Sonic '06: Oh No - PART 1 - Game Grumps

Summary

In this Game Grumps episode, Arin and Jon launch into Sonic the Hedgehog ’06 with immediate horror and disbelief, riffing on its reputation as one of the worst games ever made. They roast the strange reboot direction, the awkwardly serious presentation, and the bizarre contrast between overly polished cutscenes and clunky in-game visuals. Their commentary jumps from Sonic lore to Eggman’s unsettling design, the game’s inconsistent style, and the confusing mix of “realistic” presentation with familiar Sonic elements. As they start playing, they’re stunned by the movement, loading, camera behavior, and general jank, with the episode building a fun mix of mockery, confusion, and increasingly unhinged reactions.

Highlights

• The game opens with a full-on “oh no” reaction and instant dread 😂
• They clown on the weirdly realistic CG and how out-of-place Sonic looks in it 😆
• Eggman’s design gets absolutely demolished with nonstop scrote-related jokes 🥚
• They question why Sonic needs motorcycles when he can already run faster than one 🏍️
• The gameplay starts and immediately feels clunky, jittery, and hard to control 😵‍💫
• They joke about the dialogue, subtitles, and overall lack of cohesion in the presentation 📜
• Even basic movement and camera follow turn into a running gag about clipping and chaos 🎯

Key Takeaways

• Sonic ’06 gets roasted instantly for its reputation and bizarre reboot vibes 😬
• The contrast between shiny cutscenes and rough gameplay makes the game feel extra chaotic 🎭
• Eggman’s design becomes an unexpected horror show with lots of gross-out jokes 🤢
• Arin and Jon keep circling back to how inconsistent the game’s style and tone are 🎮
• The movement, camera, and controls leave them basically screaming by the end 😵

Overview

Arin and Jon start this episode by reacting to Sonic ’06 like they’ve just discovered a cursed artifact. They frame it as one of the most infamous games ever made and spend the early minutes laughing at the reboot concept, the strange art direction, and the oddly serious presentation that doesn’t feel like Sonic at all.

As the cutscenes roll, the duo zeroes in on the weirdly polished CGI, Eggman’s unsettling face, and the game’s tonal whiplash. They keep pointing out how the visuals, character designs, and lore choices clash with what they expect from a Sonic game, which makes the whole thing even funnier and more confusing.

Once they actually start playing, the episode shifts into full frustration-comedy mode. The controls, loading, camera, and movement all feel off to them, and every small interaction becomes a joke about the game’s broken feeling. By the end, they’re both amused and horrified, which is basically the perfect Sonic ’06 experience.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 02:30: Opening Gag and Sonic '06 Reveal The episode opens with the Game Grumps intro and immediate laughter as they realize they’re looking at Sonic '06, joking that the blue menu and red stripe look oddly off and that the game resembles an upside-down Sonic or even Final Fantasy rather than a Sonic title.
• 02:30 - 05:00: Cutscenes, Character Designs, and Visual Disgust The speakers react with disgust to Dr. Eggman’s character design, joking about his wrinkles, gold nipples, and “scrote-ass” head while also mentioning Sonic and other weird-looking character details. They then shift into a broader critique of the game’s inconsistent art direction, arguing that the style feels mismatched and doesn’t preserve the Sonic feel beyond Sonic himself.
• 05:00 - 07:30: Early Gameplay and Sonic's Awkward Controls The hosts open by joking about echidnas before quickly turning to harshly mocking the game's visuals, calling it ugly, badly composed, and visually inconsistent, while also noting that the loading is impressively fast and the framerate is good.
• 07:30 - 10:00: Laughing at the Tutorial and NPC Dialogue The hosts joke about the game’s overwhelming tutorial text and inconsistent NPC dialogue, mocking how subtitles and voice acting make it harder to follow than it should be. They complain that reading the text while listening to spoken lines is distracting and create a noisy, information-overload experience.
• 10:00 - 12:30: Exploring the Town and Ring-Mechanic Confusion The group argues about movement mechanics and what counts as clipping, jokingly correcting each other in a frustrated but playful way while exploring the town.

