What do you think the Sonic Universe would be like for a few games without Sonic the Hedgehog?

[S0NIC-Keyblade 007]

Okay, I just wanted to get some opinions of what some Sonic fans would believe this video game franchise would be like without the main star for a few games. First off, when I ask "What do you think the Sonic Universe would be like for a few games without Sonic the Hedgehog?", I'm not talking about a game where Sonic is just pushed off to the sidelines like he was in Shadow the Hedgehog, I literally mean a game without the blue hedgehog as if he was dead, yes I said it dead. Okay, now I know Sonic is gonig be at my house in a flash to beat me up for saying that but just think for a momment, don't you think that if Sonic were to disappear for a while that some characters would be able to go through some character development? And about Sonic being dead, he doesn't necessarily have to die and come back a few games later, he could just leave or get sucked into another dimension or something and then return, I just thought death would have a really drammatic effect on the Sonic characters a give a reason for character development.

Let's say at the end of a new Sonic game Sonic dies before the final boss fight where (surprise!) Super Sonic is to expectingly appear to finish off the random monster of the week. I know that this concept has already been used in Sonic 06 but let's say that this time Sonic remains dead and it's up to another character to save the day. I'll go with Tails since I always thought that he would be a good candidate that would try to be the hero if Sonic wasn't around (like in Sonic Adventure for example). So it's up to Tails to step up to the plate and be the hero of the day, through out Tails's fight he realizes that Sonic isn't going to be around for ever it is now up to him to continue Sonic's legacy for the sake of his best friend.

Well that was just one idea for a character development that I had for Tails , but for the other characters, I was thinking maybe if Sonic was gone Amy would learn to take care of herself more and that she doesn't have to base her entire life on a crush that she has. Ask for Eggman, I don't know if he would be as happy as a clown that his greatest enemy was finally gone, or as bored as a sack of beans that his best rival is no more. I believe Eggman can go through some great character development with Sonic out of the picture. With Sonic gone, maybe we can see a more sensitive and compassionate Eggman as he constantly asks himself "what do I do now?" since their is pretty much fun in terrorizing earth without having Sonic fight back. Or we can see a more devilish side of Eggman as he realizes "their is no one in this world to stop me, let the Eggman Empire begin" and begins to easily conquer most of the world only to have a little trouble conquering a small portion of the planet which is constantly defended by Tails and the rest of the cast of Sonic characters (sorta like how Dr. Robotnik has conquered most of Mobius in SATAM).

Now for Shadow, it seemed that Shadow has been an agent of GUN in Sonic 06 so I'm sure that Shadow had a natural since of justice in his own way and would like to help protect humanity from any evil that come across his way. With Sonic out of the way and not much defense against evil left on earth, perhaps Shadow can also like Tails step up to the plate and become more of a hero and at the same time begin to see some of the good things that life has to ofer and help continue Sonic's legacy.

Okay it's getting pretty late where I live so I'm going to have to cut this short but anyway, I just wanted to get people's opinions on the idea of Sonic out of a few games. Now I just wanted to say that I love Sonic with all my heart as a franchise and as a character, but I would also like to see some other chacters develop as well, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, and all these other great characters have a lot of potential, I would just like to see that potential put into action a little that's all. I know that the Sonic franchise isn't an anime like Dragon Ball Z where characters develop over time but I just wanted to hear some peoples thought on this "What if" type of question.

[Indigo Rush]

Ugh. Maybe as it's own spinoff thing, but not now. Sonic has yet to return to his status as a product of consistently good games.

[S0NIC-Keyblade 007]

Ugh. Maybe as it's own spinoff thing, but not now. Sonic has yet to return to his status as a product of consistently good games.

Oh yeah that was a point I forgot to mention in my post, but maybe "as it's own spinoff thing" it can reside on the consoles for a couple years and Sonic can stay on his handheld titles between those couple years so fans don't feel that the main star is being too left out of his own series? Just a thought I had.

[JezMM]

There's no way it'd ever happen, and not just because Sonic is the main star, but after negative fan feedback on Heroes and Shadow, I think Sonic Team will be too afraid to have storylines that require chronological playing for full understanding for quite a while.

Personally... I wouldn't want to see it. Not for multiple games. Have Sonic go missing for a sizeable chunk of a single game's storyline is fine as long as the gameplay can provide - and would still allow for the great character development it would provide.

It makes me think of Sonic X Episode 52... Seeing all the characters (even Eggy himself) getting upset over Sonic's absence in their own special ways made for a delightful half-episode.

[Badnik Zero]

The series would do terribly, and that's because it's called Sonic the Hedgehog. He's the one people come to see, for the most part. The absent hero thing is cool for storylines, and maybe it'd make a good comic arc, but the game series wouldn't last if anyone was lead to believe that Blue wasn't coming back. He's "died" before. We got a scare in SA2 and he got shot down in '06. Notice how he doesn't stay down. Games like Sonic's aren't episodic stories, you can't really tell fans "to be continued", which is why something like this could never happen. A "Sonic is Missing" kind of game might work, but that's in spinoff territory. Regardless, spinoffs shouldn't really count as Sonic games. If Sega has a seriously fun concept that they wanna apply to one of the cast, they can make that a whole new thing. Wario games twist Mario gameplay and make it something new. Spinoffs in this series so far have either been too close to proper Sonic or too boring by themselves.

