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YMMV / Sonic Boom

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General subjective tropes

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    The Boom Continuity As A Whole 
  • Base-Breaking Character: Knuckles. While he does seem genuinely funny to watch, his characterization is influenced by his comical first appearance which didn't sit well with fans that favor his more serious personality from the Adventure games. That's not to say he's completely unrecognizable with his Sega counterpart, but it's certainly the most noticeable of the personality tweaks applied to the cast. Despite this, he's possibly one of the most popular characters of the series due to sheer entertainment and meme factor.
  • Broken Base: The redesigned characters are perhaps the most polarizing aspect of the Boom franchise. One side likes them for helping to differentiate the Boom universe from the modern Sonic universe and emphasizing several character traits that one would otherwise need to see in action to learn about, while others regard them as unnecessary and cluttered (such as the memetic sports tape). Most contentious is Knuckles. On one hand, you have people who feel that turning him into a Top-Heavy Guy helps to emphasize his Super-Strength better than his regular Noodle People design does, but then you have people who don't like how his entire silhouette has been changed or feel that his new proportions make him look ugly.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse: From across both Rise of Lyric and the show, Perci is a popular character due to her design. She is a minor character whose original intentions were cut from the game, and she is one of the few Rise of Lyric non-playable characters to appear in the show, with an episode dedicated to her appearance.
  • Fan Nickname:
    • Sonic Uncharted (the fact the game's got former Naughty Dog team members working on it makes the connection even more amusing).
    • "Biggles" for Knuckles, considering how his large stature is comparable to Big the Cat.
      • "Buffles", another nickname for Knuckles.
      • "Hulkles" on occasion.
      • "Torso the Echidna" is gaining steam as well.
      • "Bara the Echidna" is somewhat common.
    • Popular derogatory nicknames for Rise of Lyric include "Sonic '14" and "Sonic '06 2." "Shattered Dreams", while less common, has been making some rounds for Shattered Crystal. And both games in general tend to get "Sanic Boom"/"Sanic Bum"/"Sanic Doom" as a form of mockery.
  • Franchise Original Sin: This was on the first attempts in the Sonic franchise to mature Amy's character into a more lucid intellectual. Many agree however that the change is more nuanced here as she retains a lot of her old quirks just lower key (and even gains some new ones) and while testing her new role as The Smart Girl in many episodes, is still just as game to the comedy and whimsy as every other character, while later works tended to take this approach to an extreme and make her level headed to the point of barely even being the same character anymore.
  • Memetic Mutation:
  • Overshadowed by Controversy: The entire Sonic Boom sub-franchise has effectively been tainted by Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, and you'll be hard-pressed to find much discussion revolving around the brand that doesn't bring up the game and its Troubled Production, disastrous launch and poor reception. Despite the cartoon and the comics being well received, the franchise was never able to distance itself from the game's bad reputation, with Fire and Ice's first trailer getting massively disliked bombed on YouTube and backlash from fans and critics due to the fact that it's another Sonic Boom Game following Rise of Lyric (despite it being a follow up to the more well received Shattered Crytsal) and people getting turned off by the cartoon just because it's Sonic Boom. Eventually, after several years of trying and failing to improve the franchise's reputation via the cartoon, Sega ultimately decided to give up and kill the brand in 2017 after its second season concluded to focus more on the core Sonic franchise instead.
  • Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Amy. For those who weren't fond of her Stalker with a Crush attitude in the games and comics, many have taken a greater liking to this incarnation. In particular, playing up her Team Mom and Genki Girl traits and severely toning down her obvious affection for Sonic. It's still there, but in a much lesser capacity.
  • Tainted by the Preview: There was a lot of anger when the redesigns were revealed.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: From the very start, when the silhouettes of the new character designs were revealed, many fans went ballistic, especially in regards to Knuckles' new-found buffness. This has, for the most part, died down as fans have seen that the designs adapt better than expected in animation.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Perci is well liked for her design, and would have been a competent action girl. However, she ended up getting cut from the games, and only had one major appearance on the show.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: There's a general agreement that not allowing the characters to have a backstory was a bad move, because it simplified the main characters to archetypes, and missed the opportunity to write good jokes based on said scenarios. In general, Knuckles and Shadow, who both have a fairly detailed background in the main continuity, were simplified and made less interesting - which is odd as Shadow appears to hate Sonic for some unexplained reason, and both Rise of Lyric and the cartoon imply their rivalry has some history, which could have been a decent narrative for an episode or two.

