Sonic Boom Character Designs: I'm Digging Them

"Those are the character designs for the upcoming Sonic Boom show?! Why is Knuckles all Hulked out?! Sonic's legs are too long! Why do all of the characters have wraps?! Tails is wearing a belt! These character designs are the WORST thing to happen to the Sonic series! RUINED FOREVER!!"

-Sonic's very vocal, unpleasable fanbase

Silhouettes for the designs of the characters from Sonic Boom have been on the internet for a while now. It wasn't until recently that SEGA went ahead and lifted the curtain and showed the world what Sonic and the gang would look like for the new animated series and game debut. Reactions to Sonic and company's new look played out just about the same way things always do with the Sonic community. What did 1987 Raphael say in Turtles Forever?

"Some people just can't handle change." 

Yeah, the designs for Sonic and pals in Sonic Boom are different from what many of us have grown accustomed to over the past decade and a half with Knuckles sports the most radically different design. I'm gonna take the side of the minority and say that I like the character designs for Sonic Boom.

Let's star off with Sonic. His legs seem longer than ever but I have no problem with that. His arms are blue now but he was mostly blue anyway so that doesn't bother me in the slightest. The ascot? I approve. What's it covering up? The neck that Sonic doesn't have?

Tails has goggles and a belt that he uses to carry around tools. He's always been a gear head, so this works for him.

Knuckles is bigger and taller than everyone so it's no surprise that his design has been greeted with the most fan outcry. He must have been hitting the gym while he was guarding Angel Island's Master Emerald. Knuckles has always been about brute force so I don't have a problem with him having a look that matches his strength. Does it go against the "mighty is light" thing? Yes. Do I care? No one iota.

Amy has never looked better. No, really. The biggest beefs I had with Amy in both her classic and modern incarnations were the clothes they stuck her with. Well OK, in the case of her classic version, I didn't care for her design either but modern Amy looked like she stepped out of the 1960s. The outfit she's styling in Sonic Boom is the best she's ever worn and she's no longer wearing boots that I'm amazed she's never tripped over.

Everyone is rocking the wraps. Personally, I LOVE this. I don't know if the gang's been tacking up some kind of martial arts or if it's simply a design choice, but I really like it. Rock Lee wear's wraps and he's a fan favorite Naruto character. Wraps are prominent in Nickleodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles designs and they only serve to make the turtles look that much more awesome.

These guys were already cool in previous
incarnations. Wraps have been added for an
infinite amount of cool points.

It's not like these are the standard designs for Sonic now. Sonic Boom, like the Sonic Story Book series is going to be a spin-off franchise so we'll still see Knuckles more traditional design and Amy's 1960s get up. Besides, are these designs really the worst thing that's happened to SEGA's mascot? If anyone thinks some new character designs are worse than Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, I'd have to say they are a bit loony upstairs.

In this medium, your appearance is not the only thing that makes you who you are. Mario and Luigi have long since swapped the colors of their overalls and shirts and they lost nothing when they made such a minor change. The world didn't stop loving Mickey Mouse when he put on a pair of shoes and gloves and despite what so many stuck-in-the past fanboys want the world to believe, Sonic is still Sonic regardless of whether he has a pot belly, green eyes, some wraps and an ascot (which is all kinds of awesome). I'm looking forward to both the animated series and the game and when figures for these designs drop, you better believe I'll be picking them up.