The Most SHOCKING Inconsistency In Sonic

The Most SHOCKING Inconsistency In Sonic : The Voice Acting LOL. Today I took the time to talk abit about voice acting in sonic, the changes it's been through whether it's tone, direction, voice actors etc LOL.
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#sonic #sonicthehedeghog #retrospectiva

[@slamgrene8440]

roger craig smith tickles my brain funny but also jumpscares me when i'm just trying to watch a show and i hear sonic all of a sudden

[@GamesCage]

LMAO

[@kaxcommentssomethingREAL]

a few months back i finished watching Naruto Shippuden, and when Deidara showed up, i couldn't believe what i was hearing lmfao, you should see Roger's performance as that artistic egocentric man!

[@pigglesgoomshby7249]

Watching Regular Show as a kid was such an experience because he voices like 90% of the extras so I constantly thought “Holy shit, Sonic the Hedgehog?”

[@flashtheshapeshafter]

@@slamgrene8440 my favorite joke that has been lost to time people used to make is Chris redfield hating Sonic for stealing his voice actor, ironically Roger not voicing Chris anymore unfortunately does make the joke land even better because he actually DID steal his voice acting, 🤣

[@BUBBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE]

By 2025 fadel will be getting cancelled by one of these intros just you wait

[@GamesCage]

PLZ NO LMAOO

[@KaiZenAmen]

I think the worst aspect for so many of these casts, is that they were robbed of the opportunity to reach their highest potential. 90's, Adventure Era, 4Kids, and Prime I feel were all casts either robbed of better writing, or had the cast switched the SECOND they really started to nail the characters. The current modern cast would have suffered the same fate, but I'm glad with a writer like Ian Flynn, and SEGA & Sonic Team allowing them to bring their acting chops to the table, we're starting to see the characters get to grow with us and really bring some phenomenal performances. At the end of the day, I feel the No Way Home principle with Sonic voices. I don't have a personal favorite, because there's something to enjoy and appreciate about each rendition of the character. As long as the actors care, then I care.

[@supersonicguts9268]

Idk if this is a hot take but Vector's voice in Heroes is by far the best because his gruff, New York accent perfectly captured his tough detective side and he doesn't sound like he's eternally choking on a frog LMAO Also shout out to the japanese voice actors because they are also GOATED

[@GamesCage]

Yea 1000% for Vector

[@MarioSonicBee]

I think the voice actors constantly changing through the years definitely made it jarring for long time fans lol. Hearing new voices of Sonic every 10 years would be a trip especially since everytime they would replace the VA it’s right when they were just getting good. Though it seems Roger is hear to stay for Sonic and I really don’t mind, I’ve gotten used to the modern cast and I think they all work well with their respective characters. Both Roger and Kirk especially have improved since the first time they played Sonic and Shadow

[@FowaJCT]

Kirk went from my most hated Shadow voice actor to my favorite within a year. Power of voice direction.

[@thelastgogeta]

If you asked me in 2010, if I wanted Kirk in the next Sonic cast and as Shadow, I would have fist pumped given how great he has been elsewhere. Glad he is finally getting the direction and material he deserves and Shadow has solely needed.

[@Theultimatelifeform2001]

Kirk really had his time to shine as Shadow, he sounds so good now and he even sounded good in Sonic Forces, Kirk may be my new Shadow voice to be honest

[@Vantoxify]

I see Jason in interviews talking about his time as Sonic and he realized that there was an evolution in the voice where in Sonic X he was a little nerdy sounding but in Black Knight and Unleashed he was very cool, calm, and collected.

[@FowaJCT]

The thing that separates Roger's Sonic from the other Sonic voices is that they're trying to have Roger's normal voice to just be Sonic's normal voice, which allows for more range. Like I love Ryan and Jason's Sonic voice, but they HAVE to do "The voice" to sound like Sonic. Like when Roger does a deep voice, it doesn't sound not like Sonic. It just sounds like Sonic doing a deep voice.

[@hopefulfriend4163]

I gotta say that the difference between Kirk's earlier Shadow and now is so crazy. Free riders and Boom season 1 were so wack compared to his pretty good work in Forces and Boom S2 and now fantastic work in Dark Beginnings. Can't wait to hear more of in Shadow Gens.

[@Kango234]

I've been listening to Sonic talk since the 90s and I love Roger's voice. He sounds more like a genuinely cool character, I feel like the ones before him were still going for a cartoon mascot, even if Jason toned it down a little. 4kids Amy is the peak for her though. Its the perfect mixture of cute, sassy and confident.