    The Show 
  • Adorkable: Tails. See all of his attempts to woo Zooey in "Tails' Crush" when the advice the others give him fail.
  • Aluminum Christmas Trees: Sticks' conspiracy theories she lists off to Beth in "Mombot" are all real-life conspiracy theories, including the weirdly-specific ones of fluoride in the tap water and diet soda (conspiracy theorists believe fluoride for the former and aspartame for the latter to be Truth Serums).
  • Americans Hate Tingle: While the show was fairly well-received among the Western fans, Russian Sonic fans absolutely loathe it, mostly due to its more comedic tone, poorly-received Adaptational Personality Change in cases such as Knuckles, and just failing to stand up to the more story and action-driven Sonic X. Reversely, the reception of the show's version of Shadow, who is extremely divisive among the Western audiences, has been more positive, with some fans calling him the only good part about the show.
  • And You Thought It Would Fail: With the video games' very poor performance and the Archie Comic's sudden cancellation, many thought that the cartoon would soon follow. Jokes proving to be genuinely funny and some tweaks to the main cast's dynamics have made the cartoon resilient, to the point that it's the first Western-made Sonic animated series to gain a second season since Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM).
  • Anvilicious:
    • "Battle of the Boy Bands" screams (or more accurately sings) in the viewer's face exactly what the writers think about pop music and teen idols.
    • "Nutwork" pulls no punches in its Satire of news media and its viewers. Sticks, of all people, is presented as the voice of reason compared to the greedy TV newscasters and Apathetic Citizens.
  • Base-Breaking Character: Shadow. Many fans who didn't like him in the mainstream series came around and saw him as cool, while many of his fans hate his new voice and found his portrayal as a generic bad guy rather boring and sucks out what made him an interesting character in the first place. And, of course, there are also fans of his that are glad to see a version that can go all-out due to being evil.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: "Mister Eggman" features a catchy "Telephone Hour" parody sung by the villagers (Team Sonic included) when one overhears that Eggman isn't actually a doctor.
  • Broken Base: In a debate that carries over to other sections of the franchise, there's been some arguing about if some of the more self-aware jokes are nice ways to laugh at the franchise's past mistakes or if they are redundant since that jabs at the franchise's Audience-Alienating Era have already been done to death on social media that making them come out of the characters' mouths wouldn't bring anything fresh to them and just come off as unfunny and mean-spirited.
  • Cargo Ship: Tails and his plane. It's actually sort of canon, according to "Dr. Eggman's Tomato Sauce".
  • Comedy Ghetto: Sonic Boom being a comedy show has invoked some Sonic fans to denounce it, in spite of the games moving into comedy as of late. It isn't even the first Sonic TV series with standalone plots and comedic overtones. Though the marketing initially did make it seem like it would be more adventure based and that it would be more in line with the game's somewhat serious tone.
  • Continuity Lockout: While the series has a very loose continuity, the episode Return to Beyond the Valley of the Cubots does require the viewer to be familiar with the videogame Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice, where D-fekt first appears.
  • Cult Classic: The show is gradually picking up this status since it's cancellation, with those who couldn't tune into the weird airing times discovering it on streaming and the humor being appreciated
  • Designated Hero: A mild case in "Alone Again, Unnaturally", where Sonic causes the conflict of the episode by pushing Tails' speed amplifier too far, unjustly breaks Eggman's stuff when he blames him for it, and later refusing to explain how he can move so fast without getting motion sick.
  • Die for Our Ship: Some people who ship Tails with Cream or Cosmo really don't like Zooey, despite those two not existing in this continuity.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Evil Is Cool:
    • Shadow is a complete dick, but he makes up for it in being a No-Nonsense Nemesis, and fairly badass at that.
    • Metal Sonic proves to be one of the most badass characters in the show. Due to not only putting up a decent fight against Team Sonic (as well as Shadow) in both of his appearances, but even almost had a chance of winning.
