History YMMV / SonicTheHedgehogSatAM

* EthnicScrappy: Antoine is widely disliked for being a French stereotype. The character's entire concept is that he is a [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys guy who is useless in any action-related situation]] with an annoying French accent. He also gets flak for [[FrenchJerk being rude to Sonic]] (even though Sonic is more or less equally rude to him), and ending up a SpotlightStealingSquad due to inexplicably getting inducted into many later missions over other characters.

** Compared to the games' usual scenarios, Dr. Robotnik is treated far more seriously, and his method of robotizing characters, which had no known method of reversal, was considered tantamount to being killed. While there are genuine moments of heartbreak and emotion in the series, the cast often acts less horrified than they should; "Sonic Boom" and "Blast to the Past" for example feature one-shot characters being captured and robotized, and in both cases a main character mourns over the loss for only a few minutes, [[ForgottenFallenFriend never speaking of them again afterwards]]).

** Compared to the games' usual scenarios, Dr. Robotnik is treated far more seriously, and his method of robotizing characters, which had no known method of reversal, was considered tantamount to being killed. While there are genuine moments of heartbreak and emotion in the series, the cast often acts less horrified than they should; "Sonic Boom" and "Blast To The Past" for example feature one-shot characters being captured and robotized, and in both cases a main character mourns over the loss for only a few minutes, [[ForgottenFallenFriend never speaking of them again afterwards]]).

** Bunnie, after a great showing in Season One, was [[DemotedToExtra a thoroughly inactive character]] in Season Two.

** Crossing over with VillainDecay, Robotnik became more prone to being the butt of jokes and making [[BondVillainStupidity stupid decisions]] in Season Two.

** Sally is either a poignantly developed ActionGirl and one of Sonic's best foils in the series (if not the entire franchise), or a bland FlawlessToken. Her [[OfficialCouple relationship with Sonic]] is a [[ShipToShipCombat point of extreme contention]], thanks to the fans of Amy in newer games. A third party will say Sally ''started'' okay until Season Two, when the writers increased Sally's spotlight and positive qualities at the expense of other characters.

** Was Season Two [[GrowingTheBeard an improvement on the first]], thanks to having more consistent writing and overall continuity, or is it SeasonalRot thanks to its [[{{Flanderization}} simplified characters]] and more formulaic plot lines, as well as introducing a dragon {{Cloudcuckoolander}} named Dulcy?
** The show's themes and tone is either subtle, strong and surprisingly mature for an adaptation of a video game. Or it's preachy, pretentious and melodramatic.
* CantUnHearIt: This cartoon ran concurrently with the beginning of [[ComicBook/SonictheHedgehogArchieComics the Archie comic]], so it's hard not to imagine the characters being read by their respective voice actors. Sonic gets this the most, due to Jaleel White voicing him in two other [=DiC=] cartoons. Special mention especially to legendary voice actor [[Creator/JimCummings1952 Jim Cummings]] for giving Dr. Robotnik an especially menacing voice.

** Bunnie had less spotlight than the other main Freedom Fighters, especially upon her [[DemotedToExtra demotion]] in the second season. Despite that, she is quite popular for her cyborg powers, personality, and [[CursedWithAwesome ironic angst]]. She is one of only a few alternate media Sonic characters not to gain much disdain from the games' fandom.

* EvilIsCool: The show gives us possibly the most evil incarnation of Robotnik ever, and also one of the most popular. Being voiced by Creator/{{Jim Cummings|1952}} helps immensely.

* HypeBacklash: Many fans of the current game series become irritated by the mere mentioning of the show, due to many fans' tendency to boast its story and characters as superior to the Sega canon. They tend to retort that the show has been overhyped and viewed through the NostalgiaFilter, and suffers from just as many problems associated with the games such as the sometimes pretentious attempts at DarkerAndEdgier storytelling, cheesy MoodWhiplash inducing comic relief and one liners, the over-saturation of original characters and their occasional {{Flanderization}}.

* NarmCharm: [[https://youtu.be/kI-FxbJ8g1k?t=22s "What color is my heart?"]] It's a weird GrossUpCloseUp where Robotnik asks Snively to look down his throat in an effort to see his heart. Adler and Cummings really manage to sell the scene and make it sound menacing, despite the inherent tackiness of the situation and the line.

