#from boom to modern to mania/classic

[neoclassic-sonic]

Metal Knuckles receiving a Funko Pop and Fang receiving a Jakks Pacific 2.5 Figure (as well as Trip being announced to get one too in the next wave) all in the past year strikes a very interesting development in terms of Sonic Merchandising!

For the longest time the characters available to be used in Classic Sonic merchandising have always been Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Dr. Eggman, Metal Sonic and Super Sonic. It's always been this way since 2009 when First 4 Figures first released a line of figurines done in the Classic Style. (Two years before Sonic Generations by the way!)

And every company afterwards followed the same trend. (... Not always. Amy and Metal Sonic's inclusion is always dependent on if the company has enough ''character slots'' to fit them and Eggman's status as a non-animal villain puts him in a unique position where he's sometimes included sometimes not but yknow potato potato) Regardless, for the longest time no other character was /added/ to that 7 piece lineup.

That is... until the release of Sonic Mania Plus in 2018, bringing back two beloved characters Mighty and Ray into the Classic spotlight. And not as cameo characters either but as main protagonists in their own right.

Now a little background is needed, for the longest time a toy company called Jazwares held the license for making Sonic articluated figurines (there were a few others who had the license too but Jazwares was THE head bitch in the industry), they lost the license in 2013/2014 to Tomy who would go on to make Sonic Boom Figurines and then regular figurines in 2017~. Tomy would lose that license to Jakks Pacific in 2019~.

During Jazwares run, they released their line of Classic figurines but lost the license before they could release Knuckles

(They have an eggman too btw just. not included in this pack)

And during Tomy's run, they released their own Classic line too in 2017 (bundled with a modern version of the characters figurine and a copy of a comic book from Archie Sonic themed around the character...

... well. supposed to be. Archie lost the license to the comics in the middle of the series so Sonic and Knuckles had Archie books while Tails and Metal Sonic were delayed.

The status of their releases (iirc) were actually really... doubtful... Keep in mind this was in the middle of Sega reviewing the Sonic licenses before Forces, after cutting Archie, Tomy was also on the chopping block. Thankfully the two released a year later in 2018, their initial comic books were replaced with english versions of Sonic Comics that were posted for Sonic's 25th anniversary. These were the only way you could get english versions of those comics I think?

Amy and Eggman were originally planned for this series as well, shown off in the 2017 catalogue that initially announced this line but Tomy lost the license soon after Tails and Metal Sonic release. The fact the two even released was kind of a hail mary, I think it was generally agreed back then that they were gonna be shelved and only got to release /because/ of those 25th Anni comics.

Jakks Pacific would get the toy license in 2019 but during their first year... they would only release /Modern/ Sonic figurines. And they didn't release waves of products as fast as they are nowadays. Back then each new announcement was like a dripping faucet. Hell, from what I remember, their very first line of products wasn't even articulated figures but stretchy figures?

We got the pinball figures in 2019 though,

Which at least told us that A) Jakks Pacific had the license for classic sonic products and B) Mighty! and Ray!!!! First ever merchandise!!! The lack of Amy though did set us in that weird limbo were people were wondering if Classic Amy would ever be acknowledged by Sega. Especially post Sonic Mania. Keep in mind 2017 was like that soft reset of the franchise and her not being in Mania at all, not being included in Tomy's classic merchline in 2017-2018, not being included in these pinball figurines, only ever being used in promotional stuff like the shorts and two posts on twitter... (at the time) like. Amy fans were really worried for her!!! It wasn't until Sonic's 30th IDW Comic where we finally get to see her again in any substantial form and that was all the way in 2021!

Anyway, we finally got the articulated figurines announced in 2020 but the first few lines... only had /modern/ sonic stuff.

The first two waves of both the 2.5 inch and 4 inch line only featured modern characters. Thankfully classic series figurines would be announced for both lines around Fall, classic sonic for the 2.5 inch line in December and...

THATS RIGHT BITCHES, MIGHTY FOR THE 4 INCH LINE

Releasing NOVEMBER 2020, our very first Classic Sonic articulated figurine and its MIGHTY. I remember being so hyped for that. It was kinda awkward since these were the first two classic toys and mighty was bigger. Thankfully Sonic would get a 4 inch figure in the wave in February but Mighty would get a 2.5 inch figure the much later in October.

Starting then classic characters would gradually be introduced in the figurine line. For 2.5 inches:

Tails would get his on January 2022

Amy on February 2022

Knuckles and Eggman on June 2022

And Ray! on September 2022! alongside Metal Sonic

After that badniks (and mecha sonic (2023)) would be joining the series throughout the years. The 4 inch line would see a similar path but with different characters kinda? After Sonic in February we would see:

Mecha Sonic and Eggman in August 2021

Eggrobo in June 2022

Ray in September 2022

Tails in February 2024

Knuckles in March 2024

Amy in September 2024

(Yes, the classic figures really wouldnt get that much releases in the 4'' line ironically enough. It's kinda accepted that, proportions wise, Classic Characters work better as 2.5 inchers and Modern Characters work better as 4 inchers. Eggman, Mecha Sonic and the hardboiled heavies would release as 4 inchers though and they work better in proportion with the 2.5 inch sonic and friends)

What was that? Yes! The hardboiled heavies finally receive 4'' figurines! Heavy Gunner in December 2023 and Heavy King in the next wave March 2024! finally after 7 years after their debut game!

The other heavies have yet to recieve figurines but it's only a matter of time really. Especially since Fang released as a 2.5'' last August and Trip will be getting hers before the end of the Fall.

Which brings us back to my original point, We're finally getting new characters in Classic Sonic merchandising! The Hardboiled heavies were long overdue, and I was hesitant to consider them as a pivotal moment,,, they're older characters and badniks for one thing. But Fang??? Metal Knuckles??? Trip? Something must have changed in Sega's product team and imo this bodes well for the future. I won't get my hopes up and expect Bean or Bark despite them appearing in Sonic Mania and yes while they've been really active as of late due to IDW Fang the Hunter miniseries, Fang's inclusion is definitely a Sonic Superstars thing. It's safer to assume that characters who get figurines are most likely going to be those who've made an appearance in games. Which brings us to Metal Knuckles. who's a Sonic R character, sure, but his design and recent release definitely points to Sonic Superstars... where he shares his minor role with Metal Amy, Tails and Trip.... look. I'm just saying. I'd much rather see the Metal series come to Jakks Pacific more than the badniks or Rocky or Flicky or whatever.

[tailsthetheorist]

💫 How Classic Sonic REALLY Got to Forces — The Phantom Ruby Timeline Fix 🌀

You know how everyone just kinda shrugs off how Classic Sonic shows up in Sonic Forces like, “lol, another dimension ig 🤷‍♂️”?

NAH. I got a better theory.

Let’s start from the beginning—Sonic Generations. Yeah, the birthday game where Time Eater tries to ruin everything.

🧠 Phase 1: Eggman & Classic Eggman Found Something

After Generations, we know both Eggmans teamed up.

But what if, instead of splitting, they stuck together for a while?

They were trying to locate a powerful relic... something beyond time: 👉 The Phantom Ruby.

🤖 Phase 2: Sonic Mania’s Secret Setup

In Sonic Mania, Classic Sonic is vibing back in his timeline, and suddenly—BOOM— Hard-Boiled Heavies and Eggman find the Ruby.

Where did it come from? 🌀 From the timeline meddling that happened in Generations. The Time Eater fractured reality, and the Phantom Ruby slipped through the cracks.

📌 The Ruby was drawn to Eggman—like a magnet to chaos. 📌 The Heavies? Part of a subroutine from Eggman’s robots sent to hunt it down. 📌 Sonic? Just caught in the middle.