[@GamesCage]

Roger can be PEAK. Agreed 4kids Amy Goated

[@krystiancharos889]

@@GamesCage Hey, I've met Kirk Thornton at the power morphicon two months ago, and told him my facts they Sega should've used NYAV post studios throughout the decades. This combines both NY and LA actors and would've been a better dub for Sonic X and aired on Toonami. The 4kids actors wouldn't take dreamcast actors place until after Deem Bristow's death.

[@pandie_cube]

Honestly I'm starting to like Roger as Sonic and Kirk as Shadow a bit more than I used to they've definitely improved thanks to the writing. Jason is the goat though and Ryan is a classic 💙✨

[@RamyGd]

Only the Japanese voice acting has been consistent. All the characters have had the same voice actors since Sonic Adventure (1998) except Eggman since 2015 due to his voice actor passing away.

[@GamesCage]

Yea japan keeps em all😭

[@GamerSwitchDog317]

You gotta do a interview video with the Prime Sonic VA Deven Mack honestly since it's almost 2 years since the debut of Sonic Prime.

[@GamesCage]

I SHOULD

[@AngelPerez-tu1nk]

Now that I think about it the voice acting in Sonic really is a rollercoaster

[@directorjake]

It feels like we've had the current voice cast for so long, especially Eggman, that it would be really really hard to lose them. Obviously, they'll have to change eventually but wow, this voice cast is kinda perfect for me. They are what I hear when I read the comics. I think they're great!

[@digitalgamer457]

This is an interesting take but how Ashleigh Ball portrays Tails in Sonic Prime defo reminds me of Ken Amada in OG Persona 3 (and it's ports)

[@Kiezly]

The fact that the Japanese Voice cast has never changed unless an actor dies just makes this feel so inexcusable. Feels like Sega of America could be at fault. cuz Sega of Japan is so consistent on this.

[@pipopiipo]

Honestly when I think about it there is no definitive Sonic for me. For characters like Shadow, Amy, and Tails there’s always one actor I’d point to for their definitive voice but for Sonic it’s almost like each voice is its own Sonic, each is almost a completely different character

[@nikkzio984]

If the current cast had to go, i'd honestly just bring in the Prime cast. They're awesome, and I would love to see 'em in another project down the line.

[@GamesCage]

MMMMM

[@platinum1161]

I think the Adventure era cast is still the definitive cast. Pollock unfortunately will never quite be able to reach some of the threatening notes that Deem Bristow could as eggman, and I think that’s part of the reason eggman has become more of a silly villain in the modern games. Ryan Drummond definitely captures the “coolness” factor that was such a huge part of Sonic’s early identity, and again I think the character has moved away from that and it’s been reflected by the much sillier voices we’ve had since. Tails in this era isn’t great but most of the other actors really shine in these games and I think that moving with an anime cast was always going to be the wrong choice to move the series forward because the anime has just such a different vibe than the games and it was reflected in the more silly voice direction. This led to a lot of tonal whiplash in shadow, and I don’t think that the voice cast has really been able to be taken seriously until recently, where in frontiers the direction kinda changed and roger has shown us that he can do a less silly version of sonic. Hopefully they continue with this new direction as I think many of the characters sound better than they have since 2003.

[@LightningLiz]

For me personally, the 4kids cast is my favorite version of them, even though I grew up hearing both the 4kids and the modern cast at the same time since I got into Sonic in 2010 right in the middle of the cast transition. However, I do give props to the modern cast for showing us they can play these characters as long as they are not limited in how to perform as them or are given the proper information. The fact that Kirk was not even told Shadow’s backstory until recently with Shadow Gens is extremely shocking, but now explains a lot. I’ve heard Kirk in other anime before and knew he was amazing actor, but until recently with Dark Beginnings and soon with Shadow Gens, I’ll admit that I kind of hoped this would be Kirk’s last time as Shadow because until we heard voice clips from him I just thought he did not fit the character for Shadow. I knew Gens was Kirk’s first game as Shadow, so I thought it was at least fair to have him return to a remake of a game that he was a part of, but after that it would be up in the air. Now, I can say with confidence that Kirk deserves the biggest round of applause for such a major improvement in his performance, he showed us he can play Shadow, and now I have nothing but good things to say about all of Shadow’s VAs throughout the entirety of his character run.

[@ark5074]

For me it’s hard to pin point a favorite cast era cause the voices I like are from all different eras. To me whenever I think of Sonic I still think of Jason cause of the more carefree and fun loving direction he had in unleashed and black night and I love Kirk as shadow because he’s reserved and calm as he’s caring a lot of baggage but he still carries out Maria’s wish. His performance in the final bit of dark beginnings with the Maria flashbacks where we see him for a moment wonder about the life he could’ve hits so hard.