Sonic '06: Oh No - PART 1 - Game Grumps Transcription

• Segment 1: 00:00 - 02:30 -beatboxing- Arin: Hey, I'm Grump! Jon: I'm not so Grump! Both: ♫ And we're the Game Grumps! ♫ Jon: Oh no. .. Arin: What? Jon: Oh no! -What are you talking-- -What is that on the screen? -What is this blue menu? -With the red stripe. -(chuckling) I think we've done it! -It kinda looks like an upside-down Sonic the Hedgehog. .. Both: OH, NO-O-O-O-O! Jon: We're playing Sonic the Hedgehog! Also more collo-- (incoherent) colloquially known. .. -(laughing) -. ..as Sonic '06. -Oh, I didn't know the Colloquial Tribe knew about Sonic the Hedgehog. -(both laughing) (laughter continues) -Shut your mouth. .. This, uh. .. this is, uh, widely known as one of the worst games ever made! -Why is that? -Um. .. Well first of all. .. -Not WORST game. No. Okay, no-- -Ever. -Okay, no, no, no--! In its context. .. in its time era. .. .. .or whatever, .. .like, when it came out, and in the context that it came out, -Okay. -It was just known as one of the worst games. .. .. .ever made. -So you just mean all things considered. .. ? -Yeah, all things considered-- -Like that it's a Sonic game. .. -Yeah. I mean, look at it, it looks like. .. fucking Final Fantasy! -Yeah! It looks like Final Fantasy at this exact moment. -(laughing) -Fuck you! (laughs) -All right. .. Tell me I'm a love interest and then he can laugh. -If. .. If Sonic walked in, right now. .. I think it would be a bit jarring. .. -(wheeze) -To my eyeballs! Anyways, no. It came out as a reboot to Sonic the Hedgehog, right? -Like. .. like the entire series? -Yeah. -Like this was supposed to be the new first Sonic. -Yeah, this is like a reboot. It's like. .. -"Sonic the Hedgehog--" oh my God look at it -Can I-- Can I just say. .. -You wouldn't even know it was Sonic. -. ..on the back of the box, if somebody, if-- if Barry could find a picture of this? -What? -There's fuckin' Shadow the Hedgehog on like a motorcycle? -(laughing) Oh yeah, there is! -I don't-- see, I never got this. It's like, "Sonic Kart Racers", it's like, -Yeah.
• Segment 2: 00:00 - 02:30 -. ..okay, I get Sonic R, Because they're fast right? -Yeah. -You're racing THEM. But, why-- why would Sonic need to ride on a motorcycle? There's no way it goes faster than he runs! -Yeah, I know. I don't know, it's silly. -You just want, it's-- it-- I guess it's like if you rode a Segway or something? It's like "You know, I'm just easy. I dunno, I'm just feeling lazy today." (laughing) -Dude, real talk? -Yeah? -Some fuckin' motherfuckin' sexy-ass CG cutscenes we got here. -Yeah. -She's like "Aaagh, oh, jeez. .." -I think better CGI was used in the French-animated. .. .. .Sonic Unleashed promotional video. -Starring a cute ghost girl. -Don't look at me like that! I think I've seen that. -She has a heart on her cheek. -Okay, no, um. ..
• Segment 3: 02:30 - 05:00 . ..actually. .. -She's really pale. -Oh, this is Dr. Eggman coming up here. -I mean, I'm not one to talk, but. .. -This is motherfucking gross as shit? -Yeah. .. (laughing) -Aw God, you can, like, see his wrinkles under-- -I know! -Euuugh! -Yeah, it's like "Aagh, get it away!" -Uughh. .. -"AAGH, GET IT AWAY!" Why do you have the-- th-- gold nipples, Dr. Eggman? -(laughing) -Now. .. -He has four gold nipples, too! -I know! I guess he wants Chaos Emeralds, as usual. Look at him! He's got a fuckin'. .. -Euggghh. .. -. ..ballsack ass head! -Euuuugh-- (laughing) It's like a shaved testicle. -Fuggin' scrote-ass head. -"Scrote"! -All right-- no, okay. .. -(gasp) Scrotey! -(wheeze) Okay! -Oh no, what's this? -I know it. .. -Oh, it's Saaaanerc! -(a la Jaleel White) "That's no good!" (both laughing) Okay, anyway-- -"Don't do drugs, kids!" -Okay, I'm totally cool with, like, I get, I get that like, I get that, like, innovat-- like, guns! What is guns? Why are guns? ! Okay, Look, like. .. I get innovating. .. on. .. on. .. .. .a game, right, I get that you want to iterate and then make it not the same as before, but this is-- I was just actually having a