Fun comic, but I don’t think that it’s intended be taken as canon? It’s the official account sharing what is essentially a fan work.
Apparently it's very different in Japanese. https://twitter.com/WindiiGitlord/status/1726661377799164043?t=zy_rGfQ6MBMz4wZzdmiIXw&s=19
Eh… it’s different but not THAT different. Here’s the Japanese one: https://twitter.com/sonicofficialjp/status/1726646826433229126?s=21&t=WDxM5SAX9qDLcWQAYP9qhA A dry, fairly direct translation: The English version is written to sound more fanboy-ish to make it more embarrassing and adds some more of Gerald’s commentary, but the joke is the same. (it’s not something meant to be canon anyway, it’s just fan art)
I don't see what that has to do with anything. If "everybody hates 06" is the reason they're unwilling to publicly reveal their official untangling of some plotholes involved with it, then they need to come up with a better reason, because at this point it's, for better or worse, simply not true that "everybody hates 06". That their reasoning sucks matters more, in this instance, than the game in question sucking. A ton of other Sonic games suck too, but that doesn't stop people from wanting to know how Sonic Teams sees their stories and plots hanging together.
You’re correct that mere fan opinion of 06 is not the only reason for its treatment by Sega. Its critical and commercial failure at the time of release was an embarrassment for the company, particularly given its lofty ambitions as a soft reboot of the franchise. Reaction to the game fundamentally altered the public’s perception of the Sonic franchise from then on out. To this day fans and critics alike use it as a punchline. Even if there has been some fan reevaluation in recent years (which I think is neither as widespread as you suggest nor as positive - at best people can say that it’s not *that* bad*), the mark the game left has not been expunged. The game uniquely impacted the Sonic series for the worse, and I completely understand the company’s reluctance to remind people of it.
It's been almost 20 years. The public's perception of the Sonic franchise has been fundamentally altered at least a couple more times since then. Commercial failure? It was a Platinum Hits. Reluctance to remind people of it? They routinely remind people of it, both reverently and irreverently; fans and critics ain't the only ones who use the game as a punchline. Silver and Blaze working together was referenced in Colors DS, Crisis City was an entire stage in Generations, the game has been referenced so many times by the social media account (and Elise was an option on this poll, which she won), it had a medley in the Sonic Symphony, music tracks from it were in Frontiers, there's a Mephiles figure coming soon, and he apparently appeared in three different mobile games during the 2010's. I'm sure there are a ton of other examples that the 06heads here can point out. If Sega wanted people to forget that Sonic 06 existed, they've sure had a funny way of showing it.
I believe that the perception of Sonic 06 acts like a very, very delicate potluck. The larger reminder of the game is like trying to eat it all at once - you got a black forest cake topped with olives and kimchi - and it gets disgusting real fast. But once you slowly start to strip every item away, you aren't overwhelmed by that experience. You can eat your Crisis City sandwich, remember the existence of Mephiles empanadas, then end it all off with your Silver cake afterwards... and eat it too! Sure, the sandwich is falling apart, the empanada is soggy and the cake overbaked. Still way better than chucking every item you see down the gullet all at once, y'know? (More an addition to the conversation, not a particular note to be too considerate of.)
I’m not sure subsequent shifts in the franchise are relevant. Sonic 06 was a big, bad thing upon release, and that’s never going to change, even if Generations/the movies/what have you do well. I use the term failure in a relative sense (perhaps disappointing is more accurate), compared to other mainline Sonic games at the time (selling 870k units in the U.S./Europe over four months, vs Heroes selling 1.2 million over the same period, for instance). The title may have met Microsoft’s criteria for a solid seller, but I suspect Sega would have preferred higher numbers than the 1-2 million total units sold for what was supposed to be a massive step forward for the franchise. My phrasing could again be improved. I think Sega is reluctant to delve into the minutia of the plot of a game that was roundly mocked and cited as one of its worse aspects. I think BigTigerM makes a good point: having a sly nod to Silver’s past with Blaze, or playing its music live is one thing. People *like* those parts of 06. But tying up plot holes to a nearly 20 year old game whose story is inherently badly plotted is not something I think they’re terribly interested in.
Yeah! I wouldn't be surprised if SEGA, for better or for worse, associates '06 with the potluck-goers who tried to force the whole table of food down at once, and then deal with (as a host) the emotional exhaustion of having to worry about witnesses who can recount the appalling event in the future, so on and so forth. SEGA/Sonic Team might just cannibalize themselves in some fashion if they made an avid attempt to go back - don't hold a potluck next time, try a wine tasting instead... Blaze & Silver could certainly use one. I feel bad for Soleanna and it's residents most of all. Anytime you're not directly controlling how you interact with the city (citizens included) is actually quite pretty. The architecture is dazzling and the way it lights up at night can be a sight to behold - the revenue it must get from tourism is probably mind-boggling (assuming Spagonia doesn't get the leg up). Funnily enough, I think a walking-sim of different areas and zones would be quite an adorably refreshing way to appreciate all the locations in Sonic's world, albeit antithetical to the speedy-go-lucky origins of the levels. If the latter is more favourable to some though, then maybe a rollercoaster is due for immediate construction.
