the Lost Essence of the SONIC series + Reimagined Continuity

Maybe this topic shouldn't even matter to me at this point in my personal development, but.... here I go anyway:

Lots of people have given their opinions of where things went wrong for the Sonic the Hedgehog series over the years that I've seen.

But, while many good points about game-design & game-mechanics, have been brought up before, like the discrepancies between how the 2D games played versus how the 3D entries played; or criticism aimed at how newer levels were designed; or people who simply dislike the other characters in the cast; as well as the overall stories being told; there has been a quintessential quality to the very ethos of what motivated Sonic to begin with, that I personally have never seen anyone mention.

From the first game, a fundamental aspect of Sonic the Hedgehog was rescuing other animals from being enslaved as a power-source for manmade machines.

This particular background detail of the overall story-setting that Sonic's acting as the hero for, actually implicitly plots a trajectory for how the games could have been. Especially the abandoned plotline of "redeeming" Dr. Eggman and resolving the main conflict of humanity trying to exploit the natural-world for their own gain, without any regard for other living things.

To me, that could have been the thread that tied together everything from the Genesis games, to the Dreamcast games, to the Gamecube games, with a meaningful message to convey in the end, if that motivating factor had been kept as a consistent vision throughout them all.

Obviously, that aspect became de-emphasized in what the characters’ goals were in level-based gameplay, as well as more & more minimized in importance to the story, over time.

...

However, I imagined some years ago how the Sonic story could have gone if the "animal freedom VS machine slavery for humans" did bind together the continuity of the games released between the first Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis and the majorly-misguided Shadow the Hedgehog on the Gamecube.

Perhaps later games could also work within the "rescue animals from robots" theme, but since I stopped playing games altogether back then, I'm not familiar enough with any of them to include further entries beyond the place where I stopped.

So, here is a slight tweaking of the Sonic series, with elements added from other SEGA games like Phantasy Star Online & Jet Set Radio that surprisingly mesh very well with the Sonic story.

Sonic the Hedgehog 1

---The initial impetus for everything to come in the games, would commence with Humans overpopulating & over-polluting Planet Earth to the point that they were at risk of extinction without relocation to a new world.
(Much like how Planet Coral sent Pioneer 1 to find a habitable world like Planet Ragol).

---Behind the scenes, it would have been the Black Doom aliens who both provided Humans with the technology to abuse on Earth, and the even more advanced technology to travel through space. (For nebulously "evil reasons" of manipulating Humans for whatever demonic purpose that doesn't probably matter much.)

---Thus, Dr. Ivo Robotnik would be sent as the forerunner, to scout out and prepare the initial industrialization of a new world where the rest of Earth's Humans could then come and colonize.

---This would explain why Dr. Robotnik/Eggman was the only Human seen throughout most of the original Genesis-era games, before a major population of Humans were suddenly commonplace alongside the animal-people in the Dreamcast-era games.

---Either way, it is quite the sizable distance from Earth to the nearest life-sustaining star-system(s), so Eggman's voyage would take a long time. (And this would also help explain why the second-wave of humans took so long to arrive at the new world he would find. Thus allowing several games to take place before abrupt appearance of volonists wanting to land on the Planet that Dr. Robotnik finally finds & signals the okay for others to join him there.)

---And obviously, we could call the world which Dr. Robotnik/Eggman begins mechanizing as Planet Mobius. With the animal-people referred to as Mobians. To maintain the general familiarity that those terms once had, atleast on the US/EU side of the Sonic series.

---It would be soon after this that the events of the first game would actually begin. As robots start appearing in Green Hill Zone and Sonic starts saving other Mobians from robotization.

---Actual named side-characters could be among those that Sonic liberates from each & every Badnik, rather than anonymous animals who lack the bipedal nature of major characters.

---Which means that Sonic could witness somebody like Jet or Wave (from Sonic Riders) get robotized as the power-source for that very first Moto-Bug which approaches him in Green Hill Zone Act 1; rather than a random bird, bunny, or seal popping out of it.

