Nah, they're still around, they're just not as... uh, angry as they used to be. And in my case, I've kind of had to reconcile that my preferences are in opposition to the present zeitgeist, and that there's no use in arguing about it. Personally, my favorite portrayal of Shadow was the one in Lego Dimensions, and that's as much as I care to weigh in on this subject. :P
For what it's worth, I actually did like him in Lego Dimensions myself; it's somehow a much more respectful take on the character while blatantly parodying everything about him.
I feel like the Adventure era is bound to be the best option because it was the first time we got to see the characters real personality through voice acting and what not (not counting the shows, comics and OVA from the Classic era). However, my option also leans to the Dark age because of Sonic's characterization in Unleashed was so perfect to me (they truly hit the nail on the head here), and I love how Shadow, and also Rouge were characterized in '06 so much (she is my favourite character at the end of the day). Shadow joining GUN was kind of odd though, but I never hated it at all. I'm a sucker for spy agency themes lol. I don't actually mind the serious tone at all in the series although at times it can be a bit much. The serious tone allows me to properly enjoy some of the plots. That's why I feel like Unleashed had some of the best tones because it was a good mix of serious and light-hearted to me.
I don't understand why this poll treats SA1-Heroes and Shadow-Unleashed as different things. They all have roughly the same characterization, just different tones, and with the writing slowly spiraling out of control until it crashed and burned in 06. But, like, the characters are still mostly the same, and SA1, SA2, Heroes, Shadow, and 06 are clearly set in the same universe with a wider narrative running through them (then Unleashed retconned everything...and then everything was brought BACK by the mid-2010's with literally no explanation lmao). These games are ALL the Adventure era. Unleashed is the last gasp of the Adventure era and its poor critical reception is what caused Sonic Team to finally fully abandon that style.
Cos Unleashed would be lumped in with the Colors inspired games and split the vote, and in the immortal words of Jaleel White: "That's no good".
https://twitter.com/IanFlynnBKC/status/1347685232003186690 Apparently its japan Very very late response
Speaking of Ian Flynn, its pretty funny to hear him point out his Tails and Knuckles aren't really friends outside of their mutual friendship with Sonic.
He might be onto something. How many interactions between Knuckles and Tails are there? I mean, I don't recall them hanging together in games, maybe in Heroes.
All throughout advance 3 Tails and Knuckles never get buddy buddy with each other, even if you partner them. Actually, the cutscene in Splash Canyon in the heroes' story in Riders has Knuckles indirectly insult Tails by saying within earshot "I know... and tinkering's all he's really good at too." I honestly can't think of a time Tails and Knuckles genuinely acted like close friends.
Which makes it all of the more funnier given how much focus and attention "Team Sonic" gets in the marketing surrounding the series. To the point where it's going to be one of the biggest features in the movie. Knuckles always felt like a third wheel to Sonic & Tails' dynamic, but he's too iconic of a character to really separate them.
Even more ironic when you consider that Team Dark literally are all friends with each other but Sega won't touch that dynamic with a ten-foot pole.
That actually requires making Shadow a main character again and we can't have anyone upstaging Sonic after all. Characterizations be damned
I feel like these arbitrary splits are made because of the popularity of the games. Most of us love Adventure 1 and 2 despite the flaws of both games, while I think it's safe to say we don't really care for Heroes to 06. I mean some people in their early twenties like Heroes but I dunno, doesn't seem to be that common in my experience.
