Sega has announced that Jason Griffith will no longer be the voice actor for Sonic the Hedgehog. Roger Craig Smith is confirmed as his replacement.
The actor has previously played the roles of Chris Redfield in Resident Evil 5, Ezio Auditore da Firenze in Assassin’s Creed 2, various roles in Valkyria Chronicles and Siegfried in Soul Calibur IV. In anime, Smith has voiced Deidara from Naruto and Shinji Hirako and Nova from Bleach.
Smith’s credentials in the voice acting world has not gone unnoticed by Sega’s community department – in particular ArchAngelUK, who is said to have played a part in the man’s signing. However, the announcement came from Sega America’s community blog.
Sonic will not be the only character to experience a voice change. SoA’s Kellie reveals that just about “everybody” in the current lineup has been replaced with new actors. The only other new VA to be announced was Kate Higgins as Tails – Higgins has played roles in Valkyria Chronicles, Madworld and anime Naruto in the past.
One cast member who has not been replaced is popular actor Mike Pollock, who retains his position as the malevolent Dr. Eggman.
This announcement follows the story we broke the other day about a change-up in the franchise’s vocal lineup.
So, what are you’re thoughts on all this? Is Sonic finally saved? Will the new voice actors offer the sort of talent you guys have been asking for?
Who?
I’m pretty sure you meant Jason Griffith, because Drummond hasn’t been the voice actor in a long time!
Wow, that’s a surprise. I honestly don’t know what to think of this…
Oh, and there’s a typo. It’s Jason Griffith, not Ryan Drummond who voiced from ’05 to ’10.
If Dan Green is gone I will be mad I am already unhappy with most the voice actors being replaced
Fans didn’t want ANOTHER new voice! We wanted either Ryan to return or Jason to stay!
Why Sega…
How is this going to save Sonic? Griffth was starting to get good! This is a just another bullshit move by Sega. Typical.
As long as Mike is still Eggman it’s all good.
(It seems kind of weird that tails is a girl)
Oh, and does sega not realize that Tails is MALE? He sounded like a girl with the last terrible actor. Great move Sega. Just keep pissing everyone off.
This is a nightmare… I was a Jason Griffith fan… 🙁
No one had major problems with Sonic or Tails it was others like Charmey and Vector everyone hated also it was Jason Griffith who voiced Sonic “from 2005′s Shadow the Hedgehog to 2009′s Black Knight”
Silver, you need to learn to go with the flow, the world doesn’t revolve around you, you can’t change the will of Sega, just go with it!
Oh stop moaning silver.
Voices=/=franchise saving. However, this is pretty good news. I was starting to like Griffith but we’ve been overdue for change for awhile. Very happy to see Pollock staying as Robotnik/Eggman.
Charmy and Vector are not even major characters, so thats crap. Rouge sounded like a man and Tails like a girl. Everybody hated Griffith until he actually started getting good.
The difference between Amy Palant and Kate Higgins is that Kate can actually sound like a little boy.
You do realize that they hire girls because otherwise Tails would need a new VA every time the kid hit puberty, right? That’s why Tails had a new VA for heroes-Advance 3. In fact, on TV most younger boys are voiced by girls, whether you know it or not. It just makes everything practical and efficient. Unless you want to age Tails to keep the VA, its better to just stick with a girl.
I’m disappointed they didn’t include vocal demos for the newbies so we could give (constructive) critique.
Tails was already voiced by a girl. Unless in your world Amy Pallant’s a dude. Anyway, it’s fairly common for young boys to be voiced by women, because companies don’t want to go through the problem of young male VAs going through puberty, so they have to get a new one. But its not bad, some women can do boys’ voices quite good. Pit in Brawl is voiced by a women for example and you’d never notice.
Is Jason Griffith still doing Shadow? And Jet for that matter? I won’t be able to form an opinion on these new actors until I hear them playing the parts of their corresponding characters. Voice actors can sound different dependinh on what role they are playing.
Is Jason Griffith still doing Shadow? And Jet for that matter? I won’t be able to form an opinion on these new actors until I hear them playing the parts of their corresponding characters. Voice actors can sound different depending on what role they are playing.
i feel it might grow on me, i really have no idea on how to react on this. its not sega’s fault either so if there is fear i wouldnt get mad at anyone really. Jason had to leave and sega just couldnt keep them against his will. Besides, eggmans voice is still here, thats where its still at! i think we should look at it in a new way, I loved J. griffith. he did it perfectly, but we are looking at a very long line of sonic games for the future so something had to give, and it wasnt the entire franchise itself at least huh? I really am indifferent and am glad sega was at least able to find a replacement instead of sonic being mute for a while.
LOL so many unhappy fans. The voice actor they’ve been bitching about ENDLESSLY is being changed and now it’s a big problem.
What anyone has failed to mention is that Roger Craig Smith voiced Ezio Auditore da Firenze in the AMAZING game Assassin’s Creed 2! This is exciting news for me, because, well…I like more than just Sonic games. I am looking forward to giving the guy a spin (a sonic spin, for lack of a better pun), and I think everyone else should also give him a chance before starting up petitions to lynch the guy.
Roger Craig Smith has a much deeper voice, i hope sonic’s voice doesn’t get very different…
And as for Kate Higgins…. WTF TAILS IS A. MALE. his voice was feminine enough with his other voicer actor
I really really hope Sega don’t screw they’re voices up ;_;
lol, sorry about the incremental updates guys. SEGA announced this just as I was supposed to get in a line for train tickets. I had a heck of time getting this thing up, and then updated and fixed XD.
