Sonicomics: The Games (Select #9)

I own one of the Archie Comic's "Sonic Select" books, in this case, # 9: The Games.

I thought it would be interesting to see how the comics adapted/tied-into some of the games. I know the comics tackled some of the games in bigger arcs such as Sonic Adventure (pre-reboot) and Sonic Unleashed (after Reboot).

I knew this would include the whole "In another time, in another place" thing which can either be annoying or liberating...but apparently mostly annoying.

"In another time, in another place" is a lame excuse that more or less means: "in the games' dimension." I'm not sure if it was a Sega requirement, or lazy writing.

I think the comics could have "filled in the blanks" for Sonic games. Like Blaze's appearance in Sonic 06, or how Rouge heard about "Eggman's secret treasure" before Sonic Heroes. But they never seemed to do that. And instead of adapting an interesting part of the game, it would only be the beginning. 

Occasionally the comics would adapt a game through flash-backs, like the Sonic Adventure 2 parts in Sonic Universe # 2 (...I think it was # 2), but often there were more flashbacks to in-comic history (in the original timeline especially).

I could understand not wanting to throw an adaptation in between important arcs, but this is a comic based on a video game character, not the other way around.

So, hoping it was not as bad as I feared, I gave "the games" a shot. Also, let's face it: that cover art is awesome. Although I was a little disappointed it did not include the "Olympics" one, it did feature the Secret Rings, which is hard to find.

Now I'm reviewing the 13 stories included...