Eras of Sonic The Hedgehog: Reexamined

[@NovaZoneTV]

Thanks for watching everyone! Hope y'all enjoyed and kinda see my argument for how I interpret the Sonic eras. Like I said a few times, there's not a true single correct answer, this is just what I like using now. NOTES: 'Sonic & Friends' was not announced when I uploaded this. Since it's a cute chibi short series aimed at young children, it doesn't change anything I said. If anything, it supports my argument. And just to be clear about the "Dark/Meta Era" part: I am not talking about any one person in particular when saying dicsussion using those terms gets dissmissive. I just mean in general. I've said this before, but please don't talk about any other online figures in a negative light in the comments. I don't think that reflects well on any involved parties.

[@IB_KIT]

I don't really agree with the classification of the meta era. I think a lot of people forgot that it wasn't just called that because of "meta writing" but rather the state of the franchise at that time. The time when the official twitter decided to get into meme culture and start doing "self-aware" memes. Suddenly it was all about mocking all their previous game failures. Werehog jokes, 06 jokes, boom jokes, you name it. There's also the fact that the boom show also got into this sort of humor too with the self referential jokes about the fanbase/state of the series. It was like the series was ashamed of itself and the more they pushed how self aware they were, it made the actual content always feel like it was in this post ironic state. In that sense it bled into the series itself and not just twitter and really changes the context of things like the added dlc Sanic tshirts in forces. It was this self deprecating humor that got out of hand combined with the "we learned from our mistakes" they kept pushing only to be hit with Sonic Forces by the end. It wasn't just the writing, it was everything else in combination with that.

[@sethmushambavanhu8391]

​@@IB_KITbut what of the fans of that era don't you think its negative to them?

[@IB_KIT]

@@sethmushambavanhu8391 The word meta in of itself isn't a negative word, it only come with negative connotations because the era in of itself was considered another dark period for sonic regardless if you liked it or not. But I think "meta" is a perfectly apt description for the direction the franchise took at that time. That doesn't mean there's an issue with people being a fan of that era though. Just like there's nothing wrong with people who liked the "dark age" in the 2000s, though I feel like calling it a literal dark age has more negative implications than the word meta.

[@sethmushambavanhu8391]

@@IB_KIT yes but the examples you gave have negative connotations therefore the word meta becomes negative

[@IB_KIT]

​@@sethmushambavanhu8391 and having a negative connotation doesnt stop people from being a fan of the era nor does it make it wrong to be so. Realize that you dont have to feel bad about liking something others dont instead of trying to turn it into something less negative. Both eras did do damage to the franchise (financially and reputation with general audiences went down) whether we like it or not and I'm not going to pretend they didnt, but there's still reason to like em regardless even in being aware of that.

[@moistwindow6094]

Petition to make the universal era the "digital" era, because theres been a weird amount of digitizing or cyber whatever in this latest sonic era

[@NovaZoneTV]

And Superstars looks like it's having a level doin that too...

[@moistwindow6094]

@@NovaZoneTV feels like something that's going to be around in one way or another for a minute, wouldn't be surprised if the next mainline game has some cyber power up/gimmick

[@NovaZoneTV]

@moistwindow6094 I get the feeling that the 3rd Frontiers DLC is gonna be within the cyber space. My guess is it'll take place when they saved Sonic from the virus. A: because that part was very half baked. B: It's where it would fit. I'm hoping my it has a "cyber space Rhea" of some sort that fixes what we got? But we'll see. I don't want too high of expectations for free stuff

[@Dark_Mario_Bros.]

Also funny enough, took so many years for them to do something else with the chaos emeralds rather than be just a requirement to unlock super sonic

[@NiloWafer19]

So far that holds up, but I personally really hope the games don't stay too locked into the digital thing. Especially with Frontiers giving us such a longing for familiarity with the whole "save my friends and go home" sentiment. I would love to see more of Mobius through the latest engine, with the current caliber of writing. ❤️

[@davesinsanestudio8072]

Man, Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is soo good. Easily my top 3 Sonic games.

[@NovaZoneTV]

It was such a fun free game. I really hope it's a sign of what's to come with these characters!

[@AlphaZeroX96]

How come? We have Sonic Robo Blast 2 which is excellent.

[@davesinsanestudio8072]

@@AlphaZeroX96 i don't like it. That's not what I want in my Sonic game, and it's common issue with alot of fan games.

[@haha_hollie]

the whole time u were describing the "universal era" i was thinking "he's gonna call it the unified era" and i feel like that's a better name

[@NovaZoneTV]

That one sounds about as good tbh. It gets the same point across I'm looking for. Like I said, I'm really not married to that name atm. I can see Unified working. I kinda like Universal still because I think it signifies Sonic's popularity in even places you wouldn't expect. I saw a lot of Sonic plushes when I was in Vietnam recently and they don't even have a huge console market like JP, NA, & PAL territories do.

