Analysis of Sonic Runners' Plot Part 1
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00:00Now for the story of Sonic Runners.
00:02It starts with Eggman telling animals to stop running from him, and Tails tells Sonic about him capturing animals.
00:08And I have to just assume they're in two different locations because of the bare-bones presentation.
00:14Why isn't Knuckles guarding the Emerald?
00:16So he tells Eggman off.
00:18The rings are called Loot by Sonic, which is weird.
00:22It's so uncreative and lazy to start out with Eggman capturing animals AGAIN.
00:28It's good in that only the Sonic series does this as far as I know, as a major thing.
00:34But it's not working as an intriguing, engaging start to a story.
00:39I've never read about Orbot capturing animals before.
00:43I say read since I don't see it.
00:46Tails says he'll use his handheld to check out the bonus path.
00:51I like that he likes to save time by not calling it the Miles Electric.
00:56It's too weird that he outright says special bonus path, breaking the fourth wall.
01:03Why does Tails ask Sonic if he's ever seen a Star Post, which has been a thing since the classic games?
01:10Sonic defeats a robot, and Tails wonders if everything's okay for no reason at all.
01:16It's so smart of a robot of Eggman to admit he doesn't stand a chance against Sonic and run from him.
01:22It's what makes Orbot and Cubot unique.
01:25It's what I'd expect of Orbot, so it's not impressive, but still.
01:30So far, the plot's boring.
01:32Why does Knuckles ask Sonic if he's used an item box before?
01:36They're a thing since the classic games.
01:39This is just there to tell the audience information they should already know.
01:44Who would have a mobile game like this as their first Sonic exposure?
01:48What's the point of the story showing us Orbot telling Eggman he couldn't get him animals?
01:54There's a lot of wasted time in this scene.
01:57This is the worst presentation in any Sonic game.
02:01In all the other plots in this style, we at least got to see more of the bodies of the characters talking.
02:07Eggman tells Digpons to fly away, so apparently it's made them able to fly.
02:12I don't want to mention every time Eggman gets away.
02:17Just assume he does at the end of every cutscene.
02:21Eggman tells Cubot to get animals.
02:24I guess Cubot and Orbot don't have anything to do that only they have as a job.
02:30Why is this jump panel not looking like the springs?
02:34That's because it's for tricks.
02:36It should be called a ramp.
02:38I like that Cubot just talks to Sonic like he's his friend casually, telling him what he was put up to by Eggman.
02:45It makes him different from every other servant of Eggman's, like Scratch.
02:49It's so nice of Sonic to never beat up and try to kill Orbot and Cubot like he's fine with doing to every other robot.
02:56Including Metal Sonic, who's also taunt.
02:59This has to be because he sees the good in them.
03:02If they didn't have any good in them, I'd call them creator's pets.
03:05When Scratch and Grounder were smashed up, they always got fixed,
03:09so it's not like they can't make Sonic smash up Orbot and Cubot because then they won't be fixed.
03:14Sonic deals with Eggman and reveals that he frees animals from Eggpons.
03:18So that means that in this game only, Eggman finally got the idea to use animals to power Eggpons like the series was supposed to be doing.
03:26I'm gonna wonder why he isn't doing this for the rest of the game,
03:30if it isn't pointed out that animals come out of Eggpons every time they show up and get destroyed from now on.
03:38Finally, the story gets slightly interesting when it becomes about the heroes finding a lost child.
03:44It's still a ripoff because it was done in SE2,
03:47but I never saw it be a plot before.
03:50Still, considering its unoriginality, I wish the pacing was much faster in this scene.
03:55Sonic just assumes the child belongs to a child garden and not a person for no reason,
04:01when I thought their purpose in the world was as pets.
04:04This means most child live in nature reserves for them, called child gardens,
04:09which have to have protective fences or barriers around them to keep predators out.
04:13I guess Sonic assumes he just has to come from the nearest child garden,
04:17and that there's only one child garden nearby,
04:20because it makes him feel better than the idea that he's probably gonna bring him to the wrong place,
04:24which would normally be a problem with child not being able to talk.
04:28Omochao tells the heroes where to bring the child.
04:31What's with the series constantly using him as an actual character if they're never gonna explain who made him?
04:36This only does half the work.
04:39It makes him look like a creator's pet,
04:41because they're obsessively trying to redeem him.
04:44Tails thanks him and he wishes him luck and gives him a gift, and Sonic thanks him.
04:49It can't be Tails who made him,
04:51or their dynamic would make it clear because he called Tails his master or creator,
04:56or be especially nice to him at least.
04:58Knuckles is thanked for pointing out what he should have already noticed.
05:02Why didn't Tails just ask which way the East Forest child garden was in the first place
05:07the last time he talked to Omochao?
05:09That's crazy.
05:11Why didn't Omochao tell them that in the first place?
05:14Also, if this game doesn't have any kind of child garden to interact with,
05:19then the mention of them is a kick in the face to the fanbase.
05:23Why don't they at least bring the tiny child garden back?
05:26Sonic thanks Omochao for exposition for the audience,
05:30and Omochao gives a thousand rings to Sonic as a gift.
