Sonic Jam: The Best & Worst Sonic Game

[@GottaBeFrank]

Funny thing about that Sonic Jam WITHOUT Defeating a Badnik video. That tree gets quite the mention because it stopped me for a while. Who would think to let go of the D Pad?

[@TheWax70]

I use to take a game com to middle school and would play Sonic Jam on the bus. I couldn't afford a Game Gear or Nomad, and I didn't want to risk teachers taking my Game Boy so the Game Com was the best option at the time. Thank you for explaining the tree loop. That always bugged the heck out of me as a kid.

[@mylam658]

that's the game scott the woz owns

[@GameApologist]

Not before me he didn't.

[@marcelkirch6805]

You mean that guy that owns sonic jam?

[@walkerphillips2818]

Hey All, Scott here!

[@julianx2rl]

​@@walkerphillips2818 - Zip it, you're not Scott!

[@Planag7]

The hoarder? Or the abuser friend?

[@David20Covers]

my headcannon is that if the sega saturn succeeded, sonic's world would be called saturn

[@AD-en5dq]

Oh yeah???

[@morrowlterraslove]

I mean it sorta did in Japan and it was actually Sega’s best selling console in Japan even beating the N64 sales and hell the Mega Drive but overall Saturn was the worst of the 3 sales cuz you know how terrible it was for NA and EU

[@gatorbait2148]

I just noticed this for the first time, but is the mushroom hill miniboss using the GOLDEN AXE to cut trees?

[@zekromfan1]

No that’s either a light grey or puke green. Also I think Tails is a little more of a light grey too.

[@RadikAlice]

@@zekromfan1 They mean actual Sonic 3 tho

[@nottoofast]

No, Minecraft didn’t exist when Sonic 3 came out so they didn’t have golden axes yet

[@RadikAlice]

@@nottoofast I hope that's a bad joke, because it made me want to facepalm

[@alexanderadams9058]

​@@nottoofastPretty sad we had to wait until 2010 to be blessed by the mere presence of the Golden Axe... Better late than never I guess 🤷

[@V.is.for.Vae.Victus]

"but if you have a gamecom...wh...why!?" 🤣 Perfect presentation sir. Laughs a-plenty.

[@sonictag-teamheroes8835]

See, that's the thing about Tails ' color its actually in between gray and puke green, so puke gray-green. It compliments Sonic's puke green-gray pallette.

[@Phils_Horrible_World]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Gamecom version of 3D Blast was just a mockup with no actual game play made. A few years ago, pics from EGM showing an unreleased sequel to the NES Nightmare on Elm St game were found, only for it to be discovered that those were simply mockups and that no gameplay was ever developed

[@YujiNakaSonic]

This is the true intended way to play Sonic 3 I fought tooth and nail to get this version in Sonic Origins but the legal team said it just wasn't possible

[@AccelerateHedge]

whoa it's yuji naka himself, you're right we need this masterpiece in widescreen with 60FPS

[@CptJistuce]

@@AccelerateHedge Gotta say, it'll be a lot better at 60FPS than 6FPS.

[@AccelerateHedge]

@@CptJistuce not wrong

[@2DCheese]

@@CptJistuce yeah it'll be better than jam 6 at that point

[@realjordantrs]

for a while I sat looking at the title like "how is Sonic Jam bad? isn't it just a compilation of classic Sonic games?" ...then i realized you were talking about the OTHER Sonic Jam, and it all made sense

[@HybridAngelZero]

I actually had (and still own) a Game Com as a kid. I already knew it was a mess of a system, but I got it on clearance for I do believe $15 brand new. It was actually a neat thing to have at the time, it had a built-in calculator and phone/address book, and the touch screen was surprisingly decent and really novel for the time. Also, the more puzzle-y or less demanding games were pretty okay on this thing. Mine came with Henry and Lights Out, which were a fun diversion. Also, that second cartridge slot could actually be used to have two games available to play at once! I remember wishing I could do that with my Game Boy Color at the time. I didn't actually own this version of Sonic Jam til years later. I wasn't exactly surprised by how bad it was, but I still thought it was just a neat novelty to play Sonic on the Game Com of all things

[@NexusWorks924]

Here's a fun fact. the sonic world in the Saturn sonic jam Is actually an Early repurposed prototype of sonic adventure.

[@Planag7]

Heck yeah. Might as well give us... Something

[@SetoKaiba342]

We know.

[@NexusWorks924]

@@SetoKaiba342 I know a lot of sonic fans already know that, but there might be some that don't

[@silverthecatastrophic5270]

I didn't know that, that's awesome

[@aeon87]

​@spirit2fusion I didn't. Now I do.

