- [JAMES] So did you know that the majority of viewers on this channel watch my content
on a smartphone? This is incredible for a few reasons.
First off, YouTube Analytics are detailed enough to tell me not only what type of
device people watch my stuff on, but what country they're from and what the average
gender of my users are. Yeah, it's not perfect but it's really an incredible thing think about.
Second off, let's talk about watching content on a device that can fit in your pocket.
This is something that we all take for granted nowadays, but we
don't really realize how revolutionary this is. I remember back when I was a kid
growing up in Texas during the Bush presidency - the young Bush's
presidency, I was a late 90s kid after all - and going on many a road trip with
my parents to New Orleans. Now, I could have brought some games to play on my
trusty GameBoy Advance, which by the way was an SP, not a Micro like this one that I'm holding, but I was much too
cool for that. Instead I brought some of these: GBA video cartridges.
Does anyone remember these? How you could watch TV shows and movies on your GameBoy Advance?
- [COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCER] TV Shows on the go! It's GBA Video!
- [JAMES] Granted, there wasn't much on each of these cartridges. You either had one
movie or a couple TV episodes, but the novelty was still rather awesome, despite
the fact that the video quality on these things wasn't the best, especially compared to those
newfangled portable DVD players. However, it looked decent enough when played on an actual
GameBoy Advance screen. Plus, being on a cartridge meant you didn't have to deal
with some of the not-so flattering aspects of a portable DVD player. Funnily enough, my
parents actually had a portable DVD player at this point, but I think I opted
for these instead for this particular trip mainly because I got way too
annoyed by the DVD skipping whenever we'd hit any sort of small bump in the road.
Nintendo clearly wasn't the only company to realize that there was a
market for selling kids incredibly compressed versions of their favourite TV
shows and movies in a portable format. Remember VideoNow from Tiger? I had a
friend who actually had one of these as a kid, and trust me, as bad as SpongeBob
may look on a blown-up GameBoy Advance screen, at the very least it wasn't in black and white.
So with that long-winded introduction out of the way, let me ask
another question: who remembers Sonic X? I know 4Kids aired it in the US, but my
only memories of actually watching this show as a kid was catching some episodes
on a random TV station while on a trip to Singapore. I remember in particular
catching the episode where Sonic went up against Perfect Chaos and being like "oh,
cool, that's the water monster from that Sonic Adventure game. I kind of want to
play that game again." I'm kind of assuming that was the point.
When it comes to actual GBA video cartridges I had as a kid, I mainly just had Nicktoons
and Pokémon. I didn't know Sonic X was on this format until I was well into my teens
when I went back and actually watched a few episodes. However, today for this video
that I promised to do for my 7000 subscriber special and, oh whoops I'm past
10,000 now, we're taking a look at the first two episodes of Sonic X as shown
on a GameBoy Advance cartridge. Oh boy.
So welcome to Stuff We Play, where today we aren't even technically talking about a
video game, but if that's cool to you why not subscribe? Sonic X for GBA Video.
Of all the Sonic "games" out there, this is the one I get asked to review the most,
next to Sonic '06 of course, but what makes it so special? Well nothing really.
It's the first two episodes of Sonic X, but in a compressed form on a Game Boy Advance cartridge.
Granted, there is SOME interaction. You can fast-forward and
rewind each episode, and there's also a menu you can go through to select each episode
or, you know, to view the credits by themselves, because I know that's what I
always loved the most as a kid. But really. that's it. As far as gameplay goes, my DVD
copy of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie has more going for it, so I don't think it'd be fair to
review Sonic X for GBA as a game, because it's not. It's essentially just a video
format. So, what we're instead gonna do is go through each of these two episodes in-depth.
I'll give you my thoughts along the way and then, at the end, I'll give you my
thoughts on Sonic X as a whole and ultimately see if going back and
watching it after it not watching it for, well, it's definitely been years, let's see if
my thoughts have changed at all. So now, let's get right into it.
Upon starting up this totally-not-a-game, we're greeted with the American theme
song for Sonic X. Hear that? How he's got to go fast?
That's the magic that memes are made of, kids.
As bit of a nice touch, the intro only plays upon booting up the cartridge, but then does not play
during either of the two episodes. I like that. That's a nice addition.
So the first episode here is the pilot for
the series itself, and according to the back of the box it goes as follows -
- [DILLIN] When the heroic hedgehog smashes into Dr. Eggman's heavily guarded compound to
snatch the 7th Chaos Emerald, Eggman panics and initiates Chaos Control.
