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Joint World Exclusive: The New Sonic and Tails Speak!

Ever since the announcement of the Sonic series’ new voice actors for Sonic Colo(u)rs, people have been speculating on the performance of the new voice actors–specifically, Roger Craig Smith and Kate Higgins, the voice of Sonic and Tails, respectively. Though we’ve heard a bit of Smith via his work with the Alton Towers Sonic Spinball ride and Sonic Room, there hasn’t been a lot to indicate where either actor was going with their interpretations of Sega’s famous characters.

So, it only seems right that we give you a taste.

This video shows off the new performances but gives you a look at the story of Sonic Colo(u)rs (as a joint community exclusive for the “Big Three”: Sonic Wrecks, Sonic Stadium and ourselves) and was specially approved by SOJ and Sonic Team for us to reveal, so our thanks to them for helping to support us. This particular clip is the fourth cutscene from the game, so it’s pretty much a given that this may be a spoiler.

In this clip, which we’re collectively calling “Tails and the Translator,” as Colo(u)rs does not use cutscene names, features Tails working with his Miles Electric handheld to try and understand Yakker’s cries for help.

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86 Comments

  • Reply

    Not bad! Tails sounds great, Sonic will take some getting used to but the voice grew on me as the clip went on. I do like that neither character’s voice is as ridiculously high-pitched as it used to be. Much more natural.

  • Reply

    Sega keeps making me think I’m too old for Sonic.
    ..
    SonicFanRemix doesn’t.

    • Reply

      Nintendo’s been doing that with Mario for years now (Sunshine, Galaxy, Galaxy 2… the list goes on), but nobody seems to mind. You’d better think the same thing about Mario, or else your a damn hypocrite.

      • Reply

        Maybe the difference is that Mario cutscenes aren’t acted out by “funny” characters, with their over exaggerated “funny” mannerisms.
        It just makes it all look like something from a Nick cartoon or something.
        A Mario game also looks childish, and also has really dumb storylines, but it doesn’t force it down your face.  Ignore the text, Hammer the A button, do the level.

        I have no issues with the landscape, the art style, the settings or whatever.
        Just that..
        That “funny” video really makes me want to turn over the tv…
        I’m too old for that.
        It’s not good tv.

        Being a Sonic game, you know these’ll be as unskippable as ever..

        • Reply

          Er, they’ve been skippable for ages.

          And at least Sonic doesn’t have a spaceship, or, rather, a FACEship, har har…

        • Reply

          Wow, am I the only one (not on the forums anyway) here that DIDN’T grow up with Sonic and know both sides of the story? (My friend’s the one who showed me Sonic 2, btw)
          On the issue of skipping cutscenes, of course they’ve been skippable, as far as I know they’re usually skipped by the Start button, or + Button if you’re on the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed (And consequently Sonic Colours on Wii).
          The Mario series of games are actually meant so that people can focus on the game, not lotsa cutscenes to explain the story as the game goes on (perhaps the occasional message that a new area’s unlocked or whatnot, but other than that…oh, inb4 fill your soul with LIIIIGHT on the discussion of cutscene and voice acting) as well as the fact that they’re not, let’s say expected to be followed. It’s the kind of series in which you can jump into gameplay (almost) straightaway, perhaps after a short intro or whatnot (and all people wish this were the same for Sonic’s current games, Sonic 4 being Sega’s answer to fill in that statement) although cutscenes are sometimes important for finding plot information which leads to clues, but that isn’t the kind of style that the platformer genre is based upon, really.

  • Reply

    DUDEEE!! Their voices are so awesome! Also, Sonic broke the 4th wall LOL!

  • Reply

    Jayenkai i think we probably are too old for most of Sonic’s new adventures. They are full of gimicky crap that has nothing to do with Sonic. For instance: werehogs, knights with huge swords and now aliens. Sega have rinsed him harder than my mum rinses flanels. And these new additions are generally very easy. SonicFanRemix is great and so is Sonic 4, Sonic only truly works in 2D imo. I will say however that Sonic Adventure Battle 2 was a damn good game. This new “colours” game looks… iffy. Haven’t quite decided yet.

  • Reply

    Sonic didn’t just break the 4th wall? He just did not do that. He did!. I really like this. And his voice?  Perfect.

  • Reply

    Sonic sounds like the Disney XD announcer. It’ll take some getting used to.

  • Reply

    Yo… Did Sonic bust out the moonwalk at the beginning?

    • Reply

      Yup he did XD 🙂

      • Reply

        Props to Sega, Sonic Team and Iizuka-san dare I say for not forgetting Michael Jackson after all that…uh…conspiracy?

