Roger Craig Smith’s Return to Sonic ‘May Not Last’, Says ‘Monkey Ball’ Actor

Poor Roger Craig Smith. SEGA just don’t seem to be able to make up their minds what they want to do with him. One second he’s out of a job, sparking waves of internet furore, and then the next he’s popped right back in out of nowhere, like a slightly deeper-voiced Harry Houdini.

It isn’t as if he’s small potatoes within the company. He’s only the voice of Sonic T. Hedgehog (the T standing, of course, for Tiberius). You’d think that the voice of SEGA’s golden – well, blue, I suppose – goose would carry a little more clout, not to mention job security. He has been in the role for over ten years at this point, after all, missing out only on the 2020 movie – because apparently “Ben Schwartz” is a more bankable name. Ah yes, Ben Schwartz. Known for… erm, a few appearances on Saturday Night Live? Oh, and DuckTales! OK, in all fairness, he killed it as Dewey Duck. Another character clad in blue, by sheer coincidence. I rescind my patronisation.

But to return to Roger; he’s maintained the position for far longer than any of his predecessors. First was Jaleel White’s delightfully 90s turn as the speedster in his earlier cartoons: your SatAMs, your Undergrounds. Yes, up until the advent of the Dreamcast, Steve Urkel off Family Matters was the de facto voice of Sonic the Hedgehog. He, uh… well, he has his fans. If you want to get technical, White would reprise for the Bluecore Sonic fan film in 2013, but that was terrible and he sounded like he’d been through a six-pack of cigarettes before taping so we’re not acknowledging it.

Next up was Ryan Drummond, who sat atop the throne from Sonic Adventure right through to 2004’s Sonic Advance 3. Drummond brought a bouncy, energetic quality to the character that many fans resonated with; he was perfect for the ‘hog’s transition to the 3D world. It’s telling that, to this day, he looks back on the role with great affection, and campaigns continue to have him reinstated. In fact, that almost came to be for 2011’s Generations, but a dispute over acting unions scuppered that particular family reunion. Ugh. Petty technicalities.

Next up was Jason Griffith, of the 4Kids stable. Originally, J-Griff (can I call him that? I’m calling him that) was just cast as the Blue Blur for Sonic X, a television anime, but an infamous 2005 recasting saw him make the leap from screen to, uh, interactive screen. Starting with Shadow the Hedgehog and ending with Sonic and the Black Knight, he uniquely characterized Sonic as a carefree, almost nihilistic individual at times, and really settled into the role as the years passed. Things were shaky at first – and the ludicrousness of some of his deliveries in Sonic 2006 will never not be hysterical – but by Black Knight he’d hit his stride. I still argue that game had the best written and acted incarnation of Sonic to date. Fight me. Preferably with a Wiimote-controlled sword.

Finally, we come full circle to Roger. People often cite Sonic Colors as his first outing. Some others, laughing in the face of those people, like to point to the excruciating Free Riders, which technically predated Colors. But it is I who shall have the last, knowing, smug laugh by pointing out that Smith’s debut was in fact here in Jolly Old Blighty. Alton Towers, a UK theme park, featured a Sonic hotel room in the early 2010s that you could book a stay in. It had the works – Chaos Emerald lights, a PS3 with a library of exclusively Sonic-centric games, a Tails scavenger hunt. And Sonic 4 wallpaper. How revolting.

But the piece de resistance, the coup de grace, and other fancy French colloquialisms, was the greeting that played when you opened the door. “Hey! I’m Sonic! Check out the consoles!” screeched Roger in an alarmingly off-kilter tone, every time you turned the handle. Every. Single. Time. Lord have mercy on any parents that were duped into staying in that forsaken room. I’m sure the bathroom was nice, anyway.

Considering that Roger has been the sole voice of Sonic since Alton Towers, then, it’s easy to see why fans were upset when news broke of his departure. To this day, nobody really knows what went down on that fateful January afternoon. In a moment of total spontaneity, he dropped the bombshell on Twitter that he would no longer be bringing life to the beloved character, and the fandom uproar was instantaneous. Feel free to have a gander at our version of the uproar here.

For a while, this divorce seemed to be permanent, as divorces often tend to be. However, shortly after the leak of Sonic Colors Ultimate – which, I should note, probably features Roger’s old voicework – he announced he was back! Just like that! What a twist! All we can do is speculate as to what went on behind the scenes, but it’s probably safe to assume signatures (and money) changed hands at some stage.

Regardless, the status quo for the Sonic series appeared to have been restored, especially after firm fan favorite Mike Pollock also confirmed he’d be sticking around to voice Dr. Eggman. For a time, there was peace. Tranquility. A rare thing for this franchise. But now, like a cruel game of ping pong, Sonic Stadium reports Roger may not be sticking around for long. Give us all a flippin’ break.

Their tip comes from an interview with Brian Matt-Uhl, interpreter and voice actor for games such as Super Monkey Ball, Shenmue, and Gitaroo Man. During the Q&A, Matt-Uhl mentions having met “the voice actor for Sonic,” who he describes as “coming back to do one last job.” He goes on to say he’s “very, very happy that our Sonic narrator is coming back; he was gonna go on retirement.” While ‘narrator’ is a bit of an ambiguous term, and certainly not the one I’d use, one can pretty easily extrapolate he’s talking about Roger. You can check out the interview for yourself below.

Based on this, we can take a few guesses as to what this ‘one last job’ entailed. Was it doing voicework for the upcoming Sonic Colors tie-in animation, Rise of the Wisps? Tuning up some of his old lines for the remaster? Or maybe even doing the ‘narration’, as it were, for Sonic Rangers (are we allowed to call it that yet? I’m calling it that). This is all, of course, assuming the interview and story are credible, which Smith himself threw into doubt with a rather sternly-worded response to the piece on Twitter. Take a look:

Smith doesn’t explicitly deny the veracity of the story, and neither does he confirm it. He appears merely to be condemning the fan tendency to take news articles as gospel. Take it from a news reporter: we ain’t perfect. We make mistakes. So, you know, no offence taken, Roger.

All we can do is bring you what we know, when we know it. So stay tuned, and if we get confirmation either way regarding Roger’s status as Sonic, you’ll all be the first to hear. In a way, total inconsistency and unpredictability is par for the course for the blue fella.

Until then? Better have some more salt with your chili dogs.

Would you be sad to see Roger go, for real this time? Which was your favourite Sonic actor? Any memories you could share? Let us know below!

Via, Sonic Stadium.