[@shupasopni]

@@NovaZoneTV I figured you were gonna call it the "Synergized" era since that's basically what they are doing. You know? "Synergizing the brand"?

[@Lazypackmule]

Hot take- Frontiers carries on the ideas of the boost games just as much as ShTH carries on the adventure-era concepts

[@destroyerx1985]

This video aged even better with sonic x shadow generations. Not only does it universally unify the games but it brings back the aura and sensation that the solo era avoided.

[@noah_ignis]

Thank you so much for going in depth on the eras of Sonic. I never used the term Meta or dark age era for Sonic I felt like these terms came up due to people who like a certain amount of games with Sonic not liking the direction of the series in their vision rather than the quality of games. Dark age was called in by people who grew in the 90s with Sega genesis and meta era was brought in by the people who grew with Sonic in the early to late 2000s. The term dark age and meta terms has caused so much divide with the fans that it is hard to talk about the franchise in a friendly manner.

[@TankEngineMedia]

It’s nice to see Sonic getting back on track again I like your eras interpretations of the different eras, I think calling this era the “universal era” is sort of fitting in a way. Everything is all streamlined and not cluttered

[@azumars]

I think the dark era is defined by the reception of the games and not the quality like u can enjoy them in there but that does not change how at the time they were recieved really poorly thus creating the dark era where like nobody liked the series and often insulted it and it was treated like a joke

[@jasondavis2381]

These are the appropriate names for these eras I consider in terms story writing, the decades all the games were made in, and the companies each of these games were made at those times: Classic Era - 1991-1997 Adventure Era - 1998-2004 4Kids Era - 2005-2009 Colors Era - 2010s Decade

[@spooderspuder5779]

Watching these extremely high quality videos always makes me forget how small your following is, you deserve to have at least 100k subs with the effort in your vids.

[@KOTSOSMC2002]

The 3 era split works so well, I'm shocked people don't use and accept it universally. Classic Era (1991-1997), Adventure Era (1998-2009) and Meta Era (2010-2021), with Frontiers kick-starting a new one. Not only does this way of splitting games provide a very consistent pattern (with each Era pretty much lasting a decade) but it is by no means derivative or biased. Calling the 2005-2009 years The Dark Ages is biased AF and has a very negative undertone to it for example (not to mention it doesn't make sense). With the 3 era split Classic Era is called Classic cause it's Classic Sonic, Adventure Era is called that cause of the first game and how it paved the way for the next instalments in the 2000s and the Meta Era is called so due to its shift in tone and humor. Using this system has been more effective than anything else, there's a turbo clear distinction between the 3 (now 4) Eras, you can immediately tell when you leave one and enter the other, its has a unique style and vision. Sonic Team usually clearly thinks a similar way, as after 3D Blast their attitude and approached completely changed (transition from Classic to Adventure) and after Unleashed it completely changed for Colors and onwards (transition from Adventure to Meta). Frontiers kickstarted a new Era and Sonic Team have already said it will be the blueprint for the next 10 years of Sonic, which only reinforce this way of splitting the eras of the franchise as the definitive one.

[@esdrasImayInotguy3481]

I don't have much of a problem with how most Sonic fans categorize the sonic games (aside that I think that Unleashed should go alongside the other boost games), I just have a problem with the terms... Dark Age, Meta Era... can we call those eras something that sound less negative?

[@AldoTheBoss]

My Shadow the Hedghog lovers, assemble!!

[@NovaZoneTV]

Refer to my most recent community post for the truth of my closeted feelings😔

[@sethmushambavanhu8391]

Nice job covering the eras and THANK YOU for acknowledging the problems with the meta era and dark age names as a meta era fan it feels so good to have a unbiased name while I do think solo era sounds a bit weird it works well for what was happening at the time hopefully this will become the new eras names everyone uses(that's how the meta era was named by another guy discussing era's) P.S. As a kid I was in the sonic boom branch of the franchise and your right sega did a damn good job covering the game up as a kid I found out about rise of lyric in like 2016 and by then it was no longer in store shelves and I knew nothing about the other games 😂

[@NovaZoneTV]

Glad you liked the alterations. tbh, whenever I say the Solo era I think of Han Solo, and at first I thought it was weird and then it sounded cool so I kept it.

[@tronixchl2004]

FROM A GAMEPLAY PERSPECTIVE: -Classic era until Adventures, -Dream era until Shadow the hedgehog, -Boost era from Unleashed until Forces -Modern Era past forces till the next generational change in sonic games... About Mania, Superstars and the others i exclude them cuz they replicate the Classic sonic formula, with some spins, i just separate them from a general change on how the sonic game plays, classic and 3d adventure are different, Adventure and the 2.5d into 3d of the boost era games (thats why shadow's game is in the dream era, cuz it plays like a dream era game not a boost game), and that until modern for the release of Frontiers thats not in line with the boost games.

