Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.25: Sno Problem

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.25: Sno Problem

Original Air Date: November 22nd, 1993

Maybe the biggest convention of the platformer game genre, even more so than jumping on platforms, are levels defined by specific gimmicks. Green, outdoorsy levels or castle/dungeon levels are about as old as the genre itself. Levels in outer space, factories, deserts, or snowy terrains are also common concepts. Honestly, it's surprising that a mainline "Sonic" game didn't feature a snow level until 1994's "Sonic 3." (The arcade-exclusive "SegaSonic the Hedgehog" had a snow level but remained obscure for years to come.) The snow level would become a mainstay of the "Sonic" franchise after that. And it's easy to see why. Slick snow and ice provides lots of challenges and advantages to a speedy guy like Sonic. The tie-in media was well aware of this, with "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" featuring a snow-themed episode long before the Ice Cap Zone reached American shores. 

"Sno Problem" revolves around Robotnik inventing two world-conquering new devices. The first is the Ultra Freeze-o-Matic, a ray that can instantly cover an area in ice and snow. The second is the Servitude Chip, which can render robots and living beings his complete slave. The idea is that he's going to freeze everyone and install the chips while they are immobile. Sonic and Tails are vacationing on Mount Splatterhorn when a Robotnik-generated blizzard blows in. Scratch and Grounder, Servitude Chips in their heads, are soon in pursuit of our heroes. 

From the punny title on down, "Sno Problem" hits most of the beats you'd expect from a snow episode. There's jokes about the words "cool" and "chill." An entire sequence is built around comedic skiing mishaps and there's a separate joke about ski lifts. Snowballs, avalanches, frozen lakes, and icy bridges all show up. About the only winters tropes not touched on here are yetis and snowmen, left out seemingly only because other episodes utilized them.

So this is not an episode that a lot of thought was put into. The jokes are about what you'd expect. There's three separate instances of Sonic dressing up in wacky costumes. Scratch and Grounder act like idiots throughout. Even Robotnik is easily fooled by a painting in one scene, which soon leads to a particularly buffoonish defeat. By the end, I felt like the writers were actively rebelling against the routine material. "Sno Problem" gets increasingly surreal as it goes on, the last few minutes featuring several meta gags. Such as Scratch and Grounder's being literally launched into the next episode, Sonic referencing "the oldest trick in the book" and then producing that book, and a billboard of Robotnik springing to life. 

About the only interesting thing about "Sno Problem" is how it further develops Robotnik's tyrannical personality. Once again, the villain's ultimate goal is to bend the entire world's population to his will. He doesn't want to just rule the world. He desires a planet entirely obedient to him. Robotnik wants ultimate control over every sentient being. This was probably just the writers imagining the most cartoonishly evil motivation they could think of. But, in the context of everything else we know about this version of Robotnik, it once again reveals him as a deeply insecure man desperate to confirm his utterly massive but entirely fragile ego. Robotnik will not feel truly good about himself until every single living thing on Mobius is under his control. 

Yet, because this is a cartoon devoted to humiliating its villain in the most brutal of ways, Robotnik can't even make good brain-washed slaves. It says a lot about the guy that he built two robot minions and then had to upgrade them with special chips to make them truly subservient. Even after the Servitude Chips are installed, Scratch and Grounder are still idiots. They accidentally squish Robotnik with a periscope. Sonic easily tricks them into believing he is their ultimate master. Later, after Robotnik regains control, Sonic tricks the robots again into freeing the enslaved Tails. I guess it is Robotnik's tragic flaw to greatly overestimate his own genius. Even his "perfect" slaves are deeply imperfect.

In short, it's a pretty boring episode. The animation is weirdly schizophrenic, as some moments - like Tails dancing - are smoothly animated while others - Sonic walking up to a tree - are utterly stiff. Also, the Sonic Sez segment is about bicycle safety. Which is weird, since we've never seen Sonic anywhere near a bicycle ever, before or since. Anyway, I'm pretty impressed that there's only nine episodes of this show left and I'm still managing to find this much to say about each one. [5/10]