YMMV / Sonic Shorts

• Aluminum Christmas Trees: In Sonic Shits 2 there's a gag that involves Rouge distracting Egg Pawns with her "wiles" in order to let Sonic reach the goal ring, only to cause the game to crash. This is based on an actual glitch that happens in a Rouge assist mission in Sonic Generations if you are playing it on Xbox 360 or a low-end PC: for whatever reason, trying to smash any of the badnicks might lead to the game crashing.
• Annoying Video Game Helper: Relentlessly parodied with the Omochao short.
  You got: a ring! You got: another ring!
• Audience-Coloring Adaptation:
  • The series has become such a central and beloved part of Sonic fandom that they've influenced how people perceive the characters themselves. Fanon traits like Sonic being giddy about jumping into a tornado, Knuckles being a boastful Badbutt, Eggman being arrogant enough to think he's Mr. Fanservice, and Mighty becoming jaded and depressed for being left out for so long aren't explicitly stated in any game, but are consistent enough with what's given of their canon personalities that fans embrace them.
  • It's easy to suggest that the Tails Doll Creepypasta got a strong exposure due to the Running Gag in the series. That being said, even Sonic Shorts was aware that the joke ran its course.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • There is no line in this series.
    Amy: Hey, Sonic! Guess who lost their virginity?
    Sonic: Uh... Y—
    Amy: (holds up a bottle of chloroform) You did!
    • And that's only the part that made it in. The extended version on Bit-Master's DeviantArt has Sonic doing it to Tails.
  • And in another example:
    Tails: (pointing to his nose) Aunt Sally, can I have the funny kiss? (she kisses his cheek) No, Aunt Sally, the funny kiss.
    Sally: Oh... yes, the funny kiss...
    (Gilligan Cut to "Sally" smoking a cigarette in bed with Tails)
    Tails: There was nothing funny about that at all!
• Designated Hero: Played for Laughs in the Sonic Heroes short in which Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles beat up a hapless Dr. Eggman "Because we're Sonic Heroes!".
• Ensemble Dark Horse: While Sega Shorts in general received something of a mixed response from viewers, there are two that everyone loved. The Skies of Arcadia short for the sheer novelty and appreciation for the adaptation of the game's aesthetic to Flash animation. The second is Puyo Puyo, for its surprisingly fluid animation and featuring of Doppelganger Arle, a darkhorse in her own right. The fact that Dark Prince was a near-flawless soundalike of his English voice in Puyo Puyo Tetris also didn't hurt.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Oddly, involving the Tails Doll at the end of Volume 3. After Tails beats the possessed doll and throws it to the ground, it starts crying. Marine sees how sad it is and takes it in her arms, and after the credits, it is shown happy to finally have a friend. You can even squeeze it with your mouse.
  • After several shorts where Sonic and Amy were either interrupted or Sonic lied to Amy that he was gay, he finally kisses Amy as thanks for accidentally saving him in "The Lightning Shield"... right before the Death Egg falls on them.
    • As of "Vector's Knickers", the two of them had sex. And they're perfectly happy together!
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The joke about Robotnik's base being in space in the "How to Create Your Own Sonic Fan character" skit now that Sonic Colors is out.
    • Same short, creating your own Sonic characters is now official as of Sonic Forces.
    • Still from Sonic Forces is that the OC in the skit is called "Zero", which is created by Eggman. Not only did Infinite received modifications from Eggman, thus becoming one of his creations in a sense, his name during the development of the game was Zero.
  • The skit saying not to upload Sonic Shorts episodes onto YouTube off Newgrounds, now that the whole series was officially uploaded by its creators onto YouTube.
  • Turns out Knuckles Briefs (specifically Tails' brief which was in no way, shape, or form forced upon him) may have given the Sonic Boom writers some ideas.
  • One of the shorts in the sixth entry features Sonic, in Hydrocity Zone, hitting a bubble shield and floating up into some spikes. While the bubble shield is unaltered, Sonic Mania features a stage gimmick in that level that resembles the gag from said short, complete with spikes occasionally impeding your progress.