conversation about this with somebody. It's-- it's like. .. .. .inconsistent. .. .. .in a way that seems like they did not mean for it to be inconsistent, this relates. -From an artistic standpoint? Okay, from a promotional standpoint it's like "Whatever, it's got Sonic in it, who fucking cares?" They obviously made this game to sell. .. They already have an audience-- if they made this game. .. "Poopy Gun Magoo", it would never sell, so they made it Sonic. -But I'm just saying like it's-- it's inconsistent in style and it doesn't make any sense. -Yeah, like, artistically, if you're using a property, like, you should probably at least keep SOMETHING alive. -Well, yeah, I mean like-- -A theme or a feel or something. -The only thing that looked like "Sonic" there was Sonic. -Attitude. -Why was that what they chose? -Yeah. -It doesn't make sense. -It doesn't have any triangle trees, or. ..
• Segment 4: 02:30 - 05:00 -Okay, okay, hold on, hold on. .. -Sonicky grass, or. .. -Oh, okay. .. -Look at the jump sound! It's all realistic and then it's like -WHEW- and it's just this game is so inconsistent! ! -It looks terrible now. Why would they make the cutscenes looks so good and then it contrasts with this and it's like "euughh". .. -I dunno what I'm playing anymore! This looks like PS2! -Yeah, it looks like-- like fucking Sonic Adventure. -Oh my God, it looks worse. -(Sonic voice) "Oh no!" -(laughing) It's all like, boring, in like Cardboard Town! -I know! -Yeah, look at her-- -(sarcastically) So epic! -(dull) "They got me. .." -(dull) "Take i-i-it! (groaning)" -Take this blue balls! That's all-- hey, he's gonna have blue balls for the rest of this game! ! -(llama having a stroke) Well he's blue anyways, so. .. -Yeah, I dunno, yeah, I guess he already has blue balls. -Yeah.
• Segment 5: 05:00 - 07:30 -We were looking at echidnas today. They drink juice out of their nose. -And they have four penises. -(chuckling) They do actually have four penises! -Goddang. .. oh, it's ugly. .. -Oh, it's ugly! -Yeah, this is gross. -Look, I can't. .. I can't make this myself. .. .. .but as a critic. .. -(laughing) -I can be a little critical. -Ahh, you can criticize something without being able to make it. -It's bad. It looks bad, it looks. .. bad! This game looks bad, it looks like Sonic's glowing! -Well that's what ev'rybuhdy 'xpects you to say, so why don't you say sum'n different? Look at that. .. battlecruiser! -Look at that green tree, just breaking the composition. -One-ass green tree! -Look at that green tree. -It does actually break the composition quite a bit! Oh by the way, the loading in this game is very quick. -Oh, is it? -Oh, it's insanely quick. -Oh, just like Sonic the Hedgehog! -(laugh) Yeah, dude, it's such a mess! It's contrasts with, like. .. you know when you make a game, you-- (sigh). ..you gotta have, like, a vision, and. .. a. .. -Are you saying-- -. ..cohesive feel! -Are you saying this game is blind? -What-- what did I. .. say that makes you say that? -Because it has no vision. -Okay, shut--! Hey, at least the framerate's good. -Oh yeah, look at that! -Oh my God, I can't control this fucker! ! (screams) -(laughing) -(screams) Oh my God! -Whoa, he has-- he gets, like, atomic rings around him when you do that. -Dude, hold on, hold on. .. You have to, like, crawl-walk-- no, stop going faster! What is this. .. -Oh, look at this guy! -. ..fucking guy, he's just. .. ! (laughing) -He's just hanging out! -Oh my God. Is-- this is the worst. .. this looks worse than, like, the background of a Super Smash Bros. Melee stage. -It looks like Virtua Cop. -It looks like the Isle. .. Isle Delfino. -Only. .. only bad? -No, no, it looks like Delfino Isle. .. -It's-- it's on a-- It's on a superior console and yet. .. -Yeah. Oh my God. I've-- I've never-- okay, I've-- I don't think I made this clear:
• Segment 6: 05:00 - 07:30 I've never played this. I've always wanted to. I was gonna do a JonTron on it but I never got around to it. .. 'cause I thought it was obvious. Like, everybody makes fun of this game. -It makes me wanna barf already. -Oh my God, this is worse than I tho-- Do I have to talk to this--? Of course you have to talk to him, you're Sonic! -But look, I, like-- -The first thing-- the first rule of Sonic. .. ! -I can't get out of the corner! ! -Oh my God! Okay. .. okay! -The first rule of Sonic: talk to everybody! -He doesn't even have a voice! -(mumbling) -Oh my God. .. -He looks like Dennis Hopper a little bit. -Oh my-- he does! -(laughing) -Oh my God, guys! This is the worst thing I've ever fuckin' seen in my life! "You can't get through here because construction!" (sarcastic) Thanks, big-- thanks! -Aw. ..
• Segment 7: 07:30 - 10:00 That's so much information that I needed. -Oh. .. my God. .. -Go to the question! -Who. .. ? Sega, what happened? -Don't ask Sega, they don't know. "You may learn SOMETHING important." -Yeah, you MAY, that's like. .. wishful thinking. .. "I saw a fox with two tails over by the plaza? It seems he was looking for someone." -Oh, okay. -Is this supposed to be an adventure game? -Can I just say. .. ? -Oh look, it's Tails! -Oh, hey! Can I just say. .. ? I don't understand why game developers have not fucking figured out. .. .. .that having voice acting AND subtitles is the worst goddamn thing on the planet. -They didn't have subtitles. -Yeah, they do. They do right now! -Oh. Ah, well, it's just like being subtitled like a movie. -No, it's bad! -'Cause if it's subtitled like a movie, it's in a language you don't understand, so you just read it. -I sometimes watch movies with subtitles. -W-with the sound? -Only if I-- only if it's in a situation where I can't hear the sound. -Well, that makes sense. -Yeah. -In this, it's like. .. You read faster than you hear them talk. -Yeah, it's annoying now. -It's like a. .. really, really fucking weird paradigm. -(in Tails voice) "Ha, ha, I'll do my best!" -It makes me wanna vomit. -Yeah. -Like, when I played Fallout 3, the default was. .. or, um, Fallout - New Vegas, the default was both. And the-- like, I just had to turn the fucking. .. the text off. I just had to. -Yeah. -Because you-- you just can't concentrate, when these people are telling you something and you're, like, reading it, too. .. it's just like, OOBOOBOOBOOBOO -It's all this information going into your brain. -It's bad but it doesn't bother me THAT much. -I can't stand it. I can't. -I think it's better with it off. You can turn it off, I'm not gonna 'cause I want you to be mad. -Thanks. -This is Game Grumps, after all! -Thanks, pal. -I just wanna, like, get to a part where I'm doing something. .. ? -Yeah that would be nice. Oh yeah, this first episode is almost over. We never even. .. -Yeah, I know, it's one of those games. All right. Well,
• Segment 8: 07:30 - 10:00 This is-- we're gonna do a full playthrough of this shit. We're gonna beat this. -Augh-- you-- (laughing) You're gonna regret that-- saying that very soon! -Am I gonna regret that soon? -If you haven't already! -Are you SERIOUS? ! (both shouting) AHMYGOD! ! -You can-- I think you can (whoosh) across those rings. (laughing) -Can you? -Yeah, I think so. -You can (whoosh) -Like you-- you lock to rings somehow. -Oh my God. .. okay, but honestly Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations were all right. It's just this one and Unleashed that are just. .. that framerate! It's. .. (groaning) -So jumpy. Oh. .. my God. I clipped through the chair. You just clip through the fucking. .. (wheezing) -I don't think you clipped. I think you just-- -Ohhh my God! The camera doesn't have any buffering or easing. It just follows where Sonic is. .. -No! No! -Relative. .. -No! It-- he-- No, it clips through the chair! You see that? -No, you go over it. (incoherent) -No, you go over it, but you kind of clip it a little. It doesn't matter, it's jumpy. -Go over it. ..
• Segment 9: 10:00 - 12:30 and then you move. -But in, like, one frame! -But that's not real clipping. Clipping is when you go through something. -What-the-fuck-ever, I'm gonna HOOOGH over these coins. SHIT