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Sonic Places: World Wide Sonic Themed Areas
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| Sonic Gear Main * Summer of Sonic Events * Sonic World Places 2 * |
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Japan and the USA are not the only places to have Sonic events or 'places'. There were SegaWorlds in Australia and England, as well as different promotions and conventions. The areas pictured here can be from anywhere in the world that ISNT Japan or the USA. Each photo will explain where it happened, and have details about the event or area where the photo is taking place.
It can be super great to visit a Sonic place, but be sure to check if it's still there before you go...Some of the places may not be as permenent as one would hope. It's definetely important to try to get to them when you hear about them. |
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| "The Alton Towers Resort" is a hotel somewhere in England. For some reason, it decided to have a "Sonic Suite". This special room is ALL Sonic themed! Certainly, it would be an amazing room to stay in for any Sonic fan! Above, you can see the back wall of the room. It is painted with a 'Green Hill' like scene...almost looks like something from Sonic 4, though the room was created well before the release of that game. The clouds are quite beautifully detailed. That arch you see is a padded headboard for the bed, made in the shape of a ring. The glowing yellow thing is one of the bed-side lamps, it is meant to look like a glowing yellow chaos emerald! (See, they really went all-out with great Sonic-like touches!) The throw-pillows are color coordinated, but the custom bed blanket / bedspread is a real draw! It has been stitched with the old Sonic Spinball logo. (why? See the Rollercoaster below!) It looks neat and everything, but selecting a less-popular classic game seemed an odd choice for such a modern room & coaster attraction. |
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Yes, Sonicgear is now hosting toilet photos! But...this is a Sonic theme bathroom toilet, so that is good. There isn't anything overly Sonic-themed about the left photo, except maybe the gold-tone lid for the toilet itself. The second photo shows you the counter-corner near the sink, where they've put up a nice glass display case with the glass 'giant jewel' emerald-like paperweights & a plush Knuckles to guard them! |
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On one of the walls, there are Sonic Facts to entertain you. These are written above the screen for the Game Console display. See the slots in the right picture? Those allow you to work all 3 consoles to play on the screen. But what to the facts say? They're a bit small to read in the photo so...1. Sonic first appeared on Jun. 23 1991 2. Sonic has sold over 70 million games 3. 60 million people are |
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| estimated to have played at least 1 Sonic game 4. Gamers have collected 66 billion rings by playing Sonic 5. Sonic is the most famous hedgehog in the world 6. Sonic has appeared on more gaming platforms than almost any other character 7. Sonic can't swim 8. Sonic is the fastest video game character, and is in Guiness World Gaming Records because of it 9. Sonic has had 4 separate cartoon series 10. Sonic's favorite food is chili dogs |
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The room itself is a bit of a puzzle. This may look like a welcome poster, but it is actually a quiz. You see, the video game systems (seen above) can't actually be played until you can unlock a special case (bolted into the room) by solving the quiz seen here. It says basically that Eggman has hidden many things from the Sonic universe in the room, and you have to look around to find them. You take the number of the things you found (for example, if you saw 8 rings) and enter it as the combination to a lock. The questions are: How many Sonic portraits? How many purple Flowers? How many Palm Trees? How many Gems? Then it says 'with your help, we can stop Dr Eggman'. (From doing what, exactly?) Answeres weren't published. |
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They didn't stop with the walls! The left photo is taken looking directly up at the ceiling. It's always a sunny day in the level...and so it is in this room too. The other is a great Green Hill-like real 3D palm tree sculpture that's apparently standing near a window. Look at the nice detail of the loop behind it. This room would be a great Sonic experience to stay in!
