Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps

Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps

Original Release Date: August 19th and August 26th, 2021 

I'm going to be honest with you guys: I have no attachment to "Sonic Colors." The 2010 release is considered a classic among "Sonic" fans of a certain generation, with the Wisps having long since become established and beloved parts of the franchise. In 2010, however, I was too busy doing cool things like having my heart broken by a hipster girl with horn-rimmed glasses and sinking into a horrible depression that lasted years to pay attention to the new "Sonic" video games. By that point, I had completely divorced myself from that side of the series, barely being aware when a new game came out. When I finally did play "Sonic Colors," many years later, I thought... It was fine. Like most of the blue hedgehog games from this era, "Colors" struck me as perfectly functional and mildly fun without filling me with the effervescent glee the Genesis games did when I was a kid. Just Another Modern Sonic, in other words. 

For people who were kids during the Wii era, however, "Sonic Colors" seems to have made a similar impact as "Sonic Adventure" did for the generation before, defining the franchise in many fans' minds. I'm simply never going to have that nostalgic connection to it. To the point that, when the Wisps show up in the comics or merch, my response is not elation so much as a mumbled acknowledgement of "...oh yeah, these things again." (Quickly followed by the horrifying realization that 2010 was already fourteen years ago and I can hear the Reaper's scythe slicing through the air above my head.) I don't find the Wisps quite as out-of-place as the similarly beloved by everyone but me Chao, because at least they serve a game play purpose. Such cutesy, Emoji Movie looking motherfuckers as these still feel out of place in the "Sonic" franchise as I think of it. 

Simply put, "Colors" is another sign to me that "Sonic" is a multi-generational fandom with different definitive titles, spin-offs, and aspects depending on when you got into it. This meant that, eleven years after "Colors" first came out, I was confused when a remastered re-release was both announced and met with considerable excitement. As an old man hopelessly out-of-step with modern gaming trends, I'm still slightly baffled by the recent popularity of "remasters" of games that are only a decade or so old. And wouldn't a remake of a game that was generally considered to have been unfinished or mediocre, like "Sonic '06" or "Shadow the Hedgehog," have made more sense? However, a lot of people got hyped for "Sonic Colors: Ultimate." A glorified re-release it might have been, Sega still treated it like the big "Sonic" title of 2021. As was quickly becoming the tradition, that meant "Colors: Ultimate" got a flashy, Tyson Hesse directed animated short released to YouTube to promote it. Also following tradition, the remaster came out to middling or largely negative reviews, Sega quickly sweeping it under the rug to get fans and investors excited for the next thing. But the promotional cartoon, entitled "Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps," is still there, waiting for dudes like me to write too many words about it. 

"Rise of the Wisps" sort of tells a very abbreviated version of "Colors'" story while emphasizing the new additions made to the "Ultimate" remaster. Namely, a Jade Wisp that grants players a ghostly intangibility power and the presence of Metal Sonic. The short discards the whole "Eggman builds a theme park in outer space" set-up and the gimmick of multiple planetoids connected by a chain. However, the gist is the same. Sonic and Tails are recruited by the symbiotic alien Wisp race, via one of them communicating with Tails through a translator. (The Jade Wisp in this case, instead of Yacker.) Eggman has begun to use the aliens as a power source for his latest evil scheme. The various abilities the Wisps can grant Sonic prove useful in freeing them from the villain's control. Metal Sonic, also given some Wisps power-ups, is quickly sent to confront his organic counterpart. 

"Rise of the Wisps" more-or-less captures the tone I would expect from a modern, American-produced "Sonic" animated series. On one hand, it has a lot of action, the entire second half focused on Sonic and Metal battling it out. This is brought to life through some anime inspired action sequences. At the same time, the tone is kept largely light-hearted, with frequent comic relief and lots of joke-filled dialogue. In other words, it's a lot more serious than your average episode of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" or "Sonic Boom" while also maintaining a generally safe and soft tone that is unlikely to ruffle the feathers of any kids watching at home. The story has big stakes but the approach is such that they are rarely felt. This clearly matches the writing style "Sonic Colors" had, which also includes lots of funny dialogue and a story without too severe a mood, no matter how serious things got. This is basically the tone that "Sonic Prime" and the live action movies have taken, with varying degrees of success. It is, in other words, the default tone for the "Sonic" franchise as it exists today. 

In theory, I have no problem with this. I didn't like "Prime" that much but not so much because it tried to balance universe-spanning melodrama with goofy jokes. I generally like the movies despite them being heavy on the schtick. However, "Rise of the Wisps" sticks out for other reasons. First off, this short makes sure you know what all the different types of Wisps are and what abilities they grant Sonic. The Drill, Spiral, Rocket, Cube, and Ghost power-ups are all given highlighted moments. The various special abilities are used to save the day in the climatic moments. This can't help but remind me of merchandise-driven shows like "He-Man" or "Power Rangers," where new characters or accessories are introduced to resolve whatever problem the heroes may have... Coincidentally, at the same time toys of these props are available for your parents to buy at all your local toy stores! I've enjoyed lots of kidslop made to sell toys over the years but this approach does feel a little mercenary, as if you are watching more of an advertisement for the video game than you are an independent story. Which, obviously, you are but the "Sonic" spin-offs are usually a little bit better at disguising their strictly commercial purpose for existing. 

Honestly, the way the merchandise-driven nature of "Rise of the Wisps" combines with another of the short's elements that truly rubs me the wrong way. Several scenes in this ten minute presentation focus entirely on the Wisps, brightly colored creatures made up of simple shapes that communicate through soft, gurgling noises. That kind of makes me feel like I'm watching a cartoon made for, ya know, babies. There's also two separate moments where Sonic is incensed because Eggman and Metal are acting like bullies. Okay, fair enough as far as motivations for the good guys go.... But the way the moment is delivered feels less like it's talking about a fascist trying to control creatures with free will and more like somebody is pushing you around on the playground. The conclusion also has Sonic delivering a not-exactly-subtle message about the benefits of friendship. Colorful and highly toyetic characters that communicate through pre-verbal babbling and childish themes that deliver easily understood, generalized lessons a young viewer can apply to their child-proofed lives truly makes "Rise of the Wisp" feel like its aimed squarely at the kindergarten crowd. And not one of the good pre-school shows that a parent can appreciate too, like "Yo Gabba Gabba" or pre-Elmo "Sesame Street." We are talking the kind of baby shit that talks down to kids and is mostly interested in distracting them with bright colors and fun toys. 

