If there was a best way to combine the
previous two Sonic cartoons, Sonic Underground would probably be it.
Some years ago, one of the first
Looking Back articles I posted to Channel Awesome was about this
show. At the time, my assessment of the show was that it was pretty
much the best one could really hope for if one were to try blending
its two predecessors. The general story of this series was very
much like it was in SatAM in that Robotnik was a dictator who had
overthrown a legitimate monarchy so he could take over the world by
turning the general populace into robots with his roboticizer. The
differences started coming in with Sonic and his supporting
characters. Instead of a relatively large group of Freedom Fighters,
Sonic was usually accompanied by his siblings Sonia and Manic. Gone
too was Robotnik's assistant and perhaps nephew Snively, who had been
replaced by a pair of bumbling mercinaries/bounty hunters called
Sleet and Dingo. This duo also did much of the dirty work that
Robotnik had either taken on himself or sent his SWATbot minions to
handle in the Saturday morning series.
The nature of the royalty in this one
was also somewhat different, as well. I hesitate to guess as to the
exact reasoning to this, but in this case, Sonic and his siblings
were the royal children looking to rescue their mother the queen so
the four could restore their line to power.
There is, of course, a good reason why
there are so many similarites to the SatAM series here. Ben Hurst
and Pat Allee were given head writing duties here, much as they had
for quite a lot of this series' weekend predecessor. This was
certainly not a bad thing, of course, as SatAM had a good storyline
to it, and I'm glad I did wind up getting it on DVD, though I haven't
watched it in years now. While Underground's storyline was good in
its own ways, it was hindered as much by the fact that I remember it
feeling syndicated the way the Adventures series had been as by the
things I talked about in the Looking Back article I linked to at the
top of this article.
One thing I must say here is that I've
not seen this particular Sonic series all the way through. I've
heard it said that this one, much like the previous Sonic series the
writers worked on, ended without a proper conclusion. I can't really
confirm or deny that myself as I ran out of time to watch when this
show was on the air, and making time to do so since then just hasn't
been a thing I've felt the need to do. What I'm a little more sure
of is that there may be certain plot points or elements from this one
that found their way into the Archie Sonic comic based on the
Saturday morning version of the show, which continues to this day, I
believe.
In the years since I wrote the Channel
Awesome piece, my view of the show has mellowed, at least a little,
and I think it has at least a little bit to do with nostalgia.
Another reason why the tone of these two articles is different is
because back in 2009, I was trying to be kind of a written version of
Doug Walker's Nostalgia Critic character, which is something I've
long since given up in favor of trying to be more myself when I do
these things.
Since I can think of nothing more to
say that would be worthwhile about Sonic Underground, I think I'll
wrap this piece up and continue my remembrances in the next part,
which will really be a paradigm shift, at least for Western audience
members like myself. Until then, stay Sonic, everyone!
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