The Chaos Emeralds aren't omg anymore.

[- Eternal Paradox -]

In the Sonic Riders series defence, next game they were replaced. With rocks. From space.

Sonic CD had you collecting Time Stones instead. SATSR had it's own elquivilent and SATBK didn't have them at all.

If I remember correctly, Sonic didn't even comment when you got the first one in Generations.

I think it would be nice if they retired the emeralds (and Super Sonic), or at least made them just a bonus feature or something. Maybe use another plot device instead, or not have them at all.

[Indigo Rush]

The idea that the Emeralds might have come from another planet (suggested in Shadow's game, if I recall correctly, considering Black Doom knows about them and can use them) could have some potential for new exposition. Where did these gems come from? Did they create the Universe? Are there more gems like these in Sonic's dimension?

[Blue Blood]

The idea that the Emeralds might have come from another planet (suggested in Shadow's game, if I recall correctly, considering Black Doom knows about them and can use them) could have some potential for new exposition. Where did these gems come from? Did they create the Universe? Are there more gems like these in Sonic's dimension?

I'd rather not know where they came from, or how they came to be. Sonic having deeper plots and all is cool, but origin stories just aren't needed. The Emeralds are some magical, mysterious gems. Let's leave it at that.

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, given the right context. The idea that these gems have existed throughout history, and are part of nearly every great civilization and every great tragedy, is kind of interesting. They're a force that drives the world, along with the intent and nature of the people who wield them.

The problem, I think, is that the series doesn't treat them like that, it doesn't acknowledge all the ancient civilizations that have been created or ruined by their contact with the emeralds. They are just the magic doohickeys that you need to collect to turn gold and beat the bad guy.

Well it's just over-use that really bugs me. That idea about them being used throughout history is interesting in a way, but yes like you say they aren't treated as such. And it's a bit... too much. I'd be much happier to see them out of the plots for a while really.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Blue Blood

[Rusty Spy]

What really gave them that wow! factor back in the day was that in the classics, the emeralds were a one time deal. You had to collect them through out the game if you wanted the best ending. There wasn't a 'beat game, get emeralds later' method like in more recent games.

Looking at the last time you needed to actively collect the emeralds to unlock the final story, you could get them whenever you wanted, with whoever you wanted. Whereas in the classics, you could only get them through playing all the way through the main campaign and being skillful enough to get them all before the end of the game.

In this way I feel the classics had the best implementation of the Chaos Emeralds as both a plot device and a gameplay incentive, with Heroes coming in a close second.

In the Adventure games, they still felt significant because the entire plot focused around the struggle to gain control of the emeralds. When Eggman stole an emerald from the heroes, it was a big deal and greatly set them back, increasing the tension of the plot. In later games, there's no struggle or urgency to obtain them, and in 06, they toss those things around like they were trading cards.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Rusty Spy

[Diogenes]

The idea that the Emeralds might have come from another planet (suggested in Shadow's game, if I recall correctly, considering Black Doom knows about them and can use them)

That's not much of a suggestion. Yes, Doom can use them, but so can Earth creatures like Sonic, Silver, and Chaos; they don't favor extraterrestrials over Earthlings. As for Doom knowing about them, the comet passes Earth every 50 years, right? They've even been down to the surface at some point, to build those temples. It's not unlikely for the Black Arms to have sensed them, or found legends about them, or even seen civilizations using them.

Plus, what effect would that have on other things related to the emeralds? What is the connection between them and the Gaias, if they're from space? What about the Sol emeralds, are they also of extraterrestrial origin?

[hangarninetysix]

What really gave them that wow! factor back in the day was that in the classics, the emeralds were a one time deal. You had to collect them through out the game if you wanted the best ending. There wasn't a 'beat game, get emeralds later' method like in more recent games.

Looking at the last time you needed to actively collect the emeralds to unlock the final story, you could get them whenever you wanted, with whoever you wanted. Whereas in the classics, you could only get them through playing all the way through the main campaign and being skillful enough to get them all before the end of the game.

Totally agree. With unlimited retries and such, that also made them have much less of a wow factor, instead of only having as many tries as there were portals.

[Crash]

I don't want them to be scrapped, but when there's no need for them they don't need to appear. Colours did this well, not the boss but the fact that they weren't there because they weren't needed.

