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.

Plot
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 any other returning moves, would be revamped to ensure efficient movement and tight control.

As I also mentioned before, the four main playable characters would be Silver, Espio, Vector, and Charmy. Each of these four would have fundamentally different playstyles; Silver's style would involve a lot of manipulation of the environment and attacking enemies with other 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 accommodate 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.

Rouge the Bat - Spiffy Mansion
The CDA tracks master jewel thief Rouge the Bat into the home of Astral City's wealthiest family as she attempts to steal their ultra-rare red diamond. Their hope is that she will be in possession of the stolen Crystal Meteorite, if indeed she stole it, as she is the most likely suspect due to her deep love of jewels and shiny objects. The CDA also has to cope with the mansion's advanced security system, along with avoiding Rouge's notice.

The Babylon Rogues - Extreme Freeway
The CDA faces a challenge as they pursue the Babylon Rogues, Jet, Wave, and Storm, whom they believe likely to have stolen the Crystal Meteorite for some devious purpose, as they tried to do with the Ark of the Cosmos years before. Their chase takes place across a soaring aerial highway normally used for public transportation, and our heroes are hard-pressed to keep up with their quarry!.

E-123 Omega - Mecha Facility
The CDA investigates the activities of the rogue robot E-123 Omega, under the impression that his artificial intelligence may have been hacked to force him to steal the meteorite. They hesitate at first, because he isn't exactly an anthropomorphic animal, but they decide to investigate nonetheless, and it leads them to a massive abandoned factory filled with malfunctioned security bots.

Shadow the Hedgehog - City Streets
The CDA notices Shadow tearing across the rooftops of Astral City, and decide to pursue him through the city's busy streets on the suspicion that he might be stealing the Meteorites for someone, or simply to exploit their great power.

Blaze the Cat - Turquoise Coast
The CDA observes the movements of Blaze the Cat, with much resistance from Silver due to their close friendship. However, Espio reassures him by saying that she probably had an excellent reason for taaking the meteorite, if indeed she did. And so, they go off to Astral City's sunny shoreline, which were Blaze's last whereabouts.

Amy Rose - Glittering Festival
The CDA follows Amy Rose to Astral City's massive carnival event, not so much because they believe she is a likely suspect, but because they think she may know something, since she has apparently been visiting the city for the past few days. After traversing a series of hectic rides and walkways, they finally catch up to her, only to be attacked by unknown robotic minions! It is at this point that it becomes clear someone wants them to cease their investigation...

Knuckles the Echidna - Freedom Hill
The CDA tracks down Knuckles the Echidna, who is unusually away from Angel Island, where he is supposed to be guarding the Master Emerald. However, when they catch up to him and talk with him, he tells them that he is only away from Angel Island because the Master Emerald was stolen, and the island sunk into the ocean! He said it was snatched by someone in a giant ship, but while he fought his hardest, he could not even get close enough to see the pilot's face. After hearing this, our heroes come to the logical conclusion that the pilot was Dr. Eggman, who is known for trying to steal anything having to do with Chaos Emeralds. They decide to high-tail it to talk to Sonic or Tails, whom they know will be the ones chasing after whoever took the emerald.

Tails the Fox - Soaring Cliffs
After conducting some recon, the CDA spots Tails flying his Tornado along a massive canyon, but when they finally get across the canyon, they find that the Tornado has crashed, and Tails is looking over the wreck. They ask him what happened, and he says his wing was shot out by an unknown attacker heading in the direction of Astral City. In addition, he was following Sonic, who was headed in the same direction. Knowing this, the CDA doubles back to the Museum as fast as they can!

Sonic the Hedgehog - Skyline Sprint / Astral Museum
The CDA makes their way across a series of buildings to get to the Astral Museum, and when they arrive, they find Sonic holding the other two Crystal Meteorites! They immediately apprehend him, thinking that they may have caught him red-handed and that he tried to cover himself up by playing innocent. Sonic protests, but the CDA only becomes more suspicious, that is...until the true thief emerges from the shadows!

Final Boss and Ending
Even after all of the evidence pointing to Dr. Eggman as the mastermind behind the plot to steal the Crystal Meteorites, it turned out that the true villain was someone from Silver and Sonic's past: Scourge the Hedgehog, Sonic's sinister double from an alternate dimension! Scourge reveals that he has already conquered his home of Anti-Mobius with little effort, and he made use of his universe's parallel of the Crystal Meteorites (called the Obsidian Meteorites) to harness unthinkably powerful energy and create revolutionary technology. This allowed him to traverse space and time, which is how he managed to track Sonic down to his current location. In addition, he says that he only stole one Crystal Meteorite at first to draw in Silver and include him in his revenge plot.

Scourge goes on to say that his intentions are not only to gain revenge against Sonic and Silver for his shameful defeat, but also to steal all of the Crystal Meteorites along with the Master Emerald, so that nothing could possibly stop him ever again. Sonic, Silver, and the CDA, however, are not willing to let this happen so easily, and Sonic fights Scourge one-on-one while the others deal with his elite robotic bodyguards.

Eventually, Scourge retreats into a massive rocket-powered wyvern that snatches up the last of the Crystal Meteorites, and he prepares to finish off the group of heroes. However, it turns out that Sonic had already collected the seven Chaos Emeralds in his recent travels, which would allow Sonic and Silver to become Super Sonic and Super Silver. Scourge tries to force the Master Emerald to deactivate the weaker Chaos Emeralds, but he is stopped when Tails and Knuckles fly in on the now-fixed Tornado, and Knuckles shatters the Master Emerald into pieces.

Sonic and Silver use the Chaos Emeralds successfully, and after an intense battle, they manage to bring down Scourge's ship while the CDA and Tails provide support on the Tornado. Sonic and Silver then return to normal, and everyone moves in to capture Scourge. However, he refuses to go down without a fight, and comes out wielding a giant laser blaster. He knocks Sonic into a daze and shoots up the Tornado so that it collapses, trapping Tails and Knuckles underneath, leaving no alternative but a four-on-one fight between the four heroes and Scourge.

Through their combined powers, they manage to defeat Scourge, and after all of the Meteorites are returned with Scourge taken into government custody, Knuckles goes off to find the shattered pieces of the Master Emerald, and Sonic and Tails depart after expressing their sincere gratitude for the help provided by Silver and the CDA. At this point, Silver assumes he and the CDA are going to go their separate ways, until Vector expresses how impressed he was at Silver's abilities and spirit, and invites him to join up with their Agency. Silver thinks for a moment, and then agrees, and the four detectives move on in search of their next case.