I think it's like this:
Sonic 1
Sonic CD
Sonic 2
S3&K
Chaotix
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic R (more than likely)
SA
Sonic Shuffle
SA2
Sa }
Sonic Pinball Party}just guesses
Sa2}
Sonic Heroes
Shadow(speculation as of now of course)
Sonic Battle
Sa3
Sonic Rush
Sonic Riders
Sonic the Hedgehog next-gen(again speculation)

I think its actually
Sega Sonic Arcade
Sonic 1
Sonic CD
Sonic 2
Sonic Chaos
Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Sonic Triple Trouble
Tails Skypatrol
Chaotix (if it actually happened in the storyline)
Sonic 3D
Sonic Blast
Tails Adventure
Sonic R
Sonic The Fighters (You could always say that one of the 8 emeralds was fake)
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Advance
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Advance 2
Sonic Heroes
Shadow The Hedgehog
Sonic Battle
Sonic Advance 3
Sonic Rush
Sonic Riders
Sonic The Hedgehog

I was under the impression that there really was no proper canon until Sonic Adventure came out.

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I was under the impression that there really was no proper canon until Sonic Adventure came out.

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Sonic 3 positioned itself after the events of Sonic 2, while Chaotix continued story aspects raised both in Sonic CD and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The designers, therefore, did have a story order in the pre-SA days. ^_^

I agree with John Taylor for the most part, but I believe that the Game Gear Sonics are a seperate timeline from the Genesis Sonics. I also consider Chaotix to be stand alone due to the fact that Espio, Vector, and Charmy are complete different in Heroes

Also, IIRC, Tails Adventure takes place prior to Sonic 2 (either version); at least, before Tails met Sonic. Could be wrong, though.

I think we can also safely say that Sonic 1 is the absolute beginning, as it only features six chaos emeralds, with the seventh being in Sonic 2, which is then followed immediately after by Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

Well I read the Tails Adventure manual from Sonic Gems and it says that he was on holiday on his tropical island.

The Tails Adventure japanese story:

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Floating along the spring-like South Pacific, the tiny island not found on any map, Cocoa Island... the beautiful island resting atop coral reefs, said to be home to sleeping Chaos Emeralds since ancient times.

It is on this island that Tails lives. This story from here, occurs before Tails met Sonic...

Tails' real name is Miles Prower, and the two-tailed fox has a research lab on the south side of this island called Tails House. Every day at this lab is the same for Tails.

One day, when Tails was enjoying an afternoon nap under the shade of the forest near Tails House. The green of the forest punctuated by flashes from the sun, the flutter and chirping of the birds, Tails felt very nice by the forest. However...

Dokaan!! The sound of an explosion suddenly echoed through the forest!!

'Ah! What was that?!!' Tails tossed and flurried out of half-sleep.

'Tails! Tails! Big trouble!' a small Flicky bird shouted to Tails. 'Tails! The Battlecook army has arrived at this island!'

'Battlewhat!?' Tails didn't understand a thing.

'It's Battlecook! The Dictator Great Battlecook's Imperial Army!!'

'Grate Batl Kook? Impryal Armie???

'Great BattleCook is looking for Chaos Emeralds to take over the world!'

'What!?'

Suddenly before Tails dumbfounded eyes, one after another the trees of the forest were mowed down, and the silhouette of a giant mecha appeared in the flames. It was true. Scheming to take over the world, Great Battlecook the 15th had lead a massive battalion to Cocoa Island in order to gain the hidden powers of the Chaos Emeralds.

'Finally, finally I've found it! Kokoko..koke-!! With the Chaos Emeralds, world conquest will come naturally! Ok, move out on the double! Bring me the one remaining Chaos Emerald! Kokokokokoke-!!'

The forest, the mountains, everywhere you looked the entire island had gone up in flames. Truly, Cocoa Island is in a big pinch! To stand up to the threat on this island, there is only Tails. Mustering up all his courage, can Tails smash the terrible ambition of Great Battlecook? Can he rescue Cocoa Island from this peril?!

Up til now Tails has no experience, this will certainly be the start of his first great adventure....!!