Horrible, horrible timing.
It’d be nice to have some voice samples of them while they’re acting. Maybe we’ll hear them in a new Sonic Colours trailer tomorrow.
Ommigod, Chris is Sonic? I AM VERY PLEASED.
Hopefully Tails doesn’t sound like Velma now that he has a decent voice actor.
…Oh my god.
Wow, I can’t believe that just happened. I’m not excited, not pissed either, just… shocked. I hope this is for the better… I thought the voice acting was fine as it was, not amazing but definitely not terrible, so I hope this isn’t disappointing. I hope my Sonic still sounds like my Sonic.
Er… people need to understand that TAILS HASN’T GONE THROUGH PUBERTY. If they used male voice actors, he would sound like a MAN, and if they used boys, they would have to replace them every few years when THOSE boys hit puberty, thus more voice changes.
Anyway… wow. When do we get to hear this guy’s impression of Sonic?
To all the people complaining about Tails being being played by a woman, you have to realize that’s pretty much how the entire voice acting industry plays young boys. Very few voice actors can do a younger sounding male voice, and most of those are still for characters older than Tails(for example, Yuri Lowenthal and the kinds of characters he usually plays).
The last young male character in any sort of animation/game variety of thing I can remember being played by a boy was Alphonse Elric in the first Fullmetal Alchemist series. And you know why Aaron Dismuke isn’t playing him in Brotherhood? Puberty. If they were gonna use a boy voice actor, they’d have to change him practically every other game, or he’d just be so young that his acting schools aren’t that great anyway.
So, yeah. Just sayin’.
what about shadow!!!
How exactly was this in anyway big news? Tons of other franchises have VA changes and it’s not that big over in those fanbases.
who said there is going to be anew trailer for SC tomorrow?
I fixed Nux post. He’s had Ryan Drummond on the brain as of late.
Ekajra is right on the money. Pretty much ALL young boys are voiced by women in animation. I, for one am happy Tails is getting a new voice. I never cared for the one he had in Sonic X/current games.
According to AAUK Everyone in the active cast has been changed except for Mike. Also, he hints that everyone else’s role might be in question too… owww more new voices.
What about everyone else?
Like Shadow and Jet?
I can’t believe people are stupid enough not to realize that most young male characters are voiced by female VAs.
Oh shit, please god don’t PLEASE don’t be a bad actor or the sonic fanbase will have a hissy fit like normal.
Im happy sega decided to get rid of 4-kidz the actors were terrible (Cept mike pollok and dan green) but, i for one and happy they did this. aaand diddnt AAUK say there was something on sonic 4?
I, for one, am pretty happy with the change. This guy is a real quality actor, from what I’ve heard of him in Asassin’s Creed II and his demo reel. Jason Griffith was alright, but I think this guy’ll be better.
I’m thrilled they’re keeping Mike Pollock. He rocks.
I’m really curious about the others, particularly Shadow and Jet. But that won’t be for a long while.
I actually really like this guy, so way to go Sega! Either the Sonic cycle is starting again, this time in TURBO HYPE mode, or Sega’s actually making smart decisions
Is just this simple, all the English voice actors have always been horrible, there Japanese counter parts have always been MUCH better and sound more natural to the characters.
Wow a real professional VA.
Chris Redfield? Ezio? Deidara?
3 complete different personalities and he voiced them all awesome.
I’m thrilled to see his work.
From what I’ve heard about these two, I think they will make wonderful actors, especially Kate. Her little-boy voice is excellent!
I have faith in the new guy.
Not so sure about Kate, but we’ll see.
I wish they’d keep Lisa Ortiz as Amy Rose. I thought she did a great job in that role. She was real good at emoting properly. Also, I liked Amy Birnbaum as Charmy Bee. She made the character real bratty instead of the horrible job done in Sonic Heroes. But that’s a pretty minor thing.
Thank God that Cream will have a new voice actress. XD I couldn’t stand those high-pitched squeals of hers.
YEESSSSSS!!! finally! anyway thank you jason for voicing & hellooooo chris .
WANASH<< in arabic means joy!
please i wanna hear you say : welcome to the next level, XD
I love how everybody was bitching and up in arms about this change in the last post, but is now okay. Oh Sonic fans.
Oh dear. My nightmare has come true. I do hope the new voice actors don’t fail to please.
Listening to the music tune from Kate.
Nice voice… for a girl like Sakura.
I hope she can prove herself as Tails.
Oh and Mike is going to rock on forever.
I’ll wait how these new VA will handle the job.
I demand Keith Silverstein for Shadow!
This are very good news, a true professional voice actor is voicing Sonic at last, bye bye 4kids you will not be missed!
Also good news on Tails voice.
We didn’t need the voices in the early games, but the few times we did, the voice actors were different across media. There’s not much of a need to assign “permanent” VA’s if SEGA’s just going to replace them as soon as people get used to them.
Wow.. thats a big move, though i wish we could get some voice clips.
Wow Kate voiced Rhyme (little kid) in The world ends with you and imo did a great job with that one.
I seriously get hyped about this.
Most were starting to like the voices, and we can’t keep the fans happy, right SEGA?
I have no Idea who that even is, but I do know his voice from RE5. He’s pretty good, but It means a lower voice for Sonic
Heck, I’ll give him a shot. I’d personally like to hear him voice Dark Sonic if he ever pops up again in the shows or even in the games.