[@Leemmmm]

In three years Sonic 06 is going to be twenty years old.

[@kakhome1]

Watched the whole video. I think this is quite a solid era classification! BTW what are the mods you load to play Unleashed Project? You can just list their names (in the order that you load them). Or a page that shows the ordering you use.

[@NovaZoneTV]

The Unleashed Project footage used there is actually from over a year ago. I believe that was just base Unleashed Project + RTX fix on. For this video I reused a lot of old footage on my external HDD since this video required a lot of different game, and I needed to save time where possible. Since then I've been using a different set. >Unleashed Project RTX Fix >Unleashed Project Addon >SU Restorations >Unleashed Project base >Pure SU Sonic >Sonic Unleashed HUD >Sonic Unleashed Score system All physics are set to Generations physics because I like those more than Unleashed physics.

[@kakhome1]

(Replying to prior response here) That earned S rank is why a lot of people love Unleashed as they just keep replaying the daytime stages AFTER they have beaten the whole game, but your point of view is also one I understand. It doean't sound like a particularly good idea to me to lock the S rank of individual stages behind beating the game, especially for a game so padded by the Werehog and hubworlds. In Generations, the ridiculously easy S ranks are my only nitpick. It's just a nitpick though and nothing more, as I still find it sayisfying to figure out the fastest routes and then pull off that flawless run for the best time, then comparing how I did to the quickest (glitchless) runs on KZbin. For positives, Unleashed does stay in 3D the most frequently, compared to Generations Modern stages. But that isn't really something I mind as Generations is still a pretty nice 2D/3D mix.

[@michaelkindt3288]

I feel like one could justify making Boom It's own era, since we got almost nothing that wasn't Boom during the time before they scrapped the show. And there is speculation that Boom with attended as a stealth reboot, i.e. they called it a spin-off so that they could easily walk it back, but they were not afraid to ask the original series if Boom did well. But they may have been working on Forces during this time, so since you're mainly focusing on design/marketing ideology (which is a good idea on multiple levels), there is some argument against it. Mania and Forces do throw a wrench in isolating Boom.

[@Pedro-xs5bo]

Amazing and well thought video! Congratulations!

[@JordanISmith]

My eras: Classic (91-96) Saturn [Mini Era] (97-98) Adventure/Dreamcast (98-03) Dark (04-08) Meta (08-17) Current Era [Too early for name] (18-

[@NovaZoneTV]

So obviously you've seen my video and know that I don't agree with much of your list, but if you do have a mini Saturn era, I think it should include 1996. That would put NiGHTS in it. Which I know isn't Sonic, but it was a very impactful game for Sonic Team themselves.

[@JordanISmith]

@@NovaZoneTV true.

[@DoggoDoesStuff1]

I'd still call the current era the "modern era" tbh. Like you said, we're still too early on to definitively classify it, and so it would be best to refer to it as modern until we feel the need to cut it off and create a new modern era, after which we'd name this one

[@NovaZoneTV]

That's understandable. I do still stand pretty firmly on my definition of what this era has been so far, but I do think a better term will be evident eventually.

[@toonman5099]