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I also consider Chaotix to be stand alone due to the fact that Espio, Vector, and Charmy are complete different in Heroes

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I don't get why people assume this? There seems to be a confusion between reinvention and reintroduction. Other then the hideously "americanized" instruction manuel, there is no evidence that says the characters of Chaotix have changed at all. I mean, they were detectives (at least Espio was explicitly called one), and they happened to be checking out the Nutrogic High Zone (SP?) when they were frozen in the catcher. The only compelling argument that the game was dropped from cannon is that they don't reference their previous adventure in "Heros," and even that is easy to explain.

1) Only Espio was the only required character other then Knuckles when playing Chaotix.

2) Chaotix is an obscure game, and Sonic Team was wise not to assume that modern Sonic Audiences were aware of it. It would be like Tails referencing the "Battle @#%$."

3) Charmy is the only one truly ignorant of Dr. Eggman, but you have to remember that he is intentionally portrayed as flighty.

They happened in the order they were released.
Spinball's not canon, because Princess Sally's in it.

Well... I'm gonna take it that games with virtually no plot don't count. (I.E., Sonic R, etc) Neither will I put things with plot holes. (Fighters and its eight emeralds) In that case, I'd have to label it as thus:

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic CD
Sonic the Hedgehog II
Sonic the Hedgehog III & Knuckles
Knuckles Chaotix
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic Advance
Sonic Advance II
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure II
Sonic Advance III
Sonic Heroes
Sonic Battle

I'm a real strict continuitist. (Word?) I don't really care if it's a simple thrown-off plot thing, my mind will register it as cannon.

Sonic CD comes before Sonic 2 because it has a picture of Tails saying, "See you in the NEXT game."

My ideals on the Advanced games probably aren't approved by many. The reason I have them where they are is in Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, you can see Cream a few times, whether as a cameo, or whatever. You could say this is a simple add-in, but in my opinion, the newest official version of a game/movie/whatever is it's true form.

I never played Chaotix, so I might be messed up there. (It's the only truly cannon Sonic game I haven't played, I think.)

~Nytloc Penumbral Lightkeeper

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the newest official version of a game/movie/whatever is it's true form.

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Say that to any (Original) Star Wars fan.
I say Original because there's all these little n00bs who saw the prequels first and think that's how Star Wars should be.

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I think we can also safely say that Sonic 1 is the absolute beginning, as it only features six chaos emeralds,

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I personally think that SegaSonic occurs before Sonic 1. Based on the fact that Sonic runs AWAY from Eggman in the intro, where normally he would have just attacked him. (Implying that they've never met each other before)

Sonic himself also seems to be younger looking in this game than any other.

SegaSonic Arcade may very well take place before Sonic 1 (if it is indeed even to be considered at all). Doesn't the Jap manual of Sonic 1 state (or imply at least) that Sonic and Eggman already know each other, and have been battling for quite a while?

Sorry,nytloc,there's a few problems with your timeline. Sonic Advance 3 definately did not come before Heroes. If you notice, in Sonic Battle, you have Emerl, and in Sa3, you have Gemerl. Since Gemerl is clearly based off of Emerl, if not Emerl rebuilt, Sa3 had to come after SB. SB comes after SH because among other clues, Rouge comments that Chaos Gamma reminds her of Omega which did not appear until SH. So, in conclusion, Sa3 could not come before SH when SB comes after SH, and Sa3 clearly comes after SB, of course.

This is the way I've always imagained it. I know there's no "real" canon for most of the games, and stuff like Sonic Drift obviously has no real story, but it's fun to make it up =p

1. Sonic the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog [Gamegear]
Obviously the first game - the Mega Drive and Gamegear versions are incredibly similar, and can probably just be counted as one point in the timeline (eg. "one big adventure!")

2. SegaSonic the Hedgehog
It comes very early in the timeline of games, seeing as there's no Tails, but Mighty and Ray instead. I'd like to think the first Sonic is the initial meeting between Sonic and Robotnik, and this game was almost his "revenge", for lack of a better term - lock up the hedgehog that foiled his last plan.

3. Tails' Adventures
This game takes place before Sonic and Tails met, so this is about the best place in the timeline for it.

4. Sonic CD
Things start to heat up a bit between Robotnik and Sonic - Robotnik kidnaps Amy and creates Metal Sonic as a way of luring Sonic into battle, but also of distracting Sonic from his work on the Death Egg. This is the last "pre-Tails" game.

5. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 [Gamegear]
Robotnik tries a similar trick with Sonic's new friend Tails - the kidnap/distract card.

6. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
While rescuing Tails, Sonic learns of Robotnik's Death Egg, and the two of them immediately set off to destroy it.

7. Sonic Drift
The Death Egg has landed on Angel Island and is being rebuilt, but construction is going to take a while and Robotnik is getting bored. Meanwhile, Amy has finally caught up to her hero Sonic, and with an "off period" in their fight against Robotnik, Sonic and Tails have some time to play around.

8. Sonic Spinball/Sonic Spinball [Gamegear]
The Death Egg is STILL being rebuilt, and Robotnik is getting antsy, so he goads Sonic into attacking his Volcano Fortress. (Ignore Sally, Rotor, etc. - in this continuity they mean nothing, so there's no reason we can't just consider them as random people Sonic knows (like Ray)).

9. Sonic Chaos
The Death Egg is almost complete, but Robotnik has discovered the red Chaos Emerald. Sonic and Tails set off to stop his plans to use it. (Note: Most people put Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 directly after each other, but there is an implied gap between the two games. Also, since Knuckles appears in just about every game since he makes his debut, these past three games have to take place between the two "Death Egg stories")

10. Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles (Sonic's Story)
Sonic and Tails arrive on Angel Island, meet Knuckles, save the Master Emerald, and destroy the Death Egg. Sonic and Knuckles part on slightly better terms - Knuckles accepts they aren't trying to threaten the island, but he still doesn't trust them (to borrow a plot point from the Archie comics, Knuckles is basically telling them that if they return to Angel Island, the fight will start up again)

11. Sonic Triple Trouble
Robotnik's a sore loser, and attacks Angel Island again. Sonic and Tails come back in order to stop him, and Knuckles again acts as a nemesis to them. Fang shows up for whatever reason (to steal the Emeralds, or hired by Robotnik to take out Sonic and Tails - whatever). (Note: Placing this game in this place is the only way to justify having two games in which Sonic and Knuckles aren't allies)

12. Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles (Knuckles' Story)
A few of Robotnik's robots lay attack on Angel Island, and Knuckles gets rid of them. At the end, he and Sonic part on somewhat friendly terms.

13. Sonic Drift 2
A bit of "relaxation", so to speak, after the epic events of the past few games. (This could probably go just about anywhere, but it's a good idea to keep all of Fang's appearances in a somewhat closeknit continuity. Plus it's been a while since we've seen Metal Sonic and Amy, and both of them have another appearance coming up soon. Also, small uneventful games like this give Robotnik time to build the Death Egg II.)

14. Knuckles' Chaotix
Re-introduces Mighty (briefly), and also introduces Vector, Charmy and Espio. It has to take place about now, because it references events in S3&K and prepares Espio for a later appearance.

15. Sonic 3D Blast: Flickie's Island/Sonic 3D Blast: Flickie's Island [Saturn]
The last of the "Mega Drive games", this takes place in this point in the timeline simply because everything that follows it wouldn't make sense to come before it.

16. Sonic R
Takes place directly after the previous game because there are Flickies in Resort Island, which leads me to believe that Flicky Island and wherever Sonic R takes place aren't far apart.

17. Sonic the Fighters
Surprisingly, this game introduces a lot of important things which come up in later games - specifically, Tails' love of machinery (which hadn't been mentioned much until now) and his ability to create a "fake" Chaos Emerald (which explains the eighth emerald in this game). You could also see this game as an almost "parting of ways" between Sonic and Tails, because you don't see them together again till Sonic Adventure. Something like Tails realising that they're both actually people, not the "Sonic and Tails" team - Tails may have created the Lunar Fox, the means to stop the Death Egg II, but ultimately it's still Sonic who saves the day.

18. Sonic Labyrinth
Tails' has gone off adventuring by himself for a while, and Sonic's on his own for a bit, so Robotnik attacks.

19. Tails' Skypatrol
Likewise, Tails has his own adventure while Sonic is busy.

20. Sonic Blast
Since Tails isn't around, Sonic ropes Knuckles into helping him out with Robotnik's newest threat.

21. Sonic Pocket Adventure
It's the "last hurrah" of classic 2D Sonic, but with his Sonic Adventure design. Seems best to put it as a "bridge between the two eras, so to speak.