[@Kanada-Duh]

15:38 strange fact about this knuckles sprite, according to the cutting room floor the Knuckles sprites are actually the Original knuckles sprites used in the Sonic 3 prototype which explains why he looks so funky

[@KraziShadowbear]

For a second there, I was scared that somehow Sonic Jam had a really bad side to it, but when you spoke about there being a cheap knock-off version of the game (differentiating from the Sonic Saturn version), I breathed a big sigh of relief... 😅 That was such a crazy and absolutely hilarious episode and truly a wild and weird one. Loved seeing you just "place" the game cartridges near your dog and seeing them react to nothing. XD There's always something funny about you ranting like a lunatic about random, sloppy, or outright bad stuff in games, especially when this comes from a frustratingly infuriating rip-off. 😆 But also, I can understand your fascination for this strange game. My Sonic.exe/indie horror-obssessed brain kept thinking of that Gamecom thing like an "alternate/darker" version of Classic Sonic 2&3. Like Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles were trapped in this rip-off game series, eternally stuck in a hellish purgatory of slow, awkward movement, bottomless pits, and no "true" way of escape from this horrible creation. (Even the thumbnail of this video also gives me those vibes... Strange...)

[@carlosemilio5180]

Oh sorry to break it to you, but this is OFFICIAL

[@agentomecha634]

After watching this video, I have a newfound appreciation of the fact that it’s only been up from here when it comes to the quality of Classic Sonic game collections. And yes, I’m one of the few loons that actually likes Sonic Origins Plus despite its setbacks. (Funnily enough, another patch just released for Origins so I suppose SEGA hasn’t fully abandoned the game yet.)

[@AlexSmith-tp7xu]

I've played a few collections. The best one for me is mega collection +. Not gems, jam, origins, and especially not the ds classic collection

[@brawler5760]

Well after looking at this, there’s no way Origins Plus can be any worse than this, and if anyone says otherwise then they’re just delusional

[@AfroRyan]

The only nice thing I can say about it is the sprites look pretty good...kind of. They don't animate properly because of the janky slopes and terrible framerate, but if you take a screenshot, it's like "hey, that's a monochrome Sonic 3 sprite," and you didn't get that kind of sprite fidelity on Game Boy...but what you did get on Game Boy were functional games where the best games scaled down their sprites to alleviate some of that screen crunch. It's awful in every way, even art when it's in motion, but there's a reason it fooled a few of us back then with those screenshots and BS commercials.

[@potatoemporer2174]

Great video. Seriously great. This is the game apologist we know and love. so when I say this I mean it with love. this man will review sonic waku waku patrol car before reviewing sonic adventure. tease of the century

[@CosmicTornado1]

Oh wow, I also never realized the lumberjack was cutting down a tree. I lt’s a bit silly to realize it only just now, but hey, kid me just wanted to destroy the robot lol

[@Meepalasheep]

Do we have any proof they didn't just put a grey filter over Genesis/Saturn footage for those ads?

[@lepacs14]

Hmmm.

[@GameApologist]

Files found in the game. It's running on gamecom hardware.

[@SonkerOfficial]

@@GameApologist holy shit. You cannot tell me they did not want to sabotage sonic's rep

[@Youaveragecountryhumansfan]

That was my first thought

[@pengil3]

Tecnically, this could also count as an episode of unapolagetic, where we look for the bad in terrible games

[@MiilkGod]

sat through the entire ad without realizing it. I was like "oh wait this is an ad skip" but it was already over W ad nick

[@WebstersYouTube]

This is the most detail anyone has ever gone into for this game. Today we all learned.

[@ChipFanXO]

Nick never fails to make my day

[@kyleplair4929]

Its possible that the screenshots on the back are there because they showcase a much more complete earlier build and its possible the developers lost thst build and made what we have now in the little time they had. A bit of a stretch, but just a theory.

[@CassiDS]

10:41 "had potentially grown out of the Game Boy" Buddy, half the Game Boy's marketing - pack-in title included - was geared _toward_ full-grown adults.

[@EmilyKimMartin]

Yes, the very mature game geared towards full grown-adults: Tetris

[@CptJistuce]

"You don't stop playing because you grow old. But you can grow old if you stop playing." -Actual GameBoy ad

[@Retrblu]

Well this was a really good video, seriously Nick your content is great and part of the reason why I got back into Sonic a couple of years ago

[@heitorsant1759]

I am so excited because of how metal knuckles is gonna be playable in the battle mode from sonic superstars

[@DeeJamari]

That music is HILARIOUS!!!🤣 36:26 Made my day! That melody might have some potential tho... 🤔 edit: THAT WAS THE SPECIAL STAGE THEME?!?!? I thought it was original music. How do you butcher that?