Edited September 16, 2009 by Ezra the Badnik

[Matriculated]

As a story it could be interesting. As an idea to be implemented into a game franchise (especially this one), I don't see how it could work.

I don't think much would change; most of the characters have already proven they can be pro-active heroes even when Sonic isn't around. The only person it would really effect is Eggman (losing his greatest nemesis without being the person to defeat him).

And I guess there's a chance Amy will suffer depression and kill herself.

Edited September 16, 2009 by Matriculated

[CapnCloudchaser]

Well, Chaotix didn't have Sonic on it, as Knuckles and co were somewhere else dealing with Eggman. Plus, at the start of Sonic Chronicles they imply they had to cope with things without Sonic being there.

[Tweaker]

I'd say that it could be an interesting concept, but then I thought about it, and every single spin-off in the series that focused on another character so far has been sub-par at best, if not completely terrible. Shadow the Hedgehog and Tails' Adventure come to mind. I don't really think you can have a solid Sonic game unless Sonic at least stars.

There is one exception, and one exception alone--Knuckles' Chaotix was a brilliant game. That's mostly explained by the fact that Mighty is Sonic in a wig, though; add on the fact that Sonic and Tails were originally supposed to be in the game, and you have the only solid reason why it didn't bomb. =P

[AdventChild]

Ever since ShTH bombed, I kind doubt it and might not work or bring to full potential. Also, this is Sonic's franchise not someone other Sonic char's so it would be best to have Sonic as the main char and focus for a Sonic game. Another thing is that people want to see Sonic more than any other char in the franchise, and that there are too many of them, and hardly as popular. I mean Sega wouldn't get much profit if a game stars an unpopular or least popular char that hardly anyone likes would lead to low, slow sales. Who would want a Cream game? Maybe the Cream fans, but there could a small fanbase for her, and of course, not enough sales or people buying into it because they don't like her, not as cool, too slow, weak gameplay and/or just waiting for Sonic to show up again.

Edited September 16, 2009 by AdventChild

[blackherox]

Erm Sonic the Hedgehog for the 360/PS3 was a lot worse than any of the character spin off games (and that had Sonic and tails in it) so I wouldn't hold the idea of a different against the concept of making more character spin off games. Either Sonic Team step up their game a tad or give the project to someone else in Sega/outsource. Then Sonic Team can focus solely on Sonic games (poor Sonic Team and their lack of creative freedom) and other devs get to experiment with the other characters.

[JaidynReiman]

I don't mind have some spinoff games that don't really feature Sonic. I've been hoping that they start delving into plots related to other characters, frankly. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have any games during a period of time not featuring Sonic, though; and even then, he should at least cameo in some way in the spinoff.

[S0NIC-Keyblade 007]

Ever since ShTH bombed, I kind doubt it and might not work or bring to full potential. Also, this is Sonic's franchise not someone other Sonic char's so it would be best to have Sonic as the main char and focus for a Sonic game. Another thing is that people want to see Sonic more than any other char in the franchise, and that there are too many of them, and hardly as popular. I mean Sega wouldn't get much profit if a game stars an unpopular or least popular char that hardly anyone likes would lead to low, slow sales. Who would want a Cream game? Maybe the Cream fans, but there could a small fanbase for her, and of course, not enough sales or people buying into it because they don't like her, not as cool, too slow, weak gameplay and/or just waiting for Sonic to show up again.

Yeah I know Sonic is the main star and people love to see him more than any other character in the series, but Sonic is not the only character in this series who has potential. Gameplay would probably be a tragedy without Sonic the Hedgehog running 300 miles per hour so I understand that Sega probably would not take the risk of creating a game not having Sonic as the main star anytime soon, but when I made this topic I really wasn't neccesarily focusing on the game play on Sonic games but more of the story and character development of Sonic games. Okay, I know that story has never really been a strong point in Sonic games but let's just take a look at Sonic Adventure for example, at the end of Tails's story. Sonic was no where around Station Square at the momment since he fell off the Egg Carrier and into the Mstic Ruins area. Eggman was about to demolish Station Square but luckily Tails was around to for the first time step up to the plate and take the hero role that is usually reserved by Sonic. Tails again continues this trend in Sonic Adventure 2 when he battles against Eggman on the Ark where once again Sonic is out of the picture. But the whole concept of Tails begginning to be able to fight on his on was trashed during Sonic Heroes, and today as Sega is trying to focus more on Sonic (which I will agree is a good thing), Tails keeps becoming pushed further and further down to the role of a mere side-character. Tails had great potential in the Adventure series and proved that he too can be a hero like Sonic, especially when Sonic's not around to save the day, so I would still like to see some character development for him and other characters in the future.

And just to reply to your comment on Cream, believe it or not but there are Cream fans out there who would would love to see Cream get her own game, but those fans aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. I remeber there was an invisionfree forum dedicated to Cream the Rabbit created a long time ago, I believe the name was "Cream Dream" I lost the link to it though, I'll have to find it again sometime.

Games like Sonic's aren't episodic stories, you can't really tell fans "to be continued", which is why something like this could never happen.

Well they did do that in Sonic Chronicals: The Dark Brotherhood.

Edited September 16, 2009 by S0NIC Toadstool