22. Sonic Adventure
You know the story here. Some people have suggested that the Advance games should take place before this game due to Cream's presence in SADX - but the original SA featured no Cream, and there's nothing in SADX that specifically states that any of the characters at that point even know Cream (I prefer to think she's just out for an early morning fly, myself =p)

23. Sonic Shuffle
I've never played this game myself, but putting it between Adventure and Adventure 2 seems like the most logical place.

24. Sonic Adventure 2
Obviously takes place after Sonic Adventure.

25. Sonic Advance
This seems like the best place to put Advance - there's no "in game" reasons to place it here, but chronologically, this place is the best fit.

26. Sonic Advance 2
Introduces Cream, so it has to come before Sonic Heroes.

27. Sonic Pinball Party
Again, this could probablly go anywhere, but see Sonic Heroes. This game takes place in Casinopolis.

28. Sonic Heroes
Obviously takes place after the Adventure series, but Amy mentions that Casino Park looks like Casinopolis (which she never went into in

Sonic Adventure, only in Pinball Party. Yeah, it's very dodgy continuity, but it works =p)

29. Sonic Battle
Takes place after Sonic Heroes, as there are references to it (Shadow, Omega, etc.)

30. Sonic Advance 3
Takes place after Sonic Battle, as Gemerl is clearly an adaptation of Emerl.

Sonic Rush, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic Riders, we have no information on the timeline order as of yet - but I'm inclined to think that they go in that order, myself.

Man, how could I forget about Sonic Shuffle and Sonic Pinball Party(although I haven't played either); thanks for reminding me, Matt, I'm gonna edit them in now, probably in the order you laid out. BTW, I don't think the GG games are considered canon though I could be wrong.

I'm a little worried about the Battle/Shadow connection. Note that Battle was supplemental to SA2, and though it did officially reference Heroes via to Omega comment made by Rouge.

I really hope Shadow doesn't contradict the crap out of it, for there are a few things in Battle which are just worth keeping, the character exploration (it's not development, persay, but we get to see them all shine) was superb, and the SA2 clean-up job was pretty alright, helped give us some insight to Gerald which we sort of needed.

Only Shadow's involvement, and Chaos make me feel uneasy about it's placement (or requirement) of the canon. We still don't know what happened with Chaos, SA1's ending sort of implies they returned to the past (hence the non-broken Emerald shrine and Chao), and we all know Shadow is just confusing, until next month.

Presumably the games would take place in order of release, except when there's something to suggest otherwise.

It's not worth speculating about unreleased games. The only thing we know for sure at the moment is that Shadow the Hedgehog takes place some time after Sonic Heroes. Let's just wait until they're released.

Spinball and Mean Bean Machine were based upon the non-canon cartoons, so logically they should probably be considered non-canon too.

Attempting the daunting task of trying to fit all of the Sonic games together (excluding edutainment titles and Spinball and Bean Machine), would give a result something like this:

Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega Drive)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Game Gear)
SegaSonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog CD
Tails Adventures
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive)
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (as Sonic and Tails)
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (as Knuckles)
Chaotix
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Game Gear)
Sonic & Tails
Sonic Drift
Sonic & Tails 2
Tails' Skypatrol
Sonic Labyrinth
Sonic Drift 2
Sonic the Fighters
Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island
G Sonic
Sonic R
Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Shuffle
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Advance
Sonic Advance 2
Sonic Pinball Party
Sonic Heroes
Sonic Battle
Sonic Advance 3

Of course this does leave some plot holes, mostly due to the Chaos Emeralds and the Game Gear games.

As a general rule I've tried to stick to the order of release as closely as possible.

It's possible that the Game Gear games aren't even canon, as Sonic & Tails 2's prologue refers to Knuckles as a "stranger" when he attacked Sonic, implying that this is an alternate continuity from that of the main games in which Sonic 3 is the definite first meeting of Sonic and Knuckles. Chaotix on the other hand made heavy references to Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD, but was seemingly (it's still up for debate) wiped out of continuity with Sonic Heroes.

