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Description
SONIC PRIME.
Developed by: Sonic Team and Man of Action.
Written by: Justin Peniston and Duncan Rouleau.
Starring: Deven Mack, Brian Drummond, Ashleigh Ball, Adam Nurada, Shannon Chan-Kent, Ian Hanlin, Kazumi Evans and Vincent Tong.
Based on the long-running Sonic the Hedgehog franchise owned by: Sega.
Genre: Action-adventure. Comedy-drama. Science fantasy.
Rated: U (Suitable for all ages).

So remember that thing I said about Wednesday? “The thing about a long running franchise is, you'll always have a favourite version of it,” so if a new version doesn’t quite do it for me, I can always rewatch one of the older ones.

That gives away how I feel about Sonic Prime, doesn’t it?

When I first heard this cartoon was being made by Man of Action, I was of two minds on the subject. If it was the Man of Action responsible for the earliest Ben 10 seasons, then sign me right up for that. But if it's the Man of Action that made Ultimate Spider-Man or that Mega Man cartoon, "kill it with fire!" wouldn't do my thoughts any justice.

So to answer the question of which Man of Action we got.

Grandpa Simpson: A little from column A, a little from column B.

I don’t think this series is bad, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. To be fair, it's the first 8 episodes so the rest of the series has time to change my mind. Afterall, it took Castlevania till season 2 to really get me hooked into it. I have no doubt a lot of my issues here will be resolved with the next batch of episodes, so take this with a large pinch of salt.

Because right now? It's repetitive, unfulfilling and a chore to sit through.

The plot in general revolves around Mysterio trying to steal the Tablet of Order and Chaos, but is thwarted when Spider-Man smashes it into pieces; forcing the web-head to... Sorry, I got my notes mixed up. Let me start over.

[Clears throat]

The plot in general revolves around Dr. Eggman trying to steal the Paradox Prism, but is thwarted when Sonic smashes is it into pieces; forcing the blue Hedgehog across dimensions in a wacky roller coaster adventure of-yeah this is just the plot of Shattered Dimensions isn't it?

Like everyone and their grandma at the moment, Sonic's giving us his take on the multiverse concept. I can only speak for myself on this, but I'm really starting to get sick of this idea being plastered across everything at the moment (and I love multiverse theory). Not that I can blame Sonic for this mind you, but rather the entire superhero comics industry would be screwed without this easy plot device to fix all their shit.

What I was expecting was eight episodes of Sonic bouncing around multiple universes in a race to get back to his world. What I got instead was Sonic pinging back and forth between just three. Those worlds being Not-Sat:AM, generic caveman world and generic pirate world. I'm going to presume the generic cowboy and ninja worlds will be in season 2?

It doesn’t feel like utilising the concept to its full potential. I wasn’t expecting the alternate realities to do anything radical such as reference Fleetway or Sonic.exe, but Prime essentially took a wild and interesting concept and made it boring.

We get most of Sonic's tree house club along for the ride, but they're quickly dispatched in the first episode and Sonic has to rescue them (sound familiar?) as well as rebuild the Paradox Prism. While they do reappear in flashback scenes, they're replaced by their multiverse counterparts that reimagines them in three different styles. These include Cyberpunk Tails, Jungle Amy and Pirate Knuckles.

Oh, and Big the Cat's here... Yay?

While we get some interesting versions of Sonic's friends, I was more curious to see what alternate versions of Dr. Eggman each universe had and this is where Sonic Prime let me down. Instead of each universe having a different Robotnik, one universe has five and they're generic clichés. In the Not-Sat:AM universe we get Eggbaby, Eggboomer, Eggzoomer, Egghipster and Alt 1985 Dr. Eggman; complete with bad toupee and fashion sense. You know it's bad when you're making the Deadly Six seem like highly original characters.

I'm sorry, but the Chaos Council is a very lacklustre idea. They don’t really contribute much to the overall story apart from some tired stereotypes. You mean to tell me you get Vegeta to voice Eggman in this series, yet you give him shite like this?

Oh, yeah, I should probably go over that. Sonic Prime has an entirely new and original voice cast for this series. The last time Sega tried something like this it REALLY upset the fanbase (which isn't saying much), but hopefully nothing malicious or controversial is going to come out of this (fingers crossed).

