Mega Sonic Bros.: The Movie

***Mega Sonic Bros.*** (メガソニックブラザーズ *Mega Sonikku Burazāzu*) is a movie anime OVA based on the video game series with the same name. Produced by Studio Pierrot and General Entertainment Co., Ltd., the anime was originally released in Japan between 26 January 1983, with its two thirty-minute movie separate VHS tapes. The music score was composed by Mitsuhiro Tada, who also did the arrangement for "Look-a-like".

The anime follows Sonic, Mega Man and Amy traveling to Orangusnake's utopian city of Robotropolis to stop the Robot Generator and defeat Mecha Orangusnake, who has banished Orangusnake from his city. The around the conflict between Sonic and Metallix, Orangusnake’s greatest creation yet. Along with the main characters from games, the anime also features its own exclusive characters, such as Princess Peach, the Bowser and Old Man Owl.

In 1996, A.D. Vision received the license rights for the North American release for the anime, who dubbed the movie and edited them together as a direct-to-video film titled "***Mega Sonic Bros.: The Movie***". The film was released on 7 September 1996, for the VHS and DVD, two days prior to the North American release of *Mega Sonic Bros..*

## Plot

Deep inside Robotropolis, Orangusnake has finished his latest creation, Metallix, in an attempt to kill Sonic the Hedgehog. However, according to Orangusnake, the one thing he needs to complete Metal's AI is to infuse it with Sonic's life data.

On a lonely island located in Land of the Sky, Sonic is relaxing on a beach chair and listening to radio outside the ruins of a crashed Boeing 747 and USS Enterprise, which serves as his house. Amy comes out to test his new, jet-propelled body-board, asking Sonic to give it a try, but Sonic declines due to his dislike of water. While testing the body-board, Amy collides with Old Man Owl who is flying around the island in small aircraft. Being a blind owl, he does not notice his aircraft's engine is on fire. With Sonic being uncooperative, Amy and Rush tries to help Old Man Owl on his own. As both Tails and Old Man Owl are about to collide with a steep cliff, however, they are rescued by Sonic. Afterwards, Old Man Owl gives Sonic and Amy emergency news from the Bowser, who wants to meet Sonic right away. Both Sonic, Mega Man and Amy thus promptly fly to the presidential house located in the capital city of South Island.

As they arrive at the presidential house, Sonic, Mega Man and Amy encounter Bowser and his Koopa Troopa who hold the Shisai and his daughter, Peach, hostage. On the President's request, Sonic begrudgingly hears Bowser out, who elaborates on how their planet, named Planet Freedom, is split into two dimensions: the Land of the Sky and the Land of Darkness. After walking up to Shisai's monitor to see the readings for himself, the worried Bowser begins recalling past events...

Over eleven years ago, Bowser and Shisai were helping Orangusnake prepare for a journey into the Robotropolis. The sorcerer tells Bowser to get him out of the Robotropolis after an hour. He also warns Bowser that if he should get any ideas, he would use his magic on him. As a demonstration, Orangusnake turns Bowser's transforming into that of a scarecrow's, making Shisai laugh. Bowser, however, assures Orangusnake that he has no ill intentions to speak of. Orangusnake thus disenchants the turtle. In return, Bowser wishes Orangusnake a safe journey before activating the Land of Darkness portal. After Orangusnake is pulled into the Land of Darkness however, Bowser orders Shisai to close the portal and turn off all return methods. Although surprised, Shisai complies. Orangusnake then tells himself that Orangusnake should not have trusted anyone, especially him.

Back in the present, Bowser thus proposes that Sonic, being the fastest one around, goes into Robotropolis and shuts down the Robot Generator. While Sonic initially refuses, he accepts the proposal upon the Shisai and Peach's insistence. To help them on their journey, Bowser gives Mega Man a Navigator that will lead them to the location of the Robot Generator. Sonic, Mega Man and Amy then promptly head off for Robotropolis in the Rush biplane. Meanwhile, Bowser and his Koopa Troopa remain in the presidential house where they waste time playing video games with Peach and the President. Suddenly, however, a large mech crashes into the presidential house. With Peach excited about it, she jumps into the mech's control room. Orangusnake, however, having an evil scheme in mind, attempts to keep Peach from pressing any buttons, causing them to get stuck inside the mech before it takes off.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Mega Man and Amy enter the Land of Darkness by flying through a large, storm eye-like entrance. After a rough landing that damages the Rush, the duo proceed through the Land of Darkness on foot while encountering robots, such as a Crawlton and a swarm of Buzz Bombers. Eventually, they enter a warp zone which takes them to the ruins of an ancient abandoned city. There, they encounter Metal Robotnik. Having no time fight Mecha Orangusnake, Sonic, Mega Man and Amy try to escape it, only for the robot to chase after them.