As a large adult man who willingly uses his limited free time to write extensively about cartoons and comic books meant for children, I have certainly encountered this feeling before when watching "Sonic" media. The most frustrating thing about "Rise of the Wisps'" writing is I don't think it had to be this juvenile most of the time. The earlier scenes feel like they could easily be from a "Boom" episode. The short begins with a dramatic rendition of Eggman loading some Wisps into a big, ominous machine before the mood is broken by the villain making a high-pitch, boyish cackle. Turns out Tails has been narrating Jade's description of events. Sonic takes over the role of Eggman, making many self-deprecating ad-libs before another meta joke about the wisp making its recollection more exciting. See, exactly the kind of good-for-all-ages wackiness you'd expect from the superior "Sonic" cartoon! This stands along other nicely silly gags, such as Cubot speaking only in video game announcer sound bites or a deeply underwhelming attempt from the bumbling hench-bots to combine with Metal Sonic. That so much of "Rise of the Wisps" feels like it was made for four-year-olds while also containing decent jokes like this suggests the cartoon didn't have to be quite so simperingly cutesy for more of its runtime. 

This is still a Tyson Hesse-directed cartoon, meaning the animation is at least good, right? Well, yes. "Rise of the Wisp" is colorful, with dynamic and fast-paced action. The aspect ratio closes in when Sonic challenges Metal to a race, a nice dramatic moment. The team of Wisps that attempt to free their brothers wear bandanas and little communication headsets, as if they are guerilla operatives. That's an amusing detail. However, the character animation isn't as vivid or entertaining as what was seen in "Mania Adventures." There was also the odd decision to add a sheen to the colors here that makes the entire short look a bit washed-out and muted. It's the kind of artistic decision that works well on, say, Nathalie Fourdraine's retail incentive variant covers for the comics but looks a little odd in animation. "Rise of the Wisps" still looks a lot better than the stiff "Team Sonic Racing: Overdrive" but certainly lacks the fluid motion and obvious creative vision of "Sonic Mania Adventures" or "Chao in Space."

If I had to guess, I would assume that Hesse and his team had a lot less time to work on this two-parter, compared to those latter two shorts. That would explain why the animation is merely very good, instead of gorgeous. Perhaps a tighter time frame would explain the weaker script too. (Which is credited to Hesse and an entity calling itself GGDG.) Perhaps the writing was pitched at a younger crowd in an attempt to emulate the game that introduced "Baldy McNosehair" to the list of fandom complaints. Whatever the cause, the tone remains off in "Rise of the Wisps" in such a way that it's hard for me to recommend it too much. Considering it was a short animation made to promote the release of a remaster that not many people seemed to have liked, I guess we should be thankful that this cartoon is as good as it is. Still, a few minor tweaks and changes in direction would have resulted in a far more satisfying whole. [6/10]

Around the World in 80 Seconds

Around the World in 80 Seconds

Original Release Date: March 31st, 2020

This may come as no surprise to most of you but I am, in addition to everything else I collect, a big fan of physical media for movies and television. Part of this is probably simply inertia. I grew up during a time when owning a film on VHS and, a little later, DVD was the only guaranteed way to watch something whenever you wanted to. Similarly, I love the idea of having a library of books, comics, movies, and albums that I can share with people whenever I want. Makes me feel like an archivist of obscure knowledge or some shit. Truthfully, I have always regarded the rise of streaming services with some skepticism. At least as a replacement for a personal collection or a video store. The idea that something can disappear from a service at any time seems like a bad deal to me. As does the Amazon Prime model of being charged a rental price every time you want to see something. I guess my dad being a paranoid anti-goverment nut job type ingrained in me a healthy distrust of corporations. The idea of Netflix CEOs or whatever deciding what I need to watch for me, limiting my choices to whatever they currently have the rights to, makes me uncomfortable. I thought this was America, where I could watch a weird Crispin Glover movie made in Utah in the early nineties whenever I wanted, whether it's on Prime or not! You can have my DVD of Lucio Fulci's "Perversion Story" when you pry it from my cold, dead hands! 

The decline of the physical media industry – pushed almost exclusively by Silicon Valley capitalist douche-bros favoring streaming and not by actual customer demand – means we are loosing parts of our history. Not only movies and shows that have slipped through the streaming cracks. One of the benefits of DVD over VHS was the ability to pack it full of all sorts of extra content. Commentaries from filmmakers and actors, behind-the-scenes documentaries, retrospective interviews, galleries of production artwork or posters, collection of trailers and TV spots: All of these features added context to the film, making it more of a piece of art that exists in a specific time and place, giving insight into how and why it was made the way it was, and not merely a capitalistic product to be consumed and discarded. DVDs and Blu-Rays being forced into extinction means we are losing out on knowledge about why motion pictures matter as an art form. 

Am I rambling? I'm rambling, aren't I? My point is... I really miss when DVDs were a film school lesson in a box and not simply a physical record of the movie. I'll always be glad to have something on disc, over it existing on a nebulous server some where, but bonus content and special features were really, really fun. Artistically designed menus and hidden clips showed that someone enjoyed themselves assembling this package for you. That a human being left their fingerprint on this, that it was a gift from one soul to another. During the peak of the DVD boom, studios would slip exclusive content onto disc as an extra incentive to buy it. This usually took the form of behind-the-scenes media but, occasionally, it meant something like a clip from a related program, a short film made previously by the director, or a whole ass extra movie sometimes. Disney and Pixar pushed the idea of an animated short film, made strictly for the home video release, as a standard bonus for big budget cartoons. That's been one of the harder special feature traditions to kill off, I suppose because even numbers-obsessed Wall Street types recognize such extensions as a way to keep a "brand" alive in consumers' brains. 

The bonus, exclusive short film was such a popular idea for Disney that many other animation studios followed their lead. DreamWorks started to do it too. Now, it's not uncommon to see any notable animated family film including a similar bonus on its physical release. Which brings us to the topic of today's meandering review: When 2020's "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie was released in disc, it came packaged with a short, fully animated film entitled "Around the World in 80 Seconds." (Sometimes listed as "Sonic the Hedgehog – Around the World in 80 Secs," I guess to remove any confusion about what this is.) The two minute long short is presented as an entry from Movie-Verse Sonic's personal diary, discussing his trip around the world and sightseeing at various globally recognizable attractions, all within the span of a commercial break. On account of being done like marker doodles in the margins of a notebook, "Around the World in 80 Seconds" is also the sole traditionally animated entry into the Sonic Cinematic Universe, at least as of this writing. 

On a narrative level, "Around the World in 80 Seconds" does not present us with much to talk about. In the typically quippy manner that we've come to expect from Ben Schwartz' Sonic, he narrates traveling across the globe and stopping at a handful of notable sights. He breezes through L.A., New York, London, Paris, and Sydney. (Without stopping to sing a song, I'm afraid to say.) He zips around the Arches National Park, Chichén Itzá, the Great Pyramids, and gives momentary shout-outs to whole countries like India and Japan. What this short does provide us with, however, is a little more insight into this version of Sonic's mind. Schwartz' Sonic is obsessed with pop culture, having grown up an orphan on Earth and absorbed knowledge of the wider world through movies, TV, and comics. This is why he visits parts of the globe that are highly publicized in the media. He considers Broadway a much bigger attraction than the Louvre or the rain forest of Cameroon because lots more movies have been made about stage plays than museums or jungles. When running around Egypt, he references the Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian," another indicator of how pop culture has shaped this Sonic's vision of the world much more than actual history. 

