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Post by Robert Frazer on Mar 12, 2004 20:24:08 GMT
This is a contest I have conceived of that I have constued and evolved that is intended to try both the comprehensiveness of one's memory and the magnitude and breadth of one's possession of Sega-related literature and publications. If you can recall or discover reference to this scene, I shall appreciate you as a genuine, dedicated and devoted proponent of the most glorious and superlative True Way of Gaming!
When Sonic the Hedgehog III was initially released on the MegaDrive to the expected thundering, tympanum-rupturing chorus of celebration and adulating fanfare, we had yet to appreciate the further expansions upon this title that we would benefit from with the impending supplement of Sonic and Knuckles. Most of the diverse elements of the initial title in this sub-duology were reserved to enhance the latter game - but there was one particular, tantalising secret that the Sonic Team declined to rescind from Sonic the Hedgehog III, or indeed, refused to erase from the remainder of Sonic's Mobius-based original tetrology, as well.
This enigmatic character has lurked throughout the periphery of the game codes and gamer's ardent imaginations ever since rumours of his presence were initially contrived and suggested in the first half of the previous decade, and dispute over his precise nature and involvement in the Sonic canon was bitterly contested and a source of immense aggravation for a considerable duration of time.
The character I refer to, most obviously (or potentially not, yet I implore you to refrain from interrupting my pompous tirades), is that withdrawn and insular being:
Rankles the Otter[/u]
I have possessed, for a considerable period of time, authoritative knowledge of the precise nature of this most curious of beings and his bizarre past, and I would inquire as to whether any else can match this.
I thus establish a challenge for you all... who is Rankles, and where did he originate from? Obviosuly, I would not reveal this immediately, but I will supply you with two clues...
-American constiuents of this forum will not be able to answer this question unless they parted with a particular amount of sterling in the early 1990s.
-North-West Thruster Tower.
Bonus marks if you can supply me with concept art of Rankles the Otter, or a screenshot of the character that was purported to be him.
I bid you fortune in your quest!
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Post by Admin Droid on Mar 12, 2004 20:48:24 GMT
Oh, how could I forget the fantastic Rankles? He was, of course, the green Knuckles manipulation with spikey ankles that Radion Automatic created as a prank in Sega Mag #9.
Does anyone know what happened to all the Sega Mag writers? I always enjoyed reading some of the reviews, particularly Rich Leadbetter's.
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Post by Samface on Mar 12, 2004 20:52:43 GMT
Aw man...I wish I knew. I think Gary Cutlack's still kicking round with his UK Resistance site, and I seem to remember flicking through a magazine the other day that had Matt Yeo among its staff, I think it was a film magazine, or possibly the official Star Wars one... *re-reads Ed's post* Oh, did you mean people who actually wrote for Sega Magazine, as opposed to Sega Saturn/Mean Machines etc? I never read Sega Mag. I read MMS, then Sega Saturn Magazine, then C&VG before it went rubbish...
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Post by Robert Frazer on Mar 13, 2004 0:20:53 GMT
Foiled again! Curse it... I was hoping that I could prolong this beyond a period lengthier than two hours... you've compelled me to decline into a morose nadir of appalled dejection now, Ed... *whimpers* ...only jesting, don't fear! The indefatigable Ed, apparently omniscient in all fashions appertaining to Sonic, does indeed correctly identify the nature of Rankles the Otter as an exceedingly crude hoax concocted by the Official Sega Magazine to advertise a separate competition to discover the conclusion to the (contemporarily) recently-released Sonic and Knuckles, augmented by the affixion of Sonic the Hedgehog III. Despite the fact that the editorial team declared quite prominently that Rankles was a rather dire imitation (if you inspect the magazine intensively you may discover the marks from where they erased one of the goring knuckles from the original art Rankles was adapted from), some desperate gameplayers endeavoured to secure the false reward of a handsome magnitude of a million pounds sterling. In issue twenty, one pair retrieved an example of an exceedingly peculiar and singularly bewildering green Knuckles sprite that had been implanted into the second Act of the Launch Base Zone by utilising the Debug mode function. Although quite obviously distinguishable from the contrived Rankles, it was something of a curious figure in itself, and this was the "purported" figure I wrote of earlier. I was distinctly reticent to scan pages from my treasured collection of Official Sega Magazines, yet some have degraded to an utterly abominable condition and I certainly do not wish to harm them further, so some photographs, I am afraid, must suffice. A representation of the most notorious entity of the Official Sega Magazine's competition pages, with the article that accompanied him. A confessedly crude image of the emerald-coated and crimson-muzzled Knuckles that skulks about the Launch Base Zone. To discover him, access the Debug Mode by utilising the Level Select to translate yourself to the Marble Garden Zone; Re-access the Level Select by pausing and depressing A on your MegaDrive controller; Access the Launch Base Zone, Act II, and transform into a ring by depressing B. Travel upwards until you encounter the anomaly. Will I ever confound you, Ed? I shall never relent from struggling to defeat your immense Sonic knowledge! My honour is at stake! ;D
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Post by ChaosX3 on Mar 13, 2004 0:38:35 GMT
Umm... I don't understand a word of that...
