These games are probably part of the Sonic canon. However, there isn’t enough evidence to completely validate them.
Chaotix
- (Mega Drive 32X, 1996)
Status of Knowledge: Manual story: translated || Character profiles: translated || Strategy guide: doesn't exist
What stops this from being a definite canon game? While some of the game was based on rejected designs produced by Sonic Team (in particular, the work of Naoto Oshima), Sonic Team did not actually directly work on the game, a fact that both Iizukia and Naka have reiterated in interviews conducted after the release of Sonic Heroes (Click for Naka Interview || Iizukia Interview).
Although some of the characters appear in the definite canon game, Sonic Heroes, it is not clear if they are appearing as established or new characters. For example, Charmy appears to have no knowledge of Dr Eggman even though the egg-shaped scientist was the chief villain in Chaotix. There are also no explicit references to the events of Chaotix.
In an interview, Iizukia states "In my mind, I didn't bring back the Team Chaotix characters from the past […] it's not a matter of bringing up old characters… we recreated those characters from the ground up". This comment could be read as suggesting that Heroes disregards their original 32X debut. However, later in the same interview he explains, "Even Charmy and Espio used to be like Sonic…for this title, though, we brought them back in a very different way.". This makes it uncertain if he is talking in terms of character design or story continuity. In an earlier interview with EGM, Iizukia announces that the robot Sonic villain in Heroes is "brand-new villain, very similar to Metal Sonic. We have the original designer here on campus who is updating the character…". When the game was released, it became clear that Iizukia was only talking about Metal Sonic in terms of character design. This suggests that his comments about the Chaotix may also have little to do with their story continuity.
Why might this be a canon game? The story itself does not contradict the main Sonic story lines and makes several references to it (particularly the events of Sonic 3 & Knuckles). The characters later appeared in the definite canon game, Sonic Heroes, which draws heavily on the character profiles provided with the game. Although Heroes contains no explicit references to Chaotix, there are many implicit ones:
1. Espio, Vector and Charmy call themselves Team Chaotix, which could be a reference to the name of their 1996 adventure. Their character profiles also adhere to those provided with the 32X game (For example, Vectors’ love of music, Espio's detective occupation).
2. In Sonic Heroes, Espio, Vector and Charmy are depicted as having an established friendship. Chaotix, however, establishes how they first came to know each other.
3. Unlike Charmy, Espio is familiar with Dr Eggman and this could be a reference to Chaotix as the self-proclaimed genius only appears in the opening and ending of the game. In the opening of their 32-bit debut, only Knuckles and Espio are shown meeting Eggman. In the ending, the player has the choice of which characters to use battle to the scientist, creating the possibility for player to select characters that do not actually take part in the boss showdowns. Vector and Charmy are never actually shown meeting Eggman in the computer controlled cut-scenes.
4. Charmy’s lack of knowledge of Eggman could be an attempt to mock him. Team Chaotix are shown to keep posters of Eggman’s robots in the opening of their game, which trivialises Charmy’s lack of familiarity with Eggman.
Charmy's comments follow Espio's phrase "That's the evil genius, Dr Eggman" and so further suggest he is mocking Eggman's genius status.
5. In the Metal Overload boss section of Sonic Heroes, Vector talks about Knuckles' punches. This suggests that he had a pre-existing familiarity with the echidna and his attack moves.
Vector talks about Knuckles' punches. The dialogue is written in a story based form (as opposed to a tutorial format)
Although these implicit references may be unintentional, it seems odd that Sonic Team would, for example, choose Charmy to be the one who isn’t familiar with Eggman, when they could have just have easily used Espio and thus explicitly exclude Chaotix from the story line (The same applies to Espio and Vector being the ones who are respectively knowledgeable about Eggman’s identity and Knuckles’ attack moves). As a result, it is very likely that Chaotix is a valid part of the canon.
Sonic the Fighters
- (Arcade, 1996)
Status of Knowledge: Manual story: unobtained || Character profiles: unobtained || Strategy guide: doesn't exist
What stops this from being a definite canon game? A Sonic Team logo is not present in the game (although the team is mentioned in the in-game credits). The major new characters and events introduced in this game have not appeared in later titles (not that there is any need for them to).
Why might this be a canon game? Sonic Team were involved with the original conception of the title and provided support during the development phase. The story and characters of the game adhere to the conventions established by Sonic Team’s work (apart from the presence of an eighth Chaos Emerald, although this isn’t too problematic as later games have proposed the concept of artificial Emeralds. Note also that Tails, who is later shown creating fake Emeralds in Sonic Adventure 2, is the one who possess the eighth gem).