And as a nerd fixated on this kind of shit, I can relate to that. I'll be lying if, when I travelled to Manhattan, "King Kong" wasn't one of the main reasons I went to see the Empire State Building. Honestly, we are lucky that Sonic visits Japan in this short without referencing "Godzilla" or his favorite anime. (Which begs the question... What is this version of Sonic's favorite anime? He has to have one!) Instead, we simply get a silly joke about cherry blossoms and a slip second homage to some of the classic Sega game art. As someone who enjoys Schwartz' take on Sonic, as a lonely kid who fills the hole in his heart with nonsense, I did enjoy these little insights into his psyche. Most of them are merely excuses for simple bits of world play but Schwartz delivers each one with a proper amount of enthusiasm. He's a pro and his performances as Sonic, even in tossed-off pieces of supplementary material such as this, is always worthwhile. 

As I mentioned earlier – at least until Paramount gets a good idea and realizes what fans really want – this two minute short remains the only fully animated piece of media connected to the live action movies. In order to replicate the look of doodles made in a composition notebook, the animation is pretty limited. It's strictly black and white, with a simple, sketchy quality to the artwork. What's funny about this approach is it gives us a Movie-Verse Sonic who looks a lot like Classic Sega Sonic. This provides the short with some real novelty, especially when it results in Sonic interacting with landmarks like Randy's Donuts or Delicate Arch. Obviously, locations like this were chosen because they mirror the sort of level designs from the Genesis era games. This is presumably why Sonic spindashes over the Great Pyramids and races around the Arc d'Triumphant. It's cute to look at, is what I'm saying. 

Being so brief, there's not much else to say about "Around the World in 80 Seconds." Schwartz gets some mildly amusing zingers in. The animation is cute, if simple. Perhaps it will educate some children about other corners of the world, which is nice. At least one Letterboxd review complains that this contradicts the canon of the movie, since it seems to imply that Sonic never left Green Hills. I'm all for nerdy pedantry but you might be expecting too much from a tiny short included as a bonus in the DVD if that's your main takeaway here. Can we not assume that this is a little comic Sonic drew himself in order to amuse himself, imagining what a trip around the world might be like? Let's use our imagination, shall we? Anyway, this is cute. I'm glad it exists. "Around the World in 80 Seconds" is not a great contribution to "Sonic" lore nor an astounding achievement in art. But I like it as a sweet little time waster. That's all you need sometimes. [6/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 76

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 76

Publication Date: February 5th, 2025

From more-or-less the beginning of IDW taking over the "Sonic the Hedgehog" comics, there's been people out there reporting that the company was on the verge of collapse. Some of this was definitely driven by sour grapes over Archie "Sonic" ending and other weird, anti-"woke" coalitions that I do not care to mingle with. However, the recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Diamond Distribution – who, at one point, had a monopoly on comic book distribution in America and remains seriously wrapped up in the industry – seems to have caused serious problems for IDW. The situation has a lot to do with creditors and debt and Wall Street bro shit that I personally don't understand. But the salient part is this: The predicament "may have a significant negative impact on our future financial results and cash position" and cast "doubt about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern," according to a recently released annual investor's report. So, uh, that sounds bad! 

In the wake of that news, IDW has already reassured people that the publisher is "not at substantial risk" and seems confident they'll survive up through the end of 2025, at the very least. In other words: The company that publishes the "Sonic" comics might be going out of business. Or, alternatively, it could all work out fine. I imagine none of this news feels great for the freelancers who actually make the books IDW publishes. One has an image of everyone writing and drawing normally, totally unaware if what they are working on will ever see the light of day or if they'll even be paid for it. Probably a lot like what Ian Flynn and the gang went through when Archie's legal clusterfucks led to the abrupt end of the previous "Sonic" comic universe. Is this what life is like in the comic industry, your entire livelihood at risk any minute from byzantine business dealings totally beyond your control? Sounds stressful! I guess we won't know for sure what will happen until something happens. If the books mysteriously start getting delayed, I suppose we'll see the red-inked writing on the proverbial wall. Until then... It's business as usual, the train operating normally while the fear that it may crash into the station remains ever-present in the minds of all aboard. Ain't late stage capitalism swell?! 

That's the macro view and stressing out about things beyond our control isn't fruitful, or so my therapist tells me. Let us instead focus on the matter currently at hand. Issue 76 of "Sonic the Hedgehog" sees the various groups of heroes picking up the pieces – rather literally – in the aftermath of the Clean Sweepstakes disaster. Sonic seeks out the Chaotix, in hopes of finding where Clutch has disappeared. Tails and Amy plan to check on the international branches of the Restoration, to make sure they aren't thrown into turmoil by the destruction of HQ. Blaze, who recently concluded her tour of the globe with Silver, is interested in helping. The Diamond Cutters have a heart-to-heart and go their separate ways. Jewel quits as boss of the Restoration and decides to help Lanolin rebuild the town destroyed in the crash. Silver decides to join Whisper on her quest to hunt down Mimic, with Tangle tagging along to make sure her girlfriend doesn't murder the guy. Belle ventures out with Motobud to explore the world. 

Ian Flynn is back in the writer's chair for Issue 76 and it features him doing something he's made a habit of over the years. The first issue right after a massive event storyline wraps up is devoted to catching up with where the characters are in the aftermath, while also laying the groundwork for the future stories that will lead to the next massive event storyline. This tendency has survived into IDW after Archie and is definitely on-display right here. “Scattered Pieces: Part One” checks in on our major players. Sonic, Tails, Amy, Silver, Blaze, and the Diamond Cutters all get scenes devoted to them, in which they lay down what they plan to do next and put to rest what has come before. When Ian is having a good day, he can make stories like this touching reflections of the emotional states of our heroes and their relationships. On his bad days, this story feel like a mechanical process of standing the dominos back up before they can be knocked over again in a year or two.

The first part of “Scattered Pieces” feels a little bit like both of those instincts are at work. On one hand, Flynn is very focused on preparing the reader for the next fleet of stories. The characters are being broken up and repaired in new combination, with objectives clearly laid down. Sonic is with the Chaotix, Tails and Amy are with Blaze, Silver goes with Tangle and Whisper, Lanolin and jewel are staying behind to plan some urban development, and Belle is off on her own. (Well, she has Motobud, I guess.) It definitely feels somewhat overly structural at times. The worst example of this is Tails' repeatedly mentioning his missing Chaos Emerald, as if to make sure the reader doesn't forget about that dangling plot point. This is obviously an issue about putting every in place for the next motion and, sometimes, that stiffness is keenly felt by the reader.