---Same with almost any other minor-character from the games/cartoons/comics, who made their original debut at a later time, yet could be incorporated here from the start.

---To me, that would be a nice touch and give further continuity to the Mobians, instead of having them be oddly divided between "normal animals" that don't speak and "bipedal animal-people" who do talk.

---In any case, Sonic would rush towards danger, while the others would still flee from it.

---All the Rings floating around the environment could also be what Mobians "eat" to energize their bodies, instead of making meals out of other lifeforms, too.

---Not sure if Dr. Robotnik would have any use for Rings, or solely exploit the Mobians as the "bio batteries" for his many machines.

---But, at this point, neither Sonic nor Eggman would know about Chaos Emeralds yet. (Harkening to how you couldn't transform into Super Sonic with only the 6 included originally.)

---Regardless, the adventure would proceed through all the same Zones as normal, with Sonic busting Mobians out of robots and unlocking Prison Eggs.

---Each encounter with Dr. Robotnik/Eggman would permanently imbed Sonic as an escalating annoyance in the Human's mind, while he was trying to terraform the Planet.

---Which would become an outright obsessive vendetta by the end of Scrap Braim Zone that twists Dr. Robotnik/Eggman into a shift in his priorities.

---Although he would transmit long-distance messages back to the other Humans on Earth at first, eventually Eggman would be more fixated on just getting revenge on Sonic.

---This would set in motion three things.

---Firstly, the Humans on Earth would formulate the G.U.N. military organization, since they'd be aware that there were native Mobians resisting Eggman's attempt to colonize the Planet. So G.U.N. would be aware of Sonic from the start and prepare for hostility in advance.

---Secondly, since the Black Doom aliens were already manipulating Humans from behind-the-scenes, they would now begin the Project to create the Ultimate Lifeform, which would, of course, mean creating the Bio-Lizard and Shadow the Hedgehog from the template of Sonic, since the Blue Blur was the main Mobian resisting Eggman.

---Thirdly, it wouldn't only be Shadow who got designed specifically to counter Sonic at this point. Metal Sonic would be "in the works" from just before the end of the first game, but nowhere near ready to activate.

---Hence, some of Sonic's rivals would be coming into existence before their canonical back-stories.

---From there, the Blue Blur would survive the Final Zone and chase Dr. Robotnik on foot for the first time.

---However, the pivotal reason that Sonic didn't get to finish Eggman off, right-here & right-now...

---....would be due to a tough decision: as the Final Zone starts self-destructing, Sonic would see one last Prison Egg capsule inside.

---So, he being the hero that he is, would choose to save the Mobian imprisoned within that device...

---...rather than easily pursuing Eggman.

---The grande finale here would be that the Mobian which Sonic nobly liberates instead of harming the Human who has being running amok....

---...would turn out to be a two-tailed Fox named Miles Prower!

---With that momentous rescue at the last moment being their first meeting, it would permanently cement the strong bond between the Hedgehog & the Fox (soon nicknamed "Tails") that would begin from this day onward.

---Not to mention show exactly why Tails sees Sonic as such a hero and wishes to be just him enough to tag-along. (Unlike most Mobians that Sonic freed)

---So the game would end happily and all the original Zones would now be filled with Mobians rather than Badniks, to give "post-game" incentives to keep playing on the again-peaceful Planet.

---Easy-but-fun stuff, like "Find the Lost Chao", or maybe utilizing Sonic's speed to deliver letters written by one character in one Zone, to bring swiftly to another Zone, as a purposeful "Time Attack" challenge.

This would be a pleasant reprieve after all the overcoming of obstacles.

---Of course, after the passage of a little time...

---...the robot problem would start up again!


Sonic the Hedgehog 2

---While Sonic, Tails & the other Mobians were enjoying the restoration of their home-world to harmoniousness, the Human who escaped at the end of the previous game would be concocting his next strategy to take over Mobius.

---Now knowing just how persistent that blue Hedgehog can be, DR. Robotnik/Eggman would design even stronger machines to deal with the Sonic situation.

---And in the process of mining materials to make his machines from the abundant natural-resources of Planet Mobius, Eggman would discover the Chaos Emeralds.