🔥 Phase 3: Sonic Mania’s Ending is Forces’ Beginning

After defeating Egg Reverie and reclaiming the Ruby, Classic Sonic is pulled into a final portal.

Where does it lead?

👉 Straight into the war-torn world of Sonic Forces.

Not a coincidence. That portal wasn’t random—it was the Ruby returning to its last known “master”...

🥁 Modern Eggman.

But Modern Eggman is like “?? tf is this rock again??” Because it's been YEARS. He doesn’t remember the Ruby, doesn't recognize Sonic looking all chibi again, and just assumes “okay new threat cool.”

💥 TL;DR Timeline Fix:

🧪 Generations – Eggmen tamper with time = unstable reality

💎 Phantom Ruby leaks into Classic world → Mania

🤖 Robots programmed by Eggman hunt the Ruby in the past

🌀 Sonic uses Ruby = portal to Forces

🧠 Eggman (present) forgets it was his old plan

💥 Classic Sonic is back, and he ain’t from another dimension... He’s from a botched timeline.

Bonus Headcanon:

“Classic Sonic isn't ‘another Sonic’. He’s just our Sonic, caught in a recursive loop of Eggman’s broken plans.”

[glapplebloom]

The possibilities are endless, but the corporate is the limitation.

For those who don’t know, Sonic Racing CrossWorld is the newest Sonic Racing game. People tested it out and loved it. You can mix and match car parts, have variations on race tracks and 24 confirmed characters already. And considering the last game had a story mode, the possibilities of what could be in this story is virtually endless if they keep the Multiverse Theming. But of course, the fun thing is figuring out who it could be.

So for this list, I’m going to give 10 Characters I would love to be included in a Sonic Racing Game. But I am going to give myself a rule to ensure it's not going to be filled with just a group of characters. That rule is one racer per game/series. Are these characters likely to get in as Starters or DLC? I honestly doubt most of them. But I would be hyped if they do...

1 - Mighty and Ray: Sonic Mania

Classic Sonic is likely going to be in, but it would be nice to see more Classic Characters. Specifically the characters that haven’t made the leap to Modern. A pair of such is Mighty and Ray. I said one Racer Per Game/Series, and being a duo driver like Akira/Jackie in Sega All Star Racing, it allows me to double up. It won’t be the last time, but seeing the two work together would be fun. If only one driver could work, we could do the Team Fortress 2 Method and have them switch between modes. Thought that would require a third...

2 - Trip the Sungazer: Sonic Superstars

The newest of the Sonic Creations outside Sage is Trip from Sonic Superstars. Being the third above or her own racer, it would be nice to see her interact with the modern version of the characters.

3 - Metal Knuckles: Sonic R

One last Classic Character and one that only appeared in two games. It would be neat to see him return in a racing game. 

4 - Sticks the Badger: Sonic Boom

Her name got dropped in Sonic Frontiers. She appeared in Sonic and Mario at the Rio Olympic Games. This is the perfect excuse to transfer her from the Sonic Boom universe to the Main Sonic Universe. And imagine the fun she could have interacting with everyone.

5 - Sonic Underground: DiC Cartoons

The Freedom Fighters are the most popular choice, so I’m going to go with a swerve. Have that version of Sonic with his siblings where each one controls a different version of the vehicles. Sonic in the Car (that looks like their van), Sonia in the Plane and Manic in the Boat. Manic also in the airboard since he was the first one in the Sonic Franchise to rock such a thing.

6 - Nine: Sonic Prime

According to some advertisements, we’ll be seeing the Sonic Prime versions in the game. One of which I would love to see is Nine, as he originally hated Sonic for wanting to restore his world. And now he can actually visit it, making Sonic’s promise to him fulfilled.

7 - Sonic the Hedgehog: Movie Series

Sonic X Shadow Generations made Movie Shadow Playable, time to let Movie Sonic be playable outside of a mobile game. It would be fun to see the two Sonics interact with each other.

8 - Tikal the Echidna: Sonic Adventure

The first new Echidna we saw. Would be nice to see her return in a more pleasant situation. Could also be included in the story about this situation. Plus, we could make her vehicle Chaos. 

9 - Belle the Tinkerer - IDW Comics

IDW has a lot of characters and I would hope they would be included in this game. But one I have to put over the others is Belle the Tinkerer. The original daughter of Eggman in the same game as his current new daughter. The Story possibilities are great.

10 - Toejam and Earl - Sega Classic

CrossWorld will include Sega Representation. And unlike the All-Star Series, Riders showed that they could be included just for the heck of it. Two of the Sonic Rider Games had AiAi, Nights, Ulala and Billy Hatcher. And a lot of games have been brought back. But one I wish got more crossover love is Toejam and Earl. And they could do the Switching Drivers gimmick too if you have Latisha as their third.

And these are my picks. Who would you want to have included?

[miloscat]

[Review] Sonic Forces (PS4)

An underrated Sonic game...?

After Sonic Generations in 2011, Sonic Team experimented with a different format in Lost World. 2017's Forces is then a follow-up of sorts to Generations with the Classic and Modern versions of Sonic in the game bringing their respective gameplay styles. They are joined by a third gameplay style in Forces... and now I must convey to you a conspiracy theory, and the reason I'm playing this immediately after the Boom games (also I finished watching the show, it's very good).

The timing of Boom as a high-profile spinoff and some 2016 promotional artwork depicting the three Sonics together may suggest that at some point in development Boom's Sonic was to appear alongside the other two. There is some evidence in the final product to support this: the third element in Forces is the custom character, who has swappable Wisp-powered weapons and... a grappling hook, which is not dissimilar to Boom's Enerbeam. Some lines in the script about Classic Sonic being from another dimension have led people to assume they were repurposed from referencing Boom's Sonic; I consider this a red herring due to the timeline of scripting and early drafts we have access to, but I could be wrong. More convincing is the final boss—the "Death Egg Robot"—having a suspiciously similar appearance to Lyric's mech suit, perhaps leftover assets being reused. Boom Sonic's scarf and sports-tape bedecked gloves and shoes are available as Avatar cosmetics, so it's not like Boom was totally memory-holed either way. There's never been any official statements about this, so we have to piece together what information we have, but it seems plausible enough to me. Now with that out of the way...

On the surface Forces seems to be taking a "darker and grittier" angle on the Sonic universe (although I'd argue that many games in the series have been trying this to various degrees since Adventure). The characters talk about war sometimes and the "Eggman has taken over 99.99% of Mobius while Sonic has been tortured in space prison for six months" plot sounds absurdly melodramatic, but once the game gets going it's mostly pretty light on in its tone and themes, not much different to other Sonic games. A handful of Sonic's friends do stuff off-screen and chat to you over the radio; I wish they'd pulled out all the stops for character appearances given the stakes of the story, but oh well. No Blaze, again.

The new co-antagonist is Infinite, the try-hard-iest edgelord you've ever seen with the dumbest, most awesome metal theme song. His illusion powers make for one or two cool level concepts, but often they are just a simple plot device. These powers also enable the reuse of previous antagonists like Zavok (snore) and Shadow... also Chaos is there in one cutscene and then proceeds to do sweet bugger all for the rest of the game. Some missed opportunities here.

Forces lifts the Classic Sonic crossover concept from Generations without much interrogation. He just shows up through a portal for no reason and since he’s one of those silent protagonists for no reason, he isn’t even able to tell anyone about the Phantom Ruby (the source of Infinite’s powers) also appearing in Mania, which none of the other characters remember for no reason (something something other dimension??). His sidescrolling Classic-style levels were my least favourite but I’m glad they were included for a change of pace. He’s also been given Mania’s drop-dash which is a great snappy movement upgrade.