On the placement of Battle: I do agree with the placements, but I WILL say as a note, Battle's story is SERIOUSLY scuffed in it's lore when comparing it to the prior games that lead up to it. Like literally the only thing I would keep in a revision for it is Emerl and Cream's interaction/bond/story, but even then I would have it established at the start and have them be best friends first rather than have Emerl rely on Sonic more like he does in the "as presented" base game with her story being where a lot of the "pacifism can only go so far" moments happen (look up a video called "The Story of Sonic Battle" and you'll see what I mean about it being scuffed). I will agree that most of the time "release date = chronology" is a good barometer for when to place the games. But I don't think it should be the end all be all, at least when trying to figure out a timeline for this. Because, as an example, I personally can't accept Rush to be before '06 because it just simply causes WAY too many plot holes, issues, and ludonarrative dissonant hoops to jump through to make it fit. And as far as recent examples, Origins's retelling is more of an abridged version of what's going on (in my opinion), the visual novel game, while fantastic in making the characters feel a lot closer to what people have wanted for a long time, still has some weird nicks and dents in some of it's general lore detail claims (granted even the summary on the game's download page from the social media staff, yes that's who made it, makes it feel like it's dubious despite being AS FAITHFUL to the past game's plots and ideas as they could), Prime in it's weird characterizations in season 1 despite being told "it's totally canon to the games" is in a similar but not as drastic boat as Battle where it needs a tiny bit of a revision to clean up that first season, and some of the weird character background choices for some of the cast, namely Cream and Amy, along with weird general world building plot reasons. The former being told everything that happened with her before is only "her hanging out with the gang" and she only recently wanted to go to "hero camp" to actually make a difference (despite already being shown that she's capable as is despite being not that much younger than Tails or Charmy). And the latter, I feel like and worry, they're trying to explain that "yeah no she's just always had super strength that could almost rival Knuckles" which feels like it's putting a little too much focus on that aspect. I mean heck, the visual novel tries to make it seem like her hammer is a basic every day giant mallet hammer you can get at the store despite most of past media and ideas presented as it being basically equivalent to BotW's spring hammer which led her to being more acrobatic that being a 'stronk gorl'. To me, Amy is more along the lines of like "yoga" or "takes morning daily jogs" kinds of fitness, basically an Olympic athlete, not "bodybuilder/goes to the gym to get sick reps each day" like Knuckles. It feels like they're trying to make her feel more Tomboy-ish to "justify" her reasoning for going on adventures which, while I LOVE tomboys, Amy is not one and the reasoning feels extremely surface level understanding. Just because Amy and Cream are girly girls doesn't mean they can't be strong self reliant women when the situation calls for it. And the BIGGEST world plot contentions reasons being how they're going about the rings, where they act like they aren't used for currency, and that they're only game mechanic deep despite being extremely prominent and called out as things that exist in the world. SO them being reduced to "it's just game mechanics" feels a little too dissociative to me, like it's a CORE ASPECT about Sonic, always has been always will be. And you're trying to tell me it's JUST a game mechanic when everything surrounding the rings go "no these are physical items you can find"? Because at that point have there been no actual monitors/capsules in the levels? Have the past power ups (not including wisps, which just feel like a non-lootbox version of "removing content to just sell back to us considering Sonic's abilities ARE in colors, but they're locked behind wisp capsules) just not existed? How deep does this go? But if this video is JUST talking about games regarding their RELEASE ORDER, then it's fine. These are honestly decent terms for the Era classifications.

[@NovaZoneTV]

Yeah, this video is not focused on the timeline. That's just 1 factor I used in determining my eras. Timeline becomes a whole different discussion, and the rule of thumb about release works for like 90% of the games. I will admit, Battle is on the small list of Sonic games I have not yet finished. I listen to Ian Flynn's podcast here and there so Ive heard him talk about his gripes/"how I'd fix it" with the game. I also get the feeling that Sega isn't all that invested in the "no money" thing. Or at the very least, every writer has danced around it. To my knowledge, there hasn't been any moment within the text that disproves rings as money. As in, no one has gone to a market and tried to barter with chickens or partake in communist sharing tactics in the games, comics, or shows. So to me at least, the rings are a "Sega mandate" that everyone has just politely ignored.

[@toonman5099]

@@NovaZoneTV Yeah Battle IS sadly one of those weird outliers. Basically it's in its own bubble that reflects well known aspects of the games, but the moment you try to compare it to anything, the bubble bursts. And as far as the Rings not being a thing and only acts as a gameplay mechanic, it's very much a thing in the IDW books right now, iirc from hearing Ian's Bumblekast episode, or at least that's what I've heard being thrown around. But yeah, most of the other aspects of the series use Rings as currency so it's a case of "a weird ruling that's in place that contradicts everything else." It might just be a case of "Sega has no clue how to define them since they're used in a bunch of different methods across the series." But honestly I say "why can't it be all 3 (money, health, & XP for skills)?"

[@haha_hollie]

@@toonman5099 when ian flynn was asked about battle's canonicity, what with chaos coming back and shadow having his memories, plus the whole cast having like, defined houses, he said something along the lines of: "some version of battle is canon, emerl is an ancient battle robot that eggman digs up, who learns to fight from sonic characters but also learns their emotions. but secondary aspects of it's story that contradict what we know can be ignored." this is the best way to look at it imo, because otherwise certain things in IDW and advance 3 just kinda don't make sense if we just ignore battle completely.

[@toonman5099]

@@haha_hollie That's how I feel about it. I don't want to consider it noncanon, but there are very much clear aspects of the game that just contradict a lot of the rest of the series. If it was to be placed anywhere on a timeline to keep the aspect of Shadow having his memories, it would have to be after at least the first advance game (not sure if 2 is right after 1 or not) which would be after his title game (at least in my opinion).

[@TheobaldLeonhart]

I really like these, especially because I'm not really a fan of "the dark era". And roll my eyes at "the meta era" However, I probably would still be using those terms. Or Classic/Dreamcast/Modern. Because my memory is shit, and repetition helps me remember better

[@TevyaSmolka]

Great job man on covering sonic eras 😎

[@highwire4]

This is incredibly easy to categorize as eras are only useful in terms of how folks talk about it already. Its easy with gameplay. Classic, adventure, boost, and now open-zone. If you want more tone focused theres classic, adventure, dark ages, meta, and now whatever frontiers will kick off.

