Sonic Boom: Introduction

In 2013, the “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise was not in the best place. By that point, the meme-ification of the "Sonic" series as a failed holdover from the 16-bit era had solidified in the public's mind. Sonic was a weirdo. He was doomed to appear in games that misunderstood his appeal, focused on bizarre gimmicks, and had increasingly baffling plots. The games themselves were coming out in broken, unplayable, or just plain unfinished states. It had been seven years since "Sonic '06" and eight years since "Shadow the Hedgehog" were released but the franchise had still not recovered from those seismic failures. To be a "Sonic" fan was to have most people assume you were a furry pervert or an autistic creep. 

Sega had done little to fix this perception. Every minor success their trademark series had was then followed by a puzzling misstep. The surprisingly well-received "Sonic Colors" would lead to "Sonic Unleashed," a divisive title whose positive attributes were completely overshadowed by the bizarre Werehog feature. The fairly well liked "Sonic Generations" would lead to "Sonic: Lost World," a mediocre game hassled by an ungainly control system and a group of new villains that, a whole decade later, still haven't gathered many defenders. The racing spin-offs, "Mario" crossovers, and mobile games were ignored by all but the most hardcore fans. Even the incredibly niche corner of the fandom devoted to the Archie "Sonic" comics was having a bad time that year, as an unprecedented lawsuit victory had just caused the entire series to be hastily rebooted. 

I have no doubt that Sega was aware of the declining image of their mascot franchise. They knew a retooling was in order, to reverse the course of things. It was decided that, rather than reboot the entire franchise and risk alienating long-time fans, a radically different sub-series would be launched. American audiences would be directly targeted by this new iteration, in the hopes of turning a new generation of kiddies into die-hard "Sonic" freaks. And Sega figured the best way to do this would be to carpet bomb the marketplace with new content. There wouldn't just be a new wave of "Sonic" games but a new cartoon show, a new on-going comic book, and a mountain of merchandise.

That "Sonic Boom," as the enterprise was named, was aimed squarely at modern American children was very obvious. Sonic and his beloved supporting cast would be extensively redesigned. The initial plan was to render Sonic and the gang as even cartoonier than usual, a plan that was rejected because the Sega people freaked the fuck out. A compromise was soon reached that saw the characters redesigned but not so much that they were unrecognizable. Meanwhile, the cast members would have their personalities reduced to easily understood archetypes. The tone would get wackier and funnier, focusing on a core group of characters having zany adventures in a tight-knit community and wild new world. It was "Sonic" by way of "SpongeBob" and was clearly meant to appeal to a similar audience.

Of course, things did not go according to plan. Even if the character redesigns were not as extensive as they could've been, fans were still outraged. The overall cartoonier aesthetic was criticized. Swole Knuckles and the abundance of scarfs and sports tape were widely mocked. The idea of a "Sonic" series focused primarily on comedy annoyed fans who liked the action/adventure aspects. I'm sure Sega anticipated some of this backlash, as "Sonic" fans are a finicky lot that nitpick everything. 

What they probably didn't expect was the downpour of bad reviews that greeted the video games. "Sonic Boom: The Rise of Lyric" would quickly reach a level of infamy equivalent to "Sonic '06," if not exceeding it. The game was seemingly rushed to make its release date, resulting in a product riddled with glitches. Everything about the title was heavily criticized, with the camera system, graphics, game play, level designs, and writing all being singled out as especially poor. "Rise of Lyric" would also be a commercial failure, becoming the worst selling main "Sonic" title in the series. The "Sonic Boom" game series limped on for two more installments, which were better received than "Rise of Lyric..." Not that you'd be able to verify that, as nobody bought or played them. 

So the "Sonic Boom" spin-off franchise was an abject failure, right? Well, not exactly. The games were unquestionably artistic and commercial flops. Yet the cartoon show, the thing I'm here to actually talk about, would slowly become a fan favorite. The sitcom-like setting took some getting used to but the sharp writing and strong comedic voice would quickly start to win people over. It was as different from past "Sonic" cartoons as they all had been from each other, that change-in-approach appealing to a new audience. I have no idea if kids got on the "Sonic Boom" train, as most of the people I've seen praising the show have been old like me... But it is notable that the merchandise sold well, seemingly confirming that "Sonic Boom" had, at least in some regards, captured the demographic Sega had hoped it would. 

In fact, I sometimes wonder if "Sonic Boom" wasn't more influential on overall "Sonic" history than people realize. A while after the "Boom" cartoon started, the fortunes for the "Sonic" series started to turn around. Maybe it was just because the blue hedgehog had finally hit rock bottom and suffered every indignity a gaming icon can. Perhaps the public's nostalgia for 90s 'tude had finally kicked in. Yet I suspect the turn-around can be partially attributed to Sega deciding to be in on the joke. If Sonic was going to be laughed at, someone realized that best strategy was to laugh with the detractors. Playing along with the memers and leaning into the series' frequently mocked history started to win "Sonic" the best notices it had gotten in years. This would eventually pave the way for better games and the series' most recent successes in cinemas. Was this snarkier approach perhaps influenced by the "Boom" cartoon's humorous approach? 

Who can say for sure? But I do know the "Sonic Boom" cartoon had won a faithful audience, that was willing to follow the show around. “Sonic Boom” aired its first season on Cartoon Network, which probably seemed like an ideal home for it at first. Kids watch cartoons on Cartoon Network after all, right? Yet the show was treated poorly by programming execs. It was barely promoted and stuck in weird, early morning time slots. This seems to be the typical way Cartoon Network treats programs that aren't owned whole-sale by their parent corporate. Eventually, “Sonic Boom” would be dumped on Cartoon Network's sibling station, Boomerang, where the higher-ups could totally ignore it. (This callous behavior would extend into the show's afterlife, with an official announcement about its cancellation never actually coming and the production company basically just assuming the series was over after a while.) Despite the network barely acknowledging the program, it managed to pull in decent ratings over the course of the two years it aired. 

Despite Cartoon Network abusing it, “Sonic Boom” technically has the most episodes of any “Sonic” cartoon. There's 104 episodes of the series, dwarfing even “Sonic X's” 78 episode run. Of course, this statement comes with a pretty big asterisk. Each installment is only eleven minutes long and two frequently aired back-to-back, meaning “Sonic Boom” only ran for 52 half-hours. I considered reviewing two episodes at a time for this retrospective but decided that it probably made more sense to give every one the proper attention it deserved. 

The piss-poor treatment by its network – combined with the games failing spectacularly and shake-ups at Archie getting the comic prematurely canceled – really made “Sonic Boom” into something of an underdog. The people who watched this cartoon and read the comics seemed to actually like them quite a lot. They both managed to be relatively successful, despite the deck being so spectacularly stacked against them. It's interesting how this corner of the “Sonic” universe started out as despised and ended up being pretty well-liked all around. We'll see if that's reflected any as I watched my way through the show.

Much like “Sonic X,” I don't really have a relationship with “Sonic Boom” the way I did the earlier “Sonic” cartoons. This was not a conscious choice on my behalf. I watched a couple of episodes when the show was new and found them to be pretty amusing. I always meant to catch up with it but, as happens all too often with TV shows, just never found the time to. This retrospective will be my first time watching most of the show. So let's get to it and see what this “Boom” is all about.