Modern Sonic is your standard boosting 3D corridors / 2D sections / rail grinding gameplay with homing attacks and stomps. The really interesting new addition is of course the Avatar, whose gameplay is a little slower paced and includes swinging and the Wispon. You choose from various weapons between stages and some are much more useful in certain levels; I wish the game indicated a recommendation. But most of them have powerful attacks for smashing groups of badniks as well as fun movement tech. A fourth level style has Modern Sonic team up with the Avatar, combining their abilities.

The story plays out across a world map, going back and forth sporadically over the eight or so different environments. Of course many of these are throwback biomes, but with fun twists like a desertified Green Hill or a casino/jungle, and they invariably look colourful and detailed. The 30 levels are quite short on average (and some are even reused wholesale between characters), but I don’t mind this. It makes revisiting them for collectibles and missions breezier, and I ended up 100%ing the game thanks to this. Free DLC added three new Shadow levels plus the ability to play as Shadow in parts of the main game, as well as the option for Super Sonic which made those repeat runs even more painless. I believe this is also the first big Sonic game to do away with the concept of extra lives entirely, which I must applaud wholeheartedly.

I’ve gone too long now without really getting into the Avatar/Rookie/Buddy, which really is a genius feature. People have been making their own Sonic OCs for forever, so integrating that in the game is an easy win. I loved creating characters that aren’t otherwise in the game, like Blaze, Sticks, or Fang, characters from other Sonic media like Tekno, Bunnie, or Sally, and even other furry-type characters like Krystal or Bubsy. I then adored unlocking more and more costume parts and dressing them up! It’s a great incentive to engage with the mission structure. It’s too bad you’re locked to one type until you beat the story, so I picked Tekno as my primary for the bird’s double jump ability. Truly this concept is powerful, and I’d love to see it expanded in future games since the options for customisation can feel limited. This definitely needs another pass.

My final point is about what I think is one of Forces’ greatest strengths: the soundtrack. While still grinding out Avatar levels and mission unlocks, I sought out the game’s music to listen to at work. I used to think I disliked vocal tracks playing over gameplay but I was wrong! (Maybe I just don’t like Crush 40, but don’t tell the Sonic fans I said that.) Whenever the main theme Fist Bump kicked into the chorus during a double boost, I got hype every time, that song is sick as hell! The Classic Sonic Mega Drive-style tracks rock, Infinite’s theme is a banger, even the jingles are a joy... the game is just infused with track after track of cool techno-symphonic music in different tones. Truly I developed a deep respect for lead composer Tomoya Ohtani playing this game (even though I already thought he did a great job on Rush Adventure and Unleashed).

Before playing Forces for myself, I just knew that fans thought of it as "one of the bad ones", that it was supposedly farmed out to a B-team and half-baked to mediocrity. Sure it's got flaws and weaknesses, the story is dumb, the bosses aren't great... but it's solid, stylish, and I thought it had such a fun energy and so much cool stuff; now it's my favourite 3D Sonic game! To be fair I haven't played that many of them, so I'm going to work on that. Either way I've learned by now that my feelings on Sonic often go directly against the grain of mainstream opinion, and I'm so totally fine with that if it means I can listen to Fist Bump on repeat over here in the corner. It's a brand new day...!

[kellodrawsalot]

You know what I agree with the anonymous same here Sonic forces is a terrible game and it should have never been made it is the worst Sonic game I'm not joking it's such a disappointment on every level the gameplay is super linear sure Samsung games are linear but at least you had multiple paths and where to go like Heroes and stuff even the Boost games.

The Avatar is okay but it could be better the only thing good about it is the customization and that's it.

And classic sonic is garbage man he plays so horribly like a spinach came have good momentum.

And the story is such a big disappointment it's all hyped up be like this back to Sonic being all dark and edgy again like stuff like Shadow the Hedgehog and 06 but no it doesn't go anywhere talking about Warren can a kids game and stuff like what or even Kid series can talk about dark things but again it's the execution is done so wrong and waste of potential on infinite as a character the prequel comment was leading up to something hell I didn't even the comics are way more better and don't get me started on tails seeing him being all calling for Sonic's help that was like an insult to Sonic Adventure 1 when he was going up against chaos in that game.

I swear Whoever likes this game is a complete idiot I'm not over exaggerating I'm sorry but I just can't stand this game at all this game just makes people change his people in the most stupidest way defending it is the dumbest thing ever what I've seen from some people this game is just totally garbage like man you had Sonic Mania what more did you want and you got you were going for the Classic route did we really need another modern game at the moment had a lot bring back that retro Style kind of agree with the anonymous it's like a bunch of keys jangling and some damn people's faces it's up there with sonic boom rise of lyric and shattered Crystal forever this will be the worst Sonic game and I got 06 was bad but at least it's playable again this game is not complete at all or it's even fun I want the whole world to know my opinion about this game it just sucks!!!

instead why not play a better game that's better written?

I suggest:

[true-blue-sonic]

I won't call it an old shame, I did have fun with it, but I feel like Rush made much more of a true introduction to the games that any instalment of Boom could😂

Yep, Lyric brainwashed Shadow with some kind of mind control device, which he also put on Amy... which only knocked her out temporarily and did not brainwash her, only read her thoughts about some Ancient stuff iirc. So I guess Amy is mentally more resilient than Shadow? XD XD

But yeah, I have no idea what they wanted with Boom, really. I remember the 2016 (iirc?) livestream that I got up for at 3 am in the morning, where Mania was announced and the very first sneak peak of Forces got shown. And from what I recall from then and later events in the midst of the 2010s, Boom was presented there as the third cornerstone of the Sonic franchise, with Classic and Modern being the other two. That's why I find it even more surprising how there was such a lack of... not sure if quality control is the correct term here, but just a lack of interest in actually making it so, almost. RoL is a glitchy mess exclusively available on a console many deemed a failure (as demanded by Sega themselves!! The original idea was Steam and then later PlayStation and Xbox releases if it was a success, if I'm not mistaken), SC is alright and playable enough but cluttered with dialogue that's only funny where you're under 7, and from what I recall there was barely any interest in FaI. And even though the TV show got a new season, its 6 am timeslot on Cartoon Network (who were consistently propping up some Teen Titans or whatever show in favour of everything else, iirc) didn't help it much either. "Quietly die" couldn't be a better description of Boom: I never see anyone mention it anymore, not Sega, not fans, nobody. It's truly like it never even existed, and the discrepancy between 7 years ago and now couldn't be greater because of it.

My very, very first Sonic game was Boom: Shattered Crystal (only after I managed to get myself over the fact I found Boom!Knuckles look terrible in a terrifying way XD XD), and I must say, it's quite a surprise to me how they managed to have such differences between SC and RoL despite the two games being part of the same spin-off. Like you said in your earlier post, RoL had an entirely failed attempt to make Sonic a lone wolf kind of dude, who had to learn to rely on his friends and who got (not even that correctly) vilified by the World of Jerkass about him releasing Lyric... after getting in that situation in a bid to protect his friends he apparently didn't value (aka, the situation doesn't even hold. Unless you want to make a case that Sonic deems them not strong enough to tackle an easily-winnable fight and doesn't value them in that way, but it's been so long that I can't really recall all the details of that scene). Meanwhile, I checked out the SC script real quick, and there Sonic seems so much more like a happy-go-lucky "we can rescue Amy together with the four of us!! Teamwork! :D Power of friendship!!! :D :D :D" kind of dude. And those sentiments are mostly returned by everyone else! That doesn't even touch on the fact they meet Lyric for the first time in both games, or the fact that the Ancients are, from the top of my head, hardly if ever mentioned in the tv show. Sure, a few of their technologies like the Enerbeam were made use of, but with such a strong focus on the Ancients in both games, it feels off to me that I can't even recall if they played a role in the TV show, despite me religiously following season 1 at the time. I feel like it's not that good a sign if your fancy new spin-off series has three entirely different stories in the various media produced for it, but I also wonder why they didn't try to make it more streamlined? To me, this whole situation with all the discrepancies makes it come across a little bit as if Boom truly wasn't so important to Sega after all.

