The Sonic the Hedgehog Continuity Thread of Love and Timelines

The problem with having the comics and shows be canon is that people may not read them. So even if they “happened,” their events won’t play a role in future games because it’d alienate or confuse those who are unfamiliar. So canon or not, it won’t impact the series. Unless Tangle or someone is reintroduced in a game, the most we’ll see is Frontiers’ little shoutouts.

Furthermore, there’s the fact that Sega and Sonic Team wouldn’t let their stories be restricted by what others write. They clearly don’t even feel restricted by what they wrote in the past lol.

 

I'm not sure if SEGA really needs to reintroduce IDW characters if they pop up in a game. It's not like Sonic Heroes reintroduced Cream for players who didn't own a Gameboy Advance. Sonic Mania likewise doesn't do much to explain who Mighty and Ray are. They were just hanging out in a capsule and Sonic freed them, or at least one of them while the other was Heavy Magician. I do fear about what if IDW goes out of print and then it's hard to go back to these characters' introductions but I guess SEGA can find ways to do it like with TailsTube. Tangle can be a guest for an episode and Tails asks her questions.

 

I'm not too sure about this. People may not play every game, either. I didn't play Lost World, but I still knew who Zavok was when I played Forces. I've never played either of the Rush games or either of the Rivals games, but I still know who Blaze and Eggman Nega are. I've never played SegaSonic the Hedgehog, but I was still excited when Mania Plus was announced with Ray and Mighty as playable characters. If someone's curious about something, they'll look into it.

But I agree it's unlikely that the events of IDW or Prime would play an active role in the setup for a game.

 

Believe me, casuals may not get so into checking things up if they get curious.
Old fans, disconnected from modern outings, maybe. Casuals...not so much.
Some friends of mine, from time to time, gravitate towards this story or the other.
When something triggers their curiosity, do they check it up? NOPE! They straight up ask ME ^^"

So I think it's for the best that shows and comics stay on the background of games.
That way characters and/or events exclusive to those don't affect gameverse fans and vice-versa.

 

I would think asking you is a form of "looking into it".

And, again, not everyone plays every game. Especially casuals. To them, a prior game being referenced or serving as set-up would be no different from a comic or a show serving that same function. So I don't think that's a great example of why it would be bad for works in different media to tie in like this.

 

I meant searching up online or so, rather than trust second-hand intel or make said person look stuff up him/herself ^^"

 

That’s kind of my point. That’s why there hasn’t been a real narrative connection between the games either since SA2. The only really connected games I can think of are Rush and Rush Adventure, and Colors and Generations (to a very small extent). Frontiers kind of counts too but it’s not really stuff that impacts the narrative except for Tails’ insecurity speech.

Edit: For some reason I forgot Shadow the Hedgehog exists. That was the final game where past events played an important role in understanding the narrative.

 

Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog?

 

Oh, yup. Derped out on that one. I don’t know why that didn’t register to me and I even played Shadow a few months ago.

Let’s say since Shadow the Hedgehog then. Starting with 06 every console title’s narrative has been pretty self-contained.

 

Does this include Sonic 4 Episode 1, Sonic 4 Episode 2, and Sonic 4 Episode Metal???

 

I’ve never even heard of those games…

You know, I originally wrote “major console title” but deleted it because I thought it was a bit redundant. In the future, I’ll just give myself a bit more time to wake up before posting when I’ve had a late night lol.

In my defense, those games don’t really have much of a story. And with what’s there, Episode 2 connects more to CD than Episode 1 and I think it can be enjoyed without playing Episode 1 and you wouldn’t lose out on anything.

 

They're all also under the same game title, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, so would they count as separate titles?

 

I think they’re effectively separate games despite SEGA’s marketing.

I really would have preferred the devs to have a single launcher and update Ep1 to play like Ep2, but alas. God, Ep1 really was a waste of the title Sonic 4. It’s such a nothing game. They should have kept it to phones and used a different title. Ep2 was a definite step up and you can tell the team tried much harder there, but it’s still dragged down by being “Sonic 4” and the length. It would have been a decent downloadable throwback game otherwise.

 

That was the plan actually: the game was Sonic the Portable, and you can still see it in Casino Street Zone. Look at the centre of the ferris wheel in the background.



It was just going to be small levels you downloaded and played as you travelled, if I recall correctly. Then it got slapped with the new name, and they had to use what they had thus far, then tried to bump it up for Episode II.

