When Did the Modern Era Definitively Begin/When Did the Dreamcast Era End?

[Bortificatin]

Throughout the years, the Sonic community has divided the franchise into distinct  "Eras" that have their own identity, aesthetic, and tone.

The eras I generally see agreed upon are:

• The Classic Era (Genesis/Saturn Games and everything else associated with them)
• The Dreamcast Era (the Adventure games, Heroes, Advance games, etc)
• The "Modern" Era (aka the Boost era, as well as a couple games preceding them such as 06)
• The Meta Era (everything after Generations until Frontiers, although have heard some people argue Colors and Generations itself also count)
• The Current Era, have also heard Post-Modern Era being used as well (Frontiers and Superstars onward)

Sonic Generations has helped into dividing and addressing the first couple of eras, and there 06 is considered part of Modern, and it gives Heroes as a late point for the Dreamcast era. But when did the modern era begin in the first place (and the Dreamcast era end)? Would stuff like Shadow, Rush, and Riders count as Dreamcast era due to preceding 06? Could Shadow itself be considered part of the Modern era due to beginning to stray from the Adventure formula (as well as being one of the first games to use the 4Kids voices)? Although on that end I still kinda consider Shadow to be Dreamcast due to being a direct follow-up to Heroes and having a lot of the same aesthetics (and IIRC being made on the same engine although I could be wrong). One of my friends argue that Sonic Rush should count as a potential starting point for the Modern era, she pointed to it being the first game to use the Boost formula.

Regardless, I wanna hear everyone's stance on this topic.

[Rabid-Coot]

1991 its actually always the modern era and the further classification happens after time passes.

[GX -The Spindash-]

There are only two definitive eras, and I use "definitive" because SEGA has very much defined them via branding guidelines: it is either classic or modern.

There are very real branding guidelines and branding separation that draw distinction between the two insomuch that when licensing the series for merchandise, you may only be getting one or the other (at least, that was the case for someone I periodically chat with that made a licensed Sonic product). It even goes as far as the two having separate merchandise packaging standards. If you ever look at classic and modern Jakks Pacific figures side by side, they use different color schemes, era-specific logos, and classic gets a big red banner delineating it as such.

(Jakks is the easiest point of comparison, but I have products from other companies that use the same branding templates and styles as above).

And SEGA's pretty explicit in saying that, regardless of whatever the stated in-universe timeline is, there are simply a number of characters, stages, etc... that are not permitted to cross the era gap. I know there are plenty of fans that argue that they shouldn't for one reason or another, but the reason that a company would do it is to make the explicit statement that this is two distinct brands, not one.

Anything beyond classic/modern isn't really definitive, it's just fans arguing about vague taxonomies based on mushy, inconsistent patterns.

We -might- see some form of additional meaningful "era" separation as interviews regarding Frontiers want to suggest, but I'm kinda skeptical, and it's still too early to meaningfully play out. I'm personally in favor of Frontiers' ending and IDW's sort of isolated time pocket leading the series to some sort of meaningful time skip to help clean up, realign, and otherwise freshen up the series, but... who knows.

[Kazhnuz]

The separation varies the most, and honestly, most of them are bad in different ways, because most of the time the "era" aren't made to really separate the game into stuff that people "likes" or "not likes", in order to say "this era is bad, this era is good". I've got issues with most of the classification between of that. Now, most separation are a bit fluid because the games always derivate a bit from the preceding game. The only "strong" separation is the Classic-Adventure one, but even this one is a bit muddy because some Classic stuff where still in Adventure 1 and gone in Adventure 2.

Some issue I have with the commons separation are : The "Meta" Era is something I'll always fight, as stuff really different are called "meta" just for the sake of "we don't like that", and the two common separation don't work.

-> Using post-Generation doesn't work as Generation is the most meta game (for good reason), and that Forces is basically "we try to ride Generation success too". The biggest argument for that is that Lost World is different, and that Forces is worse… but like the infamous "Dark Age" separation, it's not a good way to define eras, as they should be more defined by larger-picture qualities of the games.

-> Using Colors as a starting point is even worse, as Colors and Generations build a lot from Unleashed obviously (the biggest difference are the wisps and the plateforming which is more blocky… But most often, people think about the story… which also except the use of different US writers had his root in Unleashed, which added the more comedic aspects)

So for me, the Meta Era is to be removed, at first. A lot of its aspect started with Unleashed, and there is a continuum of aspects between Unleashed and Forces.

 

It also answer the beggining of the Modern (which I prefer to call the "Boost" era because calling Modern something is always a trap because after that you have post-modern, post-post modern, etc) is that for me it's Unleashed. It start many of the elements of the following game (even if it retain some elements of the previous, there is some fluidity always) : the boost gameplay, the more lighthearted tone, the use of Sonic as the only character, and a design style which (except Lost World) is kinda cohesive during this whole time.

