Editing Myst's SatAM: The Complete Series Review

[[Image:Sonicsatamdvd.JPG|thumb|350px|right|Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Series coverart.]]
[[Image:princesssally.JPG|thumb|350px|right|Princess Sally.]]
[[Image:jaleel.JPG|thumb|350px|right|Jaleel White, voice of Sonic.]]


'''Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Series Review<br>'''
'''By:''' [[Myst]]
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''
"He's the fastest thing ali-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!"
''
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Back in the days of my childhood, i'd eagerly await Saturday Mornings, when i'd flock to my TV set at 8 in the morning,<br>
to catch what in my eyes was the greatest cartoon ever concieved, Sonic the Hedgehog. I had played the games since '91,<br> 
and now he was not only a videogame character, but a cartoon character as well. The theme song was undeniably cheesy, but<br>
perfect for a Saturday morning cartoon show. I loved the way Sonic just blasted onto the screen at the beginning of the intro,<br> 
as Robotnik's giant airship loomed over Sonic's land, cutting away to his dark and dreary labs. It seemed to capture the<br>
videogames I adored so perfectly.
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Emphasis on "seemed" As cool as the intro was, and as much as it reminded me of such fun levels as "Wing Fortress Zone"<br> 
and "Scrap Brain Zone" the show itself seemed to stray from the high-speed action, and giant robots the videogames were<br>
known for, and relied more on convoluted backstories of the new characters created specially for the show, most notably,<br> 
newcomer Princess Sally Acorn, as she tries to free her dad, "the King of Acorns" from the Zone of Silence and restore her<br>
old home from Dr Robotnik, who has seemingly taken over the world. 
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The show itself was leaps and bounds above it's sydnicated counterpart, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, in terms of<br> 
animation quality. The backgrounds were lush and detailed, but by today's standards, you probably couldn't tell, as animation<br> 
is always getting better and better. It's not as pretty, and nicely detailed as the recent anime series, Sonic X, but for its<br>
time, it was almost feature quality.
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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<br>
of an annoying twit he was in this show until now. He says the word "mondo" in almost every sentence, along with other<br>
'ultra-cool' buzzwords, like bogus! and totally! And let's not forget his two classic catch phrases from the series:<br>
''"Gotta Juice!"'' and ''"Way Past Cool!"'' also, there's ''"Let's do it to it!"'' Man, that guy had a lot of catch-phrases.<br>
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The problem with the show is that almost all the things you've come to know and love from the videogames are nonexistent,<br>
save for rings, and a cameo by Buzzbombers in one episode.<br>
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You want Chaos Emeralds? Sorry.
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Super Sonic? Nuh-uh..
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Metal Sonic? No sir.
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Knuckles? Knuckles didn't come around until a few months after the series. The episode with The Floating Island did sort<br> 
of tease at a possible inclusion of Knuckles, but nope. Not here.<br>
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Another problem with the show is, this is a kids cartoon with talking animals. Yet they act, and are treated as humans,<br> 
something writer Ben Hurst admits in an interview on the DVD. All of the drama surrounding these Disney rejects, and the<br>
complex love triangles they have is just bizarre for talking cartoon animals, and fits a Soap Opera, or some sci-fi show,<br>
like Stargate SG-1, or something, better.
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Regardless of how dramatic the series gets, there are some occasional episodes that are genuinally entertaining, such as "The<br> 
Odd Couple" when Sonic moves in with french stereotype, Antoine, and drives him nuts. Other standout episodes like Sonic & The<br>
Secret Scrolls and Sonic Boom, are a good watch..
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The DVD menus are very nice, and while I don't have a giant surround speaker system, to properly judge the audio, it sounds<br> 
pretty good on my Philips Stereo TV.
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The artwork on the box is hit-and-miss. The coverart is average, and captures the feel of the series well. The two slipcases<br> 
for discs 1-4 are littered with Sonic fanart, which ranges from grade-school scribbles on notebook paper, to really good<br>
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<br> Robotnik ominiously looks on. I was hoping for a little booklet, like The Simpsons Season sets got, but only a little fold-out<br>
poster of all of Shout! Factory's products.
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As far as special features go, this set includes two featurettes, storyboards, and a printable script.
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The Ben Hurst featurette was interesting, and told a lot about how the series began, and why it was canned. Apparently,<br>
my beloved Power Rangers were the reason this show got the axe. Cue frowny emoticon.<br>
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I expected to really enjoy the interview with Jaleel "Did-I-Do-thaaaat?" White, voice of Sonic, but it really bored me.<br>
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<br>
what he did in the recording booth, snore. I would've liked to see some old ABC Promos for the show, but this set is done<br>
by Shout! Factory, not Disney or ABC, so it's understandable that they are missing.
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'''Pros:'''
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-Very cool intro, accompained by a cheesy, yet very catchy, theme song.<br>
-Very nice and detailed animation<br>
-Menus are exceptionally done<br>
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'''Cons:'''<br>
-Deveates too much from the videogames they are based on, and lacks their charm<br>
-Coverart is hit-and-miss<br>
-The show gets a little too "serious" for a Saturday Morning Cartoon about talking animals<br>
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'''Too Many:'''<br>
-Star Wars references
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'''Overall:''' 6.9
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