What an introduction 😂

SC is like... the middle child of the Boom games. Everyone knows how bad RoL is, and FaI gained notoriety for being surprisignly decent. I don't know one thing about SC, except that it had a brainwashed Shadow (in RoL he fights Sonic because he's a prick lmao). Oh, and apparently Stick is in SC, but Amy was kidnapped? While in RoL Stick wasn't even mentioned because it took place before the cartoon.

I watched almost every episode of Boom (I think I only skipped the Misery parody). I can confirm that the show has zero lore, and the only connection to the games is the Enerbeam thing.

It's odd. SEGA clearly invested in Boom and wanted it to be a solid spinoff, RoL was one of the three exclusive WiiU games and between 2014 and 2016 nothing but Boom products came out. I remember even theories that the Avatar in Forces was supposed to be Boom Sonic! (notice the lanky build and the use of something similar to the Enerbeam) But there was no way it would become popular (it was basically Sonic in name only), so after the failure of RoL, they just... let it quietly die, both the games, and the cartoon that was aired at ungodly hours until it was cancelled.

[sonic-macguffin-matchup]

Semifinals: Match 1

The Phantom Ruby:

Has the power to create illusions so real they actually affect you. A bruise in a dream affecting your real life body.

Requires a power source, but scales accordingly, with the source apparently not even needing to be nearby.

The wielder can hit through a super form, as displayed by heavy king in the final boss of sonic mania.

Can also travel through time/dimensions. Shown by bringing classic from his timeline to the modern timeline.

The Rock of Justice:

Forged to ensure the light always drove back the dark

Created by The Ancients (Boom)

The single most powerful relic in the history of the world

Can enact swift and righteous justice, but only once.

[blazehedgehog]

It's unendingly a hot topic on Twitter, so: How would YOU categorize Sonic's various "eras," as someone who has been with the series through all of them?

Sonic Generations seemed to define it the way I saw it in my head.

The "Classic Era" is everything from 1990 to 1998. Sonic 1, 2, 3, CD, Spinball, 3D Blast, Sonic R, and so on.

The "Dreamcast Era" is everything from 1999 to 2006. Sonic Adventure 1, 2, Heroes, Shadow, and Sonic 06.

Sonic Unleashed kicked off what was considered the "Modern Era", but should probably be called something else now. Boost era?

This is harder to define because it's hard to pin down an ending. Unleashed, Colors, and Generations to be sure, and Sonic Forces feels like it has to be a shoe-in, even though we have a lot of things mucking it up. Sonic 4, Sonic Boom, Lost World, Sonic Mania, etc.

We could call it the "Nostalgia Era". That feels like it leaves out Unleashed and Colors, but lines up way easier from Generations to Forces. I like that more, but in my mind it's still "The Modern Sonic Era."

Sonic Frontiers could be the beginning of a new era, for better or worse.

[greenyvertekins]

Sticks, along with being a character that was conceptualize by Sega and NOT meant to downplay Cream, doesn't have much from Boom to weight her down. Thus is easier to bring over with little problems; which she technically has in spin-offs and enough to earn a profile on Sonic Channel. (If the narrative allows it, I actually wouldn't mind certain old game characters being brought back into recurring ones. If fans were happy to have Classic characters like Mighty and Ray back in Mania, and some willing to give Modern characters like Silver and Infinite second chances after their [clumsy] debut, Elise should have the same luxury. Would love a setting that plays around with this.)

Agreed on all points. Though I still don't like Sticks much despite being used outside her home continuity. I don't hate her, I just don't find her the least bit interesting.

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

sonic dash character wishlist for fun lol

and I guess this also could apply to Speed Battle, but yeah idk I just had this thought and it seemed fun. Tried to keep it reasonable, as in didn’t do Archie characters because christ.

every exclusive character in Speed Battle and vice versa - kind of a no brainer there, just kinda have everyone that’s in Speed Battle only get in Dash. Your Gawains, Super Shadows, Chaos, Tikals, Eggmans, every fucking variant of every character ever in existence, several more, yeah. And vice versa because sure fuck it Speed Battle can have Pirate Sonic and Captain Shadow.

Super Silver - like we already have Super Sonic and movie Super Sonic and then Speed Battle has Super Shadow so you know, round out the trilogy. And give us what I believe would be Super Silver’s 2nd game appearance ever? Would be cool.

Burning Blaze - we do have more Super forms than the literal Super forms! Give Burning Blaze some love she’s been MIA since 2007 and the world needs her.

Lamorak and Galahad - so Gawain is only in Speed Battle and Dash+ for Apple Arcade atm but it’s easy to assume he’ll make it into main Dash and then we’ll have all the playable knights from Black Knight. But only the single player. So yo give us Lamorak and Galahad too, round out the collection, would give Jet and Silver more alts, would be cool, you know, the usual stuff.

Emerl and Gemerl - putting 2 for one here because would just be reskins anyway, but fuck it why not, right? More cool robot characters. I could maybe pass on Emerl since canonically dead but tbf for a mobile game without a story that shouldn’t really matter, but either way there’s no excuse for Gemerl give my man a chance.

Classic Tails, Knuckles and Amy - Classic Sonic is in these games but these other characters despite having been featured in recent classic media are not. Add them, like, fuck it right?

Mighty and Ray - and while we’re on the classic train these dudes came back and got in Mania yo! And if they’re stuck to be considered classic characters only then whatever I’ll cope but yo throw them in the funny mobile game.

Fang, Bean and Bark - same as above actually, though with less emphasis because they didn’t get to be playable in Mania and also I do not like them as much.

Marine - tons of people want this dead character to return and I say fuck it why not, a harmless mobile game appearance could be fun.

Sticks - seems to have been adopted into modern canon anyway with the reference in Frontiers plus recent Sonic Channel artwork and stuff so hey put her in Dash, give her more time in the limelight.

every Boom variant of the rest of the cast - I’d be less bothered to get this than Sticks since she’s actually a new character but still would be fun, make Dash and Speed Battle even more kinda comprehensive in their collection of characters from across the franchise.

at least Riders Sonic - see I was playing Jet in Dash for the hell of it because I just pick whoever and I thought “god extreme gear is cool” and it made me think “huh they could put Riders Sonic in this game as a variant and give him his board and stuff” and actually that’s what inspired this entire post lol. It’s “at least” because if you’re gonna do Riders Sonic you may as well do Riders Tails and Knuckles and Shadow and Amy and so on and so on

Zik, Zomom and Zor - yeah I don’t really like the Deadly Six but the other 3 are in Speed Battle and in this hypothetical world get into Dash so you know, may as well actually complete the Six part of the Deadly Six.

Surge and Kit maybe? - I’m less sure about this one because frankly I don’t really like either of these characters that much but yk, Tangle and Whisper already made it so IDW precedent is there, and Surge especially people do seem to like a lot. Could just throw them in and it would be neat like yeah.

