Sonic Has Gone Stale - The Style That Overstayed Its Welcome

Sonic... has gone stale. After reusing the same model for just about 17 entire years, Sonic's lack of variety in the stylization department has me feeling extremely bored of the character. This stylization of Sonic has overstayed its welcome. What is this 17 year old model? Why does SEGA keep using it? And what does this mean for the future of the series? We discuss all this an more in today's episode!

Shoutouts to Gryz and Mike for their awesome custom Sonic models!
You can find them here:

----Table of Contents------
0:00​​​​​​​ Intro
3:21 What is Sonic's Design?
5:10 History of The Modern Sonic Model
12:50 The ROAST of The Modern Sonic Model
16:16 A New Sonic?
17:53 Final Thoughts
19:39 Conclusion
20:06 Outro
20:45 End Screen

Intro song by Hyper Potions:

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[chaomix]

Let me know what you think about SEGA reusing this same Sonic model for the past 17 years. Would you rather see something fresh for this next game or are you fine with this same stylization of Sonic?

[jadethenidoran]

I do want them to experiment with his design more, but considering how some fans flip out over something as minor as his quills being a bit longer in the Frontiers trailer or things like that, something most people probably wouldn't notice, that's probably never going to happen, given how safe Sega has been playing things for *years* at this point. That's pretty ironic when their mascot is (supposed to be) so full of attitude, style, and cocky boldness. Especially in contrast with Mario, a series that's also infamous for practically always playing it safe.

[GhostandChromis]

The problem is that he's so unexpressive. The 3D model they are using needs to be updated. There is no reason his posing and expressions should be so static.

[ToycoreTyme]

Sonic Riders style is my favorite of all time. I personally would like to see more artistic stylized Sonic models in the future.

[notevenflight]

I felt this way for a while, official Sonic renders don't look cool anymore. The vibrant artstyles, and different models aren't there anymore. All this bleeds into the games.

[The_NJG]

If it was animated like the Unleashed model, I wouldn’t mind, but you brought up some really valid criticism that my opinion on the model has changed. With some renders, I always thought something was off, but could never put my finger on it, and lo and behold, you pointed them out.

[TeamAPS]

Yeah, modern Sonic just looks... bleh. So sterile. I really liked it at first, but I think they should have let it go after Generations (would have been a nice symbolic send-off to the Modern model, given the theme of that game). Another great video, Chaomix!

[edo]

I dont think the fact that they’re being consistent and using the same model for year isnt bad. Whats bad is how shallow his movment is after unleashed.

Even if unleashed used mocap sonic was able to emote in very unique ways such as when he prepares to fight the egg beetle. Theres still potential with what can be done with this model its just the more recent games its been in has been very boring not at all dynamic

[MugiMikey]

Agreed. What I hate the most are how his eyes and muzzle don't match up anymore-- the muzzle is now almost entirely covering the bottom corner of his eyes in an "m" shape, especially when he smiles. It even made it into Smash Bros.--look at his render from SSBU. Sure, it's not the same render as this one, but it took cues from it. His muzzle and eyes bug the hell outta me lol. It's like either his muzzle was shortened or his eyes were made wider, but regardless it now looks like jamming two different pieces of a puzzle into one another instead of two that were meant to go together.

Another thing I don't like are how some characters (especially if they're depicted as younger) have center mouths. I know it's meant to look cuter but it makes some characters look flat-out dumb, like Amy. Plus it's inconsistent all-around.

[TrolluxCaptor]

Those fan models are insanely good. They’ve brought that signature style back that Sonic needs. I don’t get why Sega chooses to ruin him with every new game especially Forces

[Yundemz]

I kinda wish his current model had more noodle-like limbs and proportions like in the early uekawa art. I think it fits him more since Sonic’s original design was inspired by rubber hose characters

[se-n-fly-er]

I loved the Unleashed look when it was brand new, but I think we're long overdo for something new. I want Sonic's expressions and poses and animation to feel lively again. There's so many cool art trends I'd love to see Sonic take a spin at.

[Chokun-Gaming]

Kinda off topic, but I've always thought it's weird that classic sonic is depicted as a lighter blue nowadays even though he's always been the same darker blue as he still is since sonic the hedgehog 2

[bendito]

Lmao you really gave a big fat middle finger to Twitter by tripling down on dissecting and criticizing modern Sonic’s design. Great video, dude.

[yam]

You can't deny that Sonic's design is unique. When he smiles at you he gives you this sort of confidence.

[castform]

I've never really minded the current model, I've personally appreciated the consistency since everything around Sonic is constantly changing. I can definitely see the frustration however and wouldn't be opposed to a new (preferably good) Sonic design to shake things up.

[trumpeterjen]

The eyelid thing kind of rubs me the wrong way, too. What happened to shaping the brow to show emotion? Remember how expressive the characters looked when they were sad even in games like Sonic Heroes? From 2002? We've gone DOWNHILL since then IMO.

[ThatBugBehindYou]

Sonic used to be this cool guy who was always trying something new and always made an effort to by stylish even if it hurt.
Now he's just this smug kid that's always doing as little as possible thinking his simple presence is enough to be cool.

Old Sonic breaking his back to get a cool silhouette and striking pose, new sonic literally just standing there with his arms out while inside a ring for extra... Extra jazz I guess?

[maravreloaded]

I mean.
When MARIO, the happy man with "no personality" had more character not just in terms of expression but in design for Odyssey.
With hair details, clothes textures and more and more... And Sonic is just a blue ball of clay that runs fast.

[KStarPR]

The two models shown at the end really do highlight the problems with the current model. I personally really like the Riders model, it's super expressive and doesn't give him that constant side-mouth that looks good in some cases but bad most of the time. The movie model has also warmed up on me greatly, and I wonder if it could influence a potential "two-eyed" Sonic for the future. I love the mono-eye, but it's started to look more and more weird, especially with the problems the current model has. (It also just makes him look a little weird next to the other characters that have essentially the same core shape but two eyes.)