[@borederlands5387]

I never knew sonic origins just took its menu theme from sonic jam now i feel lied to

[@stefcannon2580]

Like you, I thought the Mushroom Hill sub-boss was not chopping down a tree but ejecting logs from itself! High five! 😁

[@Scorpionspear77]

I start this video up for the first time and I get a Sonic Superstars ad. Fitting.

[@ZeroFoundContent]

Same here.

[@Vieislost]

Same

[@KatelynJewel]

Wow! I thought I was the only one who didn't notice for a while that the Mushroom Hill Zone act 1 boss was chopping down trees due to how fast and simple it is to beat. While I played the game as a kid, I didn't notice this until sometime during my teen years after watching the gag in Sonic Oddball Crackups titled "When Robots Get Smart" where the robot chopped a tree from the bottom causing it to fall on top of Sonic. I thought when it chopped the tree in the foreground there, it was something completely original to that short, but then I replayed the game and realized it was always doing this, just from the top. I think the reason we both had this misinterpretation (and I'm sure others likely have as well) is because when fighting a boss, our eyes are mainly focused on the character we're playing as and the target since those are the important parts, and the trees being in the foreground makes them easy to overlook.

[@GMDTheOnyxGuyEizzX]

About modding related to Sonic Jam GC, there's one mod I remember even AntDude showcased, which is grayscaled Sonic for Sonic 3 AIR. Dumb stuff indeed, but yeah, just decided to mention

[@jaggededge11]

Seeing as Tails is the best character in the series, why wouldn't you want to play with him?

[@symphomaniac]

I only had the Gamecom version. Yes the big Angel Island tree is passable as Sonic and Knuckles. Just have to let go of the Dpad when the character starts rising. Yes it is stupid Yes it took me years to figure out Yes i played that game a lot. I was young

[@fizzx6317]

I know it's not the main focus, but I love that you mentioned the lumberjack miniboss Robot in SK. I think it's called Hei-Ho, and design wise, it's one of my favorite mid-class Eggman Robots. It obviously wouldn't stand a chance against Metal Sonic, the Death Egg Robot, or maybe even Eggmans Eggmobile attachments, but it seems like it could be a competent Lieutenant to the lesser Badniks.

[@Furluge]

10:00 - OMG that Afterburner LCD thing! I had that! XD There was a normal size version of that too, though.

[@DillerwithI]

21:22 dude i wasn't ready for my worst nightmare you need to have a disclaimer before that

[@skibot9974]

Ohh another epsiode of Port-able?! I’d love an episode on Chu Chu Rocket the Dreamcast version vs the GBA. The first console game with online multiplayer (I think) vs SEGA’s first third party game

[@hayato1886]

Surprisingly no. I believe it goes to, and of all things, Doom on the SNES. If you had the Xband addon and put Doom into the slot it wouldn't load into the single player mode but rather into deathmatch and it was indeed online. It's the earliest I can think of, at least

[@skibot9974]

@@hayato1886 still think this would be a good portable episode

[@Morgil27]

I kinda wanna see someone do a rom hack of the Genesis games to recreate the levels from this.

[@GoldenChocobo]

Amusingly, I learned about this game through Rerez, but I’m incredibly happy you went into depth with it. Every scrap of trash has its origin one way or another. It’s not easy being a Sonic fan.

[@2DCheese]

You forgot the best Sonic Jam: Sonic Jam 6 Edit: YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT JAM 6 ARE YOU KIDDING ME

[@blaacksugar7714]

In regards to Sonic Labyrinth: It's not a bad game at all, most people are (probaby) just disappointed in it in terms of it being Sonic 2D Blast...but come on, you got what you paid for, especially when the name of the most hated zone in the first Sonic game is in the title.

[@Schnort]

I actually had fun with it.

[@Game_Hero]

Sonic Chronicles had at least great battle themes, menu themes and ambient music to compensate for the mostly horrible level themes.

[@Nel_Annette]

You had me scared for the game collection for a little bit there.