Four items introduced in this game have since been reused in later definite canon games (both explicitly and implicitly). These include Amy’s Piko Piko Hammer, Tails Work shop, Tails’s whip move (all of which were reused in Sonic Adventure) and Espio’s ninja abilities (which was reused in Sonic Heroes). While the last three examples may be unintentional references the first one is very explicit.
Amy's Piko Piko Hammer even shares design similarities between the two games |
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The presence of a workshop between the two games may just be a coincidence. However, there are three key similarities between the two.
Both houses share a Tails' icon on the door, palm trees surrounding a run-way that is used for launching the Tornado and the presence of a near-by sea. |
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Where does it come in the series time line? The presence of Knuckles as an established character places this game some time after the events of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The story of Chaotix does not indicate if Knuckles had already befriended Espio. Therefore, it is possible for Sonic the Fighters to come either before or after Chaotix. However, given the release date of Sonic the Fighters, it is more likely to come after the 32X game.
Sonic R
- (Saturn, 1998)
Status of Knowledge: Manual story: translated || Character profiles: untranslated || Strategy guide: checked
What stops this from being a definite canon game? A Sonic Team logo is not present in the game (although the game was listed on Sonic Team’s website). The characters/events introduced in this game have not appeared in later titles (not that there has been a need for this to happen).
Why might this be a canon game? Sonic Team were heavily involved with the design of this game, by conceiving the layout and appearance of the levels. (Yuji Naka was actually the producer of the title). In an interview, Yuji Naka stated that time constraints required them to use Travelers Tales to handle the programming side of the development process. The music in this game has been frequently reused in later definite canon games. The story and characters of the game adhere to the conventions established by Sonic Team’s games.
Where does it come in the series time line? The presence of Knuckles and Amy as established characters places the game after the Mega Drive series. In Japan this was released after Sonic the Fighters but before Sonic 3D, so it most likely takes place between these titles.
Sonic 3D
- (Mega Drive, 1997; Saturn, 1997 - Released in Japan in 1999)
Status of Knowledge: Manual story: untranslated || Character profiles: untranslated || Strategy guide: doesn't exist
What stops this from being a definite canon game? A Sonic Team logo is not present in the game (although the game was listed on Sonic Team’s website). The characters/events introduced in this game have not appeared in later titles (not that there has been a need for this to happen).
Why might this be a canon game? Both Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima acted as advisors for the title. The special stages in the Saturn version were produced by Sonic Team. The Japanese edition of the Saturn game was also released by Sonic Team. In an interview, Yuji Naka stated that time constraints required them to use Travelers Tales to develop their initial ideas into a finished game. The story and characters of the game adhere to the conventions established by Sonic Team’s games.
Where does it come in the series time line? The presence of Knuckles as an established character allows this game to come anytime after Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The Flickies from this game together with artefacts from the opening Green Grove stage later appeared in Sonic R. This suggests that the game must come before Sonic R. (Thanks to Crazy Penguin for this obeservation).
Sonic Pocket Adventure
- (Neo Geo Pocket Color, 2000)
Status of Knowledge: Manual story: doesn't || Character profiles: don't exist || Strategy guide: doesn't exist
What stops this from being a definite canon game? A Sonic Team logo is not present in the game. The major events introduced in this game have not appeared in later titles (not that there has been a need for this to happen).
Why might this be a canon game? Yuji Naka supervised the title as a producer. The story and characters of the game adhere to the conventions established by Sonic Team’s games. In the game, Knuckles appears to have a special affinity towards a particular Chaos Emerald. In the definite canon game, Sonic Battle, we are told that Knuckles keeps a Chaos Emerald, which may be a subtle reference to his depiction in Pocket Adventure.
Where does it come in the series time line? In Japan the game was released after Sonic Adventure, but before Sonic Adventure 2. However, as it features the Chaos Emeralds it cannot come between these games (as Tails retains his Chaos Emerald between these two titles). As the game features characters not later seen in the Adventure games (such as the animal friends), it probably comes just before Sonic Adventure.
Sonic Shuffle
- (Dreamcast 2000)
Status of Knowledge: Manual story: translated || Character profiles: untranslated || Strategy guide: doesn't exist
What stops this from being a definite canon game? A Sonic Team logo is not present in the game (Although they are mentioned in the in-game credits). The major events introduced in this game have not appeared in later titles (not that there has been a need for this to happen).
Why might this be a canon game? The game was supervised by Sonic Team. The story and characters of the game adhere to the conventions established by Sonic Team’s games.
Where does it come in the series time line? The game was released after Sonic Adventure, but before Sonic Adventure 2. As the game doesn’t feature the Chaos Emeralds, it is possible for it to come between these two titles (note that many of the characters retain their abilities from Sonic Adventure).