SONIC THE HEDGEHOG2 RACING TO THEATERS SPRING 2022

Are you ready?! Sonic the Hedgehog is racing back to movie theaters. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 arrives on April 8, 2022. 

With Sonic being my son's favorite video game character, you know we'll be having a family outing to a theater to see this movie. Who else is geeked about SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2?! 

The world’s favorite blue hedgehog is back for a next-level adventure in SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2. After settling in Green Hills, Sonic is eager to prove he has what it takes to be a true hero. His test comes when Dr. Robotnik returns, this time with a new partner, Knuckles, in search for an emerald that has the power to destroy civilizations. Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails, and together they embark on a globe-trotting journey to find the emerald before it falls into the wrong hands. 

From the filmmakers behind The Fast and the Furious and Deadpool, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 stars James Marsden, Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, and Jim Carrey returning, alongside new additions Shemar Moore, with Idris Elba as the voice of Knuckles, and Colleen O'Shaughnessey as the voice of Tails. For more information about the upcoming movie and SEGA's newest Sonic the Hedgehog games spin over to sonicthehedgehog.com 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG MOVIE

Thanks to Paramount Home Entertainment for providing ageekdaddy.com with a 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray Combo Pack of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

My son has been pissed at me that I didn't take him to see SONIC THE HEDGEHOG when it was at movie theaters. Especially since that would have been one of the last times we could have seen a movie at theaters before the coronavirus pandemic shut things down. Sonic is one of his favorite video game characters so he has been bummed about not seeing it and trying to avoid any spoilers that might pop up.

So he was so excited when I told him we were going to be having a family movie night watching SONIC THE HEDGEHOG at home on our big screen 4K television. The movie is now available to add to your home entertainment video library on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray. I earned some dad points when he saw I actually had the SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray Combo Pack in my hand.



Powered with incredible speed, Sonic the Hedgehog (voiced by Ben Schwartz from Parks & Recreation) aka The Blue Blur, embraces his new home on Earth after escaping through a portal from another dimension as he is hunted by villainous predators who want to harness his super power for their own diabolical purposes. Hiding in the woods outside the small rural Montana town of Green Hills, the hedgehog thinks he is safe, but when he accidentally knocks out the nation's power grid he sparks the attention of a new foe, the super-uncool evil scientist Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). Now Robotnik is chasing after Sonic wanting to utilize the hedgehog's unique power to dominate the world. Can the Donut Lord, aka Green Hills Sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) save Sonic and the planet from this dastardly villain?

Based upon the SEGA video game character, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for action, some violence, rude humor and brief mild language. The 4K Ulta HD Digital and 4K Ultra HD disc releases of the film present SONIC THE HEDGEHOG in Dolby Vision, which provides an ultra-vivid picture quality with spectacular colors, highlights that are up to 40 times brighter and blacks that are 10 times darker. It also utilizes a Dolby Atmos soundtrack that is remixed specifically for playing the movie in people's homes.

One of the great things about the home entertainment releases of movies are the bonus content added along with the feature presentation. The 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Combo Pack of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG includes some great bonus features. See Sonic the Hedgehog's next adventure around the world in a new animation; get more of Sonic in deleted scenes, laugh at the hilarious blooper reel; explore the origins of the legendary blue hedgehog; see Jim Carrey bring Dr. Robotnik to life; watch the movie with commentary by director Jeff Fowler and Ben Schwartz; and more! Plus for a limited time, the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Combo Pack includes a printed, Limited Edition comic book featuring an adventure with Sonic and The Donut Lord.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is available in 4K Ultra HD from Best Buy now. If you purchase the movie through an affiliate link in this post a geek daddy will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you from Best Buy. This dad blogger appreciates your support!

TEAM SONIC RACING

Homework ✅ Exercise ✅ Chores ✅

Ok I guess my kids have time now to play a video game SEGA sent us to try out. The twins are having a great time playing this kart-style video game Team Sonic Racing on our family's Xbox One. It lets players speed through the arcade world of Sonic the Hedgehog in fast-paced racing action. Team Sonic Racing incorporates a lot of the features that has made Mario Kart a popular video game but goes beyond Nintendo's go karts with players able to have their favorite characters from the Sonic Universe zoom around in Grand Prix inspired race cars.

Pick your favorite Sonic the Hedgehog character, customize the color scheme of its car and get racing! As you accomplish goals and win races, players can then enhance their cars to power them up by adding different performance parts. The more a car is tinkered with the faster it will go and better it will handle helping you zoom through courses.

While you may want to select a character to race just because he or she may be a favorite of yours, it is also important to understand each of the fifteen characters available to play all have one of 3 racing attributes. These are SPEED, TECHNIQUE or POWER. A character's attribute can give the driver an edge in different circumstances as they race through the video game's 21 different tracks. For example, technique drivers can drive off-road over rough surfaces like grass without slowing down which can be a real benefit for players who have a hard time navigating curves and turns on tracks. 

