'Sonic Prime' Season 2 Review
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Sonic Prime has sped onto Netflix and into the hearts of several Sonic fans. It expands upon the themes and plot points of season one. However, does it improve on the previous season or simply retread old ground? Let’s loop de loop through the universe as we look at season 2 of Sonic Prime. Warning: There may be minor spoilers in this review.
The story picks up right after the end of season one. Sonic encounters Shadow in the void, which is the space between Shatterspaces. He is then taken to a Shatterspace that very much looks like Sonic’s home: Green Hill. Initially, Shadow wants to take Sonic’s tech and restore the splintered universe himself, thinking Sonic had failed and was not worthy to take on such a task. The Ultimate Lifeform succeeds in stealing the tech, but he soon realizes that it is the combination of Sonic’s speed and Nine’s (the New Yoke City variant of Tails) tech that allows Sonic to pierce through the veils between Shatterspaces. Reluctantly, Shadow agrees to work together with Sonic to restore the Paradox Prism, and Sonic is off to revisit each Shatterspace while fighting against the Chaos Council, stopping them from getting the prism shards for their own nefarious plans.
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Overall, the story hits many of the same beats as season one but is much more focused on the action rather than world-building and character development. That is not to say that there aren’t several good character moments in this season. One of the best character arcs in this season is the arc of Rusty Rose, the cybernetic New Yoke City variant of Amy Rose. Her realization that the Chaos Council simply sees her as a tool allows her to break free of her programming and become her own person. Furthermore, the introduction of the Metal Sonic expy Chaos Sonic is also a welcome addition. His attitude and wit make him a fresh take on the robotic Sonic concept. However, the writing does occasionally have some less-than-stellar dialog that is geared toward a younger audience.
This is most evident in episode 3, which focuses on No Place and the pirate variants of Sonic’s friends. The pirates are more similar to Veggie Tales’ pirates who don’t do anything rather than the Straw Hat Crew from One Piece. However, there are plenty of comedic lines that do genuinely work for both children and adults. The path that Nine takes is also rather interesting as well, with his decision at the end of episode 8 making for an interesting cliffhanger. Nine’s admiration of Sonic is on full display in this season as well, with him seeing the blue blur as a friend rather than just an acquaintance. Sonic’s guilt over essentially destroying the universe as he knew it is still a major part of his character, and he seems to flip-flop between wanting to work with others and working alone, and this is shown during a battle in the shatterspace Ghost Hill. Overall, the story builds upon the foundation of season one and adds some good character and world-building moments while focusing more on action.
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Sonic Prime continues to have excellent art and animation. With more of a focus on action comes excellently choreographed fight scenes. Furthermore, despite the retread of old environments, they still feel fresh rather than tired and overdone. Perhaps the addition of the void and the expanded bridge of the Chaos Council’s ship also help make season two stand out. This season makes extensive use of speed lines to enhance the action and uses interesting effects on the lasers and portals that occasionally give them a more 2D animation look. However, there are some moments where the animation looks a bit off and nearly veers into the territory of late 90s to early 2000s CGI cartoons. Furthermore, there are times when the facial expressions do not always match the performances of the actors. Nonetheless, these are minor blemishes on some rather stellar and fluid animation.
Sonic Prime continues to hit every right note with its music. Steffan Andrews and Mike Shields continue to create a beautiful soundscape through their score. One rather interesting thing is that for episodes 1-3, the title card music is styled after the theme of each Shatterverse. The overall score is rather cinematic and atmospheric. A standout track is during the Sonic vs Shadow battle, which is reminiscent of the Dreamcast title Sonic Adventure 2. Overall, the music is another excellent element of Sonic Prime.
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The voice acting for the show continues to be superb. Ian Hanlin stands out as Shadow, with him being a breath of fresh air for many fans who perhaps have not been too keen on the current voice actor for the games. Hanlin’s portrayal may remind longtime fans of the previous Shadow voice actor, Jason Griffith Devon Mack continues to shine as Sonic and also as newcomer Chaos Sonic, with the latter being very reminiscent of Jaleel White’s portrayal of Sonic. Though this is more of an action-focused season, there are still several moments for the actors to show rather intense emotional moments as their characters. Brian Drummond continues to chew the scenery beautifully as Mr. Dr. Eggman and Dr. Done It, and Vincent Tong does an excellent job as the other portion of the Chaos Council Dr. Deep, Dr. Don’t, and Dr. Babble. However, it appears that several voice clips continued to be reused, particularly Dr. Babble’s “dialog.” Rather than have Tong record new sounds for each scene, it seems that a huge amount of clips were reused, making the character feel a bit stale at times. Some screams also appear to be reused, which is slightly distracting. Despite this, voice acting continues to be a highlight of the series.
Overall, season two of Sonic Prime continues to impress, building upon the foundation of season one. It fills in the gaps and holes left at the end of the season while being much more action-packed. There are still some moments that feel a bit off and might not satisfy some fans, but it’s still a welcome addition to the Sonic canon. There’s no word of when season 3 will premiere, but hopefully, we won’t have to wait long for more adventures of our favorite blue speedster as he dashes through the Shatterverse.
Rating: 9.5/10
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