Voice Actors

[Johnny Boy]

^ Dang your friend sounds just like Mike! Lol

[Eternal EX]

NICE!

To be honest I kinda liked Jason as Shadow. But after a while he got old and I was ready for someone new to take his spot. David Humphrey was Shadow's best. (this going by the 2 I heard. Know nothing of Thornton) Probably because I grew up with him and he was the one that got me 100% hooked on Shadow being my favorite Sonic series character. I don't know.

Now for Amy. Jennifer Douillard (thank god for Copy and paste) was actually decent as her. She made Amy annoying but kept her kinda sane for the most part. Lisa Ortiz, her replacement actually added alot to her. She gave her emotion and anger. But still kept her sane. She by far did the best Amy Rose in my opinion. I didn't mind her through out her run (SHTH-Unleashed +Sonic X). Like I mentioned, with Ortiz, you actually saw Amy's emotions explode at times when she's mad. I loved that the most about her. I've not heard much of her recent VA, Cindy since she only appeared in like one game (free riders).

I'm sure just about everyone on this forum would agree with me when I say Mike Pollock does a fantastic job and the one and only....EGGMAN! Ever since I heard him in Unleashed I knew he had to stay. Funny and just all around a great VA, Pollock is probably Eggman's one and only VA in my heart. All HAIL EGGMAN!

Sorry couldn't resist.

Edited June 14, 2011 by Eternal Awesomeness

[TheDanimator]

Haha, yeah Kyle is a beast at eggman.

He voices for me in my animations as eggman.

[SBR2]

Fan voices for me Gamebuddy123 all the way.

[batson]

To be honest, i dont think Pollock can hold the candle to Bristow. Ever since i first heard the Sonic characters speak for the first time in a video game in Sonic Adventure, i always liked Eggman's voice the most out of the entire cast. His voice was perfect for Eggman's personality; he sounded sinister and "villainish" but still mostly like a real person. And every now and then, when the scene called for it, he could sound chillingly evil and make Eggman come of as one seriously threatening mofo.

Pollock on the other hand sound way to much like a typical cartoony, always angry supervillain, and i for one just cant take Eggman seriously with a voice like that. The only time i kinda liked Pollock's Eggman was in Sonic 06 where he made Eggman sound a little lower pitched and slightly more like a real person.

[TheDanimator]

@batson

Now that you say that I agree, pollock doesnt seem to be able to capture the sinister side of eggman as well as deem, I knew I liked deem a bit better but I couldnt pinpoint why, this might be it.

I love pollock though.

[Johnny Boy]

Nobody could make eggman sound as sinister as Jim Cummings imho

[Mega]

And I must say, Jason's voice was a much better fit for Shadow than Humphrey's.

Meh. I have to disagree. Jason's Shadow voice always came across as extremely forced to me. Humphrey made him sound... normal and distinct, rather than a forced angry voice all the time. But then again, I've never been fond of Jason's voice acting because he always made the characters sound goofy instead of natural in my book. Especially the werehog.

[Kuzu]

Meh. I have to disagree. Jason's Shadow voice always came across as extremely forced to me. Humphrey made him sound... normal and distinct, rather than a forced angry voice all the time. But then again, I've never been fond of Jason's voice acting because he always made the characters sound goofy instead of natural in my book. Especially the werehog.

[NocturnalTwilight]

Hey guys, 

 

So, I've been thinking a lot on which of the Sonic Voice Actors were the best in the eyes of the community, by  that I mean as in each and everyone's opinion.

 

Hopefully, a topic like this hasn't already been made.

 

From what I know, there's been 4 major Sonic VAs.

 

- Jaleel White

- Ryan Drummond

- Jason Griffith

- Roger Craig Smith

 

 

Most know Jaleel White as the first voice of Sonic, from the classical TV shows.

 

Ryan Drummond was the voice of Sonic in the Adventure Games, and I think Heroes.

 

Jason Griffith took the role in several Sonic Games from Shadow on till Colors, Unleashed being his last game.

 

Now we have Roger, who is actually a pretty cool guy. I think it's pretty honorable to mention that he was the first guy to play as Sonic in a movie. I know, Sonic OVA, but I'm talking theater wise. I've actually talked with Roger on Facebook a few times, he's a really cool guy.

 

 

So, what's your opinions on all the Voice Actors? Who's your favorite? Why?

 

 

In case there's some reason you don't remember them all, here's a video I found on YouTube comparing Ryan, Jason, and Roger. No Jaleel though.

 

 

 

Personally, I'm not sure who I'd pick to be my favorite. I grew up with Jason being the Voice of Sonic, for me anyways, but I really like how Ryan portrays Sonic as being cool and kinda cocky. Roger does a good job, from what I've seen of him already. I think I may need a little more before I can write anything in stone, though. Wish he would have had more speaking roles in Wreck-It Ralph :/ I didn't care much for Jaleel at all. 

