Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.06: Sonic Breakout

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.06: Sonic Breakout

Original Air Date: November 2nd, 1993

"Sonic Breakout" does not feature Sonic as a ball bouncing off a paddle, against easily collapsible bricks, but I'm honestly surprised Sega never threw a game like that together. Instead, it begins with Tails eager to pick up the new issue of Crack-Up Magazine, one of those comic books that are actually funny. The issue mocks Robotnik, which naturally enraged the doctor. He kidnaps the artist and locks him in his brand new prison. Sonic intentionally gets himself captured so he can free the guy but Robotnik has built a cell specifically to hold Sonic. Will our hedgehog hero be able to escape this prison? What do you think?

"Sonic Breakout" is the earliest episode of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" that I've covered in quite a while. Even though it was the forty-second episode to air, it was the sixth produced. I don't know why this episode was held back so long by the syndicators but you can tell it was an early one. In fact, it's maybe the most stock-parts episode yet. This honestly feels more like a pilot than the actual pilot does. Most of its runtime is devoted to Sonic outsmarting Scratch and Grounder in humiliating ways, usually via disguises. Robotnik's tubby appearance is often mocked. The humor is wacky and dumb but not nearly as wacky and dumb as the series would become. Even though there's an annoying supporting character in the form of artist Sketch Lampoon, Sonic and Robotnik's rivalry is still the main focus here. It's an episode all about how cool Sonic is and how ridiculous his enemies are. It feels prototypical in that regard.

Considering how common genre parodies are on this show, I half-expected "Sonic Breakout" to be "AoStH's" prison flick. No, there's no sadistic wardens, inevitable riots, or uncomfortable shower scenes. Instead, the episode just attempts to mine some minor dramatic tension out of Sonic being captured. The idea of our hedgehog getting caught on purpose, as part of a wily scheme, but then finding he's in over his head is a good premise. However, this show being what it is, there's never any doubt Sonic will escape. Naturally, the script cheats in this regard, as Sonic produces an additional copy of Crack-Up to distract Scratch and Grounder and fools a computer targeting system with a poster of himself. 

Just as I'm surprised Sega has never produced an actual Sonic Breakout game, the hedgehog getting captured and trying to escape an impenetrable prison is another good premise for a video game. I guess that would cut down on the series' trademark speed but it would create lots of opportunities for Sonic to swerve around traps. That's what this episode does and it creates a (perhaps unintentional) resemblance to the first game's Scrap Brain Zone. There's all sorts of crushers, stompers, and big spiked balls. This episode also repeatedly compares Robotnik to Humpty-Dumpty, even showing him cracked open like an egg. This was years before Americans started calling him Eggman, so it's a bit of a surprise. 

But it's not funny. Even by the lackadaisical standards of this show, "Sonic Breakout" feels surprisingly joke free. Yeah, Sonic puts on goofy costumes and tricks Scratch and Grounder. He infuriates Robotnik with his wacky antics. Yet these events happen so often that it's hard to say if they even register as humor. Only two instances seem to count as actual jokes to me. Sonic's speediness overwhelms the computer Robotnik has built to operate the prison and track the hedgehog. The computer then drolly comments that he's going to retire to become a cash register, har har. Lastly, the final scene sees Robotnik falling into the exact same pose Crack-Up featured him in. Which would be a nice touch of dramatic irony if everything about this episode didn't seem so tired and lazily executed. 

If I'm struggling to find anything interesting to say about this episode, it's because it's just not that interesting. However, I will say this: Another way you can tell this is an early episode is that Robotnik is still depicted as a would-be dictator. (Instead of as whatever type of bad guy the writers needed him to be this week.) And like all fascists, Robotnik seeks to censor the free press. A cartoon mocking his appearance drives him into such a rage, that he throws the artist into jail. That's some real Kim Jong-un shit right there, though Robotnik makes the guy draw his life story instead of torturing him or feeding him to dogs. This furthers my belief that "AoStH" depicts Robotnik as a tyrant attempting to take over all of Mobius, instead of operating after a "SatAM"-style victory.

Also, this episode's animation is not great. There's several moments were characters awkwardly twitch for a few seconds. For a show about a hyper-fast character, it's also a strangely stationary half-hour. Sonic spends most of the show chained up, so there's less running than usual. (The Sonic Sez segment also features an anti-graffiti message, seven years before Sega would make a video game all about how graffiti is fucking cool.) It's a really phoned-in episode that makes me feel nothing but boredom, I guess is what I'm saying. I'm surprised I managed to squeeze 898 words out of this one. [4/10]