User blog comment:Frederatorfan/Fire the current writing cast?/@comment-4850151-20120601055439/@comment-4802891-20120604072520

Sonic's story are always serious you know? Let's check (SPOILERS AHEAD)


 * Sonic 1 : Eggman is destroying nature, kidnapping animals, Sonic to the rescue! (Sonic's 8-bit specifics : South Island is cleansed from pollution) -- a neat message if you asked me)


 * Sonic 2 : Eggman is trying to conquer THE WORLD with his DeathStar-esque space station (Sonic's 8-bit specifics : Tails presumely died/disappeared if you don't save him)


 * Sonic CD : Eggman has captured an entire planet and uses its natural time-space bizzare-ness to create his utopia, threatening nature in the process. Same message as in Sonic 1, and it still works! (Amy's rescue is a bonus and in no mean the main focus of the plot... unlike a certain plumb-- I digress! Back on Sonic!)


 * Sonic 3 & Knuckles : Eggman is trying to rebuilt his Death Egg, he tricks the local guardian (which had no contact with the outerworld) that Sonic was the bad guy. The comparison between Sonic and Knuckles isn't as basic as "one is blue and fast, the other is red and strong"... it doesn't show well because there was no drama but one is free, the others binded to his fate.


 * Sonic Adventure : Chaos destroyed Knuckles' civilization because the soldiers "killed" the Chao and tried to steal the Emeralds. Some years later, he discovered that his friends had survived and are plenty now. His desire for vengeance and rage are gone, he's free of his fate.


 * Sonic Adventure 2 : Shadow was released and his only desire is to fulfill Gerald's wish : destroying humanity. When he finally remembered Maria's wish to love the world, he changes his mind... the execution isn't that well-done but it works nonetheless.


 * Sonic Heroes : ...ok, let's not talk about this one. It's just Metal Sonic who want to be stronger than Sonic because he thinks he is the real Sonic. I don't think we should look to much into that lol.


 * Shadow the Hedgehog : Shadow, after his reconciliation with humanity and convinient amnesia, despises humanity once again and is contacted by an alien race who wanna destroy Earth and feed on human beings. In the meantime, Shadow thinks he might be an android but no and he AGAIN has altered flashbacks of his past and suddenly Maria and Gerald tells him that "humanity is good" (again?) and he decided to save everyone and then cut his past.... because?... The story is still serious there right? A BIT TOO MUCH in my opinion...


 * Sonic 2006 : The princess, vessel of a disaster and young head of a kingdom, want to be free from duties, like her newly found friend/idol/lover. Sonic tells her to smile, take action and feel free with her duties. I really like this message because it is about finding pleasure in living one's own life :) // A guy from a distant future wants to kill a guy who is supposedly the cause of the destruction of his future. He questionned ONCE if it's bad and then won't care until he sees the truth. The message here is also interesting but the execution is really bad - then Sonic dies, and the dark-evil-one goes darker and more evil and decide to destroy the time contimum because it's his own purpose in life (yay) and then a kiss (helped by the Chaos Emeralds... or is it the other way?) revived Sonic and he goes golden with his two buddies and --- Ok you can see that after Sonic's death I don't care for the plot anymore... The final message though is good : if you can restart a life, would you do it considering you would lost both the bad parts AND good parts?


 * Sonic Unleashed : A little creature's destiny is to fight a huge creature. Sonic and he become friends but in the end, his fate leads to him being sealed again, making this a once-in-a-life friendship. The message is somewhat like the former game's, except this time the memories are kept. And there's the whole Werehog subplot but it's too underdone to be important. Good story, with as much humor as drama. A good mix. Sonic 3 & Knuckles would have been like that if there was voiced cutscenes at the time, I'm sure of it


 * Sonic Colors : Eggman built an amusement park, captured aliens and their planet in another wish to conquer the world. Same deal as in Sonic 1 and CD (replace animals and flowers with aliens) but the main difference is YACKER. The simple inclusion of this character, the hard work Tails put in understanding him, the friendship implied between him and the 2 heroes. The message isn't as strong as in Unleashed but there's once-in-a-life friendship implied here. As well as an environmental/colonial issue but that was obvious right?

Sorry for that long*** message but I had to do it. To conclude : Sonic's story have to be serious (unlike Mario's which always seem as trivial as "save the princess". I don't know for Galaxy though) but shouldn't be all that dramatic and overplayed as it always ends up bad and awkward. Sonic Colors might be cheerful and childish but the message is still there!

N.B : I haven't talked about Sonic 4 but the whole "I'll built my base around a planet" is nice but the ending of Episode II is so underwhelming it leaves a bitter taste. I can't say much until we get a proper conclusion. And Generations has no message in it so I won't talk about it!