At the same time, you can feel Ian Flynn specifically addressing some of the concerns people had with the previous arc. The Chaotix interrogate Sonic about his time as the Phantom Rider, with his working with Eggman so willing, which the hedgehog dismisses with a few well placed lines. Meanwhile, the Diamond Cutters get together for a sequence that feels a lot like a group therapy session. Everyone is even sitting in chairs in a little circle! You half expect Tangle to stand-up and admit she's an alcoholic, a clearing in the woods standing in for the church basement. Jewel cries about the pressure she's been under. Most prominently, Lanolin apologizes for the way she acted during the last year of issues. 

I don't know what kind of working relationship Flynn and Evan Stanley have. One would assume they collaborate closely, to make sure all the stories flow together and make sense. However, this issue feels undeniably like a reaction to what Stanley's writing. Here comes Ian Flynn again, to clean up the mess left by the last writer. Let's resolve the tangled morality of Sonic doing undercover as a villain, Lanolin being a hideous bitch to everyone, and Jewel repeatedly fucking up in her leadership role. This is what Flynn has always excelled at... Though it probably doesn't feel great for Evan. To have the next writer come in and sweep up all the changes she made, not many of which were all that well-received by fans. I guess that is what comics are like though. Maybe it was all planned this way and I'm seeing an animosity between the two writing styles that simply isn't there. 

A while ago, I saw a funny image on the hellscape Nazi website. Someone had drawn Sonic responding to Surge trauma-dumping with him saying, bluntly, “I'm not your fucking therapist.” I have no idea if this illustration was made by someone in the pro or anti-Flynn camp. I've seen criticism of the guy's writing that reflects this opinion, that maybe he's double-down on the psychological angst too much. I'm very much in favor of giving your cartoon hedgehogs some mental depth. However, I will admit that Flynn displaying this by having a character drop a massive word balloon, loaded with observations and insight, is starting to show its strain. Having the Diamond Cutters get together in a sharing circle, with Lanolin monologuing about what she's done wrong and how she wants to make amends, maybe makes the therapy parallels a little too evident. 

But it's not bad either! Sure, Jewel crying and yelling about the pressure she's on or Lanolin extensively saying sorry probably is not what I'd prefer to see when I open up a “Sonic the Hedgehog” comic book... However, Flynn does sneak in some good moments in-between the tears and moaning. Sometimes it's as simple as Sonic making fun of Espio using the word “cahoots,” which is brought back in an amusing manner. Other times, it's a big dramatic gesture of Tangle scooping Jewel up with her tail and giving her a big hug. The comic has made these characters fleshed-out enough that moments like this feel like proper pay-off to what has come before. “Scattered Pieces: Part One” is definitely a little too stiff in its structure. Literally having the Diamond Cutters go around a circle and talk stuff out isn't very exciting to watch. It's well enough realized though. 

Weirdly, the moment that works the best in issue 76 are the ones that are a little less heavy. I was hoping we'd see Silver and Blaze's world tour actually play out. Instead, they are back at the Restoration hub, their vacation already having come and gone. I have no idea if this was intentional but the conversation the two have ends up having a romantic tension to it.I mean, the idea that they spent several weeks together on a trip brings certain connotations with it. There's some meaningful glances here, as Blaze says she admires Silver. A flashback of Silver munching on two apples has Blaze looking over at him in a somewhat suggestive manner. I know Silver and Blaze is a popular ship – with a cutesy couple name of their own, the only mildly awful sounding “Silvaze” – so I doubt these panels weren't assembled without that idea somewhere in the creative team's minds. 

It's not exactly an action packed issue, leaving little of the flash-and-bang that allows artist to truly show off. Despite that, Aaron Hammerstrom contributes some very nice looking pencils. Espio scooping Sonic up in an office chair and Vector shining a lamp in his eyes are still really good looking, with the same sort of dynamic movement Hammerstrom brings to action sequence.  Drawing characters making sad faces and looking at each other aren't very exciting on their face. However, Hammerstrom does a good job of making these glances properly expressive and meaningful. Valentina Pinto's colors are nice and warm too, giving a further sense of emotional resonance to these pages.

It's a transitional issue in a very obvious sense, transitioning us from the last arc to the next one. The rest of “Scattered Pieces” seems like it well devote an issue to each of these separate story threads, perhaps another direct reaction to Stanley leaping back and forth between groups of characters within one story. I think that's a much smarter idea of how to handle things going forward. As for this particular issue, it's a bit dull in spots. The script can't quite make these emotional moments as important feeling as he probably wanted. Still, it's not all bad either, with one or two little touches making this one worth reading. A very mixed bag, this one. Hopefully it doesn't end up being the last issue IDW publishes, he says morbidly chuckling in a joking-but-not-really way. [6/10]

Chao in Space

Chao in Space

Original Air Date: December 12th, 2019

"Sonic" fans are fond of in-jokes. It's a perhaps inevitable side effect of a series running for so long that a whole avenue of weirdo, little tributaries appear with a fandom landscape composed of interlocking circles within circles. Any tribute to "Sonic" history is bound to include a reference to some minor background detail from twenty years ago, that will mean nothing to the majority of people but make a select few shit a brick in excitement. I guess any nerdy following gets like this after a while – what is the hyper-dense continuity of modern superhero comics if not one long in-joke? – but "Sonic" fans' obsessive attention to detail is notable. I mean, the "O.K. K.O." episode I reviewed last time is a good example of how "Sonic" dorks can't stop putting in little Easter Eggs for other dorks to find. 

In other words: About twenty-five years ago, Sonic Team artist Yoshitaka Miura designed a joke movie poster, with an Engrish tagline, for a film called "Chao in Space." It was created to literally fill space in the background of "Sonic Adventure's" Station Square hub world, to add a little color to the game's setting. Maybe get a laugh out of the people still amused by the joke of sticking long-running franchises IN SPACE. I guess you call that "world-building." It then became a running gag throughout the modern "Sonic" series, posters for subsequent entries in the "Chao in Space" cinematic universe cropping up regularly in the backgrounds of different games. Fans, of course, tracked these appearances to the point that we can now form a rough progression of the events of this double-fake meta franchise. Seems to be a "Star Wars" parody. Like "Jews in Space." Since there is a portion of people begging Sega to bring the Chao back as a gameplay mechanic, maybe these posters acted as a bone thrown to those fans. 

2019 was the 20th anniversary of "Sonic Adventure" and the beginning of what is now recognized as the "Modern Sonic" aesthetic. The "Sonic Mania Adventures" Christmas Special that Sega published on YouTube in 2018 must have been popular, as a second one would appear the next December. Tyson Hesse and his team were once again behind it and I'm betting he probably pitched the idea in the first place. Since Sega didn't have a new "Sonic" game coming out in December of 2019 – "Team Sonic Racing" still being the most recent release – and probably wanted to acknowledge the anniversary of the Dreamcast's killer app, an animated "Chao in Space" short would function as that year's festive entertainment. (There was also a new "Star Wars" movie coming out that month, which surely was a factor as well.) Fans, of course, loved it and Hesse's "Chao in Space" ditty immediately became another beloved classic. 

