Hello everyone, and welcome to my look at the Sonic OVA movie! I know I wasn't planning on looking at this before, but my exact words were that I wasn't going to recap it. I didn't say anything about reviewing it. This OVA, originally meant as a TV pilot; was instead edited into a movie in the year 1999 around the time Sonic Adventure was first released on Dreamcast, so let’s open up the anime version of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie!
We open on a wall of monitors, and we see Hyper Metal Sonic (voice of Gary Dehan) awaken to ominous, pulsing music. Dr. Ivo “Robotnik” Eggman (voice of character actor Edwin Neal) just needs one component to complete his work on him.
Elsewhere, we see Sonic (voice of Martin Burke) relaxing on the beach while Tails (voice of Lainie Frasier) tools with a jet-powered bogie board of his own design! Sonic then turns on his stereo, blasting loud rock music in the BGM. Ah, 1999: still close enough to the new millennium you could do this un-ironically. Tails is then clipped by an “old man,” who is actually an owl whose plane is on fire! Despite his reluctance, Sonic springs into action just in time!
Reluctantly, Sonic agrees; and Tails is given a tracker to get them to Robotropolis! Wonder if that can also show where a holocron is to get them to Exegol. Sonic and Tails then head to Robotropolis; while Robtonik keeps Sara company with video games and going out for a drive. Ah, the joyful madness of the 1990s!
By way of the “Land of Darkness,” Sonic and Tails make their way to Robotropolis; though it’s kind of a rough landing. I will say the music in this anime is really good; and the animation is kind of like a larger scale version of the intro and outro of Sonic CD. The two encounter Metal Robotnik, leading to a skirmish on the streets as they try to find a way out. They do so, but not before Sonic gives Metal Robotnik the bird. He would have done it before, but the network censors wouldn’t let him.
I also don’t know why Sonic’s shoes are red hot and smoking: I thought they were supposed to be friction-proof and heatproof. Metal Robotnik keeps shooting at them, which draws the attention of Knuckles (voice of Bill Wise). They’re nearly tripped up by a glue gun, but Knuckles frees them! Also, I don’t know why Knux has an Australian accent in this movie, but that is a nice hat.
It turns out that Metal Robotnik is really just another suit from Robotnik; and Knuckles is a treasure hunter in this movie. I cannot begin to tell you how long I spent hunting for fragments of the Master Emerald as a kid.
The three heroes enter Robotropolis, and they have to stop the generator before sunrise! They do so just in time, quite literally at the last possible moment! Knuckles gets Sonic free of the generator, but this awakens Hyper Metal Sonic!
Metal Robotnik crumbles, and Sara isn’t happy that she’s been had. Now, Sonic must face Hyper Metal Sonic; and we have our obligatory “this is terrible” from Tails.
I must say, this anime does a really good job at providing its own take on their fight and the Stardust Speedway Zone. I haven’t seen that many errors; but there was this one bit where Sonic apparently became a ventriloquist on top of a mountain.
Hyper Metal Sonic confronts Steward, and apparently his HUD is on loan from Cyberdyne. Sonic comes to in a meadow, and Tails returns home to find his lab in shambles! Thankfully, however, Steward is all right; and wearing “Sonic’s favorite clothes,” which apparently came from an old Capri-Sun commercial. You can actually unlock those items for your avatar in Sonic Forces, with the candy colors; Mega Drive logos and everything! That’s what the Genesis was called in other countries, couldn’t clear the red tape here apparently.
While Robotnik presents Sara with a wedding dress, none the wiser when she says she loves it; Tails is able to track Hyper Metal Sonic and the real deal using the circuits in the tracer Robtonik gave him! That seems like poor planning, knowing Tails’ technical skills; but no matter. Robtonik has also donned a blue suit, wanting to marry Sara and have lots of little “Egg babies!” Naturally, Sara isn’t too thrilled. Not sure whether her or Elise has the more awkward romantic subplot.
Knuckles contacts the president, and is able to tell him that Hyper Metal Sonic is out to destroy the glacier in “the Land of the Sky!” I guess this is the movie’s stand-in for the Floating Island from the games, and we’ve only got about 15 minutes left.
Thankfully, Sonic reappears just in time; right there in the war room! No relation to that crappy inspirational drama, but now he must confront Hyper Metal Sonic again! This is kind of prescient about that scene in Sonic Adventure 2 where he buzzes the president in his limo to let him know what’s going on.
Robotnik and Sara head to the glacier, now; the final battle begins! Once again, the animation is actually pretty good for its time. Though, this part about Sonic taking a shot to the groin and Hyper Metal Sonic leering at Sara is kind of cringey. Get your mind out of the gutter!
Knuckles saves Sara from falling, and Tails hits Hyper Metal Sonic with the Tornado! Just 10 minutes left!
Sonic and Hyper Metal Sonic clash, and Knuckles gets a kiss from Sara to help save the glacier and the “Planet of Freedom!” His hat also briefly catches fire, and it was also in the comic as well.
Sara then starts banging on Hyper Metal Sonic as Tails is able to hack him, allowing Sonic to finish him! The president is in a wrecked airship about to explode, but Metal is almost down! His body gets more cracked and broken, even briefly taking part in a game of whack-a-hedgehog!
Hyper is able to incorporate the last of Sonic’s data, freeing the president and sacrificing himself to protect the glacier by dropping into the magma! Well, somebody saw T2.
We then close on Robotnik vowing to return with another robot as our heroes run into the sunrise! That was totally insane, but I had a lot of fun with it.
As the 30th anniversary is upon us; this OVA is a very strange find; just over 20 years later. While the OVA never went to full series, causing them to go back to the drawing board for Sonic X, it’s somewhat enjoyable as a piece of Sonic animation and 1990s pop culture. Though not spectacular, the animation is quite good for the time. Even if the voice cast isn’t the best, they do at least fit for each character. It may not be my favorite Sonic adaptation or video game anime, but I definitely enjoyed talking about it. That will be all for now, gotta go fast.
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