Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Series Review
By: CJ

"He's the fastest thing ali-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!"

Back in the days of my childhood, I eagerly awaited Saturday Mornings, when i'd flock to my TV set at 8 in the morning, to catch what in my eyes was the greatest cartoon ever concieved, Sonic the Hedgehog. I had played the games since '91, and now he was not only a videogame character, but a cartoon character as well. The theme song was undeniably cheesy, but perfect for a Saturday morning cartoon show. I loved the way Sonic just blasted onto the screen at the beginning of the intro, as Robotnik's giant airship loomed over
Sonic's land, cutting away to his dark and dreary labs. It seemed to capture the videogames I adored so perfectly.

Emphasis on "seemed" As cool as the intro was, and as much as it reminded me of such fun levels as "Wing Fortress Zone" and "Scrap Brain Zone" the show itself seemed to stray from the high-speed action, and giant robots the videogames were known for, and relied more on convoluted backstories of the new characters created specially for the show, most notably, newcomer Princess Sally Acorn, as she tries to free her dad, "the King of Acorns" from the Zone of Silence and restore her old home from Dr Robotnik, who has seemingly taken over the world.

Princess Sally Acorn, from "Sonic the Hedgehog"

The animation in the show was leaps and bounds above it's sydnicated counterpart, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. The backgrounds were lush and detailed. It may not be as pretty as the recent anime series, Sonic X, but for its time, it was almost feature quality.

I ate this show up as a kid, as I did with anything containing Sonic's blue mug on it. But I never realized just how much of an annoying twit he was in this show until now. He says the word "mondo" in almost every sentence, along with other 'ultra-cool' buzzwords, like bogus! and totally! And let's not forget his two classic catch phrases from the series: "Gotta Juice!" and "Way Past Cool!" also, there's "Let's do it to it!" Man, that guy had a lot of lame catch-phrases.

The problem with the show is that almost all the things you've come to know and love from the videogames are nonexistent, save for rings, and a cameo by Buzzbombers in one episode.

One episode featuring The Floating Island did sort of tease at a possible inclusion of Knuckles, but nope. He's not here.

The DVD menus are very nice, and while I don't have a giant surround speaker system, to properly judge the audio, it sounds pretty good on my Philips Stereo TV.

The artwork for this DVD set is hit-and-miss. The coverart is decent, and captures the feel of the series well. The two slipcases for discs 1-4 are littered with Sonic fanart, which ranges from scribbles on notebook paper, to really good pieces of all the characters. One I liked in particular is a drawing of a stained-glass window, with Sonic holding up a ring as Robotnik ominously looks on. I was hoping for a little booklet, like The Simpsons Season sets got, but only a little fold-out poster of all of Shout! Factory's products.

As far as special features go, this set includes interviews with Jaleel White (voice of Sonic) Ben Hurst (writer for the series) some storyboards, and a printable script.

The Ben Hurst featurette was interesting, and told a lot about how the series began, and why it was canned. Apparently, my beloved Power Rangers were the reason this show got the axe. Cue frowny emoticon.

I expected to really enjoy the interview with Jaleel "Did-I-Do-thaaaat?" White, voice of Sonic, but it really bored me. Not much info on the series, or Jaleel's
opinons on Sonic as a character, just him talking about how he got the job, and what he did in the recording booth, snore.

Jaleel White, voice of Sonic the Hedgehog

I would've liked to see some old ABC Promos for the show, but this set is done by Shout! Factory, not Disney or ABC, so it's understandable that they are missing.

Pros:
-Very cool intro, accompained by a cheesy, yet very catchy, theme song.
-Very nice and detailed animation
-Menus are exceptionally done

Cons:
-Deveates too much from the videogames they are based on, and lacks their charm.
-Coverart is hit-and-miss


Too Many:
-Star Wars references

Overall: 6.9