DIMIC

You know I like special editions and I love books. And I just can’t resist a special edition of a book. So you can guess what I did when I saw this special variant edition of Udon’s History of Sonic the Hedgehog. Yeah, I bought it…
In the beginning of this year, I saw on one of the forums I frequently visit that someone bought a special edition of the History of Sonic the Hedgehog, a book I already had pre-ordered. Of course, since a special edition is always better, I sought out where I could buy this book. Turned out, it’s a French company so that meant, no import fees. Things like that really are like a cherry on top.

The book is the same as the regular version regarding content so you’re only paying extra for the fancy cover and the fact that you’re getting something limited. Yep, this edition is limited to 1.000 pieces worldwide which isn’t much. The only reason it hasn’t sold out yet is simply because people don’t know that this one exists. At least, that’s what I suspect. I mean, we follow things like this quite closely and never heard anything about it until someone showed it on the forum. I really don’t get why they never advertised it. Almost makes me doubt the legitimacy of it…

Originally a French book, this English releases almost didn’t happen at all because their earlier book apparently didn’t sell well at all. Of course, that was an book entirely dedicated to Nintendo’s Game & Watch series. Yeah, I like those little things and we’ll probably still get that volume later, but still, not something to be extremely enthusiastic about. Lucky for us, they eventually released this book after all. Probably because they had the backing of Udon.

With almost 300 pages, this book covers has three main parts; history, games and characters/extra’s. The history part is mingled with a more general history of SEGA itself even with a part before it even was called SEGA. It’s quite interesting to learn more about the company through the accounts of the developers and to read about to rise and fall of this console creation company and it’s transition into a multi-platform developer. Next to photo’s and screenshots, it also has three, quite lengthy, interviews with the creators Yuji Naka the programmer, graphic designer Naoto Oshima and producer Takashi Iizuka of Sonic Generations.

The game part has descriptions and screenshots from over 50 games; eight 2D games, ten 3D games, sixteen handheld ones and 23 spin-offs have been released in the last two decades. And the last part has the main characters and their profiles. The thing I like about this part are the Sonic cameos in other games. Most I already knew of but some were surprising.

So, like I said before, the only difference between the editions is the cover. While on the regular release the cover has a 3D render of Sonic (see last image in the gallery), the special edition is a beautiful dark blue with silver foil artwork on it. The only downside is that it damages quite easily. But nonetheless, it’s so shiny!

Conclusion:
Nostalgic, beautiful, interesting and fun to read. This book is a definite buy for Sonic fans whether or not you’re getting the regular or the special release. Of course, I highly recommend the special one because it’s shiny.

Pictures:

Item reviewed: History of Sonic the Hedgehog – 20th Anniversary
Type: book
Variations: regular edition (normal cover)
Rarity: Not that rare because it’s still for sale at Pix’n Love. 1.000 pieces worldwide