We all have our aspirations, we all want to be just like a certain individual, either real or fictional. We all have our heroes, and we would give anything to be able to emulate their prowess if just for one day. In the case of Sonic the Hedgehog, his little buddy Tails only wishes he could be as fast as him, and as we all know, Tails is always left behind, even though he can achieve flight. Well, what would happen if Tails somehow managed to increase his speed and leave Sonic in the dust for once? Anything's possible in this show's universe, so let's see what would happen if Tails gained super-sonic speed... and then quickly made a mess of things because he didn't know what to do with it. Our story... that is, our plot... actually, we just open up on Dr. Robotnik and his robots having come from some small village lugging a cart filled with a pile of crap they looted from the citizens. Apparently, Botsy was bored and just decided to do some old fashioned pillaging. Really? He just stole all that junk for the heck of it? Pretty lame. Speaking of lame, Sonic shows up as a poorly disguised hillbilly who tricks Robotnik into trading his cart full of ill-gotten booty for his sack of "gold." Robotnik, Scratch and Grounder fall for it hook, line, and sinker, and as they jaunt away with their riches, Sonic and Tails return the loot from whence it came. However, it isn't long before the portly villain realized he'd been had and takes it out on Coconuts for no reason. Deciding to immediately get even with Sonic, he hatches a plan to set a trap for the wily hedgehog by way of crushing an unsuspecting elderly goat couple with rocks blasted from the side of a canyon. How would he trap Sonic? As he flies his Egg-o-Matic over to get a better look, he points out a mattress and an extra-sticky spider web he'd set up, and it's funny there's a spider web in there as it's about to produce a very ironic allegory. As luck would have it, the Egg-o-Matic runs out of gas and they become ensnared in their own trap. I'm sorry, we do have a plot for this episode, don't we? It's just been Robotnik being an idiot for 5 straight minutes, we get the point. Meanwhile, Tails is working on his physical fitness by running laps, hoping to increase his speed. When asking Sonic if he'll ever be as fast as him, his buddy patronizes him by saying, "if you try your hardest, whether you win or not, you're a hero." Yeah, whatever you say, you little blue Mary Sue you. Anyway, the workout has to wait as Sonic is summoned to the canyon to stop some old goats from being turned into squash. As predicted, Sonic uses Robotnik's booby traps to catch the boulders and throw them away. Crisis averted. Actually, it was never a crisis, we knew he was going to do it. Tails shows up at the last minute and gets angry that he's always left behind. Well, to be honest, there wasn't much he could have done this time, even with Sonic saying, "sure coulda used your help." Sure loves patronizing his friend, doesn't he? Anyway, since that last plan blew chips, what's Robotnik going to do next? Well, if he can't slow Sonic down, he'll try to go faster than him. Fight speed with speed. Funnily enough, in the Sonic video games, Robotnik manages to outrun Sonic a few times, but in the cartoon, not so much, so he unveils his precious, one-of-a-kind, impossible-to-duplicate weapon: a stick of Speedamint gum, capable of givings its chewer velocity vibes and increasing their speed tenfold. He's going to try it out on Scratch and Grounder, but we all know if they had super speed, they'd just crash into each other. He gives it to Grounder and sends him on a test run. It ends about how you'd expect, and the Speedamint gum goes missing.
Guess who finds the gum? Tails steps in it by accident and is given a sudden burst of speed. When Sonic finds out, he's baffled and a little concerned that his little buddy immediately starts using his new powers to show off, going to play chicken with a train, only he gets his foot caught between the ties. Ha, not so cocky now, are you? He yells for Sonic to rescue him, and he does, just in time, but then he tries coaching Tails on using super speed, and that it's not just for showing off, which Tails points out that Sonic does on just about every occasion, but the hedgehog is quick to defend his actions. With that pep talk in mind, he heads off to do good... while doing lots of showing off. You've created a monster, Sonic. First thing he does is try to rescue someone who he thought was falling out of a plane, but was just parachuting. Yeah, we've seen this sort of scenario before, but it's the thought that counts. Meanwhile, Scratch and Grounder are sent to find the wayward gum, when they see Tails whiz by. Deducing he has the gum, they follow him to a roadside biker cafe and enact "Plan B." Grounder poorly disguises himself as a child and cries that a biker stole his lollipop, and Tails jumps to help. What is it about people not seeing through terrible disguises in this universe? It's the Clark Kent glasses effect. Well, once inside the bar, Grounder accuses Tails of stealing the lolly, incurring the wrath of a giant biker. The duo-tailed fox can't flee, because when he fell, his shoe with the gum came off, and was now in the paw of an angry biker ready to rend him limb from limb. Okay, just fly away then. Fortunately, Scratch and Grounder accidentally knock over the biker's bike, exposing their ruse and turning the mad meathead loose on them instead. Tails and Sonic reunite, as his pal tells him he likes him the way he is, fast or slow, and Tails decides to keep his normal speed. Good, glad that worked out. As for the Speedamint gum, Robotnik finds it too late as it's been found and chewed by a tortoise. Naturally, the doc became 'shell-shocked.' Lol. Our Sonic Says is about the dangers of smoking. Grounder gives Tails one of his cigarettes, and then Sonic arrives to point out how dangerous smoking can be. Luckily Grounder doesn't have lungs or he'd get some robo-emphysema. It's a good lesson and rings very true. Don't smoke. Chewing gum can help eliminate the urge to smoke, so it is germane to the episode.