Wish the best of luck for Jason, and good luck Smith
Can’t say I’m too happy about this,
I’ve gotten used to the 4kids cast and I don’t want to see them go.
I’ve never heard of this guy, nor do I know what he sounds like. However, I won’t give any opinions on Roger Craig Smith until I’ve actually heard him as Sonic.
It’s still kinda sad that most of the 4kids cast are being replaced, seeing as I’ve gotten quite used to them over the years.
I like sonic’s new voice, if it’s the guy talking in the Sonic Colors game play videos!
“COME AWN! SPIINNN!”
It’s PERFECT!
New voice actors in a game like Sonic colors may seriously aid the Sonic franchise and boost Sega’s morale!
And Mr. Craig seems to have a lot of great experience with voice acting in the first place. I think they made a good decision! I’m excited to hear Knuckles and Shadow’s voice, and I’m glad they left Mike Pollock to keep on being Dr. Robotnik!
First things first, major world blowing alert for all those of you complaining about Kate voicing a male character:
Bart Simpson’s voice actor is a woman named Nancy Cartwright.
Moving on as heads explode, this may represent a new direction for Sonic games in general, as each one of these voice actors is well regarded with a lot of previous professional work on high quality stuff. Griffith, no offense to his great work in Unleashed, has had a lot more background roles. Sega’s simply raising the bar on their voice acting. I’m interested in seeing how it pans out.
This isn’t really… I mean, I’m not all too excited. Why change the voice actors when the fanbase has just started to accept them? Not all, but at least… If this doesn’t work out the way it’s supposed, I expect anew shitstorm coming up in less than a year.
That’s a shame. D= Jason was great in Unleashed, so I hope he gets a good role in something big in the future and that Rodger will do a good voice for Sonic. =D
Guys, you do know that Tails was voiced by a Girl (Amy Plant) before he was switched to Kate. Its funny if people didn’t know that already.
Hey, as long as it’s not that HORRID Alton Towers voice, I’m OK with it.
Welcome aboard, newcomers! And I’m glad Mike Pollock is staying, he’s a fantastic Eggman!
Tis a good day for Sonic fans everywhere, but to me, I’m kinda said. I mean that while the 4kids cast was god awful in the English dub of Sonic X but up until now, they have really improve and I’m gonna miss them. Roger Craig Smith and Kate Higgins are acceptable and can’t wait to heard what they sound like in the games. Farewell 4kids (expect for Mike Pollock) shall you torture us no more.
ANYONE is better than Jason fuck boy Griffith Im willing to give this guy a fair shot, I just hope Sonic’s voice isnt too deep.
I shall only judge once I’ve heard them speak.
Oh I don’t mind, he’s looked good in Sonic Colours like Always Fidelis said.
Jason wouldn’t last forever anyway
This is too bad Sega change almost all the voices:( I loved the old ones
Can someone give me a link to what Kate Higgins sounds like voicing a boy? I’m curious as to what Tails will sound like.
I liked Smith’s work as Chris Redfield, Ezio, and Deidara. I also liked Higgin’s work as Sakura (Naruto), Rhyme and Uzuki (The World Ends with You), and C.C. (Code Geass). It looks like we got some good anime/game actors here. soooo…does this mean that we’re getting voice actors from anime shows for the characters now? just gotta wait and see i guess.
Im pretty confident it will be better than griffith, but i still say the rightful role belongs to ryan.
This is HUGE news.
… Why are some of you bitching? You haven’t even heard the voices yet. You should consider this good news, because it seems like they found people that can act well. Sure, Jason was getting better, but I’m totally on board with this. Wait for voice clips before you start complaining… Christ.
No one could ever match Jason’s greatness:(
If you guys watch naruto Shippuden, he is the voice of Deidara. Seems like Naruto’s voice actors are gonna be Sonic’s voice actors
As long as Kate doesn’t make him sound like he’s a girl, I’m cool with this.
YES.
Interesting. As much as I got used to Sonic’s voice maybe he’ll at least sound like he wasn’t kicked in the balls.
I mean, Sonic’s supposed to be 15 or 16, right?
THANK GOD. GLORIOUS DAY!!
I hope whoever voices Knuckles now makes him sound really cool and badass like he did pre-Dan Green…
I’m looking forward to the new voices, but I was just getting used to Jason Griffith. Good thing they won’t replace Mike Pollock, but I’m super happy that they’ll replace Shadow’s.
So, for years people complained about Griffith being horrible, and now that they’ve gotten rid of him for a potentially better VA… you guys are complaining?! Seriously Sonic fandom, this whole flip-floppy opinions is really annoying.
I’m rooting for you Roger! Tails has changed voice actors so many times, I kinda don’t care who does him anymore 🙁
I’m curious on who will be the new VA’s for Shadow and Jet…… Especially for Shadow. But I’m mostly happy with Smith as the new Sonic VA, he’s good with his other roles. I hope we can get some clips from him soon.
Lets face facts people, Sonic is almost 20 years old. Having Roger’s lower voice will show he’s growing up lol
And if u think about it, Sega has been lowering sonics voice since the 1990’s Sonic cartoons. From Jaleel, with the highest voice (and perfect for a kid like sonic) to Ryan (13-15 years) to Jason (16-18) and now Roger.
I can’t believe it, I really liked Griffith.. and everyone is being replaced? I didn’t think all the cast were that bad. I hope they find a decent voice for Shadow. Pity for Amy’s voice actress, since she was great too. At least Mike Pollock is staying, he’s awesome as Eggman.
