Popular and unpopular Sonic opinions you agree and disagree with!

[Your Vest Friend]

But Blaze doesn't have a crush on Sonic, not canonically. 

[Skull Leader]

I personally think Amy is still much more popular than Blaze. 

That said, it's necessary to acknowledge the context of both characters situation:

* Amy's character concept started very early as an support character on some obscure manga, and after being adopted into the games, she continued to be a minor character through the classic era with just as much chances to remain as those of anyone not named Sonic, Eggman, Tails and Knuckles. It's only with the first Adventure that she secured her stay, along with the Chaotix as the only classic era characters to made their transition to modern... And even then she usually got only relatively minor roles despite in some instances showing more potential, with her not being introduced in the Genesis trilogy like Tails or Knuckles being a factor that unfairly holds her back.

* Blaze had a different origin as a character designed very specifically for the games from the very start, and unlike Amy enjoyed two games as co-protagonist alongside Sonic. However I feel that compared to the likes of Shadow and Silver, Blaze is kind of an underdog due to being a character that originates on a handheld (despite this happening on a time when handheld titles were of superior quality when compared to the blunders of the major home console games of those days), to the point that despite having things like her own set of magic stones or a superform that wasn't just turning blonde, she was downplayed for 06 in favor of the new and amazing "S" named male hedgehog that everyone was supposed to like: Silver.

Likewise, I really dislike the idea of there being another "shipping war" like the one fueled by the Archie staff during the pre-reboot era. I think Sonic Team handled things well by having the only character who shows sign of romantic affection being Amy,,as well as dropping the ball on the Sonic-Blaze teases from the past, most likely because they foresaw the problems that this could had led to. Besides, I prefer for Amy and Blaze to be seen and treated more as characters who have their own respective merit and contributions, rather than be used solely as love interests for the protagonist.

I think that it would be much better to instead have Amy and Blaze have the girl equivalent of a bromance, as I believe that their respective personalities could lead to a much more interesting chemistry than what either girl could potentially have with Sonic, as they both contrast each other's traits in a positive manner as well as complement them. Just the special victory animation from the Olympics shows a glimpse of how it would be for the aloof Blaze to be with this one Amy girl who makes friends wherever she goes, even with the most unlikely of characters.

[DabigRG]

4 hours ago, Jack the Maniac said:

This is gonna sound unpopular, but you know, it's a post made by me, so of course it is XD

I'm kinda annoyed by the fact that Blaze seems to be more popular than Amy, in my humble opinion it's the fact that Blaze is a kickass, but I believe Amy is even more of a kickass than Blaze. Blaze is supposed to be badass because of her superpowers, and she is put in a role and a situation where she's the hero like Sonic and guardian like Knuckles, plus she has an interesting shy personality so she's really top and OP, a bit like Shadow, a complicated hero with superpowers, and I don't mean to say she is like Shadow, but there is a similarity. 

 

Eh, I'd say Blaze is more well-liked and celebrated on mass, but Amy is technically more popular due to seniority and exposure.

Still, it makes sense due to Blaze having more gameplay cohesion, backstory/context, "coolness," and even more "feminist" representation in her few appearances than Amy generally does.

[Sonic Fan J]

13 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Eh, I'd say Blaze is more well-liked and celebrated on mass, but Amy is technically more popular due to seniority and exposure.

Still, it makes sense due to Blaze having more gameplay cohesion, backstory/context, "coolness," and even more "feminist" representation in her few appearances than Amy generally does.

Honestly I despise the way "feminist" representation is handled, as it says it's wrong for Amy to be girly as if being girly is some sort of crime against all of women across the history of the earth. Mind you though, it doesn't stop there as men are generally frowned upon by society as a whole when they can't fit the description of being an emotionless bearded rock who can solve all of their problems through their manliness. To me, whenever I see the feminist agenda being used to attack individuality because it offends a group who has this illogical fear of someone being themselves harming their end goal I just find it unbearably suffocating. Don't get me wrong, I believe in equality, i just don't believe that equality should have to cost individuality and self expression where everyone is forced to fit some dystopian mold. It's part of why Amy is one of my favorite characters, because like Sonic she represents a type of freedom, the freedom to be yourself whoever that may be.

