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Classic Vs Modern versions of characters


MetalSkulkBane

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This topic is mostly a question for all those who grew up on Classic pre-talking Sonic. Personally, I was raised on SA1 and Sonic X, with cutscenes and dialogue and (somewhat) consistent characterization.

But in the distant 90s, with pixels, manuals, and contradicting cartoons/comics, how did you view Sonic and his friends?

Who was Tails for you, before he was a genius?
How was Knuckles viewed before his hothead and naivety became prominent features?
And did anyone even care about Amy when she was just a non-playable damsel in distress?

Sure, I can just look at the early material and judge it, but my opinions will be biased by everything I have seen later. Plus, even if Fleetway made Amy action girl, this didn't affect fans beyond UK back then (and barely now). I cannot replicate the same level of exposure kids had back then to guess if Tails Skypatrol affected how the genius fox was viewed.

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1 hour ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

This topic is mostly a question for all those who grew up on Classic pre-talking Sonic. Personally, I was raised on SA1 and Sonic X, with cutscenes and dialogue and (somewhat) consistent characterization.

But in the distant 90s, with pixels, manuals, and contradicting cartoons/comics, how did you view Sonic and his friends?

Who was Tails for you, before he was a genius?
How was Knuckles viewed before his hothead and naivety became prominent features?
And did anyone even care about Amy when she was just a non-playable damsel in distress?

Sure, I can just look at the early material and judge it, but my opinions will be biased by everything I have seen later. Plus, even if Fleetway made Amy action girl, this didn't affect fans beyond UK back then (and barely now). I cannot replicate the same level of exposure kids had back then to guess if Tails Skypatrol affected how the genius fox was viewed.

I grew up with the 90's classic Sonic characters In the 90's when the first game came on the Sega Mega Drive. The Sonic classic version characters bring so much nostalgia vibes In the 90's era. The Sonic box art & game cartridges on the Sega Mega Drive where something back then. 

When Sonic 2 came out that game changes everything where Tails first made Is debut In Sonic 2 and the 2 player mode was so much fun to play when I played with my family and friends back then. The games soundtrack was fantastic as well.

Then you had Sonic 3 & Knuckles with the lock on technology to me that was the best thing about Sonic 3 & Knuckles and you can also put on the Sonic 2 cartridge on the Sonic & Knuckles and play Knuckles In Sonic 2. Then Knuckles debut In Sonic & Knuckles which I love playing as him because he fly's and glides as well and climb up walls as well he's such a cool character.

The 90s Sonic cartoon's I watch and grew up which brings so much memories my favourite Is Sonic SatAM cartoon I just love those classic Sonic SatAM characters. 

That's my experiences with the classic Sonic characters In the 90s and the 90s generations was the golden years for gaming & Sonic. I am classic Sonic fan myself but I like modern Sonic characters as well. I am more of the classic Sonic fan side from the 90s generation.

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I'm technically a little young for this but I had years of exposure to classic/saturn era stuff before I even knew about 3D Sonic/X.

Sonic was a bit more reserved, a bit more impulsive a bit more of a hothead. Not a bad guy or a jerk by any means but a bit abrasive and not the most social. You could still see some of this in Sonic Adventure and Sonic X but by Heroes that side of him was completely pushed out.

Tails was still smart but the cute factor and the eagerness to do the right think took precedence. He balanced out how irreverent Sonic could be and kept him on the ball IE: the continue animation where Sonic's patience has clearly got the better of him and Tails is trying to get him up and keep it moving. I think the knock on effect of Sonic becoming nicer is that he doesn't need someone more earnest pointing him in the right direction as much. SA2 tripled down on his smarts and they went from there.

Knuckles honestly was always a dumbass the idea that he was smarter before isn't really true. He appears a bit more cunning on his home turf when he could set traps for Sonic but it was usually pretty wacky loony toons type stuff that would either accidentally help Sonic along or backfire. His boss fight was a joke too. If anything Adventure/X made him more serious, but not by much. As much as people complain about him he's probably the character that's changed the least after all this time.

