10. Sonic’s Shoes in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest
Although Mario, Yoshi and Link appear in the above screen, it was the appearance of a particular pair of shoes which surprised us the most. Sitting next to Earthworm Jim’s ray gun, the blue hedgehog’s shoes lie in the “No Hopers” zone of the celebration adjacent to a garbage can. The celebration marked the conclusion of the game, pitting one’s DK Coin total up against those of other Nintendo heroes.
For 1995, this was quite a surprise with Nintendo and Sega at odds with each other. Several years would zoom by before Sonic joined Mario on GameCube in the beginning of the twenty-first century. The irony behind Sonic’s shoes in this screen is the very team behind the joke falling by the wayside around the same time as Mario and Sonic shook hands.
Star Fox … I miss you … you were so cool … Retro, please tell me that’s what you have been working on with such fervor….
Maybe not quite a cameo, but I loved seeing E Gadd’s inventions play a role in Super Mario Sunshine. At one point, Bowser Junior refers to him as “the strange old man with the white coat”. Plus, FLUDD kinda sounds like the ole professor.