[Red Hot Jack]

I don't know if Amy and Blaze can have that sort of bromance, but in my story they are most definitely allies, they work together because their missions align but also because they are friends, as shown in Sonic Rush, I rolled my eyes when Amy was jealous of Blaze but that was a first impression. I should give more space to "duo interactions" rather than characters getting their own centric episodes, but I'm only just starting.

[DabigRG]

31 minutes ago, Sonic Fan J said:

Honestly I despise the way "feminist" representation is handled, as it says it's wrong for Amy to be girly as if being girly is some sort of crime against all of women across the history of the earth. Mind you though, it doesn't stop there as men are generally frowned upon by society as a whole when they can't fit the description of being an emotionless bearded rock who can solve all of their problems through their manliness. To me, whenever I see the feminist agenda being used to attack individuality because it offends a group who has this illogical fear of someone being themselves harming their end goal I just find it unbearably suffocating. Don't get me wrong, I believe in equality, i just don't believe that equality should have to cost individuality and self expression where everyone is forced to fit some dystopian mold. It's part of why Amy is one of my favorite characters, because like Sonic she represents a type of freedom, the freedom to be yourself whoever that may be.

Hence the quotation marks, as that general idea can involve different things.

Whether it be Blaze being self-reliant, being a figure of authority(however loose that may be given the setting), being tempered by burdens, having responsibilities, possessing a super form, or yes, even not wearing pink/dresses/both, Blaze is inherently depicted as having a sense of duty, dominion, and dignity about her compared to Amy.

[Sonic Fan J]

4 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Hence the quotation marks, as that general idea can involve different things.

Whether it be Blaze being self-reliant, being a figure of authority(however loose that may be given the setting), being tempered by burdens, having responsibilities, possessing a super form, or yes, even not wearing pink/dresses/both, Blaze is inherently depicted as having a sense of duty, dominion, and dignity about her compared to Amy.

Simultaneously stripping the character of any traits were it seems like fun is even an option. Resultantly she then has to played against either more girly characters (Cream), more energetic characters (Marine), and more naive characters (Silver) for her to really have a chance to demonstrate different facets of her personality and make her feel like a person and not just a collection of pro-feminist traits. It's why i agree with @Skull Leader that pairing her with Amy is a great idea because no character is better at pulling out everything there is in a person than Amy (ironically a character who is frowned upon by certain feminist views). To an extent though, it's kind of why i don't place Blaze as one of my favorites. He personality is not strong enough to shine through her traits and responsibilities making her a rather dull character to follow on her own. I definitely see the potential she has, but with SEGA's insitence that characters don't change it makes it hard for me to invest any interest in her.

[Skull Leader]

Personally, I think a lot of people don't give Amy enough credit for her character simply because she happens to be pink and girly.

Normally I'm not the kind that would be drawn to this, yet, here I am, rooting for this one character because I see past the pink girly stuff and find a character that represents the potential that every person has to be a hero if we only were to follow their heart and do the right thing without hesitation. (Just how many of us would see a person or even an animal in need and just continue on our way because "we're too busy" or "it's not our problem", as if we were afraid to act?)

Just like how a character like Tails is frown by some people for not being "badass" like the "big boys" such as Knuckles or Shadow, I feel that the same is done to Amy when conpared to a character like Blaze. However, Blaze didn't have to go through a transition to get where she was when first introduced, while with Amy it consisted on a lengthy process to get her from the helpless damsel in Sonic CD to the heroine in Sonic Adventure who helps others, from little birds to even robots that work for Eggman.

Likewise, I really don't like how having a superform is seen as a sort of distinction that automatically makes any character lucky to have one be seen as superior to those who, despite not having an access to it, are the characters who, in an ironic twist, happen to be the ones that need a superform the least because they already posess something within them that is much better and more valuable. For example, beating some bad guy through the brute force of a superform is not going to make them change their ways... Sometimes words can be much, much more powerful, like when Amy helped clear the confussion within Gamma and pleaded to free itself from Eggman's influence, reminding Shadow his true purpose, etc. Sometimes the biggest difference is made by the most unlikely and apparently insignificant characters,mjust like how in Lord of the Rings it's a Hobbit who carries the most important task of them all.

