The episode begins with Sonic and his friends setting up the decorations for the Unnamed Village's New Year's Eve party. As Amy hangs some streamers on a tree (with Knuckles holding the ladder), she tells Sonic, Tails, and Sticks to help her, as the decorations won't hang themselves. Tails tries to prove her otherwise by firing streamers from a bazooka, which land all over the village. Amy is unimpressed, because the streamers still didn't hang themselves, and Knuckles berates him for it. Sticks then tells Tails to take the decorations down before they attract bugs, aliens, kumquats, and list jokes. Sonic sticks up for Tails, until all the decorations come crashing down, at which point he berates him for it. Knuckles then asks Sonic if New Year's is the holiday where a giant rabbit breaks into your house and hides painted eggs, but an unamused Amy rolls the New Year's Eve ball to the pole and tells him to forget about the other holidays and help her put the ball on top of the pole. Knuckles does so, and as he lifts the ball to the top, Amy explains to him that when the ball reaches the bottom of the pole, it will be midnight and the beginning of the new year. Sticks tells Knuckles not to trust Amy, causing Knuckles to get distracted and let go of the crank, causing the ball to fall. Amy struggles to hold it up, but it crashes to the ground and breaks. Tails then jokes about Knuckles dropping the ball, which Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Stick all don't find funny. Just then, Dr. Eggman flies in with his Ball Bots, which Sonic and his friends easily defeat. When Knuckles tosses two of them back at Eggman, Eggman decides to give up and flies away. Tails then shoots his bazooka at one of the ball bots, causing it to spin and toss decorations all over the Village. Amy praises Tails for the decorations and tells him that the last Ball Bot will make a perfect New Year's Eve ball. Sure enough, after Knuckles sticks the pole in the Ball Bot, Amy does use it as a substitute for the New Year's Eve ball, and Knuckles raises it to the top of the pole.
At his fortress, Eggman is upset that it's new year's eve and he still hasn't fulfilled his New Year's resolution from the previous year. Orbot asks him if it's the one to be a more benevolent master, much to the ire of Eggman, who smacks him with a rolled-up magazine. Orbot then says that one of them doesn't know what "benevolent" means, and Cubot adds that he's the second one. All Eggman wants is to have one decisive victory over Sonic, and he's so miserable, that he barely enjoyed smacking Orbot with the magazine. Cubot tells Eggman that it's sad when people no longer enjoy their hobbies, and Orbot assures Eggman that he's dreamed up a New Year's Eve party to put the spring back in his step. Eggman tells Orbot that if he pulls out a checkerboard, he's going to sell him for scrap metal. Upon hearing this, Orbot nervously hides the checkerboard he pulled out back behind the stereo.
That evening, everyone in the Village is having a wonderful time, including Knuckles, who is dressed in a hot dog costume. Sonic asks him why he's dressed like that, and Knuckles asks him if New Year's is the holiday where you put on a costume and threaten to prank strangers for candy. Amy tells him, "That's not a holiday, that's extortion." Knuckles, missing the point, holds out a candy bag. Soar the Eagle then reports on the New Year's Festivites, and people from all over the Village have come to celebrate, and it would be hard to find anyone who isn't having fun.
Back at Eggman's fortress, Eggman is playing a game of checkers with Orbot, but not enjoying it. He swats the checkerboard and says their New Year's party is the worst one ever, to which Cubot agrees. Orbot then brings in a slow-cooked pot roast, but this still doesn't cheer Eggman up. Orbot then says, "If only everything moved at the same pace as the marinating juices of my roast", which suddenly gives Eggman an idea. He decides to create a slow motion machine by harnessing the technology of the slow cooker, to give him plenty of time to fulfill his resolution to defeat Sonic before the new year begins. Eggman takes the Slow Cooker apart and finds its power source; a glowing red energy ball.
Back at the Village Center, Comedy Chimp hosts the New Year's Adequate Eve, sponsored by Meh Burger, home of the Ten-alarm Super Atomic Chili (which, as Comedy Chimp points out, is barely ketchup). He then interviews Knuckles, who is dressed in a nightcap and holding a pillow. Knuckles then tells Comedy Chimp that he hopes the obese man who watches him sleep doesn't think he's naughty, otherwise, he might not sneak into his house and leave him any presents. Comedy Chimp then interviews Mayor Fink, who denies the allegations of him buying a vacation island with the town's money. Mayor Fink then wishes everyone a happy new year, and tells them they're all welcome to visit him on his private vacation island... provided if he ever gets one.
As the party continues, Dr. Eggman arrives with his slow-motion machine. Sonic runs towards Eggman, who activates the slow-motion machine, causing everyone and everything, even Sonic, to slow down. When Sonic catches up to Eggman, he asks him what's going on, and Eggman explains how his slow-motion machine has slowed everything down, and that slow for Sonic is just normal speed. Sonic asks Eggman how come he's not slowed down, and Eggman tries to explain, but then decides to just skip ahead to the part where he destroys Sonic. He fires a laser beam at Sonic, but because his slow-motion machine has slowed everything down, the beam moves very slow and Sonic easily dodges it. Eggman then calls for a swarm of Bee Bots to attack Sonic, only to find out that the slow-motion Machine has affected them as well. Sonic refuses to wait for them, so Eggman decides that he needs a new plan. Sonic tells Eggman that he's going to destroy his slow-motion machine so they can call it a day, but Eggman points out that if he does destroy the machine, everyone and everything will be stuck in slow motion forever. Eggman decides that he will face off against Sonic one last time, and if Sonic wins, he might shut off his slow-motion machine and return the world to its normal speed.