You might be wondering what Chao doing stuff in outer space and the Christmas holiday have to do with each other. The short finds a cute way to connect these unrelated ideas. We begin with a blue Neutral Chao fleeing in a very X-Wing looking space ship from the Death Egg. A devilish Dark Chao is in pursuit, in a matching Tie-Fighter inspired vessel. This intergalactic conflict is quickly revealed to be the dream of an innocent little Chao, who fell into a deep sleep after excitedly opening all his gifts. As the dream goes on – the pilot Chao thinking about his family and being blasted out of his ship by the enemy – the little guy gets so excited that he starts to sleepwalk. Sonic, who was napping under the tree with the Chao, does his best to prevent the somnambular fella from getting hurt. Also, Eggman shows up dressed as Santa Claus, seemingly with the objective to do some Chao-Napping and, I guess, ruin Christmas. 

Not long after "Chao in Space" came out, I marked the anniversary of "Sonic Adventure" in my own way: With a rant about how I've never really liked the Chao, I don't understand why they are so beloved by so many people, nor do I see how they have much of anything to do with what the "Sonic" series is about. Not to reiterate too much but: I find the blobby little baby things sickeningly adorable. They are unnecessary mascot characters in a series already starring mascots, whose virtual pet style gameplay don't do much besides interrupt the flow of the platforming action we're here for. Plus, their big, blank, Funko Pop eyes are kind of creepy, right? Those fuckers stare into your soul... I'm well aware that this makes me an outlier in the "Sonic" fandom. You see fan art of people's own genetically engineered Chao variants almost as much as you see "Sonic" OCs in general. 

Speaking as a Chao skeptic, I will begrudgingly admit that the "Chao in Space" cartoon is still pretty cute. The excited way the little fucker shakes his stubby, malformed Powerpuff Girl arms while having his dream is admittedly amusing. He drools and fussily shakes his head, caught up in his own dream but still too sleepy to awake up. Actual babies do that kind of thing and it's precious. Sonic's attempts to protect this stupid baby from its own misadventures also make for a series of good times. Trying to keep a clueless innocent safe is a standard cartoon trope. Seeing the usually unflappable Sonic being bested by such a tiny, squishy thing is a decent joke. Tyson Hesse, being a son-of-a-bitch after all, continues to show excellent timing here. "Chao in Space" builds up to a good – almost literal – punchline that made me smile. Sonic is in the traditional of classic cartoon characters already, so playing him as the Roger Rabbit against his own Baby Herman is a valid enough idea. 

But I know what you're thinking. "We were promised some Chao in space! What about the cuddly, pint-sized, war among the stars??!" "Star Wars," being among the most successful and iconic film series in history, has long been a prominent part of reference humor. A lot of people seem to think that simply mashing up "Star Wars" stuff with another thing is enough to qualify as a joke. "Sonic" already has its fair share of jokey homages to George Lucas' pop culture titan. The Death Egg is right there, after all. Adding some more blatant "Star Wars" references isn't too far of a stretch. The Chao-ified X-Wing and TIE Fighter are well done. Clearly the mechanical designer for this short had fun. Thankfully, "Chao in Space" is not simply reenacting the events of "Star Wars" in "Sonic" drag. It also rips off "Dragon Ball Z!" The Neutral Chao gets his own super transformation at the end and it looks even more like a Super Saiyan riff than Super Sonic already does. 

This short is not built entirely around plagiarism. There actually is a plot contained within the dream sequence. Once the astro dog fight seems to turn against the neutral Chao's favor, he looks longingly at what I can only assume is a framed photograph of his parents. That the Dad Chao has a bushy mustache and glasses is a good joke. A sad melody plays on the soundtrack every time our hero thinks about his family, which tugs at your heartstrings a little bit. It comes around at the end in a nice, if slightly implausible, way. Whether the narrative is all that compelling or not, "Chao in Space" does successfully match the dramatic beats of a stirring action story. A hero is an underdog, up against steep odds and a villain who has the upper hand before rising up and winning after all. That this victory emerges through a last minute power-up could've been a little less spontaneous... But this is a dream sequence after all, so I suppose it gets a pass if not everything about it makes perfect sense. 

Compared to the somewhat stiff animation in "Team Sonic Racing: Overdrive," "Chao in Space" looks a lot closer to the vivid, smoothness of "Sonic Mania Adventures." It carries the same level of playful expressiveness we see in Hesse's work, with lots of cute little faces. Considering the Chao already have cartoonish faces, they work well to express the kind of oversized emotions Hesse specializes in. Sonic's worried and increasingly frustrated body language goes a long way towards selling the humor of this situation. Especially once the goblin puppy starts pulling on his nose. The action scenes are extremely well done, with a sense of speed and momentum in every swerve, turn, and impact. Some humor does emerge out of such cutesy, ridiculous characters being involved in a battle that takes itself very seriously on the surface. 

Despite my best efforts to turn my nose up at all Chao centric content, I'll admit that "Chao in Space" is entertaining. That the animation is so good is a big factor in making it worth your time. Once again, Hesse's storyboards combine subtle attention to the characters with goofy faces and vividly pulled off action. I also think it's funny that they brought in Roger Craig Smith and Mike Pollack to record some sounds, despite Sonic and Eggman having no dialogue in this short. The Christmas element is incorporated in a natural enough way, though this qualifies more as holiday-adjacent than directly about the holiday, I guess. All you "Die Hard is not a Christmas movie" people can argue about the specifics of that, if you want. I guess this proves that I have come to accept the Chao as a valid part of the "Sonic" cast, no matter how indifferent or vaguely hostile I still feel towards them. Me and my friends would've killed a Chao with hammers, I can tell you that much. Uh, anyway, Merry Christmas. [7/10]

O.K. K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Episode 3.03: Let's Meet Sonic

O.K. K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Episode 3.03: Let's Meet Sonic

Original Air Date: August 4th, 2010

You know that one of your favorite little niche fandoms has reached full pop culture saturation when it starts getting referenced, parodied, and stolen from in totally unrelated shows, comics, and games. As a kid, I barely knew anyone else who was a "Sonic" fan. More pressingly, I didn't know anybody as obsessed with this character, his games, cartoons, and comics as me. Which meant, whenever a "Sonic" homage or spoof would pop up in something, it was a rare validating moment. When Sonic zoomed on-screen for a split second gag on a classic "Simpsons" Christmas episode, my eyes lit up. When Lewis Black said the words "Sonic Hedgehog" on an episode of "The Daily Show," I was elated. (Despite my deeply autistic brain being bothered by the inaccuracies in these appearances. Sonic wouldn't want Bart to shoplift!) When I saw the naked cat girl from "Darkstalkers" do a spin-dash, it confirmed that series as my other favorite video game franchise. It made me realize there were, in fact, other people like me in this world, devoted to this little blue guy who runs around. 