Heroes will always come in all shapes and sizes, and just like there are those who have superpowers to stop the evil deeds of those who are beyond reason and refuse to be saved from themselves, there are also the ones who add something that those with super powers cannot, providing with appeal for a wider audience, since I think that while the younger fans will be drawn to the more impressive Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow and Blaze, we older fans who lived a bit more and have come to understand that life isn't as simple have more grounded characters like Tails, Amy, Rouge and the Chaotix that prove that you don't need superpowers to save the day, only the courage to overcome your limitations.

Still, I think both type of characters can have interesting developments, albeit in different directions. Take for example the case of Blaze and Amy and what each character can gain from the other. Blaze would learn from Amy to not be afraid to be in touch with her emotions (bringing some hidden layers of Blaze's character to the surface), as well as to balance them to avoid going to the extremes (such as wanting to destroy bad guys... something that even Sonic found to be harsh). In contrast, Amy would learn to grow as a stronger, more skilled heroine, and to ground a bit her optimism to keep it from falling into the extreme of not realizing that there will be times when some enemies will refuse to be saved from themselves no matter what (for example Infinite). The character that is strong in power needs to develop a stronger heart while the character with the stronger heart needs a guide to teach how to improve her skills.

[DabigRG]

7 hours ago, Sonic Fan J said:

Simultaneously stripping the character of any traits were it seems like fun is even an option. Resultantly she then has to played against either more girly characters (Cream), more energetic characters (Marine), and more naive characters (Silver) for her to really have a chance to demonstrate different facets of her personality and make her feel like a person and not just a collection of pro-feminist traits. It's why i agree with @Skull Leader that pairing her with Amy is a great idea because no character is better at pulling out everything there is in a person than Amy (ironically a character who is frowned upon by certain feminist views). To an extent though, it's kind of why i don't place Blaze as one of my favorites. He personality is not strong enough to shine through her traits and responsibilities making her a rather dull character to follow on her own. I definitely see the potential she has, but with SEGA's insitence that characters don't change it makes it hard for me to invest any interest in her.

Hm. Fair enough.

 

[Sonic Fan J]

36 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Hm. Fair enough.

 

I'm so glad you were able to read that. It needed some serious proof reading to be legible.

[Fire-N-Space]

When people say that Blaze is more popular than Amy it feels like its because of there looks Amy gets underestimate base off looking more girly while Blaze is seen to be more kick butt. 

[Iko]

14 hours ago, Sonic Fan J said:

Simultaneously stripping the character of any traits were it seems like fun is even an option. Resultantly she then has to played against either more girly characters (Cream), more energetic characters (Marine), and more naive characters (Silver) for her to really have a chance to demonstrate different facets of her personality and make her feel like a person and not just a collection of pro-feminist traits. It's why i agree with @Skull Leader that pairing her with Amy is a great idea because no character is better at pulling out everything there is in a person than Amy (ironically a character who is frowned upon by certain feminist views). To an extent though, it's kind of why i don't place Blaze as one of my favorites. He personality is not strong enough to shine through her traits and responsibilities making her a rather dull character to follow on her own. I definitely see the potential she has, but with SEGA's insitence that characters don't change it makes it hard for me to invest any interest in her.

I disagree with this... You can say this of any character, for example, about Amy, you must make her interact with a flicky or Shadow in order to show different aspects of her personality, else, she's just an obsessed fangirl. Interactions with other characters are needed to show the personality of a character, and Blaze demonstrated to have a soft side of her personality, she also became protective like a mother* toward Cream in Sonic Rush.

I think Blaze is fine as she is, she's feminine and elegant enough, you don't always need pink hearts and cute dresses to make a female character.

Also, I don't think Blaze should be paired with Amy, she doesn't have any connection with Amy aside of knowing each other and having talked a bit... it's like saying Silver should be paired with Tails, what's the point.

*that's not Amy's exclusive and it never should be. The fact that in Sonic Adventure she acted that way with the bird, doesn't make her the only character allowed to love and protect someone else; by this logic every girl character is a rip-off of amy, and even Sonic occasionally.

