Sonic the Hedgehog does one thing and he does it well: he goes fast. Well, he can also curl up into a ball and totally trounce his enemies. The lovable Sega mascot has had his fair share of wins over the years, and his fan base has been treated to some very fun features as of late, including the excellent Sonic Frontiers game and the recent live-action Sonic the Hedgehog 2. That’s why it’s so unfortunate that Sonic Prime is such a letdown. It looks great, and it feels like it should be another fun entry in the Sonic franchise for diehards to celebrate, but unfortunately it falls flat in nearly every way.
Sonic Prime : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: The camera pans over the famous Green Hill Zone area from the Sonic video games, with Sonic (Deven Mack) zooming around into the distance collecting rings before running into his ally Big the Cat (Kazumi Evans). He’s on his way to help his friends, who are once again dealing with the perpetual Sonic bad guy, Dr. Eggman (Brian Drummond), even though they should know by now that none of them can really hold their own without Sonic to lead them.
The Gist: As soon as Sonic Prime lifts off, Sonic is on his way to save his friends, who have stumbled into a fight with Dr. Eggman once more. When he arrives, the scientist is about to activate the Paradox Crystal, another magical artifact that, once again, threatens to unravel life as Sonic and friends know it.
When Sonic makes contact with the Paradox Crystal, everything explodes. As his friends call out to him, everything goes black, and Sonic finds himself floating through a void where he sees spectral visions of his friends, all with messages of hope for him (and Eggman voicing plans to rule the world). He ends up in an alternate dimension, where he lands in the technocratic New Yoke City.
In this dimension, Sonic’s friends exist, but they’re all under Eggman’s chubby fist. In fact, he’s been split into five different versions of himself. And Sonic’s friends are holding down the fort as part of an underground resistance network in the shadows. Sonic has to work to gather all the pieces of the shattered Paradox Crystal to restore his original world back to normal.
Sonic works diligently to find the pieces of the crystal, but there’s one shake-up that will transform the way the series works. Each time he touches a piece, he’ll be sent to a new alternate dimension with new roles for the characters to fill.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Fans will be thinking of Sonic Boom while watching this series, as both are about equally entertaining. It’s not as well-liked as most of the other Sonic cartoons on the market, but it does share CG animation.
Our Take: This is a Sonic storyline that could and should have been a game. It just isn’t very compelling as a series. While the action is tight and animation is fine, the character redesigns are somewhat hit or miss. There’s a legitimate sense of speed when Sonic blows enemies out of the water, and the first-person segments are fun enough, but there’s little reason to care about Sonic and the gang’s plight — and the multiversal Eggman characters are some of the most grating you’ll ever see.
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Most importantly, the writing is weak in a way that’s reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction. The jokes fall flat, and rarely elicit laughs, even aiming for a younger crowd. It’s like reading a joke book for kids written by dads desperately trying to find something hip enough that might make a teen or tween smile. Between rote one-liners and every time Sonic mentions he loves chili dogs, there’s enough cheese here to make a mean wine pairing. The multiverse is just your typical dystopian hellscape where Eggman’s power is absolute (in all versions), and we already knew that was coming – why not put a fun new twist on it?
The bottom line is, it just isn’t very fun. It’s not exciting. And to top it all off, these episodes do not need to be anywhere near 45 minutes.
Sex and Skin: This show is as squeaky clean as they come.
Parting Shot: Sonic is zipping around Green Hill Zone to get some rings to prep for an upcoming battle, but is zooming so fast (as he does) that he doesn’t realize he’s just bumped into Shadow the Hedgehog. The two stare at each other in a still frame for an extended period – and that still frame looks quite jarring compared to the rest of the show’s animation.
Sleeper Star: Of the five voices Shannon Chan-Kent provides (two of them including Amy Rose and Rouge), her Rouge steals the show. Rouge needs all the help she can get since her unfortunate outfit downgrade (which is a fashion don’t), and Chan-Kent imbues her with the tough and adventurous voice fans associate with the anthropomorphic bat.
Most Pilot-y Line: “One day I’ll destroy that hedgehog, and the world will be a brighter place for it, lit by neon,” a spectral Eggman proclaims as Sonic drifts through what appears to be the multiverse following the explosion he ends up causing.
Our Call: SKIP IT. As far as Sonic productions go, this is a bland adventure that you’d be better served skipping to play the newest video game, Sonic Frontiers. The establishing episode is 45 minutes of schlock that might work well as a video game, but it doesn’t translate well to the small screen, with its muddled premise, eye-rolling dialogue, and downright boring story beats. If you want a Sonic adventure to watch, choose Sonic X or Tyson Hesse’s excellent shorts.
Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech. Follow her on Twitter: @MolotovCupcake.
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