[@RadikAlice]

Speaking of SSFF, it's baffling and impressive the unreleased Symphony of the Night port was more complete than this. I'm talking inverted castle kinda complete. So I think this being so meager is due to the dumb, and probably crunch-fueled decision of using the original sprites as is, screen size be damned. GameCom is what would happen if you tried turning a Game & Watch into basically a monochrome PS Vita And yes, this shouldn't be forgotten. Bad games shouldn't in general, failure is the greatest teacher after all

[@randomcommentog]

I unintentionally own every version of Sonic Jam. This game is the only reason I own a gamecom

[@AlexSmith-tp7xu]

Im glad you mentioned sonic chronicles, i was about to. "Sonic 3s final boss theme is so good nothing could ruin it" *Nocturne enters the chat*

[@xXOpenYourHeart759Xx]

The Tiger didn't have that Blast Processing smh

[@starleaf-luna]

> rebuilding them from the ground up it seems like the Sonic Jam versions of the games were just the original source code fed through a 68000->SH2 converter with some changes to make it work on the Saturn.

[@justanormalperson8944]

I feel like someone on this very planet also owns Sonic Jam, I just can't Woz my finger on it

[@Icalasari]

I love that the good in the bad is, "At least Sonic Team isn't behind this. Probably"

[@OddlerTheHousehusband]

It was watching this video that I realized that they ran around the inside of the tree and weren't bouncing off the walls. Mind you I played Sonic 3 on the day of its release.

[@joeker5208]

I played for a second (felt like an eternity), and it still makes me laugh that this isn’t the worst controls I’ve played in a Sonic game. It’s such a shame that Riders went out the way it did with the god damn connect

[@jaredlord4009]

I forgot the Quiz Whiz. My family got us one to take on road trips when I was like six.

[@gillythekid]

44:40…Nick…

[@GameApologist]

What

[@apackofhoboes]

We need more puppy content. Pupper looked so happy to be on camera.

[@boomboyo]

Sonic's walking animation looks like he should be making the sound that Squidward makes when he walks

[@bencebalog2122]

Yea man the E-win champion series was a pretty cool sonic game

[@teaoftraffic]

we need more game apologist dog videos

[@peety0792]

I won't stop commenting you to review sonic robo blast 2's mods until you do it! Thre could be a mod for game com sonic, IDK

[@HedgehogY2K]

7:16 DO NOT PLAY THIS ON A D-PAD use any 3D pad or Retro Fighter controller with an analog stick that you can find. Oddly enough the Retro Fighter controller can play Master System games with the analog stick.

[@Brewski007]

Wow! My 18th favorite KZbinr uploaded!! (Jk you’re cool Nick 👍)

[@supersonicwarrior2614]

5:15 Three questions: What bugs? What bad music (other than the three levels in Sonic 3)? And what micro transactions?

[@BlackFlash09]

So... when's that Sonic Origins Plus review? Can't wait for you to acknowledge that the whole Super/Hyper Amy thing was an oversight. Totally worth it's own video. I sure hope you can detect my sarcasm...

[@callumsparrow4379]

Imagine if a slow slippery monochromatic level was in Sonic Superstars to represent Sonic Jam for Game-Com.

[@NightfoxNiko]

Honestly, even if the level layouts look like if Dimps made Sonic Advance out of greyscale Sonic 2 & 3, the footage here really makes me want someone to compile or extract level maps so we can reconstruct them into a proper 16-bit ROM hack or fangame with proper controls. Yeah, it looks cobbled together enough that you're practically better off just making stuff up, but the novelty of the source material just wouldn't wear off.

[@CesarTorres61296]

Honestly the nicest thing about Gamescom Jam is that we can play as Tails & Knuckles.

[@samuelrodriguez9801]

I love how you present all of these products with your dog. XD

[@Flycanjack]

As someone that has played this game, I can definitely say on my initial playthrough, it felt more comparable to a flash fan game or a passion project by someone that either doesn't know what they're doing or was being held back by the hardware, but was still trying to provide an authentic recreation of the classic sonic games they love Now if that is actually the case, idk, but it always came across as more poor knowledge or circumstance and less cash grabby

[@melisastone231]

Of course I love sonic the hedgehog and you're one of the most passionate sonic fans ever, this one was one of my favorites

[@CoralCopperHead]

"This console is not expensive to collect for at all." Well that's not gonna last long now.

[@TheSwordsman100]

Say what you like about the music but Origins did not besmirch the name of the classic games and is actually one of the best official collections. Heck its renditions of 1, 2 and 3 are actually better than Mega Collection Plus.

[@ZeroFoundContent]

The title I agree with playing it was quite okay but not good game I mean its sonic origins in black and white. Comment on the bit about the Tiger company their sonic 2 version showed up in my local gamestop one more thing I still think that the spindash was crazy.