** In the two-parter ''Blast to the Past'', the catalyst which causes Sonic to bemoan the war against Robotnik is the loss of two freedom fighters. Specifically, [[RedShirt a generic horse and bear]]. It doesn't help that these two characters only appear in this episode and are never seen or heard from again. Yet Sonic takes their loss exceedingly hard.
** In ''Sonic Conversion'', Bunnie is de-roboticised, but abruptly changes back to her original form. When she does so, she inexplicably disappears in a cloud of green smoke, dramatic music plays, and Sally frantically calls her name. The next shot is of Bunnie sitting on the floor with a dissonantly deadpan expression. Upon realising that she's back to being a cyborg, Creator/ChristineCavanaugh gives out a small whine which sounds more like she dropped her ice cream.
** ''The Doomsday Project'' makes it abundantly clear that all of the Freedom Fighters across Mobius will band together to fight Robotnik. Half of the main cast stay at home and all the other Freedom Fighters are instantly captured, ultimately leaving everything up to Sonic and Sally. For the umpteenth time.

* SecondSeasonDownfall: The cartoon ended abruptly after season two. However, this was due to [[ScrewedByTheNetwork the simultaneous cancellation of all of ABC's then-current lineup in favor of Disney-sourced programming]], rather than the actual popularity of the series. Upon cancellation, the cartoon ranked #9 for all of Saturday Morning with a 5.2 rating, an estimated 4.8 million viewers during its second season, according to the [[https://books.google.com/books?id=0PEbAQAAIAAJ&q=sonic+the+hedgehog+abc+5.2&dq=sonic+the+hedgehog+abc+5.2&source=bl&ots=riCuplELTB&sig=Q0HVbnCasxFR82sz8mYqNw8rdC4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nKh1UInSI4u80AG_1YG4CQ&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAQ Media Studies Journal, Volume 8, Issues 3-4.]]

** Robotnik's theme sounds a little similar to the ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'' theme.

** Bunnie Rabbot made interesting use of the show's roboticization concept and had kickass cyborg powers to boot. However she had a supporting role in the majority of the first season and was DemotedToExtra in the second, arguably getting the least amount of development time out of the rest of the Freedom Fighters (Rotor and Tails were also heavily OutOfFocus for most of the show's later run, though at least had a spotlight episode or two to show for it).
** Tails. They took Sonic's best friend and sidekick from the games and reduced him to a minor character. He stays home most of the time, resulting in him hardly ever participating in any of the missions. When he does, his contributions are little at best or pretty much nothing at worst. A later season two episode tried to fix this, but by that point the show was almost over. WordOfGod said he would have been more important in the third season... [[ScrewedByTheNetwork which didn't happen]].

** Season Two had an arc involving the other Freedom Fighter groups. Of the four assembled leaders, only Lupe and Ari get any characterisation, as two episode slots intended to introduce the other groups were given to the Antoine shorts. They all ultimately get captured quite early into the finale and reduced to [[DamselInDistress Damsels In Distress]] while Sonic and Sally do the majority of the mission.

** The TwoShorts episodes in Season Two, though the result of ExecutiveMeddling, had potential due to their SliceOfLife format and allowing the Freedom Fighters some casual limelight and personality focus when not dealing with Robotnik, even if they were slapstick. Unfortunately they are pretty much all devoted to arbitrary TooDumbToLive antics by Antoine, with every other character DemotedToExtra.

** Dulcy's very existence becomes this with the addition of the Dragon animal in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''.

* TheScrappy: Dulcy was the direct result of [[ExecutiveMeddling executives wanting another female lead in the show]], resulting in a [[TheKlutz klutzy]], [[MotorMouth loud mouthed]] dragon [[RememberTheNewGuy appearing out of nowhere]] in the second season. This was especially bad since an [[EnsembleDarkhorse infinitely more popular]] female character, Bunnie Rabbot, was DemotedToExtra as a result. Don't be too surprised that she's nowhere to be seen in most fanfiction written about the show.

