Sonic Mania Adventures, Episode 4: Mighty And Ray

Sonic Mania Adventures, Episode 4: Mighty And Ray

Original Release Date: June 30th, 2018

Mighty and Ray are two "Sonic" characters who have devoted cult followings despite not having the legacy or obvious charisma as other fan favorites. You can look at Shadow – like Sonic but dark – or Rouge – big tiddy bat GF – and immediately understand why people love them. Mighty and Ray, meanwhile, look very similar to Sonic and Tails. When I first saw a pic of Mighty as a kid, on a cover of a gaming magazine advertising "Knuckles' Chaotix," I thought he was a new super form for Sonic. The two also mirror Sonic and Tails' mentor/sidekick dynamic. They are also two characters who have, comparatively speaking, made little impact on the series overall. Ray's only game appearance, for over two decades, was an arcade game that has never been given a console release. Mighty, meanwhile, only had that title plus one more for a flop Genesis peripheral. Sonic Team couldn't be bothered to bring them back for "Sonic the Fighter," a game where a super-strong brawler like Mighty would have fit right in. Yes, the comics kept them alive. The comics kept so many forgotten characters alive without a big slice of the "Sonic" fandom pie noticing or caring. 

Despite their relative obscurity, these two are still – as far as B-tier "Sonic the Hedgehog" characters go – kind of popular. Certainly more beloved than the similarly long-neglected Bark and Bean. I can only speculate on why this is. The armadillo and flying squirrel supposedly have their origins as prototype designs for Sonic himself, the kind of deep cut in-joke that this fandom adores. The duo's status as forgotten classics has been further bolstered by being cut content in a number of unmade or heavily altered titles. "Sonic" fans are notorious for cherishing obscure supporting players that Sega themselves have forgotten about, simply due to our collective predilection for franchise minutia, which is probably explanation enough for the two's cult status. Still, nobody at Sega seems interested in reviving Tiara Boobowski or Sharps the Parakeet. I suppose that Might and Ray resurfaced in "Sonic Mania Plus" is another example of how this project was molded by die hard "Sonic"-heads. That their inclusion was met with thunderous applause shows that those hardcore hedgehog devotees clearly understand what the wider fandom wants. (And I do know people who would definitely lose their shit if Tiara Boobowski showed up as DLC for a future game.)

All of this is to say that Mighty and Ray's appearance in "Mania" is a testament to what a love letter it is to this series' history. Likewise, them showing up in "Sonic Mania Adventures" wasn't only corporate synergy but born out of the creative team's genuine desire to see these guys again. Which brings us to "Ray and Mighty," the fourth episode of the YouTube program. After Knuckles made him see the curvature of the globe last time, Ray continues his search for his missing buddy. Instead, he stumbles upon Metal Sonic. It seems like lights out for our squirrelly friend when Mighty finds him first, saving his bushy tail from the killer robot. Mighty is carrying a Chaos Emerald and Metal eventually uses the armadillo's affection for his BFF as a bargaining chip to get that magic rock. As the mechanical menace flies off towards Eggman's lair, Mighty and Ray take chase, only to see that the rest of the heroes are headed in that direction too. 

Last time, I pointed out that Ray the Squirrel isn't the most defined character. I know so little about the guy that I assumed the stutter he had in the Archie books was from the Sega-approved checklist of traits and not just some shit Ken Penders threw in. Mighty, on the other hand, actually does have a built-in personality. Like most "Sonic" animals, his primary gimmick is right there in his name. As Sonic is super-fast, Mighty is super strong, able to toss huge boulders through the air despite his noodly arms. While such traits usually lend themselves to brutish characters, Mighty's mightiness goes hand-in-hand with his gentleness. The "Knuckles' Chaotix" manual refers to him as a pacifist, driven to retaliation only to protect his beloved friends. This is always a good way to give your team strongman, to make him more than merely brawn. 

This aspect is front and center in "Sonic Mania Adventures" episode four. The first thing Mighty does when he jumps on-screen is use his armadillo shell – his exterior toughness – to protect Ray. That sets up immediately that, no matter how many big ass rocks he can unearth, Mighty is a big softie at heart. That prepares us for the climatic moment where he hands over the Chaos Emerald he's carrying for some reason so Metal will spare Ray's life. (This risks making Ray look like the team load but the short runtime of these episodes keep you from thinking about that too much.) This also makes a good contrast with Metal Sonic. Mighty believes in the intrinsic value of life. His connection to other living things makes him a better person. Metal is a cold, emotionless robot with no such values, happy to endanger a curly-headed squirrel buddy to fulfill his objective. The way "Sonic Mania Adventures" clearly defines what makes its heroes honorable and its villains jerks, strictly through visuals and the natural narrative flow, proves that the son-of-a-bitch running this show truly knew what he was doing.

The fact that Metal Sonic got a good moment like that is surprising. I've maintained that, in his blanket form, I don't find Metal to be an especially compelling villain. Sure, he looks cool but his status as Eggman's brutally efficient enforcer and a literal robot means he doesn't have much variance or depth. "Sonic Mania Adventures" runs with that though. The way the machine is animated is – at the risk of being repetitive here – mechanical. His head swivels around on his shoulder like an owl, uncaring about how fucking weird that looks. His motions are always sure and rigid, his limbs snapping into place with an inhuman preciseness. It reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger's underrated acting abilities in the original "Terminator," a totally physical performance meant to emphasize the villain's otherness, his single-minded focus on a goal that he pursues with inhuman brutality. It makes for a properly intimidating antagonist, a much better use of Metal Sonic than having him bark "HEDGEHOG-PRIORITY-ONE" while obeying Eggman's whims. 

"Mighty & Ray" represents "Mania Adventures" moving into its endgame. There's only one episode after this. The bad guys have all the MacGuffins they need for whatever their evil scheme is. We wrap up with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and now Mighty and Ray taking the fight right to Eggman. That also means this episode doesn't have time for as much screwing around and goofing off as the previous three. It's not quite as much fun.... While still managing to be extremely entertaining. Aside from the writing being good, the animation continues to be aces. You can tell Hesse came at these storyboards like a comic artist. The force of the physical blows during the action scenes are shown with splash page like visuals. Metal slashing at Ray, Mighty clobbering the machine with a boulder: Both are followed by dramatic pauses, to show the power at play here and act as visual exclamation marks. Somehow, this trick almost always creates dynamic action. The trademark Hesse-ian faces are present too. Mighty's rage at Metal threatening his friend, Ray squinting to search the skyline, or a super cute comedic moment where the armadillo fist bumps his friend too hard 

Truthfully, I only have one minor complaint about this episode. At the end, there is a shot of Metal Sonic flying towards Eggman Central that is seemingly done in CGI. It sticks out quite obviously, especially compared to the lovingly rendered animation of the rest of the episode. Oh, also, Mighty seemingly has the Emerald tucked inside his person somewhere, an odd moment we are clearly not meant to think too hard about. Earthly armadillos don't have pouches but earthly armadillos also don't look anything like Mighty, so who's to say what pockets are around his body. Otherwise, the animation, writing, art direction, music, and sound design all continue to be top-of-the-line. I mean, that scene where Mighty appears, via a hard cut-to-black after a frantic zoom in on Ray's panicked face? That's cinema, baby! "Sonic Mania Adventures" continues to pack in more depth, fun, and love for the source material than "Sonic Prime" did over its entire run. [8/10]