Silver Chaotix

Silver Chaotix is an idea I came up with when I found out that Silver the Hedgehog (originally of Sonic '06) became good friends with Espio the Chameleon (originally of Knuckles Chaotix, and also a senior detective of the Chaotix Detective Agency).

The inspiration behind it is that I thought Silver and Team Chaotix are perfect examples of characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series who never receive as much attention as they should, and would do well to have their own games.

The game itself would be a 3D action platformer with four main playable characters: Silver, Espio, Vector, and Charmy Bee. However, there will be times when you can play as other characters, such as Knuckles the Echidna, Shadow the Hedgehog, and even Sonic himself.

Story
The setting of the game is a place called Astral City, a large, bustling city not unlike New York, but well-known for having a brilliant view of the stars despite being an urban environment. Silver often hangs around in this city when in Sonic's time period because it reminds him of his home, Paradise City, in that it is much more futuristic and advanced than New York is.

Astral City is also home to a massive museum containing the city's most important relics: the Crystal Meteorites. These are three very small, mysterious meteorites that bear the appearance of small stars, which is why they are highly prized by the museum as symbolic artifacts.

The game's plot gets underway when Silver hears an alarm go off at the museum while sitting on the edge of a nearby rooftop, and arrives at the scene at the same time as the Chaotix Detective Agency. At first, they suspect Silver of a misdemeanor, but then they see a figure running off in the distance. They attempt a pursuit, but find that they are too late, and the culprit has escaped with what turns out to be one of the Crystal Meteorites.

They soon find out from a witness that whoever stole the meteorite was an anthropomorphic animal, just like all the main characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, which leads the detectives to conclude that it must be someone they know. The Chaotix Detective Agency begins its investigation, and Silver joins them because he wants to help bring justice and peace to Astral City. From there, it's a race against the thief, as well as a battle against unknown robotic minions, to close the case before all of the meteorites are stolen!

Gameplay
As I mentioned before, Silver Chaotix would be a 3D, third person action platformer, similar to the Sonic Adventure games released in the early 2000s. It would focus less on recent Sonic gameplay patterns of moving incredibly quickly, and using a boost meter to move through a very linear level. Acceleration in a given direction would be slower, and there would be many more options for movement. For example, the rolling action from Sonic Adventure 2 would be reintroduced, and it, along with all other returning moves, would be revamped to ensure efficient movement and tight control.

As I also mentioned before, the four main characters would be Silver, Espio, Vector, and Charmy. Each of these three would have fundamentally different playstyles; Silver's style would involve a lot of manipulation of the environment and attacking enemies with smaller enemies, Espio's style would involve a lot of speedy, ninja-like attacks, Vector's would involve strength-based fighting and wrestling, and Charmy's would involve mainly flight-based tactics. Playing as any other characters would reflect their playstyles from other games. For example, Knuckles would punch and glide, and Sonic would mainly run fast and jump.

In terms of level design and progression, it would be like a more complete version of Sonic '06. For example, a given level would often involve switching between characters to complete it. A new feature, however, would be that some characters would not even be aware of others, and would be in different areas of the same level, but not necessarily working together. For example, as part of the investigation, one detective may be following someone in the shadows. The level design, while employing some similar principles to '06 and other titles, would not be as linear, and would have longer alternate paths instead of just shortcuts.

It would also be similar to Sonic '06 in that there would be attainable moves, particularly for the major characters. These can make it easier dealing with enemies or obstacles, particularly later in the game.

Silver Chaotix's ranking system would also be based less on fast times and more on points earned from skillful maneuvers and combos against enemies. This isn't to say that one would take precedence over the other, but the two would be balanced; combat would not hold you up if you were trying to progress quickly, and you could bypass some of it if you wish, but getting large amounts of points would usually involve some fighting. Essentially, a good-looking, solid run through a level would be rewarded with a good rank.

The game would also feature a sort of dynamic evidence system, where you could decide to chase certain suspects sooner based on information given by witnesses that would clue you in on who they think may have committed the crime. The city and surrounding areas would be free to explore, but you must examine the evidence to proceed with the main story. Some of this evidence would test common sense reasoning, while some of it would concern trivia about the characters, which could always be answered somehow in-game by collecting information if the player doesn't already know it.

Stages
Integral to the process of the investigation is following different characters across different venues. Just like any Sonic game, the venues will vary widely, but they will all be somewhere in the Astral City area, whether inside it or near it.

There will be many characters involved in the investigation, so as a result, there will be many stages to accomodate each of them. Essentially, every character will have a specific stage, and in some cases, the stage will reflect the character's personality.

It should be said that I haven't decided on any particular order to the stages, so I'm just going to list as many as I can in order to have them out there.