Blasted into a confusing new world, Sonic soon becomes the target of a high-speed police squad
that'll stop at nothing to get their man... or their hedgehog!
- [JAMES] Special thanks to Dillin Thomas for reading these synopses, by the way, but with that let's plunge into
our first episode: Chaos Control Freaks.
They say first impressions are everything, and the first actual impression I'm given of Sonic X is... remarkably strong!
It's a dark and ominous night, with Big the Cat off somewhere being lazy.
Meanwhile over that the Dr. Eggman building, trouble is brewing.
Suddenly, Sonic is there and doing what he does best: infiltrating the mad doctor's
lair amid a barrage of attacks from various robots. Suddenly, Sonic gets
sucker punched into the air, but thankfully Tails and Amy Rose are there to
save him through the power of plot convenience. Sonic manages to safely make
it into the lair via a power ring while Tails and Amy have a near-death
experience, only to be saved by Knuckles. As you can already see, one episode in and
they're trying to introduce us to literally every character they can.
Meanwhile at the top at the tower, Dr. Eggman is doing what he does best, as
any good evil genius does: brooding and monologuing.
Also,Cream the Rabbit is kidnapped because... I guess Eggman has a thing for rabbit girls?
This never gets explained. Now would be a good time to bring up an issue I'm
noticing hereL the sound mixing is off. At several points it seems like the music
is quite a bit louder than the characters talking. Just listen to
when Cream is speaking here. - [CREAM] (Almost inaudible speaking.)
- [JAMES] I'm not sure if this is an issue with the GBA video format itself or the WONDERFUL
job that 4Kids always did with its anime dubs, but it's annoying regardless.
Anyways, Dr. Eggman has a Chaos Emerald and plans to use it to get rid of Sonic once
and for all by kil- sorry, by sending him to the Shadow Realm.
Also, Rouge the Bat is there because why not. Sonic arrives to save Cream, but Eggman
threatens to blow him to bits just with the press of a button.
Thankfully, Sonic has a power of overly suggestive retorts on his side! - [SONIC] If you can push it before I can grab it!
- [JAMES] Well, it seems Eggman managed to push it before
he could indeed grab it, and everything explodes. What a way for the series to
end-oh wait we're still going! Sonic is laying in the middle of a busy street
and staring around aimlessly, likely wondering if he's in Hell. Sonic then gets
ambushed by some easily angered cops for being the wrong colour in the wrong
part of town, but manages to escape, though not before beginning on a high-speed
chase down a highway! After making it over a roadblock, the polic take the only
action any reasonable police department would to catch what's essentially a
weird-looking rodent: hire an F1 racing team! Why catch it when we can race it?
This is never explained. Sonic is off pondering about how he managed to end up
in hedgehog hell when suddenly the F1 dude who isn't even important enough to
have been given a name yet shows up. Then, they race and the sequence is something like this.
- ~Can You Feel the Sunshine from the Sonic R Soundtrack Plays~
- [JAMES] Unsurprisingly, Sonic wins and the F1 dude nearly dies.
However, sonic nearly dies as well because he gets vaulted into the air
before falling to a swimming pool, and as we all know: Sonic. Can't. Swim.
Sonic seems to have accepted his fate and is eagerly awaiting the firm embrace
of the Reaper when, suddenly, he gets saved by Chris Thorndyke: a kid with an
annoying voice who unfortunately becomes a regular in this series. This was around
that time when Sega thought that their series about a cartoony blue hedgehog
needed more people and realism in it, though thankfully through the power of
hindsight we all know how that ended up! So the first episode ends on a hopeful
note, with Sonic and Chris meeting and looking towards the future, but honestly
I feel a little mixed. But what will happen next? Well let's jump into the next episode:
Sonic X Episode 2 - Sonic to the Rescue! Would this one be any better or
worse? Well let's see what the back of the box has to say!
- [DILLIN] Sonic learns that his buddies, Cream and Cheese, are being held at atop
secret military base, so Chuck hatches a plan to save them. The mission goes
smoothly - until Sonic finds the base is booby-trapped! Then it's a full throttle
race against time to a startling last-minute surprise!
- [JAMES] That was, once again, the incredible Dillin Thomas reading that. Definitely go check him out y'all!
But anyways, that sounds like quite an adventure, so let's spin dash right into it!
The episode begins with Chris on the phone with his stuck up sounding mother, whom he is
lying to, saying that he found a cat in the swimming pool. She's like "yeah, whatever."