BTW I think people give too much credit to Amy instead, I've read of people who want her to replace Knuckles and several discussion saying that putting her here and there would solve any problem and improve everything (kinda like this one). I disagree, I think every character has its own merits and Amy is just one of them; if the developers and story writers can't write good stories and dialogues for the characters, it's not the characters' fault. Even Amy had several different personalities and never stayed consistent, so when people talk about Amy's personality, what version of it are they refering to? Probably Adventure 1, because that's the only iteration of her that seems to be accepted by everyone as good, but Adventure 1 is only 1 game (2 if you add that cutscene with Shadow from Adventure 2), you have plenty of games where she's just a Sonic chasing fangirl with little to no positive traits (including her debut game), and the most recent games where she seems to have no personality at all (aside of showing some slight signs of affection to Sonic).

[Sonic Fan J]

7 hours ago, Iko said:

I disagree with this... You can say this of any character, for example, about Amy, you must make her interact with a flicky or Shadow in order to show different aspects of her personality, else, she's just an obsessed fangirl. Interactions with other characters are needed to show the personality of a character, and Blaze demonstrated to have a soft side of her personality, she also became protective like a mother* toward Cream in Sonic Rush.

I think Blaze is fine as she is, she's feminine and elegant enough, you don't always need pink hearts and cute dresses to make a female character.

Also, I don't think Blaze should be paired with Amy, she doesn't have any connection with Amy aside of knowing each other and having talked a bit... it's like saying Silver should be paired with Tails, what's the point.

*that's not Amy's exclusive and it never should be. The fact that in Sonic Adventure she acted that way with the bird, doesn't make her the only character allowed to love and protect someone else; by this logic every girl character is a rip-off of amy, and even Sonic occasionally.

BTW I think people give too much credit to Amy instead, I've read of people who want her to replace Knuckles and several discussion saying that putting her here and there would solve any problem and improve everything (kinda like this one). I disagree, I think every character has its own merits and Amy is just one of them; if the developers and story writers can't write good stories and dialogues for the characters, it's not the characters' fault. Even Amy had several different personalities and never stayed consistent, so when people talk about Amy's personality, what version of it are they refering to? Probably Adventure 1, because that's the only iteration of her that seems to be accepted by everyone as good, but Adventure 1 is only 1 game (2 if you add that cutscene with Shadow from Adventure 2), you have plenty of games where she's just a Sonic chasing fangirl with little to no positive traits (including her debut game), and the most recent games where she seems to have no personality at all (aside of showing some slight signs of affection to Sonic).

Believe it or not I enjoy Amy's fangirl side because to me that is part of her driving force as an adventurer which gives her a place in the series and a connection to who the stories are about; Sonic the Hedgehog.

And as for pairing Blaze and Amy, in my opinion drawing out only one facet of a character at a time shows a weakness in storytelling ability or the character being interacted with while Amy frequently brings out multiple facets of a characters personality when she interacts with them. It makes it more dynamic and less one note. Sure good writing can bring that out of any character, but as it has been demonstrated Amy is simply the first to mind. And honestly, I think Marine gets more out of Blaze then Cream did making her a better character to play off.

As for Blaze being pink and girly, that was not my intent. I was trying to say that there is no sense of fun with her, which is why I tried to contrast her Knuckles who at least had his chuckling back in his debut. Even Shadow had a playful side to him in Sonic Adventure 2 that made him fun in a way. The only time I've really seen any playfulness out of Blaze was in 06 in her interactions with Silver. I know Blaze fans hate that game and her affiliation with Silver, but I come to this franchise to have fun and so seeing a playfulness in Blaze when interacting with Silver is what makes it so easy for her to appear flat to me elsewhere. Again I did not mean to imply pink and girly were necessary traits for a female character (I like those traits in Amy but would hate for every female character to be like that - it would get dull and/or aggravating in her a hurry and since I prefer sporty energetic types normally that would be really bad), but was more trying to say that the way Blaze is pushed there is no sense of fun with her. To me that makes her an unattractive character no matter how badass she may be.