  • Fandom Rivalry: Aside from the fact mentioned in the Comedy Ghetto entry above and the quality of the games, another factor that caused fans to denounce the show was that news of Friendship is Magic writer Dave Polsky being on board as a major writer and script editor for the show. While there is some friendly overlap between the Sonic and FiM fandoms due to similarities between the two franchises, the more vocal bronies have traditionally been rather harsh to Sonic and his fandom. Sonic fan aversion to FiM comes partially from this and partially from the same reasons as everyone else who doesn't like FiM or bronies. Even today clashes between both camps still happen from time to time, with many of those that are instigated by the vocal bronies comparable to mixing nitro and glycerin.
  • Friendly Fandoms:
  • Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The show has a strong international audience and airs in over 90 countries worldwide. However, it should be noted that the show's lower popularity in America is mostly due to Cartoon Network throwing it under the bus with lazy advertising and poor time slots.
  • Growing the Beard: Season 2 has better episode plots more involved, higher-stakes stories, established writers from the Archie Sonic comics working on it, and takes more risks..
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • After reading a comic book, Sonic comments: "To Be Continued? If I have a comic, I'd never end it like that!" Sonic's Archie comics would later fall victim to exactly that fate.
    • In the Grand Finale, Dr. Eggman shrugs off his defeat by saying "There's always next season". The show was canceled not long after the episode aired.
  • He Really Can Act:
    • Cindy Robinson was an unpopular replacement as Amy's voice actress in her early run in the games, often compared to a woman doing falsetto, affecting a very Minnie Mouse-like voice. Prominent Vocal Evolution arising from the show giving her an expanded role allowed for a more varied range of reactions and lines for the character. This has made more fans deem her a worthy successor to Amy's previous actresses. Her voice would stick to the main franchise, starting in LEGO Dimensions and Sonic Forces. Her voice work in "Give Bees A Chance" is a particular standout, displaying the character from happy giggling to depression to outrage. Also doubles as She Really Can Write, as she wrote the episode herself.
    • The cast in general have had several episodes to polish their voice work for the characters, the more flexible scripts compared to the video games have given them all moments to shine.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • The character D.B. Platypus in "Role Models" is basically a precursor to Dr. Starline in IDW's Sonic comic series.
    • Sonic's refusal to wear pants in "My Fair Sticksy" is quite hilarious as in one of the earlier sketches for the characters, Sonic was originally going to wear them. It became more funny when it was revealed one of Sega's editorial mandates for the Archie and IDW Sonic comics is that male characters can't wear pants.
    • In "Double Doomsday", Tails unintentionally ends up referencing a Sonic meme from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
    • The infamous infinite Knuckles jump glitch from Rise of Lyric. In the episode "Dude, Where's My Eggman?" during his retelling of the events of their recent clash with Dr. Eggman, Knuckles is faster than Sonic, invincibly strong and untouchable, and inexplicably flies off into space. This video sums it up rather nicely.
      • The whole sequence is this in the light of "Two Good to be True" with Knuckles from another dimension who's the leader in his universe.
    • Before the show even aired, somebody created a Twitter blog entirely dedicated to posting bogus summaries of Boom episodes. Among the blatantly false claims about exorcisms and selfies are some predictions that have people joking that whoever created the blog is working on the show:
      • One of the very first posts, from 6th of February in '14, predicts the first episode's plot with scary accuracy. Gets even better when considering how other posts state things such as "Knuckles tries to make Sonic his official sidekick" and "Amy learns to Juggle" [sic].
      • "Eggman fakes an injury and takes Sonic to court with a No win, No Fee company." Guess what. And Knuckles eats (well, tries to eat) a sandwich in that episode, too, though how much cheese it has remains unknown.
      • And the selfies part has become even funnier since a selfie ended up saving the day in "It Takes A Village To Defeat A Hedgehog''.
    • Eggman uses the line "It's no use" in the episode ',Hedgehog Day'', which is about a disruption in the fabric of time, a la Groundhog Day. Now where have we heard that line in a similar context in a Sonic property before...
