wow, I didn't realize there was that much of a backstory to the games. I haven't really played the games or watched the shows in ages.
That's the simplest part. Sonic '06 rebooted the entire series...only it didn't. Sonic Unleashed showed Eggman built an entire spacefleet, broke the planet apart, unleashed Dark Gaia, stole her energy. Sonic restored the planet, Eggman sent his fleet across the galaxy, found "Wisps" and polluted them with Gaia's energy to make Dark Wisps (Sonic Colours). The climax of that game has his mech fall into the exploding space station to create the Time Eater out of it all (Sonic Generations). It sends both Sonics across his entire life from 1991 to 2011 or 20 years of the franchise, or Sonic's life from his 12th to 20th birthdays (8 years in universe) too solve it, including...the Sonic 2006 future which should not exist since his human girlfriend no longer became the host to Iblis the Demon since that timeline collapsed itself.
That game ends with Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic beating Robotnik and Eggman, leaving them both trapped in White Space to end the franchise.
Then...they made Lost World, a Mario ripoff that ignored...everything and suddenly Wisps are back. That failed horribly so they created the entire Sonic Boom universe unrelated to anything prior from 2014-2017.
It bombed hard. So they brought Christian Whitehead in from the Sonic Retro Hacking Commnity that make all the hacked games. He made Sonic 1, 2 and CD Remastered for IOS with them.
He made Sonic Mania to tie in with Sonic Forces. In Mania, we follow up after Sonic 3 and Knuckles from 1994 where they find the Phantom Ruby, get bounced around a medley of the 16 and 32 bit games before Classic Sonic is sent to the future in Forces.
Only...Tails says he's now the Sonic from "another dimension" so Forces, being a sequel 6 years later to Generations, is now in a new universe too.
When he's sent back, we got the Sonic Mania Encore Mode DLC where Ray and Mighty (Sonic the Fighters 1993 Arcade) are now helping Sonic, Tails and Knuckles reclaim the Phantom Ruby, which renanimates the Hard boiled Heavies (the villains from Sonic Mania, leftovers from the Sky Sanctuary/Death Egg protection gang in Sonic and Knuckles) who you have to defeat again.
This does *not* cover the extensive 3000-6000 year history of the anthros prior to all the games either.
So think Trek's canon, on crack, with a lot more colour, cheesier dialogue and just...worse.