[@DPSalt64]

I still find it funny that Tails's voice changed from Sakura's voice actress from Naruto to Ino's voice currently.

[@joelgamersonic6450]

Sonic frontiers Roger's voice direction is the best, ryan drummond, in sa2 is peak for me, mike as eggman amazing and kirk Thornton is Amazing in dark beginnings and shadow gens is perfect and sega and sonic teams voice direction is aaah so good yes ❤

[@d4b0o5t5]

I swear the 4kids era apologists go above and beyond when it comes to disrespecting Roger. The man just enjoys doing his job and they hate him for it.

[@Shonenboiss]

I’ve always loved Jason Griffin’s voice as Sonic and I do love how(like Roger) he got to improve on his voice as Sonic

[@flashtheshapeshafter]

To give credit to the current voice actors everyone had a time where it took them a while to get into character and made a few mistakes, even Jason Griffin for his very last scene as Shadow from Sonic x accidentally didn't switch to his shadow voice and was still doing the sonic voice.

[@GamesCage]

AGREED

[@thelastgogeta]

I'm sure I heard of similar errors in Dragon Ball where Chris Sabat voices a lot of characters (heroes and villains). The real miss is that the voice director or sound engineer didn't catch that clip and get it re-recorded on the spot or alternatively that they used the wrong take. Sonic 06 is famous for having a voice clip from a security guard that is two takes with the voice actor thinking over his line.

[@Renegade7654]

I think my biggest issue with Amy's voice is that she feels a little too... old? for Amy. I really think Cindy is a good voice actor, but she wasn't the greatest pick for Amy imo. Oppositely though, I think Prime Amy's VA is perfect & honestly kind of underrated, I don't really see many mention her tbh. Really would not mind if she became the main VA.

[@sangregato7831]

It's so crazy to me seeing the Sonic Prime cast as I know almost all of them from Ninjago. I'm pretty happy with today's cast, but Jennifer Douillard is my favorite Amy. I still can't get over how deep Roger had to play in Frontiers. (Apparently he couldn't either)

[@DarkSage861]

I think the core issue Sega had with the English dubs for these games is not sticking to one cast during each of their times and by the time they FINALLY got a consistent cast it's the one people don't really like. It was never going to be easy to recast all of the actors from Sonic X (I'd argue that it still isn't) but I do see a more hands-on approach to how these characters sound and trying to improve the voice direction without completely evaporating the cast again. That being said, I'm still not high over heels with what we currently got but as much as I want an older cast back, it's really 50/50 if that'll ever happen so I'll stick to Japanese since they're the most consistent and perfect of them all currently. (Please bring back Quinton Flynn as Silver though, Bryce Papenbrook makes him sound like he's TWELVE)

[@MrSandwich20000]

I disagree with your take that the cast from Adventure 1 to Heroes didn't really "evolve," tbh. Sure, they mostly sounded the same for their entire run, but I feel like you can hear a massive improvement in terms of vocal direction and performance by the time they got to Heroes. Everyone sounded really comfortable and confident in their roles by that point, and it's a shame it was their last major game before they got recast.

[@thelastgogeta]

It was a short run, but I totally agree. Drummond in SA1 and Heroes are on the same voice but he is on another level with each game to the point that his current take in Sonic and Tails R is mainly aiming for Heroes as a target.

[@Winder_Storm]

Prime voice cast is awesome, rouge , Amy and shadows voices are amazing, I like tails as well , the only one I don’t like is knuckles cuase he’s just the “big macho dude voice”

[@demondraye9917]

That Blaze and Sonic dialogue in Black Knight is badass, i miss those vibes

[@Starfallsupersonic]

Sonic voice cast rank worst to best imo 4. 2010/current voices (I’m sorry, Roger. I love you.) 3. Adventure era voice actor. 2. The prime voice actors (honestly really good I quite like them Main knuckles is the only one that sounds a little iffy, but renegade knuckles is peak) 1. 4kids (voice actors)

[@KaiZenAmen]

A worst to best doesn't mean that the worst option is inherently bad, just your least favorite which is completely fine!

