O enlighten me ye mighty scholars of sonic.

[Pepperidge]

I definitely wouldn't consider S3&K itself an Easter egg. It is the full, complete epic game that Sonic 3 was meant to be. I still can't accept the idea of the originally released, glitch-ridden Sonic 3 being thought of as a full game. The Hyper forms are probably just a bonus thing, though.

As for Chaos Emeralds: if you really honestly care, everything you'll ever want to know about them and Angel Island (which was probably the greatest extent to which any type of thought was put behind them) is pretty much explained in Sonic Adventure, whether visually or through narrative. You kind of have to draw your own conclusions on stuff like the Super Emeralds, but if you want to know more than that... well, you're asking too much. It's people obsessing over minor plot quibbles like this that brought us Shadow the Hedgehog.

[Yami CJMErl]

Of course, there's a lot of space levels in SA2 and nobody seems to have breathing problems.

Don't forget Sonic X Season 2/3/whatever you want to call it--despite Chris practically REQUIRING a spacesuit to be anywhere outside the Blue Typhoon, all the others needed was that wierd-ass belt with the rocket pods on it.

It's the two basic rules of Sonic physics--characters can breathe in a vaccum(sp?), but not underwater.

[gr4yJ4Y]

I was under the impression that there was some kind of thin atmosphere surrounding the ark. Though even that probably wouldn't had been enough to let them keep breathing.

Also Sonic can breath fine in Twilight Zone was back in Sonic 1, so I suppose Yami is right.

[EmeraldGuardian]

Also Sonic can breath fine in Twilight Zone was back in Sonic 1, so I suppose Yami is right.

Twilight Zone doesn't take place in space though, right?

[Crazy Penguin]

Also Sonic can breath fine in Twilight Zone was back in Sonic 1, so I suppose Yami is right.

What?

[DackAttac]

There's the fact that Sonic was able to cling to the outside of a spaceship as it flew from Sky Sanctuary and the Death Egg. There's the fact that he and Tails RAN into the Death Egg. Or at some point Sonic jumped off the Death Egg and was picked up by Tails on the biplane.

However, the fact that if you fell off the Ark, you caught fire upon atmosphere reentry was one of my favorite parts of SA2.

[Shadow Hog]

As I recall, the entire Finalhazard fight was under a time limit for similar reasons, too. The longer you took to fight, the redder the entire level would get as the entire ARK began to burn up on reentry. If you didn't beat it in five minutes, then, plotwise, the ARK was too far in to stop. Which the game illustrated by merely making your character fall to Earth. Yeah.

[Rob-Bert]

How close was the Death Egg to the Earth? If it was close enough to still be in the atmosphere, then maybe that's how Sonic was able to breathe up there when entering and exiting it.

[Owen Axel]

How close was the Death Egg to the Earth? If it was close enough to still be in the atmosphere, then maybe that's how Sonic was able to breathe up there when entering and exiting it.

It helps to actually know something about real life physics if you want to include it as an argument.

Sonic can breathe fine in space, but not under water. Because. And that's why.

[Rob-Bert]

Yes, I know it may seem improbable that the Death Egg was able to float up there despite gravity, but it's supposed to be a ship and it was built by Eggman and it's in a world where a lot of things float inexplicably (rings, platforms, etc.).

[Owen Axel]

I can't decide if you're thinking too much or too little.

[gr4yJ4Y]

Also Sonic can breath fine in Twilight Zone was back in Sonic 1, so I suppose Yami is right.

For some reason when I was a kid I thought it took place outside the planet's atmosphere. The idea always stood with me, but going back and playing it again, I can see buildings in the backround and it all seems unfounded.

[Oompa Star]

What always bothered me is that out of all seven emeralds, only one of them is actually an emerald. As far as I know, emeralds only come in dark green. If someone can prove me wrong, feel free.

[Black Rook]

I've always wondered if there's some other stand-out property of an emerald besides "it's this shade of green." I guess they just called them all emeralds because they didn't want to give them all different names, and "chaos gems" sounds boring.

Interestingly, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and the Archie comics both depicted all of them as emeralds. AoSTH only had four and they all had their own power (invisibility, etc), and Archie's classification and number of emeralds was always dodgy (though it was just one at first).

[WW]

Actually, the first time the Archie comic had Sonic mention Chaos Emeralds, there were only seven like the games. This was in issue #4.

The second time a Chaos Emerald was mentioned was in issue #13, the first appearance of Knuckles. That made a total of eight emeralds in the Archie continuity. Later, in issue #56, a total of thirteen emeralds come together during the big fight with Mammoth Mogul, and create the Master Emerald. It's at this time Archie pretty much decides there are hundreds of thousands of Chaos Emeralds scattered across the planet.

