Not just that, but, IIRC Naka said he didn't know so many Sonic games existed until they started with the Sonic Jam project. Before that, I think they only knew about 1, 2, CD, 3 & K, which are the only ones which could be considered since, bar CD, they share an ongoing plot, and CD would easily fit in various positions. Maybe they were aware of some 8-bit games, but only Sonic 1 and 2 have something to do with their 16-bit counterparts development-wise, and they can already be considered a different canon even then. That said, having a unified timeline and canon would have been so cool... They could have made so many things with a proper plot for not just some games...
I've honestly just found it easier to have 2/Chaos/TT take place after 3K. They kind of have to. Sonic meets Tails and Knuckles during the Death Egg Saga. Knuckles can be duped again, and Eggman could have had one of the emeralds the whole time in the games where the player only collects 6.
South Island has its own set of emeralds, as does Soleanna, whatever planet you see in Unleashed, and Sonic Fighters.
The Japanese manual mentions something about Westside Island being home to "the original six Chaos Emeralds, as well as a final seventh". Seems to me that there is only one set of Chaos Emeralds in existence, and they're able to appear in various (presumably nearby) locations. Even 3K established that their original 'home' resting location is upon Angel Island alongside "the Mighty Stone" thanks to Hidden Palace. Also, it seems they scatter after a crisis. Therefore the Chaos Emeralds featured in '06 and Unleashed may also be the original set of Chaos Emeralds. It's not unreasonable to suggest that they're a curious and exclusive feature of Sonic's Earth, with multiple emerald shrines all over the planet. Generally, though, the individual stories of each game have made the construction of a logical timeline extremely tenuous... at best.
I checked the S2 Genesis manual on the wiki and it doesn't. Regardless, it's obvious that the chaos emeralds are meant to be the same objects throughout all of the games.
Damn, you guys are right. Frustratingly, I'm sure I remember reading pretty much that exact quote somewhere from an official source. I even did a quoted Google search, but it returned nothing. :I Nevertheless, to get back to the discussion at hand... What's up with the Chaos Emeralds and their respective portals appearing on Little Planet now? Does that mean the Time Stones can be utilised on Earth somehow, or is that simply the Ruby messing with timespace? Hell, are the Time Stones still officially recognised? I'm so confused... so many magic gemstones...
I remember reading somewhere that before Sonic Adventure unified all the canon from Japanese canon and English canon and all of that, in the original japanese lore each Island had its own set of Chaos Emeralds. South Island's 6 Chaos Emeralds kept it floating in the water, without them, it sinks to the bottom of the ocean (iirc this is backed up by Sonic Chaos if I remember correctly). Other Islands in Sonic games had their own Chaos Emeralds with their own distinct purposes. This was backed up by several comics (in particular, Archie before the Super Genesis Wave) and other promotional media at the time, which ran with this as well. However, when Adventure came around, it basically said "No, there are only 7 Chaos Emeralds and that's that. Also, Sonic has green eyes.", and implied that the ones from Angel Island were the canon ones. Hower however, I'm doing more research into this and I can't seem to find anything else on this...Weird, maybe what I read was just speculation...? I don't know. Though, I do like the idea of multiple Chaos Emeralds depending on the location since it could avoid less discrepancies (you could make up excuses like "You can't take the Chaos Emeralds out of their respective locations for too long or else they'll fly away" or "If Chaos Emeralds from different groups are close together something bad will happen" as an excuse for why characters don't combine sets of Chaos Emeralds) and allow for more freedom in writing. Honestly, and this is gonna sound weird, but if it were me I'd try to reboot the Sonic series in terms of story in order to set up a better continuity and that way we can give more purpose to some obscure characters while removing some unnecessary ones while also getting rid of all the weird continuity discrepancies. However, after Sonic Boom, I'm sure SEGA wants the words "Sonic" and "reboot" as far away from each other.
I don't think the 8-bit titles really count, since Sonic Team weren't really aware of their existence until later. All of the 8-bit games are set on South Island, seemingly with their own separate canon in which there are only six Chaos Emeralds, and, indeed, they do keep the island afloat, drifting in the Pacific. Likewise, the comics of both Archie and Fleetway took the original concepts of the emeralds and did their own things with them, introducing loose game adaptations when necessary. This isn't a bad thing, but it certainly muddies the waters thanks to so many different Sonic universes having existed. Finally, the six emeralds scatter at the end of Sonic 1, suggesting that they are recollected (plus one) in Sonic 2. Sonic 3 & Knuckles shows Sonic returning those same emeralds to Angel Island, confirming in the original classic 'trilogy' that their home is with the Master Emerald. Also, the Chaos Emeralds appear to take on a transformation into Super Emeralds, unlike a line in the EU manual (IIRC) which suggests that they are a separate set entirely. I'd say that this all seems to imply that Sonic Team from the beginning intended for there to be one and only set of Chaos Emeralds. EDIT: Fixed minor typos.
Tails Adventures was also developed by Aspect, but had the 6 Chaos Emeralds on Cocoa Island. So even they contradicted the rule they established in Sonic Chaos.
Very true, I'd entirely forgotten about that. Perhaps the 'single set of Chaos Emeralds' rule also applies to the 8-bit universe? I suppose retcons aren't out of the picture for the 8-bit titles either; IIRC South Island was also said to be held afloat by the original six Chaos Emeralds in the premiere 16-bit game. That said, Sonic Blast also returns to the concept of South Island sinking thanks to Dr Eggman's splitting of a Chaos Emerald (Which is apparently somehow related to the Silver Castle, an 8-bit Death Egg). I suppose story wasn't as important to Aspect, though, as the games were basically un-Sonic-Team-approved games.
Agreeing with the above posts. The Game Gear game's lore pretty much contradicts the Sonic team games, and Sonic Team's lore of there being only one set of Chaos Emeralds contradicts the Game Gear lore. There's no way the two can interact without some kind of retcon (although I'd be down with this. Give South Island it's own set of macguffins and we're half way there!) I gotta say though, there's a nice charm to the simplicity of having all the GG games take place on South Island. I wouldn't even object to a 'Sonic & Tails 3' being made on 3DS or something which expands on an origin to the Island, even if it doesn't mesh with Sonic Team's main games. Fuck it. Man, that's one for the wishlist..
There are some...Questionable setpieces that make me scratch my head. Like, okay, Marble garden and Sky Sanctuary are clearly ruins. But.... what about Casinopolis? Did Eggman build it? You'd think so, but I don't know. It depends on how long Eggman was on the island between Sonic 2 and 3.I mean, no matter how skilled Eggman is at building things, I'd think it would at least take him a year to build everything.
There's only one set of Chaos Emeralds, and Robotnik's easily able to knock up a carnival in pretty quick time. I mean, most of the adventures take place a short while from the last, so as a cartoon series, Robotnik's creations out of seemingly hammerspace can make sense...
