My take on the classic canon changes looks like this so far: I like: - the simple act of canonizing all the games (regardless of their placements in the timeline); - CD before 2; - Not placing Game Gear games between 2 and 3. I don't like: - disregarding the original manuals, instead of making only small changes; - Sonic 1 being the first meeting between Sonic and Eggman; - Sonic 1 on the Game Gear being a different adventure than Sonic 1 on the Genesis. I'm indifferent / waiting for more information: - Tails Adventure not being before Sonic 2; - Spinball being canon.
There's less to reconcile if Sonic 1 16-bit and Sonic 1 8-bit are separate events. Otherwise you'd have to force 8-bit Scrap Brain Zone Act 3 after 16-bit Final Zone and ignore the 16-bit game's ending. You'd have to ignore the Chaos Emeralds either being in the Special Stages or out in the open. You'd have to ignore Badniks having animals inside them in the 16-bit version but not the 8-bit version (something the JP manuals accommodated for). The 8-bit game's map also shows the start and finish point for each Act, not leaving room for additional journeys to Marble Zone and the other 16-bit levels. Granted, these are only small concessions, but if they're separate adventures then these concessions don't have to be made at all. Also, if they were the same adventure, then you wouldn't be able to sit down and play the "full" version of the story, where Sonic goes from Green Hill Zone to Bridge to Marble Zone to Jungle to Spring Yard Zone and so on. Sonic Origins' Story Mode would be missing story content. It's just easier if they're separate stories.
I played Triple Trouble 16-bit fan game yesterday. I must say, I really liked how it interpreted the story, trying to make it canon. The in-game Knuckles, turns out to be Metal Sonic in disguise. At the end you rescue the real one, and in the good ending You fight Rocket Metal and Metal X-Treme. I like how they estabilished Metal transformation capabilities, and a way to canonize Rocket Metal. Too bad it's only a fan game.
I think for me the biggest issues are counting the Game Gear games, Fighters, and Spinball as canon. It’s not too hard to just head-retcon them as having 7 chaos emeralds, having some reason why stealing one emerald makes South Island start sinking in Chaos, the Chaotix not knowing Eggman in Heroes, and (if Fighters happened in the Modern timeline too) why there’s 2 Death Egg 2s… but we shouldn’t have to. Oh yeah, and the thing with Metal Sonic ending up on Little Planet again in some offscreen adventure sometime between Sonic 4 and every previous game isn’t great. Maybe I’d be more receptive to this stuff if there were, say, modern comic adaptations they could point to as a replacement.
You could say the exact same thing about the portable versions of Generations, Colors and Lost World. And I don't think they are going to count these as separate adventures in relation to their HD counterparts.
As I’ve said prior, given recent comments from Ian on the BumbleKast, I’m very much expecting the episode to be about the past. I’m really hoping they can clear things up without resorting to a timeline split. We already know that classic is the past once more and I’d wager it at least includes everything up to Mania. We know it includes Chaotix, Spinball and 3D Blast. There seems to be an effort (whether headed by Ian or someone else) to include as much as possible with some massaging of the canon, so hopefully this is the moment at which the classic/modern divide can fall away and the possibilities for the franchise become expanded once more.
It’s been a long time since I played it but you can go the whole game using the same partner if you’re good enough at the combi-catcher right? So it’s technically possible he only met Espio.
I mean, all the characters of the game are gathered together at the end of the game. They clearly implied all of them worked together as a team. Spoiler
He also seems to know Mighty well and is pleased to see him in that Mania Plus animation- which would suggest Chaotix is canon, at least to the ‘Classic Sonic’ world…
If Tails Tube is where the Classic timeline will be canonized, I guess there's no split between Classic and Modern anymore.
