don't click here

Several Voice Actors Leave The Sonic Franchise

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by jubbalub, Jan 28, 2021.

  1. Overlord

    Overlord

    Now playable in Smash Bros Ultimate Moderator
    19,218
    965
    93
    Long-term happiness
    He did a decent job in the role, enjoyed his work much more than Drummond or Griffith. A shame he's going but given the film did well financially and Roger wasn't chosen to voice Sonic in it, it makes sense they'd want to tie the role's voice actors back together again. I'll miss him but this franchise has far more important things to worry about than who Sonic's VA is.
     
  2. Honestly will miss him.
     
  3. Metalwario64

    Metalwario64

    Member
    230
    108
    43
    I never was too big a fan of his performance as Sonic, but I still don't like this. Sega needs to stick with a single voice actor for the character, because changing the English voice actors every several years is growing tiresome and isn't good for the identity of the character. This isn't a problem on the Japanese side, because from what I've always heard, in general, people in Japan tend to associate the voice with the character, so that's why long running series' rarely replace the voice casts over there unless there are a large portion of dead or retired voice actors. That's why they still have Kanemaru doing his voice over there. SoA doesn't care about the actors at all. In fact, them telling Drummond to leave his union is pretty bad and shows they don't value their actors (which reminds me of how the recent Netflix Transformers shows went behind Cullen and Welker's backs to replace them with cheaper, non-union actors).

    I never was really a fan of Smith. He always sounded too much like a grown man doing a young voice, and his scripts didn't help either I never really saw any "improvement", because he was basically the same in every game he was in. But I still feel like if they had changed up the style of the games and gave him new scripts and a new direction to go that he may have been able to pull off a more "Sonic" performance, but that's never happening now.

    As for my opinions on the previous actors, I've only heard Griffith in X and clips of Shadow and 06, and he was pretty bad there, but everyone says that he really started to improve by Unleashed, but then got the axe. I actually feel that Drummond was getting worse in Heroes because he was too nasally and sounded like he was shouting all of the time, but that may have just been due to the game's cartoony direction. If he stuck around with his SA2 performance, that would have been nice.

    But anyway, even though I never really was fond of Smith's Sonic, I'm at the point where I wish Sega would just stick with one, consistent cast for as long as possible. I'll also say that I REALLY hope that if they bring Schwartz on that it isn't a sign that Sega sees the success of the movie and basically tries to turn the games into that. The movie was okay for what it was, but it's not what I want the franchise to be.
     
  4. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

    Model2wannaB Tech Member
    1,608
    406
    63
    ALWAYS Sonic the Fighters
    What an extremely weird and strange sendoff message to be honest.
     
  5. Captain L

    Captain L

    The guy who likes Shadow the Hedgehog Member
    2,434
    29
    28
    Waiting for the coming of the Great White Hankerchief
    I enjoyed his performances, but aside from a general "good" quality, the only time I felt I couldn't imagine anyone else doing it was Boom, and since that's long over, it's not a huge deal. It'll be weird getting used to a new voice as it almost always is (both Kate Higgens and Colleen Villard were natural transitions for Tails, but even 10 years later, I'm still not used to Kirk Thornton as Shadow), but I think I'll adjust if they pick someone good.

    Ben Schwartz? Well, aside from me not caring much for the movie, I don't really see it happening. He does plenty of voice acting, but it's always been in projects that are a higher caliber/pay grade than the standard anime/video game voice casts. Plus, if he did take over full-time, it'd take me a long before I start hearing Sonic and stop hearing Dewey Duck.
     
  6. When they replaced Drummond, it was to keep Sonic's voice consistent with Griffith's take on the character in Sonic X, hence the change. When 2010 rolled around and X was no longer airing, they swapped Griffith too.

    So I'm assuming this change is to put Sonic in line with his movie counterpart as @Overlord said
     
  7. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

    Member
    14,631
    1,610
    93
    Working on my art!
    I'm honestly fine with this change. I was just thinking the other day how he has been the longest Sonic voice actor. He did a pretty good job, I liked him more than Griffith, kinda tied with Drummond. But I always felt like he sounded too old for Sonic. Like he made Sonic sound like he was 30.

    The 3D branch of this series is in desperate need of a shake up. Maybe this is an indication that that's what's happening.
     
  8. Ayu Tsukimiya

    Ayu Tsukimiya

    UGUU~ Member
    607
    67
    28
    I don't get why people are saying this could shake up the series. They're voice actors, not game developers.

    All this this decision does by itself is make the series even more inconsistent.
     
  9. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

    Member
    14,631
    1,610
    93
    Working on my art!
    It's not that the voice actor change itself is the shake up, more that it could be a part of it. It could just be a voice actor swap, but if the writers were also scrapped it might be an indication that Sega wants to move away from where the series has been the past 8 to 10 years. It's hard to say because we only know this while Sega has said fuck all since Mania Plus came out 3 years ago.

