As a kid, I watched AOSTH religiously. This was the cartoon for me growing up during the 90s. It had Sonic, who was my gaming idol at the time. It had Long John Baldry playing Robotnik, who is without a doubt the most hilariously entertaining Robotnik to date. It had chaotic slapstick, something that always tickled my funny bone. I grew up with this show, so it's no surprise to me or my friends I've taken a lot of my warped humour from it.
Then I started re-watching this show soon after I turned 20, and my opinion hasn't changed in the slightest, save for one or two elements that I have noticed with hindsight as an adult. The show remains entertaining and humorous in almost every situation, but the highlight has always been Robotnik and his two henchmen, Scratch and Grounder. Compared to the more recent incarnations of Robotnik with two bumbling sidekicks like Sonic X (Becoe and Decoe) and Sonic Colours (Cubot and Orbot), these two are actually likeable to me. Their incompetance and idiotic plans always backfire on them, which sort of rang a Take That Scrappy for me, making these two bearable and entertaining. But to me, this show should really be renamed The Adventures of Doctor Ivo Robotnik. The show seems to focus more on him than Sonic and Tails, what with him chewing the scenery with little effort, his over-the-top expressive animations stealing the show and just his voice actor. All these combined give us a villain who while at times can be intimidating is mostly comic relief with a dash of insanity. If this character wasn't present at all, the show would be awfully stale.
And then there's the issues I've had. I began noticing that most of the time, Sonic isn't the same hero I've known since the video games. At times, he comes off as very impatient and sometimes a bit of a jerk, especially towards Tails. I can even recount one episode he sabotages Robotnik's efforts to become mayor or something, but his actions only resulted in doing more damage than good, though all that got blamed on Robotnik. It's awfully distracting looking back on it now and while Sonic is still the idol kids can look up to, there are just some qualities about him I found jarring.
Otherwise, the series as a whole remains one of my favourites from my childhood, and I recommend it to anyone who has an absurd sense of humour.
Such a blast, insane fun at its finest
As a kid, I watched AOSTH religiously. This was the cartoon for me growing up during the 90s. It had Sonic, who was my gaming idol at the time. It had Long John Baldry playing Robotnik, who is without a doubt the most hilariously entertaining Robotnik to date. It had chaotic slapstick, something that always tickled my funny bone. I grew up with this show, so it's no surprise to me or my friends I've taken a lot of my warped humour from it.
Then I started re-watching this show soon after I turned 20, and my opinion hasn't changed in the slightest, save for one or two elements that I have noticed with hindsight as an adult. The show remains entertaining and humorous in almost every situation, but the highlight has always been Robotnik and his two henchmen, Scratch and Grounder. Compared to the more recent incarnations of Robotnik with two bumbling sidekicks like Sonic X (Becoe and Decoe) and Sonic Colours (Cubot and Orbot), these two are actually likeable to me. Their incompetance and idiotic plans always backfire on them, which sort of rang a Take That Scrappy for me, making these two bearable and entertaining. But to me, this show should really be renamed The Adventures of Doctor Ivo Robotnik. The show seems to focus more on him than Sonic and Tails, what with him chewing the scenery with little effort, his over-the-top expressive animations stealing the show and just his voice actor. All these combined give us a villain who while at times can be intimidating is mostly comic relief with a dash of insanity. If this character wasn't present at all, the show would be awfully stale.
And then there's the issues I've had. I began noticing that most of the time, Sonic isn't the same hero I've known since the video games. At times, he comes off as very impatient and sometimes a bit of a jerk, especially towards Tails. I can even recount one episode he sabotages Robotnik's efforts to become mayor or something, but his actions only resulted in doing more damage than good, though all that got blamed on Robotnik. It's awfully distracting looking back on it now and while Sonic is still the idol kids can look up to, there are just some qualities about him I found jarring.
Otherwise, the series as a whole remains one of my favourites from my childhood, and I recommend it to anyone who has an absurd sense of humour.