---In this re-imagining of the Sonic series continuity, Eggman would directly power his "Boss Machines" with a single Chaos Emerald each.

---So even though giant Portal Rings would still exist, Sonic would acquire the 7 Chaos Emeralds just by destroying Eggman's "Boss Machines" at the end of every Zone.

---Which means that Sonic & Tails would have all 7 by the time they reach Metropolis Zone.

---Yet, despite carrying them, the two heroic Mobians wouldn't be pushed to transform with them at first.

---Hence how they'd still need to use the Tornado airplane made by Tails (between games, I guess) to fly through Sky Chase Zone.

---Ultimately, the pair of them would inevitably reach the Death Egg.

---Only now would Sonic get pushed to transform, because Eggman would activate Metal Sonic for the first time and the cybernetic nemesis of the Blue Blur would prove its superiority to Sonic initially.

---With Tails now in grave danger, the 7 Chaos Emeralds would react to Sonic's desperation and metamorphosize him into Super Sonic!

---Predictably, this would totally turn-the-tables and allow Sonic to defeat both Metal Sonic!

---From here, a slight alteration of events would occur.

---Instead of Eggman piloting another Boss Machine, the Doctor would again trigger a self-destruction sequence and seek to escape the Death Egg with the malfunctioning remains of Metal Sonic (in order to repair & upgrade).

---In addition, in much the same way that Sonic had to decide between finishing off Robotnik and freeing Tails at the end of the 1st game....

---....there would be another Prison Egg capsule to sway his choice.

---This time, the Mobian that Sonic would save...

---...ends up being Rosie the Rascal/Amy Rose!

---Super Sonic would swoop up Amy and Tails would fly by his side, as the trio exit the Death Egg just as it detonates!

---The three of them safely float back into the atmosphere of Planet Mobius and the game ends happily.

---This courageous encounter now being their first meeting, it would give better reason why Amy Rose fell in love with Sonic and chases after him, regardless of his feelings.

---And even if there were "post-game" missions available to select & play in the newly robot-free Zones, we all know that Sonic 2 transitioned directly into Sonic 3, without any break for the Blue Blur.


Sonic 3 & Knuckles

---This game's main plot would remain mostly the same, with Super Sonic flying over the ocean towards Angel Island.

---But Tails would be flying side-by-side with Super Sonic as the Golden Hedgehog continues to carry Amy, since they rescued her from the Death Egg, so her tagging along might be the only significant difference.

---Knuckles would still be duped into thinking that Sonic was the one who dropped the bomb on Angel Island that caused it to fall.

---But of course, that was just the upgraded version of Metal Sonic that Eggman rapidly repaired & deployed deal with the Blue Blur who has thwarted his schemes twice now, while Dr. Robotnik goes immediately to work on fixing the Death Egg after it crash-landed. (All "boss machines" from Angel Island Zone until after Sky Sanctuary Zone would be piloted by fake Robo-Robotniks as well)

---And Metal Sonic would now be interested in finding something (the Master Emerald, even if no one but Knuckles knows about it yet) to become stronger than Sonic did with the 7 Chaos Emeralds.

---Speaking about Chaos Emeralds, it would still be Knuckles who steals the Emeralds from Super Sonic and then hides them in the giant Portal Rings, while setting traps to hinder Sonic's progress, lest the Blue Blur discover the Hidden Palace Zone.

---Continuing things from there: As Sonic, Tails, & Amy all trek through the various Zones (re-collecting the 7 Chaos Emeralds along their way), it would slowly become clear to Knuckles that the trio were actually fighting the foreign robots that had suddenly appeared. Which seems strange if Sonic & friends were responsible for any of this crisis.

---Only when Knuckles fails to stop Sonic from entering the Chamber of the Master Emerald within Hidden Palace Zone... and witnesses how the Blue Blur actually tries to STOP Dr. Robotnik from stealing the Master Emerald, does the dreadlocked Echidna finally realize that Sonic is on his side after-all.