      • This also occurs with Tails in "Spacemageddonocalypse".
    • In Planes, Trains and Dude-Mobiles, Sonic complains about getting another speeding ticket. In LEGO Dimensions if Sonic is paired up with Batgirl, she'll tell him right up that if he speeds, she's giving him a ticket.
    • One wonders why, in "Eggman: The Video Game: Part 1", Shadow's so touchy about being called weak by Sonic, since he's got no problem doing the same to Infinite.
    • In Mombot, Eggman gets into a heated talk with the titular robot that he made, and marks "I created you, I'm your father. I'm your son!" In Sonic Frontiers, turns out that he took up the former role with his newest creation Sage, who he grew to see as his own daughter over the course of the game.
    • During a fight with Eggman's Ballbots in Do Not Disturb, Knuckles punches one of them in a fashion eerily similar to◊ Saitama. Much later down the line during the sixth Sonic Twitter Takeover, Knuckles reveals that he's been quite into One Punch Man lately.
  • Ho Yay:
    • In the episode "Into the Wilderness", there's a scene where Knuckles literally jumps into Sonic's arms. Sonic acts totally casual about it.
    • "Just a Guy" has the Trio attend one of Amy's sensitivity trainings because Sonic insulted a friend of Knuckles' by mistake. Sonic knows a group hug is incoming; he lowers his eyes and tells the others in effect to just get it over with. Knuckles immediately pulls Sonic to himself, and Sonic starts staring into the distance suddenly looking rather surprised...
    • The entirety of "Bro Down Showdown" for Sonic and Knuckles.
    • Let's not forget "It Wasn't Me, It Was the One-Armed Hedgehog", where Knuckles pretends to be tracking down Sonic to turn him in, playing to his 'stupid, gullible' personality, he's actually trying to throw off the angry mob so he can warn Sonic and protect him. He flat out tells Sonic that he doesn't "want to lose him". Sure, he's being ditzy and saying he's 'a valuable member of Team Knuckles', but still.
  • Hype Backlash: While the show has a good following among the fanbase, some fans aren't too fond of the show and find the massive amount of hype it gets ridiculous. Said fans find the show a generic comedy series with the Sonic cast slapped on it as they play the typical cartoon tropes that have been done to death and the frequent metacommentary humor can get old very quick and feels pale compared to how shows like The Amazing World of Gumball do it a lot better.
  • Improved Second Attempt: Sonic and Amy's dynamic going from an obsessive Stalker with a Crush he's terrified of to a member of his True Companions who happens to have a (very poorly hidden) crush on him is generally agreed to both be more tolerable than the 2000's era videogames and also a lot funnier.
  • Jerkass Woobie:
    • Eggman, surprisingly. As the show progresses, it becomes apparent that he's fairly unhappy in some parts of his life. This Eggman has slipped into a deep depression at least once, and has smaller moments of despondency throughout the series, as listed below:
      • In the episode "Mombot" he laments that he's never had anyone give him unconventional love, and mentions having an emotional void that only his rivalry with Sonic can fill. One style guide for the series says that "if Eggman snagged a legit invite to Sonic’s next sleepover, then Eggman would consider it a real victory”.
      • The episode "Mister Eggman" also shows Eggman suffering from deep insecurity about his ability to finish school, not helped by the village going out of its way to make his class harder for him (although it is a class in villainy). None of this excuses his behavior, but it does seem like his boastful and aggressive actions are covering up his internal pain.
    • Charlie, a guy who was fired after Knuckles kept pestering him, but eventually found a better job, got married and led an even better life than before. Despite him holding no grudge against Knuckles, the echinda keeps trying to make amends and gets him fired again. Seeing his entire life crumble before him, Charlie goes mad with the idea of getting revenge on Knuckles and has since taken up supervillainy as pretty much his only joke. Disproportionate Retribution his grudge against Knuckles may be, but it's impossible not to feel at least an ounce of sympathy towards him.
  • Just Here for Godzilla:
    • Some fans who may not really be into the characters watch the show mainly because of Dr. Eggman, along with fan favorite voice actor Mike Pollock reprising his role as Dr. Eggman.
