Complete Sonic Timeline with explinations (spoilers)

Let's go shuckles

Let's go shuckles

Sonic the hedgehog is the first game in the timeline because it is the first game

Sonic the hedgehog 2 is the second game in the timeline because it is the second game

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the second game in the timeline because is the third game

Sonic CD is the 4th game in the timeline because it introduces Amy Rose and Metal Sonic.

Sonic Advanced is the 5th game in the timeline because it happens before Sonic Advance 2

Sonic Advanced 2 is the 6th game in the timeline because it introduces Cream the Rabbit who has a cameo in Sonic Adventure DX so this game has to happen before Sonic Adventure

Sonic Adventure is the next game in the timeline because it's the next mainline sonic game

Sonic Adventure 2 is the next game in the timeline because it is the next mainline sonic game

Sonic Heroes is the next game in the timeline because it follows up Shadow's death in sonic adventure 2

Shadow the hedgehog is the next game in the timeline because it follows up on heroes plot point of Shadow being a robot

Sonic battle is the next game in the timeline because Shadow is in it and he knows he's not a robot, which was established in Shadow the hedgehog, and it introduces Emerl

Sonic Advanced 3 is the next game in the timeline because one of the antagonists is a robot based on Emerl from Sonic battle

All the Sonic Riders games take place here because they're cannon to the timeline because Sonic Frontiers references them. They're spinoffs and they can basically take place at any time between Shadow the Hedgehog and Frontiers

Sonic 06 is next in the timeline because it is the next mainline entry in the franchise and it introduces silver into the franchise

Both sonic rivals games are next in the timeline because the events of sonic 06 were erased from existence and this reintroduces silver into the timeline

Sonic and the secret rings is next in the timeline because it gets referenced later in Sonic Generations

Sonic Unleashed is next in the timeline because it introduces Orbot into the timeline

Sonic and the black knight is the next game in the timeline because in Sonic Unleashed, there is a dialogue choice where sonic can choose to schedule a date with Amy. At the end of Black Knight, it is revealed that Sonic is telling Amy the events of the game as an explanation for why he missed their date.

Sonic colors is the next game in the timeline because it introduces the wisps and cubot into the timeline

Sonic generations is the next game in the timeline because it directly follows up on what happened to Eggman following his defeat in Sonic colors

Sonic lost worlds is the next game in the timeline because it introduces Zavok into the timeline

Sonic team racing is the next game in the timeline because all of the characters in the game have been added to the timeline now and this game gets referenced in frontiers for some reason so it's cannon

Sonic Mania is the next game in the timeline because it is a prequel to Sonic Forces

Sonic forces is the next game in the timeline because it is the next mainline entry and Zavok is in it so it has to happen after lost worlds

Sonic Frontiers is the next game in the timeline because it is the most recent mainline game in the franchise, references numerous old games, and introduces Sage into the timeline

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is the next game in the timeline because it is the only other game at this time to have Sage in it

Sonic Chronicles: The dark brotherhood is the last game in the timeline because this game ends on a cliffhanger ending and will never get a sequel because it reviewed poorly, the developers got bought up by EA, and Sega got sued because of this game.
 
doipy hooves

doipy hooves

is a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
Let's go shuckles said:
Sonic the hedgehog is the first game in the timeline because it is the first game

Sonic the hedgehog 2 is the second game in the timeline because it is the second game

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the second game in the timeline because is the third game

Sonic CD is the 4th game in the timeline because it introduces Amy Rose and Metal Sonic.
Click to expand...
Sonic CD happens before 2 according to Origins.
1681094120301.png
 