All photos & info in this section by Sega Nerds |
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| These are the promotional images from Alton Towers Resort. The first image, an ad, tells about the exclusivity of Sega Partnership with the resort. To kick that off, they added a new rollercoaster (red, blue and aqua) and called it the Sonic Spinball. They updated the art/logo to SA style, and added a mascot suit for publicity. With the middle picture, you can see that it is helping to paint the coaster legs, and in the other, it is on a strange phone at the reception desk. This may be available starting Feb. 2010. The room (seen above) is clearly a part of this Sonic theme for the hotel, though why it isn't mentioned in the initial ad is a mystery. All 3 pictures by Alton Towers, discovered by Berzerker. |
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This isn't an event...rather just a mascot suit...in an unusual location. It appears to be waiting on a train in the subway in England. The iconic bit of graphic design/font work (on the sign in the background) tells you exactly where it is. Was this after an event? Is it illustrating something? Still, it is odd to see 'Sonic' waiting on a train. Photo discovered by Shade1602 |
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In 2009, the Middle East area was scheduled to get a Sega theme park! This will surely be a Sonic Place! Will it be in the famous Dubai City? United Arab Emerites somewhere maybe? Hopefully some Sonic fans are close to this area and can bring in the real scoop on what it's like inside. Did this place ever really happen? Did anyone get to go? |
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To the left is a ride that's fairly common, it springs people up and down quickly in the chairs on a pole. But the top of the pole is uncommon! It's a cool Sonic Statue holding a flag with the park logo. Then, look near the bottom and you can see a life-size (or larger) red spring bumper from the games. A cool touch. Above is not a real photo either, it's an artist-rendering of what the indoor-park might look like when finished, complete with escalators, food court, and loads of rides. |
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This UFO Catcher is in the Sega showroom of Europe. As you can see, the main theme of it is Paddington Bear, however you'll also notice that Sonic plushes are available on the other side of it. This is good to note, so that people who want Sonic dolls know to look into almost every machine |
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| carefully, even if it does not have a Sonic theme on the outside, something Sonic could be inside. Along with this machine, there are several other Sega-made arcade prize games at the show room. Photo by Sega, discovered by fueledbychaos |
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This costume character appeared in the UK.at Mobile Entertainment Awards, where Nokia was presented with its award for best handset company. While the event wasn't Sega related, some Sonic games do appear on cellphones, so mabe it has a little bit of relevance. However, an appearance by a Sonic Mascot will brighten up any show! As you can see, this suit has shiny eyes--which are unusual among mascot suits. He's a tad 'fat' but the suit still has a good over-all appearance, and they eye-shine really adds to that. Photo and info by: |
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Sonic things are happening near famous England landmarks! At left, you can see an iconic, red double-decker bus in front of Big Ben the famous clock/tower. The bus is decorated with Sonic & Mario at Olympic Games 2012 (pink abstract looking thing is the logo for the games) That Olympics will be held in London, so the publicity is getting started. |
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| At right, you can see they got out the mascot suits for Sonic & Mario, and they are near the famous Tower Bridge which is also a landmark. This is also to advertise the Olympic Games game. Photos discovered by SonicRulz14 |
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| This is the outdoor Sonic statue that stands at the feet of the Alton Towers Sonic Spinball rollercoaster. You can see the blue legs of the coaster in the background. The statue appears shiny (likely due to weatherproofing elements to the coating) It's quite on-model, looking very modern and Sonic-like. A statue like this is a great attraction, & a great opportunity to take fun photos like this! Photo by: Kerr0765 |
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This is a big Sonic figure from a ride called "Toyland Tours". This was a magical boat ride that was intended for younger children, where thery were given a tour of a giant toy factory showing how the development of the toys takes place. Animated characters and fun music filled the different scenes as the boats were guided through.
This ride first opened in 1994 and was closed in 2006 to make way for another attraction. There was one scene in the ride where riders would pass into a dark room filled with television screens which would turn on suddenly as they entered. These television screens showed game play from Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. There were also several golden rings which would come down from the ceiling and start spinning while a spotlight in the corner of the room would turn on and reveal a 5ft fully working animatronic figure of Sonic.
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The animatronic would move his head to look at the riders coming through and would tap his right foot at them suggesting that he wanted them to go faster. He would also pull on a lever which opened the door to the next room.
It's interesting to see that Alton Towers had a Sonic feature before the whole "Sonic Room & Coaster" seen above. You can see a video of this Toyland Tours Ride on youtube, if you use the link. There is also the "TowersNerd" Fansite if you want to learn more. Info & photo provided by Kerr0765 |
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This is a Sonic place in Dubai. It is called "Eggman's Spin Gear".
It is a small, indoor rollercoaster with rotating cars & game-like scenery! There is a funny CG intro (all in English, even though it's in Dubai, how will they understand it?) You can watch it right now at:
SpinGear Eggman Intro
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| From what you can see here, it has plenty of Eggman branding about. There is a picture of him on the ticket kiosk & the "OK" signs on the TVs also have it, as well as what looks like some CG art of him in the background. There's an attendant in the photo to the right, he has on a Jacket with the logo too. After you see the intro / safety demo of how to ride properly, you can go on it. Be sure to see all the photos at Spin Gear Explanation page! (If this link ever breaks Sonicgear will host all the photos right here on this page instead. They are archived.) The ride was made by Gerstlaur (a German co.) Additional info & links here provided by SenatorSonic |
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| The Sega area in the Dubai Mall is certainly a Sonic place, with this almost sort of diorama with a big Sonic statue in it. He's posed so that it looks like he's "leaping through" the 'broken bricks' effect they have going on behind him at an entrance here. You can see the tops of the people & signs in the right photo, as well as a light-up Sega seal/symbol on the wall. It was too bright and washed itself out of the photo, though. Photos by: |
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