Eggman plays a game of majong with Sonic, who easly defeats him. A frustrated Eggman then tosses the pieces into the air, where they float, having been affected by the slow-motion machine. Sonic then tells Eggman that to shut off his machine, since he won, but Eggman is determined to beat Sonic, so he plays a game of hopscotch with him. Unfortunately for Eggman, Sonic wins this game as well. Sonic then pole vaults over a bar safely, and Eggman tries to do so himself, but his weight causes the pole to snap in half, granting Sonic another victory. Sonic then tosses a coin, but the slow-motion machine causes it to float in mid-air. Sonic and Eggman then play a game of ping-pong, and it looks as if the slow-motion machine is going to grant Eggman a victory, but Eggman slams the table too hard and breaks it. Sonic and Eggman then play games of Bingo, Gin, and Checkmate, with Sonic winning every time. Finally, they play a game of checkers, which Sonic wins. Eggman swats the checkerboard, causing it to float in mid-air. He then grabs a piece and angrily stomps it.
With only an extended ten seconds left until midnight, Eggman tells Sonic that all he wanted was one chance to beat him at something before the year ends. Sonic asks him if that's true, and then realizes that he has been pretty dominant over Eggman this year. Eggman is upset that he can't even win a simple game of checkers. Sonic then decides that since Eggman has a few seconds left, in the spirit of the new year, he challenges him to a dance off. Eggman refuses at first, but Sonic tells him he's serious, as New Year's is a time to let loose and have crazy fun, and what could be more fun than than a dance-off. Eggman then agrees, and dances off against Sonic. Five extended seconds to midnight, Sonic tries a spin dance, but loses control and spins into a pile of boxes. Four extended seconds to midnight, Sonic tells Eggman he won. An ecstatic Eggman boasts to everyone, only to realize they're all still slowed down. He then shuts off his slow-motion machine, putting everyone and everything back to its normal speed. The Ball Bot reaches the bottom of the pole, and the new year begins. As the fireworks go off, Eggman boasts to everyone about how he beat Sonic. No one believes him, so he tells them about the dance-off. Sonic tells Eggman that since it technically happened in the blink of an eye, nobody saw anything, except for him. He then wishes Eggman a happy New Year, as does Eggman with him. Knuckles then tells Sonic and Eggman that he saw his shadow, and there will be six more weeks of winter. Sonic and Eggman laugh this off and watch the fireworks together.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Agitated Item Stomping: Eggman does this with a checker when he loses to Sonic in a game of checkers.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Non-serious example; Eggman manages to beat Sonic in a dance-off. However, because it technically happened in the blink of an eye, no one but Sonic witnessed it.
- By "No", I Mean "Yes": This line from Eggman:Eggman: Sonic, my little friend! And by "Friend", I mean "Enemy". Happy New Year! And by "Happy", I mean "Awful", and by "New Year", I mean "Not Yet New Year".
- Didn't Think This Through: When Eggman tries to fire a laser at Sonic, the effects of the slow-motion machine cause it to move slowly, giving Sonic enough time to easily dodge it. He also calls in a swarm of Bee Bots, only to find out they're affected by the slow-motion machine as well. The same thing also happens to the coin Sonic tosses into the air when he does a coin toss.
- Down to the Last Play: With just seconds left before the end of the year, Eggman tries one more time to get a win over Sonic by having a dance-off. Eggman wins, finally fulfilling his New Year's resolution from the previous year.
- Et Tu, Brute?: When Knuckles accidentally drops and breaks the New Year's ball thanks to Sticks' distraction, Tails jokes about how the echidna really "dropped the ball". His offended friends' reactions are what you'd expect.Tails: Not...cool?
- Flipping the Table: Eggman does this twice in games of checkers, and once in a game of majong. In the latter checkers game and the majong game, the effects of the slow-motion machine cause the pieces to float in mid-air.
- Gilligan Cut: As Soar reports on the New Year's Eve festivities, he says it would be hard to find anyone not having a great time that night. Cut to Eggman playing a game of checkers with Orbot and not enjoying it.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Eggman is so desperate to get one win over Sonic before the year ends that he challenges him to a large number of games while time is slowed down around them. The games they play include dominos, hopscotch, pole vaulting, a coin toss, ping-pong, bingo, gin rummy, chess, and checkers. Eggman loses every time, and it's not until Sonic challenges him to a dance-off (and may or may not have intentionally threw the competition) that Eggman finally notches a victory.
- Heads or Tails?: Sonic does a coin toss, but because the coin is affected by Eggman's slow-motion machine, the coin takes a really long time to fall.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: As mentioned above, no one but Sonic is aware that Eggman beat him at something. Not to mention that Sonic just let him win out of pity.
- Metaphorgotten: Eggman suggests, while time is slowed down around him and Sonic, they settle things "one on one, mono a mono, peaches and cream".Sonic: Did you just say "peaches and cream"?
- New Year Has Come: The episode takes place on New Year's Eve.
- New Year's Resolution: The plot of this episode involves Eggman trying to fulfill his resolution from the previous year; to beat Sonic at something once.
- Not This One, That One: There's a Running Gag throughout this episode of Knuckles confusing New Year's for Easter, Halloween, Christmas, and Groundhog Day, in that order.
- Slow Motion: Eggman invents a device to slow down time from Orbot's slow cooker so it can give him enough time to fulfill his resolution from the previous year.