All of the above shout-outs occurred when "Sonic" was more-or-less a contemporary property. In the new century, "Sonic" has now been established for upwards of three decades. Meaning there are actual authors, comic creators, and show runners that have grown up as fans of "Sonic the Hedgehog." Which is a lot different than a random show yelling out Sonic's name as a riff on a newly popular fad. Now we have examples of artists who have been influenced by "Sonic," who were fans as kids and have now matured into writers and filmmakers, telling their own stories and showing the mark other pieces of pop culture has put on them. In other words, now we have concrete examples of people doing what I would absolutely do if I got to write a long-running book or cartoon: Include references to "Sonic" because it's a thing they love and our own artistic visions and dreams are influenced by the stories we consume. 

In other words, when I saw references to "Sonic" in "Scott Pilgrim" or heard from other people online that some Cartoon Network show had some jokes about my favorite hedgehog, I was delighted, slightly jealous, but not surprised. We Sonic fans like to think of this series as strictly ours but it's an iconic bit of our collective culture now. Obviously, "Sonic" will influence other stuff. However, putting some red and white shoes on a random background character or having someone run through a loop is still quite a bit different from a newer series having an official, Sega-approved crossover with "Sonic." We are in undeniable Batman fighting the Green Hornet, "Archie Meets the Punisher," "Ape Nation" territory now. This is the kind of crossover that corporate negotiations and serious paperwork must be signed off on to make happen. Crossovers of this degree with Sonic used to be rare, the odd run-in with Spawn or Sabrina the Teenage Witch aside, as Sega is fairly protective of their mascot... That has changed somewhat in our modern age though, when Sega is willing to loan out their precious I.P. to other corporate entities, all in the name of everyone making a lot of money. Now, it's not unusual to see Sonic giving exposition to Wreck-It Ralph, rubbing blocky minifig shoulders with Batman, or asking Flo from Progressive if he can save some money on his car insurance. It surprises me though, when Sonic randomly pops up like that, cause I'm still used to this series being the redheaded stepchild of the console wars. 

It's all the more surprising when such crossovers happen with stuff I've never heard of. Sonic having some sort of promotional collaboration with other video games like "Minecraft," "Roblox," or "Fall Guys" is weird to me – I barely know what those things are too – but it's understandable. That's staying within the realm of electronic gaming. When Sonic transgresses the fourth wall and ends up on a movie or TV, that's a much more unexpected event. Such a thing would happen in 2019, when some Cartoon Network show called "O.K. K.O.! Let's Be Hero" did a whole episode built around its characters meeting Sonic and Tails. I rarely emerge from my shell of selective pop culture consumption – horror movies and like six comic books – to look at a newer cartoon. When news of this episode first trickled down into my subterranean lair, I assumed this must be some show built around brand-name team-ups or something. Not true, it turns out. Apparently the creator of "O.K. K.O.! Let's Be Heroes!" is simply a big "Sonic" fan and, presumably through the deal that led to "Sonic Boom" airing on the same network, had a chance to make a crazy dream come true. This is the only crossover of this nature in the show's three season existence, as far as I can tell. 

Obviously, I had to write about this but will admit that I'm going in as a total novice to "O.K. K.O.!" I remember seeing some, uh, creative fan art of the purple haired chick when the program was new but that's the entirety of my exposure to it. A little bit of Wikipedia skimming informs me that the program revolves around K.O., a wannabe hero who lives in a wacky cartoon city while working a mundane job with his friends, fighting bad guys and trying to prove his mettle as a hero. A glance at the show suggested to me that it was heavily inspired by classic gaming. The titular hero's name brings "Street Fighter" to mind while his bandanaed, bare knuckled appearance recalls any number of fighting game and beat-em-up protagonists. The series is also set in the year 201X, for you Mega Man dweebs, and regularly features robots, mad scientists, ninjas, aliens, and other retro gaming nonsense like that. When I pressed play on this episode, I was greeted with an eighties style theme song and some synthwave-y graphics, making the connections obvious. To find out the creator of the series is only a few years older than me and part of the same scumbag Geriatric Millennial demographic was not surprising. We probably grew up watching, reading, and playing a lot of the same bullshit.

Anyway, "Let's Meet Sonic" begins with K.O. starting another day at the bodega where he works. His friends, Enid and Radicles, are more interested in napping the day away. That's when, to his utter shock and delight, Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails the Fox come rushing through the door. The two Sega mascots heard this place had some great chili dogs. Instead, the entire thing has been a trap laid by Dr. Load Box and his minions, K.O.'s regular adversary. The villain has grabbed the Master Emerald and plans to kidnap Sonic. His henchmen grab K.O.'s friends instead. Sonic and Tails team up with the little guy, while the fox expresses some jealousy over Sonic immediately fulfilling K.O.'s request to become his new best friend. Lots of running, fighting, slapstick, and frantic bantering ensues. 

Like I said, I don't watch a lot of newer cartoons, based on my innate middle-aged fear of things that are new and different. (And I realize this "newer" series is already over five years old at this point.) With the odd exception like "The Owl House," I've mostly checked out of the animation game. I've never seen a single full episode of "SpongeBob SquarePants," a statement that will surely sound unthinkable to many of you but is entirely true. Truth be told, it's not a choice I regret any. I know "Fairly Odd Parents," "Adventure Time," and "Gumball" are esteemed classics for many of you. However, I often find modern animation to be a little too manic, wacky, and willfully grotesque for my taste. This is probably how my parents felt about "Ren and Stimpy" and "Invader Zim." "O.K. K.O.!" definitely strikes me as abreast of these programs, with its aggressively wacky comedy and wildly exaggerated characters. Not to mention an animation style that emphasizes simple shapes, rough edges, and fast and loose movements. I can handle a single ten minute episode but sitting down to watch any more than that would probably require me to get hyped-up on some Captain Crunch first. 

Having said all of that, I did find "Let's Meet Sonic" to be an amusing ten minutes. The jokes are frequent, never more than a second passing between gags or one-liners. This is definitely a hyperactive, action orientated series as, mere minutes after Sonic shows up, the heroes are already embarking on a wild chase with some enemies. The animation is intentionally crude in some respects while also being extremely detailed and, at times, rather fluid. A moment where Sonic is running along some Chemical Plant Zone style pipes and turnpikes marks a visible improvement in the gracefulness and style of the show. K.O., an extremely enthusiastic and manic little guy, and his comedically incompetent adversaries strike me as potentially kind of annoying... But within the span of one episode, I can handle it. I suspect the show runners banked on a lot of people unfamiliar with "O.K. K.O.!" watching this episode, as it's fairly low on established characters and world building. It was nice of them to hold this old "Sonic" fan's hand as I was introduced to new and frightening territory. 