So, it's cool for Sonic to crash at Chris's place. I should mention, by the
way, that Chris's family is loaded. Like, Bill Gates levels of loaded, as is
evident from the mansion, butlers, and multiple swimming pools.
This was obviously a choice made by the creative team behind Sonic X because the majority
of children world round will likely relate to no one better than a posh, spoiled, little brat.
So, Chris finally asks the question on everyone's mind - - [CHRIS] Where and when did you learn to talk, Sonic?
- [JAMES] Sonic replies by just shrugging. Then, Chris's dad calls and
screams at him for a bit before Chris tries to feed Sonic cat food. Because, of course,
you knowm something that walks and speaks like a person eats cat food and not, you know,
food food. Sonic and Chris then watch some TV and we
see a recap of the past episode's events. We are also introduced to Doc Brown, who is
Chris's grandpa. Upon seeing Sonic for the first time, Doc Brown's initial reaction is
to try to inappropriately touch him with a screwdriver.
Suddenly on TV, we see that Creme the Rabbit has once again been kidnapped.
Cream has been taken by the government of this country (America?) to the
mysterious Area 99. They're planning to use her for...something? It's never explained.
Doc Brown and Chris give Sonic and infrared
scope and help him break into the mysterious government base that
apparently everyone knows about. Sonic then locates an air vent and manages to
get in without prompting attack. He does, unfortunately, hurt his ass in the process. - [SONIC] It feels like I have skidmarks on my butt!
- [JAMES] Sonic's stealthily sneaks suspiciously through the secret base as
Cream fears for her life. The base's electrical power then gets shut off... somehow.
Sonic then manages to smash into the lab where Cream is being kept. He busts Cream
and her pet Chao, Cheese, out of their cell and they make a mad dash to escape
the base while getting shot at. Don't worry, though. As this is a 4Kids dub,
the bullets are all non-lethal. Sonic and Cream nearly get shot in the face by what I
can only assume are Nerf balls, but not before all of the guns aimed at them get
destroyed by a swarm of mechanical paper airplanes. Our heros nearly get trapped
again, but thankfully Tails shows up in his plane through the power of deus ex
machina, and rescues them. It is now revealed that it was Tails who was
responsible for cutting the base's power and creating mysterious mechanical paper airplanes.
Afterwards, they all go back to Chris' house and, since he's loaded, they all
decide to crash with him and his senile grandfather.
Tails and Grandpa Doc Brown hit it off together, and Tails then deduces that
they've all been transported by Dr. Eggman to a mysterious faraway world, and
that all of their friends are somewhere here as well. However, it is soon
revealed that Dr. Eggman himself has also been transported to this new world
and that he is plotting to take it over. To Dr. Eggman, it doesn't matter what
world he takes over as long as it's a planet and he's ruling it with an iron fist.
The episode then ends and we cut to credits, which anti-climatically have no
music and just have this still image in the background. So despite its issues, I think
that Sonic X Episode 2 actually ends on a really cool note.
Dr. Eggman is finally PROPERLY here and I'm excited to see what he does in future episodes.
The real question, however, is how did that episode itself, or rather both
these episodes, hold up? Well, I feel mixed on the package overall.
Along with there being absolutely no practical reason to watch anything via GBA Video anymore,
Sonic X itself is just a very flawed show. I just don't care for many of the new X-exclusive
characters such as Chris, and as with many anime series such as this, I
remember there being a lot of filler episodes.
However, it did have its high points.
There are some great moments throughout the rest of the
series, especially once Shadow the Hedgehog it brought into the mix.
But then we got to the final season of the show ,where it pretty much becomes Sonic
except Star Trek and kind of messes itself all over since, after Sonic Adventure 2, they decided not to
adapt Sonic Heroes or really any of the other Sonic games such as the Sonic Advance Series.
I know this is going to make some people mad, and I know a lot of
people have memories with this show, and it's certainly not as bad as something like, say,
Sonic Underground, but if you really want to watch a Sonic cartoon,
you're better off watching Sonic Boom or even going back and watching the
Sonic SatAM cartoon from the 90s, which is still great by the way.
Maybe I'll look at that at some point. So I guess with that polarizing conclusion out of the way,
let me know your Sonic the Hedgehog memories, whether they be with games, TV shows, or otherwise,
down to comment section below, and while are at it, subscribe to Stuff We Play
for more great content like this, or even back us on Patreon, because every
dollar and from Patreon does go back into the channel itself. So that thank you
very much for watching, stay classy, and... I guess, I don't know, maybe it's time I
finally look at Sonic the Hedgehog for Leapster.
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