Never let it be said that our heroic hedgehog isn't always cordial to visitors, especially those who randomly crash land on Mobius and have to leave in a hurry or suffer the wrath of a vengeful toddler. In any other reality, that would sound crazy, but luckily this series is not set in any actual reality. Join us, friends, as we see what happens when there's a Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind. It all started when Scratch and Grounder were deploying trap number 75 from the Wile E. Coyote handbook: placing Dr. Robotnik's new electromagnetic suction plate in the middle of the road and using it to stop Sonic dead in his tracks when he runs over it. When activated, the suction plate shoots a beam high, high into the air, so high it breaks through the atmosphere and into space, where at that exact moment, naive Prince Charlock, who is some kind of human/squid hybrid and his assistant, the clockwatching floating amoeba Splorg, were flying by, with the prince wishing to pay Mobius a visit, as it's one of several worlds his baby brother wants to blow up. Well, he gets his wish when they're pulled down to the planet's surface, destroying their ship and disabling the suction plate. Scratch and Grounder greet them with aggression, but Sonic intervenes and tosses them off a cliff. Once introductions are made, Splorg is upset about the damaged ship and constantly presses about their urgency to get back to Rombus where Prince Charlock is only two hours away from being crowned king. However, the prince was more preoccupied with Mobius and requests a guided tour. That is until reality sets in and he finally realizes what a grave situation they're in: if they're not back for the coronation, Charlock's baby brother will be crowned king, and his first order of business will be to blow up Mobius. With time of the essence, Sonic quickly gathers up all the pieces to the ship, save for two: the cockpit canopy and the navigational nosecone. Without them, the ship isn't going anywhere. Always the optimist, Sonic, Tails, and their alien companions set off to comb the area for those missing pieces. All the while, the prince is fascinated with the flora and fauna around him, including Curly-Q trees, which I swear sounds like something Dr. Seuss would come up with. They find the canopy on the other side of a river of pee. I mean, look at it, it's a bright yellow liquid, what else could it be? This place has a river of pee! Anyway, Scratch and Grounder... ah darn, they survived... arrive and try to thwart our heroes with the suction plate, only being the idiots that they are, hold it backwards and end up getting themselves sucked into it. Geez, Robotnik can conjure up all these new inventions every week, yet he can't seem to upgrade his two robot lackeys' brains. Following that, they fall into the pee river and go over the waterfall. Talk about a golden shower. Okay, that's enough, I promise. Tails grabs the canopy, so now the only missing piece was the nosecone. They search in a canyon that has... giant stone bowling pins, large stone dominoes, a basketball hoop without a net... what is this, a giant's outdoor game room? Splorg spots the red nosecone on top of a peak. Good, just run up and get it, and everything should be hunky dory. But, of course, Dumb and Dumber show up to try and stop them, and this time they point the plate in the right direction, only Sonic ducks and the beam catches a boulder (man, these guys suck), which flattens them and buries Sonic and Charlock under a pile of rocks, but they survive. The prince grabs what he thinks is the nosecone, even though it's obviously a large drill bit that belongs to Grounder, who keeps losing it in this episode. The heroes make off with Grounder's nose, while the bots are stuck with the ship's nosecone. When they realize the snafu, Splorg reminds us that if they can't get back to Rombus, Charlock's evil little brother will destroy Mobius and they'll be royally screwed. Man, Splorg, you really are a buzzkill.
Getting a bright idea for once, Scratch and Grounder use the nosecone as bait to lure Sonic into their trap. Grounder calls up Dr. Robotnik, who finally shows up twelve minutes into the episode. He's bragging about his electromagnetic suction plate, but deems his best creation to be his Egg-O-Matic, which he then starts making out with. Gross. The phone rings and Botsy says he's on his way, and even though Grounder was the one who called him, Robotnik is talking to Scratch for some reason. Anyway, he jumps in his hover craft, which has trouble starting as despite his great love for his flying round vehicle, he neglected to have it tuned up. As for the robots' plan, Sonic employs a little reverse psychology, saying they don't need the nosecone and that Grounder's drill nose will suffice. Not having that, the little green clothes dryer gives chase all over the outdoor rec room, finally getting caught in the suction plate. When Scratch deactivates it to free him, Sonic grabs the nosecone and flees, leaving the two idiot bots to duke it out. Sonic sends the gang back to the ship, while he dresses up like the Chiquita Banana girl, expositing that he was going to do something clever and funny to destroy the suction plate, but since Scratch and Grounder are beating each other up with it, there was no need, and I have to admit, that was a really funny gag. Though it's too bad Sonic always feels the need to show off and one-up the two dummies when clearly there's no need, I mean how many times have we seen just how useless they are in this episode alone? It's usually in situations like that when Sonic is showboating and leaving his friends defenseless does Dr. Robotnik get the drop on them, and guess what, boys and girls, that's exactly what happens! When Sonic gets back, he finds Robotnik holding Tails, Charlock, and Splorg hostage, threatening to blast them into vapor. Despite the amoeba trying to warn Robotnik about the planet's impending doom, he doesn't listen, claiming he's too smart to fall for that old trick. Botsy was willing to trade the nosecone for Sonic, so the hedgehog gives himself up and the prince is returned his coveted ship part. However, feeling he couldn't just abandon his friends after all they've done, the wily prince gets one over on Robotnik by knocking over the tall stone dominoes- bet you knew that was coming- and they all come falling toward the morbidly obese badman. He attempts to flee in his faulty Egg-O-Matic, only to be crushed. Hurrah! Our heroes have won the day. Wasting no time, they affix the canopy and nosecone to the ship, and it's here we learn that the big threat facing Mobius this whole time was a cranky two-year-old. An actual baby brother. Though, I wouldn't put it past a two-year-old to have the ability to destroy a planet, given what kind of universe this show is set in. So, Prince Charlock and Splorg blast off and our tale comes to a close. Our Sonic Says is about always wearing sunscreen when you set out to get a tan. This is a lesson that's even more important today, given the ever-receding ozone layer, constantly rising UV rays and ever growing risk of skin cancer. Good lesson, always lather up before you lay in the sun.
