Task 4: Sonic the Hedgehog
What’s that? You expected this task because of my avatar? I don’t care! 
If you were a gamer in the early '90s and you weren’t playing Mario games, you were playing Sonic games. Besides, having a Mario task and a Sonic task back to back allows for some flexibility in this week’s Team Dreams, so be sure to talk with your team to set them up. As another '90s mascot platformer, it’s also more lighthearted than many modern games, although Sonic games marketed themselves as having an edgier character and more “extreme” gameplay.
I have heard through the grapevine, but have not had said to me directly from the person or people taking issue with it, that the use of a spreadsheet for scoring and for Task 1 has made this LC unfair to tablet and phone users. As always, if you need information from me, please ask me and I will provide it; this is how the photo version of Task 1 became possible, and I am always willing to accommodate everybody. I bring this up here because a certain subtask in Task 4 is done easiest by uploading a screenshot of a website that uses Adobe Flash, although I will also accept text descriptions of the thing in question. If your device does not support Flash or cannot take screenshots, get a better devi- er, talk to me for help or simply give a text description.
Do a triple frontflip—20 points: Sonic is to spinning what Mario is to jumping. Jump into the air and rotate quickly for these points.
Ride a hoverboard/hoverbike or use hoverskates—30 points: Before SEGA finally found success with its All-Stars racing games, it put its mascot in several other racing games. One group of racing games put Sonic characters on futuristic hoverboards and hoverbikes or gave them hoverskates. None of these devices could truly fly, but they were great for moving quickly, jumping from ramps and quarterpipes, and sliding along rails. Give this tech a try and see how easily you can get around your dreamscape!
Run through a loop or corkscrew or run up/along a wall—30 points: It’s a funny thing how video game environments seem to be set up perfectly for the hero, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the twists and slopes of a Sonic level. Show off your dream speed by tackling an inversion on foot or defying gravity on walls.
Grind on a LONG rail or pipe (e.g., rollercoaster, huge staircase)—40 points: Sonic’s been grinding rails using just his shoes since 2001, and it’s rarely on a rail in a skate park or on a short staircase. It’s almost always something HUGE. While you don’t have to use your shoes if you’d prefer a skateboard or snowboard (or just want to combine the skateboard or hover-tech subtasks with this one for points), you will have to find a large rail, pipe, or similar object and slide along it. I actually did this in an LD yesterday for the fifth time or so, and it remains a thrill. However you do it, go big!
Team Dream: Both Mario and Sonic games have interesting locations for the player character to explore, and the Explorer team’s job this week is to decide on one to visit. As usual, I will disallow locations that complete previous subtasks by simply by visiting them (e.g., pipes and sewers complete a Task 3 subtask), but anything else reminiscent of either series is fair game. Once a location is decided, find it and explore it for 40 points or explore it with an Explorer team member for 40 more points.
Free an animal from a cage—30 points: Classic Sonic games ended most zones with a cage of animals that were slated to be put into the villainous Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik’s machines as living batteries. Sonic would free them as he exited the level. You don’t hate animals, do you? Let one out of a cage, whether it’s to save it from a villain or to make a big mess in a pet store.
Fight a robot or mech—40 points: It’s a rare occasion that enemies in a Sonic games aren’t robots, and it’s a rare occasion that boss battles aren’t against machines. Try to destroy such a thing in a dream.
Team Dream: While the Mario series’ best-known villain is by far Bowser and the Sonic series’ best-known villain is by far Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik, both series have had their fair share of baddies. The Hero team will decide on a villain from either series to fight (with the exception of Donkey Kong or his relatives, as this would directly complete one of last week’s subtasks without any additional effort). Once that’s decided, fight this villain for 40 points or fight alongside a Hero team member for 40 more points.
Draw power from a jewel—30 points: Many games and other forms of media have objects from which people can draw power. The Sonic series has used this idea since its creation with its seven Chaos Emeralds, which characters have used to glow yellow and fly, to power machinery, to transform into gigantic beasts, and to manipulate time and space. Find a jewel of your own and see what power is hidden within! Note that this task will not also give credit for Task 1’s “Find an ancient artifact” subtask.
Create and post a fan character, then become it—40 points: This Power team subtask makes you become the most powerful type of being on the Internet… the Sonic fan character. Poor writing and Mary Sue-like qualities make these characters seem more powerful than anything else in the universe at times. They’re born of people’s intrinsic urge to experience things like those experienced by their childhood hero, and now it’s your turn to get in the game. How can you create a fan character to post, you ask? Well, if you need to do something stereotypically juvenile, you go to the juvenile part of the Internet! You know this designer’s legit because of the typo in it and the ad at the start. 
Take a screen shot of your ahem glorious design cough, post it, and then become it in a dream. If you’re more of the, er… artistic type wheeze, you can of course make something from scratch as well, and if you are unable to do any of this, a text description will do. I just need a character before you dream of it. Also, as drd made me realize in chat, I will not count Bob the Turtle or similar for both Task 3 and Task 4, as we’d otherwise get only turtles.
Team Dream: The pursuit of Power does not always have morals. This week, the Power team has two decisions to make. First, they must decide to meet the lead villain of either the Mario or Sonic series (Bowser or Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik). Second, they must decide on either something to learn about the art of villainry—how to run an army, how to design evil robots, how to wield Koopa magic, how to pilot a giant mech, etc.—or a favor to receive—be magically transformed, get turned into a robot, etc. The potential for overlap with other subtasks is high, but I’ll allow it here because the intermediate step of having to get a villain’s assistance makes things more difficult. Once that’s decided, meet the villain and learn or get the favor done for 40 points or do so with a Power team member for 40 more points.
Team Advantage Subtask! Participate in an Olympic or Winter Olympic event—40 points: The fans cried out for a Mario and Sonic crossover game, and SEGA and Nintendo delivered… in the form of a bunch of sports mini-games released just before the Olympics every two years. Join the festivities! This doesn’t just mean “play a sport”; actually get into an Olympic event.
Host Subtask! Have a footrace with the host—30 points: It can be a simple, everyday footrace, or it can be one befitting the task theme. Put your dream speed to the test!
This post is already long, but I have one last favor to ask of everybody. As we approach Task 5, the last task, I want to learn what in this LC really captivated people. I did some questioning in chat, but I’d like to have things here in the topic so that even the participants who don’t use IRC can give input. Tell me what subtasks are your favorite ones, whether you’ve completed them or not, and tell me why they’re favorites and how you’re incubating them if you haven’t finished them yet. You don’t need to list just one, and you don’t need to be afraid of giving a weird reason for liking one; I won’t judge, so rant away! I do have Task 5 planned out, but I’m willing to tweak things to fit the desires of the masses. I just need to know what those desires are and why.
Thanks in advance, and good luck with Task 4!