The Poochie-fication of Sonic the Hedgehog

Let's all be honest with ourselves. There hasn't been a good Sonic game since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sonic Rush is pretty swell, I'll concede, even with the irritating Blaze the Cat). Sonic 06 was almost a funeral for the entire franchise- a game whose sole contribution to the good of humanity was the superlative Game Grumps Let's Play. Sonic Generations clutched desperately at the past, hoping to break new ground by clinging to concepts and settings from previous generations. Generations had moments of beauty but was marred by an over-reliance on previous glories, offering little hope for the once flag-ship franchise. Sonic Lost World borrowed extensively from Mario Galaxy, reportedly at the behest of their new besties Nintendo, and it failed spectacularly. So yeah...the franchise is in serious peril- critically for quite some time and increasingly more-so in the commercial world, with Lost World under-performing quite a bit.

So, Sega have taken up the challenge to strike out in a new direction. Sonic Boom is the beginning of a new multi-platform endeavour, encompassing comics, animation and of course games. Presumably the branding people began by telling the design team to rastafy them by about ten percent or so. Let's take a look at the leaked image that appeared ahead of today's launch trailer for the Sonic Boom franchise.

First of all, it looks like everyone has spontaneously taken up self-harming. What's with all the bandages? I assume they took the knife to their various extremities upon being told that they were all being re-designed to look more x-treme. Tails' bewildered expression sums up how Sonic fans must be feeling this evening. These designs aren't awful as much as they're unnecessary. Okay, maybe they're a little bit awful. Knuckles, a character originally conceptualised as a glider, has been re-vamped from scratch. I guess in the new world order Tails has taken up the sole flying character mantle. Knuckles looks like he's going to be a brawler from here on out. Sonic looks like he's had surgery to extend the length of his legs and has taken to wearing a fetching new scarf. What's most troubling (and irritating) about these redesigns is the expression on Amy Rose's face. The new Amy is staring with come-hither eyes at Sonic, as if she wants to hump him right there. Frequently reduced to the role of love interest, she may now be a playable character, but with even less depth, agency and independence than she previously had? Unfortunate.

So yeah..ugly designs. There was nothing wrong with the design of these four core characters. Sonic and Tails were iconic as they were conceptualised in the 90s. What has happened here may be a re-think, but from today's reveal it doesn't appear to be the re-think the franchise needed to undertake. Mechanics were broken, design was fine.

If anyone's interested, here's the Sonic Boom trailer. It looks to be the usual blend of difficult to control speed sections and awkward platforming. Such larks!