  • Reply

    The voices are great. The jokes? A little too “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” for me. That should be music to a lot of peoples ears, just not mine. But yeah, I was holding my breath for about 2 months on this one, and Roger is just as good Jason and Ryan. Also, Kate is an awsome successor to Corey and Conner Bringas.

    But lastly, did anyone else catch Sonic moonwalking!?

  • Reply

    That’s much better! Sonic having a slightly deeper voice (at least in relation to his previous ones) will take a bit of getting used to, but the voice and performance fit his personality fine. This is really good. I love the fourth wall breaking, and Tails’ voice sounds like what Amy Palant was trying to do, only a lot better. He actually sounds somewhat like a boy now, rather than a raspy woman. This game looks like it’s going to be great. It’s really making me want a Wii.

    • Reply

      Don’t you have a DS–oh wait, you want to hear MORE of the voice actors, don’t you? That would explain that last sentence there 🙂
      Ah, who could blame you? The game’s actually being shown that it is being constantly worked on with new content added each time (dare I say it’s a bit like that show in the UK called “How Not To Decorate” where the designers tended to add to the design if it was all going perfectly when they’re renovating a house. No, I don’t think this deserves a Godwin point for anyone who knows what that show is about, but congratulations to you people who get the fact I’m simply comparing Sega/Sonic Team’s development of Sonic Colours to a house renovation reality TV show. Progress goes great, they add more to it until they can’t add no more (or the proposed added ideas don’t work in the end).)

  • Reply

    I approve. 

  • Reply

    Wow, Sonic’s voice is awful, and that background music is terrible.

    At least the gameplay looks good.

    • Reply

      I know right? XD

  • Reply

    Wonderful. All three character’s voices is fantastic. Sonic sounds a bit lower than it should be but I can get used to it, since he sounds so good. Tails is flawless. And Yaker is genuine and isn’t annoying like Chip. I also chuckled a bit and I’m 19. Good job SEGA.

  • Reply

    Wow! That was great! I LOOOVE it! Awesome voices, AND the voice-acting sounds better! Nevermind the writing! Not nearly as awkward as it used to be.

    Also, not ONLY did Sonic moonwalk, but he did the hat-tip too! AMAZING MJ reference! Makes sonic SOO much cooler, and a bit more 90’s!

    SEGA, Sonic 4 ain’t lookin’ too great, but Colors is shaping up nicely!

  • Reply

    So, Roger is clearly a terrific voice actor with outstanding delivery. But I personally don’t think he quite fits. Sometimes, it almost seems to work… I guess it just depends on the line and inflection. I can probably get used to it. Oh well, I’ve never engaged in voice actor wars before, and I don’t intend to start now.

    Loving the dialogue though. That breaking of the fourth wall was both tasteful and amusing <3 Moonwalk ftw.

  • Reply

    Richard did an alright job with Sonic. He just needs to be voiced at a higher pitch. Kate did a fantastic job with Tails though.

    Wow, they are really going back to the 90’s with moonwalking, AoSTH-type humor…

  • Reply

    I just hope sonics still got his attitude from the adventure series like, “Talk about low budget flights, no food or movies? I’m outta here!” he seems to civiliased here :/

    • Reply

      Oh and Don’t forget him being Sarcastic During Unleashed, Black Knight and Zero Gravity

      By Jason

      “Uh Oh did I fall on Him”
      “Whatever yo uoversized letter opener”
      ” A planet sized jigsaw puzzle? sounds like a great excuse to see the World”

      and many more 🙂 I didn’t mind Ryan but I liked jason more 🙂

  • Reply

    The kids will like it, so it’s fine.

  • Reply

    Tails is fine buuuut sonic sounds too low pitched and generaly sounds like a fan dub of some sort. I precut the old voice. It could get annoying but it suited him perfectly and matched his atitude and actions.

    • Reply

      *prefur (don’t know why autocomplete did that)

      • Reply

        *prefer (don’t know why you did that)

        • Reply

          lol XD

        • Reply

          Me to…

    • Reply

      By old voice, you mean either Jason Griffith or Ryan Drummond >.>
      Either way, it’s just your opinion. I’m just commenting.

  • Reply

    I think Sonic’s voice is too deep. :\ But Tails’ sounds great, Kate did a good job with that! I guess I’ll just have to get use to Sonic’s new voice… and him breaking the 4th wall was awesome. xD

  • Reply

    I don’t like it, but I don’t hate it. Time will tell and then I’ll get used to it.

    • Reply

      Yeah I feel the same way…

      But yeah your right im sure most people will get use to the new cast soon

      Afterall after The Release Of Black Knight most people finally got use to 4Kids (I didn’t mind really never noticed the difference…..:| well on some characters but Sonic? eh

      The 4Kids cast will always be the true sonic voices in my eyes 🙂

  • Reply

    Sonic’s dialog towards the end reminded me of AoStH. The fact that he’s bigger and his voice is deeper than White’s actually works well together IMO.