 

How about you guys?

[Dizcrybe]

I'd say Unleashed-Black Knight Griffith is my favorite, with Smith and White tied for second, and Drummond third.

[LoiLoi17]

The japanese voice actor for Sonic comes to mind.

[Dr. Crusher]

I like Drummond, Griffith and Smith equally.

 

There.

[Sean]

Merged with an existing topic.

[Danj86]

I don't mind Jeleel White. I enjoyed how Ryan Drummond portrayed him, and I reckon Roger Craig Smith is doing a good job and I'd be happy to call him my personal favourite.

But I never liked Jason Griffiths performance. It always made my ears bleed, if the game didn't have a language change option, I'd just mute the damn thing. He was becoming slightly easier to tolerate towards the end, but I still hate him.

 

A slight pet peeve I have is when fans of JG were annoyed he was replaced and used the excuse "He was getting better." He's supposed to be a professional voice over artist, he should've been good at the very damn beginning!!

 

But that's just my opinion...

[FireBird75]

I guess I'll add my two cents now that I've finally found this topic.

 

Jaleel White, I found, was very entertaining as Sonic.  He gave Sonic a real cool 90s attitude to Sonic that just made him a joy to watch.  The voice probably took a little getting used to but I always felt the Jaleel gave his best performance and I couldn't help laughing at some of the funny things he said as Sonic.

 

Ryan Drummond, as of right now, is my favorite. Not only did he give Sonic the personality he needed but also provided Sonic with probably the most fitting voice.  Seriously, whenever I imagined Sonic speaking, this is the voice that I hear.  Ryan's acting was pretty cheesy at times but hey Sonic himself can be pretty damn hammy at times.  Overall, I thought Ryan was great. I do miss him but it's nothing I'll lose sleep over.

 

Jason Griffith, I guess you could say I'm mixed on. When I first watched Sonic X, I was ok with the voice but I couldn't help but noticed the emphasis the actor put on a lot of the sentences he uttered.  I'm pretty sure it didn't have any to do with voice direction because Jason did the same thing for the games when the 4kids cast was brought in.  (Also I was aware of the switch before going into Shadow the Hedgehog).  However, in 2007, with Secret Rings and Rivals 2, I noticed that Jason's acting was steadily improving and he seemed more comfortable with the role.  This in turn led to some great performances in Zero Gravity, Unleashed, and Black Knight that I'm fond of even to this day.  I'm sure it was a quite a disappointment to him that he got replaced in 2010, right when he was doing well, but he's getting work in some important roles and I wish him all the best.

 

Now for Roger.  Roger Craig Smith was a voice actor I was already quite familiar with thanks to the works he's done for anime dubs.  It was an interesting surprise when I heard he was going to be the voice of Sonic.  When I heard the "Alton Towers clips" I was a little skeptical to say that least.  But that skepticism was quickly quelled after I heard the clips had been edited (of course) and when I saw the released first cutscene of Sonic Colors.  Needless to say, I was impressed!  Roger not only provided a great voice but he also gave Sonic a lot of the "cool" attitude that the character has been missing over the years (sorry Jason).  In time, Roger could (and probably will) replace Ryan Drummond as my favorite voice for Sonic.

 

*Also I love Jun'ichi Kanemaru. Engrish FTW!

 

**Also have ya noticed that the voice actors in English have gotten five years as Sonic:

Jaleel (1993-1998)

Ryan (1999-2004)

Jason (2005-2010)

 

Does that mean Roger's gonna only get 5 years too? I hope not.  Sonic needs a voice that will stay with him for a good while.  Like in Japan.

[Burning Finger]

A slight pet peeve I have is when fans of JG were annoyed he was replaced and used the excuse "He was getting better." He's supposed to be a professional voice over artist, he should've been good at the very damn beginning!!

Fun Fact:

According to Jason himself, Sonic was actually the first role he scored as a voice actor. Sonic's a pretty sweet gig for starting a career in voice over if you ask me.

 

Granted that was back when Sonic X first came out, but still after having a 78 episode series and handful of videogames under ones belt, I think you should know the character pretty well. However I always thought that the fanbase treated Jason rather unfairly during his time as Sonic, and the fans grossly exaggerated how "awful" his performance was just because it was the cool thing to do. Honestly, Jason was no worse than Ryan was, who was also very inconsistent in between games as well.

 

Jason is the definitive Sonic for me, his voice just embodies Sonic like a glove and its still his voice I hear when ever I imagine Sonic speaking. He had a few bumps in the road sure, but it was never quite that bad. I'll agree that he was definitely at his best from Secret Rings till his end on The Black Knight.

 

Ryan definitely had a cool voice for Sonic, and I'd love to hear how he would sound as Sonic today with the better scripts and directing.