[Red Hot Jack]

Now I'm currently writing Cream's centric episode, see I'm not too fond of her but I really want to make a good character out of her, but it's not as hard as I imagined, story writes itself, Cream feels useless after experiencing her friends' adventures, so she wants to do something, instead of coming back home, and the opportunity presents when she hears a secret that could endanger her friends even more, or somehow protect them if she keeps said secret. And we know Cream is the purest of the 4 girls.

[Biggs]

Just mentioned this in a status update comment. Sonic 4: Episode II has pretty nice controls and physics and besides Mania are the best since the Advance games. I prefer it to Generations.

Speaking of which Generations Classic Sonic kind of controls like trash and isn't much better than he was in Forces. In fact in Forces he actually gains speed when rolling down hills and has the badnik bounce and generally feels more responsive. Not that it feels any better due to other problems but still.

[DabigRG]

5 hours ago, Sonic Fan J said:

And honestly, I think Marine gets more out of Blaze then Cream did making her a better character to play off.

 

I'm pretty sure that's partially because of the different intended roles and purposes those two had in relation to both Blaze and their respective Rush game.

Marine was clearly intended to be the Sol Dimension's answer to Tails and by extension, a potential sidekick for Blaze. This was primarily accomplished by giving her a personality more in line with Sonic and let's say Charmy compared to Blaze's similarities to Shadow and Knuckles, which naturally involves testing Blaze's patience. 

Meanwhile, I think Cream was meant to be more of a non-threatening/pacifying local escort for Blaze to help her get accustomed to just hanging with others. I'm pretty sure she was never meant to be from Darker and Edgier origins ala Shadow, but Blaze was established as being self-reliant, blunt, and surprisingly short-tempered and violent when upset or placed under stress. And of all the characters you could've stuck her with at the risk of potentially triggering her, Cream is among the least likely to do so.

3 hours ago, Jack the Maniac said:

Now I'm currently writing Cream's centric episode, see I'm not too fond of her but I really want to make a good character out of her, but it's not as hard as I imagined, story writes itself, Cream feels useless after experiencing her friends' adventures, so she wants to do something, instead of coming back home, and the opportunity presents when she hears a secret that could endanger her friends even more, or somehow protect them if she keeps said secret. And we know Cream is the purest of the 4 girls.

What are your writing, exactly?

[Red Hot Jack]

11 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

I'm pretty sure that's partially because of the different intended roles and purposes those two had in relation to both Blaze and their respective Rush game.

Marine was clearly intended to be the Sol Dimension's answer to Tails and by extension, a potential sidekick for Blaze. This was primarily accomplished by giving her a personality more in line with Sonic and let's say Charmy compared to Blaze's similarities to Shadow and Knuckles, which naturally involves testing Blaze's patience. 

Meanwhile, I think Cream was meant to be more of a non-threatening/pacifying local escort for Blaze to help her get accustomed to just hanging with others. I'm pretty sure she was never meant to be from Darker and Edgier origins ala Shadow, but Blaze was established as being self-reliant, blunt, and surprisingly short-tempered and violent when upset or placed under stress. And of all the characters you could've stuck her with at the risk of potentially triggering her, Cream is among the least likely to do so.

What are your writing, exactly?

It's a fan fiction about the 4 girls trying to find Sonic, and whatever happened to him. Amy is the protagonist, and her hammer gets enchanted by a fairy-spirit, so she gets magical powers. It was actually the idea for an Amy game, and it turned out into a fan fiction I'm really proud of.

[DabigRG]

22 minutes ago, Jack the Maniac said:

It's a fan fiction about the 4 girls trying to find Sonic, and whatever happened to him. Amy is the protagonist, and her hammer gets enchanted by a fairy-spirit, so she gets magical powers. It was actually the idea for an Amy game, and it turned out into a fan fiction I'm really proud of.

Huh. That sounds it'd be interesting.

Good luck on writing/finishing that!

[RedFox99]

If we do get another Sonic tv show, I'm kind of hoping that it focus on the modern cast and it isn't an action sitcom.