---Cue the Sky Sanctuary sequence, where Knuckles accompanies Sonic & friends, all the way up to when Metal Sonic re-appears.

---It is here that Metal Sonic first rebels against Dr. Robotnik and tries to use the Master Emerald to transform.

---However, even though the robotic doppelganger does power-up, he cannot maintain the form for very long.

---Knuckles would be the one to finish off this Metal Sonic, before Eggman sneakily swipes the Master Emerald AGAIN (since it was a fake Robo-Robotnik who got destroyed by Metal Sonic).

---Sonic thanks his new friend for dealing with his cybernetic nemesis, and leaves Tails & Amy behind with Knuckles to help the exhausted Echidna recover after that intense fight with Metal Sonic.

---From there, the Blue Blur narrowly manages to re-board the repaired Death Egg as it rises back into orbit.

---Conserving his Rings for later, Sonic would run-the-gauntlet in his regular form, even when battling the "boss machines" powered by the Master Emerald.

---Of course, once the Doomsday Zone sequence starts, the blue Hedgehog would again transform, so he could fly after the fleeing spaceship of Dr. Robotnik.

---Now, the biggest difference between this re-imagining and the original ending of Sonic 3 & Knuckles would be that Super Sonic pursues Eggman through space, at the exact same time that the second wave of Humans from Earth are approaching.

---So the goal is to get the Master Emerald back before Eggman can reach the fleet of refugees from Earth.

---And the dramatic conclusion comes when everyone converges.

---To sum it up: Eggman would first instigate the other Humans to attack Super Sonic.

---Yet even after Super Sonic is forced to evade their assault, he doesn't assume all Humans are his enemies.

---Instead, he TALKS with the main Ambassadors whom Eggman has brought the Master Emerald to.

---Through peaceful negotiations, Super Sonic proves he isn't the hostile threat that Dr. Robotnik made him out to be.

---Especially since he makes a deal with the Humans: in exchange for giving back the Master Emerald so that the sacred gem can be returned to its Angel Island shrine, Sonic hands over 6 of the 7 Chaos Emeralds.

---6 Chaos Emeralds are more than enough to provide these high-tech Humans with all the energy they need, and Sonic can give the last one to Tails for safe-keeping. (Which the Fox later uses to upgrade the Tornado, of course.)

---A peace-treaty is signed, with the Humans agreeing to respect the Mobians & their Planet, with the understanding that life on Earth cannot continue.

---This sets up why the Human President is familiar enough with Sonic to have taken a picture together.

---And despite everything going so nicely, Eggman is still obsessed with defeating Sonic.

---Enough so, that the deranged doctor actually tries to ruin the interspecies conference that has gone so well so far!

---It is at this point, that Eggman becomes a criminal in the eyes of the Humans as well.

---Dr. Robotnik goes rogue and actually steals one of the Humans' six emeralds, before fleeing in his own ship again.

---Heading back down to Mobius alone, this is where Eggman begins building Robotropolis/Eggmanland, totally separate from any other Humans. or Mobians.

---And since Dr. Robotnik still captures Mobians as "bio batteries" for his robots, not only does Sonic continue to oppose him, but now even the other Humans do as well.

---From here, colonies of good-hearted Humans start being built on Planet Mobius, including Station Square.

---Space Colony Ark is left in orbit from among the interstellar fleet of refugee ships, acting as a deterrent to Eggman rebuilding any more Death Eggs.

---Of course, both Shadow the Hedgehog & Maria Robotnik are among the residents of Space Colony Ark. (With the shadowy Black Doom aliens still manipulating G.U.N. in the background.)

---But while the integration of Humans into the lives of Mobians goes smoothly at first...

----....eventually, there is discontent among some natives about how their territories are being overrun with disrespectful Humans.

---This is where the Jet Set Radio influence sets in!

---You see: in lieu of Freedom Fighters, the side-characters like the Air-Riders on hover-boards (Jet, Wave, & Storm. Perhaps throwing in the cast from Sonic the Fighters too. Including Honey the Cat!) start up opposing graffiti gangs to the delinquent Human youth who are taking over their turf!