Not as if that matters anymore though. As of issue #170, Ian has brought the number down to seven again.

[Esrever]

I'm pretty sure the Super emeralds and their set of seven bonus stages were only conceived AFTER Sonic 3 and S&K were split into two games. The addition of the yellow spheres to S&K's bonus stages is a pretty clear sign that they were designed separately, after the original seven had been made.

Sonic and Knuckles needed it's own set of bonus stages to function as a stand alone game, and in that stand alone game those stages give you regular chaos emeralds. The Super Emeralds only "exist" as a way of integrating those extra bonus stages into the original. If Sonic 3 and S&K had never been divided into two games, there almost certainly would have only been seven bonus stages in the whole game. (And probably a few less bonus stage entrances, too.)

[Black Rook]

Actually, the first time the Archie comic had Sonic mention Chaos Emeralds, there were only seven like the games. This was in issue #4.

Considering how little continuity there was back then, I wasn't sure if that counted. I was basically just counting the one Knuckles had.

Speaking of the emeralds, though, the "Super Emeralds are canon?" thing sort of reminds me of how some people think there's eight emeralds due to Sonic the Fighters.

Then again, there's people who debate the existence of a third Death Star because one was seen in the Star Tours ride...

[gr4yJ4Y]

I think the on-going presence of the master emerald and the shards into the Sonic Adventure series shows that the Super Emeralds are cannon. I don't think they were intended to be originally, but I think there's still the possibility of them bringing them back.

[WW]

Considering how little continuity there was back then, I wasn't sure if that counted. I was basically just counting the one Knuckles had.

Well, in issue #56, Sonic thinks back to every adventure he ever had in the comic's continuity, and the fight against Universalamander as Super Sonic was one of them, making the story, and those seven emeralds canon.

[Black Rook]

Damn.

So, Al and Cal are canon, too?

[Black Rook]

I think the on-going presence of the master emerald and the shards into the Sonic Adventure series shows that the Super Emeralds are cannon. I don't think they were intended to be originally, but I think there's still the possibility of them bringing them back.

No, that just proves that the Master Emerald is canon. The Master wasn't added to the game for the sake of enhancing/extending gameplay, it was actually part of the story.

Well, in issue #56, Sonic thinks back to every adventure he ever had in the comic's continuity, and the fight against Universalamander as Super Sonic was one of them, making the story, and those seven emeralds canon.

Damn.

So, Al and Cal are canon, too? I don't know if that's the best or the worst thing in the world.

[WW]

Ooops, I made a mistake, issue #56 was the one where they fought Mammoth Mogul in all of thier super forms.

The issue I was thinking of was issue #57, where Sonic and Tails get ready to travel around Mobius looking for Ixis Naugus. That's the issue where they remember all the adventures they had. And yes, Al and Cal are indeed canon.

On the bright side, Sonic and Tails ran into them again in issue #59, where they were at war in thier world. They used Sonic and Tails as puppets to fight thier battle, but at the end of the story, it is assumed they destroyed each other in thier ongoing fight.

I doubt they'll ever appear in the comic again.

[Senbei]

So, Al and Cal are canon, too?

Well, they did show their x-treme selfs in #59...

Edit: WW's too damn fast.

[gr4yJ4Y]

I think the on-going presence of the master emerald and the shards into the Sonic Adventure series shows that the Super Emeralds are cannon. I don't think they were intended to be originally, but I think there's still the possibility of them bringing them back.

No, that just proves that the Master Emerald is canon. The Master wasn't added to the game for the sake of enhancing/extending gameplay, it was actually part of the story.

I considered the Master Emerald and the Super Emeralds to be linked storywise. I suppose we could replace the Super Emeralds with the Chaos Emeralds in Hidden Palace Zone, if Sonic3 & Knuckles were released as one game.

On another note, going through Green Gibbon!'s writing on Sonic 3's story line actually made this all the more confusing. It seems that Knuckles had the emeralds before the game started, but also that Sonic had the emeralds at the same time....

Knuckles the Echidna, last surviving member of the lost civilization that once dominated the island, is shocked as the seven Chaos Emeralds rise from their pedestals and begin violently oscillating in midair. With a blinding flash and a sharp noise, the Emeralds knock Knuckles away.
...
The well-meaning but hopelessly gullible Knuckles falls for Eggman's lie, and immediately sets out to stop Sonic and recover the "stolen" Emeralds.

I could also just be making a fool of myself since it is about 1 am here and I'm rather tired.

[Black Rook]

I considered the Master Emerald and the Super Emeralds to be linked storywise. I suppose we could replace the Super Emeralds with the Chaos Emeralds in Hidden Palace Zone, if Sonic3 & Knuckles were released as one game.

Well, even though the Master Emerald is in the same room as the Super Emeralds, the Supers never come into play storywise, at all.