Nah, that doesn't look right. Retroactive - Retro (back) Active Continuity, like it was active prior, we just didn't see it, while Revise means make alterations to/correct. Still, it's a small idea to save confusion, I don't want to gum up the continuity thread with it otherwise by debating the definitions though, so let's not get too into it. Just a yey or ney regarding it if possible.
8:33 - How would Charmy Bee (...) Vector and Espio (...) react to this Mighty guy? Never heard of him. - (...) This is assuming that Knuckles Chaotix is not canon to classic, which I'm pretty sure it is again. And I'm pretty sure Classic is the past, so... Where's Mighty now? I don't know. He's off doing mighty good things. HOW THE TABLES HAVE TURNED
Now to get the manuals reimplemented as the true canon and get the Game Gear and assorted other titles to their proper places...
I'm not sure how you can call dumping all the Game Gear games haphazardly after the trilogy, from the looks of Sonic Origins' cutscenes including the outright prequel, the 'best canonical Sonic chronology yet'.
To play devil’s advocate, that doesn’t mean there’s not two “dimensions,” just that the early stuff in the classic world still happened in the non-mania timeline. Which is progress, I guess… though I still think it works best without most of the Game Gear games (as least as their stories are currently presented) and Spinball. I’m not sure Sega is entirely sure about all this yet either though, it seems like they’re still in the process of changing stuff. I dunno man, it seems like you’re in the minority on that thought
Well, aside from Tails Adventure (which is a weird case because despite being a sequel in the American manual it is a prequel in the Japanese manual but with monitors of Sonic and Knuckles who Tails didn't met yet) and Triple Trouble (which is a weirder case because it doesn't fit anywhere without headcanons), all the Game Gear games can be placed after 3K by not much stretch of imagination. Fair enough, but now I don't think Sega is going to maintain the two dimensions/timelines only for Mania.
And Amy is Princess Sally and the planet is named Mobius in the US manual of Sonic the Hedgehog CD. I think we can safely ignore the US manuals since they were handled very differently. Here's a headcanon for you to cover them if absolutely needed: they're Echidna relics depicting stuff from the future, like Hydrocity Zone's Sonic statues. Though most likely they're just gameplay icons that are unlikely to have any actual impact on the plot, so aren't 'canon' in the sense of story. This indicates it's early on. Intention: Clearly meant to mean the third game on the Game Gear/Master System. Retcon: This is the third instance of Tails meeting Robotnik, after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Master System). Revcon: Just ignore the manual exists, like SEGA. I think part of the friction I have with others is that I will always try and keep everything intact. I'll adjust things with retcons, such as a game being where it wasn't before and adjusting the context of something else as a result but otherwise leaving the wording intact, and avoid revcons like the plague, because I view revconning things as a lazy practice, which is evidently not how others feel on the subject. I will revcon when absolutely necessary, but never before. EDIT: (I should quickly add: the manual profiles were written 'in-character' by Tails.)
"He's back for a third time" could also mean this is his third time returning, meaning it's the fourth instance of Tails meeting Robotnik (after Sonic 2, Sonic 3K, and Sonic 2 8 bit).
The story says the third time because Sonic Chaos was the third Game Gear game. For people without a Genesis it was their Sonic 3. It still doesn’t really mean much if you’re placing it in an all-inclusive timeline though, because the other 90s manuals have contradictions anyway and taking them 100% verbatim as canon is impossible, especially in the post-Genesis era. If you’re ignoring stuff like Knuckles being a complete stranger or there being six chaos emeralds that keep South Island afloat except when they don’t you can afford to ignore how many times Eggman invaded.
I'm fairly certain I pointed this out... ...but I'm not? I'm the only one here who places Sonic Triple Trouble between Sonic the Hedgehog 3's manual and main game to address that line, and have been looking into a way to address that South Island Chaos Emerald issue.
With regards to Chaotix, I have put in a priority question for the next BumbleKast as to how we’re meant to reconcile that and Heroes, so I’m looking forward to that in the coming week. With regards to the Game Gear stuff…honestly I’m just tired of the same argument starting up. Clearly nobody’s going into this ready to change their mind and, unless we get new info, it’s just going to be the same song and dance every time we do it. Right now all we can do is agree to disagree on their placement. At the end of the day, the GG games became increasingly peripheral as time went on and I really don’t think they’re worth getting the pitchforks out over at this point.
To be fair, I was simply questioning why I was being told that if I ignore the stranger line in Sonic Triple Trouble, I should ignore times Robotnik's attacked, even though I'm literally the only one accounting for it. Edit: wait, no, there were posts before that, sorry, tired.
Great. I'm planning to ask Ian in the next Bumblekast Live (should be in a few days) if the two dimensions/timelines are gone for good or not.
Well, him answering that question could open another can of worms, but it comes along @Starduster's question regarding Classic & Modern Chaotix. I think I stated this before, but a good solution for that could be SEGA make a modern take of the Classics, leaving those games free to be their own timeline.
After Sonic the Hedgehog 4, do you really want modern SEGA touching those games beyond porting? And Sonic Origins proved not even that's safe.
The Game Gear games never had proper places, in relation to the 16-bit games. They were always contradictory. There was never an official explanation for how they could fit together. To fit them together it's necessary to contradict some of the manual text. After that, it's a matter of priorities. Sonic 1, Sonic CD, Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles are the most important games in the classic series. Knuckles' first encounter with Sonic is Sonic 3, because that's what Sonic Team intended, because they created the character, because it's narratively cleaner and because Sonic 3 is an important game in the series and Sonic Triple Trouble isn't. The tight continuity between Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles is more important to Sonic Team than trying to accommodate the contradictory minutia of the Game Gear game manuals. The cleanest way to maintain continuity would be to say "The Game Gear games aren't canon, and never were". But if Sonic Team are now being more inclusive with what's considered canon, then "The Game Gear games take place some time after Sonic 3 & Knuckles" is the simplest way of including them without stepping on the toes of Sonic Team's own more important games, the ones that are the foundation of the series
In some ways that does track from a character event timeline. Sonic 2 MD happens, leading into Sonic 3&K. The manual for 2 GG says what, Sonic and Tails part ways after their prior adventure (the entire Death Egg arc) and Tails is Kidnapped. The placement of SegaSonic is still suspect to me. I'd place it before Chaotix, but if it's after Mighty was a Solo character before only meeting Ray later and for them to be together for Mania it might fit? I think trying to track events really works better by just comparing which characters were together, seperate, and encountering each other.
Usually when we try to create a timeline we place the majority of the games in the order of their release dates, because that works for the most part unless something clearly contradictory happens. But now with the Game Gear games and the other classic games (Chaotix, Spinball, R, 3D Blast, and even Mania) I'm not so sure. I think the GG games should all be placed after R and 3D Blast, and before Mania. But who knows.