    Wow we really didn't get a lot of major 3D Sonic games in the 2010s huh. Colors, Generations, Lost World, and Forces. I think that's it. Not a lot to show off after Generations.
     
  10. Turbohog

    Turbohog

    Member
    923
    117
    43
    I really wasn't a fan of Craig's performance, but part of the problem was the writing/direction too. My favorite Sonic voice is still definitely Drummond (Adventure 2 specifically). Still, it'd be nice to get a consistent voice for Sonic.
     
  11. penBorefield

    penBorefield

    Living in my best life Member
    114
    15
    18
    Basement
    Patching things up
    Honestly, can't say I'm surprised, but good for him. I didn't like his voice anyway. Oh well.
     
  12. HEDGESMFG

    HEDGESMFG

    Oldbie
    1,282
    1,224
    93
    He had the longest term as the single voice actor of Sonic in English. My guess is Ben Schwartz is stepping on to handle the whole role due to the success of the film, and I can't 100% blame them for this since voice consistency across the entire brand going forward is actually a good move.

    Having said that, it's also kind of a shame, since I think Craig was a great Sonic for this past decade. Oh well. Hopefully he can do signings at conventions for years and still gain the love and respect of fans for what he did. Whatever problems the franchise has had in the past decade, his voice was not one of them.
     
  13. Swifthom

    Swifthom

    A Friend Remembers... Member
    165
    51
    28
    You know, if nothing else, the Sonic Boom show proved he could perform if given decent writing.
    Interesting to see what comes next now!
     
  14. Antheraea

    Antheraea

    Bug Hunter Member
    VA performances, like any other kind of acting, is also dependent on how they're directed too. So if a VA doesn't get good direction, you don't get as good of a performance either. Something to keep in mind; unsure if we'll be seeing behind-the-scenes staff shakeups coming out of this, such as the existing voice director and similar...

    He's doing a poor job of it then, as he's currently a voice in Apex Legends apparently :p
     
  15. Blastfrog

    Blastfrog

    See ya starside. Member
    Am I the only one that prefers Martin Burke's take on Sonic's voice? It sounds a lot like Sonic's voice in Sonic CD.
     
  16. Azookara

    Azookara

    yup Member
    I think this is fine.

    I never clicked with Roger's voice for Sonic, in or out of the game writing. The gruffness always felt out of place, and every line's delivery sounds a little too dry and snarky in intonation and that always made him sound a bit like a jerk. He's done better roles for Sonic over the years, but to me it's similar to Jason where even in his fleeting moments where I found him better (OK KO in particular), he never really reached a point where I felt like I was in love with the performance. Not even to mention that (also like Griffith) he has a tendency to do the "Sonic" voice for many other similar roles he's in. Eh.

    So I think a change in VO in fine by me. He had a good run anyways; ten years is a long time for consistent voice work, even if not as long as it could be. Plus, he's bound to continue to get good work; he's a good voice actor who does good work. He'll be fine.

    Get ready for Ben Schwartz.
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2021
  17. Boxer Hockey

    Boxer Hockey

    Member
    309
    635
    93
    Roger was my favorite english Sonic VA by a mile. The only one I remotely liked since Jaleel.
    I have a sneaking suspicion about why this happened but it's all conjecture and I'm not looking for every little bit of hypothesizing I do to get turned into a headline..
    At least I have no worries for Roger and his career. He's about as prolific as they come, so as unhappy as I am about this particular shake up I'm sure he's going to be fine.
     
    • Informative Informative x 1
    • List
  18. lupinsmask

    lupinsmask

    Member
    55
    11
    8
    I'm not a fan of ben schwartz so I hope he isn't the new main Sonic.
     
  19. big smile

    big smile

    Oldbie
    1,023
    117
    43
    I was never a fan of Roger. He’s an excellent voice actor and all his performances were flawless, but when Sonic Team picked him, they changed Sonic to have a “surfer dude” type personality, which I don’t think suits the character at all.

    I do hope that if they are changing the voice actor then it might be a sign that Sonic Team wants to take things in a new direction (just like they hired Roger because they had a new vision for the character).

    I doubt they’ll be using the movie actor as we’ve heard in the past Sega doesn’t like hiring union actors.
     
  20. Metalwario64

    Metalwario64

    Member
    230
    108
    43
    Yeah, I doubt it will be Schwartz, but I imagine the new actor will be trying to channel him.

    The problem is that movie Sonic isn't game Sonic, but if they do try to inject some of the vulnerable and more emotional traits that movie Sonic has into the games, then maybe they will ease up on some of the mandates for the character, which could be a good thing in the end.
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • List