I dunno, I liked the fact Classic Sonic was mute, Sonic saying pretty much nothing is what I grew up with, I never really watched the cartoons until much later so the Jaleel White's voice didn't have any nostalgic value for me, so having him voice Classic Sonic wouldn't make me think "oh man that is MY Classic Sonic", and I'm pretty sure the same could be said for all of the Sonic fans who also didn't watch the cartoon. It's not like the game creators made the cartoon and knew who was gonna voice them. And...yeah, I liked Ryan Drummond when he did the Sonic Adventure voice acting back then, but now I pretty much prefer Roger's voice, at first I wasn't so sure but every time I hear it I find it very fitting...even though Sonic's voice always reminds me of Ratchet from Ratchet and Clank, I just kinda think they sound similar.
See, I don't know about any of you guys, but when I picture Classic Sonic speaking, I think of Bubsy 3D. More specifically his lines, lines like "Now, what would a platform game be without platforms?" and "Oh, look, an arrow! Aren't these game designers wonderful?" I'm glad they kept Classic mute and Smith as Modern. I LOVE the voice acting in SA2 (the ACTING, not the audio editing), but I think Drummond specifically didn't turn in as great a performance in Heroes. Also, I absolutely HATED Griffith as Sonic. He was just annoying. It doesn't matter whether I'm playing Shadow (if that ever happens) or Unleashed: when I hear his voice, I think of Riders. *shivers* Sonic and Jet were THE WORST to listen to, and it's upsetting because I really like the cutscenes in that game. They're very SA2-like, and that's not just me quoting ClementJ642. I think Smith does a very good job at portraying an older Sonic, one who's been chased by whales, fought thousands of Monsters of the Week, shot out of space, killed and brought back to life (or was he?), turned into a werewolf and still able to do what he loves: running and bringing justice. Hopefully future games won't be as serious or plot-heavy as some of the "Modern" games, because Color's and Generations' un-SA2/un-Shadow-like plots were simple yet genius.
I like Roger Craig Smith more in the role of Sonic than Ryan Drummond's performances, though as noted up the thread, Sonic is not historically where the major problems in the VAs have been, more with Tails, Cream, Rouge, etc. I do wonder how he would have sounded as the voice of modern Sonic, but at the same time I'm not mourning the loss of what could have been.
I've never noticed Sonic switched voice actors from SA2 to SH until the Internet brought it up. For me, all of the voice actors seem fine except for a particular Cream. Though, Roger, I believe, was epic in the Sonic movie fan trailer on youtube. I'd like Jason to return. I'm not sure if I just like the comic-going story in the storybook series, but I really like how Sonic confronts everyone.
Oh right. SH was his last game. Yeah, I'm completely oblivious. The fan trailer I'm talking about is the one where a ring starts rolling on the floor and Sonic kicks it up.
Well...shit, that's a pretty shitty thing for those at Sega who are in charge of VA in the games, guess there are still some people in Sega that should be fired...literally and out of a cannon, then again same goes for the people that won't localize Anarchy Reigns. But hey, I think Roger does a good job voicing as Sonic, he also has done great VA work in other games too. I'd love it if Sega changes their minds one day but I do find Roger as a good Sonic, although at first I thought he sounded a little like Ben 10 (Alien Force and Over) at first.
Well, Ryan was the first to voice the redesigned, 3D Sonic. Back then, it was cool. But in my opinion, Rodger is perfect for Sonic in his current state. I see no reason why they would need to replace him.
I miss Ryan. He wasnt just a voice for Sonic, he WAS Sonic, and I know that's hard for a lot of newer/younger fans to understand (because they didnt grow up with him), but back in the day, it never occured to me that Sonic could/would sound any different than he did in those games. Even watching Adventures of STH and SATAM as a kid, and then later playing Sonic Adenture 2, Heroes, (SA1 / DX came later), and such, it felt like Sonic had naturally grow up. In the cartoons, he was a goofy little punk with a squeaky voice, and in the games, he had matured; his voice changed, and he was less of a trickster. He became more heroic, and to me, Ryan emphasized that natural progression the best. Jason was alright in Sonic X, but once he actually replaced Ryan, things started to spiral. He did a great job in Unleashed though. Roger is an improvement, and unlike a lot of people, I genuinely like his take on Sonic. But Ryan will always be #1, and to know that he honestly wanted to stay on board makes it truly depressing. You would think Sega would treat these actors better, considering their history with the company. Hopefully Ryan can take solace in the fact that his fans will always love and appreciate his work.
Let me stop you right here. I'm turning a quarter of a century old come October, I've been in this community forever, grew up with the Genesis and Dreamcast games, and I whole-heartedly believe that Roger is a far better Sonic than Ryan could ever be. I don't get why people love him so much, even when I first got my hands on Sonic Adventure 2, I was like "Dude, is this guy for real? He sounds like he's making fun of Sonic's voice, rather than playing the actual part."
I think that as he went on and settled into the character, he began to lose a bit of the nuance that all voice-actors seem to have when they begin a role. When a voice actor first begins voicing a character, I generally feel like they are much more broad in their approach, then as they go along, they settle into a groove. I think Drummond was fantastic in SA1. Badly directed, but still, very solid. When he came back for SA2, he was more seasoned, and locked into his "stereotype" voice that was higher pitched and Bugs Bunny-like. Then he continued to do that in Heroes, but obviously more distilled into the stereotype. Griffith did the same thing, but since, in a lot of ways, he was emulating what Drummond was doing, the "stereotype" voice was what he had starting out, so as time went on, he actually improved. I'm certain Smith will follow the exact same trend. However, unlike Drummond, he doesn't have to develop the idea of how the character will sound from scratch, so I think we'll see this happen too. It wasn't Drummond's fault, it just happens to be the way the character developed.
Fair enough, I guess. My only frame of reference for what Sonic could/would sound like was the cartoon shows. So me, being all wide-eyed and drooling over this new Sonic and how "totally awesome dude" he sounded was probably why I instantly grew attached to him. Ryan was my introduction into the, at the time, new-fangled 3-D Sonic games. I do like Roger, though. He's a good voice for Sonic, but he also feels a bit "artificial" in his performance. I can TELL it's an actor. Kinda like Jason's early work. With Ryan, it just sounded very natural to me.
I don't like Roger. Sounds artificial like you said, he, at least to me, sounds like a cocky snob, which is completely off character for me. Sonic is confident, overconfident sometimes, but never a snob. Roger's voice is basically 'neh neh neh neh neh!' Like some kind of juvenile. Shadow doesn't sound too great either. I wish they'd kept the original cast. They were getting better at what they were doing.
Actually, back in the day, a lot of us older fans hated that anyone spoke at all. There was a huge outrage at the voices in SA1 where everyone believed they were horrible. They do suck, actually, due to the terrible voice direction. But anyway. Before we get in about what new people think—just realize that by the same token people who grew up with the original games likely associate Jaleel White or no voice at all with Sonic—and thus Ryan never really had any importance to them. I was kinda miffed when they replaced him with the generic sounding Jason Griffith, but mostly because Jason wasn't very good at it either. Now the new person is pretty great at it, so I didn't mind him at all.