You can get up to twelve friends together to race at the same time through the video game's online capabilities or up to four players can join in from the same console or PC with its split screen feature. Developed by Sumo Digital, Team Sonic Racing is available to play via Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and STEAM. There are a variety of game modes providing different ways to play Team Sonic Racing. These include Grand Prix where racers compete to earn points, Time Trial where the fastest time wins, and Exhibition which allows players to actually customize race rules. There is also a story-driven mode called Team Adventure.

What really differentiates Team Sonic Racing from other kart-style racing video games though is that there is a focus on cooperative play. Team is a very important element of Team Sonic Racing. Participants in races are divided into teams of three (which can be either live or AI driven cars) and instead of winning races by simply finishing first, teams earn victories based upon how they worked together. Bump opponents cars or help a teammate achieve a task to get ahead.

So there can be up to four teams of three with there being 12 cars in each race. We've played with my wife, son, daughter and I each having our own team complimented with AI cars. The kids have played together on one team with the third car AI as well as those in the competing teams. They also have played against one another with the other two cars in each of  their teams AI driven. I've also played with them on the same team so that all the cars were controlled by people racing against AI opponents. There are lots of different ways for people to team up as well as compete against one another in this fun racing game.

Thanks again to SEGA for sending this free video game our way to play! My family has had such an exciting and enjoyable time Team Sonic Racing absolutely gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval. For more information about the video game go to sonicthehedgehog.com/teamsonicracing

Team Sonic Racing is available from Best Buy for Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One. If you purchase the game utilizing an affinity link within this post ageekdaddy.com will receive a small commission at no additional expense to you. This dad blogger appreciates your support!

E.T. Will Soon Be Calling LEGO Dimensions Home

Supergirl, the newest addition to the LEGO Dimensions video game, recently took a few moments out of her busy schedule of battling dastardly villains to introduce another friendly alien who will be joining her within the LEGO Dimensions Multiverse soon -- E.T.!!!  Check out this great introduction video featuring Supergirl and E.T. along with a special appearance by another do-gooding alien friend:



The E.T. -- The Extra-Terrestrial Fun Pack coming out later this fall includes an E.T. LEGO minifigure with Illumination and Fix-It abilities, as well as special Stealth and Telekinesis skills to make his way around the LEGO multiverse. Players can also build E.T.’s iconic Phone Home device, then rebuild it into a Mobile Uplink or Super-Charged Satellite for additional in-game abilities.

Supergirl will be available this fall for a limited time within LEGO Dimensions Starter Packs for Sony PlayStation 4 computer entertainment systems as an exclusive, bonus playable LEGO minifigure within the video game.  The Supergirl LEGO minifigure will have a number of extraordinary in-game abilities to help solve puzzles and battle enemies, including Super Strength, Flying, X-Ray Vision, and Beam Attacks which enable her to shoot heat beams out of her eyes.  She can also transform into Supergirl Red Lantern with additional abilities such as firing powerful Red Lantern energy bolts and energy beams from her Red Lantern Ring.



If you aren't able to obtain the Supergirl minifigure through this limited edition PS4 Starter Pack, the character will also become available in the near future as a "Hire-a-Hero" option for all consoles.  This is a feature in LEGO Dimensions that allows players to sample characters using studs collected in the game.  Players can select the hologram minifigure near certain hint stones to unlock characters for a limited time to try out their special abilities to solve problems and complete puzzles.

Also keep an eye out for additional expansion packs coming to LEGO Dimensions just in time for the holiday shopping season which will include Sonic the Hedgehog, Gremlins, and characters from the upcoming Harry Potter prequel  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  In addition to providing some new great characters and special abilities to the LEGO Dimensions multiverse all of these new expansion packs will include golden Toy Tags which unlock special, all new Battle Arenas.  These Battle Arenas will offer first-to-LEGO video games competitive split-screen gameplay for up to four players at once!  Each will have four gameplay modes and come with its own traps, special powers and interactive environments that make every Battle Arena unique.

LEGO Dimensions is developed by TT Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. For more information about the video game, visit lego.com/en-us/dimensions

LEGO Dimensions Announces New Wave of Exciting Expansion Packs

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has announced several new expansion packs for its popular LEGO Dimensions video game will be arriving at stores on November 18, 2016 just in time for the holiday shopping season.  For those of you who already own the LEGO Dimensions starter pack you'll be pleased to know that no updated master game software or new toy pad hardware will be needed to incorporate these expansion packs into your existing game play.  When you purchase the new expansion packs you'll find your new characters, accessories, and environments are fully compatible to mix-and-match with all those previously released for use within the LEGO Dimensions which utilizes LEGO toys to create a hybrid video game experience.

The upcoming expansion packs will introduce my son's favorite video game character, Sonic The Hedgehog, to LEGO Dimensions.  Characters from two iconic movies of my youth, E.T. and Gremlins, will also be joining the LEGO Dimensions cast of characters.  For those of you looking forward to the upcoming Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them you'll be excited that LEGO Dimensions will be incorporating elements of the movie into the video game as well.  Plus all of these new expansion packs will include golden Toy Tags which unlock special, all new Battle Arenas.  These Battle Arenas will offer first-to-LEGO video games competitive split-screen gameplay for up to four players.  Each will have four gameplay modes and come with its own traps, special powers and interactive environments that make every Battle Arena unique.

The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Story Pack will be the largest of the new expansion packs providing a complete movie-based gameplay experience with 6 levels and comes with new LEGO Gateway bricks to build the Magical Congress of the United States of America on top of the LEGO toy pad. Players can build a Newt Scamander LEGO minifigure and help him find his escaped magical creatures in New York City and use a variety of spells, including Diffindo, Reparo, and Lumos.  The pack will also come with a 3-in-1 Niffler which can be rebuilt into two other creatures from the movie, the Sinister Scorpion and Vicious Vulture.  A Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Fun Pack will also be available which will include a Tina Goldstein LEGO minifigure and a 3-in-1 Swooping Evil which can also be rebuilt into the Brutal Bloom and Crawling Creeper creatures from the movie.

The Sonic the Hedgehog Level Pack will allow players to race as the Blue Blur at lightening speeds through favorite locations from his previous SEGA video games including Green Hill, Emerald Coast, and Labyrinth.  The pack will include a Sonic the Hedgehog LEGO minifigure, a 3-in-1 Sonic Speedster, which can be rebuilt into the Blue Typhoon or Motobug, and a 3-in-1 The Tornado, which can also be rebuilt into Crabmeat or Eggcatcher.

The Gremlins Team Pack includes LEGO minifigures of Gizmo and Stripe. Gizmo's Combat Roll and Dash Attack abilities can be used to get him out of sticky situations and Stripe uses his claws and his Vine Cut ability.  Players can also rebuild the included 3-in-1 R.C. Racer vehicle into the Gadget-o-matic or Scarlet Scorpion and the 3-in-1 Flash 'n' Finish into a Rampage Record Player and Stripe's Throne.

Phone home with the E.T.: Extra-Terrestrial Fun Pack that includes an E.T. LEGO minifigure with Illumination and Fix-It abilities, as well as special Stealth and Telekinesis skills that can be used throughout the LEGO Dimensions multiverse.  Players can also build E.T.'s iconic Phone Home device, then rebuild it into the Mobile Uplink and Super-Charged Satellite for additional in-game abilities.

These all look to be great additions to the LEGO Dimensions video game! Which one is your favorite?  LEGO Dimensions is now available for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment systems, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii U.

Sonic Boom Tail's Plane

**Disclaimer** I was provided a complimentary Sonic Boom Tails' Plane toy set from TOMY to review.  A positive review was not mandated to receive the products. Opinions are my own.

My children are really into Sonic the Hedgehog.  They read the comic books, play the video games on our family's Xbox and iPads, and watch the animated TV series on Cartoon Network quite a bit.  They hadn't played with any Sonic the Hedgehog toys though, in fact I didn't realize anyone made any, until our friends at TOMY surprised us with a few to review.  To say my kids were thrilled would be an understatement.

TOMY provided us with a package of toys based upon the Cartoon Network television series Sonic Boom.  It included a toy plane with lots of great interactive features that is piloted by Sonic's sidekick Tails plus two nice 3" action figures from TOMY's Sonic Boom line of characters.   Tails the fox comes along with the toy plane and additional figures can be purchased separately as a single figure for $5.99 (MSRP) or in two packs for $9.99 (MSRP).  We also received a Sonic the Hedgehog 3" action figure from TOMY to join Tails in some high flying adventures.

The Sonic Boom Tails' Plane has some really fun features to spur on imaginative play.  The plane shoots out "energy beams" in the form of plastic projectiles.  Those were a "hit" until they mysteriously disappeared.  My wife's not confessing but I think she got tired of the kids shooting the missiles at her when they were racing around the house one afternoon with the plane.  To activate the projectile option you just needed to load in the plastic missile and press down on the engine features located on the top of each wing to shoot them out.

Another neat feature to the plane is an ejector seat.  Place one of the action figures in the back seat of the plane and if he needs to escape in a hurry it is really easy to bail.

To use the ejector sheet just press a button located on the side of the plane under the rear fins.

The best feature of the plane though is the propeller and front lights.  By pressing a trigger on the bottom of the plane, kids can activate some stunning bright blue lights on the front grill, rotate the blade of the propeller, and hear engine sound effects.  A nice touch is these sound effects change depending on the angle of the plane.  You'll hear different sound effects if the plane is level, going straight up or plunging down to the ground.  This trio of actions really is impressive when you witness the propeller spinning with those lights ablaze and the sound effects alternating as the plane is whisked around.

Probably what I appreciated the most though was that you didn't need to put it together and the Sonic Boom Tails' Plane came complete with its own batteries.  All I had to do was open the box, flip an on switch located at the bottom of the plane, and sit back watching my children enjoy themselves playing with it.  MSRP is $29.99 which isn't bad for a toy with cool features that also comes with an action figure and batteries.

Sonic Boom Tails' Plane gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval because it is a durable toy with nice features to help stimulate imaginative play that doesn't take any work for a parent to put together.  Most importantly though it kept my kids amused and provided them with hours of fun which is what good toys are supposed to do.

You can pick up the Sonic Boom Tails' Plane at Amazon.com and Toys R Us.