Let's go shuckles

Let's go shuckles

doipy hooves said:
Sonic CD happens before 2 according to Origins.
View attachment 506641
Click to expand...
Do you have a source that says the games in origins are ordered chronologically? I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just that I tried looking this up and the only thing I could find was a random gaming news article that had no source. The reason I why I put Sonic CD after sonic 3 in the timeline is that in sonic 2 and 3, Eggman has two robots that are meant to be replicas of sonic called silver sonic and mecha sonic. These two robots don't show up in any other games unlike metal sonic so I kind of figured that metal sonic would be a more advanced version of these 2 robots and I figured this meant that CD had to have happened after 3.
 
doipy hooves

doipy hooves

is a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
Let's go shuckles said:
Do you have a source that says the games in origins are ordered chronologically? I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just that I tried looking this up and the only thing I could find was a random gaming news article that had no source. The reason I why I put Sonic CD after sonic 3 in the timeline is that in sonic 2 and 3, Eggman has two robots that are meant to be replicas of sonic called silver sonic and mecha sonic. These two robots don't show up in any other games unlike metal sonic so I kind of figured that metal sonic would be a more advanced version of these 2 robots and I figured this meant that CD had to have happened after 3.
Click to expand...
The story mode in Origins is described as playing the games as "one continuous experience" and has an outro cutscene transition from CD to 2.
1681096770052.png

Sonic 4 also implies that Metal Sonic was stuck on Little Planet since it exists outside of time.
 
seelk13

seelk13

I have a few suggestions, but please, anybody, scrutinize what I say. I joined specifically in hopes of narrowing down the timeline.

CLASSIC ERA
Naoto Ohshima conceived of Sonic CD as a Mega-CD port of 1 and still considers it that. Introducing Amy and Metal Sonic doesn't mean that it must be the fifth game. They don't have to appear in every game after to still exist. Sega's official placement of that is between 1 and 2, which is closer to its original intention.

1 > CD > 2 (16-bit) > 3&K

SegaSonic the Hedgehog was only called that because of a trademark dispute. It was just supposed to be the arcade version of Sonic the Hedgehog just like CD was the Mega-CD version of Sonic 1. Ian Flynn has placed it after Sonic R but given no reason why. It introduces Mighty ahead of Knuckles' Chaotix and should probably go right before it since Sonic 1 to 3&K are considered a continuous saga. I've also placed it before CD since that's when it came out, and 1, SegaSonic, and CD are all "versions" of the same basic plot outline. I've seen people place it before Sonic 1 because the Badniks don't have animals in them, but a tonne of Badniks don't have animals in them in later games. I'm really not sure about this one and could use some help.

1 > CD > 2 (16-bit) > 3&K > SegaSonic > Knuckles' Chaotix

Some other classics should be added. Spinball, Drift, and Labyrinth are a lot of nothing in terms of plot. Mean Bean Machine and Tails' Skypatrol are literally reskins of other games. It's best to focus on Ancient/Aspect's Game Gear platformers. Sonic 1 (8-bit) has the same basic plot as the 16-bit. Sonic 2 (16-bit) doesn't feature Tails as playable or even Spin Dash, and its Mecha Sonic has been retconned as Dr. Eggman's first attempt at a robot Sonic. 2 (8-bit) and Chaos remain of South Island, so that seems to point to them going right after 1 (16-bit). Triple Trouble would have to be after the Death Egg saga since they meet Knuckles in 3, and there's no gap between 2 and 3.

1 > 2 (8-bit) > Chaos > SegaSonic > CD > 2 (16-bit) > 3&K > Triple Trouble > Knuckles' Chaotix

Flynn places Tails Adventure after 2 (16-bit), but his timeline tries to reconcile with a lot of US manuals, which are infamously improvised and unreliable. Tails is shown learning to fly for the first time in Flynn's intro for 2 in Sonic Origins, which is also from the US manuals. It's cute, but why would someone as smart as Tails not know how his own body works? Origins is hardly the definitive way to play those games and its cutscenes don't overwrite history. It's better to trust the Japanese manuals as they reflect original intentions. Tails Adventure takes place well before he ever met Sonic.