[Cuz]

In regards to Sticks being one dimensional, because paranoia was nearly all she has going for her. I think her personality was uniquely qualified to work best as a regular in Archie Sonic. Archie's headier building blocks involve multiverses and zone cops that validate her paranoia and could of provided ample directions for her character to grow.

(Why do I have to end up the top post twice in a row?)

[Skull Leader]

16 hours ago, Iko said:

I disagree with this... You can say this of any character, for example, about Amy, you must make her interact with a flicky or Shadow in order to show different aspects of her personality, else, she's just an obsessed fangirl. Interactions with other characters are needed to show the personality of a character, and Blaze demonstrated to have a soft side of her personality, she also became protective like a mother* toward Cream in Sonic Rush.

I think Blaze is fine as she is, she's feminine and elegant enough, you don't always need pink hearts and cute dresses to make a female character.

Also, I don't think Blaze should be paired with Amy, she doesn't have any connection with Amy aside of knowing each other and having talked a bit... it's like saying Silver should be paired with Tails, what's the point.

*that's not Amy's exclusive and it never should be. The fact that in Sonic Adventure she acted that way with the bird, doesn't make her the only character allowed to love and protect someone else; by this logic every girl character is a rip-off of amy, and even Sonic occasionally.

BTW I think people give too much credit to Amy instead, I've read of people who want her to replace Knuckles and several discussion saying that putting her here and there would solve any problem and improve everything (kinda like this one). I disagree, I think every character has its own merits and Amy is just one of them; if the developers and story writers can't write good stories and dialogues for the characters, it's not the characters' fault. Even Amy had several different personalities and never stayed consistent, so when people talk about Amy's personality, what version of it are they refering to? Probably Adventure 1, because that's the only iteration of her that seems to be accepted by everyone as good, but Adventure 1 is only 1 game (2 if you add that cutscene with Shadow from Adventure 2), you have plenty of games where she's just a Sonic chasing fangirl with little to no positive traits (including her debut game), and the most recent games where she seems to have no personality at all (aside of showing some slight signs of affection to Sonic).

Iko, the flicky hardly had any personality at all to say that it was actively digging out Amy's personality. If anything here the active character was Amy, who displayed said trait on her own initiative. A character like Blaze is quite the opposite, needing for another character to break the ice wall she creates with her aloof and slightly anti-social attitude.

And it's exactly that why I think she should be paired with Amy as friends, since unlike Cream, whose only way to winning others is literally "I'm cute, let's be friends", Amy has an actual personality... a complex one no less that like any believable character, has virtues, flaws and even contradictions that humanize them instead of making idealized role models, like Cream who is unbelievably polite and nice to the point of feeling more like an extreme caricature rather than a credible character. Not to mention, when comparing Amy and Blazes personalities and traits, there is much more potential to build a chemistry between them than what either of them have with the more simplistic Cream.

Now this is something you won't like to read, but I strongly and firmly believe that every character in the franchise absolutely needs to be unique in order to stand out on their own character merits. Cream, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who thinks this, never added anything that Amy didn't already bring to the franchise and personally, I have always detested how Sonic Team tried to pass up the flat Cream for an "Amy 2.0" in games like Rush or Battle, where she even lectures a robot that coincidentally looked much like Gamma, as if trying to recreate what Amy already did in SA1.

Personally I don't think it was fair for Amy to have her better traits be passed on to another character just because it was newer or didn't have something unique to bring, nor should Amy have to pay for how this new character had so little personality that it needed to leech on what an already existing one did. I'm very certain that no one would give a warm welcome to a younger, cuter character that were to try to replace Tails on his very own field of contributions, leaving Tails with nothing other than being fixated on Sonic. There is a very good reason why you can't have two Han Solos on the Millenium Falcon, and one of Sonic Team's blunders when it came to adding characters since this only leads to bloating the cast with redundant characters that overlap each other and result in a cast of underdeveloped characters.

Isn't it funny how unlike Cream, characters like Rouge, Blaze and Wave all have something that makes them unique from Amy, just like how Tails and Knuckles are unique from Sonic and each other? Even when it comes to caring for others, I don't have any issue with the way Blaze and Rouge do it since they show this on their own uniqueway, like how unlike the motherly and warm Amy, Blaze is blunt and strict (aka tough love) often to keep others away from danger like she did when scolding Marine, or how Rouge is much more subtle, preferring playful teases with her team mates Shadow and Omega to keep her true emotions from being too evident and be exploited by their enemies.