[@greysenmachan2928]

OOh! Just wait until the Sonic X game. No, not the leapfrog one!

[@Schnort]

... What other Sonic X game?!

[@richardkirkland6805]

The thing I remember Tiger Electronics for is their old LCD Pokédex(es).

[@YourUncleBenis]

Man will review Sonic Jam on the Game Com, but Sonichu Speed Reading is still off the table.

[@toopienator]

26:00 caught me off guard so much, I can't stop laughing

[@DaWrecka]

I have Sonic Jam for the Saturn. What I don't have is a Saturn that works. :( And I'm too poor for a MODE.

[@t-bird6853]

26:00 Tails is gray, obviously. Haven't you seen Sonic.EXE?

[@pushkins26]

8:26 Good to see Pup making a cameo

[@zacharyhudecz6644]

Hot Take: I legitimately like the dieing heart monitor

[@johanstenfelt1206]

Hm, how very interesting, you know, every time I hear about Games that are considered to be Bad, all I can wonder is, how could’ve they been Good?

[@B.Sleazy]

I used to have a GameCom and Sonic Jam. I have fond memories but i didnt know better.

[@wesshiflet2214]

spinoff series idea: The Chair Apologist

[@pufflord_gamesonicsoloesyo2365]

This is Sonic.exe fangames quality, although that might be an insult to these games

[@projectTyrasa]

I gotta Know It's Killin me I know it's not particularly related to the Video but Please Someone Anyone Tell me what is the Song playin in the background at 3:52 onwards? It's So Catchy!

[@M_Alexander]

Got a Sonic All-Stars ad which I hadn't heard of before

[@Tromite]

Huh. I was thinking recently on what the worst Sonic game may be, and this is certainly a contender. I mean, it's worse than even many Sonic bootlegs, such as those on the Gameboy. That is quite a low bar. For a long time, if someone asked me what the worst Sonic game is, I would always say this without hesitation. However, I changed my mind recently about it and would possibly point to another even more obscure Sonic game, and that is Sonic J for j2me motorola device. You see, there is perhaps the one single sort of redeeming thing about this game is if you play as tails, you will have an slightly easier time for skipping over bits of the level design since he can fly, though very limited. But in Sonic J, you can't do that, as you can only play as Sonic. That's also the case with Sonic GBA. I think it has everything else that Sonic Jam has but takes away that redeeming factor for me. Plus, imagine having to play a Sonic platformer on a tiny mobile phone with really small buttons. Although I never owned a phone like that, as I was too young when motorola shut down. But yeah, I know its hard to imagine anything possibly worse than this, but its worth pondering. Of course, all this is guesswork as games like this are lost media now, so we don't know how they played, but it would be interesting if someone out there knows more about them. But most Sonic ports on j2me back in the day were not all that good to play as we know. But if there was a Sonic game for the r zone, that would have been an easy pick for me. But Tiger, as we know, had products that flopped so hard, they never got to be. Oh, what could have been.

[@Waffle519]

i respect that you gotta get that bag but holy shit three goddamn minutes on a gamer chair right at the beginning?

[@GameApologist]

Yeah, sorry. Mentioned the chapters up front because I knew it was lengthy

[@Schnort]

Does the ad placement matter? At least you aren't invested in the video and interrupted halfway through.

[@wanderlustwarrior]

I thought the Lumberjack was shooting logs, too.

[@CRETRofdaNITE]

The music slapped you buggin

[@cybersonic8472]

Tiger even made the R zone a virtual boy knock off and of course I fell for it and that jurassic park game

[@TBoneTony]

Uncle from Another World is gonna get go full hellfire on Tiger Electronics.

[@jordanazerad123]

Im only interested in this video for the dog parts, I tune the hedgehog stuff out

[@JamesR624]

Yes the Gamecom sucked, but ya kinda gotta respect it's ambition. It was trying (and failing hard) to give FULL console experiences on the go. Keep in mind, the first touchscreen smartphone by a big company was NOT the iPhone... but the phone that set the stage for the iPhone; the IBM Simon, released in the 1980's. It didn't do well, at ALL, but I think, like the GameCom, it just had a lot of good ideas, just too far ahead of it's time.

[@andreworders7305]

I find those old Tiger LCD games charming

[@fonsales5373]

8:48 Didn't I saw it in one of the episodes from The Amazing World of Gumball?

[@ドラゴンリュー-f1x]

For some reason, ign is a title that seems to give a perfect score without hesitation

[@chelsea-legos2641]

Got a sonic superstars ad when starting the video and thought it was his voice for some reason