I've just seen the Sonic Movie and there's alot of ground to cover with the adaptations because this film is an extra to an already packed history so here I'll break it down between the movie, the animated shows and the comics.
Sonic the Comic
Also known as the Fleetway Comics version which attempts to tell the origins of Sonic as if he were a normal brown Hedgehog turning blue after an experiment testing high powered shoes; equally bizarre is Robotnik who starts off as a kindly scientist who turns evil after an experiment goes wrong. The Fleetway series had interesting ideas on how certain lore worked within it's universe and was well presented with some great original characters who to this day deserve their own chance; there are a number of misses among the rogues gallery, some of which are pretty reliant on British sense of humour and references to understand while others are a poor substitute against Robotnik himself.
Archie Sonic and Sonic SatAM
A rich series that really promotes the freedom fighter movement giving Robitnik a threatening presence and a universe full of interesting characters and a lore so vast that it would take all day to explain. I'm sad to see the comics reboot and disappointed that SatAM left on a cliffhanger. Nevertheless this is one of the best Sonic adaptations on offer.
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
A gag series more in line with Looney Tunes with less clever writing and heavy reliance on random humour. It's sugar humour, it's nice but hurts your teeth after a while.
Sonic Underground
A bizarre blend of SatAM mixed with a musical? It's difficult to take seriously the stakes when they are constantly singing 90s pop songs.
Sonic OVA
I'm a huge apologist for this OVA as it inadvertently helped me discover anime. Looking back it's ageing better than expected as this feels the closest to what Sonic should be, catgirl not withstanding.
Sonic X
A lot of my hate still comes from Chris Thorndyke and it really sets a new low for Sonic. Granted it's better designed than half the catalogue of Sonic's terrible games and I dare say it has it's moments but having to shoehorn in a child just to give Sonic his motive doesn't work.
Sonic Boom
The only way this train wreck could work is by being a self aware gag fest and they succeeded. I still regard this as Sonic's best cartoon ironically for writing.
Sonic Tyson Hesse Web Shorts
A selection of hilarious shorts done by ascended Sonic fan Tyson Hesse. I laughed more from these shorts with no dialogue than I did any other cartoon.
Sonic the Movie
Now for the proper verdict. The only question to ask is have you seen the movie "hop"? Congratulations you know 95% of this movie already. Overall it's a decent film that takes an already tried and tested formula and only slightly improves on it. It's best moments come from Jim Carrey's performance as Robotnik and Sonic's powers which makes better sense of why an organic lifeform can easily destroy robots; it's down side is that we know so little of Sonic's own world that the backstory just doesn't offer anything to grasp onto so were expected to just accept the characters of this owl who was raising Sonic moments before being killed by an arrow fired by what looks like an echidna, it gets more annoying when a certain character pops up in the credits creating more challenging questions which need a sequel to answer.
Sonic the Comic - 8.0/10
Archie Sonic and SatAm - 9.7/10
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - 7.0/10
Sonic Underground - 7.0/10
Sonic OVA - 8.5/10
Sonic X - 5.6/10
Sonic Boom - 8.8/10
Sonic Tyson Hesse Web Shorts - 10/10
Sonic the Movie - 6.0/10