Regarding female characters, I'm perfectly fine with each having a different take: Amy is the cute cheerful one (literally, the pink to Sonic's blue, as they are the defacto lead male and lead female of the franchise and the ones with the wider appeal) Blaze is a bit more masculine but still has a femenine touch, Rouge is the sophisticated and elegant one, Wave is the smart but also arrogant, etc. Compared to them, what is there for Cream to truly stand out, since she's pretty much just another cute and joyful girl like Amy.

For a supposedly answer to Sonic's Tails, Cream failed pretty badly at achieving what Tails does: being a different and distinct character to contrast, complement and foil it's partner. Where Sonic and Tails do this and mutually emphasize their better aspects (Sonic can always count on Tails being smart to figure out the things that he can't, or how Tails sees Sonic as this cool and awesome dude that he hopes to one day be like), Cream achieves the exact opposite: making Amy look bad, while Amy's more vibrant and charismatic personality makes even more evident how dull and flat Cream is. Even Sticks would make a better friend for Amy, and that says a lot.

Maybe the problem was Sonic Team trying to create something that wasn't really needed. Amy really never needed to have her own version of Tails (if anything, it would had been preferable to make these two close friends instead if the idea was for a docile character to foil Amy's more impulsive nature) and the franchise certainly didn't need to have two similar characters that would overlap with each other. Say what you will of how "but Cream is introvert", because with Sonic and Tails, there was so very much more than just that one difference. They were two very distinct characters with unique interests. With Amy and Cream that hardly exists since Cream seems to pretty much exist to follow Amy and contribute nothing unique nor have any particular role or motivation to show up or be kept around.

Also I think you exaggerate when you say Amy showed her good traits only in two games when:

* In Heroes she helps Cream and Big, and ONLY starts her quest when she sees that they're about to lose hope, reassuring them that everything will be OK and delivers on her promise.

* In 06 she stops her search for Sonic to help out Silver, putting his needs before her own. Saves Sonic and tells him to go after Elise while she holds back Silver, something she not only does but also makes him thinkmabout what he was about to do, planting the seed of doubt. And let's not forget letting Elise revive Sonic through the kiss ritual, sacrificing her dreams and happiness for Sonic's well being, something not even the best friend Tails had ever done.

* In Unleashed she was concerned for Sonic after realizing that he was in fact the werehog, and instead of making things about her worries, she goes to tell Sonic how it's what's inside that counts, a little thing that lifts a burden from Sonic, who tried to hide his condition from her.

And know what's the best? Amy did this without leeching nor stealing roles from other characters.

As for the Knuckles thing, there is a thread for that and I'm glad that more people see who is the one that really counts as a friend, and who is, saddly, only added to boost sales and even gets roles hadled down on a silver plate (despite not being qualified, like comanding a Resistance) just for being "that character from the classic trilogy" instead of building him up to be those things.

[Iko]

1 hour ago, Skull Leader said:

...very long post...

Besides, I'm still convinced that due to Amy's personality never being consistent from game to game, all this talking of how she's an awesome character and has an unique personality, mostly comes from personal interpretation and not from the actual vision of SEGA of the character.

In fact, my interpretation of her is a lot different. I can't see her as interesting at all, and honestly I prefered her in the older games when she was used more to create those humorous gags about chasing Sonic, because at least she made me occasionally smile.

Amy doing a monologue to a different character to make him/her turn good is something that never appealed me, especially since there is nothing special in those words, just some generic happy-go-lucky and cheesy words such as life is good, be happy, friends are important (and anyway, that happend in the Adventure era and to an extent in the first rush game, and never again as far as I remember).

My personal vision of Amy is more comparable to Silver. She's a differently colored hedgehog (strongly based on Sonic), she's only unique because of a gimmick (a weapon in the case of Amy, a superpower in the case of Silver), and to compensate the lack of uniqueness, they mostly rely on narrative (plot, story, role, interactions, backstory) to make her stand out, or else she would be just a pink Sonic.