So my era are a bit :

-> Classic era : pre-Adventure

-> Adventure era : Adventure-2006 with some messy parts

-> Boost era : Unleashed-Forces with some messy parts

-> Frontiers era : Frontiers and next games ?

Now I don't use the "Generation" eras, because they're not made for classification, but for gameplay : they add 9 levels and needed to divide them in equals era. So 06 in the "modern era" is more of a result of a constraint than them thinking that it's a strong division of era (especially as we know that for the Sonic Team, the Adventure/Dreamcast and Boost are aren't a separate things, they see the boost era as a continuation of what I call the Adventure era)

 

The I also tend to put Rush in the Boost era, because even if it was two character, Blaze is in this game Sonic mostly reskinned. The storybook I mostly hesitate, storywise they are more similar to the preceding era, but gameplay wise they contain some elements that'll be in the Boost era. They're a bit of a transition… but not really as the same time, as the similarity are certainly more of an accident that we could think.

All this shows that the separations into "eras" create a lot of issues, as basically a lot of game simply won't fit well, especially in the side projects. Maybe a possibility would be to have separate eras for portable/neo-2D games (which would also create question where Sonic 4 fit exactly).

Or maybe the good ol' classic-modern era limitation create less troubles.

Edited April 28 by Kazhnuz

[The DOMinator]

I remember hearing somewhere that Iizuka clarified this at some point in time, stating that the Adventure Era ended with Sonic Advance 3 and the Modern Era began with Sonic Rush. After doing a bit of research, he apparently said this at Sonic Boom 2013, and yet, all I can find is secondhand accounts of the conversation. It's kind of backed up by Sonic Generations however, as Sonic Rush's Water Palace is included within the Modern Era in the 3DS version of the game, although, one of Heroes' boss fights is also included in the same era, despite the game's HD counterpart placing it (the game) in the Dreamcast Era. Even if he said it though, that was about a decade ago. Things are constantly being changed and altered behind the scenes, especially as of late. I'm pretty sure even he has taken back previous statements of his. This is kind of where what@GX -The Spindash-said comes into play, as only the Classic and Modern Eras are currently being marketed, defined, etc. There may not even be a Dreamcast Era anymore (which would be kind of odd, with Generations' remaster coming soon). Regardless, that doesn't seem to be too bad of an ending/starting point, with how Rush introduces the Boost formula.

[MetalSkulkBane]

3 hours ago, Kazhnuz said:

So my era are a bit :

-> Classic era : pre-Adventure

-> Adventure era : Adventure-2006 with some messy parts

-> Boost era : Unleashed-Forces with some messy parts

-> Frontiers era : Frontiers and next games ?

That's my take as well. Few extra thoughts.
- While Modern/Classic split will always be the most coherent, it's silly to say 16+ years of Sonic are the same Modern Sonic.

- People who split 06 from SA1 and SA2 are just in denial. This is almost the same type of game, just done badly.

- Side games like Rush of Advance series don't matter when we focus on the big picture. Little details will never fit perfectly. The start of the Renaissance didn't mean all people at once left their Medieval Traditions.

- I admit, it's tempting to push Boost Era to 2010, since Pontaf & Graff, new voice actors, etc. However I believe the colossal failure of Sonic 06 was the key reason why Boost Era was so different Adventure Era, thus it deserves to be the breaking point. Plus, this is GAME franchise, so GAMEplay change to boost should matter more than a change of tone. Honestly, it's a happy coincidence those things align so much.

Also I hate calling anything "modern era" because of how obviously wrong that inevitably becomes.

Edited April 28 by MetalSkulkBane

[Thigolf]

The eras are a marketing thing for Generations. That's where it starts, that's where it ends, in my opinion.

The eras got established in Generations, simply because they had 9 levels, wanted to split them up evenly in three segments with a boss at the end, so they named them. Not even ingame, mostly in the promotional material so they could name the trailers something. That's all there ever was to it. Even within Generations, naming the middle era "Dreamcast Era" while having a game that wasn't even on Dreamcast is questionable at best.

But I get it - fans latched onto it, because it's kinda convenient to categorize the games in some way, right? It's just that it simply doesn't work for a franchise that is as wildly inconsistent - heck, I think it doesn't work for most franchises period.

We have games in the vein of Classic, technically the first era, in 2017 and 2023, how do they slot into "Boost Era" or "Open World Era"? Do they not count? Even if you look at Sonic Team games only, we went in the 2000s and 2010s from Boost > Boost > Boost > Parkour Game > Boost, what do you call that? People started calling it "Meta Era", simply because the writing was from the same guys since Colors, but if you'd categorize it that way, you'd have to leave out Unleashed, but that's clearly a Boost game and would just be seperated from its other games with the same gameplay. Many put 06 seperate from SA1, 2, Heroes and Shadow, despite them obviously being, at the core, really similiar, just because Generations did it. I've seen people differentiate the eras from when voice actors switched, but that just seems as arbitrary as anything else.