[@alexos9011]

25:56 The fact that they stopped translating those in my country makes me really sad

[@kiricappuchin]

Great video! I liked how you categorized each, I definitely love these terms way more than the negativity carried by “dark ages” and “meta era” tbh. Tried summarizing each era for myself. *1- Classic* Sonic’s roots. When he and his friends still had their stubby cute designs and games on Sega consoles/arcade cabinets. Lore was very inconsistent as character backstories and motives differed from region to region. 1991-1998 Sonic 1-Adventure 1 *2- Adventure* Entering the new console generation(s) of 3D and handheld systems. Sonic & friends got redesigns that fit this new era of games. New characters (Blaze, Shadow, Omega, Cream etc) were also introduced and most were playable through games in this era. Lore & characterization was mostly consistent. 1998-2008 Adventure 1-Sonic Unleashed *3- Solo* When Sonic abandoned his friends in favour of doing things on his own. Other playable characters in this era were usually reskins of Sonic and varied little in their gameplay compared to prior eras. Plot varied from game to game but Sonic was always front & centre. 2008-2018 Sonic Unleashed-Sonic Forces *4- Universal (Current)* Also referred to as Unified era. This era connects the lore between previous ones. Classic gets its lore expanded on and adapted in IDW anniversary issues, while Solo has its lore (starting from Sonic Forces) adapted and expanded upon in mainline IDW comics. As a result, the games, multimedia and the stories in both are more connected than ever. 2018-Present IDW Sonic the Hedgehog #1-Post Forces

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Interesting video, I have subscribed to your channel!!

[@ajflink]

I think Unified Era would be better than just Universal Era since there is still focus on Sonic primarily; however, others are sharing in the spotlight at a reasonable degree. Also, Sonic Frontiers marks the point where prior games are not treated as isolated things. Also, they kinda leave it open-ended as to how they connect to each other kinda like how the Zelda games are connected to each other; however, unlike Zelda, Sega or whoever will be likely to confirm or deny certain continuity.

[@NovaZoneTV]

Some other people have said that, and I think I'm starting to lean more unified now. Keep in mind, I said I wasn't too attached to the name I gave, and united still describes the points I gave. Speaking of sharing the spotlight, I'm like staring at that clock to hit 7CST. Im downloading that update so fast

[@ajflink]

@@NovaZoneTV Fair enough. I just wanted to throw that idea out there. Your videos are always informative and a treat.

[@lemon5000-tj6nv]

i can see the universal era fitting, i call it the multimedia era cuz this is the most they've had impact on the series

[@KilosFoxo]

you can spil the erasup into 2 versions gamneplay eras being about the main style fo gameplay used in that era classic era being 91-98 adventure era being adventure 1- 06 boost era being unleashed to forces and open zone era being frontiers onwards and for story eras which are more about how the story is presented classic era being 91-98 adventure era being adventure 1- unleashed meta era being colours to forces and open zone era being frontiers onwards

[@frobonetic]

I decided to name my eras based on different aspects of their respective eras And also putting them into a direct era and also if needed a side-era (an example being Sonic Mania was made during Boost era but fits more in line with Genesis era) Genesis Sonic 91-97 (named after the birth console) Adventure Sonic 98-07 (named after the first game) Boost Sonic 08-19 (named after the core mechanic) Digital Sonic 20-Pres (named after the digital deluxe)

[@KilosFoxo]

genesis era kinda just would be a bit confusing outside of america where it was the mega drive so classic works better

[@DSmith3279]

I see it more as thus: 1991-1997 is the Classic Era 1998-2009 is the Adventure Era 2010-2021 is the Color Era And 2022 is the start of the Open Zone Era.

[@matti.8465]

I'm glad someone else thinks the terms "Dark Era" and "Meta Era" are dumb. Naming eras based on quality reeks of bias, and in the case of these two it's almost always used in a derogatory manner. Also "Meta Era" just makes no sense. A few self-aware tweets and Sonic winking at the camera twice isn't enough to call something, let alone a whole era, meta. By definition Frontiers is more "meta" than anything in Colors through Forces, because of it's constant references. But Sonic fans don't count it because they think "meta" just means "story I didn't like"

[@AquaBlueTea]

I separate the eras by voice actors. It just makes more sense. Classic Era: 1991 - 1997 Adventure Era: 1998 - 2004 Experimental Era: 2005 - 2009 Pandering Era: 2010 - 2018 New Age: 2019 - Present

[@AlexHidanBR]

I still prefer to call the solo era "boost era" (although calling it solo era is more putting) but other than that i think you nailed it, although "universal era" could use a better name but I have no idea which name. And I think Mania and Superstars are from the Classic era.

[@Chillipeffer]

They aren't even in the same decade

[@matti.8465]

Synergy era?