[@Starfallsupersonic]

The golden rule of the sonic franchise Every decade there will be a new voice cast

[@thelastwindwaker7948]

Maybe Jason Griffith as Sonic. But if there's one thing that bothers me about the 4Kids cast is the lack of range between characters. I've heard Lisa Ortiz in so many character of the day roles in Pokemon, and they all sound EXACTLY the same. And when I hear Knuckles, all I can think is that it's TIME TO DUEL. I recently started watching the 2003 Ninja Turtles cartoon, and in the span of just a few episodes I hear Mike Pollock sounding almost exactly like Eggman as three different characters. Currently I'm very content with most characters. The only one I have misgivings of is Shadow, though it's less about him being tryhard edgy and more just being flat, something I also felt with Jason voicing him. Dark Beginnings softened me up to Kirk Thorton a little, and I assumed it was just the voice direction for Shadow currently. But then I heard the Japanese version and MY GOD the amount of emotion in Shadow's voice during the "key to all medicines" scene. Not just emotion, but the escalation of it as he's talking. Imo as far as English performances have gone, nothing compares to David Humphrey as Shadow. The range of emotion from "I'm the coolest" to "I often wonder why I was created" just stuck with me. "Big theater kid energy" as The Hill Is Always Greener podcast called it. Jason and Kirk just kinda always sound the same to me no matter what emotion, like someone doing a Solid Snake impression.

[@AndrewR-y5u]

Roger Craig Smith has been my favorite Sonic voice actor ever since I became a sonic gamer and fan since 2016

[@SmashMaster456]

Really love on listening to an interesting take with the voice acting especially with the current voice cast in the games.

[@GamesCage]

:D

[@ZawakatsuSensei]

JASON MY MAN !!! 😭😭😭 I love the other voices and I love Deven Mack but damn, BUT DADDY JASON WAS A GOD!!

[@GamesCage]

YEAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

[@ZawakatsuSensei]

@@GamesCage But then I tell myself that if Roger locks the fuck in... it will be super clean. Because when I hear in the Dark Beginnings and in Sonic Frontiers I tell myself that these assholes are really clean 😭

[@williewillikers9631]

Sonic OVA sonic will forever be my favorite classic sonic voice

[@thelastgogeta]

Favourite cast overall (games): 4Kids/NY followed closely by the Heroes cast (not Tails though it is nostalgic). I think some characters have never sounded better with the current cast or are close matches, but am still warming up to Kirk's Shadow. It is a shame that Eggman has been pretty consistent but Sonic and Shadow have had a rough transition into the 2010s and 2020s.

[@rank0011]

I still believe to this day Devin Mack is the best sonic, he has the best range,and matches the character of sonic , like an evolved Jason Griffith

[@cashordeals3672]

Seriously tho people need to understand that especially in anime it's one thing to have a bad voice direction and it's another to just be a bad va because one can definitely make the other look bad unless there just genuinely bad and need to get there skill up

[@missmanxee]

I got to meet Roger Craig Smith, Colleen, David and Ryan at the MCM comic con in London this year I grew up with Ryan Drummond and Jason Griffith as well as Dan who played both Knuckles and Mephiles who I missed out on meeting last year and would love to meet again someday and Kirk has really improved as the voice of Shadow especially in the brilliant dark beginnings series overall I think all of these great people have done a fantastic job of bringing their own unique personalities to the characters they have voiced over the years and I am looking forward to seeing how Keanu Reeves will perform as Shadow in the third movie later in December 👍🦔🖤💙

[@kariminal2999]

I honestly really liked the voice direction amy had in sonic prime. I feel like cindy robinson in frontiers didn't feel like amy but i hope thats due to the script. Amy in general in frontiers was held back by being island 1. I hope we get to see her and sonic have a good back and forth like how they did with knux and sonic in frontiers

[@DarkSage861]

I'd argue that Amy's current voice has had so much of a switch just as much as Roger's Sonic to the point where it doesn't sound like the character anymore.

[@kariminal2999]

@@DarkSage861 Yeah for sure. I think her being less high pitched is fine but it's too mellow at this point

[@Bestmotion2389]

Question: who would you choose for a new Sonic voice? (No previous actors)

[@lidijaperic3334]

The speedy dude.

[@GeneralShaoMK1]

IMO I think the voice has been a natural progression (on purpose or not Idk) but the first voice was Ryan Drummond (in the Games) who sounded Young-ish then Jason Grithiff sounded a bit older than Roger sounded a bit older. Maybe a hot take but wtv

[@cashordeals3672]

Wait what has the va for eggman do for you to say that 💀 I'm not aware of what happened

[@Vantoxify]

I grew up with the 4kids cast and I love it but I’ve grown to love the current cast as well. I prefer Jason over Roger because Jason has had more W’s than Roger. Colleen is the definitive Tails. I think Knuckles can be a toss up with Scott Drier, Dan Green, and Dave B Mitchell. They’re all solid picks. Definitive Amy is a toss up with Cindy Robinson and Lisa Ortiz. Shadow is interesting because Kirk could be the best voice of Shadow with SXSG, he sounds great so far but I also really like Jason and David Humphrey. Mike Pollock is Eggman but I love how serious Dean Bristow got in that one Adventure 1 scene as Eggman with Tails. That’s something I can’t see Mike Pollock ever doing. And Rouge is the current voice only because of her original Sonic Generations performance and she even had a good voice in Forces. Her other voices are good but her current voice sounds like what Rouge is supposed to sound like. Pardon me but sexy, confident, sassy, a treasure hunter, and a spy. Her Sonic X voice is that but like a 40 year old cougar and her Adventure 2 voice sounds a little younger than her current voice.