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Post by supersonicjim on Mar 13, 2004 0:45:08 GMT
"translate yourself to the Marble Garden Zone"?
take it easy on the ms word thesauros man!
and those instructions you left don't work
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Charmy
New Boomer
Charmy, Chamy Hyper bee, Member 3# of Chaotix
Posts: 46
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Post by Charmy on Mar 13, 2004 2:30:37 GMT
Foiled again! To discover him, access the Debug Mode by utilising the Level Select to translate yourself to the Marble Garden Zone; Re-access the Level Select by pausing and depressing A on your MegaDrive controller; Access the Launch Base Zone, Act II, and transform into a ring by depressing B. Travel upwards until you encounter the anomaly. I think I can translate that Use Level select, go to marble hill zone, use debug mode, use level select again and go to launch base act II transform yourself to a ring and go up
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Charmy
New Boomer
Charmy, Chamy Hyper bee, Member 3# of Chaotix
Posts: 46
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Post by Charmy on Mar 13, 2004 2:33:11 GMT
People, the magazine was released april 1st 1996
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Post by ChaosX3 on Mar 13, 2004 2:34:40 GMT
Hmmm... That will prove a challenge. But NOT! For a savestate!
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Post by Spydaman on Mar 13, 2004 13:24:42 GMT
Yeah I knew you were talking about Rankles halfway through the 2nd paragraph I still have that magazine flying around somewhere and I remember going frantic about finding Rankles until I came back and read the small print LOL. Oh and one more thing. What's with the "depressing the B button" stuff? Why don't you just say "pressing the B button" or "Press B". It's so much simpler I respect that you like to type this way out of choice but damn it is soooooo extra sometimes and o.t.t extra just annoys the heck outta me.
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Post by Omega Wants Cake on Mar 13, 2004 13:31:56 GMT
Wonder if Rankles is a distant reliative of Nazo
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Post by ChaosX3 on Mar 13, 2004 13:38:08 GMT
*Anime Sweatdrop*
Anyway, yesterday some SERIOUS Poop happened. I fiddled sround a bit using S&KCC and I somehow managed to change Knuckles blue! He had Sonic's live counter and dodgy animations. When he turned Hyper, he had random pixels following him. Is that Rankles?
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Charmy
New Boomer
Charmy, Chamy Hyper bee, Member 3# of Chaotix
Posts: 46
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Post by Charmy on Mar 13, 2004 14:08:59 GMT
Blue is Klucyta Green is Rankles
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Post by ChaosX3 on Mar 13, 2004 14:52:14 GMT
Acctually, I did some research and I don't think the Blue Echidna is named Kluctya. He has a "code" name, like Ashura, but I'm not sure what it is. I think it may be Kluctya.
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Post by Spydaman on Mar 13, 2004 15:14:13 GMT
Oh jeez.....
Rankles is a FAKE character concocted as a HOAX by a UK Sega mag back in like 1996.
Ashura is just a glitch in one of the Sonic games where Sonic goes green with a black smudge on his forehead.
Just like the blue knuckles is nothing but a glitch.
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Post by ChaosX3 on Mar 13, 2004 15:23:10 GMT
So Robert made this WHOLE thing up?
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Post by Samface on Mar 13, 2004 15:50:28 GMT
No, Radion Automatic made this whole thing up back whenever. Look at the scans.
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Post by Omega Wants Cake on Mar 14, 2004 14:30:09 GMT
Heh, I love all these phantom characters, perhaps I should make a list of them (goes of to do them)
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Post by ChaosX3 on Mar 14, 2004 16:48:14 GMT
Oh great, more hoaxes...
So, Rankles isn't real?
But a good sprite sheet might make it seem better...
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Post by Admin Droid on Mar 14, 2004 16:59:49 GMT
Omni: Rankles was never real. In 1994, Sega Magazine invented him as a one-off hoax (see the scans). He never existed. Later, someone came across a glitch involving a green Knuckles and cheekily named him "Rankles" in memory of the earlier hoax. That's as far as it goes. (Well, until Rankles makes his debut in STC...) Aw man...I wish I knew. I think Gary Cutlack's still kicking round with his UK Resistance site, and I seem to remember flicking through a magazine the other day that had Matt Yeo among its staff, I think it was a film magazine, or possibly the official Star Wars one... *re-reads Ed's post* Oh, did you mean people who actually wrote for Sega Magazine, as opposed to Sega Saturn/Mean Machines etc? I never read Sega Mag. I read MMS, then Sega Saturn Magazine, then C&VG before it went rubbish... Most of the SM people went to SSM. I thought both were great. MMS was really irritating until quite late in its life when it was basically just covering the same ground as SSM. And yeah, my subscription to SSM got transferred to CVG but it went downhill pretty fast so I didn't bother to renew my subscription. Shame, really. Now I really don't follow the gaming world at all.
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Post by ChaosX3 on Mar 14, 2004 17:05:20 GMT
A debut in StC? Cool!
I meant, I could try and make a sheet of him.
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Post by Omega Wants Cake on Mar 14, 2004 17:30:08 GMT
Sprite sheet ehh... ¬_¬
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Post by Rankles on Mar 21, 2004 12:50:49 GMT
I don't wanna dissapoint you guys - but I've been using Rankles as my fan character for along time now. The image on the competition page from sega magazine is just a crazy creation from the staff. In regards to the 'hoax' of rankles in launch base zone, it isn't a hoax at all. I found that green Knuckles in ALunch Base Zone on my Sonic 3 ROM. However, rankles is now my fan character and I would appreciate it if you could stop disscussing and making sprites of him.
Regards, Craig (Rankles)
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Post by ChaosX3 on Mar 21, 2004 13:02:34 GMT
Fan character? He's real you know- you can't claim rights over an existing character, hoax or otherwise.
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Post by Omega Wants Cake on Mar 21, 2004 13:13:47 GMT
I would stop making the sprites had I not already done them.... and yes Craig he is technically property of the Official Sega Mag.
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