'Sonic Prime' Season 3 Review
Image Source: YouTube
Sonic Prime has concluded with its third and last season. The Netflix series starring everyone’s favorite blue superfast hedgehog has been quite popular, but how well does it wrap up the story threads set up in the previous two seasons? Let’s find out!
WARNING: Mild spoilers for season three of Sonic Prime ahead!
Season three picks up right where season two left off. Sonic and Shadow are abandoned in the Ghost Hill Shatterspace as it crumbles around them. This fate seems to have befallen the other Shatterspaces as well. Nine is harnessing the power of the Paradox Prism to create his own Shatterspace: The Grim. However, this causes the other worlds to become unstable. Despite having all of the pieces of the prism, Nine is still missing a vital piece of the puzzle: Sonic. Sonic is filled with Prism energy, and it is his energy that will stabilize the fractured gem. Sonic and Shadow must join forces with the other denizens of the Shatterverse (including the Eggman Council) to stop Nine from destroying the Shatterverse.
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Image Source: Sonic Stadium
The story is rather action-packed and raises the stakes to the highest they’ve been in the series, which is appropriate for the final season. In between the action, however, several good character moments let the story breathe a little. These include several heartfelt conversations between Sonic and Nine and some surprisingly inspirational words from the Chaos Council. However, the pacing of the story is a bit off, especially toward the end. Sonic Prime’s final battle takes two and a half episodes to resolve, and while this is nowhere near Dragon Ball Z levels of filler, there are moments of padding to the climatic final battle.
Another thing that holds back the story and writing of this season and perhaps the series, in general, is the extreme tonal whiplash. A good example of this is when the Egg Council’s mothership is destroyed…and each Eggman is worried about whatever items they have in there. There are several other moments like this where there is a dramatic reveal followed by a comedic moment (typically from one of the Eggmen). This is to be expected, as it is a kids’ show, but the way this series in general handles this is not exactly the best. Nonetheless, if you can move past the fact that it’s a show for kids, the show handles the darker tone and higher stakes quite well.
Image Source: Thirsty Mag
The voice acting is superb, especially in this season. Each actor beautifully portrays their character with the stakes and nature of the story in mind. Though the overall acting tone is still that of a Saturday Morning cartoon, there are several moments where the emotions are more grounded and naturalistic rather than heightened or exaggerated, and this serves the story well.
Deven Mack is the standout performer. His portrayal of Sonic shows a mastery of the character in each situation, and he beautifully shows each side of the blue blur well from cocky teenager, serious leader, to mournful friend. Mack has definitely proven himself to be a standout voice not only in the series but for the character in general. There’s still a bit of voice clip reuse, but overall, the voice acting is a huge highlight of this season.
Image Source: IGN
The animation continues to be a highlight of the series. It continues the squash and stretch trend of the previous seasons, and this is beautifully shown through its expertly choreographed fight scenes. Another highlight of the animation is just how expressive it is. When Nine is going mad with power or desperate, you can see it clearly, and this especially helps to convey the emotional depth of these characters. The lighting and environments continue to be superb and help to convey the tone of this season. There are still some moments where the animation looks a bit unpolished, and in the one scene in the season that uses pixel art, there is some asset clash with the scene using Genesis/MegaDrive sprites alongside a level for the GameBoy Advance title Sonic Advance 3 (with Eggman’s sprite coming from this game as well). Nonetheless, Sonic Prime continues to have superb animation and art direction.
Lastly, the music helps to convey the tone and emotional depth of the show. Though there are no standout tracks or themes, Steffan Andrews and Mike Shield’s score beautifully sets the tone for each scene and battle. However, perhaps more impactful than the music itself are moments where there is no music at all. This helps highlight the more poignant moments of the season. There are some moments where the music feels slightly generic, but overall, it compliments the show nicely.
Image Source: Sonic Wiki Zone
Sonic Prime's final season beautifully wraps up the show. Though the pacing and tone are sometimes off, it makes it clear that the stakes are high and emphasizes the finality while also leaving things open for future installments. The series is canon to the games, but it is slightly unclear, so this open ending could lead to an existing or new game or future installments in Sonic Prime or a related series. Overall, season three wraps up the story of Sonic Prime while leaving things open for the future.
Rating: 9/10
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