#generally when i engage in vsbattle discussion i try not to do the pulling up a bunch of numerical stats thing

[spiderman616]

i mean the sonic characters don’t solve their problems through pure strength alone. (i’m looking through game lenses first hold on.)

Racing is more of their thing. they tend to talk the other down from fighting as much as possible with 50/50 chance of it working. some of them need power boosts to beat their opponents. (super forms) sonic has to adapt to new mechanics despite being the fastest thing alive. (some spinoffs, and frontiers)

some prefer not to use their full power to keep things fair (shadow restrains himself from using his doom powers against sonic in sxsg) 

comics, well it depends on the writer right? and who they want to win. even if the execution can be a hit or miss. 🤔 sonic has really scary abilities during the early era but he can’t use it all the time, cause it’s a gag or it poses risk to him and by the time it was late preboot, these abilities weren’t seen. (idk about you, but archie sonic fans do tend to pull up the early panels displaying his powers.)

in-universe reasons, some of the examples i listed above can apply here too….

the metal virus affected shadow’s capability in battle. silver is strong but he realized he had to flip dark enerjak’s strength to win. surge needed the dynamo wisp cage to be a threat. tails has to rely on his smarts and knowledge of machinery to also win. eggman is physically strong…it just happens that his opponents are super-powered mobians so ofc he’s gotta rely on his machinery. some need to hold back their power for obvious reasons. talking down someone has worked before on numerous occasions. talking someone into powering down from their most strongest…

now with shadow, he’s skilled with chaos energy and is as formidable as sonic. has the alien dna and chaos energy born into him. but knuckles is the guardian of the master emerald for a reason, he punched the emeralds out of super sonic who is supposed to be invincible and not only that he is heavily connected to his ancestry who deals with the chaos emeralds their whole lives. and ofc his base strength alone is no fucking joke.

i can keep going but i hope what i say makes sense enough.

i guess... saying the sonic games are somehow combat averse is kind of blatantly untrue though. no they arent 😭 it just fits the story or gameplay sometimes to have a specific scene not be a direct fight. all the examples you are saying are things that can change the circumstances of a battle they dont really invalidate like. feats. because most people take those into account... i feel like you are approaching this from the wrong angle