Thank God that I no longer have to hear Dan Green in every game!
Well this is fine with me, I don’t really care about the voices like, at all. And from what we’ve heard so far, this guy ain’t bad. And thanks GOD Amy’s voice is now gone, I hated her annoying little voice e_o And Pollock is great, so I’m fine with him staying. And if they bring back Shadow’s old voice actor, I’d begin to like Shadow again, even if only a little bit. I hated him after SA2…
Actually wasn’t expecting this outside of the rumour.
I wish the 4kids cast the best of luck, because they actually did improve quite a bit, and it’s fun to go back and see just how much better their voices sound after awhile!
But, change happens and hey seems like we’re getting some pretty good names up in here!
Just wait… someday Funimation will be doing the voices and Shadow will literally sound like Vegeta…. ha!
Do you think maybe the 4kids actors contracts expired or something, so SEGA decided to replace them (Except Mike Pollock) rather than giving them a raise or something.
Well, I hope Cream gets a completely new voice, I always found her high high high voice really irritating.
So, now, aside from Mike Pollock, practically all of 4Kids is not involved with Sonic. Big whoop.
(Inner YoshiAngemon: MAN, I KNEW they’d choose a girl to voice Tails, but Sakura Haruno? CHA!)
Is Naruto’s VA the voice of Amy? I’ll just have to wait and see, BELIEVE IT!
This isn’t a bad thing, everyone. The Sonic characters had different VAs through the years and the changes had happened before many times in the series. I cannot wait to hear what the Sonic characters sound like in future games, and I bet this is breaking news throughout the entire Sonic community. All I can hope for is that no one from The Lion King, Kingdom Hearts or those overrated Disney Afternoon shows will ever voice anyone from the Sonic series, but again: That’s only my opinion.
Hmm…I dunno about this guy, Roger Craig Smith
I’ve seen his work before and while he’s pretty good as a voice actor, i don’t think he’s a good fit for Sonic for 2 reasons:
1) Obligatory “I just got on the Jason Griffith bandwagon but now it’s too late and I feel bad for dissing him” comment.
2) The guy’s voice is too deep, even on his high pitch. Sonic should always have a more younger sounding voice even in his twenty’s. Maybe for Shadow probably. But not Sonic. Vic Mic-derp-a-derp could have done a good job if they’re looking for voice actors with credentials.
And thas what I think factored into their choice: it’s another random crazy fan idea put into work by SEGA, just like the other random crazy fan ideas they just plucked out from the internet. Plus, as a video game mascot, wouldn’t it give Sonic more game credibility if he was voiced by the guy who did Chris Redfeild and Ezio from Assassin’s Creed than some clown (no offense Drummond fans) or some 4Kids VA (no offense Griffith fans).
On the other hand of this spectrum, I am anticipating Kate Higgins bringing some more moxy to Tails, maybe turn him into the somewhat sarcastic voice of reason to Sonic’s recklessness…who occasionally loses it and start punching people.
Poor Sonic, having to share Naruto’s pain XP
*sigh*
this’ll just expand the debate on VA’s.
Haven’t heard his version of Sonics voice yet, so I dunno
They should of just stuck with drummond from the beggining, Drummond was very rarely complained about back in the day.
If they did blame drummond it was usually for poor script writing, which had nothing to do with his voice acting.
It makes total since that they replace griffith since half the fan base dislikes his sonic voice.
But still, they should of just stuck with drummond, even if drummond ended up doing a bad job he would be willing to change his voice for the fans, and in my opinion he greatly resembled junichi.
Wow. Poor guys/gals. I wonder if Jason is going to keep his role as Shadow (probably not), seeing as I finally got used to it :/
Oh well. I’m shocked, but…Well, what can I do? I’m just a person XP Good luck everyone!
Now THERE’S some real talent there. Roger Craig Smith and Kate Higgins should be great voices for Sonic and Tails. Great to see Mike Pollock reprise.
Wooooooow.
I know that everybody is always hatin’ on the 4kids cast, but this is just ridiculous. Replacing Sonic, maybe. Replacing everybody?
I’m actually really ticked off about this. I mean, Kate Higgins as TAILS??? Maybe Amy, but seriousy?
Sorry Sega, but you just blew it for me. I’ve already gotten used to one set of new guys, I don’t want to get used to another set.
Sorry if it sounds like I’m just blowing them off before I’ve even heard them talk, but Sonic has a very distinct voice that Ryan and Jason seemed to capture. You know, that punk sounding carefree voice. I’m nervous about whether Roger will be able to capture that.
Sighhhhhhhhh…
@Joe Higashi
That would all depend on the direction…… Even if these voice actors may have more potential than the older ones, if the voice direction is wrong, everything goes wrong.
The actors are purposely directed into sounding like crap…. It’s a conspiracy I tell’s ya!
@ YoshiAngemon – Oh, so THAT’s who Kate voiced. Now things are really going to be fun! And if we’re going by Naruto voices…Shadow is going to get Sasuke XD Which is…Kinda scary, actually, ha ha. Ah well. If I ever get frustrated with the new actors I can just pop in my older Sonic games XP
But seriously. Tails is going to be a lot of fun to hear XD Let’s see if he becomes a total spazz like Sakura was! (Just imagine Sonic’s face if Tails totally clobbers a giant machine to pieces in a few seconds. It’s a funny thought, isn’t it?) Let’s wait to hear everyone before making choices, though 🙂
I can’t say I’m happy or upset over this until I hear what the voices sound like. They should’ve just brought back Drummond & co, but at least we still have Mike as Eggman. He was the best of the 4kids actors.