 

While Roger is a brilliant voice actor, I just can't really get behind him as Sonic. The acting is good, but the voice just doesn't sound like Sonic to me. I don't know why but for some reason he sounds like a Ninja Turtle to me, which is kinda funny cause Roger was the voice of Pulverizer in a recent of the new TMNT, and Raph's voice is kinda similar to Roger's Sonic.

 

Jaleel White, I will always appreciate his voice just for the awesome nostalgia of 90's Sonic and my childhood. I don't think his voice is fitting for modern Sonic though.

 

Martin Burke, Strange isn't it?

Edited April 4, 2013 by Kamina

[Tani Coyote]

Jaleel White did a really good voice for his time and age. I didn't get why everyone hated him so much in the fan film; I thought that was actually one of the cool parts about it despite its numerous flaws. However, ultimately he's just not cut out to be Modern Sonic professionally. It just seems odd to hear that young voice coming out of such an older body (not touching on the fact Sonic's only aged 1 year technically between Jaleel's performances and everyone else's).

Ryan Drummond is definitely very talented (as his voice over circus at his website shows), but having played through Sonic Adventure 2 again recently, something about his performance feels.. off. I definitely like the feel of his voice, however, and whenever I try a Sonic impression he is the one I attempt to imitate. He's youthful and energetic, and overall the most fitting. As others have said, I'd be really interested what he'd sound like with modern voice directing. It's no secret the dialogue in Adventure 1 and 2 could sometimes be awkward, and I think his poorer moments were the result of what he was working with, not himself.

I thought it was unfortunate Griffith was replaced; his later performances as Sonic were far superior to the first and while his voice was at first grating to me, he had grown on me. I will always despise his Shadow performance, but his Sonic performance was definitely good by the time he was unfortunately fired.

Roger Craig Smith definitely has talent, but he seems too adult for my taste. So, while he's a good voice actor overall I think, he's just not a good Sonic, at least when compared to the others he's shared the position with.
 

[-blank-]

Jaleel was a fine voice for classic Sonic. He gave the character a nice attitude and it was always entertaining listening to him in AOSTH and SatAM. However, I do not think he fits Modern Sonic at all. Hearing him in that fan film just felt weird to me. Oh well, he was still better than anything else in that atrocity.

 

Ryan I felt was a pretty good Sonic. He sounded really good as the character though some of the dialogue he had to say wasn't all that great. But I did feel that he sounded the most youthful out of the voice actors for modern Sonic. It just fit so well.

 

As for Jason, he wasn't that good at first, but he got a lot better as time went by. His performances in Unleashed and Black Knight are my favorites by him. To me, he seemed to be the most energetic modern Sonic voice actor.

 

Roger is pretty much my favorite. He sounds the most natural out of the actors and to me he fits the best as Sonic. I hope he sticks around for a long while.

[Danj86]

Fun Fact:

According to Jason himself, Sonic was actually the first role he scored as a voice actor. Sonic's a pretty sweet gig for starting a career in voice over if you ask me.

 

Granted that was back when Sonic X first came out, but still after having a 78 episode series and handful of videogames under ones belt, I think you should know the character pretty well. However I always thought that the fanbase treated Jason rather unfairly during his time as Sonic, and the fans grossly exaggerated how "awful" his performance was just because it was the cool thing to do.

 

That's interesting but still doesn't excuse his lame performance in so many games. No company hires a person who can only slightly do the job they were given in the hopes they would improve later. And while what you say about the fanbase treating him unfairly is probably true. I can tell you that I'm not one of them. I've never been effected by peer pressure or the bandwagon effect that afflicts this very forum sometimes. My reasons for dislike his performance are my own.

 

If I remember correctly, Ryan and Co were never officially fired by Sega. They just never called them in for work. They might've done the same for Jason and Friends for all I know. I lost some respect for Sega when they did that back then. Imagine coming into work, only to be told at the door "Actually, we found somebody else. We wont be needing you anymore."

[NocturnalTwilight]

Granted that was back when Sonic X first came out, but still after having a 78 episode series and handful of videogames under ones belt, I think you should know the character pretty well. However I always thought that the fanbase treated Jason rather unfairly during his time as Sonic, and the fans grossly exaggerated how "awful" his performance was just because it was the cool thing to do. Honestly, Jason was no worse than Ryan was, who was also very inconsistent in between games as well.

 

I've honestly never understood why people disliked Jason so much. I grew up with that guy. 

[Straw Hat]

I've honestly never understood why people disliked Jason so much. I grew up with that guy. 

That's possibly why you don't understand it.

[tenchibr]

WARNING: Tasteless Joke Incoming

 

I like Sonic's voice like I like my women: underage and adventurous!

[-blank-]

I found Jason to sound kind of flat when he first started out. It was like he wasn't putting all that much emotion into his acting.

[NocturnalTwilight]

I found Jason to sound kind of flat when he first started out. It was like he wasn't putting all that much emotion into his acting.

 

I found Applejack to be best pony. What now? 

Edited April 13, 2013 by OmegaXCL