---So it is via artistic vandalism that Mobian resistance to Human incursion is expressed. All without any real violence!

---Knuckles eventually starts up Team Chaotix when Knack the Weasel/Fang the Sniper becomes another treasure-hunter after the Master Emerald.

---Tails continues building things & making modifications on high-tech Human stuff like hover-boards.

---Amy remains relentlessly loyal to Sonic, even if he always runs away.

---And Sonic falls in love with listening to Human-made music on the boombox he's awarded. (Of course, there's a certain pirate-radio station hosted by DJ Prof. K amongst his favourite channels!)

---So life seems pretty swell for the main cast, as they all take a well-deserved break from the emergencies of the previous games.

---But when Humans start putting Chao into the first Chao Gardens...

---...this disturbance causes their long-dormant Guardian to awaken!


Sonic Adventure 1

---Despite including numerous other side-characters from games outside the central entries, the scenario of Sonic Adventure would proceed mainly on the same path.

---Dr.Robotnik/Eggman would construct his hideout and the Egg Carrier, with an eye on re-acquiring the Chaos Emeralds for his own purposes of world domination.

---Knuckles would get a rude surprise when Angel Island falls from the sky again, after "something" cracks out of the Master Emerald and scatters shards everywhere.

---Obviously, that "something" turns out to be Chaos ZERO, who encounters Sonic in Station Square.

---After seeing their fight, Eggman decides to utilize the liquid-bodied lifeform as part of his new plan to beat Sonic.

---From there, events continue as they normally do during the actual game, but with the inclusion of Team Chaotix helping Knuckles get Emerald Shards back, while keeping Knack the Weasel from getting any.

---As well as the graffiti gangs on hover-boards who "decorate" walls with their unwanted art to mark their territory & occasionally take over the territory of their rivals.

---Tails continues idolizing Sonic & trying to find his own way.

---Amy alternates between being a shop-a-holic at Human stores and chasing Sonic.

---Big The Cat & Froggy have their tranquil lifestyle interrupted when the amphibian friend of the purple feline ends up swallowing a Chaos Emerald and some of CHaos' anatomy. (Thus Froggy grows a tail and frequently starts going missing. Perhaps compelled by instinct to fuse with Chaos.)

---E-102 Gamma & its robotic brethren are activated by Dr. Robotnik/Eggman.

---Sonic meets up with Tails again, just in time for Eggman to re-introduce himself to the Blue Blur, alongside Chaos as a pawn.

---Dr. Eggman then proceeds to steal their Emerald and feed it to Chaos, which triggers one of its multiple transformations.

---With the double-trouble of Eggman & Chaos catalyzing their heroic hearts into action, Sonic & Tails set off on the main adventure to stop the megalomaniac's newest scheme to take over Planet Mobius!

---Sonic pursues Eggman; Tails & Amy pursue Sonic; the E-series prototype Alpha/ZERO pursues Amy; Gamma & Big the Cat pursue Froggy; Knuckles pursues the shards of the Master Emerald.

---All along the way, the spirit of Tikal bestows visions on the cast about ancient days long past.

---Tikal slowly reveals the true nature of Chaos, and what provoked this Shrine Guardian's wrath.

---Which helps Sonic understand the shapeshifter better.

---Especially by the time that Chaos acquires the 7th & final Emerald!

---Perfect Chaos is unleashed and sinks Station Square!

---This, of course, prompts Sonic to once again utilize the Chaos Emeralds himself.

---Super Sonic manages to knock Chaos back down to size in a truly breath-taking battle, before Tikal's spirit soothes the shrunken shapeshifter, who then disappears together with her.

---So although the Human city must be drained of water & damage repaired, this game ends happily as Sonic leaps into the distance in the wake of the ever-escaping Eggman.


Sonic Adventure 2

---As the events of this game commence, all the same back-story would occur, but perhaps over a slightly shortened span of time.

---The Artificial Chaos outbreak on Space Colony Ark would now happen within the more sensible period between Adventure 1 & Adventure 2, since the Humans can't research or recreate Chaos.... 50 years before Chaos even emerged from the Master Emerald, now can they?