The main reason for the change is due to the series being produced in Canada and that means union disputes (that's usually the case anyway). Honestly, it's actually refreshing to hear new voices for the likes of Eggman and Shadow, as Brian Drummond and Ian Hanlin bring a different vibe and energy to them over Mike Pollock and Kirk Thornton's portrayals. Not that they're bad voices or anything, it's just exciting to hear a new Robotnik for the first time since 2005 (if we don't count Jim Carrey of course).

The oddity here is that Knuckles has two different voice actors. Adam Nurada provides the voice for the main Knuckles, who gives him this rather dimwitted tone of voice which I didn’t like. Meanwhile, Vincent Tong plays the alternate universe versions of the Echidna and I honestly prefer his voice overall. It gives me 2003 Raphael vibes and I’m totally down for that!

If I had to pick an overall favourite, then Kazumi Evans’ take on Rouge was fantastic; with her pirate counterpart making me laugh with her outrageous Bristolian accent… Yes, the iconic pirate voice you Americans love is based on a south west English accent. Deal with it!

The visuals are great. Sonic is a character that was made for animation, with his wide range of facial expressions and elastic body are some of the best he’s ever looked. I did notice a slight influence from the recent live-action movies with the fur details added to his body and the fact he “Quicksilvers” his way out of a robot ambush. It's a sign of how bad the Sonic franchise has become when I'd rather see the Hollywood adaptation over the source matrieal.

The only time it drops the ball is the use of the 2D sprite segments to explain Sonic's past. It's clear they drew new sprites based on the original Mega Drive titles, but why not use the actual game assests? I mean, Sonic Team's helping you make this thing so go full (Hedge)hog on this!

So why didn’t Sonic Prime do it for me? Two simple words: The writing.

I realise I am an old man asking a show meant for 7 year olds to have Warren Ellis levels of writing, but it’s generally sloppy and very repetitive. This is the basic premise of the show.

Sonic: (arrives in a new world) Oh, where am I? Oh look! It’s my friends! No wait, they don’t remember me! They’re not my friends at all!! Wait a minute! It’s because of the shard! Hey, people who look like my friends but aren’t really, we need to work together to (touches shard and enters new reality)

Rinse and repeat.

They also overuse flashbacks and clips instead of having Sonic explain things to the new versions of his friends he encounters. I know it's for the benefit of the alternate versions he meets, but you can always cut to the end and have Sonic say: “And that’s the whole story!” without having to show the audience this exchange with every encounter he makes.

There's been a small bit of contention regarding Sonic's personality in this series; depicting him as some sort of bumbling idiot and highly fallible. I’m not seeing the problem here because this feels more akin to the personality of Sonic from that Sat:AM cartoon, instead of the Gary Stu/Jesus/John Cena superhero character Sega desperately wants him to be.

A bit of the series plot and melodrama stems from Sonic treating his friends poorly. I get what the series is trying to say: “Don’t take your friends for granted!” A very important lesson for us all. However, the way the series goes about trying to show Sonic taking his friends for granted feels incredibly forced to justify the overall message and plot. He’s late to stopping Eggman and so his friends are now mad at him? All Sonic had to say was “Shadow jumped me and I couldn’t get away from him!”

Oh yeah, I know I haven't gone over this much, but Shadow the Hedgehog’s here. I’m going to presume he'll have a larger role in the second season, but for now, he’s just here.

Another of my minor grumbles is the introduction of yet another plot device macguffin gem. Chaos Emeralds, Time Stones, World Rings, Soul Gems, Phantom Ruby and now the Paradox Prism. What's next, The Terror Topaz or the Panic Peridot? But there I go giving Rebecca Sugar ideas.

I didn’t make that Shattered Dimensions joke to be facetious earlier, it literally is the same plot. In the jungle universe, Amy uses one the shards to give her godly powers over nature. The Cyberpunk Tails (called Nine) does something similar by using his shard as a warp drive for a spaceship. No doubt season 2 will show Pirate Knuckles using his shard for something.

(Current Conclusion)
And that’s pretty much it for now. All I ask for season 2 is for the writing to be tightened up and to be less repetitive. It’s not a bad start, but could be better. To say something nice, it’s certainly better than War for Cybertron: Siege, but that isn’t really saying much when I think about it.

