Popular and unpopular Sonic opinions you agree and disagree with!

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Unpopular opinion: I dont think playable friends =/= better Sonic game. Sonic games can have playable friends and still be shitty games. like Sonic Adventure 2 in my opinion and Sonic Advance.

[Dizcrybe]

Unpopular opinion: I dont think playable friends =/= better Sonic game. Sonic games can have playable friends and still be shitty games. like Sonic Adventure 2 in my opinion and Sonic Advance.

 

Or Sonic 06.

 

People know this already. People know a game can have multiple characters and still be terrible. What people want is multiple characters to be implemented well, like in Sonic 3 & Knuckles and, yes, Sonic Advance to most. You may not like those games, but a lot of people do, and cite those games as examples of other playable characters done right.

 

On the flipside, a game can have only Sonic and still be kinda crappy (Unleashed for me, day stages included, Lost World for many).

[Adorkable]

Jason Griffith's performance started out terrible and improved a bit as the games went on.  In terms of overall acting quality, I remember him being particularly good in Black Knight, but awful in '06 and unbearable in ShTH.  Some of his performances in Sonic X were quite good as well, and others were pretty terrible.  Honestly, though, I've always found his actual voice to be terrible for Sonic as is. 

 

Now see, I'm the complete opposite. I think Jason was fairly good at first, but like all great voice actors, he got better in time. Right before he was dropped, that's when he was at his best. Just imagine how good Sonic would sound if Jason was still his VA today.

 

shitty games. like Sonic Adventure 2

 

I...I don't think we're going to get along well.

 

(Just kidding, of course! ^^)

[Tara]

Now see, I'm the complete opposite. I think Jason was fairly good at first, but like all great voice actors, he got better in time. Right before he was dropped, that's when he was at his best. Just imagine how good Sonic would sound if Jason was still his VA today.

Sonic Team is run by different staff than when Griffith was playing Sonic, so there's a good chance that he probably would have went through a massive decline.  But assuming that his path remained consistent, I think his acting quality would have dramatically improved, but I still don't think his actual voice was that great.  It was too nasally and sounded like a parody of Sonic to me.

[Gabz Girl]

I agree Akito. Jason Griffith was steadily improving from Sonic Unleashed onwards but before that he was awfully mediocre in his acting skills and his voice just grated on me. Didn't help that he voiced 4 other characters in the same games and hardly changed the tone of his voice to make them sound different. Shadow was a more evil sounding Sonic, Jet was Usopp from One Piece and Werehog was angry Usopp. Kinda like how Bella Hudson used the same boring young lady voice as Blaze, Shahra and Wave.

[Linkie]

I think that Jason Griffith in Unleashed was my favorite voice for Sonic. I feel like he had the right tone and amount of energy that I want from Sonic in that game.

[Chaos Incarnate]

You can add me to the Jason Griffith fan club as well. It usually goes back between him and Roger Craig Smith as my favorite Sonic voice actor, but his performance in Black Knight is so damn good in itself that I can't help but hold him in higher regard.

 

I don't deny that he started out incredibly forced and obnoxious, and it took him almost 5 years (Secret Rings was when his acting ability noticeably shifted and started to improve) to finally get Sonic down, but he really started to clean up his act. Now, I don't think he was perfect in Unleashed (his Werehog voice felt too high and inconsistent to really work), but Black Knight's Sonic voice is just what clicks with me so well. It helps that he got better voice direction and my favorite portrayal of Sonic to work with, but I love how he seemed to put so much passion into his delivery. It helps that his voice suited Sonic as a teenager best, but he did a perfect job making him sound like a cool, yet heroic, free spirited Hedgehog. 

 

Not to say I don't like Ryan Drummond or Roger Craig Smith, they all work well in their own ways. Ryan had this camp charm to his voice for Sonic, while Roger captures the essence of Sonic's wise cracking and cocky persona perfectly. I just feel near the end of his tenure, Jason Griffith took all the best qualities of Sonic and rolled them into one, thus making him my favorite Sonic voice in any media.

[Adorkable]

I grew up with Griffith as Sonic, guess that's why he's always been my favorite, him and Ryan that is.

 

Sonic Team is run by different staff than when Griffith was playing Sonic, so there's a good chance that he probably would have went through a massive decline. 

