I may be highly critical of the producers of this series, but for the times I have to give them credit, I will not hold anything back. Anybody who can take a concept like robot ninjas and make it dull deserves some recognition. You have to try hard to make that happen. In this episode, Dr. Robotnik attempts to make his robots into ninjas, and as cool as that idea sounds, they completely bungle it up. I mean, at this point in the series' run, it was the best it had to give, which is really sad. So how did Francis Moss and the other folks behind the scenes take an interesting concept and muck it up? Let's find out in "Robo Ninjas." It begins with Scratch and Grounder setting up trap number 505 of the Wile E. Coyote handbook: erecting a fake building set to fall down, with free chili dogs as bait. When Sonic and Tails arrive, they immediately deduce it's a trap, and it almost works. They make off with their eats, while the building falls down on Scratch. Robotnik then calls up to chide them for flushing yet another attempt at hedgehog-napping down the toilet, and says from hereon out, they're on their own. Angry that their boss kicked them to the curb, the bots decide to take out their frustrations on the first being who walked by. Enter a tall, mysterious crane named Crane, who speaks in homespun philosophies... spun out of his ass, most likely. Crane easily defeats Scratch and Grounder with his lightning fast ninja skills and takes off, all while being caught on Robotnik candid camera. Or rather, Coconuts saw it and tried frantically showing it to Botsy, and they exchange a bad joke: Coconuts: "Ninja, ninja, ninja!" Robotnik: "Gesundheit." Ugh, it much funnier when it was told in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Bruce: "Jiu Jitsu." Andrea: "Gesundheit." LOL. Anyway, Robotnik reads up on this ninja concept and gets an idea: he'll turn Scratch and Grounder into ninja warriors, and he'll accomplish this by way of kidnapping Crane, bringing him back to the fortress, and transplanting his skills into the robots' empty heads. Guess that takes much less time than teaching them. Once the transfer of skills and knowledge is complete, Grounder and Scratch burst out of their pods, displaying lightning fast reflexes. This was a concept that had potential, but sadly, it was completely squandered, for you see, the running gag in this episode is characters spouting nonsensical philosophies, and they do it to a nauseating degree, and the two robots are doing this constantly, even speaking in mock Japanese accents! Well, it was the early '90s, and at least they didn't put them in yellowface. So how do these two dimwits fare as warriors? Well, either Crane is an idiot, or their stupidity is incurable, because despite being faster, Grounder and Scratch are still very gullible and easily fooled when it comes to battling Sonic and Tails, even though they came close. Close, but no cigar.
Robotnik tries to figure out what he did wrong. What, you mean besides building those two idiots and giving them the intelligence God gave the carpet tack? Crane suggests that fighting is only half the battle, as they also need knowledge and philosophy. In other words, Botsy, just make them smarter. Why can't he figure that out? He invented a genius chip once. But no, instead he just sucks even more out of Crane's brain and transfers it into the two nitwits. A plant with weak roots will not grow no matter the fertilizer... oh geez, now I'm doing it. And if he's doing this with Scratch and Grounder, why not Coconuts too? Because Robotnik is a douchebag, I thought that was already clear. So now that the chicken and the dishwasher have philosophy, does that make them better warriors? Well, I will say this, when it comes to combat, they're better than Sonic, because all he can do is run. If not for his speed, they might have a shot. Maybe he should learn to fight evenly instead of relying on super speed to get him out of trouble, eh? Despite being more skilled warriors, the robots still fail to catch Sonic. But maybe they are slightly more intelligent, as they don't fall for one of his disguises. They still get away, leaving Robotnik insanely frustrated. But hey, why have two stupid robot ninjas when you can have several? He's going to create himself an army of robot ninjas, and had this happened on any other show, it would've been awesome. As for Sonic, he'd heard Scratch mention Master Crane, and deduces that's where they