Quite a shame. I liked the older cast (and of course the cast before that) but I’m sure the new ones will be good too. I feel bad for Jason and all of the other actors who got fired. They got the boot just like Ryan and the rest of the original cast did.
Good luck with your new role, Roger.
When are they gonna just cut to the chase and make James Arnold Taylor the voice of Sonic?
Haven’t even heard of this Roger person, so I’d care less.
Sakura as Tails? I dunno whether that’s a smart move or a dick move.
I just hope they get someone decent to replace Lisa as Amy. >_< I hated Jennifer Doulliard as Amy…but I don't want to go off topic.
So, it’s official after all. Not only Sonic, but the entire cast is replaced. Though I’m glad Mike Pollock is staying as Eggman, he’s still a good voice for the mad doc. I’m interested to hear some samples of the new voices soon. 🙂
If it’s any consolation, Yuri Lowenthal voiced Cecil Harvey, the Dark Knight/Paladin Hero of Final Fantasy IV.
Well, this is sorta big news to me? I was really used to Jason voicing Sonic, but oh well. I pretty much can’t wait to hear Kate and Craig voice, but i wonder how will knuckles sound with his new voicer, and who will that new voicer be anyway?
Hopefully they get more people who voiced for bleach that’ll make my day. I mean Shinji’s VA being Sonic is great.
Lol your comments never cease to amuse me guys.
After all these years wanting to get rid of Jason Griffith and now that they got PROFFESIONAL voice actors, you’re still complaining?
Oh yeah, I forgot this is the Sonic fandom we’re talking about.
Other then the Sonic X series which, the series itself wasn’t exactly stellar, I’ve become used to the voices. However, getting some new voices might help out; and with the actors work history, I really think this will turn out to be a positive.
As for those complaining before they even heard them to see how they might work out.. most are just frightened of change. Personally, if they make them sound better, I’m all for it. In the long run, we all win. If they don’t.. there might be the option to change the voices to the japanese within the games. They’ve been doing that more within some of the newer games.
Why can’t the fan base just be happy? T_T Most people didn’t like the 4kids voices in the beginning, and now that they’re leaving, you keep saying oh they were getting better, they didn’t have to leave. :C
…
._.
Myself personally, I am VERY excited to see what these voice actors got. =) Can’t wait to hear them at their full potential!
why this could wreck sonic! it was like when i watched SGT Frog in english they completely stuffed up the english voices, they might do the same for sonic, cmon this better be a joke
LOLWUT! Chris Redfield as Sonic the Hedgehog?!
WESKER!!!!!!
CHRIS!!!!!
Oh God that’s hilarious! 😀
Wow. I’m actually pretty happy. They’re finally getting some professional voice actors. And i actually like the guy whose replacing sonic. He can get his voice pretty close to the original voice actor’s. After the first big cast change for all the sonic characters after SA2, I’ve always wanted this.
I’m happy to see SEGA taking note of what its fans want with Sonic 4 and now this change on the vocal side to actors who don’t just work on kids programmes. Roger Craig Smith was excellent as Ezio so much so that he outshone series mainstay Nolan North.
Despite the change its good to see that Mike Pollack is staying on as eggman as he has the broadest range of the older cast as we saw in the rushed, unpolished Sonic The Hedgehog ’06 where he played the role as a more menacing fiend than usual.
Why cant you people be happy?! SEGA is finally bringing back Sonic, first with Sonic 4 and now with a newer and better voice actor! SEGA wasjust probably too busy experimenting that they didnt have time to find new voice actors
Not bad. I would like some new character designs too. The Adventure ones have gotten old, so maybe something a bit more MD retro?
@The Angelic One: I wouldn’t really consider today’s Sonic “Adventure Style”. He switched to the design he is now when SATSR came out. Before then he was in a different style. Although, I do agree. A new style would be nice. C:
Um, I guess I won’t complain until I hear them as the characters. But I wish they could just get all the old voice actors back, or at least some of them.
I WILL NEVER ACCEPT THIS Jason was Damn good and Smith dont get me wrong I love his anime roles and have lots of respectbut sonic sorry GRIFFITH IS MY SONIC VOICE I dont care what others say poeople hated him cause of the fact he worked for 4kids his talent in secret rings olympic games black knight and unleashed proved he can be sonic
Dan Green should stay he is perfect for the role of Knuckles. If Mike Pollock is still gonna retain the role of Robotnik then Dan Green should stay.
Ezio as Sonic?! Epic.
RESIDENT EVIL CHRIS as Sonic?! Super EPIC.
SONIC IS DOOMED [/fanbase]
Now, seriously, I liked Jason Griffith, but since I never heard Ezio or Chris since I didn’t play Assasin’s Creed nor Resident Evil 5 😛
@Jordan
Thats how i felt when ryan was replaced.
But im sure you didnt care.
…Oh man, with a voice like his, I wanna hear him do Werehog!
*Werehog fan girl swoon*
@ ShadsRocksMySocks: it’s quite simple…they just CAN’T, hence Jordan’s comment.
THANKYOU!! I NEVER got used to 4kids, mabey sonic, but n my mind it was either get the old cast back or get someone new. and knuckles was just awful. everytime he spoke all i could hear is yugioh.