[@raghugba863]

How the hell can they in the same era when they came with more than 2 decades after. The fact that they're designed to be like classic era games doesn't mean that they somehow bend the concept of time itself and weren't developed at the times they were and released at the time they did

[@AlexHidanBR]

@@Chillipeffer doesn't need to be, Classic era is just classic Sonic anc co., regardless of real life time period

[@AlexHidanBR]

@@raghugba863 I personally don't take that into consideration. But if you do, I guess we could say Mania and Superstars are from a new era, how about "Modern-Classic" era? :p

[@hedgehogsonic11]

I hear you on "Universal", but I think "Unified" might be more accurate Classic, Modern, IDW, and Prime are all now a unified canon, Sonic is united with his friends in gameplay (which is what sets it apart from the solo era) and otherwise, and SEGA is focusing on maintaining the brand image and storyline underneath a singular banner. A franchise that used to do something entirely different every few years is finally all "unified".

[@ShadwSonic]

"Hard to justify a '95 cutoff" Very true, though I've noticed an odd tendency in "generational phases" to have "front" and "back" halves. With the Baby Boomers, it's significant enough that some call its back half the "Jones" generation. I think '95 might be the cutoff point between those halves for Classic Sonic. For the Adventure Era, it actually feels like '06 belongs _there,_ with the halfway cutoff being after Heroes or Shadow, and the back ending with '06. And for the Boost Era, it started with Unleashed, had its back half start after Generations, and ended with Forces. Now, one might think from the above that the "back half" of a generational phase would be worse than the front half, but that's not necessarily true. What matters is that one of the two halves is more "focused" on the core identity of its phase than the other. As for the hesitancy on calling the "Boost" Era by that name, due to only 4/7 games having it... keep in mind that two of those are _deliberate_ throwbacks to Classic Era gameplay, and thus don't _really_ factor in like the others... meaning we've actually got 4/5 games with Boost. Also, Frontiers's "boost" works very differently than that from Boost Era games, so it doesn't really cause problems there either. tl;dr, I actually agree quite strongly with the final conclusions of the video, just with the added "front/back half" concept and dismissing the concerns that lead to the rebranding of the Boost Era. Oh, and as for the era we're in now? We simply do not have enough data to determine the core structure yet, so any name beyond "Current" or "Modern" is a little presumptuous. I'd stick with "Current", considering how the art world already demonstrated why "Modern" isn't the best choice for an interim name (plus people would think we're talking Boost Era when we aren't).

[@ringadingdong4198]

bro i remember this thumb nail from like years ago man

[@NovaZoneTV]

It's official Sega art. So it's probably been used in a lot of Sonic videos. Besides the text I added.

[@m3nmin]

Here's my personal take on this. Classic era stays. You made a good point about shadow and 06, so ill start the adventure era with Adventure and end with 06. The era from 06 to colors doesnt have much of a defining trait, its just experimentation. My name for it is just "post-06" for now, ill work on it. The Meta Era name works for me. It applies to pretty much everything but gameplay, and gameplay never affected names anyways. Lastly, the current era, post movie, I dont like the name universal era, because it feels like a name you can't follow up on or define. My name for it would be the "Revolution" era. Sonic is shifting in a positive way, and I think our current SEGA's decisions will affect decades more.

[@NovaZoneTV]

I did actually debate about Revolution for a little bit, but then decided that it implies quality a bit too much for the rules I set up. Even if I am pretty happy with the recent Sonic output. I saw someone else in the comments call the current one "Unified Era" by using my definition, and the more I think on it the more I kinda like it.

[@m3nmin]

@@NovaZoneTV I personally perceive revolution less as quality and more of change, that's why I picked it.

[@C09663]

I'd call the universal era, the "media era", especially since it starts with IDW.

[@reedtheracco0n]

you're underated my bro

[@BraviaGames]

While I REALLY like Solo Era, I still feel that Modern Era works a little bit better in terms of people just getting it right away (I think mainly because of the transition to a 3D-CG-based character design). Sonic Generations was the big kicker and really stuck with me since I was a kid when it released because it separated the stages you play by three eras. It straight up called the two Sonics: Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic. So following the era naming scheme of Generations here's what I got: Classic Era Green Hill (Sonic 1) Chemical Plant (Sonic 2) Sky Sanctuary (Sonic 3&K) Adventure Era Speed Highway (SA1) City Escape (SA2) Seaside Hill (Heroes) Modern Era Crisis City (06) Rooftop Run (Unleashed) Planet Wisp (Colors) Here's my reasoning. The name, Classic Era, is self explanatory and widely accepted. The name, Adventure Era, is also widely accepted but I think it actually ends right before 06. 06 was meant to be a reboot and it shows with how it makes no references to previous games in terms of story. Sure it borrows the Advnture Era's storytelling, gameplay, and things that era established like G.U.N, but it's just that, borrowing. Things like Wave Ocean feel like a spiritual successor to Emerald Coast rather than a direct reference. It marks Sonic's second attempt at an aged up look. Modern Sonic looks similar to Adventure Sonic, but it's not quite the same. 06 marked the dawn of an era of experimentation. Notice how the three main Modern Era games in the Generations scheme each have completely different writers and directors, clearly they were experimenting (Lost World, do I need to say more?). And THAT'S what the Modern Era is to me, a big ol' experiment! I'd like to propose that the current era be called the Canon Era. In this era, EVERYTHING IS Canon (somehow) according to the Official Sonic Twitter account. And you can tell by how all of the media now, Frontiers, IDW, the movies, and Prime, ALL of it is trying to tie into something else in some kind of way to form a new version of the canon, of sorts. Colors Ultimate and Frontiers have the Movie's electric boost, Frontiers straight up name drops characters from the IDW comics and Sonic Boom, and Prime's setting is based heavily upon the Classics (not to mention calling it prime feels like they're straight up saying this is the main game Sonic). Though it's being handled quite messily, the vision of canon is clear. Thus, the Canon Era.