[Kuzu]

I really don't see the big deal in phasing the emeralds out for a few games, their presence are already non-existent outside of the obligatory Super Sonic fight, and even those are starting to run their course. The reason the Emeralds are so lackluster nowadays, is because everyone expects for them to appear no matter what, and it's pretty damn difficult to come up so many contrived reasons for why the cast need the emeralds this time, and it's come to the point where Sonic Team just stopped giving a fuck.

[Mr. Taxi]

I really don't see the big deal in phasing the emeralds out for a few games, their presence are already non-existent outside of the obligatory Super Sonic fight, and even those are starting to run their course. The reason the Emeralds are so lackluster nowadays, is because everyone expects for them to appear no matter what, and it's pretty damn difficult to come up so many contrived reasons for why the cast need the emeralds this time, and it's come to the point where Sonic Team just stopped giving a fuck.

Sonic Colours' case. I mean, they are the game's single attempt at replay value, are unreasonably difficult and boring to get and yet, they... don't have anything to do with the game... at all.

[Pawn]

To add to the mystique and even gameplay significance of the Chaos Emeralds, they could possess characteristics that differentiate them from one another. Say the Purple Emerald distorts a character's personality, the Yellow Emerald grants more Chaos Powers and the Green Emerald promotes general growth of one's own abilities. They could have their own individual journey through history, instead of having always operated as one seventh of a whole (which was the case with the Dragonballs). The Green Emerald may have been used in the past by an ancient society to help their farms flourish even in times of drought, only for the vegetation to grow out of control and virtually swallow them up. The Dark Blue and Yellow Emeralds could have controlled the tides and granted shamanic powers respectively, but the eventual abuse of this power led to their owners' destruction. The game in question would take you through these locations where you see how the emeralds' unique powers have manipulated them, creating some fantastic environments.

Perhaps all gems could influence emotions, improving one aspect of a personality while hampering another (i.e: they are courageous, but also foolhardy). The ability of each emerald could closely tie in with whatever emotion they represent, say increased speed (for the sake of example) if they became courageous yet hasty. Each jewel could either give Sonic a new ability, ala the Wisps but with the freedom to use it anywhere. If we don't want to be in the business of restricting Sonic in the beginning, an emerald could enhance an existing ability whilst hindering another. As with Generations' skills, you can only equip a certain amount at a time; maybe one or two as a part of a skill set. Developing the gameplay with seven extra moves/enhancements in mind, rather than twenty or so, means that more time could be dedicated to making these fun to play around with.

These are just ideas off the top of my head though, and could benefit from a little more thought.

[iDEATH]

I've been saying this for years, and really welcomed Unleashed and Colours' approach to them. But even Unleashed had a problem. Somehow, the Emeralds seem to be tied to absolutely every historical event. Off the top of my head... the Echidna's tried to steal them and set Chaos on a rampage, they were needed to fire the eclipse cannon, Shadow needed them to fix his memory, Emerl had to absorb them all to fully awaken, Mephiles needed them to join with Iblis, Black Doom was promised them, they needed to be placed in these temples across the world to fix the planet, they worked with Jet's key to make Babylon Garden rise from the ground... erm, I'm sure there's plenty more too.

This made me think of potential non-game worthy events in Sonic's life where he might use them.

"Dear Diary,

Washing Machine broke, better gather the seven chaos emeralds"

[Kuzu]

To add to the mystique and even gameplay significance of the Chaos Emeralds, they could possess characteristics that differentiate them from one another. Say the Purple Emerald distorts a character's personality, the Yellow Emerald grants more Chaos Powers and the Green Emerald promotes general growth of one's own abilities. They could have their own individual journey through history, instead of having always operated as one seventh of a whole (which was the case with the Dragonballs). The Green Emerald may have been used in the past by an ancient society to help their farms flourish even in times of drought, only for the vegetation to grow out of control and virtually swallow them up. The Dark Blue and Yellow Emeralds could have controlled the tides and granted shamanic powers respectively, but the eventual abuse of this power led to their owners' destruction. The game in question would take you through these locations where you see how the emeralds' unique powers have manipulated them, creating some fantastic environments.

Perhaps all gems could influence emotions, improving one aspect of a personality while hampering another (i.e: they are courageous, but also foolhardy). The ability of each emerald could closely tie in with whatever emotion they represent, say increased speed (for the sake of example) if they became courageous yet hasty. Each jewel could either give Sonic a new ability, ala the Wisps but with the freedom to use it anywhere. If we don't want to be in the business of restricting Sonic in the beginning, an emerald could enhance an existing ability whilst hindering another. As with Generations' skills, you can only equip a certain amount at a time; maybe one or two as a part of a skill set. Developing the gameplay with seven extra moves/enhancements in mind, rather than twenty or so, means that more time could be dedicated to making these fun to play around with.