It's possible that the Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog takes place simultaneously/alongside the Mega Drive version, but that's just speculation.

No games take place inbetween Sonic 2 (Mega Drive) and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, as they provide one continuing story arc.

Sonic met Tails in the immediate back-story to Sonic 2 (Mega Drive). Since Sonic 2 (Mega Drive) leads straight in to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, then all other games featuring Tails (sans Tails Adventures) would have to take place after that.

Tails Adventures takes place before Tails met Sonic, and so can take place absolutely anywhere before Sonic 2, it could even take place before Sonic 1.

SegaSonic the Hedgehog and Sonic CD were released inbetween Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, but seeing as they don't feature Tails they can take place before Sonic 2, which is where I put them, because it makes the most sense that way (as it "explains" why Tails isn't there and also because these were being developed at the same time as Sonic 2).

Sonic Pocket Adventure was released after Sonic Adventure; however Sonic Adventure 2 shows that Tails received a Chaos Emerald after his victory in Sonic Adventure, so it's best not to have any games featuring the Chaos Emeralds take place inbetween the two Sonic Adventure games. It's easier to push it behind Sonic Adventure, rather than in front of Sonic Adventure 2 (especially as Pocket Adventure borrows a lot from the pre-Sonic Adventure games).

It could be argued that Sonic Advance 1 and 2 take place before Sonic Adventure, because Cream first meets Sonic in Sonic Advance 2, but makes a cameo in Sonic Adventure DX. However, seeing as Cream never actually interacts with any of the cast, only flies by briefly (seemingly dropping the ice stone), I don't consider this a problem at all.

For thematic reasons it works best if there's as few games in-between Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Chaotix as possible (but that's only for thematic reasons, officially Chaotix takes place months after Sonic 3 & Knuckles, so there's plenty of room for adventures in-between). Also, it seems to be made quite clear in the manual that this is Metal Sonic's first piece of action since Sonic CD, so no games featuring Metal Sonic should take place in-between Sonic CD and Chaotix.

Have I missed anything?

The only thing I'm worried about is Battle's continuity.

..I so hope Emerl appears in ShTH, considering the link in their pasts...

Emerl's dead. Gemerl was a stretch, but he's dead too. Let the dang robots die in peace. Omega is still leaking transmittion fluid all over Gamma's grave, please don't make anyone do it to poor Emerl, I doubt I could stand to see that little tyke being abused in the afterlife!

Wasnt Gemerl rebuilt by Tails at the end of Sonic Advance 3?

Omega well he is brilliant really. Dont have a go at 'im.

Yes, he was rebuilt. Heard nothing of him since.

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Say that to any (Original) Star Wars fan.
I say Original because there's all these little n00bs who saw the prequels first and think that's how Star Wars should be.
Tool.

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Ha, ha, ha! I was thinking of Star Wars when I wrote that. XD I watched the movies in chronological order myself, and like the two about the same. New ones beat in plain action and plot, while the old ones own in actors and script. (Except Ewan McGregor. He ruled.)

BUT... That's another discussion for another time. Regardless, the makers of the game, or whatever, should be the deciders of this.

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Sorry,nytloc,there's a few problems with your timeline. Sonic Advance 3 definately did not come before Heroes. If you notice, in Sonic Battle, you have Emerl, and in Sa3, you have Gemerl. Since Gemerl is clearly based off of Emerl, if not Emerl rebuilt, Sa3 had to come after SB. SB comes after SH because among other clues, Rouge comments that Chaos Gamma reminds her of Omega which did not appear until SH. So, in conclusion, Sa3 could not come before SH when SB comes after SH, and Sa3 clearly comes after SB, of course.
For my 21st birthday, I rather had that new wine. The New Wine of the Spirit

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DO'H

~Nytloc Penumbral Lightkeeper

Out of curiosity, I noticed that most people don't count the GameGear Sonic games as part of the continuity because their plots don't match up - while the Sega of America plots definitely don't, does this apply to the Japanese versions as well? I've never actually seen a translation of the Japanese GG manuals before.

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Emerl's dead.

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Not if ShTH takes place before Battle he's not. <_< Shadow wouldn't see Emerl though, I think, because of the comments at the start of Shadow's story.