  • Reply

    Generally not bad.
    Tails is spot-on. Roger is almost surprisingly low-pitched, which will take a bit of getting used to, but he can clearly act, so definitely points there.

    The writing flows a bit better, though as always they need to work on those damn subtitles. ><;

    Oh yeah, +2 for the AOSTH-style music in the background.

  • Reply

    i want sonics old voice back!

    • Reply

      Me too 🙁 But I don’t think we have a choice we gotta get use to the new cast now 😐 new people …. feel free to express your feelings now ….because its gonna take a while to get use to having them around

    • Reply

      – And by old, which one out of Drummond or Griffith in the case of Sonic? I’m assuming you’re referring to Griffith since he was the previous voice actor for Sonic…

  • Reply

    sonic sounds like a wanna be ratchet. ryan and jason are better. 😐

    • Reply

      I agree too….. but I wanna wait for a while and see if he improves in future games…..he sounds older than 15 yes I know XD

      But he could have more talent show in the next couple of months…

      • Reply

        this is true…

      • Reply

        Well, he technically is already 19, so it makes sense for him to sound older than 15. ._.

        • Reply

          But hes also 15 right?

        • Reply

          Is actual age is 15 fictional characters never AGE

  • Reply

    I don’t like the new voices….Not that I hate them or anything but I’ll have to get use to them eventually (I hope?)

    I miss 4Kids but understand its been 5 years…but they had so much more to bring after the past games….They improved year by year

    I disliked most of the Original Cast prefred 4Kids but im sure the new cast could get better…afterall 4Kids Co did so I won’t lash out at them immediatley We’ll see how it goes in the future…

  • Reply

    It’ll take some adjusting but I like it. I don’t know why but I think the voices are more appropriate then the old ones.

    • Reply

      Really? I think the opposite but your right It’ll take some time getting use to :S

  • Reply

    Never been one to really care about the voices, but the new Sonic sounds so lame.

    • Reply

      Its gonna take a while getting use to …so we will see what happens in the next couple of months….from now – 2011 to the near future

  • Reply

    So, that explains the binary code, the breaking of the 4th wall, the soda translation, and possibly the giant robot consequence.
    Nice voice acting.

  • Reply

    Sonic sound like the Spectacular Spider-Man (Disney XD), Tails sounds like Jimmy Neutron (totally matches though), and thank god the wisp doesn’t talk. This may be one of Sonic’s best games of all time. SEGA, well done.

    • Reply

      Yacker/Yakker does actually talk, but only in garbled noises – hence for the Miles Electric to translate it (in a glitchy manner) into words.

      • Reply

        That’s exactly what I meant. Sonic CAN’T understand it, so I prefer it as “garbled noises” not “talking”. But do you agree with the Sonic/Tails thing?

        • Reply

          Can’t judge for sure, yet. My internet, well, I busted its usage. I usually do so within two weeks, and it’s only been a few days since that last happened so I can’t watch the apparent epicness that is Sonic Colours’ first revealed cutscene.
          And heck, how is ANYONE supposed to understand garbled noises? 🙂
          I bet those who live in the apparent land of Jibber and speak Jibberish would know :3

  • Reply

    all i have to say is sega your doing it right and im lookin forward to this game

  • Reply

    Well, Sonic sounds older than I’m used to, but I can deal with that. I’m not “OMG! They sound so cool!” or “Ew, they’re horrible.” I’m in between. I like Tails’ new voice, but it’ll take a bit of getting used to for Sonic’s. At the moment I still prefer Jason. Roger is a little too deep. Oh well. There’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ll just have to get used to it. Roger sounds much better than in the Alton Towers voice samples I heard though.

  • Reply

    Woah, Sonic’ll take getting used to. Tails’ is great. I’m sure it’ll grow on me.
    Underwear for salad.

  • Reply

    It’s in binary code, so only I can read it!

  • Reply

    …..Best Sonic Voice Actors ever. That was awesome. I’m looking forward to this game.

    • Reply

      Agreed.

  • Reply

    As for my opinion (I just made replies to about 6 comments today), I can’t say much. Until my internet gets back (I have cable, but I bust it quite easily, so I can’t watch the video). But from what I can see on the screen before the video is clicked, Yacker obviously isn’t amused by mistranslation from the Miles Electric’s new “Wisp Translator”. And I can see the subtitles. Lol soda.
    If anyone hasn’t tried correcting him immediately (from the initial picture), I’ll clarify it myself – “Soda” is meant to be a far-away planet (Planet Wisp, obviously) and ‘His name is “Talks-a-lot”‘ is meant to be Yacker – as is quite obvious by now.