Movie Shadow and Movie Super Shadow - like honestly if there’s anyone on this list that I fully expect will make it into the game it’s these, but it’ll have to wait until movie 3 actually comes out so like lol. But hey just mentioning them ahead of time because then I get to claim I predicted it and everyone will call me badass and a gamer.

the Chao lmao - I think it’d be funny if you could play as Chao in Sonic Dash lol. Just do like Cheese and a Hero Chao and a Dark Chao and maybe the three Chaos Chao variants, are we pushing this out of the realm of possibility yet?

some more robotic Sonics - Neo Metal Sonic because fuck it it’s an alternate form he has that why not have in a silly mobile game. Mecha Sonic and Mecha Sonic mk.II (aka Silver Sonic and Mecha Sonic lmao) both appeared in Lego Dimensions and then respectively appeared in some toyline and the IDW comics respectively so like sure SEGA haven’t forgotten they exist. So put them in Sonic Dash for the fun of it!!!!!!!!

okay yeah I think that’s all I’ve got right now. List definitely got a bit sillier and me less passionate about some of the characters as we got further down but idk I think this could be neat. That’s it end post.

[lord-nikon-vent-editon]

This is just a taste of the stories I can write. Enjoy, good people!//

Shuffling through the endless halls of the ExEverse, Lord X prowles his ‘ kingdom ‘. They feared the lord for his sheer power, his great enjoyment of causing pain. He was the embodiment of what most desired to be. Though, with power: came a steep price. Unlike others, his hosts decayed at a significantly faster pace.

From one of the various monitors, a human would seem to crawl out. This human seems on the younger side, around his early 20s. He looked fresh from a metal concert. He had a sleeveless black shirt, with a pair of spiked arm braces on each arm. He donned a black necklace, one that held a silver circular emblem with fence-like spikes. Other than the black boots and Jeans, you would easily mistake him for your average emo kid. Oh how wrong you’d be. The human was coated in a black mist, before revealing his normal form. It was your average Sonic; except this one has a purple X slashed into his chest. Along the tips of his quills, and his knees and elbows: glowing purple crystals grew on the quills.

After brushing his claws through his quills, Xenophanes face grew to quick disgust. The rancid, rotting smell of Lord X’s corpse invaded his nose. “ X, how dare you keep that host! It’s putrid! “ Xenophanes growled out, waving his claw in front of his face. Lord X let out a frightening cackle, letting gravity have his head lean down and stare back at the fellow alien. “ This body is fine! I will not replace my creation!” He barked out, waving off Xenophanes arrogant demands. He continued shuffling down the halls, just searching for chaos to observe.

Xenophanes would stomp over, placing an arm on his rotting shoulder. “ You WILL make a new host! I refuse to accept anything else!” They barked out, wanting to assert his dominance to the ruler. Xenophanes intended to be the ruler of this void, so what better option to show he has the guts. Lord X’s head snapped back like an owl, his red eyes glowing bright. “ You do not understand how difficult it is to conjure a new body! Building life is more than you can imagine!” X sternly told, growing annoyed by Xenophanes’s tone. “ Then we will find you a new host. I will guide you to a suitable hedgehog if I must.” Xenophanes bargained, not slightly frightened or bothered by his anger.

X went silent, but would give a soft chuckle. “ Fine. You will find me a suitable host, or I will make your body MY host!” He agreed, wanting to see what they might drag to him. Xenophanes smirked, crossing his arms behind their back. “ Come, old man. We’ll get you a body that actually works.” Xenophanes mocked, guiding them through the endless white halls. With each step, quills and fur dropped from Lord X’s body. The crystal coated hedgehog led them to one of the blank monitors; a universe that has yet to be inhabited by a ExE. Though many would only see a black screen, the two could see that it was during the time of Sonic Mania.

“ Classic era. If done right, his young body will be able to hold you for a long time.” Xenophanes offered, standing behind the monitor that showcased the world. “ Too Cliché. Everyone always aims for him. “ Lord X denied, gently shaking his rotting head. Xenophane quietly growled in annoyance, and continued down the hall. “ If you want unique, there is the Boom Sonic.” He offered, jogging ahead of the limping corpse, patting the top of the power up monitor like it was a car. “ I am going to pretend you didn’t even offer me that.” He chuckled out, shuffling ahead of the annoyed Xenophanes.

He leaned against the monitor, gently rubbing his closed eyes. Xenophanes rew quickly impatient. “ Oh, this one’s perfect!” Lord X chuckled out, kneeling in front of the monitor like a child watching a TV. Xenophanes slowly stomped behind him, peaking over his rotting shoulders to see. “ During Forces? Why?” He questioned, as it was just a regular modern Sonic. “ You’ll see, in time. This will lead to a great domino effect.” Lord X joyfully crawled into the monitor, phasing through the screen; followed soon after by the fellow hedgehog.

Sonic ran through the halls of the Death Egg, right at the end of the stage. As he was about to make his escape, some of the lights would cut. Only two illuminated the catwalk he stood on, as darkness pooled around. “ Man, did egghead run out of power?” Sonic teased, staying in the only illuminated area. “ Guess this is the problem of making a fake Zavok.”

A pair of footsteps was heard on the metal catwalk, causing him to quickly look back. “ Which Badnik is it this time?” He questioned, trying to peer through the darkness. Squinting, his eyes caught two red ones. “ Metal Sonic, huh? Why not bring those lights back on before we duke it out!” The hedgehog taunted, bouncing in place a bit. “ Oh, poor hedgehog. You don’t know what you're facing!” Lord X teasing, slowly shuffling into the light. Sonic winced, disgusted by the scent and sight of the possessed corpse. “ Man, is Eggman trying to beat me by grossing me out?” Sonic taunted, thinking this might be an illusion from the Phantom Ruby or some robot.

“ Why not put that confidence to the test, hedgehog. We’ll see if I’m one of the doctor’s disappointing robots!” X encouraged, placing both his arms behind his back. Sonic chuckled, speeding over to the rotting faker. Sonic jumped up, attempting to land a punch straight into their face. A grin grew on X’s face, as an arm shot out from his mouth. It grabbed Sonic by the neck, countering their attempt and slamming them into the floor. Echoed laughter filled the space station, as he leaned down to stare them down. “ I am more than you can ever imagine, Sonic! And you’ll be serving me well!” Lord X taunted, his arm letting up a bit on their neck to not choke him. Sonic would weakly cough, trying to pull their arm off his neck. “ What do you even want from me?” He questioned, even trying to kick the alien off.

“ You can probably see: my flesh is decaying. “ Lord X explained, moving one of his hands to cover half of his face. “ And as you can tell, you look like a perfect host!” X told, his claw digging into his face; pulling the left half of it completely off. Sonic yelled out a frightened scream, before gagging as he was about to throw up. Lord X’s other claw slammed Sonic’s head onto the ground, making it lay to its side. “ Not on my new body!” He barked out. His hand peeled off the other side of his face; revealing a pitch black void. Though: his pair of red X eyes remained inside the darkness. Sonic struggled, trying to keep himself from heaving and vomiting from what he witnessed.

From the black void, a pair of arms slowly shot out the body like a suit. Sonic gave a blood curdling scream, seeing a monster crawl out of the Sonic costume. It was like seeing cthulhu; a form so mind boggling and impossible to understand, that it put the hedgehog into mind shattering panic. The true form of X stared down, before reaching onto Sonic’s chest. Slowly: he extracted the screaming soul of Sonic out, before leaving his body as a husk. X pulled their mouth open; amazingly slipping into the new body like he was putting on a pair of pants. Once the monster possessed the body, Lord X slowly sat up.

Opening the hollow eyes; Sonic’s once green eyes were replaced by Lord X’s red crossed ones. “ So: you now have the body you desire. How does it feel?” Xenophanes questioned, emerging from the other side of the catwalk. He stood up, stretching his body. “ Certainly is snug; but I’ll break into it.” Lord X casually told, growing his usual menacing grin. His body looked similar to his first form, with fresh blood slowly seeping down his cheeks. Back when he was still tormenting Tom. A small X would slowly fade onto the chest, though I’d certainly take a while before it became as noticeable as his last body.