got these skills. That's when they happen upon a student of Crane's, Grasshopper, who is a... Grasshopper. Nice simple name. When he learns of his master's capture at the hands of Robotnik, he wants to go save him, but Sonic points out that this is his show and only he can do the rescuing. He even shows off a few moves, like the Chop Suey and Chow Mein. This isn't funny! This Grasshopper character is a waste, like why not have him teach Sonic a few fighting moves. He's got the speed, he just needs the skill. But no, we've only got 7 minutes left of this crap, so let's just cut to the big rescue scene. Sonic, Tails, and Grasshopper approach the fortress, and the hedgehog tells them to stay out there and watch his back. Yeah, going in a fortress and facing an army of ninja robots single-handedly is definitely a feat this blue Mary Sue would do. But first, he meets Coconuts, who's green with ninja envy. He attempts to fight Sonic, who claims he will stand still so that the monkey can hit him, but slightly cheats when he ducks, sending the simian simpleton up the river. Going inside, he takes down a few robot ninjas easily, but is eventually caught in Grounder's net, only this time when he dons a disguise, it fools them. Enough with the disguises!! Oh yeah, and for some reason, Scratch and Grounder are stupid again. When were they smart? The cocky hedgehog finds himself cornered, lamenting that he didn't let Tails and Grasshopper help. Oh, what's wrong, Speedy, can't get yourself out of this jam? You ran roughshod around the place, kicking and electrocuting robots like nothing, and now you're stuck? Bad writing at its finest. Luckily, the fox and giant insect show up to save his blue bacon... blue bacon? Ew. All together, they take out Dr. Robotnik's useless robot ninjas, and then it's revealed that Crane could've freed himself at any point. Why didn't he? Well, in his own words: "the strength of one's muscles cannot always be measured with the tape measure of anger." Why would I expect anything less? So I guess the robot ninjas were loadbaring, as the fortress begins to crumble. Robotnik, Scratch and Grounder flee and our heroes book it before the whole place comes crashing down. We end on a bad chili dog philosophy from Sonic, and then we get our Sonic Says, which features Scratch and Grounder playing ball with Tails... how unusually nice, only the fox kicks it out in the street, and the bots don't look where they're going and get hit by a truck. The lesson is not to play in the street. Pretty sure Tails did that on purpose. I would've too.
No plot, no story, terrible jokes, and what action there is comes off as extremely lame and muddled. That's Robo Ninjas, taking an interesting concept and squeezing the life and soul out of it. The script was terrible. Maybe Francis Moss thinks nonsense philosophy sounds funny, but it gets old real fast. What was even the point of this episode? Just turning Scratch and Grounder into ninjas. So what? Is it because the Ninja Turtles were still big and the producers of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog wanted a slice (of pizza)? Well, this was a pizza with anchovies, let me tell you. This was a bad episode, but it wasn't as terrible as Tails' New Home, Sonically Ever After, Magic Hassle, or Trail of Missing Tails. I could go on and on about ways to fix it, but that would be a waste. The Adventures series was cruising toward the end, and as earlier stated, this was the best it had to offer at this stage. They wanted to do something with ninjas, so throw in two uninteresting Martial arts masters, make Scratch and Grounder talk in mock Japanese accents, whoop and hiya like Bruce Lee on amphetamines, and fall on their asses. Also, they really overdid the disguise gimmick. It's so annoying seeing Sonic constantly dress up in bad disguises and the stupid robots not recognizing him. Finally, the voices. It's no exaggeration that Sonic, Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts have insanely annoying voices, and it's been that way since the beginning, but I guess when the whole idea of an episode is to spend 20 minutes annoying you, it's more plain to hear. In short, I do not recommend Robo Ninjas, it sucks the big one. You want cartoons about ninjas, watch the Ninja Turtles... the 1987 and 2003 versions, not the others. Maybe this concept would've worked better on the Saturday series. That Robotnik would've made some smarter ninja robots.