Description
SONIC PRIME.
Developed by: Sonic Team and Man of Action.
Written by: Justin Peniston and Duncan Rouleau.
Starring: Deven Mack, Brian Drummond, Ashleigh Ball, Adam Nurada, Shannon Chan-Kent, Ian Hanlin, Kazumi Evans and Vincent Tong.
Based on the long-running Sonic the Hedgehog franchise owned by: Sega.
Genre: Action-adventure. Comedy-drama. Science fantasy.
Rated: U (Suitable for all ages).

So remember that thing I said about Wednesday? “The thing about a long running franchise is, you'll always have a favourite version of it,” so if a new version doesn’t quite do it for me, I can always rewatch one of the older ones.

That gives away how I feel about Sonic Prime, doesn’t it?

When I first heard this cartoon was being made by Man of Action, I was of two minds on the subject. If it was the Man of Action responsible for the earliest Ben 10 seasons, then sign me right up for that. But if it's the Man of Action that made Ultimate Spider-Man or that Mega Man cartoon, "kill it with fire!" wouldn't do my thoughts any justice.

So to answer the question of which Man of Action we got.

Grandpa Simpson: A little from column A, a little from column B.

I don’t think this series is bad, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. To be fair, it's the first 8 episodes so the rest of the series has time to change my mind. Afterall, it took Castlevania till season 2 to really get me hooked into it. I have no doubt a lot of my issues here will be resolved with the next batch of episodes, so take this with a large pinch of salt.

Because right now? It's repetitive, unfulfilling and a chore to sit through.

The plot in general revolves around Mysterio trying to steal the Tablet of Order and Chaos, but is thwarted when Spider-Man smashes it into pieces; forcing the web-head to... Sorry, I got my notes mixed up. Let me start over.

[Clears throat]

The plot in general revolves around Dr. Eggman trying to steal the Paradox Prism, but is thwarted when Sonic smashes is it into pieces; forcing the blue Hedgehog across dimensions in a wacky roller coaster adventure of-yeah this is just the plot of Shattered Dimensions isn't it?

Like everyone and their grandma at the moment, Sonic's giving us his take on the multiverse concept. I can only speak for myself on this, but I'm really starting to get sick of this idea being plastered across everything at the moment (and I love multiverse theory). Not that I can blame Sonic for this mind you, but rather the entire superhero comics industry would be screwed without this easy plot device to fix all their shit.

What I was expecting was eight episodes of Sonic bouncing around multiple universes in a race to get back to his world. What I got instead was Sonic pinging back and forth between just three. Those worlds being Not-Sat:AM, generic caveman world and generic pirate world. I'm going to presume the generic cowboy and ninja worlds will be in season 2?

It doesn’t feel like utilising the concept to its full potential. I wasn’t expecting the alternate realities to do anything radical such as reference Fleetway or Sonic.exe, but Prime essentially took a wild and interesting concept and made it boring.

We get most of Sonic's tree house club along for the ride, but they're quickly dispatched in the first episode and Sonic has to rescue them (sound familiar?) as well as rebuild the Paradox Prism. While they do reappear in flashback scenes, they're replaced by their multiverse counterparts that reimagines them in three different styles. These include Cyberpunk Tails, Jungle Amy and Pirate Knuckles.

Oh, and Big the Cat's here... Yay?

While we get some interesting versions of Sonic's friends, I was more curious to see what alternate versions of Dr. Eggman each universe had and this is where Sonic Prime let me down. Instead of each universe having a different Robotnik, one universe has five and they're generic clichés. In the Not-Sat:AM universe we get Eggbaby, Eggboomer, Eggzoomer, Egghipster and Alt 1985 Dr. Eggman; complete with bad toupee and fashion sense. You know it's bad when you're making the Deadly Six seem like highly original characters.

I'm sorry, but the Chaos Council is a very lacklustre idea. They don’t really contribute much to the overall story apart from some tired stereotypes. You mean to tell me you get Vegeta to voice Eggman in this series, yet you give him shite like this?

Oh, yeah, I should probably go over that. Sonic Prime has an entirely new and original voice cast for this series. The last time Sega tried something like this it REALLY upset the fanbase (which isn't saying much), but hopefully nothing malicious or controversial is going to come out of this (fingers crossed).

