Thus far the evidence for Mania's plot being connected to Forces is as follows: - The Phantom Ruby sound effect being exactly the same as the one associated with Infinite, along with their similar colours. - The "Prototype Phantom Ruby" seen in the Forces mobile game. - Egg Reverie's melody having a reference to Fist Bump that cannot possibly be coincidental. - Classic Sonic's pose in the "True" ending being the same pose used in the initial Forces reveal trailer.
- The drop dash being added to Sonic Forces Classic Sonic; - The good ending on mania features Sonic being warped to somewhere; - The fact that this classic Sonic comes from 'Another Dimension'.
In other words, you're saying that the classic Sonic in Generations is also the same one from the Mania dimension, right? Maybe the cutscenes in Forces can shed some light on this, since it seems like it could go either way at the moment (or maybe they'll be intentionally vague so everyone can draw their own conclusions). I mentioned this once, yeah. I like that Mania's ending was done in such a way that allows for alternate interpretations. Is Sonic being sent to the Forces universe, or is he just getting back home? I feel like the vagueness of it works in both games' favor. Those who want this to be a tie-in can think of it as option A, while those who'd prefer the "classic" branch to remain self-contained can go with option B. Even if Forces explicitly makes it a tie-in (which is looking very likely), option B still works because you don't really need Forces in the equation for Mania's plot to make sense. I think it's a great compromise.
This I can definitely count as actual evidence, thank you! Most of the evidence I see coming are things I've already addressed that could merely be a matter of coincidence, but the Phantom Ruby being present in Forces is a big tip-off. I'm still gonna try to convince myself that the inclusion was just a nod to Mania just for the sake of it, if only because I really don't like the idea of this tying in because I don't like the direction Forces' story has been going so far. As far as Egg Reverie goes, I could definitely see them being coincidental similarities. Really the only similarity is the first phrase of the melody; after that everything deviates completely. To be honest there's also a part of me that thought it would be nice to see Classic and Modern get their own separate, unrelated game timelines from now on, so - like I said - part of it is just denial for me :v:
Nah, Generations' Sonic is from the main timeline. This whole new alternate-dimension thing only applies to Forces and Mania.
This, and I'm quite interested to see if Modern Sonic references having met a Classic Sonic (of some variety) before, or if the story of Generations is being thrown into the "just having a crossover laugh m8" bin to never be referenced by anyone ever again.
Maybe the Mania timeline is what happens after Classic Sonic goes back home at the end of Generations. At the very least, that could be an excuse for Classic to be familiar with Modern right off the bat. The Phantom Ruby could even be some weird byproduct of messing with time, sorta like how they connected the Time Eater to Sonic Colors.
That's what I figured. Classic getting brought to the future and then sent back changes the timeline, in a Future Trunks-like way.
The Forces site says that this Classic Sonic teamed up with Modern Sonic to save the world once before, so I'd say it's likely they're meant to be the same character.
Well of course I missed that cause I never paid attention to the Forces mobile game. It's been a while since I've looked into all this, so :v:
Ordinarily this would be all the proof we needed, but it wouldn't be the first time the marketing team got a few mixed wires. It's certainly possible, but I'm taking it with a grain of salt for now. For what it's worth, classic Sonic learned the Homing Attack in Generations, but he does the new Drop Dash in Mania and Forces instead. So there's that, I guess. I think we'll just have to wait and see how they tackle this whole thing. I'm okay with either choice to be honest.
- Sonic Mania has Tails go through Green Hill, even though his future self has no recollection the place in Generations. This inconsistency could be explained by Mania taking place in an alternate timeline/dimension. Granted, it could just as well be nothing more than a minor retcon or continuity glitch :v: - This graphical "glitch" involving the Phantom Ruby at the end of Sonic Mania could actually be an intentional and subtle nod to it being connected to Infinite's powers, which are depicted as looking glitch-like. They even did a similar thing in this official video. I'd take that with a grain of salt. SoA has put incorrect info on official websites before. Anyway, if they're the same Classic Sonic, I'd say the most likely explanation is the timesplit thing people have suggested. Classic Sonic, Tails and Eggman learning about the future in Generations led to the creation of a split timeline after S3&K. The new timeline would be the "alternate dimension" Sonic Mania takes place in. This would explain why this Classic Sonic was officially called "Sonic's past self from another dimension", which sounds like a contradictory description until you think of it this way.
We had the BioLizard as the Ultimate Lifeform Prototype, so now there's a phantom ruby prototype? That means the Phantom Ruby was created. Wasn't there something that happened to Tails? Its or of left field, but my guess is that Tails created the Phantom Rudy and lost control of it. Remember how scared he looked in the very first cutscebe in Mania? Sonic didn't flinch. Tails messed up. I don't know which Tails, but some version did. He created a fake Emerald so this is completely possible.
I'm so glad the classic Sonic game I waited 20 years for has so many connections to one of the most confused / convoluted modern Sonics I've seen.
But Tails did that literally every time Eggman pulled out the Phantom Ruby, and Sonic never once reacted accordingly. I think Tails was just shocked that they actually managed to fin what they were looking for, or that he and Sonic weren't able to get to it first. In one of the translated versions of the JP Story Trailer, Eggman says that this experiment was born out of all of his hatred for Sonic, so he's probably built it based on the Phantom Ruby from Mania.
Perhaps the discrepant reactions between Sonic and Tails are due to Tails being secretly aware of what the Ruby is capable of, while Sonic is merely puzzled, knowing nothing about it. Not saying I fully believe the "Tails created the PR" theory, but just for the sake of the argument, it could be a result of Classic and Modern Tails' interaction off-screen in Generations. While they were sitting together chatting in White Space as they waited for the Sonics to "fix" the levels, Modern Tails may have decided to impart some of the knowledge he acquired over the years, including how to create fake Chaos Emeralds. This may have inspired Classic Tails to attempt to make one shortly after parting ways with his future self, and ended up creating the Phantom Ruby, either due to inexperience or because he got carried away and tried to create something even more powerful than a Chaos Emerald. The end result was a reality-warping gem that he couldn't control and somehow teleported itself out of his grasp, ending up in Angel Island. Sometime later, Sonic and Tails detect energy signatures there and go check, and Tails is horrified upon arriving and realizing that his creation was the source and is now in the hands of the bad guys. This certainly would explain why the Ruby appeared in the new timeline despite seemingly not existing in the original one. The events resulting from its appearance would be what caused the timeline to split.
What if it turns out the Phantom Ruby is a infinitely looping item, in that; Eggman uses it to create Infinite, they get defeated at the end and the Phantom Ruby gets teleported to Angel Island, which classic Eggman finds and uses until you defeat him where it then ends up in Modern Eggman's hands so he can use it to make Infinite. :specialed: I'm half joking with this, but at the same time I wouldn't really be surprized.
