What are some missed opportunities in the Sonic franchise?

[BaronGrackle]

2 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Solo...a straight forward shapeshifter? 

She did Bean, Bark, Fang, Mighty, and/or Ray. She probably could've done Chaos, Shadow, and the rest. The Phantom Ruby could have given her all the same powers we saw from Infinite.

She'd be mute like Classic Sonic, having come in from his world. So no angsty dialogue about being the best. Just that silent, unmoving metallic face staring you down as she tips her hat and warps reality.

At the end, she and Classic Sonic would portal back... straight to Mania's Encore Mode.

. . .

But meh, I know Infinite has his fans. I just have a softboiled spot for Eggrobos.

[sonic 1-derful]

not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but i'd say some real life red and white power sneakers! I can imagine wearing these and trying to run as fast as sonic! maybe they could come in assorted colours, mainly purple?

[Multikaris]

DoDonpa, and him being Classic Eggman. Enough said. Well, the clues about the Phantom Ruby were everywhere. From the Ruby-like thing in DoDonpa’s vehicle and turban to the text effects. Instead he was just some rich dude who runs a race for some reason. 

[DabigRG]

19 minutes ago, Miragnarok said:

DoDonpa, and him being Classic Eggman. Enough said. Well, the clues about the Phantom Ruby were everywhere. From the Ruby-like thing in DoDonpa’s vehicle and turban to the text effects. Instead he was just some rich dude who runs a race for some reason. 

Eh, disagree.

And it was to perfect his Ultimate Energy Engine.

[Badnik Zero]

How about a having a continuing series of handheld games that are not handheld companions to the main titles?

Remember the Rush series? They gave us Blaze, Nega, Johnny, and Marine. The entire boost concept comes from that game. Fresh ideas that might have never developed if Dimps was told to work on Shadow the Hedgehog DS or Sonic 06 DS version. In fact the Rush games were the only games positively received during that period. Let the handheld division make original concepts.

Also, how many people who are not hardcore fans are buying both versions of the game? It can’t be a lot. In business that’s called cannibalism.

 

[Dr. Detective]

Missed a good chance to get a series of RPG spin-offs off the ground with the failure of the Dark Brotherhood.

I'd love a Sonic action RPG more so nowadays.

[Multikaris]

18 hours ago, Badnik Zero said:

How about a having a continuing series of handheld games that are not handheld companions to the main titles?

Remember the Rush series? They gave us Blaze, Nega, Johnny, and Marine. The entire boost concept comes from that game. Fresh ideas that might have never developed if Dimps was told to work on Shadow the Hedgehog DS or Sonic 06 DS version. In fact the Rush games were the only games positively received during that period. Let the handheld division make original concepts.

Also, how many people who are not hardcore fans are buying both versions of the game? It can’t be a lot. In business that’s called cannibalism.

 

We did get that; it’s called Boom. And we all know how THAT ended up. 

 

And yeah even the companion games eventually died. 

[DabigRG]

Knuckles Changeover

As one of the last carryovers from the Classic era, Knuckles the Echidna has had quite a chronicle throughout the franchise. It's no secret that his portrayal or characterization across the series has varied from time to time, not unlike that of Amy or occasionally Eggman. Initially a chuckling antagonist, eventually dutiful neutral, then a hotheaded rival, and finally one of Sonic's toughest friends, Knuckles has changed quite a bit. It's just a shame that said change wasn't really documented attentively.

Born on Angel Island as the last of his kind, it was his assumed birthright to protect the Master Emerald and its power from those who would abuse its power. The solitary nature of this existence meant he was simultaneously hostile to anyone he perceives as a threat, but receptive to those he did not. This made it easy for Dr. Robotnik to convince him of his Death Egg’s innocence and Sonic’s supposed villainy. So he took the Chaos Emeralds from the hedgehog and delayed him with his traps until Robotnik showed his true colors by stealing the Master Emerald to power the Death Egg as well as sending both his Eggrobos and Mecha Sonic to deter the heroes. Ultimately, Sonic and Knuckles worked together to defeat Eggman, restore Angel Island to the sky, and part ways to return to their contrasting lives.  

Since then, Knuckles has had numerous encounters with Sonic, some as nemeses and others as allies. Though they ultimately understand that the other has somewhat well-meaning intentions, the differences between them often caused some measure of conflict. Additionally, their lifestyles were also parallel in that Knuckles felt duty bound to watch over Angel Island on his own, while Sonic enjoyed the freedom to both travel & protect the world below as he pleased. Eventually, the two would amend their rival enough to be able to work together and even just hang out from time to time. But the actual period of warming up to each other has generally been skipped through within the main series and thus Knuckles has lost a fair chunk of his direction as a character.