[@carlosfromearth]

Hello I am one of the few who really likes Shadow the Hedgehog. The exist. Actually, I’m the only one in existence.

[@NovaZoneTV]

If you want my REAL opinion on Shadow The Hedgehog, please look at my most recent community post...

[@carlosfromearth]

@@NovaZoneTV Haha nice! The marketing is insanely edgy and it makes looking back at the game that much funnier. XD

[@Gaminghj]

I agree with all of them expect the united era it'll age poorly if the unity continues but for now it's a great name only temporarily though we can't really name a brand new era well

[@Sonicjan]

Wait, they removed the Multiplayer Puzzle Mode for the Collection?! That's such a loss... Loosing the Zero Multiplayer stuff was a bit sad, but since these were never really good or fun and got mostly replaced by the new Multiplayer mode for the Collection, they never were a big loss. But this is just sad...

[@NovaZoneTV]

Sorry, did you have multiple videos open at once (possibly 1 of my Mega Man ones)? I've read this a few times, and I'm unsure how this relates to Sonic?

[@Sonicjan]

@@NovaZoneTV Sorry, I was watching the "Short Videos"-Playlist and KZbin just skipped to the next video while I was still writing. The comment was meant for the "Bonus Materials of the ZX Series", I think. Since you talked about the ZXA Puzzle Multiplayer game being removed from the Legacy Collection. I posted the comment on the correct video now 😅

[@calistusjay60]

Synergy Era sounds better than Universal.

[@StardustZee]

I never liked the term "meta era." When people used it, it always felt like a slur. Like yeah, i love unleashed A LOT more than adventure 2 but you shouldn't insult me for liking a "meta era" game more than anything else.

[@matti.8465]

It also comes from a general misunderstanding of what "meta" means. They might as well call it the "shitty era" because thats what they REALLY mean

[@StardustZee]

@@matti.8465 TRUE.

[@ChrisWilliams-ur7fn]

Good anime taste. I see that Joshiraku.

[@kakhome1]

(Replying here) I definitely agree Forces is the worst, by a fair bit IMO. Unleashed Project is most challenging, but Generations probably has the most routes & exploration allowances. For Unleashed, did you rank Unleashed Project (not vanilla)? Era discussion wise I generally agree through 06 at least at least for the gameplay style of the mainline games. (There were always some quite different spinoffs, and handheld wise Advance/Rush are pretty different from the Adventure style IMO, even beyond just being 2D.)

[@NovaZoneTV]

Unleashed Project, yeah. Regular Unleashed, honestly, I might put lower than Forces. Not due to the stages themselves, but because the growth mechanic around it is very poorly implemented imho. With the boost games, I like being able to turn it on and have a chance at perfect play immediately due to my skill. Gens and Forces allow that. Unleashed hinders that by having a "speed score" that makes S ranks basically impossible unless Sonic is already leveled up. And to level Sonic up, you basically need to play the werehog. Colors also had S ranks that are impossible until you have a wisp, but since Colors is more exploration oriented like CD, I can forgive it. I do wish wisps were just everywhere from the get-go on fresh save replays, but since Colors is so short to reach the end it's not as bad to me.

[@kakhome1]

(Replying re Unleashed Project) What mods are 'Sonic Unleashed Addon' (not the base) and 'Sonic Unleashed Score System'? I couldn't find those easily (I do have 'The Complete Addon' but not just 'Addon' in the case of the former); I have the rest of them already however.

[@NovaZoneTV]

Addon should be the complete add-on mod that you probably have. I was reading right off my hedgemod manager, so it might've just been written funky. Score system is meant for making S rank requirements the same as original unleashed. To by pass the Gens stuff. I think it was linked in the GameBanana page for Unleashed Addon but I can't remember? Try searching "Unleashed ranks" "score" stuff like that.