Personally, I think it should have been renamed to Sonic the Hedgehog DC, a play on Downloadable Content and Sonic the Hedgehog CD.

 

Oh yeah, I know the story. I guess the way I worded that made it unclear if I was proposing the idea myself or already knew. I don’t think I knew about that reference in Casino Street though.

 

Apropos of nothing, I wanted to bring up the timeline placement of Sonic Pocket Adventure as it relates to the design of the Tornado. I realize that Pocket Adventure is not currently considered canon by Sega, but as many fans continue to place it in timelines I thought it was worth playing devil's advocate.

The game is often placed prior to Sonic 4 since it serves as a "missing link" between the classic and modern designs. To wit, Sonic and Tails appear with green and blue eyes respectively (though the end of stage goal posts don't reflect this) while Knuckles retains his classic black eyes, and Eggman wears his classic outfit until the eleventh hour of the game, whereupon he dons his modern jacket (though he continues to be seen in his classic outfit while piloting his mechs).

However, I submit that the design of the Tornado complicates this timeline placement. In Sonic Pocket Adventure, the Tornado bears its Adventure redesign with red wings, extensive yellow striping, Tails logos, etc. Sonic 4, on the other hand, features a different design of the Tornado that more strongly resembles its classic appearance: grey wings, minimal yellow striping, no Tails logos, etc.

Spoiler: Tornado - Sonic Adventure 1, Pocket Adventure

Spoiler: Tornado - Sonic 2 manual, Sonic 4

If one were to accept that Sonic Pocket Adventure takes place before Sonic 4, this would mean that the Tornado largely maintained its appearance throughout the classic era, received its extensive Adventure redesign prior to Sonic Pocket Adventure, reverted back to a largely classic inspired design for Sonic 4, before returning to its Adventure design for, erm, Adventure. It seems overly complicated.

Occam's razor would suggest that Sonic 4 simply takes place before Pocket Adventure. That would suggest a timeline in which the classic Tornado has some minor modifications done in Sonic 4 before being completely overhauled for Pocket Adventure and Adventure 1. As far as I can tell, there are no plot reasons why this couldn't be the case, given the slight plots in either game.

Still, that solution entirely ignores the classic/modern designs of the characters. I realize the modern redesigns weren't intended to be actual physical changes at the time of their introduction, but Generations and Forces certainly pushed that perspective. As long as that was the case, it was fun to make use of that line of thinking to help with timeline placement. Perhaps it's best just to treat the Pocket Adventure sprites like Eggman in Knuckle's Flying Battery boss fight - as aberrations, not actually representative of what is the case in-universe.

 

Honestly, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is an absolute mess of continuity when anything beyond the mainlines of the classic series is brought in, read: Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega Drive) through Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles...

Also see Sonic the Fighters' Death Egg II vs Sonic the Hedgehog 4's Death Egg Mk. II.

Best BSing I can muster at the moment: Tails built a similar plane and also called it the Tornado. hence his logo on the wings as seen in Sonic Adventure. This plane is lost when it got shot down, while the Tornado seen in Sonic Lost World onward is the actual Tornado.

 

I should point out that Tails apparently rebuilds the Adventure Tornado. It appears again in Advance 1 (which is arguably before Adventure, though I place it at a point after) and Rush Adventure.

 

I'd place it after, since Amy mentions missing the good ol' days, which would seem weird if Sonic Advance happened a couple of weeks ago.

Also, forgot it appeared appeared in Sonic Rush Adventure. There's a few design variances seen, but those are immensely minor (no yellow bands around the wings and tail, Sonic's name is missing) that they can be written off as Tails was in the middle of repainting it and didn't add them.

Indeed, it was a quick BSing I did on the spot since I was in the middle of something, but evidence doesn't really let it stand.

The fault would really be more towards Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II's end. It came out after Sonic Generations made that change.

It'll be down to the extra stuff not being canon at the time it was made, so there was no 'plot hole' of the Tornado's design, so to speak. Even now, Sonic Pocket Adventure is considered non-canon and not talked about even in the Encyclo-Speed-ia, so the Tornado's design is fine as far as Sammy SEGA is concerned: it was the classic design until Sonic Adventure, then it was left in Tails' care and became the Sonic Adventure redesign, then went back to the original/a new one was built replicating the original design come Sonic Lost World.