ℋ𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑜 𝓅𝑜𝓉𝒶𝓉𝑜𝑒𝓈!
Has Sonic changed throughout the years?
The short answer is, Yes. Of course he has. The lovable blue blur has been through A LOT on his journey. We are going to look at Sonic’s portrayal in the main games and a few spin offs as well.
How it all started- The classic games
-
-
Sonic the hedgehog has been Sega’s mascot since 1991. Sega wanted to make a make a mascot that would challenge Nintendo’s reputation.That’s when Sonic was made! Sonic was a fast, cool and edgy hedgehog. His design is iconic. It’s the reason why he’s still alive, despite some games that almost killed him. He’s got blue fur and long quills like a hedgehog. He’s also got red shoes that compliments his blue fur.
I’m sure you’ve heard this story over and over again. Sonic, unlike other game characters at the time, had an idol animation. If you didn’t move Sonic for a few seconds, he would get impatient with you and start tapping his feet while giving a bored stare. Despite the lack of lines and cutscenes in the first game they manage to put personality into the character.
Then in Sonic 2, Sega gave Sonic a sidekick. There isn’t much in the game that tells who who Tails is. There is a cutscene where Tails saves Sonic from a fall on the tornado. It’s a nice little moment between friends.
In Sonic CD, there is an incredible, animated intro. It’s so cool to see Sonic running and jumping around, having fun and going to stop Eggman. On little planet he meets an annoying pink hedgehog who clings onto him. Then metal Sonic swoops in and kidnaps Amy. Sonic being the hero he is, runs after them.
Sonic 3 & knuckles is really special. There is more lore and cutscenes in these games. Sonic and Tails stubble upon Angel Island :palm_tree: where Eggman has crash landed, after the end of Sonic 2. That’s when they meet Knuckles, he knocks the emeralds right out of Super Sonic. Eggman destroys a lot of the island and steals the master emerald. When knuckles realises that Eggman tricked him, he works with Sonic to stop him. Sonic helps get back Angel Island and all is saved! He forms a friendship with Knuckles, after starting as rivals.
Sonic Adventure 1&2 // Sonic heroes
-
-
This is where Sonic made a proper transition to 3D. Sega wanted to put more focus on story and lore, so characters were given voices! Sonic’s voiced by Ryan Drummond here. His voice suits the Character but the execution of some lines weren’t that great. This was his first game so it’s fine, because he improves tremendously in the next game.
Sonic has this 90s cool aura. He’s cockey, lives by his own rules and loves adventure. In SA1 I love that Sonic understands Chaos. He believes that trapping Chaos again wouldn’t help him. He wants to bring Chaos to peace and when he does, Tikal is thankful.
In SA2 the first cutscene shows sonic breaking free from the military. He literally breaks a piece from the plane and jumps off. Saying “I’m outta here” He’s so desperate to prove he is innocent!
You can’t tell me this isn’t a cool scene. After he meets Shadow. Sonic figures out that the military mistaken him for Shadow. He gets caught by GUN again and thrown into prison. Amy breaks him out and Sonic wants to find Shadow.
Throughout the game, Sonic and Shadow have a rivalry. They tease each other and Shadow is even impressed by Sonic when they fight on the ark.
Skipping to the end, Sonic and Shadow turn super together and they defeat the bio lizard. Shadow sacrifices himself and Sonic tries to look for him, but it’s no use. He only finds his ring and gives it to rouge. Sonic doesn’t like having to deliver the sad news. He has feelings and I think people forget that.
In Heroes he’s eaten a Cheese sandwich and is really full of energy. He’s cockey and all but it isn’t at the cost of his dignity. He’s optimistic and doesn’t get sidetracked. He’s in a team with Tails and Knuckles. With the power of teamwork he knows that they can stop Eggman.
Sonic 06 // Sonic Unleashed // Story book series
Sonic got a new voice in these games. Jason grithif. I personally grew up hearing this voice so I really like it. There are mixed opinions on Jason’s voice for Sonic and I understand why people might prefer another voice. Anyways, during Jason’s era, Sonic gave a lot of inspirational quotes and advice.
-
-
It’s not bad, it’s nice to see Sonic be a little more serious and inspire others with quotes. But Sonic didn’t need quotes to inspire others in past games. In 06 he suddenly stole Mario’s thing and saves Princess Elise from being kidnapped like 6 times or something. I don’t understand why they force a romance between Elise and Sonic, it’s just weird. My biggest problem with this game is Mephelies killing Sonic DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY HAVNT EVEN MET EACH OTHER. Sonic unfairly gets killed.
-
-
Sonic unleashed has my favourite story from all the Sonic games. I love the intro cutscene, there is so much detail and it looks so cool. When Eggman sucks the energy out of the chaos emeralds, Sonic turns into the werehog. He falls to earth and gets saved by an orb. He lands on someone while falling. They don’t know who they are and Sonic decides to help him, after all, he did fall on top of him.
Sonic calls him Chip and they travel all over to restore the emeralds and stop Eggman. By night Sonic turns into a werehog and he’s actually insecure about his form. He doesn’t want anyone to recognise him. There’s a scene where Amy hugs the werehog and she mistakes him for Sonic. I mean it was Sonic but how the heck did she mistaken the big fluffy werehog for Sonic??? Anyways when she realises her mistake she says sorry and runs away. Sonic looks a little sad after that happens. He’s either sad that Amy couldn’t recognise him or he’s Insecure about his looks. It’s not every game we see Sonic feel emotions besides being happy and outgoing 24/7.
