Team Sonic Racing Overdrive is a duo of web-cartoon shorts meant to advertise Team Sonic Racing. They're by Neko Produtions, the same who previously made the Sonic Mania shorts Sonic Mania Adventures.
The shorts can be seen combined together here
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Team Sonic Racing Overdrive provides examples of:
- Adapted Out: The animation only focuses on Team Sonic's interactions with either Team Rose or Team Dark and Eggman's attempts to cheat, so none of the other characters from the game appear.
- Autobots, Rock Out!: Twice, and with the same song, no less.
- The finale, Shadow vs. Team Sonic, starts with Shadow smashing right through Eggman's egg-pawn as an instrumental track of Crush 40's "Green Light Ride" starts to play.
- At the climax, Shadow has Team Sonic on the ropes—he knocks Sonic and Tails too far back to catch up, and despite Knuckles' best efforts, the echidna can only help Tails get up to speed. Then Sonic sees a potential shortcut, and the "Green Light Ride" vocals immediately kick in.
- Brick Joke: Team Sonic's Team Overdrive blast Shadow's car out of sight. Then later, at the award ceremony, the same car falls out from the sky onto Eggman.
- Comedic Sociopathy: Shadow runs over a Egg Pawn disguised as a cat that Rouge had the heart to stop at, ignores his teammates' distress, and forcefully takes a Chao's popcorn and making it cry, all Played for Laughs.
- The Comically Serious: Big faces every situation in the story with a perpetually dull expression, and Shadow acts no-nonsense unless Sonic is annoying him.
- Cel Shading: Like with the Eggmobile in Sonic Mania Adventures, the vehicles, while clearly CG, are colored and shaded well enough that they don't stand out from the traditionally-drawn racers...except for Omega, who is also CG.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Team Rose isn't seen in the second episode. The combined version repurposes The Stinger for episode one as an explanation for why (though it still doesn't explain Big's absence).
- Denser and Wackier: While the previous mini series was similarly lighthearted, it had a more standard Sonic story, with Eggman seeking the Chaos Emeralds and clashing with the heroes. Here, the heroes are competing in a race while Eggman tries to sabotage them.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: Exaggerated. Eggman spends so much time cheating he never actually joins in the race itself, but still clearly thinks he's participating in spirit—he even goes so far as to steal the trophy right out of Tails' hands at the awards ceremony, kiss it, and dance his cares away as if he actually won it himself.
- Drop the Cow: Sonic and pals win the race with a Team Overdrive that blasts Shadow's car into the sky, but during the awards ceremony, Eggman steals their trophy and happily dances with it, as if he were the winner. His celebrations are cut short when Shadow's car lands on him.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Eggman successfully uses an egg-pawn disguised as a cat to obstruct Rouge, who mistakes it for a real cat and crashes her car trying to avoid it. However, when he tries this trick on Shadow, the hedgehog does not hesitate to drive through it, with Eggman gaping at his callousness.
- Failed Attempt at Drama: Knuckles jumps out of his car to deflect a bomb from the Chao quartet aimed at Sonic, strikes a cool pose... and then tumbles down the road and is slammed back on his seat. Despite several bumps on his head and missing teeth he gives a thumbs up at Sonic, who gestures back while looking concerned.
- For the Evulz: Dr. Eggman isn't participating in the story's race, but he starts a scheme to sabotage the other racers anyway.
- Hope Spot: Not long after Rouge's attempt to get Omega to bail her out of a crash ends with two crashed cars instead of one, Rouge realizes Shadow is approaching—the guitars of "All Hail Shadow" revving up—and tries to wave him down only for him to blast right past his teammates, taking his theme music with him.
- I Shall Taunt You: Sonic, Amy, Rouge and Knuckles do this when they get ahead of their opponents. Sonic even shows off his mad drifting skills by turning his car and driving in reverse in front of Shadow.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Rouge goes out of her way to get under Knuckles' skin, which naturally blows up in her face.
- Rouge rips Knuckles right out of the race by puncturing his tires with a spike-wisp, but is too busy laughing at the echidna to catch the Egg Pawn in the middle of the street until it's nearly too late. Her last-second dodge crashes her car into a boulder.
- With both Rouge and Knuckles seemingly out of the race, Rouge attempts to get under Knuckles skin again by calling her teammate Omega to come rescue her—and Omega immediately crashes his car as well, right into hers. Rouge looks away from the crash, only to find Tails has arrived and replaced Knuckles' tire, putting Team Sonic back in the race and giving Knuckles the opportunity to get in some mocking laughter of his own.