    • The mere appearance of Shadow the Hedgehog made "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog" extremely popular before its debut in the US, so much the translation of the French name was made the English title. The 2-parter episode "Eggman: The Video Game" also followed the suit due to the same reason.
    • Similarly, "It Wasn't Me, It Was the One-Armed Hedgehog" was popular specifically because of Metal Sonic's appearance. This may explain why it and "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog" were both included in the DVD sampler that comes with the Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice game.
  • Magnificent Bastard ("Robots from the Sky" four-parter): Hypnobot, Tails' robot with a Hypno Ray, is given sentience after being abandoned, swearing revenge on his creator. To this end, Hypnobot sent the robots of Sonic's world to assault Tails and the village, while controlling the robots who saved him to create a stronghold in Morristown. With Team Sonic splitting up, Hypnobot is able to overwhelm both factions, injuring Sonic and nearly killing Tails before being knocked out of the sky. Once rescued by Eggman, the two form a coalition, with Hypnobot controlling their combined forces. Team Sonic, vastly outmatched, only narrowly win the final battle when they build cyborg duplicates to double their manpower. In a series where the heroes Curb-Stomp their foes regularly, Hypnobot stands out as one of Team Sonic's most formidable villains.
  • Memetic Mutation:
    • Knuckles Explains Feminism
    • Hawaiian◊ Shirt◊ Shadow,◊ from a false rumor started by someone pretending to be working on the show. Anyone who was actually expecting this is going to be disappointed when Shadow appeared.
      • On a lesser note, Chubby Silver.
    • "I didn't even bring any weapons. Here, check my pants!"
    • The scene where Eggman literally cheated on his ballots by stuffing it with his own name, and it's very compatible with the Super Smash Bros. ballots memes.
    • Using any of Knuckles' quotes from past games, mostly "Unlike Sonic I don't chuckle" and "Oh no". Explanation 
    • "RADICAL SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE!"
    • Congratulations! Your meme has been approved! Explanation 
  • Moe: Amy. Admit it, she's downright huggable.
    • Tails also more than qualifies.
      • Tails' love interest Zooey as well. They make an adorable couple.
    • Sticks, Knuckles, Sonic, and Beth the Shrew also qualify.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Shadow backflips his way over this in "Eggman: The Video Game", where he decides to destroy the entire universe over being insulted by Sonic. He's well aware of the destructive paradox having two Eggmen in the same place is, and is willing to activate it out of spite.
  • More Popular Spin-Off: The show is recognized as being the best thing to come out of the Boom franchise. So much so that Fire & Ice ignores the games' continuity and was made to resemble the show, taking place sometime in its second season. The second season actually backed this up, too; antagonist Defekt turns up in one episode during the later half of the season itself.
  • Narm:
    • Sonic's speech in "Just A Guy" tries to be either awesome or shocking, but thanks to his repeated voice cracking, can come off as this.
    • Shadow's voice, to some, insisting that he sounds older than he should, although one could make the case that he could be older than Main!Shadow, who is at least 50 years old.
      • Season One Shadow had a growly Batman-esque voice, while his Season 2 voice is much smoother and less aggressive-sounding.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
    • Despite the show being a comedy, there was a moment of horror when Sonic, under the influence of his mecha suit, nearly murders Eggman. Luckily, his friends were able to pull him to his senses before he did it.
    • There's also the scene in "I Can Sea Sonic's Fear From Here" where Sonic, who is already terrified as it is (being underwater, since water is his worst fear), gets his air hose cut by one of Eggman's robots, leaving him to nearly suffocate to death. Fortunately, his friends get to him in time, but not before he spends an entire minute of the episode frantically gasping for air. It's no wonder that he's even more terrified of water by the end of the episode...
    • The Bike Chain Bandit, an Ax-Crazy Hostile Hitchhiker from the episode, "Planes, Trains, and Dude-Mobiles". Knuckles, thinking that Sonic and Tails need company on their way to the Dude-itude concert they're going to perfom at, somehow thinks that picking up the Bike Chain Bandit on a dark and stormy night is a good idea. The Bike Chain Bandit is described by a radio broadcast as a large, snaggle-toothed opossum wearing a trenchcoat, and carrying a duffle bag filled with bicycle chains. The Bike Chain Bandit attempts to choke Knuckles with a bicycle chain while Knuckles is still driving the Dude-Mobile, but fortunately for Knuckles, is kicked out of the Dude-Mobile by Sonic.
