Poll: Sonic & co.'s new VA

[Durxom]

For those who didn't know, after the release of Sonic Unleashed, Sega and Sonic Team went up and did a massive overhaul of the Sonic franchise, with one of those main things being a complete voice cast change.

No longer using their previous cast(which was the 4Kids Sonic X cast), they have went and pretty much recast every single character in the franchise, except for Mike Pollock(the voice of Dr. Eggman/Robotnik), and have made their first appearances starting with Sonic Free Riders, and Sonic Colors.

The 2 most interesting changes to the cast are with the 2 main hedgehogs themselves, Sonic and Shadow. Both characters used to be done by Jason Griffith, but now, the super sonic blue hedgehog is now being voiced by Roger Craig Smith, who most people probably know as Ezio Auditore da Firenze from Assassin's Creed 2/Brotherhood or as Chris Redfield from Resident Evil 5. Shadow on the other hand, is now being voiced by Kirk Thornton, who people might know as Saix from the Kingdom Hearts series, Jin from Samurai Champloo, or Kisame Hoshigaki from Naruto.

So with that said, here's an example video showing some of the new voices:

And with that....thoughts? opinions? etc.?

* also I know there's probably either going to be backlash, or old school Sonic fan backlash, but please, try and keep it civil *

 

[mjc0961]

For those who didn't know, after the release of Sonic Unleashed, Sega and Sonic Team went up and did a massive overhaul of the Sonic franchise, with one of those main things being a complete voice cast change.

Overhaul? Looks like all the same nonsense as always to me.

As far as the voices go, my brother was playing Sonic Colors and I did notice that for once, Tails actually sounded like a young male rather than a screeching little girl, so +1 to SEGA for that. And their new Sonic guy sounds almost the same as their old Sonic guys (there is a noticeable difference, but it's not huge). They could have made it a lot worse, so they get another +1 there. Sadly, that still leaves them at around -98 or so.

Also, as long as we're talking about Sonic game voice actors...

Spoiler: Try to ignore the random Puddle of Mudd lyrics in the background

He really was the best voice actor and of these games has ever seen. R.I.P.

 

[GloatingSwine]

Still pretty fucking terrible, really. They sound less like a bunch of half paid amateurs, but still not really like they're actual, y'know, people. (albeit short fuzzy ones).

The problem is that good voice actors alone aren't enough. You also have to have good voice direction, someone to actually prompt and motivate the actors into giving the performance that fits their character.

Edit: Also, Chikao Otsuka is still the best VA in the sonic series. His version of Eggman is just fun, and fits both the sinister and wacky versions whenever they're used. Probably comes of being one of the most experienced voice actors anywhere in the world. (The rest of the Japanese cast is pretty much as crap as the English one)

 

[Durxom]

Overhaul? Looks like all the same nonsense as always to me.

I guess you missed the part where Sega pretty much said that they are trying to appeal to its 90's and newer fans with the Sonic games they are know coming out with, and will effectively remove a game from retail, if it ends up getting a poor to average rating on Metacritic. They are actually trying to improve the appeal of the character and franchise again, after the past few bumps and mis-steps it has had.

Article: Sega Removing "Poor" and "Average" Sonic Titles from Retail

 

[ChaoshadowZero]

I think they sound OK, except for Shadow and Rouge; they both just don't suit those voices. And Amy, who just sounds annoying.

Knuckles gets points for being voiced by Travis Willingham though; that's Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist and Free from Soul Eater by the way.

 

[godfist88]

for the most part the voices are better, jets voice is kinda annoying though.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I know a bit about voicework, and honestly I think the problem with voice work in a lot of japanese games and media (especially sonic related) has never been completely the voice actors' faults. It seems more like bad voice direction overall. Craig Smith's sonic fluctuates his voice in the same awkward over the top manner that Griffith's did, and most of the other characters have the same kind of thing going on.

Did Ezio emote even remotely like that? No. Not in the slightest. Notice how it's directed by Ubisoft, a french company. Did Chris Redfield talk like that? Not really, maybe a little bit, but he was doing voiceover for capcom, a japanese company. But put him in a recording booth with some jackoff from sonic team who won't be satisfied until the line sounds overacted to shit and he's going to sound just as weird as the last guy everyone hated. That's how ANYONE is going to sound, regardless of talent, because that's what they're told to do.

I don't really give a shit though. I haven't played a sonic game since the 'cube.

 

[Soxafloppin]

Tails is ALOT better from the last time I heard it (Sonic Heros)

 

[Durxom]

I think they sound OK, except for Shadow and Rouge; they both just don't suit those voices. And Amy, who just sounds annoying.

Knuckles gets points for being voiced by Travis Willingham though; that's Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist and Free from Soul Eater by the way.

I personally think both of them are fine, Shadow's especially since now it almost sounds like his original VA. And really, Travis Willingham is doing Knucks know? Knuckles is now being voiced by Guile, that and Vector is now giving off a Balrog vibe.