- The egg-pawn sent in to sabotage everyone it can ultimately meets its end when it tries to get in Shadow's way... only for the ultimate life form to plow right through it.
- A double-whammy with Brick Joke occurs during the awards ceremony, when Eggman (who didn't even race) steals Team Sonic's hard-earned trophy and gloats over it. This comes to a prompt end when Shadow's car—sent flying by Team Sonic's Team Overdrive during the race itself—lands on him like a load of bricks.
- Rouge goes out of her way to get under Knuckles' skin, which naturally blows up in her face.
- The Load: Omega of Team Dark, whose attempt to rescue Rouge after she crashed her car is to crash his own car into hers and take himself out of the race as well.
- Look Both Ways:
- The main gag of the first episode. Big notices a salesman selling Froggy goods on the other side of the road, and after some hesitation decides to cross it. Sloooowly. Everyone else crashes into each other while trying to avoid him.
- Eggman tries it twice in the second episode using an Egg Pawn dressed (poorly) as a stray cat. Rouge swerves into a boulder to avoid the robot, but Shadow plows it over without a second thought.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The Chao, Amy and Sonic freak out when they see Big calmly tip toeing across the track and have no way to avoid him. Shadow, as stoic as ever, merely looks disgruntled as he also braces for impact.
- Mime and Music-Only Cartoon: The series has no dialogue, though an unseen announcer calls out the name of every Wisp attack used.
- Musical Nod: Brief arrangements of "Lazy Days ~ Livin' in Paradise", "Unknown from M.E.", "I'm a Spy ...for Security Hall", "Believe in Myself", and "All Hail Shadow" play at certain points.
- Mythology Gag:
- When the Chao pass by the Egg Pawn's merchandise stand, the Egg Pawn changes it to be decorated like the Black Market from Sonic Adventure 2.
- When Shadow steals a bag of popcorn from a Chao in the audience, the Chao starts crying and its body changes to a slightly darker color, the same color that baby Chao turn when they're on the path to becoming Dark Chaonote .
- In Shadow the Hedgehog, one scene presents Shadow with an easily-accessible chaos emerald, prompting him to declare, "This is like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me." Apparently, taking popcorn from a Chao is just fine by him, too.
- Sonic mocks Shadow by going in reverse right in front of him, something he did to Sam Speed's team in the first Sonic X episode (albeit without a car).
- Similarly, Knuckles saving Sonic from a bomb by jumping toward it and punching it away mid-air is something he previously did in an early Sonic X episode.
- Not So Above It All: In The Stinger for the first episode, Amy is upset at the Chao for also being distracted by the Egg Pawn's merchandise. Then he brings out some hammers, and she immediately gets an exclamation mark over her head to match the Chao's antennae.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Eggman had his Egg Pawn(s) disguise a souvenir shop owner and a stray cat as part of his plan to sabotage the race.
- The Power of Friendship: Sonic, Tails and Knuckles help each other throughout the race, but Shadow refuses to spare any time for his teammates' troubles. This gets him blue-shelled out at the very end when Team Sonic is able to perform a combined turbo to the finish line.
- Shmuck Bait: Eggman leaves one of his minions by the side of the track selling merchandise to distract the members of Team Rose.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here/This Is Gonna Suck: During the finale, while Shadow seems a shoo-in for first place, Team Sonic is able to collect themselves and boost to the finish. Shadow, once he realizes what's going to happen, is completely put out and effectively quits on the spot, Chaos Controlling over to the stands to join the other members of Team Dark while Team Sonic blasts his car away.
- Token Good Teammate: Omega of Team Dark, a good-spirited bumbler who can't read the room to save his life but is pleased to try anyway. When Rouge calls for rescue, Omega answers by crashing his car into hers; when Rouge kicks his car in frustration, he kicks it after she does and offers her a thumbs up. When Shadow is ultimately shut out of a victory by Team Sonic, he moves to the stands to join Rouge in a sulk, with Omega next to them holding a Team Sonic flag.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Sonic and Knuckles as usual. Near the end we can see Sonic pulling a Bunny Ears Picture Prank on the red echidna.
- The Voiceless: Much like Sonic Mania Adventures, no dialogue is heard in these shorts—the actions the characters do speak for them.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Team Rose disappears from the animation after the end of the first episode.
- Would Hurt a Child: Shadow targets Tails with a Wisp and even grins as he watches the young fox spin out of control.