Along the way, Sonic, Mega Man and Amy get attacked by Mecha Orangusnake's glue projectiles which get Amy stuck on a fence. Meanwhile, Sonic manages to direct one of Mecha Orangusnake's missiles back at him, damaging the robot. However, Sonic gets stuck on a piece of road covered in Mecha Orangusnake's glue as it slowly sides into the sea. Before Mecha Orangusnake can finish Sonic though, Mario enters the battle and frees Amy from the glue projectile before telling him to go help Sonic. GaoGaiGar then tries to fight Mecha Orangusnake, but is eventually grabbed by the robot. Fortunately, Mega Man saves Sonic in time for him to use his Spin Attack to cut off Mecha Orangusnake's hand and free Mario. Being outnumbered, Mecha Orangusnake tries to retreat, but Sonic, with help of Mega Man, Amy and Mario, manages to destroy Mecha Orangusnake completely, with its remains falling into the sea. After a little conversation with Mario, Sonic, Mega Man and Amy notice a large amusement city in the far distance which can only be Robotropolis. As Sonic, Mega Man and Amy continue their journey towards the Robotropolis, Mario joins them on their quest.

Entering the core of the Robotropolis, Sonic, Mega Man, Amy, and Mario come under attack by Snail Blasters. With Mario handling the Snail Blasters, Sonic, Mega Man and Amy locate the Robot Generator, which is about to explode. While Sonic manages to shut down the generator in the nick of time, he gets caught in a force-field that electrocutes him. The Robot Generator then crumbles into pieces, with Sonic getting saved from a bad fall by Mario. As the dust settles, an ominous figure comes to life inside a sphere in the center of the room. This figure turns out to be Mario much for Sonic's, Amy, Mega Man and Mario' obfuscation. Mecha Orangusnake's husk then teleports into the room, only to crumble into pieces, revealing Orangusnake and Peach in it. Mario falsely accuses Peach of being behind the scheme, and in tears, Peach replies that "the robot going haywire were all part of Orangusnake's evil scheme", which Orangusnake does not deny, proudly admitting the story about the Robot Generator was a trap. As Sonic tries to take down Orangusnake once and for all though, Metallix interrupts him. Orangusnake proceeds to explain that the true purpose of the Robot Generator was to copy Sonic's DNA for his Metallix, thereby creating the ultimate robot that would let the doctor kill Sonic and destroy the Land of the Sky.

In truth, he is a cobra named Coby and an orangutan named Tanner, who met after a failed attempt to rob a traveler named Diddy Kong. The pair became friends, but their next attempted robbery met with utter failure when they were defeated by a young Sonic and Tails. However, after Coby wrapped himself around Tanner and terrified Diddy Kong, the pair hit upon the idea of "becoming one", and Orangusnake was born.

Telling his friends to stand back, Sonic engages Metallix in a fight. Metallix, however, proves to be a formidable foe, easily keeping up with Sonic's speed while Sonic struggles to avoid Metallix's attacks. As the battle proceeds to far above Robotropolis, Sonic and Metallix end up on the top of a mountain. However, when Sonic loses sight of Metallix, Metallix appears out of nowhere and kicks Sonic off the mountain and down to the valley below. With that, Orangusnake assumes that Sonic is now dead and heads for the Land of the Sky with Metallix. Meanwhile, Mega Man, Amy and Mario decide to head back to the Land of the Sky. As morning dawns, Sonic wakes up in the forest where he gets a vision of Metallix on a rampage, GaoGaiGar rescue Sonic, prompting him to set off to stop Metallix.

Upon getting back home, Mega Man, Amy and Mario find Old Man Owl in Sonic's favorite clothes. Old Man Owl states that he was forced to wear his clothes by Metallix, who is now causing destruction around the Land of the Sky. Having the idea to modify Bowser's Navigator to use against Metallix since the Navigator and Metallix are built from same mechanical parts, Mega Man gets to work. Meanwhile, Amy explains to Mario that they do not have to worry about Metallix and Sonic not being in the same place: since Metallix was programmed with Sonic's data, the two of them share identical thought patterns, meaning they can predict each other's actions.

