Contradictions/Lack of Continuity in Sonic games.

The only games I find a decent connection between them are the three first ones from Sega Megadrive (They continue where the previous left, with the exception of Knuckles' story on S&K). Beyond these, there are so many contradictions on the Sonic games that it doesn't make sense anymore

Spoiler

(IIIRC, on Sonic Battle, when the Death Egg flyes in the sky, Sonic said something like "How could Eggman build something like that?")

P.S. Why isn't there a spoiler tag? v_v

 

It's not really all that definitive, though. Blaze starts off by assuming it's another dimension, and aside from that it's pretty much only referred to as being another world (they do the same bit in StH06, calling the future their "world").

I wouldn't doubt that they intended it to be an alternate dimension, until StH06 came around...but it's vague enough that we can say Blaze was simply mistaken.

Though, this does open up problems in regards to the Sol Emeralds...specifically, if they're from Blaze's world, and that's actually the future, where are they in Sonic's time, and why aren't they screwing things up in both times?

 

The Chaotix thing can be explained.

You start playing as Knuckles, then you save Espio from Robotnik to get the first team-up of the game. All of the other characters are just options. Therefor, it's possible to play the game through only using Knuckles and Espio, which is how Espio knows who Robotnik is in Heroes.

But it's still a stupid error in Sonic Team's part.

 

Ah, this can be debated until the ends of the earth. It's never going to make sense.

I doubt Sega have ever had a story roadmap for Sonic The Hedgehog.

The first game was more an exersise in creating the best gameplay than storyline. Sonic 2 was much the same. Sonic 3 & Knuckles had a storyline, and it tied into Sonic 2 / 1 fairly well, but even then we have contridictions abound already in the form of Sonic CD, TV shows, and comics.

By that stage, it's 1994 and you've got a collection of games that were designed to be just that, good games. The story is lacking and you've already got problems, because the European / US storyline is dramatically different in many key areas to the Japanese one, and the comics, TV shows and Sonic CD is dramatically different in many other key areas to those. So what do you do?

It's what people like to call a refresh of the series. You create Sonic Adventure, and you can more or less ignore what went on before and do whatever you like. (although, Sonic Adventure had references to Sonic CD, oddly enough).

Only problem with Sonic Team is they seem to have become fond of the refreshing technique. Every game as of late seems to make sense only if you ignore and / or re-write history.

It wouldn't be a problem if the games were any good, but people probably are turning to story for lack of intrest in anything else and then finding the story can be as lacking as the collision detection.

But what can you do? Ignore it I think is best.

 

Does it really matter? Look at S1. It's your basic "go stop the bad guy and save the world" thing, and it worked. Why? Because the game PLAYS well. Sonic 06 on the other hand, is far from S1 in the gameplay category. The story also consists of an assload of stupid shit happening with about 20 different characters, and it's generally mocked.

Point is, story means nothing in Sonic. Back in the day, it was about making a FUN game, not writing some half-interactive novel while under the influence of caffeine pills. The game could really do without any real story besides the cliché "save the world" deal, as the classic games have demonstrated. Nowadays, it just turns into one more element to mock (which I have no problem with, since it's awful and riddled with plot holes, like the ones listed in this very topic).

 

The different ages in Chaotix and Heroes can be explained by the fact that Charmy had no age in the japanese manual. I think they gave him an age in the US manual just to match the others characters, but it's obvious he's too old for his...intelligence. (I prefer him to be 6)

 

There are no continuity errors in Sonic, because there is no continuity in Sonic.

 

IMO, I'd say it's as soon as they put voices to the characters, that's when continuity becomes an issue - but they blatantly forgot to think about that


no voices, no complications in storyline. that's all it comes down to.

and I think that's partly why the Mega Drive games have hardly any problems with continuity.

 

Cyclical time is completing the loop.

 

Quoted for truth. Trying to find any of this "continuity" will only make your head hurt.

 

The scary part is the amount of sonic fans, including people here, who think that storylines belong in Sonic. I personally agree with your statement and think they get in the way rather than benefit the game.

 

I believe a story COULD benefit Sonic games... if the story is done right and doesn't leave plot holes the size of Asia. In it's own way, S3&K had sort of a wordless story to it. You see Knuckles obviously thinks Sonic is the bad guy until Dr. Robotnik steals the Master Emerald, thus does Knuckles realize his idiotic mistake and help Sonic.

I honestly don't mind and personally enjoy a story in a Sonic game, as long as it's well done and again, doesn't leave plot holes.

As for the continuity crisis you're all trying to crack, I personally wonder if Sonic Team thinks that the games for each console is a similar but alternate universe from the others and so they think they have some unspoken liberty to change the story to however it fits in the present.

 

"They think they have some unspoken liberty to change the story?" Well no kidding they do. They do make the games, after all. :P

 

There is no crisis needing cracking. The way it works is "hey what if [character] does [thing] in the next game" "YEAH COOL". Fans trying to unravel things put far more mental energy into the story than Sonic Team ever did.

 

IIRC, when UDON comics (makers of the Street Fighter comic) asked Capcom what SF games were "canon" and which were not, that was exactly the reply that they got from them.

 

Personally I wish they would worry less about the damn story and more about the game play.

Leave the story in the manual, only the losers read it anyway.

 

Hey, I resent that! I always read the manual!

lol, j/k, no offense taken.

As for what I meant by "They think they have some unspoken liberty to change the story", what I meant was in ways that leave plotholes and distasteful turns in the story... Shadow for example was a very distasteful turn. I suppose I should have been more clear on what I meant in that statement, so my apologies Lemming.

And Rolken, I did also say that line about cracking the crisis the wrong way. I really haven't been on the ball lately. That first line in that paragraph made no sense now that I look back on it. Ever notice how things never sound stupid until you say them, or look stupid in text until you post them? I should've looked back on what I posted to see if it was all right.