This episode was pretty good, had some laughs, and a few moments of suspense. However, it was definitely without a competent editor. The opening shot pans across a desert road, we hear Scratch and Grounder, but don't see them, then it flash cuts to a shot of them running. Then, the biggest goof of all happens toward the end when Sonic asks the prince if he'll come back to visit, we see a shot of Scratch and Grounder, with the latter mouthing Sonic's words. What happened, did the Korean animators forget what character was supposed to be speaking, or did the original shot get lost and they only had five seconds to find something else to splice in? Well, technical glitches and nitpicks aside, Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind is a fun watch. That one disguise gag was pretty funny, and as far as Grounder and his nose, it's not like he can't get just another one, it is only a drill bit. So in closing, I would recommend Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind, as it embodies that silly, wacky, nonsensical Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog humor that we've come to love... more or less. Check it out, and watch the gang play an even more sadistic game of Got Your Nose.
Getting a bright idea for once, Scratch and Grounder use the nosecone as bait to lure Sonic into their trap. Grounder calls up Dr. Robotnik, who finally shows up twelve minutes into the episode. He's bragging about his electromagnetic suction plate, but deems his best creation to be his Egg-O-Matic, which he then starts making out with. Gross. The phone rings and Botsy says he's on his way, and even though Grounder was the one who called him, Robotnik is talking to Scratch for some reason. Anyway, he jumps in his hover craft, which has trouble starting as despite his great love for his flying round vehicle, he neglected to have it tuned up. As for the robots' plan, Sonic employs a little reverse psychology, saying they don't need the nosecone and that Grounder's drill nose will suffice. Not having that, the little green clothes dryer gives chase all over the outdoor rec room, finally getting caught in the suction plate. When Scratch deactivates it to free him, Sonic grabs the nosecone and flees, leaving the two idiot bots to duke it out. Sonic sends the gang back to the ship, while he dresses up like the Chiquita Banana girl, expositing that he was going to do something clever and funny to destroy the suction plate, but since Scratch and Grounder are beating each other up with it, there was no need, and I have to admit, that was a really funny gag. Though it's too bad Sonic always feels the need to show off and one-up the two dummies when clearly there's no need, I mean how many times have we seen just how useless they are in this episode alone? It's usually in situations like that when Sonic is showboating and leaving his friends defenseless does Dr. Robotnik get the drop on them, and guess what, boys and girls, that's exactly what happens! When Sonic gets back, he finds Robotnik holding Tails, Charlock, and Splorg hostage, threatening to blast them into vapor. Despite the amoeba trying to warn Robotnik about the planet's impending doom, he doesn't listen, claiming he's too smart to fall for that old trick. Botsy was willing to trade the nosecone for Sonic, so the hedgehog gives himself up and the prince is returned his coveted ship part. However, feeling he couldn't just abandon his friends after all they've done, the wily prince gets one over on Robotnik by knocking over the tall stone dominoes- bet you knew that was coming- and they all come falling toward the morbidly obese badman. He attempts to flee in his faulty Egg-O-Matic, only to be crushed. Hurrah! Our heroes have won the day. Wasting no time, they affix the canopy and nosecone to the ship, and it's here we learn that the big threat facing Mobius this whole time was a cranky two-year-old. An actual baby brother. Though, I wouldn't put it past a two-year-old to have the ability to destroy a planet, given what kind of universe this show is set in. So, Prince Charlock and Splorg blast off and our tale comes to a close. Our Sonic Says is about always wearing sunscreen when you set out to get a tan. This is a lesson that's even more important today, given the ever-receding ozone layer, constantly rising UV rays and ever growing risk of skin cancer. Good lesson, always lather up before you lay in the sun.
This episode was pretty good, had some laughs, and a few moments of suspense. However, it was definitely without a competent editor. The opening shot pans across a desert road, we hear Scratch and Grounder, but don't see them, then it flash cuts to a shot of them running. Then, the biggest goof of all happens toward the end when Sonic asks the prince if he'll come back to visit, we see a shot of Scratch and Grounder, with the latter mouthing Sonic's words. What happened, did the Korean animators forget what character was supposed to be speaking, or did the original shot get lost and they only had five seconds to find something else to splice in? Well, technical glitches and nitpicks aside, Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind is a fun watch. That one disguise gag was pretty funny, and as far as Grounder and his nose, it's not like he can't get just another one, it is only a drill bit. So in closing, I would recommend Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind, as it embodies that silly, wacky, nonsensical Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog humor that we've come to love... more or less. Check it out, and watch the gang play an even more sadistic game of Got Your Nose.