Sonic Prime

TL:DR - Sonic Prime is a great show for fans, kids, and non-fans. It takes its time to introduce us to all characters without needing a prior experience.

Sonic the Hedgehog has a few TV shows, and each has its charm. However, this one is right now the best for me!

The animation is fluid, lovely, lively, wacky, and wholesome on all levels. I've found only a few instances where it maybe looked a bit strange. Basically small nitpicks.

Models for characters or environment are really nice and detailed. Sonic and his friends aren't much different from their game counterparts. But their alternative-selves, that's when the fun begins. Each has a distinct clothes and personality quirks. They are both similar and different from the ones we know.

Voice acting is spot-on. Every person sounds in character, full of emotions and believable. It may only take a while to get used to, but I don't mind.

The weakest spot is the music. There is some background one, but nothing that would be as memorable or catchy like Sonic X or SatAm Sonic intro. Which is a shame, but nothing that would ruin the experience. The theme is also only a few seconds long.

Action scenes are really fun to watch and none felt like recycled assets from the previous ones. The creators had fun with this one, as some has creative "battle moves" and flow. They weren't kidding about the Marvel-Movie-like action sequences :-D Some looks really epic.

The story is simple in its outline, but I feel it's more complex than it shows in the first 8 episodes. And for a kids' show, it has some dark implications and "side-notes". We visit three alternative worlds where the Dystopia works as a hub, and we will cover the most through the whole series for sure. Jungle and Pirate world get 2 episodes each, which is a good length.

There was enough time to get introduced to old-new characters, get the gist of their world, and to get a "complete" mini-story arc with a satisfying pay-off. Each universe had a focus on a different character, but the others got their spotlight too. I don't doubt we will revisit both worlds in the next episodes. But I also hope we will get one or two new ones for the later parts.

While I may be 30+ I find the humor chuckle-worth most of the time. At worst, I smiled. Sonic is a loveable goof, but can be serious when realizing the situations requires it.

Now to characters themselves. Sonic has flaws, visible ones. That makes him a lot different from Game Sonic or Sonic X, where it was more like "kinda a perfect hog changing others" than a real person learning from his mistakes and realizing his short-sight.

Here, Sonic is influencing others, but also learning from the same people. It's a growth on both sides. This is like with Movie Sonic, who is moving from a carefree kid to a more mature and wiser young-teen across two movies.

The other Prime character is Shadow. He is more mature and like an older-brother to Sonic in this version. This is visible in his first fight with Sonic, when he is visibly less aggressive and tries to reason with Sonic. Albeit he still uses force to do so which backfires. Both needs to learn to speak without spin dashing XD I eagerly await his role in the next episodes as he will lend Sonic his hand (once they can stop punching each other XD).

Some people mentioned jumping a bit back and forth to Sonic's memories is confusing if binge-watching. I do not see it that way. I'm glad they did it, as it allows for the pace to change without it feeling sluggish or weird. Not to mention, we get to see POV's of others and how or why they were there meeting with Sonic.

The pixel-art memories are a cute detail.

The new Sonic content since at least the second movie, makes me realize how big of a problem the previous Sonic writers were. Still up to this day, I have to deal with a Sonic Colors/Boom PTSD. I hated the sarcastic, nerdy, dead inside comedy. Sonic Prime is the kind of energy Sonic should always have. The content is great for fast paced action and even fun humor.

The lore isn't religiously respected but it's not super outrageous neither. The characters are acting like themselves and their other versions are interesting for most of them. I'd say the weakest part was the forest universe and they don't drag it for too long. Also it's not an episodic deal, it's an actual series, so we revisit universes and there's a progression. If you liked the older Sonic stuff (before 2010) or you're a normie, it's an enjoyable show.

Sonic Prime is a new show that is exclusive to Netflix, and it takes Sega's mascot in a whole new direction. As Sonic and his friends (Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Rouge) get in a battle with Dr. Eggman over the Paradox Prism, a jewel that can reshape the world of Green Hill to the evil doctor's liking, Sonic ends up shattering the prism as Eggman is about to rip it out of the ground. This results in Sonic being flung into the Shatterverse, a multiverse where he sees worlds with different versions of his friends, and even Eggman himself. Now he must travel between these worlds to find the shards of the Paradox Prism in order to get back to his own universe.

This series is a good one. With the voices, everyone has new VAs (due to this being made by WildBrain, a company in Canada, so because of that, the cast is mostly Canadian. Deven Mack takes over as Sonic, and I like him, as he actually channels the energy Ben Schwartz had for the movie version of the heroic hedgehog. In fact, all the actors do a good job doing their roles (which includes Ashleigh Bell as Tails, Shannon Chan-Kent as Amy, Kazumi Evans as Rouge, and even Brian Drummond as Dr. Egmman), with the only I am not liking being Normal Universe Knuckles, as they made him sound like a stereotypical strong man and his character all about smashing things (and not worrying about the Master Emerald, making me wonder why Sega keeps doing the rad red echidna powerhouse so horribly). At least his counterparts are better (as they get a different VA in Vincent Tong).

The series is great as it has a storyline going through each episode. While there only three alternate worlds at the time of this review (hopefully, the second and third seasons will add new worlds), it invents new takes on Sonic's friends (like Amy Rose as a robot named Rusty Rose, and Knuckles as a pirate captain named Knuckles The Dread), and the series is full of references to the games.

So my experience of Sonic is having been a fan since the first games, both 90s series (SatAM and that... not so good one), Sonic Underground, Sonic X, the anime movie, Sonic Boom, the comics and of course all the games... You get the point- I'm an absolute nerd but I know Sonic 😆😆 What I love about this new series is you can absolutely tell this was made by other Sonic fans! I've wanted something exactly like this since the SatAM series that abruptly ended and most of us never got over lol.

The voices are slightly jarring, but only because of what we've been used to. I find them fitting and actually love the new energy they bring.

Given I'm in my 30s I probably shouldn't comment on the humor of a show for kids with a Y7 rating lol. But there's enough for the adults to be amused and entertained.

This long time Sonic fan is presently surprised.

This may be receny bias, but wow! This show is amazing! It actually has character development, the animation is amazing, the story in engaging, and I'm hyped for Season 2! This is the best and darkest Sonic I've seen since, well Sonic SatAM! I loved the character of Nine(Alternate Tails), he is badass, a version of Tails that can only be described as, what if Tails was Shadow's partner instead, that's not what the scenario is, but it does match his personality. I love the Shatterverse worlds, and I love the score! No surprise it was this good, this show was made by Man of Action(the creators of Ben 10, Generator Rex and the comic Big Hero 6, which went on to become an Oscar winning animated film!) and Wildbrain(the developers of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and the Emmy winning show, Carmen Sandiego) Between this, Sonic Frontiers, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic Origins and the comics, this has been a great year for the blue blur.