“ Now: come. I have a realm to observe.” He told, clapping together and bringing his arms apart to summon a red ring. The two monsters entered, with the ring vanishing as they both entered; leaving behind X’s old rotting corpse. Occasionally: He’d return to observe this random world, watching the chaos that spawns without their Sonic. Even with the new guy and classic, they couldn’t even beat the Eggman’s army. Oh: the joy this chaos brought to X. Truly, it is a wonderful sight

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

The Mandates

Just wanted to share my thoughts on the pro-ported mandates because they cast a shadow on this comic.

“Game characters cannot have relatives unless they were estabilished in the game canon, i.e. Cream and her mother.”

This one is understandable and you can blame Penders for this. Mind you that most licensed comics of gaming franchises don’t actually delve too much in personal family relationships or expand on them. So this is expected and honestly Sega should have put the screws on Archie decades ago about this.

“Game characters can not die. There are workarounds for this, such as being Mistaken for Dying or "Mistaken For Dead”

Again. Yes. Not a big deal.

“Game characters cannot have wardrobe changes unless approved. Chao Races and Badnik Bases has some characters (mainly the female game characters) wear different clothes for extreme conditions. Male characters remain the same.”

This is a useless rule but whatever. I mean Sega, you are the ones putting bad wardrobe choices on the characters so again it’s whatever.

“Sonic can't be shown getting too emotional (i.e;cry)”

This is one that it complained about because it really wouldn’t matter unless it is called attention to. A lot of superheroes don’t cry. But that doesn’t prohibit them from expressing themselves. IDW Sonic has been sad. He has been pissed. He has been furious.

Is this not too emotional?

Is he not expressing himself appropriately?

I don’t even know why this is brought up. When in this comic has Sonic not been expressive or displaying the appropriate amount of emotion? When did Sonic needing to cry be necessary?

“Game characters cannot enter in a relationship.”

Oh GOD YES. Don’t threaten me with a good time.

“All major Character Development must be approved by SEGA.”

Yeah, of course. Let me remind you that Penders and Archie ruined any strand of trust Sega could have in comic media. They played loose at first and all of the sudden, they are involved in a lawsuit about characters in a Sonic comic that they didn’t even know about. They probably lost a video game business relationship because of it. If they want to be involved in the comics, fine. That means that they are now forced to World Build. They have to invest in it now and not just be like Lucas Films and let anybody do anything with their flagship title.

“Much like the post-reboot of the Archie comic, the words "Mobius" is banned—the planet is simply called "Sonic's World". Unlike the Post-Boot, which allowed the names "Mobian" and "Mobini", anything related to Mobius is banned in this comic.”

…Of course but how about you throw the writer’s a bone and I don’t know, name the fucking planet. If it is not Earth, give it a name.

“Sonic must always win at the end. Even if he and his friends are at the losing end in an overarching story (the Metal Virus arc, for example), they must come out on top when it concludes.”

I don’t even get this rule and the knee jerk hatred for it. Why even have it? Why even share the existence of this rule? Archie Sonic didn’t really lose too bad. It’s more on how you frame a victory. The fact of the matter is that Eggman is still actively trying to conquer the planet. Sonic stops him but Eggman still has control of land and has military installations all over.

This rule is offset by this. While Sonic can’t lose, Sonic can’t completely win.

“Characters and material from other licensed properties (Sonic the Comic, Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics), Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM)', Sonic Underground, the OVA, Sonic X and the Paramount films cannot be used. This rule extends to characters and redesigns done by the current writers. The only exception is Sticks from Sonic Boom, and that's because she was created by SEGA themselves and showed up in non-Boom media, but any ideas regarding her use still need to be okayed by SEGA.”

First off I am glad that Sticks was spared by this rule and I look forward to her eventual inclusion. Second, again, this is not much of a big deal as it was expected. Sorry Freedom Fighter fans but honestly deal.

“Male characters, sans Eggman, can't wear pants, which was also a thing in the Post-Reboot, albeit never explicitly stated. The inverse is also true; female characters have to have some form of lower clothing.”

Okay this is a pedantic rule. It is so weird with how precise it is. Like…huh?

“Classic characters such as Mighty, Ray, Nack/Fang, Bean, and Bark won't appear in non-Classic issues, as Sega doesn't want Classic and Modern Sonic to mix.”

One of the most bullshit mandates fueled by the nostalgia boner fans created. Like this is stupid because Archie Modern Sonic has added more character and depth to all of these mentioned characters than any of the Sega Sonic games they appeared in which only amounts to 1 or 2 at most. Why neuter your own potential stories with this stupid limitation?

“According to Ian Flynn, a specific incident involving Shadow's characterization when he's exposed to the Zombot infection was written in a specific way because of Sega mandating that he be written as an "overconfident asshole rival" character, similar to Vegeta. He later followed up with an explanation that out of every character, Shadow has the most mandates and notes attached to how he's portrayed. According to the podcast, Sega says that Team Dark is no longer a thing. The three members are not a team and they have never worked for G.U.N.; Shadow also doesn't even consider them friends.”

This is my opinion is the worst rule. First it’s contradictory to the character Sega introduced us to. Stop trying to be like Dragon Ball for once and actually be your own thing. It’s one thing if we are changing it because Shadow was unpopular because of his personality. But no one likes this Shadow. People miss the somber but reserved Hedgehog that continued to fight in spite of the world betraying him. Hothead Shadow is a cheap Knuckles. And I don’t even understand why Shadow even has so many mandates when he wasn’t the most egregious offender. Knuckles was.

Also, Team Dark aren’t a thing and Shadow doesn’t even consider them to be his friends. First off that doesn’t even fly in your own games. Who outside of Sonic does Shadow interact the most? Rouge. They have teamed up and were a packaged duo since their inception. When Shadow appeared, Rouge appeared right next to him. If Rouge was in a game, so was Shadow.

Team Dark or just Rouge has fought alongside Shadow in every game they appeared in. Who else does Shadow talk to if not Rouge?

“Sega has stated to Flynn that only male hedgehogs are allowed to go Super with the Chaos Emeralds.”

Except in Sonic Mania.

“Ian isn't allowed to directly reference a game, since the comic is supposed to be its own thing.”

Okay. Not only is this rule stupid. But it’s untrue.

This references the end of Sonic Forces.

The first page of comic.

It has referenced Sonic Adventure, SA2, Sonic Generations , and Sonic Unleashed.

This referencing Shadow the Hedgehog.

I don’t believe this rule exists and even if it did, it is dumbest rule since the whole point of this comic is to base it off the games more. The dumbest rule.

“Knuckles is not allowed to leave Angel Island unless he has a very good reason to.”

For decades, people have complained that Knuckles routinely leaves the island. For decades. Now does this mean Sega is going to 1. Use Knuckles and 2. Amplify the importance of Angel Island and the Master Emerald? No. Again, this criticism should be levied at Sega because they often conveniently forget Knuckles purpose and just hand wave it instead of giving Knuckles more to do on the island like I don’t know, have other entities invested in attacking him.

In summary, here is what I think is going on. Do I think most of these mandates are real? Yes. Given what happened to Archie, I do think Sega is doing some brand alignment. I think they got the clamps on.

But what I think is going on is a Japanese cultural thing called Power Harassment. It is normalized abuse of power. Sega of Japan is normally laxxed about their brands. They don’t mind blatant rip-offs of their mascot nor do they get stiff about fandom creations or mods. The comic division, however, is getting tough love because not only did it cost them a publishing deal, but ruined a relationship with a high end developer. So the IDW writers and staff are being subjected to intentionally hypocritical rules and strict mandates that they know don’t make sense until they’ve shown to be obedient.

