EDITORIAL June 2025
Do I want to make a magazine with a bunch of old dudes who never really grew up? Sure! What? They’re only the original motley crew that launched legendary 90s gaming mag, Mean Machines, writing about games like Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco GP II on the Mega Drive? Even better!
And it’s about... a mobile game? Sure. Why the hell not. I’ve got a kid who plays that stuff. I could do this.
Turns out, the mobile game we’re talking about is actually pretty amazing. It even has Sonic now, who’s never been more ‘back’ than he’s been these past few years - though I’m a Tails guy at heart, and I’ve got a soft spot for Robotnik (don’t tell the blue guy). I wish I could rent this game, ask my mom for some pizza money, pull a glass bottle of Coke from the fridge, and invite some friends over after school on a Friday afternoon to play until their parents called.
Can’t do that anymore. At least we still have magazines - preferably dusty ones that smell like slap bracelets, Super Soakers, and your grandad’s attic. You’re welcome. – Simon
Gary Harrod
I remember trying the first Sonic the Hedgehog game — all speed, no control. He zipped around like a blue blur with no brakes. I’d like to say it was because I was too old for this nonsense. I can get away with that now but not back then so I must have just sucked!
Paul Davies
Me and my mates used to hang around an import shop but could never afford anything. The bloke who owned it said he had a friend ‘in the know’ who told him that Sega’s new mascot was a blue hedgehog that ran fast. We thought he was trying to get rid of us.
Paul Glancey
Sonic came totally out of the blue! The Mega Drive was awash with platform games and Sega didn’t seem sure we wanted another. Then we saw the preview cartridge and EVERYONE was sold!
Jaz Rignall
I first saw Sonic in a tiny screenshot published in an American magazine shortly after the Summer 1991 CES. I could immediately tell that he was going to be a very cool character, but I wasn’t able to confirm that the game itself was similarly great until later on in the year when I was shown a demo at Sega’s offices. I simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief and instantly realized Sega had a potentially MASSIVE game on its hands. The rest, as they say, is history.
Nicky Gotobed
Mad music, the bright colours, those cute little red trainers, falling into bottomless pits, running out of time, all the time! Super fast gameplay, crazy loops and all your gold rings flying across the screen as soon as you were near a spike - stress never felt so addictive!
Eddy ‘Rad Automatic’ Lawrence
I first heard of Sonic through pages of the little-remembered-by-me console mag Mean Machines. There was just a single tantalising, grainy image but it was love at first sprite. Little did I realise that the first time I would play the game would in the Mean Machines office, where I had magically spawned a job. I’d seen games that looked cool before, but not, like, properly cool which is not something I say about every blue hedgehog.
Team Diva
While we're at it, might as well include our publishing overlords at Diva Agency. Since, you know, they're paying our bills and all. Plus they're easily as cool as the rest of the people on this page - if we forget about Chicken for a sec, of course.
Look at those faces. LOOK AT THEM!
Okay, now stop looking, it's getting creepy. We just wanted to give a huge shout-out to the cool team over at Supercell.
Because, you know, can't spell Super Cellphone Gamer without Supercell. And yes, we're very proud of that wordplay.