---Chaos Drives would be developed by the Humans at this point to provide a core power-source for their machines that isn't reliant on Chaos Emeralds or enslaved Mobians.

---Gerald Robotnik would still end up imprisoned & executed by G.U.N.

---Maria Robotnik would still end up caught in the crossfire as G.U.N. takes command over Space Colony Ark.

---Shadow the Hedgehog would still be traumatized by Maria's death, since she was his only friend.

---The Black Doom aliens would STILL be manipulating Humans from behind-the-scenes.

---G.U.N. would still cryogenically freeze Shadow the Hedgehog.

---Eggman would still invade the facility where Shadow was frozen.

---Shadow would still join Eggman so he could take revenge on G.U.N. for Maria's death.

---Sonic would still get mistaken for Shadow, and accused by G.U.N. of stealing Chaos Emeralds.

---Rouge the Bat would still join Eggman & Shadow to spy on them for the Human government.

---Tails would still use his new mech-walker to help rescue Sonic from Prison Island.

---Knuckles would still have to re-collect the shards of the Master Emerald.

---However, some new additions would be Team Chaotix getting a lead that causes them to investigate "shadowy figures" that turn out to be Black Doom aliens.

---Hoverboard-riding graffiti-gangs would leave behind their rivalries to team up & oppose G.U.N. in their own ways.

---Eggman, Shadow & Rouge would acquire Chaos Emeralds and take over Space Colony Ark, with the intention of using the Eclipse Cannon.

---Sonic, Tails & Knuckles would go toe-to-toe with their symmetrically-but-opposingly-intentioned. adversaries to try & stop them.

---Amy would end up having a chat with Shadow that allows him to remember that Maria wouldn't have wished for him to avenge her.

---And after Eggman plugs the final Chaos Emerald into Space Colony Ark, he would accidently trigger Gerald Robotnik's secret program to crash the Space Colony Ark into Planet Mobius, which he designed as a fail-safe under the negative influence of the Black Doom aliens, lest the (yet unknown) Bio-Lizard ever get out-of-control.

---This unexpected crisis would then act as the necessary catalyst for Sonic & his friends to actually work together with Eggman & his allies for the first time!

---Cooperating with unified minds, each of the six characters would still use their individual skills to race towards the Cannon's Core aboard the Space Colony Ark, with time quickly running low!

---It would still be Shadow who fights the Bio-Lizard once they get to the Cannon's Core, before both Sonic & Shadow transform into their Super states to deal with the Final Hazard!

---But unlike his "death" in the original ending of this game, Shadow would survive without falling back down to the Planet.

---So there would be no re-hashing of his missing memories in the next two games, which could now focus on his continuing quest to move on from his tragic past & mistakes made in the aftermath of it.

---Additionally: by adopting the Chaos Drives developed by G.U.N. to power their own robots, Eggman finally leaves villainy behind and no longer captures Mobians to use as bio-batteries!

(He stays redeemed from this point onward. No relapsing later.)

---Instead of obsessing about Sonic, the redeemed Doctor would focus on cleaning up his own mess, that has been lurking in the background for awhile: Metal Sonic!


Sonic Heroes

---So this game originally made Eggman relapse back into the role of an antagonist, but in my re-imagined continuity, there would be no such occurrence.

---Dr. Robotnik would be the one to ask for help in dealing with Metal Sonic outright.

---Shadow & Rouge would again team-up directly with him.

---Sonic, Tails & Knuckles would soon join in.

---Amy, Big the Cat plus Froggy, as well as their new friends Cream the Rabbit & Cheese the Chao, would tag-along in the wake of Sonic's group.

---Team Chaotix would continue investigating the Black Doom Aliens and only occasionally get embroiled in the Metal Sonic problem.

---Metal Sonic encounters would replace all boss fights with Eggman.

---Black Doom encounters would replace all mysterious scenes that acted as foreshadowing to Metal Sonic in the original version of this game's story.

---Metal Sonic would still absorb Chaos' data from Froggy and transform into the Metal Overlord.