A lot of the mandates aren’t strict. But some are so asinine that I don’t think they aren’t aware with how stupid they sound imposing those rules. Like Shadow is the most narratively complete Sonic character and yet, Sega puts this tight mandate as if Archie Shadow was the most egregious thing. Archie Shadow was overpowered. He wasn’t out of character like Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails were. They can’t be that stupid or be that intentionally dense. So they want to see if the writing crew can follow orders. That’s it.

But that’s just my take.

[thankskenpenders]

Since this sort of thing comprises like half the questions I get on here (seriously, I get a TON of questions about this), I decided to say fuck it and make a giant tier list of Sonic characters who aren’t in the IDW comics, ranked by how likely I think they are to return. Note that I have no insider information and some of this could be very wrong. This is just based on things the creative team have said and speculation based on general trends

This isn’t every character ever, obviously, but it sure is a lot of them, and you can figure out the trends yourself to account for other characters that weren’t on the two tier makers I combined to make this

Explanations for the tiers below the cut

HIGHEST LIKELIHOOD

Could come back? - Characters from the games who could theoretically show up with no major obstacles that I know of. (Honey is the most tenuous here. I don’t know if Sega would consider her a Classic character instead, or restrict her usage)

Classic Sonic only - Still on the table, it would just have to be in a Classic Sonic story since Sega is keeping that stuff separate. (The Battle Bird Armada are probably less likely to return than the other characters in this tier, who all made appearances in Mania, but who knows)

Humans - The IDW comics currently take place exclusively on Sonic’s world, which doesn’t have humans. They would have to travel to Earth to use the human supporting cast

MEDIUM LIKELIHOOD

Deceased, etc. - Self explanatory. Not off-limits to my knowledge, but they’re dead. (Tikal is not in this tier because she can appear as a ghost.)

Served their purposes - Could maybe come back, but it feels like they were only really created to appear in one game and Sega is in no rush to bring them back

Currently off limits - We know for sure that Sega doesn’t allow the use of these game characters right now, but this could always change

Sonic Boom - With the Sonic Boom subfranchise canceled, it’s unknown if any of the characters will ever pop up in other media. (Sticks is the most likely to return, of course, having been used already in a couple non-Boom spinoff games)

LONG SHOTS

DiC characters - The casts of SatAM and AoStH. We know that Ian is fighting for the Freedom Fighters to return in some form, but it’s not gonna be easy to get them back, and the rights situation there is confusing. (That being said, it’s definitely not impossible.)

Archie reboot cast - This is less of a rights thing and more of a “they want to tell new stories and not recycle too much Archie material right now” thing. Status unknown. It’ll be a nice surprise if any of them come back, but don’t count on it

GONE FOREVER

Pre-reboot Archie exclusives - Due to the legal battles, all characters introduced by Penders are his property and there’s no way in hell he’s ever giving them back. Sega could hypothetically negotiate with the other writers to license their characters, like Mina or Finitevus, but the odds of Sega having any interest in that are basically nonexistent. Don’t count on any of these characters ever showing up again outside of fan works and The Lara-Su Chronicles

From the games and cartoons - The echidnas from Sonic Chronicles are off limits forever due to the legal battles with Penders. Sega does not own the Sonic X cast or the cast of the OVA and is unlikely to license them. Sonic’s family from Sonic Underground are almost definitely gone forever because Sonic does not canonically have any relatives, and like hell would they ever bring back Sleet and Dingo. Ian has outright said that his attempts to use Tiara Boobowski have been shot down and Sega is unlikely to ever change their minds

THE MYSTERY ZONE

I just genuinely have no idea what the deal is with these characters. Like, Sega owns Wendy Witchcart, but would they ever use her? And do they have any interest in using the robot doppelgangers other than Metal Sonic these days? Who knows

All this is, of course, on top of the regular Modern Sonic cast, as well as all the new fan favorites like Tangle, Whisper, and Dr. Starline. There’s certainly no shortage of characters for the IDW comics to use, and they’re making great use of the ones that they have. I just get a ton of questions about all the characters who haven’t shown up, so like, here’s that

[wtfgaylittlezooid]

Tails is from sonic 2 onwards. Knuckles sonic 3 onwards. Mighty & the rest of the Chaotix (Vector, Charmy, Espio) are technically from Knuckles and the chaotix but you’ll get the modern chaotix trio proper in sonic heros, mighty vanished until mania, ray was from the segasonic spin-off arcade game and reappeared with mighty in mania, Amy & Metal Sonic appeared in sonic cd and then Amy got redesigned to her current look in adventure, they’ve shown up sporadically since. Adventure introduced gamma- who is not the robot you’re thinking of but still has a good story attached to him, and Big the Cat & Froggy, Tikal, and chaos (the little creature guys you can raise). Shadow and rouge are from adventure 2. Heros brings in omega. Shadow’s game has aliens and characters tying in directly with his adventure 2 backstory- tho it’s a bit of a mess (everyone gets to show up for a bit tho). Cream the rabbit and her chao Cheese and her mom vanilla were introduced in the sonic advance games. Blaze the cat from sonic rush. Silver’s from 06. Chip (& proto orbot) is from unleashed. Wisps, orbot and cubot are from colors. Then generations kinda made classic sonic and forces kinda decided to make him his own thing except maybe not? Who knows. Forces also has Buddy the wolf/create a character- i think comics might do more with him don’t quote me on that. Post 06 a lot of characters only showed up in spin-offs and they stuck mainly to sonic, tails, and eggman for plot stuff for awhile. Everyone else tended to cameo briefly really or not exist. Uh I guess there’s also the Babylon rogues from the riders games, and from old gamegear games nack the sniper/fang the weasel and Bean the dynamite and bark the polar bear- the latter two only really showed up in sonic the fighters but they’re a gang of three generally in comic media. And uh Emerl from sonic battle I guess. Sticks is from Sonic Boom- tho mainly the tv series and 3ds games for actual story use. That should be all the main characters and some main obscurish? ones, aside from the villains which I didn’t want to run down. And of course sonic and eggman are in most if not all main games- barring a couple spin-offs.

OHHH OKAY

[syotoyakurutoki]

So, after around 3 months of drawing, colouring and shading, it's finally done!

Happy 30th to our adorable, cool, and all around loveable, blue blur~! <3

For this picture, I wanted to combine as many of Sonic's variants/ as possible. Even though I haven't drawn EVERY type, I made sure to add objects/props which are related to a particular game and/or version of Sonic.

From bottom left to right;

- Super Sonic - Chaos Emeralds - Werehog - Modern Sonic (with Riders shoes and goggles and Chip's Bracelet from Unleashed) - Classic Sonic - SA2 Soap Shoes - Caliburn from SATBK - Rings - Chili dogs - Sonic 1 - Speed Up Item Box - Sonic OVA - Sonic CD - Sonic's guitar from Sonic Underground - SatAM - Mania Adventures Sonic - Neutral Chao - Sun/Moon Medals from Unleashed - Lamp from SATSR

Middle;

- Excalibur Sonic from SATBK - Neutral Chao Egg (SA1 and SA2) - Darkspine Sonic from SATSR - Boom Sonic - Sonic Overdrive Sonic

Top;

- Wisp from Sonic Colours - Dark Sonic - Adventure styled Sonic - Light Speed Dash Bracelet (SA1) - Movie Sonic - Bag of Rings - Sonic's backpack (from the movie) - The Seven World Rings - Hyper Sonic

All Sonics (c) SEGA

[bulgariansumo]

The Messy Relationship Between Sonic and Localization

Ask any Sonic fan and they’ll tell you that the fandom is one of the most fractured things to ever exist. It’s a miracle whenever we can all agree, and that usually comes from us collectively hating something (Sonic Movie’s original design, Ken Penders, etc.)--and even then, there’s a dedicated few who disagree. Many of us have such differing opinions on what the series “should” be, that satisfying all--or even a majority--of Sonic fans is next to impossible. How did it get this way? I think it has a lot to do with localization.