Sonic is getting better and better in everything this year, 2D (Sonic 4), 3D (Colors) and now this.Sonic is really coming back.
@Jordan: I’m with you all the way!
@Sonic&Tails Has got it right. While people said Jason got better, I beg to differ. We just got used to him. “Showing, RemOURSE.. Eggmayn?” The guy really wasn’t suited for the role.
uhh i’m a bit shocked i mean i’m looking forward to seeing what he can do but why all of a sudden has this happened was their a particular eason why jason is not voicing sonic, i feel a bit sad that jason is not voicing sonic anymore :'(
@Axl-Fox, @ShadRocksMySocks: Indeed, we’re all idiots in this fandom. It’s not the whole fandom who can’t let go, though. Look at all the comments throwing a party because a group of people just got sacked for reasons we don’t know yet. In terms of interacting with this kind of thing, I just like going to SOS because people are actually nice to each other there while SEGA is watching them.
@DanielButler: You probably complained about it as bad as he is, yeah. So why is it he’s suddenly being told to shut up? Because I bet you didn’t let anybody stop you… >_>;;
This is looking to be very very interesting.
So, it came true, huh? I really don’t like this :/ But I won’t complaine since it can’t be helped. It’s true that Griffith wasn’t the best Sonic ever, but I really really loved his voice for Shadow. He was probably the perfect voice for Shadz… so I’m currently most worried for his new voice ^^;
By the way, does anybody have a link to some voice samples for Mr. Smith? I’d really like to know what he sounds like 😀
This is horrible. Why not use Drummond? Sonic is dead and buried! I will miss him so much!
This will be intresting to see the works of the new voices but it doesn’t look like most youtubers are accepting this change, they still want Ryan Drummond back geez!
@Umiyuri i have no idea what your talking about.
Drummond was the first major sonic voice in the games, Back then i heard no complaining.
Drummond was dropped without warning “he had to call them”
Drummond LOVED sonic as a character and currently misses the role, He offered to PAY HIS OWN way to
new york to voice sonic, Now thats devotion.
Then Jason came along and the majority of fans were pissed off, THAT SAYS SOMETHING.
People got used to griffith.
then half the fanbase is split, because more and more people heard Jasons sonic first. And in rare occasions people liked griffith better but back when this happened almost everybody wanted drummond back.
The bottom line is, if they wouldnt of unfairly fired drummond in the first place and just let him relocate to NY to voice the character he cared so much about, NONE OF THIS would be happening.
Also people need to stop blaming ryan for the cheezy script writing in sonic heroes.
I still see the role as rightfully belonging to ryan drummond, Jason NEVER should of accepted the role in the first place because thats supporting treating ryan unfairly. Even if he didnt know that they did, Im SURE he knew eventually and he should of quit and reccomended ryan.
SEGA was unfair, and caused a major dispute among fans.
The longer time went by the more people accepted it, Then SPAX came along and made drummond fans look bad, so everyone started saying they didnt care.
The role of Sonic The Hedgehog rightfully belongs to RYAN DRUMMOND.
But if he cant have it, im glad they at least canned griffith because i disliked his sonic voice.
To me it sounded old and slow. And he had this up and down tone i couldnt stand.
They originally hired ryan because thats what they intended sonic to sound like.
From what ive heard the 4kids actors were even givin clips of the old cast and told
“try to sound like this”
I actually liked Griffith….But hopefully this new guy will be okay….at least Eggman is still the same voice actor. The new voice actors start in Sonic Colours I’m guessing
Crispin Freeman as Shadow, anyone? Come on, you know you want it.
The only thing that would have made me happier would be a Rick Gomez Sonic… the fella who does Zack’s voice in Crisis Core? Man , he would be perfect as Sonic. Or even somebody like Quinton Flynn? =P ok, maybe thats a bit too random.
wait tails is going to sound like a chain smoker now?
OK, let me wade in with my two cents.
Firstly, there’s a lot more to Sonic than just the goddam voice acting. I’ll admit, Jason Griffith wasn’t as good as Ryan Drummond. But the way you guys are talking, it’s like the 4Kids VAs ruined the whole damn franchise and not just Sonic X. They didn’t. Nor will this new guy ruin the franchise. I’ve never heard of him, I’ve never heard any of his voice acting, but if SEGA didn’t think he was better than Griffith, they wouldn’t have hired him.
Secondly, @MattZ19, I totally agree with you. I remember playing Glyphic Canyon on Shadow the Hedgehog (the first game with the new voice cast, you’ll remember), and every time Knuckles spoke I expected him to go, “I SUMMON DARK MAGICIAN! ATTACK YOUR FACE-DOWN CARD!” XD
Thirdly, as to the Shadow conundrum, I reckon Griffith was miles better than David Humphrey. I think he should stay in that role.
Finally, while we’re on the subject of new voice actors…Cream the Rabbit. I know she’s not appearing in any of the new games, but Cream really needs a new voice actor. Her stupid high-pitched squealy voice just does my head in.
One last thought…if we count AoSTH, SatAM and Sonic OVA, this Kate woman will be Tails’ seventh voice actor. Can we have some continuity here please, SEGA? And @Blizzard…Tails sounded like that from Sonic Adventure up until Sonic X.
XD… I was thinking ever since SATBK, Jason Griffith was actually getting to be a respectable Sonic voice actor!