Tails Adventure > 1 > 2 (8-bit) > Chaos > SegaSonic > CD > 2 (16-bit) > 3&K > Triple Trouble > Knuckles' Chaotix

Some other games have come after Chaotix, and I see no reason why they shouldn't be in their release order. I include Sonic the Fighters, which introduces Bark, Bean and Amy's hammer, and Sonic R too as it's the flagship Saturn Sonic game and instrumental to the transition from to 3D.

Tails Adventure > 1 > 2 (8-bit) > Chaos > SegaSonic > CD > 2 (16-bit) > 3&K > Triple Trouble > Knuckles' Chaotix > Fighters > 3D Blast > Blast > R

They've also retconned several games into this era. Mania has references to many of them and should be placed after R as its Special Stages reference it. Superstars was the next classic-style game. Pocket Adventure was meant as a classic-era prequel to Adventure and features Sonic with green eyes and Dr. Eggman changing to his modern jacket. That'd be after Mania/Superstars. Lastly, a portable game was escalated by Sega to be "Sonic 4," which is meant to take place in the classic era but has modern designs and a cutscene showing Metal Sonic being repaired after CD before "returning" in this game as if he'd never returned before. It's best to put at the end of the classic era because of how everyone looks while disregarding its careless story.

Tails Adventure > 1 > 2 (8-bit) > Chaos > SegaSonic > CD > 2 (16-bit) > 3&K > Triple Trouble > Knuckles' Chaotix > Fighters > 3D Blast > Blast > R > Mania > Superstars > Pocket Adventure > Sonic 4

ADVENTURE ERA
That makes complete sense. Advance 1 and 2 have clear setups to lead right into Adventure. Sonic Battle continues with Heroes' cast and its storyline concludes in Advance 3. Shadow goes back and tells how his past was resolved.

Advance 1 > Advance 2 > Adventure 1 > Adventure 2 > Heroes > Shadow > Battle > Advance 3

MODERN ERA
There's no reason to exclude the Rush series. A Blaze can exist in both the present Sol Dimension and the future "Solaris Dimension." There's so much time travel and dimension hopping in this series that this is the least of your worries. In fact, after '06 erased itself with a time travel paradox, Rush Adventure maintains that the Rush Blaze is the one they interact with in the main timeline moving forward.

'06 > Rush > Rush Adventure

It's also odd to exclude the Rush series, which actually had input from the Sonic Team, in favour of a PSP-exclusive racing game. The supposed conflict in Rivals is pretty easy to resolve. Eggman Nega wants to erase Eggman from his bloodline. This could be after having worked with him in the Rush series and considering him a disappointment. They also never said that Nega was native to the Sol Dimension or that Blaze was native to Silver's world in '06.

'06 > Rush > Rush Adventure > Rivals > Rivals 2

It's fair to assume that the chronological order is the release order unless there's evidence otherwise, so I'm not sure why Secret Rings was moved past Rivals 2. Is it in the interest of keeping the series together? Because Sonic 1 and 2 and Advance 2 and 3 are separated by several games between them. I won't contest the placement of Riders or All-Stars because I don't really care. As far as I'm concerned, they're alternate universes where characters pursue careers in vehicles, unlike R or Rivals, which have technological or chronological importance.

'06 > Rush > Rush Adventure > Rivals > Secret Rings > Rivals 2

After that, I see no reason why the rest isn't in release order. Though Flynn has referenced Sticks in Frontiers, the Boom games are an entirely difference universe.

'06 > Rush > Rush Adventure > Rivals > Secret Rings > Rivals 2 > Unleashed > Black Knight > Colors > Generations > Lost World > Forces > Frontiers

Again, any additional research could help. I'll be asking a lot of the same questions elsewhere and will circle back with any new info when I can. Thank you!
 
Last edited:
Ironmage

Ironmage

How should games that vary between platforms be treated? Off the top of my head, Colors DS has a plot-significant different final boss, and I think Generations 3DS might have some differences as well.
 
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