Bottom line: It just doesn't work.

Say Boost Games when you mean the Boost games. When you wanna talk about writing, mention Pontac and Graff, for example. If you wanna discuss about voice actors, just use their names and not the vague time period they voiced the games in. If you wanna compare games to other games, just name them. But forcing something like multiple year overarching eras, as if there long term plan, into a franchise that often changes direction or focus on incredibly short, unpredictable notice is just a fool's errand.

 

 

Edited April 28 by Thigolf

[MetalSkulkBane]

1 hour ago, Thigolf said:

The eras are a marketing thing for Generations. That's where it starts, that's where it ends, in my opinion. (...) Bottom line: It just doesn't work.

Are Middle Ages or Renaissance a real thing?

When exactly Childchood end and Teenagechood start?

Does every song neatly fit into "Jazz", "Metal" or any other category?

Something we group things into categories (periods in this case), even if lines are blurry. I know a very good blog that splits Disney into 9 distinct eras, even though no one planned it that way.

[JezMM]

Agreed with Thigolf, this was a thing they came up with for Generations and fans have latched onto it because we're all complete nerds who love to make lists and categories for things.  As far as SEGA is concerned, the modern branch of the franchise began with Sonic Adventure, simple as.

They even stated this around the time of Generations, when fans asked why there aren't three Sonics with Dreamcast Sonic-esque gameplay.  It was so long ago now, but their response was along the lines of "...but Dreamcast Sonic and Modern Sonic are the same guy.  Boost gameplay IS "Dreamcast Sonic" gameplay" - because in their minds, Boost was just the latest iteration of what began with Sonic Adventure 1's 3D Sonic gameplay, not a different thing.

It really comes down to personal preference on where you want to make the divides, and these things are pretty flexible. I can't help but want to categorise things myself, but 2006 is a sticking point - I feel it has more in common with the "Dreamcast era" as is known, but it's hard to not group it with Unleashed through to Generations due to Generations' categorisation and its HD nature.  And then you have Unleashed to confuse things a bit as well - that game came out on the PS2 you know, same console as Heroes and Shadow!  It's just best not to get hung up on these things, the search for a definite, final definition of the eras everyone can agree on just won't happen, so it is better to use nuance and refer to time periods within the franchise as is relevant to the discussion that warrants it.

Edited April 28 by JezMM

[Wraith]

If you need categorization more complicated than the ones sega provides(I think Classic and Modern generally works, Dreamcast Sonic doesn't count as a separate thing just because some fans stopped enjoying the games imo) The series separates pretty cleanly into decades, with the turn of each one signalling some sort of large pivot in terms of branding, even if it's not always one in terms of gameplay.

[Kazhnuz]

The separation of Sonic in "eras" (just not with that names) have existed before Generations. There where a "oldschool"/"newschool" separation in the old french Sonic forum I was on since a while, and the idea that the boost era was something separated from what was before was something that was started to be talked on *since the release of Unleashed* (with people saying there were something more different with this game than with previous games. Of course, if Unleashed would have been a one-off it wouldn't be the beggining of an era. Likewise, if Frontiers had been a failure and the next game would have been Colors 2 Revenge of the Wisps, Frontiers would just have been an outlier of the boost era).

Sonic Generation have mostly solidified the idea of "three eras" instead of two (and then fans started the "4/5 eras" stuff with the "Dark Age" and the "Meta Era"), and the name "era". But the will to classify stuff in different temporal periods with similar aspect always have existed (well not when it was something new, you understand me XD), and is pretty normal in a long-running series with a lot of games.

The issue is more when the concept of era is used more to says "this was better"/"this was worse" (which in a funny way is the exact same problem that comes with some usage of historical era like the middle age. The biggest different is that in the IP with the funny blue rat that run fast, this is quite inconsequential and having bad methodology doesn't have big consequences)

9 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

- Side games like Rush of Advance series don't matter when we focus on the big picture. Little details will never fit perfectly. The start of the Renaissance didn't mean all people at once left their Medieval Traditions.

Yep, that's true, the era should be seen as something more "big pictures" and global, and some games might not fit at all those eras, because they were done with separate needs and stuff, and that games takes times to come.

Edited April 28 by Kazhnuz

[Rabbitearsblog]

I personally just look at the Sonic games as "Classic Era" and "Modern Era." To me personally, breaking it up into the "Dark Era" or the "Meta Era" or the "Dreamcast Era" just makes things too confusing in deciding which era did this Sonic game come from.  I think it's a bit easier to look at it like "Sonic having his classic design in the 1990s is "Classic Sonic" and Sonic having his most recent design, starting with the Dreamcast games is "Modern Sonic."