Who cares have many different voices their HAVE BEEN? Only thing that matters is that the current ones are good, I will be blown away if the new lot are any worse than the 4kids team.
Besides in the case of Tails, from Adventure to Heroes he was voiced by little boys whose voices dropped before they could record any more games…
I just thought of something. If Sonic, Tails and Eggman are the only VA’s that have been confirmed, will they be the only characters in Sonic Colours?
Thank God they didn’t replace Mike Pollock. I love how he does Eggman.
Now Sonic will sound Italian!
:}
@humbleFellow
That’s right.
Oh, thank god they kept Mike.
I dunno how the other new voices would turn out, however….
I’m really happy they kept Mike Pollock, he was the only new VA that I really liked, Griffith was getting good at Sonic though. But whatever just the VA’s.
@Jordan I agree 100%
Jason is a good voice actor for sonic
Ryan is a good voice actor for sonic
But wy Jason (i think) stops with voice acting for sonic wy
i like his voice in any sonic game
Imagine if Sega got Samuel L. Jackson to voice Knuckles. EPIC LOL.
@ Spencer H.
indeed, but some might say that it would be too much like Ratchet. Which is a shame cause that is what Sonic SHOULD sound like, in theory anyways. A loner with an a smart alleck attitude but always does the right thing even if he;s more for his ego.
@ChickenMan Oh please
Well, you weren’t really expecting James Arnold Taylor, the voice of Tidus, Ratchet, and Johnny Test. So for him NOT voicing Sonic, I say… “Whoa! Didn’t see that coming.”
Oh wait a minute… Kate Higgins (Sakura Haruno from Naruto) is voicing Tails? If that is the case, then that is just awesome (Naruto is one of my favorite anime series). I’m so glad that Tails isn’t going to sound like young Simba from The Lion King or something (Sorry if I offended anyone while saying that, but I hate that movie!).
@F1Krazy – Well, in all honesty, I can’t decide if David or Jason is better at Shadow. Jason has had a lot more time at it then David ever did (shame, really. He didn’t get enough time to shine) and does great emotion. However, David truly got the malice and sarcasm down :/ In all honesty, it’s hard to make a decision just because I feel David didn’t get enough time to perform his role. I mean, he had what – 3 years, (I don’t count Tennis because they recycled clips), while Jason had around 5? It might not sound like much, but that’s an extra 24 months, which can really make a difference.
And yes – I thought Dan Green was Yugi’s voice actor XD I was kinda like, “DUDE!” when I first heard it in SonicX. That being said, I seem to be one of the few fans of the show :/
@YoshiAngemon – Oh I see what you did there XP
But either way, I won’t decide who I like/who I don’t like before I hear it. Change is a scary thing…But it is necessary, and usually very good, for a series to go through.
Except the show called One Piece. New actors killed it. But that’s just the rare negative example 🙂
well i have something i need to say to yeah you daniel first of all STOP COPLANING ABOUT JASON I REALLY LIKED HIM SO WHAT IF THEY FIRED DUMMOND I ONLY PLAYED THE OLD GAMES, I STARTED PLAYING THE GAMES IN 2005 ONWARDS SO I DIDN’T REALLY LIKED HIM THAT MUCH BECAUSE GUESS WHAT I DON’T CARE ABOUT BLOODY RYAN DRUMMOND. WELL GUESS WHAT YOU CAN COMPLAIN SOMEWHERE ELSE OR TELL PEOPLE WHO CARE BUT NOT ME. GOT IT????!!!!!! 🙁 Why did this have to happen my favourite male voice actor IT’S NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!!
@Joe Higashi
Thats a very intuitive statement, im glad you see that script writing can make an actor look bad.
@zoe
“Why did this have to happen my favourite male voice actor IT’S NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!!”
Your statement is very ignorant.
“SO WHAT IF THEY FIRED DUMMOND”
well so WHAT IF THEY FIRED JASON?
And your telling me i can go and complain somewhere else, when your complaining that they fired griffith.
Your bashing me for doing the exact same thing your doing, very hypocritical…
It has a very “i matter you dont” tone to it.
At least when i talk about the firing of jason i have sympothy for his fans, i just dont have as much because Ryan was there first and Jason was wrong in taking the role.
Ryans my voice acting hero, so theres no reason i should be any more upset than you about this sort of thing.
“SO WHAT IF THEY FIRED DRUMMOND?”
They fired him without even giving him notice. He new there was a new game coming up, so he asked when he would be needed, and they said, “We hired someone else”. That’s the issue of WHY it was wrong that he was fired.
I like Ryan better than Jason, but all the flaming about voice actors I’ve seen over time is just insanity. As long as the actors do a fair job and are not obnoxious (or they can’t voice act), it doesn’t really matter who plays who. Voice actors so far have just immitated the voice actors before them anyway. It’s like playing parrot. So all in all, if Sega keeps that going instead of giving the characters entirely new voices, the characters will sound more or less, the same. And yeah, I know Ryan and Jason sound different, and Roger will probably sound different from the two of them. But all three of them (apparently) can voice act as Sonic. So there’s no HUGE change.
Good luck to Roger and the other new cast members. Rock on, Mike.
This is definitely nothing but good news. Finally, after about 10 years, this god awful nightmare is over. XD
Well, that’s what I hope to say when Colors comes out. ¦D
Still listenig to Kate’s song.
Really cool tune.
… WTF?
Good to know that Tails will be getting a new VA. As for Sonic, Griffith wasn’t as bad as what everyone says, but I’d like to see how this new VA will do.