Robotnik tries to figure out what he did wrong. What, you mean besides building those two idiots and giving them the intelligence God gave the carpet tack? Crane suggests that fighting is only half the battle, as they also need knowledge and philosophy. In other words, Botsy, just make them smarter. Why can't he figure that out? He invented a genius chip once. But no, instead he just sucks even more out of Crane's brain and transfers it into the two nitwits. A plant with weak roots will not grow no matter the fertilizer... oh geez, now I'm doing it. And if he's doing this with Scratch and Grounder, why not Coconuts too? Because Robotnik is a douchebag, I thought that was already clear. So now that the chicken and the dishwasher have philosophy, does that make them better warriors? Well, I will say this, when it comes to combat, they're better than Sonic, because all he can do is run. If not for his speed, they might have a shot. Maybe he should learn to fight evenly instead of relying on super speed to get him out of trouble, eh? Despite being more skilled warriors, the robots still fail to catch Sonic. But maybe they are slightly more intelligent, as they don't fall for one of his disguises. They still get away, leaving Robotnik insanely frustrated. But hey, why have two stupid robot ninjas when you can have several? He's going to create himself an army of robot ninjas, and had this happened on any other show, it would've been awesome. As for Sonic, he'd heard Scratch mention Master Crane, and deduces that's where they got these skills. That's when they happen upon a student of Crane's, Grasshopper, who is a... Grasshopper. Nice simple name. When he learns of his master's capture at the hands of Robotnik, he wants to go save him, but Sonic points out that this is his show and only he can do the rescuing. He even shows off a few moves, like the Chop Suey and Chow Mein. This isn't funny! This Grasshopper character is a waste, like why not have him teach Sonic a few fighting moves. He's got the speed, he just needs the skill. But no, we've only got 7 minutes left of this crap, so let's just cut to the big rescue scene. Sonic, Tails, and Grasshopper approach the fortress, and the hedgehog tells them to stay out there and watch his back. Yeah, going in a fortress and facing an army of ninja robots single-handedly is definitely a feat this blue Mary Sue would do. But first, he meets Coconuts, who's green with ninja envy. He attempts to fight Sonic, who claims he will stand still so that the monkey can hit him, but slightly cheats when he ducks, sending the simian simpleton up the river. Going inside, he takes down a few robot ninjas easily, but is eventually caught in Grounder's net, only this time when he dons a disguise, it fools them. Enough with the disguises!! Oh yeah, and for some reason, Scratch and Grounder are stupid again. When were they smart? The cocky hedgehog finds himself cornered, lamenting that he didn't let Tails and Grasshopper help. Oh, what's wrong, Speedy, can't get yourself out of this jam? You ran roughshod around the place, kicking and electrocuting robots like nothing, and now you're stuck? Bad writing at its finest. Luckily, the fox and giant insect show up to save his blue bacon... blue bacon? Ew. All together, they take out Dr. Robotnik's useless robot ninjas, and then it's revealed that Crane could've freed himself at any point. Why didn't he? Well, in his own words: "the strength of one's muscles cannot always be measured with the tape measure of anger." Why would I expect anything less? So I guess the robot ninjas were loadbaring, as the fortress begins to crumble. Robotnik, Scratch and Grounder flee and our heroes book it before the whole place comes crashing down. We end on a bad chili dog philosophy from Sonic, and then we get our Sonic Says, which features Scratch and Grounder playing ball with Tails... how unusually nice, only the fox kicks it out in the street, and the bots don't look where they're going and get hit by a truck. The lesson is not to play in the street. Pretty sure Tails did that on purpose. I would've too.
No plot, no story, terrible jokes, and what action there is comes off as extremely lame and muddled. That's Robo Ninjas, taking an interesting concept and squeezing the life and soul out of it. The script was terrible. Maybe Francis Moss thinks nonsense philosophy sounds funny, but it gets old real fast. What was even the point of this episode? Just turning Scratch and Grounder into ninjas. So what? Is it because the Ninja Turtles were still big and the producers of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog wanted a slice (of pizza)? Well, this was a pizza with anchovies, let me tell you. This was a bad episode, but it wasn't as terrible as Tails' New Home, Sonically Ever After, Magic Hassle, or Trail of Missing Tails. I could go on and on about ways to fix it, but that would be a waste. The Adventures series was cruising toward the end, and as earlier stated, this was the best it had to offer at this stage. They wanted to do something with ninjas, so throw in two uninteresting Martial arts masters, make Scratch and Grounder talk in mock Japanese accents, whoop and hiya like Bruce Lee on amphetamines, and fall on their asses. Also, they really overdid the disguise gimmick. It's so annoying seeing Sonic constantly dress up in bad disguises and the stupid robots not recognizing him. Finally, the voices. It's no exaggeration that Sonic, Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts have insanely annoying voices, and it's been that way since the beginning, but I guess when the whole idea of an episode is to spend 20 minutes annoying you, it's more plain to hear. In short, I do not recommend Robo Ninjas, it sucks the big one. You want cartoons about ninjas, watch the Ninja Turtles... the 1987 and 2003 versions, not the others. Maybe this concept would've worked better on the Saturday series. That Robotnik would've made some smarter ninja robots.