I meant like in a flashback sequence, perhaps, or a video showing footage from the ARK.

Am I correct in thinking that at the end of Sonic Advance 3, Gemerl is rebuilt and is inexplicably 'nice?' The reason I ask is that at the end of Sonic Battle, Sonic makes some vague references to Emerl 'still existing in the emerald shards' - since Gemerl absorbs the Chaos Emeralds' power at the end of Advance 3 and is then defeated, has he absorbed Emerl's essence as well, and thus is effectively Emerl reborn at the end of Advance 3? Or is he just reprogrammed by Tails and I'm reading too much into it?

Am I correct in thinking that at the end of Sonic Advance 3, Gemerl is rebuilt and is inexplicably 'nice?' The reason I ask is that at the end of Sonic Battle, Sonic makes some vague references to Emerl 'still existing in the emerald shards' - since Gemerl absorbs the Chaos Emeralds' power at the end of Advance 3 and is then defeated, has he absorbed Emerl's essence as well, and thus is effectively Emerl reborn at the end of Advance 3? Or is he just reprogrammed by Tails and I'm reading too much into it?

Tails reprogrammed him, though I'd like to believe Gemerl is actually Emerl's remains that Eggman recovered and Tails unlocked Emerl's old personality.

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Out of curiosity, I noticed that most people don't count the GameGear Sonic games as part of the continuity because their plots don't match up - while the Sega of America plots definitely don't, does this apply to the Japanese versions as well?

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Even the Japanese versions have a few potential problems, like Knuckles seemingly being introduced as a new character in Sonic & Tails 2, it's implied that South Island will sink without the Chaos Emeralds safely together there in Sonic & Tails, and there's some general wackiness with the Chaos Emeralds (though that's been a bit of a problem in a lot of the games before Sonic Adventure really).

They're workable I guess, but particularly with Sonic & Tails 2 you have to wonder whether the creators of the games ever intended them to take place in the same continuity as the main games (they also tended to follow a similar pattern, usually being set on South Island and there only being 6 Chaos Emeralds, but even this has differed).

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I've never actually seen a translation of the Japanese GG manuals before.

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One of Big_Smile's sites:

sonicworld.sclassic.net/s.../index.htm

Thanks for the link, VCP! Somehow I've never found Big Smile's site before... it seems rather comprehensive!

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Tails reprogrammed him, though I'd like to believe Gemerl is actually Emerl's remains that Eggman recovered and Tails unlocked Emerl's old personality.

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Yeah, that's what I think HSW; I just see Gemerl being Emerl rebuilt, though I think it makes sense one way or another.

there's still a lot you've missed out! Try and put ALL of these games in storyline order!! *MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!*

this is every Sonic game that came out.... ever! [excluding the 8-bit versions and odd bits & bobs, etc.]

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic Eraser
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sega Sonic Cosmo Fighter Galaxy Patrol
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
Sega Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic CD / Sonic the Hedgehog CD
Sonic & Tails / Sonic Chaos
Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Sonic Drift
Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld
Tails & the Music Maker
Sonic & Knuckles
-Blue Sphere
-Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2
-Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
Sonic & Tails 2 / Sonic Chaos
Sonic Drift 2 / Sonic Drift Racing
Chaotix / Knuckles' Chaotix
Tails' Sky Patrol
Tails Adventures
Sonic Labyrinth
Sonic the Fighters / Sonic Championship
Sonic Schoolhouse
Sonic 3D Flickies' Island / Sonic 3D Blast
G Sonic / Sonic Blast
Sonic & Knuckles Collection
Sonic Jam
Sonic 3D Flickies' Island / Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic R
Sonic Adventure
Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure
Sonic Shuffle
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Advance
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Sonic Advance 2
Sonic Pinball Party
SonicN
Sonic Battle
Sonic Heroes
Sonic Advance 3
Sonic Mega Collection Plus
Sonic DS (tentative title)
Sonic Rush
Sonic Riders
Shadow the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog [next gen game]

And Sonic Caf games, mostly descriptions not titles, in no particular order:

Sonic Reversi
Sonic the Hedgehog (mobile phone)
Sonic Billiards
Sonic Bowling
Sonic Darts
Sonic Fishing
Sonic Golf
Sonic Hopping
Sonic Mine Sweeper
Sonic Putter
Sonic Racing cart
Sonic Shift Up
Sonic Tennis
Speed!
Speed DX
Tails Guessing Game
Some kind of Chao simulator I can't even begin to get an approximate English title for.

