Sonic Prime: Season Three Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Sonic Prime: Season Three Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown July 22, 2025

Snare roll... and then that theme song. Mmm. God love it. "Sonic the Hedgehog" is nearly synonymous with SEGA and for good reason. The original "Sonic" games were as much a revolution as the Genesis, and the current batch of 2D side-scrollers almost, almost make it easy to forget the horrid 3D versions and their god-awful camera systems that gave us all seizures and fits on the Dreamcast (among other systems). And so I find myself at a strange crossroads with Sonic Prime, a three-season Netflix animated series that screams Sonic but, with each passing season, offers less and less of the things that made, and continue to make, the videogames so infectious and thrilling. The rings... the bwongggg of hitting spikes and losing said rings (a nightmare sound if there ever was one)... the chaos emeralds... the spin dashes, the blinding speed, the loops, plummets and spring-sprong rocketing into the stratosphere, the boss fights, the collectibles, the... where is it all? For all its flash and razzle dazzle, Sonic Prime is more focused on the many, many, many denizens of Sonic, Tails and Shadow's world than it is on anything that resembles the games, well, outside of cutscenes and selectable characters. Add in the multiverse angle that expands to the point of breaking with Season Three and you have a series kids will certainly enjoy but dear ol' dad, the Gen-Xer or Millennial grumbling in the corner, will find to be wholly unsatisfying.

Alternate universe Tails, the Doc Ock-looking Nine, takes the shards he gathered last season to the Grim (don't ask if you aren't caught up), determined to rebuild the Paradox Prism and usher in a new era of control. Much to Sonic's dismay, this creates even more chaos than before, leaving Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, Tails and their friends scrambling to set things right once and for all. However, Nine's actions have damaged the Grim Gate, making it that much more difficult to get where they need to go. Not that that ever stopped a good hedgehog or two. What follows is a seven- episode action sequence as Sonic races to stop Nine from unleashing laser blasted-hell on Green Hill, New Yoke City and every other world the blazing hedgehogs have sworn to protect. Worse, Sonic has to contend with an army of Eggmen, evil robotic versions of Sonic and his friends, and other nightmare creatures and inventions. Will Sonic and Shadow be able to set things right? Of course! But it's going to take all they have along the way to put the universes back in order.

Season Three offers a serviceable conclusion to Netflix's hedgehogian outing, with plenty of colors, explosions, quips, speed trails and declarations of cartoony war to keep a second grader bouncing in their seat. Mom and dad will likely be bored with the repetitive, slapstick nature of it all, though, breathing a sigh of relief anytime Shadow enters the fray or Sonic stops frowning and gets down to business. There's little edge here, particularly in the CG animation, which sacrifices the raw sense of speed in favor of conversation after conversation, despite the action that keeps filling in the gap and stretching out each episode. There's not much in the way of laugh-out-loud wit or smart storytelling either, with Prime languishing in the same tropes as every other multiversal adventure that's littered streaming for several years now. It all wraps up oh so neatly, though it feels like the writers were keen on more seasons and had to smash and crash everything together in the final episode to bring everything to an end with some level of reasonable closure. It's a shame too. One minute the series feels like it's rocketing along too quickly; the next it's dragging its feet; another minute later hobbling along without a clear direction as to which storyline or subplot it wants to deal with next. The end result is kid-friendly but a bit clumsy, leaving one without much desire to do anything more than find solace in one of the videogames, which are far, far more exciting and worthwhile.

Sonic Prime: Season 3 is only available as part of the Complete Series SteelBook. Episodes include:

• Grim Tidings - With the Paradox Prism in his hands, Nine begins building the Grim into his own personal paradise — unless Sonic and Shadow can convince him otherwise.

• Dome Sweet Dome - To get help in the fight against Nine and his winged lackeys, Sonic heads to New Yoke and forms an allegiance with the very last people he ever expected.

• No Escape - Sonic races to No Place to save the pirates before their world collapses, but Nine still needs Sonic's energy to power the Paradox Prism.

• Nine's Lives - Sonic must learn to give up some control if he's going to defeat Nine on the battlefield. The first step? Letting the team take over.

• Home Sick Home - To beat the biggest bot on the battlefield and get one step closer to Nine, Sonic needs to move fast — and accept a little help from his friends.

• The Devil Is In the Tails - Sonic discovers a new ability that may be the key to defeating Nine. But Nine's endless army has only one purpose: to capture Sonic's energy.

• From the Top - Reality will cease to exist unless a selfless hero makes the ultimate sacrifice. But will it be enough to reverse the damage Nine caused to the universe?

Sonic Prime: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like the Blu-ray releases of the two previous seasons, Sonic Prime: Season Three arrives with a solid 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer that's about as clean, stable and striking as any fan could hope for. Banding, blocking and aliasing are kept to the barest of bare minimums (virtually zero), which is a boon considering just how crisp the animation's edges are and how bountiful the series' colors happen to be. Reds, blues, oranges and every last hue erupt off the screen with a vibrancy suitable to the adventure at hand, and contrast is bright and strong. Detail is excellent, with every scene looking as sharp as I imagine it does in the animation studio. There isn't really much to complain about. It isn't 100% perfect -- eagle eyed viewers will find a handful of flaws here and there -- but it serves the series' final season well.

Sonic Prime: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Season Three's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is comparable to the lossless audio tracks featured on the previous seasons' Blu-ray releases. Voices are clean and clear, prioritization is terrific (especially when chaos, music and shouts erupt simultaneously), and effects sound great. LFE output is decent -- not earth shattering, but decidedly decent -- and rear speaker activity, though a bit too light and sparse at times, creates a reasonably engaging soundfield throughout, particularly when action surges to the forefront. Conversations (of which there are many) tend to be rather front heavy and voicework rarely sounds as if it's coming from anywhere other than the front center, but it hardly matters in an animated kids series. Fans and junior audiophiles will be pleased.

Sonic Prime: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Like previous seasons, the Blu-ray edition of Sonic Prime: Season Three doesn't include any special features. The Complete Series release -- the only one to procure Season Three -- does come packaged in a sharp-looking SteelBook, which is a plus, but it's not exactly supplemental content.

Sonic Prime: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you've made it this far then Sonic Prime must work for you or your kids. I'm a grumpy old man who wants more of that ol' videogame feel, but if my son were still seven or eight, I'm sure I'd enjoy the series more than I do. The Blu-ray release of Season Three is only available as part of the Complete Series SteelBook -- an unfortunate double-dip for those who already own Seasons One and Two -- but it features the same striking video presentation and solid DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track as previous seasons.