---Sonic's team would still use the 7 Emeralds to transform together and defeat the Metal Overlord!

---In the end, all the heroes stay heroes, no relapses or issues with amnesia.

---There wouldn't be any robotic copies of Shadow either.

---And ultimately, the detectives of Team Chaotix would be the ones to tip off Shadow about the Black Doom aliens being connected to his creation.


Shadow the Hedgehog

---Hence, this game would begin with Shadow having no lingering amnesia issues from Sonic Heroes, so that he could now find out details about himself that preceded his actual awakening into existence.

---Again, with his robots powered solely by Chaos Drives, the still-redeemed Eggman wouldn't ever act as an obstacle.

---Shadow would team-up with another character in every level and learn more about his origins.

---Sonic Advance 3 had the best co-op partner system in the series, so in this imaginary version of Shadow the Hedgehog, we can blend the best of both worlds: In the first playthrough of any given route, the partners you team-up with are story-specific. However, each pairing would now augment the whole playstyle just like in Sonic Advance 3. Not only that, but this idealized fusion of games would allow another Player to join-in or drop-out at any time, just by using the 2nd controller, just like the Gamecube version of Shadow the Hedgehog. So the CPU character would automatically retake control if nobody else wanted to play, but surrender control if there was any activity from the 2nd controller. To top it all off, we'd be able to then select our preferred team of partners when re-playing levels. Obviously, this opens up a myriad of incentives to add hidden secrets that only certain pairs of characters can reach through cooperation. Making the already multi-routed game even more open to re-experiencing in different ways.

---Then, there's a detail made simply due to my personal preferences, the black Hedgehog wouldn't wield weapons or drive vehicles at all. Shadow would again be based around his Sonic Adventure 2 style, albeit with playstyle augmentations from his current partner-character, in addition to all regular abilities.

---From there, we move away from gameplay mechanic stuff and return to story-related stuff: All the graffiti gangs on hoverboards would have settled their own differences and also act as allies during the Black Doom invasion of Planet Mobius.

---Devil Doom would still try to negatively influence Shadow to join the Black Doom aliens in their assault on both the native Mobians & the refugee Humans from Earth...

---...but Shadow would resist every attempt and each boss fight would be against a different Black Doom lieutenant.

---A secondary sub-plot to this game would be Tails & Robotnik working together to undo the evil influence that Devil Doom had on G.U.N.

---And as they help the G.U.N. Commander forgive Shadow & accept Maria's death (since he was her friend as a kid on Space Colony Ark)...

---...the main story-strands of Shadow's quest comes together with Tail's & Eggman's quest.

---Basically, the behind-the-scenes manipulation of Humans by the Black Doom aliens is finally exposed in full, which allows the former Earthlings to escape that negative influence totally.

---Of course, Shadow still ends up dealing with Devil Doom personally.

---Transformed into Super Shadow, the hyper-hedgehog brings the Black Doom alien to the brink of death...

---...but much in the same way that Tikal's had appeared and helped pacify Chaos, now Maria's spirit appears so she can soothe Devil Doom!

---Easily convinced by Maria's spirit, Shadow spares Devil Doom's life, even though the scheming alien currently seems unredeemable.

---However, the spirit of Maria assures Shadow that even Devil Doom can atone for his nefariousness and promises to help bring that about from beyond.

---So, in the very end, all the Black Doom aliens depart Planet Mobius and forever cease manipulating Humans.

---I'm sure interesting developments could happen if I wove later games into this re-imagined continuity, but since Shadow the Hedgehog was the last one I ever played....

---...the narrative concludes here with the happy ending of Eggman's redemption intact, Shadow's redemption intact, G.U.N.'s redemption more thoroughly explained & tied together. Not to mention gracing the Black Doom with the possibility of a brighter future elsewhere as well.

---Mobians & Humans united, all plot-points resolved, and my own personal wish-fulfillment that in the "post-game" you could re-play earlier levels from all the main 3D games as Super Sonic or Super Shadow!


THE END

All I can say to this is that I hope the boy in blue is never phased out.