SEGA’s long-awaited Sonic x Shadow Generations is now available on the Nintendo Switch combining both the excellent Sonic Generations and a brand new Shadow the Hedgehog side story. Some of you may be wondering how the Sonic games plot lines and story are all put together and that has now been explained by two SEGA employees on social media platform, X. Katie (Social Media Manager) and Chris (Associate Lore Manager) explained to a fan that it is all a collaboration between SEGA Japan, Sonic writers such as Ian Flynn and the SEGA Lore Team. It is not clear how much emphasis the Sonic Team have on writing process. You can read down below how the series story generally comes together and it’s not a simple process.
SEGA employees discuss writing process for the Sonic games
Sega CEO: First, we spin a wheel to decide if Classic Sonic is playable, only Sonic is playable, or both. And that’s it!
Employee: Can we let Sally Acorn be playable this time? Or at least put her in at all?
Sega CEO: GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!
She’s pretty much off-limits and considered dead. Same with the other Freedom Fighters and the whole Archie continuity.
Why put in a character whose personality would have no agency in SEGA Sonic universe?
“Sonic, do be so reckless! We have to carefully sneak around with extreme caution to shut down Eggman’s glaringly-bright neon casino and circus-bots with square teeth before Orbot and Cubot make a series of bad puns and fart humor! Follow me order, or else I’ll report you to our non-existent council of NPC normies in our non-existent government across several small islands versus the larger homosapien urban continents who have been publicly watching us since you set foot on South Island!”
EDIT: Several spelling error fixes
Why put in a character whose personality would have no agency in SEGA’s Sonic universe?
“Sonic, don’t be so reckless! We have to carefully sneak around with extreme caution to shut down Eggman’s glaringly-bright neon casino and circus-bots with square teeth before Orbot and Cubot make a series of bad puns and fart humor! Follow my orders, or else I’ll report you to our non-existent council of NPC normies in our non-existent government across several small islands versus the larger homosapien urban continents who have been publicly watching us since you set foot on South Island!”
Here’s their REAL writing process:
Watch a ton of Nickelodeon, play every Crash Bandicoot game since Wrath of Cortex, and give a few calls to Alex Hirsch for advice on how to writer a character Ace Card Gaming and and Character In-Depth will defend with flowery essay videos, even when they WRONG.
What are you even talking about??
How these Sonic games seem to be written these days.
Except that makes no sense whatsoever.
But they manage to get away with it….
Unless you have zero clue on anything I’m talking about and don’t follow much Sonic news to begin with.
Really interesting insights from the SEGA team on how the Sonic stories are shaped over time. I liked how they balance fast-paced gameplay with character-driven moments, which reminds me of how clarity and structure matter in any kind of documentation, even something like Greene Court Filings when you’re trying to follow a process. Hearing developers talk openly about drafts, revisions, and collaboration makes the final games feel more intentional. It’s always great to see behind-the-scenes perspectives that deepen appreciation for a long-running series like Sonic.
It’s fascinating to get a behind-the-scenes look at how SEGA shapes the Sonic games, especially how much thought goes into story and level design. While reading about their process, I also came across a helpful resource for keeping track of local information, like Hamilton parcel data which makes research much easier. It’s interesting to see how attention to detail matters both in game development and in real-world records. Definitely makes you appreciate the effort that goes into these systems.