05:33So now I know what Omochao does in his spare time.
05:36Look for rings.
05:39Why is there a hero and Dark Chao in the same Chao garden?
05:42There's basically no chances that both the villain and hero would frequent this place.
05:47Hero Chao thanks the heroes for bringing their friend home,
05:51and Dark Chao gives him a gift he's thanked for because somehow even he appreciates this.
05:56Why does a Dark Chao act nice?
05:59He should be a neutral Chao then.
06:01The only way he's evil is by calling the lost Chao out on his stupidity.
06:05How is he not just trying to beat up Sonic?
06:09Cubot has to deal with heavy stuff to push,
06:12and Tails points out a combo bonus.
06:15How did they take him so long to become a natural part of the environments of the world?
06:20I guess they were only in places he's never visited before.
06:24Cubot decides to go home and get recharged,
06:27and Sonic asks what the support spring is,
06:29when he would have recognized it as a spring that has wheels,
06:32but still not known about the convenient magical power it has.
06:36I guess the reason one person knows about it and he doesn't is that the one person does research.
06:43Cubot somehow is starting to ache from the work he did despite being a robot.
06:48I guess Eggman programmed him to be like that out of sadism.
06:53Sadism over reason.
06:55He drops a magnet for Tails.
06:58This game introduces so many new magical things for this game only,
07:02and somehow nobody's questioning why they only just now found these things.
07:06It's like it's another universe from the games.
07:10It must be non-canon, which I assumed from the start.
07:13Why else did Tails think he needed to tell Sonic what a shield did?
07:18Why did Eggman not instantly know it was Cubot talking?
07:22Sonic dealing with Eggman never actually amounts to anything in the plot.
07:26He just keeps getting away from him, along with Cubot here.
07:30It would matter if he dealt with him,
07:33if it was the only reason the people there would be able to get away from him.
07:37Tails calls the invincibility power up their old friend,
07:40so why only that?
07:42And why does he call it invincible?
07:45Sonic asks an animal if he's okay,
07:48and he and Omochao are scared by a ghost.
07:51I think ghosts looking scary is the only reason anyone would be afraid of them,
07:55because all you have to do is punch it a few times, and it vanishes.
08:01Tails tells the Chao that everything's alright,
08:03and it turns out it can understand Chao.
08:05So why did they need Omochao to translate?
08:08Sonic thanks him, and Tails tells the Chao to run if he senses danger.
08:13So, at least in the runner's dimension,
08:16Green being able to communicate with and understand Chao isn't unique after all.
08:21A Chao thanks them, and a golden egg pawn is taken out,
08:24which gives Sonic more points.
08:26I have to assume they're just turned golden by the magic all over the place they go to.
08:31Because why would Eggman make robots golden,
08:34when that only benefits Sonic?
08:37Some people disagree about there being magic all over the place,
08:41and the heroes tap into it.
08:43Here's the thing though,
08:45the heroes keep magic in them over time,
08:49because they're exposed to it so much.
08:51The proof of that is that Sonic beats Perfect Chaos
08:54without being in his super form in generations,
08:58proving that the heroes are getting stronger over time.
09:01So if they're exposed to magic enough,
09:04then no, you wouldn't have a situation where
09:06if they went to a planet without Chaos Emerald Energy all over it,
09:09they wouldn't have their magical powers anymore,
09:12which would feel weird and wrong.
09:14That doesn't happen because the heroes keep the magic in them.
09:19Eventually the heroes encounter a Wisp,
09:21and Sonic's surprised by that.
09:23Tails left his translation unit at home,
09:26which makes no sense because it was in his handheld and collars,
09:29and he has it.
09:31Or at least a handheld identical looking to it.
09:34I guess he was holding his spare Miles Electric,
09:38because Eggman broke the Miles Electric.
09:41I hate that Sonic calls it Tails' house.
09:43How does a kid own a house?
09:45And why put an S after Tails'?
09:48Tails plans to let the Chao and animals know that they didn't see a ghost.
09:52The plot would be more interesting if they did see a ghost.
09:56All that Chao tells the heroes, Eggman kidnapped the Wisp,
10:00and Tails naturally assumes he's playing to harness his energy again,
10:04which makes more sense than IDW,
10:06where Eggman says the Wisps are more trouble than they're worth,
10:09when they almost let him brainwash the planet.
10:12In fact, here Eggman is trying to squeeze every drop of Hypergon power out of him.
10:17He didn't give up on using animals,
10:19just because Sonic kept trying to stop him from that.
10:22So why would Sonic stopping him make him give up on the Wisps?
10:26Is it because it created a black hole?
10:29Clearly that's not why,
10:31because Sega still thought this would happen.
10:34Eggman throws the Wisp on the ground.
10:37Everyone else followed Mama Wisp back to their home planet,
10:41but some of the Wisps stayed behind because they liked it here.
10:44It makes sense that only some did.
10:47Also, why would they stay behind permanently?
10:50There's no indication that Planet Wisp sucks.
10:54Wouldn't they prefer their own planet?
10:57Sonic talks to them nicely,
10:59as I'm glad they not only explained this,
11:01but also referenced Mother Wisp from Colors DS.
