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| ALL about the transitional era |
Era: Transitional
Main Years: 1999-2005
Gameplay Type: Following Sonic Adventure, the "main" games were now 3 dimensional. The player controlled Sonic or another character, with the end goal not always being to finish the level. For example, Knuckles would instead look for pieces of the Master Emerald.
While the spin dash was still available, the "homing attack" became the weapon of choice. Sonic Heroes combined the gameplay styles of different characters, making them (speed, power, and flight), available all at once. While characters such as Gamma, Tails, and Eggman would use a form of gun to cover shooter based gameplay, Shadow the Hedgehog was the first (and only) to make it the main focus.
However Sonic was not done with 2D side-scrollers, appearing in many handheld titles as just that.
Character Designs and Personalities: Sonic and the rest of the revived characters received new, "cool" and flexible designs. While many "original" fans did not approve of Sonic being taller and suddenly having green eyes, the character with the most changes seemed to fly under the radar: Amy Rose. Amy was given a more mature and radically differing design. This is in part because the original character was 8 and Amy's age was revised to be 12.
While the characters were always thick with attitude, having the characters officially talk led to them having more obvious character traits. Many of the characters had quick and witty comebacks, although only if it fit their character (Eggman, for example, was more formal in his wording, being an adult scientist and not a sassy teenager).
Story Type: Now that scripted cutscenes were normal, the stories become more involved, though the plots still largely at least started with stopping Eggman. Mainly Eggman would unleash a threat only for it to get out his own hands.
In a game on the borderline between this era and the next, Shadow the Hedgehog, Eggman is not the main threat (Black Arms) and was not responsible for it, either (in contrast to Heroes, where Metal Sonic was technically still Eggman's fault).
More characters were introduced, with Sonic meeting much of what is now the main cast. Most of these characters were heroes (Tikal, Cream, etc) or became heroes (Gamma, Shadow, etc).
The handheld storylines were not too complex until Sonic Battle, which contained several story modes. The plot of Sonic Advance 3, while a third "advance" title, is a sequel to Battle.
Visuals: Although there was a good deal of early CG type art, they seemed pretty proud of the 2D "Sonic Channel" designs and art, with the characters' artwork being featured in box art and menus.
The graphics of this era have not aged well, and the mouth animations have contributed to memes. However the creative and expressive openings have been well remembered and in some cases recreated. From Sonic Heroes on, the CG cutscenes became more prevalent and important.
The settings now used real world inspiration, such as with Sonic Adventure 2, which was based on California. Common locations were cities, ruins, beaches, haunted houses, and space.
Music: The music of this era redefined what to expect from Sonic games. Often praised, the music used a lot of guitar and rock, while not excluding experimental or funkier genres.
Starting with Sonic Adventure 2, certain characters became associated more with certain songs, such as Sonic having peppy punk-rock vs Knuckles having snazzy rap and hip hop. This was somewhat echoed with the contrasting vocal themes in Sonic Heroes.
Shadow the Hedgehog, being a spinoff based on another character, did not use the same mix in genres, instead focusing on a heavier rock and using the vocal themes as an allusion to the personality. While not as memorable, the music of the handheld games served as a nostalgic connection between "classic and modern."
Voice Cast: From Sonic Adventure on, Sonic's official voice was Ryan Drummond and Eggman (Robotnik)'s was Deem Bristrow. Knuckles' voice changed a bit until Sonic Adventure 2, when Scott Dreier took the job over. Tails voice often changed because his "real-life boy" actors voice would mature, leaving Tails with a total of three different actors in this era alone. Jennifer Douillard voiced Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend, Amy. Lani Minella voiced Rouge (as well as Omachao) and David Humphrey joined in 2001 as Shadow. Jon St. John doubled as Big the Cat and Omega.
In 2003 Sonic X was dubbed in English by 4kids. 4kids used their own voice cast for the series (rather than hiring the current voice actors or anyone from the DiC cartoons). After Sonic Advance 3 (2004), Sega replaced their "game" cast with the group from 4kids because they wanted Sonic to have the same voice in all media (rumors say Deem Bistrow's death was also a factor). This cast would start in the last/borderline transitional game, Shadow the Hedgehog.
This is a notable difference than in Japan where much of their cast has been the same since Sonic Adventure.
Controversy
Although Sonic X was popular with western audiences, fans of the games did not take well to the sudden switch. In particular fans felt cheated that Ryan Drummond would not be back as Sonic.
Fueling their dismay was the fact that earlier Drummond had actually offered to move to voice Sonic in Sonic X. To make things worse, Sega did not announce the change in 2005 and failed to tell the actor he would not be voicing Sonic anymore. Despite this Ryan Drummond himself does not have any hostility for his replacement voice actor(s).
Main Voice (Sonic): Ryan Drummond
Memorable Theme Song (for Sonic): "It Doesn't Matter" (from Sonic Adventure 1/2).
Memorable Catchphrases (Sonic): "Talk about low budget flights...I'm outta' here!" "TARIIAAAAA" "That was cool!" (Sonic Adventure2) "Let's blast through with sonic speed!" "BLAST AWAY!" "It's all over...for YOU!" (Sonic Heroes) "Time to Party!" (Sonic Battle) "YEAH!" (Sonic Advance 3)
"Kids, don't use formula 1 race cars to chase hedgehogs!" "Yeah I've got a name. It's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog" "Do I look like a cat to you?!" (cartoon)
Cartoons and other Appearances: Often attributed to the modern era, the main cartoon of this era is Sonic X. The anime adapted the Sonic Adventure series fairly closely but Sonic Battle loosely. It also featured many staples of the era like Tails' being an inventor/pilot, Amy having obsessive crush, and soap shoes.
The changes would affect the Archie comics to a point. Humans had to be written in (after years of Robotnik being the only one). Amy had to be redesigned and aged to match her game counterpart. Characters like Shadow and Rouge were introduced. However, as a whole the series proceeded with their own storylines and characters taking priority.
Aside from Sonic Adventure, they did not do much to adapt the games as a main story. Infamously they mistakenly colored Maria Robotnik's hair brown. Also Shadow's chest fur was yellow for 20 issues (give or take).
The storylines during this time would vary greatly. While Sonic's fight to save the world from the Quantum Dial (a deadly weapon created by alien enemies, the Xorda) was liked, the fall-out was hated by fans. As a consequence of it, Sonic's girlfriend, Sally, becomes more worried about Sonic's welfare and subsequently breaks up with him (in a scene harshly criticized as out of character and nicknamed "the SLAP").
Confusingly, with Sonic now single, he shared a kiss with Bunnie, expressed feelings for a character called Mina Mongoose, and started dating yet another character, Fiona Fox (though he was supposed to be with Amy).
This portion of the comics has become something of the "dark era" among fans. The writers were in disagreement about many plots and characters (including the drama of who Sonic should be with romantically). While the series was still lasting, the comic was in something of a downward spiral.