[@jsgoated]

I do like Roger especially in frontiers but Jason will forever be my goat for both sonic and shadow although Kirk is currently cooking so

[@deonhuynh6394]

Should Mario get voice actors to talk more in the future?

[@tretendo]

You know it's still kind of odd to me how the fanbase shows reverence to the 4kids cast nowadays. Im a lil older but i remember when everyone disliked the 4kids voice actors. I always liked roger and the current cast. When you look at their resumes, they are lendary voice actors that have been given terrible voice direction. They have gotten better tho since frontiers. I feel Roger and the other cast sounded great in frontiers.

[@thelastgogeta]

I didn't like the 4Kids cast as much initially, but like Fadel says they really did improve at their craft and got some great material supported by a good direction. As far as the current cast, I agree that it is the most talent stacked cast of all at least in English but it just so happens that I don't love Roger's Sonic (it ranges from fine in early games to strange in Frontiers) and I feel like they've only started using Kirk properly recently to convey Shadow's character. Most of the others are pretty decent and Mike may be my second favourite Eggman (Deem B set a very high bar) but it is great to have some continuity even if the direction for him has varied quite a bit too.

[@DarkSage861]

It's really an age thing, most people that hated them back then were fans in their 30s that grew up in the Genesis era, it really was just a small vocal minority on the internet. Now that the fans from the 2000s are growing up, they get to show their love and appreciation

[@americanduckling]

time for another cringe take with americanduckling haha anyway I think my favorite voice for Sonic specifically tends to change frequently because I think they're all really good. I can't pick a least favorite performance for any of them except for maybe Roger in Frontiers. They told him to go deeper and I just can't get past it, he doesn't sound like the energetic teenager I expect Sonic to be, though I think that he does do a good job with what he was directed to do. Tails's best voice is definitely Colleen O'Shaughnessey (and i guess Kate Higgins, who voiced him in Colors and, honestly, sounds so close to Colleen that I didn't even realize they'd switched off til Forces came out). Knuckles tends to sound fine in my opinion besides a few weird takes in I think Team Sonic Racing, though my soft spot goes to Dan Green because he's the one I primarily grew up on. Kirk currently I think is my favorite Shadow (though I do fail to pick up on the minor differences people say have popped up since Generations; he sounds the same to me just maybe slightly more refined). Favorite Amy I don't quite know but I wanna say the actress from Heroes. Favorite Rouge is Generations and that's I think all of the characters that I feel are notable in the VA discussion :)

[@Winder_Storm]

As much as I don’t like Micheal potluck , up until forces, his eggman voice was really good he was both serious , menacing and fun, but for a while now bro has just been talking in his normal ass voice , and frontiers double down on that and it just doesn’t work lmao , easily the worst eggman has sounded in a game

[@Jackyhjj]

Jason Griffith is the goat

[@abramnotok]

tf was that intro bro 😭💀

[@jota11011]

AMAZING VIDEO!! (i haven't even watched it)

[@Xxblade17]

Indubitably

[@JOE_PHILIP]

that intro tho💀

[@afhamdanish1957]

I really like all the voice actor in the middle of 2000 but that year was not great for sonic the games was bad like Shadow 05 Sonic 06 and secret rings black knight and unleashed doesn't count because that's the only good games in that year I feel bad for this voice actor in middle of 2000 because they do such a awesome job went comes to voice all sonic friend but you know sega at that time wants to change direction for this franchise into a goofy ahh story after unleashed and of course replace the voice actor too

[@banana_yummy357]

e

[@joelgamersonic6450]

e

[@marcoscuadrado9795]

We can all agree that mike and karen need to be fired right?

[@BUBBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE]

Yup

[@xux6317]

Mike pollock?? Why??

[@marcoscuadrado9795]

@@xux6317 Zionist

[@GamerSwitchDog317]

Bro (Mike Pollock) needs to let it go at this point💀💀

[@flashtheshapeshafter]

​@@xux6317he's had some very, let's say dangerous opinions and views on things for the past couple of months on Twitter