It’s been a great year for Sonic Prime fans. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released to commercial success and critical acclaim. On the liberal grading curve applied to 3D Sonic games, Sonic Frontiers was a masterpiece. Now, the long-awaited Sonic Prime cartoon is here to give the lovable elephant another chance at animated success.
Sonic Prime comes to Netflix from the man of action, comic book writing, and artist collective that also created Ben 10, Generator Rex, and Ultimate Spider-Man. Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle are known for their comic-inspired action cartoons. They’ve been a huge asset to the long-suffering genre, and their latest outing is a new addition to the canon.
Sonic Prime begins in the race for media, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Rouge. Get locked in a fight with Dr. Eggman. The evil scientist is ready to take advantage of the series’ powerful new MacGuffin, another magical crystal with vastly underutilized power. This one, the Paradox Crystal, explodes upon contact with Sonic, causing the Blue Blur to fall into an alternate dimension. Their new destination is New York City, a dystopian technocratic nightmare in which Eggman, split into five forms, rules with an iron fist. He quickly discovers that his friends now form a formidable underground resistance and work in the shadows to overthrow the regime.
Sonic must collect the broken pieces of the crystal to fix the world he has broken. Unfortunately, every time he touches a crystal, he is launched into a new alternate dimension. The show quickly becomes a sort of Universe of the Week walking tour as Sonic explores fun or AU fan fiction and solves the problems of each world.
Sonic Prime Netflix TV Series 2022 Review
The draw of this show is the action. It’s well-animated, everything feels reasonably fast-paced, and the choreography is very impressive. Each character has their own unique fighting style, some of which change multiple times as Sonic takes on his various forms. Each episode has two or three big battles with many participants. There aren’t many innovative solutions to the problems, it’s just classic cartoon combat. The most immediate comparison point for the show in general might be the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. The 3D animation is detailed enough that the characters don’t look like toys, but a more simplistic 2D art style might be a better fit for the series. The many redesigns of beloved characters will likely be very popular with Sonic fans.
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The writing is quite competent but in a fairly general way. The show isn’t particularly funny, but it could be a hard hit with its intended audience of 8- to 12-year-olds. Jokes abound and anyone in their teens or older will be able to guess every punchline before it lands. Jokes aside, world-building is sometimes very interesting. Each new reality features a self-contained story with personal stakes that Sonic can pop into and solve. The main one is New York City, in which the stakes are high. Sonic travels to a world in which his friends lived in the primeval forest and one in which he was a band of pirates. These short jaunts give fans a chance to see their favourite characters in a variety of styles. This is the same logic that led to the creation of Sonic and the Black Knight, albeit with better results.
The voice cast is an interesting issue for the Sonic franchise. Everyone knows what all these letters should look like. When they recast, the new actor leaves the impression of those who came before him. Devin Mack brings a cool ’90s vibe to his performance as Sonic. Ashley Ball as Tails and Adam Noorda as Knuckles bring familiar voices to their characters, blending seamlessly with performances that change in each new reality. Brian Drummond has a somewhat difficult task following both Mike Pollock and Jim Carrey in the role of Eggman, but he handles the role and all its nuances well. The cast is good no one seems particularly bothered or out of place, but they aren’t doing much new.
While most shows are good, this one is moving towards something that doesn’t exist yet. The show is supposed to have a total of 24 episodes, but this first release has only 8. It’s pretty clear that the show has a lot more to say because without wanting to spoil, there isn’t much that ends up happening. It’s reminiscent of the first four-episode season of Netflix’s Castlevania, which felt deliberately incomplete. There are also many repeats in this brief season. It looks like the show was meant to be released weekly, but since it’s released in a block, it’s a bit annoying to watch the same clips over and over again. If the show ends here, it will be a bitter pill to swallow for Sonic fans, but it’s fair to assume there’s more to come.
Sonic Prime is another argument for Sonic as a TV star and another game character. Sonic fans will love the showcase for their favourite characters and fast-paced action. Despite some weak writing and a bit of repetition, Sonic Prime is a lot of fun. Enjoy the Blue Blur’s journey through the multiverse.