It would have been a more satisfying progression if we had actually gotten to see some of the procedure Knuckles underwent to grow into something more than his background. First, it would have made for genuine challenge to see him overcome his habitual distrust of Sonic, perhaps by trying to at least recognize some of what rubs him the wrong way about the hedgehog. Second, the process of learning to trust others within reason could expand to sensitively learning to value the outside world as a place that others call home. Third, Knuckles’ paranoia and aggression could be tempered through an increased ability to balance his personal job with an occasional allowance of simple fun in his life, such as indulging in his treasure hunting hobby. Eventually, this would have more naturally developed him from someone who felt like he had to be obsessively stern to keep his heritage in isolation to someone who can be friendlier or even playful because he’s able to appreciate the world that lives under his watch.

[BaronGrackle]

On 7/19/2019 at 10:17 PM, DabigRG said:

As one of the last carryovers from the Classic era, Knuckles the Echidna has had quite a chronicle throughout the franchise. It's no secret that his portrayal or characterization across the series has varied from time to time, not unlike that of Amy or occasionally Eggman. Initially a chuckling antagonist, eventually dutiful neutral, then a hotheaded rival, and finally one of Sonic's toughest friends, Knuckles has changed quite a bit. It's just a shame that said change wasn't really documented attentively.

Born on Angel Island as the last of his kind, it was his assumed birthright to protect the Master Emerald and its power from those who would abuse its power.

I consider it a great loss that Knuckles has gradually shifted away from Chaos Emerald guardian, so that now he only cares about the Master Emerald.

S&K and the classic era ended with the seven Chaos Emeralds returned to their shrine alongside the Master Emerald. Knuckles was their guardian in all the manual translations, and all of them were needed to make Angel Island float in the sky.

Sonic Adventure had a complicated take on it. On one hand, Knuckles didn't seem interested in the emeralds, even when Eggman had one! On the other hand, the emeralds all had pedestals by the Master Emerald and were confirmed as part of its lore. Plus Knuckles takes possession of all except one at the end of his story. In his last cutscene, when Knuckles says he'd better take "this emerald" back (the Master Emerald), I wonder if it would've been better translated as "these emeralds", since he does grab them all. I know Japanese translations can have issues with singular and plural forms.

By Sonic Adventure 2, Knux pretty much has zero interest in the Chaos Emeralds. It broke my heart to read the manual for SONIC MANIA, of all things, and see him declared as guardian of the Mastet Emerald--nothing else. I was hoping he would've kept that role in our new classic universe, especially since, well, all seven of those suckers are still on pedestals in the Hidden Palace Zone.

[DabigRG]

5 minutes ago, BaronGrackle said:

I consider it a great loss that Knuckles has gradually shifted away from Chaos Emerald guardian, so that now he only cares about the Master Emerald.

S&K and the classic era ended with the seven Chaos Emeralds returned to their shrine alongside the Master Emerald. Knuckles was their guardian in all the manual translations, and all of them were needed to make Angel Island float in the sky.

Sonic Adventure had a complicated take on it. On one hand, Knuckles didn't seem interested in the emeralds, even when Eggman had one! On the other hand, the emeralds all had pedestals by the Master Emerald and were confirmed as part of its lore. Plus Knuckles takes possession of all except one at the end of his story. In his last cutscene, when Knuckles says he'd better take "this emerald" back (the Master Emerald), I wonder if it would've been better translated as "these emeralds", since he does grab them all. I know Japanese translations can have issues with singular and plural forms.

By Sonic Adventure 2, Knux pretty much has zero interest in the Chaos Emeralds. It broke my heart to read the manual for SONIC MANIA, of all things, and see him declared as guardian of the Mastet Emerald--nothing else. I was hoping he would've kept that role in our new classic universe, especially since, well, all seven of those suckers are still on pedestals in the Hidden Palace Zone.

Oh yeah, it was you who brought up that Sonic Trouble Triple(?) Try Again screen, wasn't it? 

Yeah, it is definitely an extraneous aspect of the character that is perfectly relevant and fascinating to think about. Since the Master Emerald is technically a Chaos Emerald, one that can be used to power up or down the others, it's not at all a leap to say a Guardian would do well to keep an eye on what's going on with them from time to time. If I had to guess, they simplified it to emphasizing the Master Emerald to help make it more specific to him and account for how the [7] Chaos Emeralds themselves go wherever for whatever until the next game reveals their current general location. 

With that said, I thought the ones in Hidden Palace--specifically the ones from the special Heavy King boss fight--was supposed to be the Super Emeralds?