Back in the capital, the Bowser is receiving damage reports from around the Land of the Sky, many of which show a character rampaging through the cities. Mistakenly, the Bowser identifies the character as Sonic and sends his Shisai to contact him. His aide succeeds, but only manages to tick off Knuckles who is fixing the Rush. After the Bowser has been told everything that has happened, Mario reveals that if Metallix wants to destroy the Land of the Sky for Orangusnake, he has to blow up the glacial bridge at the north pole which keeps the Land of the Sky's continents connected. If Metallix can make one of the local magma veins rush to the surface, it will melt all the ice, causing the continents to separate. The gravitational pull of the planet will then hurtle the continents into space, destroying all of civilization. Sonic then reveals himself in the same room as the Bowser, having heard Mario' entire story. Immediately afterwards, the president gets a report of Metallix progressing towards the north pole. Sonic quickly gets going, with Mega Man, Amy and Mario going after him to stop Metallix. Meanwhile, in the sky, Orangusnake and Peach are riding Orangusnake's hovercraft and watching Metallix's rampage. Orangusnake then gives a wedding dress to Peach, revealing that he plans for them to get married after destroying the Land of the Sky, thereby leaving only he and Peach to rule Planet Freedom. Needless to say, Peach does not take kindly to Orangusnake's idea. Regardless, Orangusnake takes both of them to the north pole through a warp zone.

On the north pole, Sonic arrives too late as Metallix has already managed to make magma erupt precariously close to the glacier's ice bridge. He then encounters Metallix, and the two have a long fight. As Orangusnake and Peach warp to the north pole in a haphazard way, Sonic and Metal crash into the Orangusnake Mobile, with Sonic making a painful landing. As Orangusnake tries to catch Sonic, Peach falls off the Orangusnake Mobile, but gets saved by Mario. Mega Man and Amy, piloting the Rush, also arrives to help Sonic, but gets shot down by one of Orangusnake's Orangusnake Mobile missiles. After saving Peach, Mario successfully redirects the flow of the magma away from the ice bridge by digging tunnels beneath it upon Peach's flirtatious request. Meanwhile, Sonic and Metallix continue to clash violently. Eventually, Sonic starts to get worn out, allowing Metallix to gain the upper hand. However, Mega Man is able to corrupt Metallix's data with the modified Navigator, allowing Sonic to do serious damage to Metallix with a rapid Spin Dash. The group then notices the Bowser and Old Man Owl arriving in an doomship which crashes into the ice bridge, leaving the Bowser and Old Man Owl trapped inside. As Sonic and Amy try to save the Bowser and Old Man Owl before the ship can explode, a heavily damaged Metallix returns and attacks the duo. Mega Man tries to use the Navigator against Metallix again, but Orangusnake manages to destroy it, leaving Sonic to fight Metallix again. This time around, Metallix has accumulated too much damage and Sonic is able to overpower him. However, Sonic is too late to save the Bowser and Old Man from their ship before it explodes. In a twist of fate, Metallix saves both of them from the ashes of the aircraft, and Sonic realizes that Metallix does have emotions, as he was programmed with his personality and thoughts. However, Metallix gets knocked into a subglacial volcano by debris, where Sonic tries to save him by lowering himself down and getting Metallix to grab his hand to pull him out. However, Metallix pushes Sonic's hand away and tells him that "there is only one Sonic" before he is destroyed by the rising magma, much to Sonic's dismay.

After the incident, the group watches the ice bridge which has been saved from destruction, although Sonic is distracted by Metallix's death. As Mega Man, Amy and Peach try to cheer Sonic up, Bowser arrives, noting that he still has Sonic's data on a small compact disc, and reveals his plans to create an even stronger Metallix. Unfortunately for Bowser, one of his design-faulty Albatoss take the CD, thwarting his plans. After that, Mario hits Sonic on the head as payback for stepping on his head during his fight with Metallix, and the two chase each other. The whole cast is then seen following behind Sonic, before going home. Plans for the supply run are caught on video by Albatoss, who reports back to Punk. The Deceptivillains hijack the Sonicbot shuttle en route to Robotropolis, wiping out its crew (including Mario, Mega Man, Amy and Sonic).

## Characters

* Amy Rose
* Mario
* Mega Man
* Rush
* Orangusnake
* Metallix
* Princess Peach
* Bowser
* Old Man Owl
* Deceptivillains
* Crabmeat
* Crawlton
* Buzz Bombers
* Snail Blaster
* Sonicbots
* Shisai
* Coby
* Tanner

## Differences between Japanese and English versions

The Japanese subtitle Mega Sonic Bros. for movie.
## Reception

A short review of the movie was featured during the "Games vs Hollywood" segment of the Computer and Video Games magazine in 2001, where the writer Lee Skitrel criticizes the move's English voice acting and describes the movie in general as forgettable.

Henry Gilbert of GamesRadar approved of the concept of a colorful, fast-paced anime adaptation of Sonic, praising the fights between Sonic and Metallix. However, he would also criticize the movie for its "scenes of slapstick humor, anime clichés, and childish voice acting" as well as the "perpetually annoying" Peach. Chris Shepard of Anime News Network praised Mega Sonic Bros.: The Movie for its non-traditional action and said it was "good for the Sonic fans". He called the English dub poor however, and said the story "strayed from the video games a little too much" and it was "very basic".