* HypeBacklash: Many fans of the current game series become irritated by the mere mentioning of the show, due to many fans' tendency to boast its story and characters as superior to the Sega canon. They tend to retort that the show has been overhyped and viewed through the NostalgiaFilter, and suffers from just as many problems associated with the games such as the sometimes pretentious attempts at DarkerAndEdgier storytelling, cheesy MoodWhiplash inducing comic relief and one liners, the over-saturation of original characters and their occasional {{Flanderization}}. The fact that other video game-based shows such as ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'' has since appeared and have since overshadowed ''[=SatAM=]'' as the best way to avert [[VideoGameMoviesSuck the stigma most video game adaptations have]] such as exploring more darker themes without being restricted to a children’s show, better CharacterDevelopment, and in the case of the former, having a [[TragicVillain sympathetic villain]] all while staying true to the source material didn’t help.

* UsefulNotes/FurryFandom: The entire Sonic franchise arrived at a sweet spot with the beginnings of the public Internet, but ''[=SatAM=]'' itself is considered one of the primary gateway drugs to the fandom in TheNineties along with ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''.

* CantUnHearIt: This cartoon ran concurrently with the beginning of [[ComicBook/SonictheHedgehogArchieComics the Archie comic]], so it's hard not to imagine the characters being read by their respective voice actors. Sonic gets this the most, due to Jaleel White voicing him in to other [=DiC=] cartoons. Special mention especially to legendary voice actor [[Creator/JimCummings1952 Jim Cummings]] for giving Dr. Robotnik an especially menacing voice.

** In ''Sonic Conversion'', Bunnie is de-roboticised, but abruptly changes back to her original form. When she does so, she inexplicably disappears in a cloud of green smoke, dramatic music plays, and Sally frantically calls her name. The next shot is of Bunnie sat on the floor with a dissonantly deadpan expression. Upon realising that she’s back to being a cyborg, Creator/ChristineCavanaugh gives out a small whine which sounds more like she dropped her ice cream.

** In ''Sonic Conversion'', Bunnie is temporarily de-roboticised, but changes back to her original form. When she does so, she inexplicably disappears in a cloud of green smoke, dramatic music plays, and Sally frantically calls her name. The next shot is of Bunnie sat on the floor with a dissonantly deadpan expression. Upon realising that she’s back to being a cyborg, Creator/ChristineCavanaugh gives out a small whine which sounds more like she dropped her ice cream.

** [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/b4085459901b10e187609da840203caf/tumblr_p3fzpnFAF91tgcfi0o3_1280.jpg Initial concept art for the show]] depicted a Flicky among the Freedom Fighters (who was likely replaced with Tails in the final draft), though his color scheme was red instead of the species' usual blue. Fastforward to [[VideoGame/Sonic3DFlickiesIsland 1996]], and it turns out that red Flickies do actually exist.

* HilariousInHindsight: There were two episodes that had Sonic traveling through time and interacting with his past self. [[VideoGame/SonicGenerations This would happen in the games eighteen years later.]]

** Despite being an [[VideoGameMoviesSuck adaptation of a video game]], the [[AvertedTrope series is critically acclaimed]] and [[CultClassic highly regarded by its fans]]. However, it's also one of the most divisive works in the franchise. Its nature as a [[EarlyAdaptationWeirdness very early adaptation]] based on an [[PragmaticAdaptation exaggeration of the original lore]] separates the show entirely from the [[CharacterizationMarchesOn later games]], a fact that has caused a great deal of friction within the notoriously [[BrokenBase broken]] wider ''Sonic'' fanbase over how much of its style (if any) should be adopted by modern ''Sonic'' works.

* AudienceColoringAdaptation: For many people who grew up with the show back in UsefulNotes/TheNineties, this show has greatly colored and influenced how many perceive the ''Sonic'' franchise, to where for many, ''this'' was Sonic to them and not the games. It helps that it would form the basis for the longrunning and popular [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Archie comic]] series, on top of the show and its characters being heavily pushed by Sega's western branches for several years. This has died down over time however, due to Creator/SonicTeam retconning and burying away the western made canon in favor of strictly enforcing the original Japanese game canon, but it's not hard to find many (particularly older fans and/or people who have become out of touch with the franchise after the '90s) who consider the show to still be how they view Sonic and his world today.