 

Which reminds me, wasn't there something big a few years ago before Generations where ALL the Sonic VAs (video game wise!) met up with SEGA and battled for the role? I remember reading about that, I actually think it was somewhere on this forum a while before I joined. Ryan Drummond actually re-won the role of Sonic, but something to do with his agency or something and SEGA fired him after he already won? What's up with that? (Sorry if this isn't the place to discuss this! Don't want to get off topic too much.)

[Tara]

I grew up with Griffith as Sonic, guess that's why he's always been my favorite, him and Ryan that is.

 

Which reminds me, wasn't there something big a few years ago before Generations where ALL the Sonic VAs (video game wise!) met up with SEGA and battled for the role? I remember reading about that, I actually think it was somewhere on this forum a while before I joined. Ryan Drummond actually re-won the role of Sonic, but something to do with his agency or something and SEGA fired him after he already won? What's up with that? (Sorry if this isn't the place to discuss this! Don't want to get off topic too much.)

Sounds like an April Fool's joke if anything.  That's not a professional method of handling business, especially when Roger is still licensed for at least another year in his contract.

 

Besides that, Ryan doesn't even live in California, where they record the in-game dialogue, anymore and Jason Griffith has probably moved onto bigger and more sub-par things.

[Adorkable]

Really? Hmm, I could have sworn there was an article on it somewhere, let's see...

 

Oh look, here's the topic. I'm glad I found this! ^^

 

 

Ta-da!

[Tara]

Really? Hmm, I could have sworn there was an article on it somewhere, let's see...

 

Oh look, here's the topic. I'm glad I found this! ^^

 

 

Ta-da!

I think you misunderstood the article.  They weren't "battling" for the role.  They were simply re-auditioning.  I'm not sure what Jason's reason was, (although it was presumably the same as Ryan's) but Ryan didn't take the role because he couldn't agree to the contract Sega were giving him.  He wasn't "fired" nor did he "win" anything.  He was just met with a terrible deal and backed away like a professional would.

 

That was some real shite on Sega's end, though. =/

[Adorkable]

I think you misunderstood the article.  They weren't "battling" for the role.  They were simply re-auditioning.  I'm not sure what Jason's reason was, (although it was presumably the same as Ryan's) but Ryan didn't take the role because he couldn't agree to the contract Sega were giving him.  He wasn't "fired" nor did he "win" anything.  He was just met with a terrible deal and backed away like a professional would.

 

That was some real shite on Sega's end, though. =/

 

Well I didn't mean battle as in actual battle, but I meant it as re-auditioning. My bad. ^^"

 

A have to agree though, it was a dick move via SEGA. 

 

Honestly, I would have been thrilled to have Ryan back, his Sonic voice was nothing short of amazing. Back when he was voicing Sonic, he barely had a voice director, I bet he would sound awesome now that SEGA has a pretty decent one.

 

Personally, Ryan or Jason returning would make my day (preferably Jason!), because I really don't like Roger's Sonic voice, as I said before his voice sounds too low.

 

I'll admit though, his voice as Thomas on Regular Show is really good! ^^" (Sorry sorry sorry, unrelated!)

[Tara]

Well, "battling" implies a competitive atmosphere.  VA auditions are rarely competitive in nature.  Either you get it or you don't.  If you do, great, if you don't, you seek opportunities elsewhere. ^.^;

 

I have always been curious as to what Ryan would sound like under better vocal direction though.  I'd love to hear all the original actors under better direction.  Unfortunately, that's not possible for some of them.... ;~;

[Briraka]

I never cared for Jason's voice acting, even when he improved with Unleashed. I think he sounded too "soft" for a character like Sonic, which is part of the reason why I like Roger Craig better.

[Adorkable]

Well, "battling" implies a competitive atmosphere.  VA auditions are rarely competitive in nature.  Either you get it or you don't.  If you do, great, if you don't, you seek opportunities elsewhere. ^.^;

 

Wellllllll you know, if you're auditioning to be the voice of the *cough* greatest video game character of all time *cough*, I wouldn't be surprised if they got a little competitive. I know Ryan and Jason both loved being Sonic, I bet they all did their best. It's just an interesting thought to hear what the previous Sonic voices would sound like after all these years, you know? Like the VA veterans returning for an encore. Or maybe I'm just over thinking it, take your pick! ^^"

[Tara]

Wellllllll you know, if you're auditioning to be the voice of the *cough* greatest video game character of all time *cough*, I wouldn't be surprised if they got a little competitive. I know Ryan and Jason both loved being Sonic, I bet they all did their best. It's just an interesting thought to hear what the previous Sonic voices would sound like after all these years, you know? Like the VA veterans returning for an encore. Or maybe I'm just over thinking it, take your pick! ^^"

Like Ryan said in the article, both actors have plenty of roles that probably pay a lot more in the long run than Sega does for Sonic.  I don't think they have any reason to be competitive, especially when the process for auditioning is not really something that can really be done competitively without resorting to unethical means. XP

[RustyRick]

Most likely.

