Sonic the Hedgehog convention blasts into Marietta

This past Saturday, Nov. 12 brought several gaming industry members and fan community guests to Marietta to attend the Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam Remix, an event celebrating SEGA’s history running from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and held in the Hilton Atlanta Marietta Hotel and Conference Center.

This gaming convention had various events and contests related to the brands and community SEGA has created with its games.

The game room was host to several different game consoles, where attendees could play any SEGA game to their liking. Notable consoles included the SEGA Saturn, the SEGA Genesis, the SEGA Saturn and the Dreamcast, SEGA’s final console released in 1998.

Those playing the Saturn could switch out the standard controller for the 3D Control Pad or Stunner light gun (used for games like 1996’s “Nights into Dreams” and “Virtua Cop,” respectively), while those at the Dreamcast booths could replace their controllers with the keyboard peripheral used for “The Typing of the Dead.”

Non-SEGA consoles were also available to use: Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance, Gamecube and Wii family consoles were present. A PC was also present, which allowed attendees to play “Sonic Frontiers,” the latest game in the “Sonic the Hedgehog” series. 

The game room also played host to 3 different gaming tournaments: the SEGA Megamix had a double-elimination bracket wherein participants played different SEGA games on the Saturn, Dreamcast and Genesis Mini (a dedicated console released in 2019). Players could compete to see who was the best in “Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown,” a 2021 remaster of the 2008 original. A competition was also held to see who was the fastest in “Sonic Adventure 2: Battle”’s Battle Race mode.

An art gallery was also present, where artists in the community were able to display and sell their work to attendees. Hidden Palace Games was one such vendor, selling posters, plushies and long boxes of Archie Comics’ long-running Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. Another vendor was SaigaDos, who had sticker sheets, posters and pins for sale. Snaggy Peets also sold stickers and posters but had acrylic charms up for sale as well.

A raffle was held throughout the convention, costing just $5 to enter. Notable prizes included Sonic gaming headphones and RC cars, as well as socks and backpacks.

Panels were held in the hotel’s Cole Room, where discussions about various SEGA-related topics were held. SEGA’s beat-‘em-up series “Streets of Rage” had a strong presence here, with screenings for fan films and animation.

Honey’s SEGA Cosplay Contest was a big draw for the event, as some attendees arrived dressed as different SEGA characters like Tails the Fox and Hatsune Miku. The contest was held in the Cole Room at 4 p.m., with a pre-judge show held at 3:45 p.m.

Visitors could also enter the guest room, where they could talk to, get photos with or have items signed by prominent industry and community figures. Notable industry figures included Ryan Drummond (voice actor of Sonic the Hedgehog from 1999 to 2004) and Tracey Yardley, who has done art for Sonic comics since 2006, starting with the Archie series before moving on to the IDW series in 2018. Notable community guests included YouTubers like Chaomixand SomecallmeJohnny, known for their extensive Sonic content.

Pictures of the event can be found on Instagram under the hashtag #FanJamREMIX.