    • Tails as a Beebot Cyborg in "You and I Bee-come One", as he eventually goes against his allies and connects to other Bee-bots, is quite nightmarish.
    • Beth the Shrew nearly getting crushed by a garbage compacter in "Don't Make Me Angry". Grade-A Parental Fear fuel.
    • Grade-A+ Parental Fear Fuel: "Three Men and My Baby!" sees Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles looking after Lady Walrus' baby, Chumley. Tails points out the baby can't eat solid foods, Sonic says, "Well, then, put it in the blender" ("it" being the chili dog). Knuckles takes this to mean the baby, and almost puts him in before Sonic stops him.
    • Despite mostly being a comedic Straw Fan, Mark in "The Biggest Fan" is incredibly unsettling, even before he kidnaps Sonic and traps him in his house.
  • Older Than They Think:
  • One-Scene Wonder:
    • The man in the Sonic costume taking out his trash (portrayed by AJ from Random Encounters) during "Just A Guy".
    • Amy's surprise appearance in "9 to 5 Knuckles", where she not so subtly rips apart Barker's argument, delivers a Badass Boast, and gets so furious her friends have to restrain her from ripping him a new one.
  • Periphery Demographic: Due to some edgy politically-incorrect jokes, the series has gotten some fame in Imageboards like 8chan's comics and cartoons board.
  • Questionable Casting: In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, Shadow was voiced in his first appearance by Carlos Seidl, who, while a good voice actor, has a voice that clearly does not fit the character. Luckily, Reginaldo Primo (Shadow's Brazilian voice in Sonic X) was brought back to voice the character when he came back in Season 2.
  • Recurring Fanon Character: E-vay, well known for her Sonic Boom fanart and comics, created a fan child for Sonic and Amy named "Aurora". She's popular among Sonamy fans and gets many fanworks in turn based on her, including fan games.
  • Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
    • Sticks is pretty divisive due to her not having many important roles in episodes and her Cloud Cuckoo Lander tendencies becoming grating. It also didn't help that the animosity towards her for her role in the tie-in games that debuted with the show carried over to here. However, she did win over a couple of more fans in the second season, where her tendency to hate technology and believe everything is a conspiracy was toned down and made funnier when utilized, while her other traits were given more focus to add to her character, and she got focus equal to the rest of the team.
    • Shadow in the licensed Boom games is generally not very well-liked, as even many people who usually like him feel that his Adaptational Villainy made him nothing more than a flat Jerkass. The Shadow from this show on the other hand, while still divisive, is held in better regard as people feel that his Adaptational Villainy is used in a way that makes him cool rather than hateable.
  • So Okay, It's Average: The show has somewhat mixed reputation. Upon airing it had generally favorable reception both within and outside of Sonic fandom, praised for its metacommentary humor. But in the grand scale of animations, it tends to get overshadowed by the other Cartoon Network shows of the time like Regular Show and The Amazing World of Gumball, which did the similar style of humor more consistently.
  • Special Effect Failure:
    • All liquid effects in the show look very low quality. For example, the slime animation in "Buster", especially if you compare it to the one in Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.
    • For a character intended to have Super-Speed, Sonic moves in what could be best described as a brisk jog much of the time, especially on close-up shots of him. He will still leave a blur as if he's going much faster.
    • Most fans state that while the humor is good, the body animation is a bit on the stiff side, with even the console game cutscenes (not the in-game ones) looking more fluid.
    • In general, the episodes of Season 1 animated by SAMG are of noticeably lower quality then the ones done in-house by Technicolor Animation. Once Technicolor took over Season 2's production entirely, many of these issues (along with other problems like inconsistent lighting and rendering, or physics simulations looking clunky) would be ironed out over time.
  • Squick: Orbot preparing orange juice by squeezing the orange against his 'teeth' and then having the juice squirt out into the glass through his finger. Even Eggman is creeped out.