-
-
Chip finds out that he is actually light gia and he needs to defeat dark gia. When chip realises this, he says bye to sonic and flies away. But Sonic isn’t just going to let Chip go on his own. Besides, does he need a reason to help a friend?
-
-
The story book series has 2 games. Sonic and the secret rings and Sonic and the black night. I’m going to sum them up by saying in Secret rings I like how he encourages Shara and how bad ass the last cutscene is. In Black night Jason definitely shined here. Sonic helps merlina with the help of the sword Excalibur. They are constantly bickering at each other. And yes, the sword talks.
At one point he meets a little girl who is crying for her parents because they were attacked by a dragon. Instead of going to do one of the Trials, Sonic decides to help the girl. Excalibur nags Sonic about the trial but he says
-
-
Sonic colours // Sonic lost world
Idk why they felt the need to reboot the series to the point where it killed the characters. They wanted to bring Sonic bAcK tO tHe cLaSsIc tImeS thanks to the critics. Sonic colours has a nice plot but the writing is...so bad. Sonic is constantly making bad jokes and breaks the 4th wall because it’s fUnnY.
Sonic’s new voice Roger Craig Smith. A lot of people criticise his voice and some people even throw hate at him. At first I didn’t like his voice but I feel like he is improving. He’s also really good at voicing Sonic in Boom and sounded great in Wreck it Ralph. I just feel like the voice director and the material he is given isn’t good.
He also SHOVES Tails into the elevator and fights Eggman by himself. Is he trying to take all the credit or does he think that Tails can’t handle Eggman??
Lost world is EVEN WORSE. He’s so full of himself, so full of his ego and once again makes bad jokes. Cuz “baldy Mc nose hair” is fUnnY!! I don’t understand why they turned a cool character who helps others for the good of the world into a fu**ing joke? Sonic isn’t stuck up. He isn’t stupid, and he isn’t heartless.There’s a scene where Sonic shouts at Tails for NO REASON.
Sonic might have always been a little full of himself , but it wasn’t all up in your face. I hate how Sonic is now. Literally nothing but a joke.
Sonic Forces
Forces didn’t do what Lost world did wrong which is good. Sonic isn’t joking as much as before and he is more serious. But that’s not to say the portrayal of Sonic here was great. It was a step in the right direction but not enough to save Sonic.
I feel like they shove friendship quotes down Sonic’s throughout. They are trying to make him like he was in heroes. That’s not to say some quotes were bad, but honestly the execution of the story, lines and some of the writing is what ruins the characters.
-
-
Overall Sonic was okey here, but more needs to be done to save Sonic and even his friends from bas writing. We can’t keep accepting less. We can’t keep making a standard for liking Sonic.
Final Thoughts :thought_balloon:
Since the beginning till around 2010, Sonic had an attitude and little bit of edge. And I’m not speaking “guns and motorcycle” edge, I mean a cool edge. Sonic has been the same from the start, all that had changed was the tone’s of the games and Sonic getting a voice.
I’ve heard people say that “sOniC hAs bEen a LigHt hEaRteD sEriEs fRom tHe sTaRt, aNd iT sHoulD sTay lIke tHat!” And similar things said by critics. But Sonic wasn’t just a light hearted series. Sure the art style was and yeah, the idea of a fast blue hedgehog that chases an Evil egg-shaped scientist call Eggman is silly and works for a light tone.
But what about Eggman trapping animals in his machine? What about Eggman setting Angel Island on fire, destroying the ancient cities and even ruining environments by building his cold, metallic labs. You’re telling me this is light hearted? And even the cartoons and comics at the time showed the dark tone that Sonic could achieve.
This isn’t me trying to tell you that Sonic is a dark franchise, but I’m not saying this franchise was made to appeal to stupid children who need jokes explained to them. Both Dark and light tone stories work for Sonic, just look at Heroes and SA2. But what doesn’t work is turning the cool characters into comedic relief. It ruins an appeal of this franchise, of this character.
Sonic, unlike the other characters, doesn’t go through a story arc. Sonic is special, he’s the main character, he has the power to influence and change other characters. He inspires characters to change.
Sonic made Tails realise that he needs to believe in himself more. Sonic turned a rival into a friend and helped Knuckles get Angel Island back. Sonic had a rivalry with Shadow but in the end he is willing to save the world with Sonic after getting his memory back. Sonic made Blaze have more trust in others and even make friends. He made Blaze realise the importance of friendship and having someone you can relay on. Sonic also inspired characters such as Elise, Shara and Merlina.
Sonic himself is carefree and loves adventure. He’s full of himself but when there’s danger, he won’t hesitate to run in and save the day. When everyone had lost hope, Sonic would still be standing. Sonic might not be as smart as Tails, but he isn’t stupid. He’s not as strong as Knuckles, but he isn’t weak. He isn’t overpowered, he also feels pain. He knows when he needs to step in and understood people’s pain.
But soon, it all changed. Sonic, isn’t Sonic anymore. The writers chose to focus on 1 of Sonic’s character traits, being cocky. They made him into a sitcom character who gives his villain friendly nicknames such as, “the eggster”. And it doesn’t help that every character alongside also changed. Even after they tried to tell a serious story in Forces, it failed badly. Sonic may have been more serious in Forces, but clearly they don’t care about telling a story anymore with its execution.
All the characters are one-note and generic stereotypes. What’s special about this franchise is its unique and lovable characters. But that appeal has died and funny memes are the new appeal. I just want the old Sonic, everyone does. God knows how many videos, blogs and tweets have talked about the death of these characters.
Sonic The hedgehog shares the same name with this franchise, and I believe Sega need to treat him with love and effort.
I hope you enjoyed this! Have a great day~