Was it true that the death of Deem Bristow was the reason they decided to hire the whole 4Kids cast, or was it already decided on that matter before Bristow passed away?

[Tara]

Most likely.

Was it true that the death of Deem Bristow was the reason they decided to hire the whole 4Kids cast, or was it already decided on that matter before Bristow passed away?

Popular rumor has it that Bristow's death was the driving point, but Naka himself said before Bristow's death that he wanted some sort of uniformity between the games and the show.  The timing of Bristow's death is quite interesting, as it probably would have been his "last" game even if he hadn't passed away.   Sega conspiracies!  No, I kid.  But yeah, it was a premeditated decision made quite awhile beforehand.

[StaticMania]

Most likely.

Was it true that the death of Deem Bristow was the reason they decided to hire the whole 4Kids cast, or was it already decided on that matter before Bristow passed away?

They probably just wanted to make sure they had consistent Voice Actors, I think they just decided to hire the entire 4Kids cast because it was easier to replace all of them than just 1...besides, the only characters with consistent voices at that point were Sonic and Amy...so I think switching all of them was their eventual idea in the end.

[Dejimon11]

Unpopular opinion: sonic needs a year or 2 break from platformers. For years people complain that we've been getting a mario platformer, Call of Duty, EA sports games, assassins creed every year but somehow sonic seems to get the a free pass despite him having a game every year

2004-sonic heroes

2005-shadow

2006-06

2007-secret rings

2008-unleashed

2009-black knight

2010-colors/sonic 4 episode 1(yes this counts)

2011-generations

2012- sonic 4 episode metal and episode 2

2013- Lost World

2014-sonic boom

And I'm not evening counting the handhelds cause that would expand on the list. So can somebody explain to me why everybody gets hammered but sonic gets away Scott free? Spinoffs like the riders games and sonic SEGA stuff are fine but the actual platformers needs some spacing in between

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I don't think that's unpopular. I think people would like Sonic to have a long break as things can get organized.

 

However, with Sonic being a cash cow, that's easier said than done. It should also be noted that some of these projects were already under development for at least a year or two before getting revealed.

[Tara]

Who actually complains that Mario gets a platformer title every year?

 

In regards to Call of Duty, I don't play the series, but I think the complaint there is not that a game is released every year, but that every game feels almost exactly the same as the previous installation.  The same complaints could probably be said for Mario, but I think the reception for those tends to be fairly favorable in spite of it.

 

As for Sonic, though, I think it was once a popular notion that Sonic should release games less often, as though quality is inherently tied to the amount of time put into it and not the quality of work that's actually put into it.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

As for Sonic, though, I think it was once a popular notion that Sonic should release games less often, as though quality is inherently tied to the amount of time put into it and not the quality of work that's actually put into it.

I think it's more so the time given to allow more work get put into it.

 

Time is a valuable thing, but sometimes you fall short and there's only so much you can get done before you hit a deadline.

[Tara]

I think it's more so the time given to allow more work get put into it.

 

Time is a valuable thing, but sometimes you fall short and there's only so much you can get done before you hit a deadline.

I'm not denying that more time can only be beneficial to a project, but if they're not focused on the right kind of work, it's going to turn out terrible, regardless.  For example, if the controls are a problem, those are only going to be fixed if they take the proper precautions to actually fix them.  If the actual execution that they're going for is terrible in and of itself, it won't matter how much time is put into it.  It's going to come out terrible, regardless.

 

Again, I think having more time might do good for the series, but only if that time is put to good use.

[MegasonicZX]

It depends really, I personally wouldn't mind if they took at least a few years off from sonic if it meant that they could give their other franchises more love (this coming from a pretty big sonic fan by the way) since it would give them time to expand their company image from just sonic to stuff like nights, billy hatcher, puyo pop, etc.