This episode doesn't represent merely a cameo appearance from a beloved series but is, in fact, an extended homage to "Sonic the Hedgehog" history. Within the opening minutes, K.O. is already striking iconic poses that Sonic has held on game covers over the years. Loops, rings, the Master Emerald, the Tornado, Green Hill Zone, and shout-outs to Knuckles and Robotnik are all present. What most impressed me about "Let's Meet Sonic" is that it doesn't reference only the surface level parts of the franchise. Yes, special moves like the Spin Dash, Light Speed Dash, and Homing Attack are mentioned by name. Sonic and Tails are voiced by modern mainstays Roger Craig Smith and Colleen O'Shaughnessy, as if they stepped right out of a recording for "Boom" and into this session. However, it quickly becomes clear that whoever is responsible for this crossover mostly has affection for the hedgehog's nineties heydays. A very detailed homage to the classic title screen appears, alongside instantly recognizable sound effects. Sonic's feet spinning into a figure eight shape or the exact way he curls into a ball suggests that these scenes were assembled by someone who spent a lot of time looking at and thinking about this character and his world. 

More than anything else, "Let's Meet Sonic" is jam-packed with homages to classic "Sonic" animation. When the bad guy's robotic henchman leaps on-screen, he makes Scratch's distinctive crowing laugh. I don't know if his partner is usually a little green guy with treads but that strikes me as a probable Grounder reference. Music that sounds a lot like the "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" theme plays a few times. The bad guy ties K.O.'s buddies under a distinctive oversized weight. Which ends up crossing Dr. Load Box instead, his pancakes visage floating back to the ground. In other words, the same fate that befell Robotnik during the end credits of every episode of "AoStH." The shout-outs to the denser, wackier "Sonic" cartoon climaxes with a "Sonic Sez" segment at the end, which inevitably features the hedgehog saying something is "no good." I get the impression, from this brief exposure to this show, that the particularly unhinged tone of "AoStH" seems to have been an overall influence on "Let's Be Heroes." 

That probably would've been enough. I spent far too much time re-watching VHS recordings of that cartoon and wondering at the opening screen to the Genesis too. But "Let's Meet Sonic" proves it was made by real hardcore hedgehog nerds by including elements from other cartoons. K.O. gets tossed in a glass tube, with curling wires and tubes overhead. It's referred to as a Roboticizer in dialogue and does, indeed, turn K.O. into a mechanoid. That's when the show embarks on a extended homage to the "Sonic" OVA. Specific shots from that anime, like Sonic running down a tunnel or Metal Sonic's turbines spinning to life, are directly copied. It all concludes with a comedic recreation of the film's finale, with "Metal K.O." sinking into a pool while directly quoting the volcanic conclusion to the anime. Sonic sits in a beach chair and acts like a jerk. This is the kind of obsessive dedication to nerdy details that a casual fan would never make. Clearly, those responsible for "Let's Meet Sonic" were die hard devotees to this series, having studied and obsessed over minute elements of it much the same way I used to. Feels good to see that shit, ya know? 

Honestly, it's difficult for me to be too objective about a little piece of animation so clearly assembled by other mega-fans of this franchise. On my second watch through, I even caught brief shout-outs to the Archie Comics and another one of Ben Schwartz' other famous roles. Jim Cummings is immediately recognizable as the voice of Dr. Load Box too, though this character is clearly more inspired by the "AoStH" take on Robotnik than Cummings' ominous take in the same character. In general, I was impressed at how much Sonic and Tails felt like they always have in this cartoon. Sonic's unintentional disregard for his friend might be slightly more focused on in the name of comedy but that's not too out-of-character for him anyway. There is a special treat in hearing Roger Craig Smith say a Jaleel White catchphrase like "Need to speed, keed!" The hedgehog's inability to swim is a major plot point too. Honestly, by the end of these ten minutes, I had come around to really liking the way our familiar duo looks in this animation style. They are still totally recognizable as themselves while also fitting into this world. 

Outside of the nostalgic keys jangling handpicked to make veteran dorks like me happy, I found this to be a satisfying episode on its own merit. I laughed a couple of times. K.O.'s constant state of fanboy awe at Sonic, such as his enthusiastic response when Cream the Rabbit is mentioned, is cute and funny. Despite the briefness of the runtime and the mechanics of needing to blend one universe with another, "Let's Meet Sonic" seeks in a proper character arc for its guest stars. Sonic's immediate bonding with K.O. makes Tails a little insecure about the status of their friendship, misunderstanding that is corrected by the end. The two prove their devotion to one another and all is well with the world. This includes a genuinely sweet flashback to how Tails met Sonic and how he inspires him, taken right out of the fox's origin story from the "Sonic 2" manual. 

I went into this episode not knowing anything about "O.K. K.O.! Let's Be Heroes." I don't know if I came away as a fan exactly. Will this one episode inspire me to watch the rest of the series? It might, though it remains to be seen if constantly taking in excessive craziness like this might be grating in the long run. However, I absolutely came away with a lot of respect for the writers and animators of this episode. I want to sit down and chat about deep hedgehog lore with some of these people now. Do they have an opinion on Ken Penders? How do these guys feel about the Two Worlds theory? Can they draw Bean the Duck from memory? Let's get together over lunch and talk about the current whereabouts of Mobie the Cavebear. Anyway, I liked this. If other more recent cartoons featuring purple haired Latinas with big thighs want to shove Sonic and Tails into an episode with little warning and prompting, I'd like that too. Let's have these dudes pop up in all sorts of weird places. [7/10]

Team Sonic Racing: Overdrive

Team Sonic Racing: Overdrive

Original Release Date: March 16th, 2019 / April 25th, 2019

You'd think the critical and commercial success of "Sonic Mania" would have prompted Sega and Sonic Team to pivot towards similar ideas. At the very least, it should've gotten a direct sequel. Instead, the galaxy brained developers at Sega kept the series going on much the same direction it's been operating in for years. 3D mainline titles of hotly debated merit every few years and a smattering of spin-off titles that make little impact in-between. I know I'm obviously bias but you'd think somebody would realize that a "Mania 2" would have a lot more commercial value than another racing game. Because the "Sonic" franchise has been cranking racing centric spin-offs for years and they've never drawn much attention outside of the die hard fan base. Did "Sonic R" make a massive impact on the series' popularity? Is "Sonic Drift" anyone's favorite game? Did the "Sega All-Stars Racing" duology revolutionize gaming? They made three of the hoverboard racing games and, I guess, they are beloved by some... But did that entire sub-series match the performance of a single "Mario Kart?" Of course not.

