The Classic Sonic Timeline. [SPOILERS]

[molul]

Sonic games should be more simple than this. I don't care about continuity. Does it matter that Princess Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser in almost every Mario game? Shouldn't they have learnt and improved defense in the castle? It just doesn't matter. It's not Metal Gear Solid xD

I like some coherence, though. If Knuckles "became good" at the end of Sonic & Knuckles, he shouldn't get tricked by Eggman again.

[ScrewthisImnowToeiSonic]

On 12/20/2017 at 6:11 PM, ClassicKnuckles said:

Oh heck how did I forget that!? I takes place after Sonic 2, and a few months before 3k

Errr, wouldn't it be before 2 because Sonic doesn't know Tails?

[Big Panda]

21 minutes ago, ScrewthisImnowToeiSonic said:

Errr, wouldn't it be before 2 because Sonic doesn't know Tails?

Why are so many people intent on placing any classic game where Tails isn’t around as being before they met?

Sonic and Tails don’t have to be glued at the hip 24/7. The manual for Sonic 2 8-bit even confirms as much (Sonic went off on his own while Tails stayed on South Island before the game starts).

[MetalSkulkBane]

For me it's
- Not canon: Erasers, Waku Waku, Cosmo Fighter, Wacky Worlds Creativity Studio, Tails Music Maker, Sonic Gameworld, Schoolhouse, probably Mean Bean.
- Sonic 1, 2, 3&K
- CD either takes places after 1 or after 3. I prefer latter, since 1 that makes Tails his oldest ally 2 Metal is last in line of  "robot Sonics" 3 keeps trilogy clean
- If we insist on Modern/Classic split then  Sonic Pocket Adventure and Sonic 4 happened in "Modern World" and lead to Adventure, while Mania happened in "Classic World", leading to whatever will happened next.
- Everything else is canon in Classic World, but probably not in Modern. That makes reunion in SA1 with Amy  & Knuckles more impactful, plus Metal wasn't resurrected till Sonic 4.
- If we want to pretend there is one timeline then Sonic 4 has to happen much earlier (due to Metal in all the spin-offs), we just have to ignore sudden design change. First "Classic Sonic", then Mania and "Neo Classic", then Pocket Adventure and then "Modern Sonic".
- Forces happens at the end of Classic Timeline, but Generations is harder. My guess that Sonic was as young as possible, so after 2, maybe 3 & CD.

Everything else isn't worth wasting time with timelines, they probably more-less happened in release order. Although I like to think that
- Tails spin-offs take place AFTER he meet Sonic and learned from him how to be brave and such, maybe during Sonic CD.
- Triple Trouble is canon, but Knuckles that harasses us is Mecha Knuckles (prototype to Advance 1) made to fool us (that's why he fight Sonic in a mech, not using fists). Real Knuckles was in a cage for whole game. I know, forced, but I really want to avoid idiot plot.
- In Fighters Fang uses fake chaos emerald to enter (just like Sonic Spinball has fakes or shards).
 

[Plumbers_Helper]

10 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

- CD either takes places after 1 or after 3. I prefer latter, since 1 that makes Tails his oldest ally 2 Metal is last in line of  "robot Sonics" 3 keeps trilogy clean

I'd like to share my take on Sonic CD's placement. One person who worked on Sonic CD, Yasushi Yamaguchi, believes Sonic CD takes place between Sonic 1 and 2. This would certainly explain why Tails is absent from the game other then a few cameos. It would even explain why the spindash is so awkward, perhaps Sonic is still working on the technique and doesn't master it until Sonic 2. I agree that it would make more visual sense for Metal Sonic to be the last Sonic robot due to him looking the most advanced. However, the reason for that may have a simple answer. Metal Sonic was never originally designed to fight Sonic, only out race him. The other Sonic robots however were designed to fight Sonic which may explain why they tended to be more bulky, they were built to take damage and blunt force while Metal Sonic was designed to be smooth and slick for better air resistance. It would even explain why Metal Sonic was defeated so easily by running into a door while the other Sonic robots, especially Mecha Sonic from Sonic 3, took multiple attacks to take down. The Japanese manual for Knuckles Chaotix confirms that even when Metal Sonic's body is destroyed "his main and sub CPU" is able to survive and then be reinserted into a new, more powerful body. This explains why Metal Sonic can fight in later games and a reference to his older broken bodies can even be seen in Sonic Mania. His CPUs mysteriously always surviving may have something to do with that mysterious orb he finds in Lost Labyrinth Zone in Sonic 4 Episode Metal. The idea of Metal Sonic being the original Sonic robot is an interesting idea to me. Eggman keeps trying to recreate one of his greatest creations, but they never manage live up to Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic, no matter how much he wants to be as he mentioned in Sonic Heroes, will never be the real Sonic. But he will always be the real Robot Sonic.

The only other Sonic robot that we know is still "alive" is Mecha Sonic, AKA Silver Sonic, from Sonic 2 as seen in a tube from Sonic Adventure. Even his reappearance in Sonic Pocket Adventure shows that he mostly survives his battle with Sonic. Perhaps the Sonic robot from Sonic 2 and Sonic Pocket Adventure are two different robots that just happen to look alike. It definitely doesn't look like the robot in Sonic 2 survived his fight with Sonic, but the Sonic robot in Sonic Pocket Adventure did which would explain why it's still intact in Sonic Adventure. A more wild explanation could be the robot in Sonic Pocket Adventure is actually Metal Sonic. Maybe a proper body for him wasn't available yet, so his CPUs were inserted into a weaker, more primitive and faster to produce model. The idea that Metal Sonic's very "soul" can be put into any robot definitely opens a lot of theories and possibilities.

10 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

- Triple Trouble is canon, but Knuckles that harasses us is Mecha Knuckles (prototype to Advance 1) made to fool us (that's why he fight Sonic in a mech, not using fists). Real Knuckles was in a cage for whole game. I know, forced, but I really want to avoid idiot plot.

I like this idea! It would explain why Sonic & Tails don't seem to care that Knuckles seemingly drowns during his boss fight and explain how Knuckles got that presumably Eggman mech in the first place, though it's just as possible that it's one of Fang's mechs that he got a hold of.

10 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

- In Fighters Fang uses fake chaos emerald to enter (just like Sonic Spinball has fakes or shards).

The official explanation is that Fang stole the Emerald, but how do we know Fang didn't simply lie about it being stolen in order to participate in the tournament? No honor among thieves as they say...