The main reason for the change is due to the series being produced in Canada and that means union disputes (that's usually the case anyway). Honestly, it's actually refreshing to hear new voices for the likes of Eggman and Shadow, as Brian Drummond and Ian Hanlin bring a different vibe and energy to them over Mike Pollock and Kirk Thornton's portrayals. Not that they're bad voices or anything, it's just exciting to hear a new Robotnik for the first time since 2005 (if we don't count Jim Carrey of course).

The oddity here is that Knuckles has two different voice actors. Adam Nurada provides the voice for the main Knuckles, who gives him this rather dimwitted tone of voice which I didn’t like. Meanwhile, Vincent Tong plays the alternate universe versions of the Echidna and I honestly prefer his voice overall. It gives me 2003 Raphael vibes and I’m totally down for that!

If I had to pick an overall favourite, then Kazumi Evans’ take on Rouge was fantastic; with her pirate counterpart making me laugh with her outrageous Bristolian accent… Yes, the iconic pirate voice you Americans love is based on a south west English accent. Deal with it!

The visuals are great. Sonic is a character that was made for animation, with his wide range of facial expressions and elastic body are some of the best he’s ever looked. I did notice a slight influence from the recent live-action movies with the fur details added to his body and the fact he “Quicksilvers” his way out of a robot ambush. It's a sign of how bad the Sonic franchise has become when I'd rather see the Hollywood adaptation over the source matrieal.

The only time it drops the ball is the use of the 2D sprite segments to explain Sonic's past. It's clear they drew new sprites based on the original Mega Drive titles, but why not use the actual game assests? I mean, Sonic Team's helping you make this thing so go full (Hedge)hog on this!

So why didn’t Sonic Prime do it for me? Two simple words: The writing.

I realise I am an old man asking a show meant for 7 year olds to have Warren Ellis levels of writing, but it’s generally sloppy and very repetitive. This is the basic premise of the show.

Sonic: (arrives in a new world) Oh, where am I? Oh look! It’s my friends! No wait, they don’t remember me! They’re not my friends at all!! Wait a minute! It’s because of the shard! Hey, people who look like my friends but aren’t really, we need to work together to (touches shard and enters new reality)

Rinse and repeat.

They also overuse flashbacks and clips instead of having Sonic explain things to the new versions of his friends he encounters. I know it's for the benefit of the alternate versions he meets, but you can always cut to the end and have Sonic say: “And that’s the whole story!” without having to show the audience this exchange with every encounter he makes.

There's been a small bit of contention regarding Sonic's personality in this series; depicting him as some sort of bumbling idiot and highly fallible. I’m not seeing the problem here because this feels more akin to the personality of Sonic from that Sat:AM cartoon, instead of the Gary Stu/Jesus/John Cena superhero character Sega desperately wants him to be.

A bit of the series plot and melodrama stems from Sonic treating his friends poorly. I get what the series is trying to say: “Don’t take your friends for granted!” A very important lesson for us all. However, the way the series goes about trying to show Sonic taking his friends for granted feels incredibly forced to justify the overall message and plot. He’s late to stopping Eggman and so his friends are now mad at him? All Sonic had to say was “Shadow jumped me and I couldn’t get away from him!”

Oh yeah, I know I haven't gone over this much, but Shadow the Hedgehog’s here. I’m going to presume he'll have a larger role in the second season, but for now, he’s just here.

Another of my minor grumbles is the introduction of yet another plot device macguffin gem. Chaos Emeralds, Time Stones, World Rings, Soul Gems, Phantom Ruby and now the Paradox Prism. What's next, The Terror Topaz or the Panic Peridot? But there I go giving Rebecca Sugar ideas.

I didn’t make that Shattered Dimensions joke to be facetious earlier, it literally is the same plot. In the jungle universe, Amy uses one the shards to give her godly powers over nature. The Cyberpunk Tails (called Nine) does something similar by using his shard as a warp drive for a spaceship. No doubt season 2 will show Pirate Knuckles using his shard for something.

(Current Conclusion)
And that’s pretty much it for now. All I ask for season 2 is for the writing to be tightened up and to be less repetitive. It’s not a bad start, but could be better. To say something nice, it’s certainly better than War for Cybertron: Siege, but that isn’t really saying much when I think about it.