I get the association. Sonic runs fast. Racing titles are a natural extension of that. Instead of doing something different – like, say, focusing on how Sonic is fast without a race car – these spin-offs will always be in the shadow of Nintendo's beloved go-kart series. At least Sega had the good sense to delay "Sonic Team Racing's" long enough to insure the game was actually playable. Despite that, this particular title seems to have been even more forgettable than the other "Sonic" racing games. Maybe in a decade, some young "Sonic" nerds will emerge that consider this game an all-time classic. That seems to happen with every otherwise forgotten game in this franchise. As of right now, however, it seems like "Team Sonic Racing" came and went without leaving any impression at all. Another forgettable entry in the sprawling "Sonic" empire that will only be recalled by the most obsessive of fans. 

"Sonic Mania" was influential in one way, however. It made somebody in Sega's advertising department realized what a powerful tool YouTube was for getting the news out there. "Sonic Mania Adventures" must've been a massive success because the company has followed that same strategy – release a cool animated short or two to promote the new game, usually directed by Tyson Hesse – for just about every title that would follow. This is presumably why "Team Sonic Racing: Overdrive" would drop on the "Sonic" YouTube channel, over the course of spring of 2019. This series copied "Mania Adventures" by being released in monthly installments, though only two of them. The existence of this cartoon is another clue that Sega had high hopes for this instantly forgotten racing game. It does give me something else to talk about so might as well get on with it.

"Team Sonic Racing" has a thin plot, of an alien tanuki organizing a race and inviting all of Sonic's friends to compete in souped-up cars he's made for each of them. "Overdrive" does not get into any of this, however. Donal Peepants does not appear in this cartoon. Instead, the series is merely devoted to the various "Sonic" cast members competing, while Eggman attempts to sabotage the race with various underhanded methods. Such as distracting people with a side-of-the-road merch cart or having an Egg Pawn dress as a cat and frolic in the middle of the track. Rivalries, partnerships, and challenges arise during the race as Sonic and friends go for the gold and Eggman inevitably heads towards humiliation. 

"Sonic Mania Adventures" was clearly a labor of love, beautifully animated by a team of artists fulfilling a life long dream with this assignment. "Overdrive" is, obviously, a much more mercenary effort. This is most obviously evident in the quality of the animation. The characters move a lot more stiffly here, with only occasional flashes of the playful expressiveness and fully formed body language we saw in "Mania Adventures." One gets the impression that Hesse and his team were given a lot more free reign to go nuts with their previous cartoon. With this one, it feels like they were commanded to stay on-model as much as possible. In other words, this two-parter looks a lot more bland than Neko Productions' previous "Sonic" series. That is very apparent in the decision to render the cars through what I think is some sort of cell-shaped CGI animation. This kind of thing is standard with mechanical designs in animation these days and – as someone who grew up watching "G Gundam," "Teknoman," and "The New Adventures of Gigantor" – I hate it. Get some people in here who know how to draw some fucking robots and airplanes and racecars and shit. 

Now, those handful of moments when you can tell this was storyboarded by Tyson Hesse are still obviously the highlights. After punching a bomb away from Sonic, Knuckles skids across the track and bounced back into his car, now covered in bruises and lumps... But smiling as enthusiastically as before. After getting one over on Rouge, the echidna makes mocking goo-goo eyes at her. Blankly staring Chao going demonic or a little smirk between Sonic and Shadow make it clear that some love and effort was put into this. Despite standing alongside less attractive moments, like Eggman opening his mouth really wide in surprise or Shadow simply Chaos-Controlling out of his car when it's clear he's lost. 

In general, the jokes that are based more on the characters interacting, playing off their well known personas, produce far sharper gags than drawn-out attempts at wackiness. Big the Cat gets a, uh, big appearance here. An extended sequence is devoted to him attempting to cross the street and reach a merch cart full of Froggy themed items. This moment feels like it takes up more than half of the first episode and it's simply not that funny. Maybe I find Big's unchanging reaction to everything a lot less amusing than some people. Generally speaking, I'd much rather have repeated scenes of Sonic and Knuckles making goofy faces at each other than more extended gags like this. I feel the same way about Eggman's schemes throughout the entire two-parter, the villain feeling like nothing but a cartoonish foe to provide some degree of conflict to this series. 

That gets at a core issue with "Team Sonic Racing: Overdrive." What's the story here? Why are these guys racing? What do they hope to prove by winning first place? Why does Eggman want to stymy their success so? Friendly competition is justification enough, sometimes. It's not like the "Mario Kart" put much thought into why sworn enemies like Mario and Bowser are having a race together. The idea here is probably, if you want to find out why any of this shit is happening, go out and buy the video game. That excuse only goes so far, when Eggman is a playable character in the game and this cartoon doesn't mention Dingaling Pap and his intergalactic car company at all. I know this is only a ten minute cartoon, cut into two shorter parts, and we can't expect it to have too much story. Still, it would have been nice to have slightly more set-up here than "Sonic and friends are having a race." Surely more could have been done with that idea than a mere series of simple gags. 

I suppose this is me, once again, expecting way too much from a glorified video game commercial. "Sonic Mania Adventures" was a fully formed work and you could feel how much love and effort went into it. The artists, animators, musicians, and everyone else clearly wanted that series to be great. I get the impression that the only stated goal for "Overdrive" was to make viewers aware of the new game coming out. Story was sidelined in order to showcase gameplay. That racers can get power-ups from Wisp or use them are projectiles against other players – in a way extremely similar to the different colored shells from the "Mario Kart" games – is heavily featured here. The cars were animated in the fashion they were, probably, to guarantee fidelity to the in-game models. Because one of the selling points for the game was all these "Sonic" cast members getting bitchin' new wheels. I suppose we should be happy that "Overdrive" managed to have the small amount of laughs and creativity in that it did, considering this was clearly a much more rushed and limited production than the previous straight-to-Youtube "Sonic" animated series. 

The same team that made "Sonic Mania Adventures" such a great show getting to play with beloved characters like Shadow and Rouge probably should've been a much bigger deal. Alas, such a promise was shackled to an instantly forgotten spin-off title that was, by most reviewers' estimation, totally serviceable and functional. Given that circumstances, it shouldn't be a surprise that "Overdrive" is of similar quality. It's... Fine. Doesn't look great but doesn't look bad either. Made me chuckle or grin once or twice. A perfectly cromulent "Sonic" cartoon that doesn't annoy or offend me in any particular way but also doesn't impress me too much either. When compared to "Sonic Mania Adventures," one of my favorite things to feature the blue hedgehog in years, it feels like a massive stepdown. Taken on its own, "Team Sonic Racing: Overdrive" is a mildly cute time killer that I won't remember much about in a week. As clear cut a [6/10] as I've yet seen. Knowing more could have been done here makes me want to rate it lower though.