  • Spiritual Successor: Due to the comedic focus of the series, its island-based setting, and similarities to some of its major characters, it could be argued that this show is currently the closest thing we have to a Crash Bandicoot cartoon.
  • Stealth Pun: Cubot is square and is dim-witted. He's a blockhead.
  • Suspiciously Similar Song:
    • Episode 9, "Guilt Tripping", has a couple of obvious riffs, one to The A-Team theme and another to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
    • Episode 14, "The Meteor", has a wrestling video game with background music that sounds just like the level start riff from Pac-Man.
    • Comedy Chimp's routine in "Don't Judge Me", the chase scene in "Battle of the Boy Bands", and the pillow fight in "Cabin Fever" all use a song that sounds remarkably like "Yakety Sax".
    • In "Let's Play Musical Friends", the game that starts with a level that looks suspiciously like Green Hill Zone has music to match.
    • The logo theme that plays prior to Eggman's movie in "Eggman the Auteur" sounds almost exactly like the 20th Century Fox logo theme.
    • In "Next Top Villain", when Dave's plan creates disco-style lighting, Knuckles turns on music that sounds suspiciously like "YMCA".
    • In "Battle of the Boy Bands", Sonic's rock band Dude-itude plays a song remarkably similar to "Can't Stop" and "Give it Away" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
    • "Late Night Wars" adds a "Stayin' Alive" soundalike.
    • "Alone Again, Unnaturally" has music tracks reminiscent of the intro music and the main theme from Back to the Future.
    • During "FiendBot", while FriendBot fights Eggman's big robots a piece of music that sounds like the Pacific Rim theme plays in the background.
    • The climax of "Blackout" has an Indiana Jones soundalike as they're escaping a collapsing ancient temple after stealing an artifact. Makes sense, really.
    • Team Sonic's soccer match in the beginning of "Eggman's Anti Gravity Ray" is accompanied by a song that's almost identical to Van Halen's Jump.
    • "Victory" uses a song similar to the Eddie Murphy song "Party All The Time" (produced by Rick James).
    • During the montage in If You Build It They Will Race, where Team Sonic individually designs their own car, the music played is practically the opening riff to Knight Rider.
  • Tear Jerker: In spite of being a very upbeat comedy, there's enough examples to earn it a page.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
    • For a character so heavily touted as Original Generation, Sticks does next to nothing in almost every episode where she's not directly-tied to the plot. In such cases, she's lucky to get a few lines ranting about people getting mind-controlled, and if she isn't, expect her to be there to simply fill out group shots. Entire episodes exist without her even getting a single line of dialogue beyond reusing her trilling battlecry.
    • Among the original cast, Zooey, Tails's Love Interest, doesn't really have much in the way of a character or focus. At least the show doesn't forget her, as episodes made after "Tails's Crush" remember to point out their relationship from time to time, though only offhandedly in-passing. At least she fares better than Fiona or Cosmo.
    • Team Cybonic had potential to be The Cavalry for the main team if they ever needed help, or maybe become friendly rivals. Instead, they only get one other appearance outside their debut, and spend most of that appearance as Eggman's minions.
  • Unexpected Character: While it was known ahead of time that another mainline Sonic character would be moved into the Boom universe, Vector's debut was quite the surprise; people were expecting a more well-known choice, such as Blaze or Silver, after the previous transplants were fan-favorites like Shadow and Metal Sonic.
  • Vindicated by History: After years of struggling through both the disastrously handled games and Cartoon Network's poor distribution and promotion (leading to the series ending off after two seasons), the series has become a Cult Classic thanks to streaming and a surprisingly successful series of DVD releases allowing more to discover the series and appreciate the sharp writing, dry humor, and fun animation.
  • The Woobie:
    • Orbot and Cubot. Constantly belittled, abused, treated as disposable tools, and they spend all their time being the butt of jokes. Funny ones to be sure, but it's still enough to feel pity for the little guys. Particularly after "Dude, Where's My Eggman?"
    • Tails anytime an episode revolves around him and his inventions since they often backfire and all of his friends (Sonic usually being the exception) turn on him and rip him a new one when all he's trying to do is help.
