UltimateGameMaster

This is for everyone in the Entertainment industry or, like me, trying to break into it. We’re here to entertain people, to make them feel good about themselves and the world around them, flaws aside. We’re supposed to make them laugh, make them cheer, make them cry, make them wonder, make them inspired. And yes, on occasion, even make them think. Now, there is a time and place for all of that, and I’d be remiss to say otherwise. But, the end goal of entertainment should always be exactly that: to entertain. What we should never do is lecture our audience on how to live their lives. Presenting differing perspectives is all well and good, but we don’t need to tell them who to vote for, which lives matter and which don’t, who they should sleep with, how wrong the body they were born with is, or what/who to believe in. And we especially should not be telling people how evil, wrong, or worthless they are for disagreeing with our personal views, or for simply existing. That. Is not. Our

Solitude. If there was one word to describe the life of Mighty the Armadillo, it was that. Or, if he were feeling less charitable to himself, isolation. For as far back as he chose to remember, he was always traveling. Always wandering. Taking his existence one day at a time. Unlike his friend Sonic, however, it wasn’t for adventure or thrills. It was because he didn’t want to trouble other people. Mighty’s strength was always of concern to him. Ever since he was born, he was exceptionally strong for his age, and he only got stronger as he grew older. This was all well and good, but he had difficulty controlling it. By the time he was eight, one too many accidents had threatened the safety of his family and friends, so he ran away from home to avoid hurting anyone else. Now alone, he wanted nothing more than to make sure his strength wasn’t a danger to the world. Months after his self-imposed exile, he met Sonic, who was on his own for different reasons. Using his powerful legs

Ansatsuken: 暗殺拳 Murderous/Assassin's Fist This deadly fighting style is used by many, but mastered by few. As one can deduce from the name, its primary use is for assassination, as nearly every move, special or otherwise, is designed to be a crippling or killing blow to the target. The style is based not off a certain style per se, but a loose concept, the origin of which is unknown. Some link it to Japan's Feudal Eras (when death matches were more likely) while others trace it to other countries. The deceased Chinese fighter known as Gen practiced this concept with two interchangeable styles of Kung Fu, the Mourning Mantis and Hateful Crane. This analysis, however, will focus on the version created by Goutetsu. Goutetsu: The founder of Ansatsuken Karate. He combined moves from Karate, Judo and Kenpo, and, with the application of ki, made his own style. The result was a style that is, as a whole, lethal. He was aware of how violent his art was, but apparently did not think much

When you get to your 20s, you assume you have seen enough to call yourself an adult. You’re convinced that you’ve experienced far more than your elders and have a superior idea of how the world works than they did at your age. Well, if you’re the smug arrogant type, that is. Rouge the Bat would certainly qualify as that type, and her line(s) of work only served to reinforce her arrogance. Always thinking two steps ahead of people when there’s a mission to complete or (more importantly) treasure to take. With all she’s said and done, Rouge highly doubted she could be surprised by much even this early in her lifetime. If she knew of what was to happen within the next few hours, she would be slapping herself for being so self-assured. The spy was waiting for Shadow to return from investigating that WEIRD energy surge. Though she was glad they’d made up, that still left one problem to focus on: Knuckles. The guardian was still trapped, and Rouge had no idea how to free him. This was

Sonic Mania is five years old as of this writing. It is a well-crafted video game made by talented people passionate about the first era of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and who know what they are doing. The game is high-quality, sold extremely well, and deserves all the accolades it has been given. Every single one. It is a brilliant love letter to Classic Sonic, and the era of the franchise he represents. And I absolutely HATE it. If you are still reading, first of all, thank you. Secondly, you might be wondering why I feel this way. Well, for all the good it did the Sonic franchise when it came out, Sonic Mania has done nigh-irreparable long-term damage. Yes, damage, despite being the most positively reviewed, most beloved, most praised Sonic game of all time. Please let me explain. Sonic Mania came out at a time when critics and series elitists had been demanding that Sonic “return to his roots”. By this, they mean going back to where the series started: 16-bit

Shadow the Hedgehog is a living weapon. To him, that is a fact...and it frightens him. All too often, he has found himself having to exercise restraint in order to prevent civilian casualties and lessen property damage. At times, it could be incredibly frustrating to handicap himself as such. This was one of those times. What had started as a lesson was starting to turn into a headache for the Ultimate Lifeform. He had dodged multiple rage-induced swings from Amy already, whose style of fighting was not only undisciplined, but also erratic and impulsive. 'Much like her,' he concluded to himself. As she attempted to hit him with a Homing Attack, she held her hammer out during the spin in order to do any damage. Shadow rolled his eyes and waited. Amy zeroed in on him and he waited. Closer...closer...closer... "Chaos Control." With that invocation, time froze. Amy's hammer was but a centimeter from his face. As he casually strolled to her side (like a boss, one might say), he got a

Running. That's all the preteen hedgehog could do. She ran and ran and ran until her feet ached. And then she kept running. She could not see where she was going, because her vision was blurry with tears. This was fitting, seeing as her world has been turned upside down into a jumbled mess. She must have stumbled over her own feet countless times, but she didn't care. She just had to get away from the pain. Eventually, Amy was forced to stop, as she collided into a tree and fell on her rear. Looking at the old tree, she glared at it and, whipping out her Piko Piko Hammer, proceeded to whack at it until it fell, screaming in anguish all the while. When the tree was no more, she fell to her knees and continued sobbing. "Sonic...you jerk..." she hiccuped. As her tears continued to fall, a low voice brought her out of her misery-tinted haze. "Well, you've made quite a mess here, haven't you?" Amy turned around fast and saw the voice's owner: a black-furred hedgehog with a strong

Sonic and Amy in... It was a pleasant day in Soleanna's Castle Town. People were milling about, minding their own business. The band was practicing, the shops were still in business and students from Spagonia University were visiting the City of Water on a field trip of sorts. Yes, things were quite peaceful. For one Sonic the Hedgehog, it was just the kind of day he lived and fought for. None of this would be possible during the Phantom Ruby War, which is why stopping it was so important. Today, however, he was lying on a bench this day relaxing, a pastime he was rare to be seen partaking in. 'Man, it's been a while since I've had the chance to just chill like this,' he thought to himself. 'It's nice to not have to deal with Eggman for a change. I wonder what I should do later...' Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, though, something quickly got his attention. "Sonic!!" Sonic opened an eye at the voice that called out to him and gave an irritated sigh as a girl