I'm fine with both Amy and Silver, don't get me wrong, I think they both have gameplay potential, though, character wise and design wise I consider them as some of the least interesting in the franchise; I blame seniority (especially the fact that she comes from Sonic CD, one of the original classics), and the "main 3" being all male, for the fact she's still around and made so relevant nowadays. This also applies to Metal Sonic, who I think took away one of the most interesting aspects of the Sonic series: Eggman trying so bad to make a robotic Sonic clone, each time in a different way and with different technology (the several Mecha/Silver Sonics and Knuckleses). Thanks to this, we are now stuck with a character that's a metallic Sonic clone and has little to nothing interesting and unique compared to him, aside of being able to create electric fields around him and occasionally become Kai for nostalgia's sake; what's worst is that instead of getting interesting new bossfights, we are just getting portings of the Stardust Speedway bossfight almost every time.

[Almar]

4 hours ago, Skull Leader said:

I'm very certain that no one would give a warm welcome to a younger, cuter character that were to try to replace Tails on his very own field of contributions, leaving Tails with nothing other than being fixated on Sonic

But didn't that happen anyway (Chip, OC)? :^)

Anyway, I'll agree that Cream in many ways comes off as being an attempt to revisit Amy's character from Genesis to Dreamcast (that is, the younger bystander girl who got roped into Sonic and Eggman's war who also can sometimes dispense wisdom) with some Tails thrown in (flight and being less aggressive/boisterous/bratty than Amy). I also agree her character hasn't really been handled well from a variety of what to blame (making her look unhinged and a borderline villain rather than just bratty, trying too hard to play down her brattyness for making her more of an inoffensive team mommy/support).

That said, I wouldn't call her as forced as Knuckles is.

[Cuz]

Quote

But didn't that happen anyway (Chip, OC)? :^)

The fanbase was so starved for Chao Gardens they were willing to let anything with wings and 2 feet tall in.  

[Fire-N-Space]

Just now, Iko said:

Besides, I'm still convinced that due to Amy's personality never being consistent from game to game, all this talking of how she's an awesome character and has an unique personality, mostly comes from personal interpretation and not from the actual vision of SEGA of the character.

In fact, my interpretation of her is a lot different. I can't see her as interesting at all, and honestly I prefered her in the older games when she was used more to create those humorous gags about chasing Sonic, because at least she made me occasionally smile.

Amy doing a monologue to a different character to make him/her turn good is something that never appealed me, especially since there is nothing special in those words, just some generic happy-go-lucky and cheesy words such as life is good, be happy, friends are important (and anyway, that happend in the Adventure era and to an extent in the first rush game, and never again as far as I remember).

My personal vision of Amy is more comparable to Silver. She's a differently colored hedgehog (strongly based on Sonic), she's only unique because of a gimmick (a weapon in the case of Amy, a superpower in the case of Silver), and to compensate the lack of uniqueness, they mostly rely on narrative (plot, story, role, interactions, backstory) to make her stand out, or else she would be just a pink Sonic.

I'm fine with both Amy and Silver, don't get me wrong, I think they both have gameplay potential, though, character wise and design wise I consider them as some of the least interesting in the franchise; I blame seniority (especially the fact that she comes from Sonic CD, one of the original classics), and the "main 3" being all male, for the fact she's still around and made so relevant nowadays. This also applies to Metal Sonic, who I think took away one of the most interesting aspects of the Sonic series: Eggman trying so bad to make a robotic Sonic clone, each time in a different way and with different technology (the several Mecha/Silver Sonics and Knuckleses). Thanks to this, we are now stuck with a character that's a metallic Sonic clone and has little to nothing interesting and unique compared to him, aside of being able to create electric fields around him and occasionally become Kai for nostalgia's sake; what's worst is that instead of getting interesting new bossfights, we are just getting portings of the Stardust Speedway bossfight almost every time.

Amy personality is very consistent from game to game as she is in love with Sonic and means business when doing so in most of the games she's in she has an unique personality that's different from the others which is to love Sonic.