[@kakhome1]

A couple questions about Unleashed Project: 1) For Unleashed Project Addon, is it mod 375041 on GameBanana? (KZbin seems to not like if I just link it.) 2) Also I can't seem to find 'Sonic Unleashed Score System'. The only video I found with it linked me to 'Sonic Unleashed HUD' which is a separate mod you had in your loadout and it says that needs 'Score Generations' to run, which you don't show in your loadout. So I'm confused there.

[@NovaZoneTV]

1) yes. that's the one. must be just written funny off of my loadout. 2) I did actually have score generations as well. Just missed it in the last post. was typing on my phone last night. I had to go back and double check, on GameBanana it seems like the "Sonic Unleashed Score System" came with my download of Unleashed Addon. Try redownloading Unleashed Project Addon and maybe it'll appear? It might also appear once you download Score Generations. Which for clarity, is 292798 on GB. 3) Also adding, on my old laptop I'd add in "Unleashed Project low end". I don't know if that's needed on new versions of UP but circa 3 or 4 years ago I needed it.

[@danminep]

Pretty good.

[@kakhome1]

Very interesting thought process for a split so far. In terms of boost games how would you rank them best to worst: Unleashed Project (this mod specifically, not vanilla), Colors, Generations (Modern stages only), and Forces (Modern/team stages)?

[@NovaZoneTV]

If we're talking only the boost gameplay segments. Gens > Colors = Unleashed > Forces. Reasons will be for videos someday.

[@KilosFoxo]

the solo era could be called fusion era becaue all the gamed from colours to forces seem to attempt to be a fusion of classic and modern sonic with modern gameplay and asthetics partnered with a classic story this would alsp show classic and sonic both having lots of prevalence in the era

[@NovaZoneTV]

Reasonable name, but I don't see why Unleashed would be left out of it. Reimplementing 2D elements into a "3D Sonic game" was a huge deal at the time. Before Unleashed everyone had generally assumed that 2D games were relegated to handhelds. A trend we assumed with most games that jumped to 3D i.e. Zelda, Mario, Castlevania. And even the story is pretty comparable to early Sonic games like 2 and CD. Only big Adventure trend was the giant monster

[@KilosFoxo]

@@NovaZoneTV that's actually a really good point too

[@mrstickmantas]

Poggers

[@ChrisWilliams-ur7fn]

10:52 Satania-sama based Sonic Heroes fan! 😂

[@NovaZoneTV]

She feels like she has friends when playing it.

[@Pringleguy1]

Ree-xam-ined

[@starstorm4077]

I'm begging Sega to not stick with IDW being canon...

[@NovaZoneTV]

Good news for you: Sega has not actually made an official statement on it, and even Ian Flynn has had to choose his words wisely when asked about it. References to the comics will likely be kept turbo minimal, if at all. Which is kinda shocking, because the show runner for Prime was allowed to straight up say "this is canon to the games" when Prime does not fit nearly as easily. Personally I like IDW a lot, but I can get why people wouldn't want it to be canon. Tangle & Whisper are canon though. And if that's all the reference IDW will get in the games I'll take it.

[@Kahlbsolos]

I say Classic Era “1991-1997” Adventure Era “1998-2008” Bc I mean their is more than one adventure in each game in dis era Boost Era “2008-2017” Bc the boost affect (DONT HATE) United Era “2017-Present” bc it United from 17-23 with either a movie sonic, a classic Sonic or a modern sonic for example in every era there r no multiple sonic games showing diff types of sonic Bc for example Movie .Sonic Movie 1&2 Modern .Forces .Murder of Sonic .IDW books .Sonic frontiers .and Sonic PRIME .Roblox Fan Games’. Classic .Mania .Forces .Superstars (comin October) .orgins .multiple sonic “CLASSIC” FANgames .and that one Roblox game “classic sonic Sim (Css)”. .Sonic & Friends SHOW

[@NovaZoneTV]

United is good. Gets across the same point I was looking for. I think Sonic & Friends technically counts as modern though. Amy has her modern look and Sonic's eyes are green. Not that the moé TikTok shorts are all that important.

[@AlphaZeroX96]

Police officers aren't pigs. Anyway, am I the only one who hates that the games have been categorized into "eras" by fans? Why not drop the era concept?

[@egateqa1351]

Solo Era. I think you mean the Solo Years…. Talk about grammar.

[@ironbaysqiureg4827]

Very cringe why don't you just call Everything post 06 experimental era. If it's perfectly because every game in that era mostly focuses on being far more experimental. Secret rings was a side experiment with very experimental concepts. It doesn't matter if it was in the same Development. It's a radical departure matches with Everything going forward. Rush aventure is different than rush With its open world Sea you traveling. The rival games were a brand new spin off. Zero gravity Adds new New elements to the formula that makes it played differently From sonic riders. Not to mention experimental Is a very neutral Statement people Can project either negative or positive outlook upon it. Say that to any sonic fan and i'm sure they will mostly understand It's starting point and stopping point.