"We don't know how long the gap between them is, you know."

Why does that matter anyway? And we do. Some games are stated to take place months after each other, and others are confirmed to be direct sequels. You just have to play them.

That's not what the comment was referring to.

Reference previous games doesn't mean they immediately happen after said previous game. There is a gap immediately those with some exceptions of course like Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles.

Example is Rush and Rush Adventure. We know Rush Adventure is a sequel to Rush, and they reference Rush. But the amount of time between those games is never said.

That's where IDW fits in, it fits in the gap in time between the end of Forces and the start of Frontiers story, to explain what the characters were doing during that time frame.

How does that make the games inconsistent though?

Not sure, but seeing as Modern Metal Sonic is a thing, doesn't seem ludicrous that Eggman would bring Metal Knuckles back.

@DiegoUreta68

It's not saying the games are inconsistent (that's was just joke that is sort of true), it was more saying that IDW being there wouldn't be inconsistent to the timeline if include, since it fills that gap between Forces and Frontiers.

Depending on how you see it, Team Sonic Racing does that. And I don't know why slapping a comic series in between two games will make the timeline more consistent. Specially when it's still ongoing and hasn't given Sonic Frontiers time to breathe.

@DiegoUreta68

Oh it doesn't make it consistent. It just is a way to explain or fill time during the gap between Forces and Frontiers.

Also question for someone who didn't play TSR, did they directly reference Forces?

Also imagine if they let the comic follow Frontiers. Like they did a Tails miniseries in the style of the archie Knuckles series with Tails going on adventures like he said he was at the end of Frontiers.

Sonic Channel lists Team Sonic Racing as being set after Sonic Forces, but it doesn't directly reference that game apart from the mass-produced Death Egg Robots. In TailsTube Eggman implies that Sonic Forces was his last campaign before (presumably) Sonic Frontiers. Guess you could place the game as being either before or after Sonic Forces.

Anyway, back the topic at hand. It's possible Metal Knuckles could appear again. Especially given that Fang is in Superstar, we could see more of the more "forgotten" characters in games. Who knows, maybe he can be a boss in Superstars (maybe he can team up with Metal Sonic, or be a Knuckles campaign equivalent to Metal)

Jesus Christ, that is a lot of essays