  • Reply

    Well then, after hearing this then.. Uuuh.. It’s hard to respond to, his voice is a tad too deep for my tastes, but I hope SEGA changes his official age to 19 for this. I also like where this is going, fourth wall breaking, and moonwalking? Awesome.

  • Reply

    I think your game still has some bugs.

  • Reply

    I love Tails’ new voice, but I hate sonic’s, he sounds to old, it dosn’t fit AT ALL, and now I like jason better, WHO APROOVED THIS!?! who is the director and why does he fail!?! I do love Tails new voice they should have just recasted him

    • Reply

      Can’t please everybody, but I’m pleased with it at least. Sonic definitely sounds less annoying, but that’s mostly up to the writing.

    • Reply

      Hmm…Khayal, try going onto Sonic Stadium (HOORAY FOR THE EVIL ALLIANCE! Forever will I call them the new Triple Alliance //shot) as they have an article stating that Sega wanted Sonic to sound older. He’s practically 19 by now, not literally of course.

      • Reply

        I prefer Amy Planant and Jason Griffith for now still .

  • Reply

    Roger’s rendition of Sonic grows on me the more I listen to it, but it still sounds a little too deep.

    • Reply

      I still don’t think he gives sonic the yong mood tennage personality….like Jason and Ryan did 🙁 I still don’t like it but as I said im gonna have to get use to it

      • Reply

        I dunno about you guys, but as a 15-year-old I can say that the average voice of guys my age is closer to Roger than any of the previous voice actors.

        • Reply

          I just think hes too deep I thought it was terrible when I saw the video IM WAITING to see if he improves

          But you can’t always get a first good attempt 🙂

          Ryan had a messed up atempt in Sonic Adventure and Shuffle (only)

          Jason had only one messed attempt in Sonic X (Season 1 and some episodes of season 2)

  • Reply

    JESUS H CHRIST. 66 fucking comments?

  • Reply

    i really like tails voice im still gettin used to sonics also something good about kate higgins as tail he actually sound more like a boy

  • Reply

    Tails sounds better than any other Tails I´ve heard. Sonic doesn´t sound that great for me, although it doesn´t sound bad either.

  • Reply

    *sproing!*
    I really like this voice now.

    • Reply

      *twiches* I don’t 😐 he…hes……

      TOO DEEP *shudders*

  • Reply

    like tail’s voice (as long as it’s not like the voice from the sonic the hedgehog movie), but i’m not so crazy about sonic’s voice.

    I do like how sonic talked to the audience like in the adventures of sonic the hedgehog though…totally awesome =D

    • Reply

      Oh, just wait. You just wait until they take all of the fourth wall breakers that Sonic does in the cutscene and mashes that up with Sonic Sez–no, Says. //ninja’dbyTailsfromAOSTH
      On the note, though, it seems now that I can finally say that Orbot has given himself a PRRRRRRRRRRRRRROMOTION

  • Reply

    I MUCH prefer these voices to the previous ones. 

    • Reply

      I beg to differ 🙁

  • Reply

    Oh, what? I can use the internet’s full speed early? Thanks to a blackout, funnily enough.
    Now, though, time to comment on the voices.
    Tails: Oh god, Sega, you did very well in the recasting. And I’d have to agree – he sounds a lot more like a young boy, something that I could imagine if the whole series (even the 2D!) was dubbed with the voiceovers!
    Sonic, oooohhh boy. MUCH better, although I did like the previous voiceovers too.
    And Yakker, for the hell of it – Now THAT is an alien sighting!

  • Reply

    While this recasting pleases me greatly, I’m never going to look at Sonic the same way. o_o Roger’s voice is just so…. deep compared to what I’m used to hearing from Sonic. It’s like Sonic finally grew up or something, and that makes me feel uncomfortable. Though… after trying to digitally pitch his voice higher, uh.. Yeah, don’t do that, either. He sounds douchey with it pitched higher.

    I’ll get used to it. It makes me less angry/uncomfortable than the sudden recasting 4kids did. All in all, a huge step up, and the nostalgia factor is the only thing keeping me from not totally accepting Roger quite yet. (May change, but still no-one can perfectly wear Ryan’s shoes.)

    Do your best and win us over, Roger and Kate~

  • Reply

    Sonic may Sound like a bragy teen (Voice)
    but that cut was horlarrious

  • Reply

    “i’m just gonna stick with aliens, if that’s alright with everyone.”

    racism reference?

    on a  positive note, the voices fit well. the deeper sonic (like said 50 times earlier) will take a while to get used to, but it fits. tails (also like said 50 times earlier) is spot-on. 

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