A quick review of SATAM

[quakehollow]

A few months ago I decided to watch SATAM to see what all the fuss was about, and whether or not it was better than Sonic X.
One thing that can definitely be said about SATAM is that its not a bad show, in fact if I could sum up the quality of the show in one line it would be "SATAM is not a bad show" the problem is its not a very good show either.
The show defiantly has its good points, sonic as a freedom fighter against Robotnick is always a good idea, and is good because it allows for plot progression, the show while a bit too "dark" for its own good, which comes off as quite cheesy, does have a well developed plot, with Robotnick evidently the star of the show, and while I prefer Robotnick's voice in AOSTH, its better than the dreamcast/ps2 games, although having said that Mike Pollock is excellent.
What really lets down the show though are the original characters, with the possible exception of Snivly, I didn't find any of the original characters of any merit,Antoine who sounds like a borderline racist sterotype is easily the most annoying, although nowhere near as racist as say Kid Cruel in STC.
The main problem with SATAM though is not that the original characters exist, I appreciate that it was necessary to flesh out sonic's world back then STC did the same (eg porker Johnny,etc) its that they take up too much of the focus of the show, its called sonic the hedgehog, not sally the squirrel after all, and while I appreciate the show devoting 1 or 2 episodes to the background of an original character, the show should always remain focused on the Sega characters in this case Robonick, Sonic and Tails, and since I'm on the topic of Tails, he should have played a far more prominent role!

All in all the show isn't too bad, while not as good as AOSTH and nowhere near as good as the epic OVA with metal sonic, it is at least far superior to Sonic X, it is a solid show that's well worth watching if your a sonic fan, just don't get your hopes up its not that good and it certainly doesn't deserve the hype it gets.

All in all

6.5/10

Your thoughts, what did you think of SATAM?

[Charles]

I never really rated it at the time when I was in the target audience, but part of that was probably "what happened to the REAL Sonic cartoon, Channel 4?! What's THIS?!". But when I came back to it years later... I still didn't really rate it. The original characters didn't do it for me, it seemed to be trying too hard with the darker stuff which clashed with how Sonic talked & acted like in AoStH. I also believe the Robotnik dictatorship & freedom fighting was done better in Sonic Underground; there we got to see cities & nations being occupied and actual people and a network of freedom fighters, while in SatAm it's basically Knothole and a few others and barely anyone seems to live in Knothole. SU's still mediocre but it pulls that off.

its called sonic the hedgehog, not sally the squirrel after all

The intro has Sonic distracting the Swatbots while Sally does the actual work of blowing up the factory/dam thing. That's really odd in retrospect: you're showing the title character as the sidekick!

[Zerolus]

Oh, blegh. SatAM. Yeah, used to like it in another lifetime. :/

It's a been a while since I've last seen it now, but it's a pretty bland show with little to offer. Jim Cummings' performance is certainly a highlight, and at least Season 2 was a bit more interesting with an over-arcing plotline, but I find remembering it more for its faults: Bland, barely notable characters, and Sonic acting like an obnoxious twit (though that really applies to all of DiC's Sonic cartoons).

[Dusty]

I kind of liked SATAM honestly. I could see its flaws and all, but even still I'd say it's at least worth one viewing for a Sonic fan.