I think your concern is well-founded, but the effort I've observed has given me faith that they're actually taking it seriously.
And we're already seeing it in small ways (and perhaps big ones, if plot leaks are to be believed) in Frontiers. We know Sonic's going to be dropping quips here and there that use the setting's history to inform and flesh out the world. We've already heard about him remarking that the Starfall Islands would be a good place for Chao, wouldn't it be wild if he starts talking about Fang or the Hard Boiled Heavies or commenting that the ancient tech of the islands reminds him of Emerl?
Looking at the ending cutscene, the cast seem to be a lot higher compared to Sonic the Hedgehog CD's shots, it honestly looks like they're on the same elevation, so I saw it as Angel Island wandering close to Little Planet, which was chained to Never Lake again, and the cast landing on the edge of Angel Island to watch it. But I can see why one might think it attached to Angel Island... Might be a question best posed to the developers, if it hasn't been already.
But how would Sonic and Tails go from Lava Reef to Metallic Madness, or Knuckles from Hidden Palace (or even Sky Sanctuary, who knows) to Metallic Madness? I thought they had climbed the chain.
Sonic can clear a good chunk of the chain from Never Lake on his speed alone, assuming Tails didn't just give him a lift, so could probably clear the distance between it and Angel Island. Knuckles and Tails can glide and fly, so can travel between Angel Island the surface, if not the Little Planet itself.
9:36 - That reminds me, one thing I've been curious about in the half-decade since Forces' hype cycle is when the four prequel comics were written, and how much of the game had been written by that point? [The story of the game was done at that point, but Sega only gave him instructions for the comics instead of the whole plot of the game] 31:40 - Weird question, but has Sega given any information about segasonic cosmo fighters' canonicity? and if so, are you allowed to reveal that info? [Ian thinks it's non canon, and the same applies to SegaSonic Popcorn Shop and Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car] 33:53 - Were Team Dark working for GUN during Episode Shadow? Because they were working for someone. [Ian doesn't know] 43:25 - How come, In the Encyclo-speed-ia, LEGO Dimensions wasn't in the crossover section? [Ian thinks it was some right issues but he's not sure]
Shadow never worked for G.U.N. Also Team Dark is not a thing. Also Shadow has no friends. Iizuka has spoken.
I'm simply pointing out we already have the answers right there, straight from Iizuka. Feel free to point out where he's said otherwise.
Can you elaborate on why Shadow was working for G.U.N. solely because of ??? in Soleanna, that was affected by the reset of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)? I'm genuinely confused on why Soleanna seems to have been the only reason Shadow was working with G.U.N...
"freelancer working for a boss on this specific job" is not the same as "hired employee of this boss" and you'd be able to get this if not snarking 24/7
Do they establish he's a freelancer? If anything, one of the G.U.N. Soldiers confirms he's been working for G.U.N. for a while, since he comments Shadow took a test "a while ago" to become an agent, as we determined a while ago. I can think and be sarcastic at the same time, it's not that hard of a prospect.
I would agree, but they establish it's the ring thing you do for that particular mission in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). But then again, you've got to go through the Goal Rings, so maybe
Huh, interesting. My memory of 06 details are super hazy, its a game ive just thoroughly dismissed. I'll have to look back into that sometime, but it's ultimately probably a detail that doesn't matter now. I do hope we get some more in game focus on shadow and team dark in the future, would really like some clarification on what the deal with them is
22:00 "Hey, you're Shadow, aren't you? It's been a while. I'm on a boring assignment today... I have to test people to see if they have what it takes to be an agent. Yeah, it's that test you took years ago. You have to react to rings, and see how many you can get through within the time limit. Do you want to try it for old time's sake?" Localisations a bit off: it's a while ago, not years ago, but point is he took the test and was an agent long before Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Which is why Iizuka's claim annoys me, but...
It’s kind of hard to tell what capacity Shadow is working for GUN in 06. He’s stated to be taking this mission on direct request of the president similarly to Rouge in SA2, which is different from working as a GUN soldier. Rouge in SA2 wasn’t working for GUN but was more akin to a secret service agent. This seems like it may have changed a bit in 06, as it did in Sonic X and the later Sonic Chronicles, which aren’t canon but had supervision from Sega. However, in 06 there are lines like the NPC BlackHole mentioned and the GUN commander calling him Agent Shadow. So while he doesn’t seem to be an official GUN agent outside of that specific game, I think it’s a valid interpretation that in that timeline he ended up working for them. 2006 had little to no input from Iizuka, who handled all of Shadow’s other main appearances, so I can understand if he just didn’t want to take the character in that direction. He still cooperates with Omega and Rouge in some capacity according to Forces, but I think who they were working for was intentionally left to the audience’s interpretation.