    • Sonic himself can count. His rant in "Just A Guy" sums it up very well: he is hardly ever shown any appreciation for saving the village every week, and it seems that the only time that anyone notices what he does is when he does something wrong. Oh, and not to mention how quick the villagers and even his own friends are to turn on him (with absolutely no one coming to his defense)...

    The Games 
  • Accidental Innuendo: From Shattered Crystal:
    Amy: Oh, I'm great! Nothing like having your mind violated by a giant mutant robot snake. It's like a spa day.
    • In fact, a good half of Lyric's and Amy's interactions can sound off when taken out of context:
    Lyric (when Amy threatens to make good use of his skin): If you're lucky I'll let you wear CHAINS when this is over.
    • And in Rise of Lyric, when Lyric realizes that Team Sonic are wearing his Enerbeams, the camera is focused on Amy's wrist, but, unfortunately, in a way that makes it appear that he's looking at her lower half.
    • In Rise of Lyric's Spanish dub, one of Sonic's possible phrases when charging his Spin Dash is "¡Es hora de enrollarse!", supposed to mean "It's time to roll up!" but it can also mean "It's time to make out!".
  • Base-Breaking Character: Lyric. Some fans see him as a bland Generic Doomsday Villain who's just there to usurp the plot from Eggman like the Deadly Six. Others are more welcoming and see his Knight of Cerebus status as a perfect foil to Eggman's Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The main characters do the robot at Amy's House if you unlock all the badges in Shattered Crystal.
  • Critical Dissonance: Shattered Crystal has gotten this treatment in contrast to the universal bile Rise of Lyric has gotten. Most mainstream reviewers hate it as much as they hate Rise of Lyric, while some fans are at least willing to give it a chance, believing that while the game has its flaws, it's at the least a slight step up from the Wii U version.
  • Designated Hero: Shadow in Shattered Crystal is supposed to be seen as something of a '90s Anti-Hero, but many instead see his Enemy Mine situation as making him more evil. Not to mention he's very much a Jerkass anyways. This seems to have been corrected in the tv show by straight up making him evil.
  • Memetic Mutation: What do you get when you mix fire... with ice?
  • The Problem with Licensed Games: Shattered Crystal has gotten more positive reception due to having a more coherent plot (there's even a comic drawn by the Archie staff to explain some things), faster gameplay and better use of exploration and platforming that it feels like a true Sonic game. However, there are still several problems, including the levels being too long, being unable to play as Amy in this version, forced uses of rival races and Worm Robot runs to advance the game, and only one boss fight (Lyric at the end).
  • Replacement Scrappy: A lot of people weren't happy with the fact that Sticks replaces Amy as the fourth playable character in Shattered Crystal, especially since the latter ends up as a Damsel in Distress to justify this.
  • Salvaged Story: One of the complaints against Shattered Crystal was the fact that Sticks replaced Amy as the fourth playable character. Fire & Ice rectifies this by having both Amy and Sticks playable.
  • So Okay, It's Average:
    • Shattered Crystal has received more favourable reception from players (see The Problem with Licensed Games) with the general consensus being that while it has its own share of faults, it is at the least much better than Rise of Lyric due to being free of the technical problems that plague Rise of Lyric, having faster gameplay and better use of exploration to where it feels like a true Sonic game.
    • This was the general reaction to Fire & Ice. Although it's considered a decent enough game, multiple reviewers feel it comes up short in several areas, and that it's not truly outstanding in any way. It was certainly not enough to help save the franchise's reputation, at any rate.
  • Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Fire & Ice received middle-of-the-road reviews, a step up from Shattered Crystal and especially Rise of Lyric.
  • Tainted by the Preview:

    The Comics 
  • Awesome Art: Sonic Boom is among the most gorgeous looking comics in the Sonic franchise.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: The series gets a second chance with a new 3DS game, just as word of the comic's cancellation dropped at the same time.
  • Tear Jerker: In Issue 4 When Sticks want to help her friends but they think her Rock Of Justice is silly conspicuous nonsense. The fact she becomes blue out of sadness and even starts busting into tears adds quite a bit to it as well.
    • When Sonic realizes his friends are missing towards the end of issue 6.

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