How dare you say i’m hyprocritical wth i do care alot about the fans it just that this was so sudden, i really didn’t mean to have a go at you daniel i really do .
@Joe Higashi
The capital letters i was using in my last post were quotes from the one before me using allot of caps.
It just seems odd to me that anyone would appose giving drummond a second chance due to the way he was terminated in an unforgivable manner. “in my opinion.”
He loved the role, he spoke to his fans, he offered to pay his own way to new york.
It seemed like most people wanted him back until SPax came along, and then the people that played shadow the hedgehog first and got used to griffith.
it just seems illogical to me to want him gone, as at one time the majority of the fans wanted him back.
oh no not this again
the cycle is about to happen all over again
so yes all of this aggrivasion of putting up with complaning whiners was all for nothing
and this makes me wounder why not just hire the old cast? they were so dispicibly ditched
well at least mike remains but i wouldnt mind dan staying
All I can say is.
ITS
ABOUT
TIME
Sonic will no longer sound like goofy anymore.
@chris
I HATE THE SONIC CYCLE
the people who the sonic cycle have make i HATE EM ALL
SONIC GAMES ARE
SUPER AWSOME the voice acting, gameplay,story . everting is awsum
i like Jason and Ryan voice for sonic the are even good
when sega make a game wen sonic goin dark sonic init
Why the change? Mario’s never changed voice actors, so why should Sonic’s VA change every few years?
Yeah Shadow the hedgehog was the first game that i played with voice acting so back then i didn’t really know that Ryan was fired, but i didn’t know that he loved the role so much and yes mario’s va have changed first Peter Cullen then Captain Lou Albano, then Ronald. B. Ruben , Mark Graue and then 1995 a year after i was born, his present voice acter is Charles Martinet,
@Blahblahblah3210
Fortunately, Sonic may be a little different from Mario in some ways, and this is not the first time that a voice cast change has occurred in the Sonic series. Remember they replaced the original cast with the Sonic X actors in 2005, starting with Shadow the Hedgehog? All it takes is getting used to it.
@SonicSpeed1
Well, I’m sure the Sonic Cycle comes to an end with the new games coming out and this “franchise changing” news, hopefully.
I never got used to the Sonic X lot… I only just started to tolerate them. Thank God they’re gone.
@ Joe Higashi
” WRONG! ”
Sonic needs to sound awesome again, No mountain of hankerchiefs, no “Eggman AGAIN!? 6_9 “, and no horrible Sonic 06 laughter.AH HYUK! ” ;D
D::O
=w=”
They’re changing Sonic’s voice actor…..and then they’re gonna change Shadow’s!
OH MY GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWD
Sonic is supposed to sound awasome and fast not like a clown. When Ryan did the voice i didnt have to get used to it, it was just like thats sonic.
Daniel Butler: Good point, his voice just clicked for me straight away too… and I still think it’s perfect! =)
To everyone that likes Jason better. 4kids chose jason not sega/sonic team. Sega/sonic team chose Ryan back in the day. Like it or not Ryan is how they intended for him to sound. They actually told the 4kids actors to immitate the old cast. Whos gonna sound closer to what was intended? An immitator or the actual actor? In most cases the original.
I Cant Believe It……
ryan was the best sonic. jason was okay but sounded great in Black knight game. i just hope they keep bella hudson as blaze voice actor. well at least the fans of jason will understand our pain when we lost ryan. hurts right?
They kept Mike, thank god
why did Jason stop? he was so good!! ive heard sonic like that since the first sonic riders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVVVudAV1IQ&playnext_from=TL&videos=WeU4XiGH6JU
A ton of Ryan voice clips.
Golden
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV8sWUmzNXM
people keep saying he sucked in heroes…
He sounds a tad more higher pitched but theres barely a difference, i think your judgment is being clouded by cheezy script writing.
And i admit tails sounded weird at the beginging of heroes but the actor sounded better later on.
………
why now , SEGA ? Griffith did a GREAT, and I mean GREAT GREAT job in both unleashed and black knight. he did great performances, and now he gets fired? it was the same with drummond, now griffith. I don’t give SEGA more than 3 years to fire up this guy.
I just watched a video where they replaced Griffith’s voice from Unleashed with Smith’s Chris Redfield and Ezio voice. I lol’d at the random speeches he broke into and his apparent Italian accent he got when he turned werehog. XD
I’m happy they replaced Tails because that voice was horrible, but I didn’t really mind Griffith that much, I would rather they got Drummond back but hey I’ll give this guy a chance.
I wonder when they’ll announce the other actors.
@ Grassy “Except the show called One Piece. New actors killed it. But that’s just the rare negative example :)”
…I find it highly surprising that there are people that actually liked the 4kids version of the show, the very same one that disrespected the material in every way.
I wasn’t a fan of the acting in Sonic X, but I think they improved a great deal over time – Jason became one of my favorites, especially as Shadow.
It’s been five years, though; I guess that’s the curfew for Sonic voice actors. Last change we had was 2005-ish, before that it was 1999 when Sonic was getting voice acting on a game-ly basis…
I dunno. I’m neither here nor there about this.
Thank God. The voice acting his been atrocious for years now. The only decent one in the whole franchise is Eggman’s, so it’s no surprise he’s about the only one left standing.
I cringe when I listen to Griffith. Not kidding.
Hopefully this new guy can be the Charles Martinet of the Sonic series. They need it.