Classic Era

The 1990’s wasn’t the best decade when it came to localizing anything, especially not video games. Often, some creative liberties would be taken when adapting a source from Japanese to English.  The Sonic franchise was no exception to this. The first split comes from the game manuals. Me and @rontufox​ already made a post discussing this, but the Japanese manuals gave a little background info on the series’ lore and worldbuilding. The English versions gave a bare-bones description of the premise of each game, but that’s about it. There were no mentions of an apocalypse caused by people misusing the Chaos Emeralds, of Sonic finding the ring that would foreshadow Knuckles Chaotix, or of Knuckles thinking the Death Egg was a ‘Dragon’s Egg’ described in ancient legends. Sonic went to a bunch of colorful zones, beat up Dr. Robotnik, collected some magic stones, and maybe a new character or two would tag along, but there was nothing else to it. There was no dialogue and few cutscenes in the games at this time, so the English localizers could get away with this.

Since there wasn’t much to go on games-wise, English fans at the time got their perception of Sonic and his world from various comic and cartoon adaptations. The American-produced ones portrayed Sonic as an in-your-face smart aleck who was almost completely full of himself. The UK-produced Sonic the Comic starred Sonic as a self-described “cool guy” who cared little about the people around him, including friends. Whatever worldbuilding these adaptations had either didn’t exist or diverged completely from the games, because the writers, even if they did care, didn’t have much to go on. There also weren’t a lot of Japanese Sonic adaptations at the time, and the only one that got localized was Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (aka Sonic OVA). To English-speaking fans, Sonic was an arrogant but funny hedgehog who despite everything, got the job done. Aside from Dr. Robotnik, other characters were an afterthought and could be replaced as needed.  

Adventure Era

Sonic Adventure released in 1998 with fully voice-acted cutscenes, and localization differences started catching up. Some things were easy to fix, such as Dr. Eggman (Robotnik’s name in Japanese) being a nickname for Dr. Robotnik. Other things weren’t that simple. For instance, some of those little things mentioned in the Japanese manuals started showing up again, specifically the apocalypse caused by people misusing the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic Adventure was a soft-reboot, where most previous characters and worldbuilding are still there, but some details are left behind so that newcomers have an easier time entering the series. There also might be changes in the series’ tone. For example, Sonic Adventure was somewhat more serious than previous games could be, but still overall lighthearted. This was also the first of many mainline games during this time to have an ensemble cast. Instead of just playing as Sonic, or maybe Tails and Knuckles, you were required to play all three of them plus other characters, with different stories and gameplay styles. This was a tall task, but these games pulled it off well enough to be very popular at the time. Themes of friendship became very prominent in the games around this time, and to further cement it, Sonic X, a Japanese-produced anime came out and got localized in the United States. Sonic was still a little cocky in English dubs of the games and anime, but he was also free-spirited and very supportive of his friends instead of being preoccupied with being the coolest person in the group. For the most part, his English and Japanese portrayals were nearly indistinguishable. Other characters also got more screentime and focus on their personalities, and popular new characters like Shadow and Rouge were introduced to the cast. All was going great.

Then 2006 came around. Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic 06) came out, ushering in a period of very poorly received Sonic games, the latter being seen as a contender for the worst game of all time. Shadow the Hedgehog was an attempt at explaining why the titular character was alive after apparently being killed off Sonic Adventure 2, but the gritty and somewhat melodramatic tone was seen as ill-fitting for the Sonic franchise. The gameplay was also lacking, in part due to other characters tagging along with Shadow and repeatedly telling him hints and mission objectives. The problem of characters talking a lot mid-gameplay was present in Sonic Heroes, but the gameplay itself was passable enough that the game didn’t completely suffer for it. Shadow the Hedgehog tied up the last plot threads the Sonic Adventure series left behind, so the series had to go somewhere different. Sonic 06 was another soft-reboot, so that newcomers wouldn’t have to study up on the games from Sonic Adventure to Shadow the Hedgehog. Because the game was rushed for the holiday season, it was glitchy, didn’t feel good to play, and the writing was… very flawed. The game’s tone was slightly lighter than Shadow the Hedgehog, but still a little too melodramatic for most fans.

With all of these changes in mind, further splits in the English-speaking fandom occurred. Many vocal Classic fans were thrown off by the series being heavier on plot, worldbuilding, and Sonic’s friends. They wanted to go back to a time when none of that existed, and when Sonic was just an arrogant jokester--a time that only existed in 90’s US and UK. Newer, Adventure-era fans grew up with these new changes and loved them, though many of them were also not happy with Shadow the Hedgehog and subsequent games’s handling of these things. Because of Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 06’s spectacular failure in handling different characters’ gameplay, one sentiment was repeatedly echoed--that only Sonic should be playable. Since then, with very few exceptions, only Sonic has been playable in mainline Sonic games. This still wasn’t enough to save the games. Games after Sonic 06 often had a core gimmick to them, many of which weren’t received well, and the ones that were got replaced by the next game. The writing had the same feeling to it, though. It shied away from the melodrama of the most hated entries, but still retained the sincerity of entries like Sonic Adventure.

Modern Era

That changed in 2011 with Sonic Colors. Instead of Sonic Team writing the games, they hired Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, two American writers known for working on Happy Tree Friends. Neither had much knowledge of the previous games’ characters, worldbuilding, or stories, but this was intentional. Sonic games sell less in Japan, so Sega probably wanted to put more focus into pleasing audiences in America and Europe. The two went off some basics about the characters and setting, and what little they knew previously. There is some supervision by Takeshi Iizuka, a longtime Sonic Team member who is currently the head of the series after creator Yuji Naka left in the mid-2000’s, but he is interested in the series going in a new direction. Sonic Colors was another soft reboot of the series, but because of the writer’s lack of knowledge about the series a lot more details were lost and changes made than in any of the previous ones. The writing is lighthearted, but most of the sincerity has been traded for attempts at comedy, which tend to be hit and miss. Sonic as a character retains his free spirit and some kindness towards his friends, but some of the self-importance of his English interpretation is making a comeback. Many of the characters from previous games make returns, but they’re written oddly (“Y’got this, Sssonic!” - Shadow, Sonic Generations (2011)) and the writers don’t quite know how to integrate them. Sonic Colors was well-received for its gameplay, and even the writing was praised at the time, but most subsequent games have middling reception. None are considered outright bad (except Sonic Boom, but that was a spinoff that Sega contracted a different company to do) or outright good (except Sonic Mania, which Sega contracted a team of fans to do.)

Conclusion

As it stands now, the Sonic franchise is a strange hybrid of the Japanese and English interpretations of Sonic. A lot of the Adventure Era fans are old enough to start noticing the changes in the writing in the Modern Era, and some aren’t big fans. Some are, though. Some of the Classic fans are satisfied with these changes, others aren’t impressed either preferring the Classic or even Adventure Era. Some people like the Classic Era, but not the English interpretations of the series. There are likely Modern fans who grew up with this version of the Sonic franchise and love it, but there may be ones that have seen previous iterations and prefer those better. There are many differing opinions and few can agree on what would be good for Sonic. Would things have been different if localization had been handled differently in the 90’s? Who can say? All we have to go by are ripples from the errors of the past.