Sonic Logic
Sonic Head-On
Sonic's Bomb Squad
Sonic Demo (all Motorola phone games)

I tend to discount the "collection games" and stuff like Eraser, Waku Waku, etc. as they're not really real games. If we're going to be precise, however, you missed a few - Sonic Compilation (which was Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and Mean Bean) on Mega Drive, and Sonic 2-in-1 (I believe it was Sonic 2 and Spinball) for Gamegear. Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Gems Collection. The new 2-in-1 GBA games (Advance and Pinball Party; Advance and Battle; Pinball Party and Columns)

Yeah, I agree - the more random games like Sonic Cafe can't really be sensibly fit into the continuity as such, though I suppose the more sane ones could take place at pretty much anytime.

As far as the whole Sonic continuity goes, I think I, in my near limitless fourth-post wisdom, would go with VCP's Sonic timeline (assuming the GameGear games are canon) of date release order unless specified otherwise (e.g. Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic 2 GG, SegaSonic Arcade) with one exception - I'd place Sonic CD back in its original release date position (on VCP's timeline, between Sonic 2 GG and Sonic & Tails).

It seems the main reason for moving Sonic CD to pre-Sonic 2 is the lack of Tails - if it were after Sonic 2,3 & Knuckles, wouldn't Tails be in it? While this makes a lot of sense, the story doesn't actually require Tails' presence at all - Sonic is going to the Little Planet for a break, and thus doesn't intend to have a major adventure - thus Tails isn't there with him as he would normally be. There's also the fact that Tails flying the Tornado appears along with Metal Sonic and Eggman in the DA Garden's Music Select screen - although this is hardly canonical, it seems strange to put him there if he hasn't met Sonic yet.

In addition, placing Sonic CD after Sonic 2,3 & Knuckles gives more credence to the role of Mecha Sonic as Metal Sonic's predecessor, and even gives Mecha a logical design evolution:

- in Sonic 2, Mecha Sonic (the first robotic Sonic) is deployed; while powerful and having the ability to sort-of emulate some of Sonic's moves, he is a bit slow and clunky and is ultimately bested.
- in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Mecha Sonic's design is improved - he is now faster and more streamlined, with a wider variety of moves, although he is eventually defeated once more.
- in Sonic 2 on the GameGear, Mecha Sonic's design is once more upgraded - for the first time, he posseses Sonic's size and rough bodyshape, as well as being able to perform genuine Spin Attacks, Dashes and a passable Super Peel Out; his speed is increased once more, cutting the standing-around-like-a-moron-waiting-to-be-hit time to almost nothing; but the decrease in size reduces the sheer brute force and stopping power of his previous versions, and once more he is defeated.

After this, the next logical evolution of a robotic Sonic is an exact robotic duplicate exhibiting all of Sonic's speed and skill's - thus Metal Sonic is created, and appears in Sonic CD, which based on release date time, would be after Sonic 2 GG but before Sonic & Tails in VCP's timeline.

But Sonic CD can't come after Sonic 2 in the continuity because Sonic didn't know Tails then.

Ah, but that's the problem - nowhere does it explicitly state that Sonic hasn't met Tails yet, it's just many people assume that since Tails doesn't make an appearance in CD, then he can't have met Sonic yet.

To be honest, it could go either way and unless Sega state it specifically it'll always be a matter of speculation. I personally like to think Sonic CD came after Sonic 2, 3 & Knuckles for the reasons I gave in my previous post, but I could easily be wrong!

Well it wouldn't make much sense for SCD to take place before 3&K since that game wasn't even a twinkle in the developers eye. Sonic 2 and CD were being developed at the same time and Sonic CD was supposed to be released first but was delayed until '93.

There are clues like the spin-dash that is way different and the peel out that they were being developed at the same time and the teams were communicating but not working together. You do that code in Sonic CD and you see Tails saying "see you next game".. Sonic CD was supposed to come out first and that would have been a little sneak peek.

It could go either way really. Good point about Mecha Sonic.