SYNOPSIS:
A fake Santa announces his official retirement and hands off his title to Dr. Robotnik, who uses the role of Santa to steal all the presents of the world and enslave everyone in his workshops. Only Sonic the Hedgehog can find the real Santa and save Christmas for all!
REVIEW:
If you didn't already know, I'm one of the biggest Sonic the Hedgehog nerds you'll ever meet. I've been following the franchise ever since I was 10 years old. My personal website (http://cobysev.net) is a public archive of all the Sonic comics that have ever been released, and I own all 799 of the American comics (802 as of tomorrow's comic book release 😉). And I've watched all 7 (Yes, SEVEN) TV series and played almost all of the 90+ video games. So of course, I couldn't resist reviewing the ONLY Christmas special in the entire franchise. (And yes, I WILL review the live-action Sonic movie coming out on Valentine's Day next year!)
The Sonic Christmas Blast special is the series finale for Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), a 66-episode acid trip of yelling, childish quips, and psychotic breaks in reality. Surprisingly, this special is one of the most sane episodes in the series. It also came out 3 years AFTER the series ended, so there's been plenty of time for the series creators to grow as people and reflect on their past work. Maybe that accounts for a slightly more coherent story here.
This special also includes a small cameo of Princess Sally, a main character in the other Sonic cartoon airing at the same time: Sonic the Hedgehog (1993). She doesn't have any speaking lines, though, and is mostly there for the fan service. Also, she's pink like her original test colors in the Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) pilot episode, not her usual squirrel brown colors.
This version of Santa is probably the most depressing version ever! After Sonic rescues him, he gives up, proclaiming that Robotnik has ruined Christmas and there's no hope. He even encourages Sonic not to try and save Christmas! Sonic is the only one who doesn't lose hope, and he finds out that a ring Princess Sally gave him happens to be the key to unlocking the "secret of ultimate velocity." To unlock it, he has to master all of the "impossible challenges." Sonic manages to pass all the challenges and gains the ultimate velocity. He uses it to steal back all the presents from "Robotnik Claus" and redistribute them to the children of the world, all in a matter of minutes!
Even after Sonic saves the day, Santa admits that he should retire anyway and proclaims Sonic the new Santa.
Also, weren't there a bunch of enslaved people to save? Maybe I missed the part when Sonic saved them all. Or maybe the special just forgot about them. It's really hard to tell with all the running and screaming and whatnot that happens on this show.
RECOMMENDATION:
If you're a die-hard Sonic fan, then you absolutely must force yourself to sit through this hot mess of a special, including the previous 65 episodes of this diarrhea of lights and sound. But for the average joe, you may be a bit lost trying to figure out what's going on. Despite the whole special being focused on Christmas, I doubt this will ever make a top-10 list of greatest Christmas specials. Unless you have a hyperactive kid that needs something flashy and noisy to distract them, I'd recommend you skip out on this one.
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