11:04There's an earthquake,
11:06and Sonic asks Omochao if he's hurt.
11:10A lot of earthquakes have been happening recently,
11:12like in that one story of STC,
11:14so naturally it turns out it's from digging in this story too.
11:17The heroes see yellow Wisps that want to help Sonic.
11:21The scene didn't need to be nowhere near as long
11:24when one sentence describes it.
11:27Tails gives Sonic advice so he can get more points.
11:30Points don't even do anything.
11:32I doubt extra lives are canon,
11:34or there'd be no reason for anybody to get worried,
11:37so it's not like they exist because
11:39getting enough of them gives you an extra life.
11:42The yellow Wisps caused the earthquake that scared people,
11:45not a giant machine.
11:48It'd be even more creative if they were evil
11:50instead of continuing to let you think all Wisps are good.
11:53There'd be an actual point to still using Wisps
11:57if you just had one of them be a villain for once.
12:01Then Eggman threatens Sonic.
12:03The more times he fails in this one game,
12:06the more pathetic he looks.
12:08And Sonic is thanked for saving the Wisps from Eggman.
12:11The Wisps thank Sonic for letting him help.
12:14Why is Omochao hanging out with the animals anyways?
12:18He never did that in the game.
12:21He actually makes more sense when he has a job,
12:24because you could still assume he's getting paid.
12:27He tediously says hello to every one of the heroes individually,
12:31reminding me of a fanfiction of Flynn's.
12:34And even that lampshaded that in the narration.
12:37And he tells the heroes about a light collecting rings,
12:41which I hope is as interesting as it sounds.
12:44It sounds magical.
12:46It also makes me think of a spaceship with a tractor beam.
12:49Sonic thanks Tails for saying something
12:51that gets him to figure out a trick on his own.
12:54Eggman wants the rest of the Wisps and is stomped.
12:57He says two defeats in one day.
13:00It felt to me like the entire adventure
13:02was happening in just one day.
13:04Good thing there's a sunset to make it more believable.
13:07The mysterious light really was just from a Wisp.
13:10That's lame.
13:12I thought it was going to establish something new in Sonic's world.
13:16I wonder if every interesting new mystery
13:18is going to turn out to be one of the Wisps
13:20that shouldn't be here in such huge quantities.
13:23Omochao tells the heroes that a place got destroyed.
13:27Why do they only just now think it could have been because of Eggman?
13:32They find out Eggman captured some Wisps
13:34and made them cause this destruction.
13:37We never saw a story where he made Wisps cause actual destruction before,
13:42which is the only compliment I have
13:44because I know he doesn't need Wisps to destroy things.
13:47Why is he acting like he does?
13:50The Wisp says thanks,
13:51and I think of how stupid a name Indigo Asteroid is
13:55because asteroids are by definition gigantic,
13:58so it would only be an asteroid if it was hit with a shrink ray
14:01and was brought here.
14:03I guess Sonic's uncle did all that while exploring the universe.
14:07Or Eggman did.
14:09How did Tails persuade the Indigo Wisps to calm down?
14:13What I mean is how was he able to get them to calm down
14:15if they didn't calm down the instant they saw Sonic and Tails
14:18and recognized them as heroes of the world?
14:22Wouldn't their mere presence reassure them?
14:25He's told nice work.
14:27Do I even need to explain that Eggman was stopped at this point?
14:30I think we can just assume that happens every time he's the instigator of the plot.
14:35Albatraoz warned Sonic that Eggman sent any robots to invade an animal village,
14:39like it's SCC.
14:41I'm surprised because the animals can't talk like we can,
14:44and yet Sonic can always understand them,
14:46which means they're just talking in their own language.
14:50So of course they're smart enough to make a village.
14:53They never came off like actual people in the games.
14:57Sure, there was a city in the background in Starlight Zone,
15:00but for all we knew, Eggman made the city,
15:03and it was a ghost town.
15:05This is only impressing me by reminding me of SCC
15:08because it's been done a million times there.
15:11But in the games universe,
15:13how is this the first time we heard about him sending robots to get animals from a village?
15:18Every other time, the animals were somehow wandering around in non-village places,
15:23which makes no sense if they're people.
15:27I can understand a few people in non-village places
15:30because they're taking a walk and appreciating the nature,
15:33but all of them aren't.
15:36Sonic calls Tails pal and gets told to look up at the clouds.
15:41The heroes find out that a place with animals is overrun with robots.
15:45Sonic thanks Omochao for telling him that.
15:48Tails needs Omochao to ask the animals where Eggman captured people from
15:52so they could find his base,
15:54which Sonic could have found by just running around at Sonic's speed enough.
15:59A robot being smashed gets Knuckles to tell Tails nice job.
16:03Somehow he's flattered by being praised for beating one measly Badnik.
16:08Why doesn't he realize how little he thanks him if he's actually impressed by this?
16:13Badniks die in one hit. They're pathetic.
16:16Knuckles is eager to put the base out of commission, unlike an IDW.
16:21Omochao thanks the heroes for saving the animals from Eggman,
16:24making it safe for them to go home.
16:27Omochao says the animals want to give them gifts.