm was the only Babylon Rogue to never join the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games series.
Storm is not getting a new wallpaper on Sonic Channel since 2010.
In Archie Comics' Sonic Universe #33, Storm seems to enjoy flowers because he gets sad when he finds out that the Babylon Garden is just a vessel with no garden on it.
According to Sonic Crossworlds, Storm can tolerate cold temperatures. This makes sense because albatrosses are know to live in cold places and there were some fossils in North Antarcatica as well before they went extinct in that place.
Storm is probably a Buller's Albatross. I believe its colors and patterns are very close to Storm's.
According to Sonic Universe #36, Storm seems to enjoy videogames. He asks Wave if what she's holding is a Gamebird Advance.
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PERSONAL OPINION:
I love Storm. I think he's under appreciated because he's only seen as the muscle of the group with no brilliant mind, but I believe people should see further than that. Of course I can't give all the fault to the fans when SEGA doesn't help at all. Getting official Storm content is as rare as finding a shiny Pokèmon in the old games, if you get what I mean. He's my second favourite Rogue and I love his gentle nature behind all that force he was gifted since he was a hatchling. (I suppose. Are the Babylon Rogues born from eggs?) He's sensible and humble, traits the other two rogues kinda lack, eheh. He balances the team perfectly and he's that kind of guy I would love to hang out with.