These are just ideas off the top of my head though, and could benefit from a little more thought.

Each emerald represents a deadly sin, and amplifies it.

[Dr. Homem]

Each emerald represents a deadly sin, and amplifies it.

That would contradict the established lore that they amplify power based on the thoughts/emotions - instead of being either good or evil, they'd become just evil.

[Mr. Taxi]

Emeralds are Horcruxes

I absolutely love this idea. This could add so much depth to them and so much mythology as well. In fact, it could set a whole new mythos to the series.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Palas

[Indigo Rush]

To add to the mystique and even gameplay significance of the Chaos Emeralds, they could possess characteristics that differentiate them from one another. Say the Purple Emerald distorts a character's personality, the Yellow Emerald grants more Chaos Powers and the Green Emerald promotes general growth of one's own abilities. They could have their own individual journey through history, instead of having always operated as one seventh of a whole (which was the case with the Dragonballs). The Green Emerald may have been used in the past by an ancient society to help their farms flourish even in times of drought, only for the vegetation to grow out of control and virtually swallow them up. The Dark Blue and Yellow Emeralds could have controlled the tides and granted shamanic powers respectively, but the eventual abuse of this power led to their owners' destruction. The game in question would take you through these locations where you see how the emeralds' unique powers have manipulated them, creating some fantastic environments.

Perhaps all gems could influence emotions, improving one aspect of a personality while hampering another (i.e: they are courageous, but also foolhardy). The ability of each emerald could closely tie in with whatever emotion they represent, say increased speed (for the sake of example) if they became courageous yet hasty. Each jewel could either give Sonic a new ability, ala the Wisps but with the freedom to use it anywhere. If we don't want to be in the business of restricting Sonic in the beginning, an emerald could enhance an existing ability whilst hindering another. As with Generations' skills, you can only equip a certain amount at a time; maybe one or two as a part of a skill set. Developing the gameplay with seven extra moves/enhancements in mind, rather than twenty or so, means that more time could be dedicated to making these fun to play around with.

These are just ideas off the top of my head though, and could benefit from a little more thought.

I had a similar idea where the Emeralds amplified existing characteristics for the characters - I mean, moreso than it is right now. Rather than each Emerald having a distinctive trait, the Emerald would contribute to a particular character's strength. Say, for example, Shadow's ability to use Chaos Control naturally as well as his rather arrogant and flippant nature allow him to use Chaos Blast as well as a more powerful version of Chaos Control. Knuckles would also not only exhibit enhanced strength, but also a greater sensitivity to the power of the location of where the Emeralds are. Silver could be able to travel through time without the use of a second person, as well as have more range for his psychic abilities. Sonic, besides his speed, is sort of a jack of all trades with this.

Not sure if that's something you had in mind, but I think it would be cool.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Indigo Brushie

[Dr. Crusher]

To add to the mystique and even gameplay significance of the Chaos Emeralds, they could possess characteristics that differentiate them from one another. Say the Purple Emerald distorts a character's personality, the Yellow Emerald grants more Chaos Powers and the Green Emerald promotes general growth of one's own abilities. They could have their own individual journey through history, instead of having always operated as one seventh of a whole (which was the case with the Dragonballs). The Green Emerald may have been used in the past by an ancient society to help their farms flourish even in times of drought, only for the vegetation to grow out of control and virtually swallow them up. The Dark Blue and Yellow Emeralds could have controlled the tides and granted shamanic powers respectively, but the eventual abuse of this power led to their owners' destruction. The game in question would take you through these locations where you see how the emeralds' unique powers have manipulated them, creating some fantastic environments.

Perhaps all gems could influence emotions, improving one aspect of a personality while hampering another (i.e: they are courageous, but also foolhardy). The ability of each emerald could closely tie in with whatever emotion they represent, say increased speed (for the sake of example) if they became courageous yet hasty. Each jewel could either give Sonic a new ability, ala the Wisps but with the freedom to use it anywhere. If we don't want to be in the business of restricting Sonic in the beginning, an emerald could enhance an existing ability whilst hindering another. As with Generations' skills, you can only equip a certain amount at a time; maybe one or two as a part of a skill set. Developing the gameplay with seven extra moves/enhancements in mind, rather than twenty or so, means that more time could be dedicated to making these fun to play around with.

These are just ideas off the top of my head though, and could benefit from a little more thought.