  • One of the shorts features Knuckles getting sick of everybody stealing the Master Emerald, and tries to hide it, only for Eggman to steal it anyway. This describes Sonic Mania Adventures' third episode perfectly.
  • In Sonic Seconds, Mighty is still in the bar (now Mirage Saloon) with Ray mysteriously gone, but Bark, Bean, and Nack are seen on wanted posters. After Sonic passes by, destroying a badnik in his way, Mighty slams his head on the desk and breaks down sobbing. Looks like the joke was made a little too early, now that Mighty and Ray have been announced as new playable characters for an Updated Re Release of Sonic Mania, Sonic Mania Plus.
    • Volume 3 of Sonic Seconds actually adds to this joke: Mighty proudly proclaims he is finally out of the bar and back in the game... and then he realizes one of the zones in Mania is Mirage Saloon.
    • And in Mania Plus itself, the good ending of Encore Mode has Mighty celebrating in the Mirage Saloon bar with his pals, bringing it all full circle.
  • One short based on the swimming events in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games has Eggman shown topless. Come 2019, where this is exactly the case. YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT!
  • The Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) movie features a scene of Robotnik doing goofy dance moves reminiscent of a frequent Sonic Shorts Running Gag. Fortunately, Sonic wasn't in the same room, and he kept his shirt on. This did not go unnoticed by Sonic Paradox, who retweeted an animation edit inserting movie Robotnik into the dance scene.
  • One short has Sonic and Shadow searching "Sonic and Shadow" on the Internet, expecting to see pictures of them fighting, and being shocked to see pictures of them doing something else entirely. Cue the announcement of Sonic x Shadow Generations, and a plethora of jokes about how - just like in the short - "Sonic x Shadow" is not something you want to Google.
• Nausea Fuel:
  • Sonic's feet when he takes off his shoes at the end of Volume 1 are very grotesquely drawn, with nauseating attention to detail.
  • Out of all of Eggman's Fan Disservice moments, the most disgusting one has to be from Volume 5, where Eggman describes himself posing to Right Said Fred's "Wonderman" in nothing but a pink speedo, complete with nipples and body hair, to be his, "ultimate weapon."
• Retroactive Recognition: The "Chaos Swiss Roll" and "Sonic Ball Z" shorts were created by Lythero, who later became known for his Super Smash Bros. and Dragon Ball Fighter Z content.
• Squick:
  • Sonic and Shadow's reaction to a picture of them together on the internet. Shadow expected to see them duking it out to see who was the ultimate, but...
    Sonic: I-Is that...
    Shadow: And is that my...
    Both: WWHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Another somewhat common joke is Eggman trying to be sexy, followed by Sonic reacting by dying, or just wishing he had Brain Bleach on hand.
    Egg Pawn: His eyes have melted!
  • In a skit making fun of the infamous kissing scene from Sonic 2006, Sonic notes that he can't tell which is more disgusting/creepier: The fact that Elise kissed an animal, or the fact that she kissed a corpse.
• Take That, Scrappy!:
  • Chris gets in a lot of trouble in the shorts. This has carried over to both Sonic F (which is done with slightly less frequency, but it's still there) and a 2012 April Fools My Little Pony: Camaraderie is Supernatural episode, which consisted of a toy Pinkie Pie running over the toys of the cast of Friendship is Magic... and a Chris toy along with them. Then there's the time 4Kids was plotting to make a spinoff starring him, only to be interrupted by SatAM!Robotnik launching missiles at them over his modern incarnation being too soft.
  • Similarly, appearances by Omochao and Princess Elise are usually hit with this.
• Tear Jerker: As stated above, during the credits of Volume 3, the Tails Doll gets beaten up by Tails and starts crying, and it's almost impossible not to feel sorry for it.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The videos are often a product of their time, and you can almost pinpoint where the franchise was, depending on some of the jokes, such as the Sonic Chronicles skit pertaining to Shade, the "Robotnik Hates 4Kids" short (even moreso due to the company's later bankruptcy), and a Sonic Sez about not posting animations on YouTube without permission (the crew would eventually put the shorts on YouTube anyway, often substituting mentions of Newgrounds with someone saying "YouTube.com").

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