Drummond said in an interview that Sonic Adventure is his favorite Sonic game.Drummond's voice was used for Sonic in the Sonic Anniversary - Through the Ages trailer.Drummond has stated there is no tension between him and Jason Griffith or Roger Craig Smith, and he thinks that they are great guys.Drummond is even said to have helped Humphrey get the role. Drummond is good friends with David Humphrey, who was the voice of Shadow the Hedgehog.In fact, he did, but only in the E3 demo. Drummond was to voice Sonic in Sonic Rush before the cast switch.Ryan Drummond's portrayal of Sonic was met with general praise from critics and fans, with many stating he portrayed the youthful teenager's boyish attitude pretty well, with some even calling him as the best portrayal of Sonic, and many wished that 4kids had kept him when the new voice cast was revealed. Shadow the Hedgehog ( Sonic Adventure 2) (several lines only).In an interview, Drummond states that Sega gave him another chance to re-audition as a third Sonic, a version from the Dreamcast era, during the development of Sonic Generations, but he rejected the role because he wouldn't leave his talent union and thus ended the third Sonic as well. Former Sega of America (SOA) president Simon Jeffery confirms Sega of Japan controls all voice actors including those in the US. His e-mail states that Sega of Japan hired the 4Kids voice actors in secret. After hearing about his replacement, Ryan informed fans via e-mail. Instead, Drummond had to contact Sega to inquire about the voiceover work for Shadow the Hedgehog. Sega never made an official announcement about the voice actor change.
Despite this, Drummond continued to provide the voice of Sonic in the Sonic the Hedgehog series until 2004, when Sega replaced all their Sonic voice actors with their 4Kids counterparts, in order to keep Sonic's voice the same in all media forms. Instead, Ryan was replaced by Jason Griffith who voiced Sonic in Sonic X. Ryan replied that he would have gladly relocated to New York at his own expense. He claimed 4Kids could not use Ryan and the other video game voice actors, because they did not live in New York where 4Kids is headquartered. After unprofessional and questionable lack of communication, Ryan was then contacted by 4Kids employee Michael Haigney who was the producer of Sonic X.
Instead of using the established US video game voice actors, 4Kids hired their own in-house actors to provide the voice over for Sonic X. In the Japanese version of Sonic X, nearly all the video game voice actors reprised their roles. In 2003, 4Kids Entertainment acquired the US dubbing rights for the anime series Sonic X.