So...

Red - Patience/Wrath

Blue - Chastity/Lust

Yellow - Charity/Avarice

Green - Kindness/Envy

White - Temperance/Gluttony

Cyan - Diligence/Sloth

Purple - Humility/Pride

???

[Diogenes]

I'm not sure I like the idea of each emerald having its own specific domain. It's not something that's ever been hinted at before; one emerald has never been any better or worse than any other. Plus it ends up limiting you to those domains in the end.

Rather than each Emerald having a distinctive trait, the Emerald would contribute to a particular character's strength.

This is pretty good, tho'. Meshes well with how the emeralds already relate to the user's thoughts. You can toss an emerald at anyone who wants to change the world and make a story out of it...

[Mr. Taxi]

So...

Red - Patience/Wrath

Blue - Chastity/Lust

Yellow - Charity/Avarice

Green - Kindness/Envy

White - Temperance/Gluttony

Cyan - Diligence/Sloth

Purple - Humility/Pride

???

It depends. If you take Aristotle's view on morals, faults are just exacerbations of a quality. So it would work more like this:

Red - Courage/Wrath

Blue - Wit/Pride

Yellow - Luck/Avarice

Green - Ambition/Envy

White - I... have no idea/Gluttony

Cyan - Calmness/Sloth

Purple - Will/Lust

[Dr. Crusher]

I'm not sure I like the idea of each emerald having its own specific domain. It's not something that's ever been hinted at before; one emerald has never been any better or worse than any other. Plus it ends up limiting you to those domains in the end.

This is pretty good, tho'. Meshes well with how the emeralds already relate to the user's thoughts. You can toss an emerald at anyone who wants to change the world and make a story out of it...

Oh I don't either, I was just wondering if that was the basic gist of it. I prefer the relate-to-strength choice as well.

[Mr. Taxi]

Foreshadowing doesn't seem to be a hinderance to Sonic Team, since they just seem to do whatever they want with the Chaos Emeralds each time. S3&K doesn't give a clue on Chaos, Sonic Adventure doesn't give a clue on Dark Gaia.

(Not that it's a good thing. Just saying.)

[Salamander]

I like a lot of the above ideas for developing the Emeralds into something that have mystique and individual power again - not coincidentally because they would require a real effort to be made to actually get a plot and some writing into the game rather than just a meaningless dash through colourful locations. It wasn't my first idea, though.

In a sense, it was inevitable that the Chaos Emeralds would reach their present position. Powerful bonus items like them would naturally accumulate a little context as a series goes on, and when such a series starts developing a real plot then the powerful bonus items are the first thing that would be looked to as plot devices. But in a sense they are too powerful, which makes them too safe as plot devices. They're so overused that they're retreating to the status of bonus items barely referred to in the plot any more, although that's partly due to lack of plot. But I think what would give them more impact, rather than just copping out and ignoring them, would be to actually wipe them out for a while. Possibly permanently - or at least apparently permanently. Have the plot focus on an enemy, Eggman or otherwise but probably mysterious either way, going around destroying the emeralds. No shards this time, but possibly absorbing their power. Or maybe they disappear for some other reason that is gradually uncovered throughout the game. Have Sonic or one of his allies get cutscene-owned through lack of Emerald power, and Sonic has to rely on his own strength again. Remind us why he's the hero and why the games aren't called Super Sonic The Hedgehog. And then, at the end of the game? Keep the emeralds gone. New and more dangerous status quo. And then you can also make a game in the future bringing them or something like them back, so it's also a plot hook.

[ArtFenix]

In a sense, it was inevitable that the Chaos Emeralds would reach their present position. Powerful bonus items like them would naturally accumulate a little context as a series goes on

I say it's time to bring back Super Emeralds!

[Diogenes]

I say it's time to bring back Super Emeralds!

No

[Blue Blood]

I say it's time to bring back Super Emeralds!

And what purpose would they possibly serve?

The Chaos Emeralds can do anything, and Super Sonic can stop anything.

[Emmett L. Brown]

Removing the Super Emeralds and Hyper Sonic was definitely one of the better decisions. Once you started down that path you'd get an ever increasing requirement for Even More Super-Duper forms to combat the next world threat. Instead, they simply kept the rule that Super Sonic is invincible and the trick is figuring out how to kill the boss before the form runs out.

Still, even Super Sonic isn't omg anymore. More points to Sonic Colors for NOT having a super form final boss. I am willfully ignoring the DS port.