Amy wasn't around much and didn't really come into her own until Adventure but the touchy/clingy side of her was nailed down pretty early. It was a pretty funny foil to how prickly Sonic used to be, not as much now that he's generally just a pretty nice dude.
 

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I didn't really think about the characters much.  Sonic went fast, and Tails was a cute little flying fox, and Knuckles was some Australian species  I'd never even heard of before.

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I've been around from the beginning.

 

From the start, Sonic was marketed to use Americans as aggressive, in your face and cool, so that's what he was. He was expressive and easy to latch onto. He didn't need to speak or talk. He was always marketed to be extreme.

 

Tails was the little bro before all the smart-guy stuff started bleeding thorough years later. It was also heavily reinforced by the little brother mode P2 role Tails could play in S2. Even if he couldn't talk yet, and the only real techie vibe you got from the games was that he was a pilot, his role as Sonics brother stuck out. Having to rescue in the GG game and the early cartoon portrayals all added fuel to that fire. Plus, he was cute and small.

 

Knux was a much more serious threat. Even with that chuckle, you perked up whenever he showed up. Even so, once you learned that he had been duped, it was easy to accept him at face value. Just a guy doing his job.

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Sonic was fast, cool and did what he wanted. Nice guy, but kind of a jerk.

Tails was the "cute little bro that could" and was like a cooler Luigi.

Knuckles was badass, arguably cooler than Sonic depending on who you asked and fought with on the playground. People loved fighting him and being him.

Eggman, or Robotnik more commonly at the time, looked goofy but was still considered a serious enough threat since even though Sonic did always stop him, he didn't do so easily.

Never really heard any buzz about Metal until the OVA came out and I myself never commited him to memory until then. Part of why I largely don't care about him.

And Amy? lmao She basically didn't actually exist until Adventure. Like, she was there, but no one ever paid attention to her or acknowledged or talked about her. I remember when the game came out and people where I was at went "There's a girl hedgehog now?? Cute!" only to much later find out she was the one in Sonic CD and they were like "There was a girl in Sonic CD?" with a couple others on the side going "What's Sonic CD?"

And no one played the Game Gear or Saturn games so no one knew anyone from those until after Adventure 2.

That's what the Classic era was like in my area growing up. Basically, people only knew Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman and only played 2, 3 & Knuckles. And Sonic & Knuckles was VERY hard to find at a good price.

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I didn't care about any of them "as characters", they just looked cool and I liked drawing them.

That's all I could really say about that, but even though I grew up with the classic games...the difference between the way the characters looked didn't register and I was exposed to the modern designs a lot more since it was via Mega Collection.

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I've been playing Sonic since the first 16-bit game. Honestly, since I'm just about the same age as that game (about half a year older) Sonic was always kind of a buddy figure to me, the cool friend. And as was stated before, he was heavily marketed as the cool 90's dude. I don't think I was that aware of that aspect (being born in 1990) but I do remember growing up with the cartoons. That's where most of his character traits were cemented in my head. His lack of patience, act first think second, good guy attitude with a big appetite for chili dogs (man, they never looked better.)

Tails, due to having my own younger sibling who played the Genesis with me and due to the cartoons, was always a sort of little brother figure. Which, in a marketing sense, was rather smart of Sega. I saw him as a little brother trying to keep up with big bro, and proving he could.

Didn't quite know what to make of Knuckles other than the fact that he was a "rival" or an "unintentional enemy" to start because of Dr. Robotnik/Eggman's deceit. And I didn't even know about Amy all that much until Sonic Adventure because I didn't know about Sonic CD. Somehow that knowledge escaped me.

My experience with Sonic was limited to the Genesis games and the cartoons when they could be found on TV or at the local Blockbuster/Hollywood video rental store. It was enough though. Hooked from day one!

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