Full-Tilt Tails is a pretty good episode, with a few hit-or-miss moments, it's very predictable, and is often very silly, but its heart is in the right place. It must have been a very humbling experience for Sonic to be the one left behind for a change. It is true he's very cocky and tends to show off with a complete lack of self awareness, but I think this story made him take a long, hard look at himself and maybe he won't be so quick to show off next time, especially considering the influence it's had on Tails. Very light on plot, but it's still a good episode, just not great, but I do recommend it if you're a fan of this series and wonder what it would be like for Tails to gain super speed. I mean, he can in the video games by finding the fast shoe power-up. Speaking of shoes, there's a matter of conjecture on how exactly Sonic obtains his super speed. In "Mystery of the Missing Hi-Tops," he's naturally fast, he just uses the shoes to keep his feet from burning, but in "Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog," it's the shoes that give him speed. Why not just give Tails a pair of those? And how exactly is Robotnik faster than Sonic, as seen in Sonic 2 and Sonic & Knuckles? So many questions racing through my mind, I think I need to slow down.
Guess who finds the gum? Tails steps in it by accident and is given a sudden burst of speed. When Sonic finds out, he's baffled and a little concerned that his little buddy immediately starts using his new powers to show off, going to play chicken with a train, only he gets his foot caught between the ties. Ha, not so cocky now, are you? He yells for Sonic to rescue him, and he does, just in time, but then he tries coaching Tails on using super speed, and that it's not just for showing off, which Tails points out that Sonic does on just about every occasion, but the hedgehog is quick to defend his actions. With that pep talk in mind, he heads off to do good... while doing lots of showing off. You've created a monster, Sonic. First thing he does is try to rescue someone who he thought was falling out of a plane, but was just parachuting. Yeah, we've seen this sort of scenario before, but it's the thought that counts. Meanwhile, Scratch and Grounder are sent to find the wayward gum, when they see Tails whiz by. Deducing he has the gum, they follow him to a roadside biker cafe and enact "Plan B." Grounder poorly disguises himself as a child and cries that a biker stole his lollipop, and Tails jumps to help. What is it about people not seeing through terrible disguises in this universe? It's the Clark Kent glasses effect. Well, once inside the bar, Grounder accuses Tails of stealing the lolly, incurring the wrath of a giant biker. The duo-tailed fox can't flee, because when he fell, his shoe with the gum came off, and was now in the paw of an angry biker ready to rend him limb from limb. Okay, just fly away then. Fortunately, Scratch and Grounder accidentally knock over the biker's bike, exposing their ruse and turning the mad meathead loose on them instead. Tails and Sonic reunite, as his pal tells him he likes him the way he is, fast or slow, and Tails decides to keep his normal speed. Good, glad that worked out. As for the Speedamint gum, Robotnik finds it too late as it's been found and chewed by a tortoise. Naturally, the doc became 'shell-shocked.' Lol. Our Sonic Says is about the dangers of smoking. Grounder gives Tails one of his cigarettes, and then Sonic arrives to point out how dangerous smoking can be. Luckily Grounder doesn't have lungs or he'd get some robo-emphysema. It's a good lesson and rings very true. Don't smoke. Chewing gum can help eliminate the urge to smoke, so it is germane to the episode.
Full-Tilt Tails is a pretty good episode, with a few hit-or-miss moments, it's very predictable, and is often very silly, but its heart is in the right place. It must have been a very humbling experience for Sonic to be the one left behind for a change. It is true he's very cocky and tends to show off with a complete lack of self awareness, but I think this story made him take a long, hard look at himself and maybe he won't be so quick to show off next time, especially considering the influence it's had on Tails. Very light on plot, but it's still a good episode, just not great, but I do recommend it if you're a fan of this series and wonder what it would be like for Tails to gain super speed. I mean, he can in the video games by finding the fast shoe power-up. Speaking of shoes, there's a matter of conjecture on how exactly Sonic obtains his super speed. In "Mystery of the Missing Hi-Tops," he's naturally fast, he just uses the shoes to keep his feet from burning, but in "Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog," it's the shoes that give him speed. Why not just give Tails a pair of those? And how exactly is Robotnik faster than Sonic, as seen in Sonic 2 and Sonic & Knuckles? So many questions racing through my mind, I think I need to slow down.
