What timeline does DDRR takes place??? (Spoilers I guess)

[InfernoMelon]

So, when I first the DDRR 40 min Tutorial, I got to this spray can room, blah blah "pick your player color" blah blah (going to skip over this)
I choose black spray can and deadass, Tails started talking something about remembering the ARK and me being the Sonic Purist I am, I was wondering HOW TF when all the 5 main Sonic cast was using their Classic designs (aka the much younger designs).

And before you say, "it's a Sonic kart racer fangame, literally who cares or they just use the Classic designs because the SRB2Kart use it" first of all, shut up but hear me out tho, where would this does this timeline ACTUALLY takes place in (in a realistic term) like does it takes place after Sonic Superstars, Mania or hell prob, Generations/Forces, remember this in REALISTIC TERMS like it HAS to make sense in canon.

 

[Cheeseboi!]

they also mention blaze, and of course, the whole chao thing exists

 

[Katmint]

The very start of the game implies this is an alternate timeline to Heroes where Eggman had a change of heart after the events of SA2, and Metal Sonic's rampage was stopped before it began as a result of his partnership with Tails.

It's classic styled but that doesn't really mean much outside of aesthetics. Heroes itself brought back a lot of classic elements (Seaside Hill, the Chaotix) so you could see this as a "what if the characters returned to their original designs after the Adventure games?"

 

[time gear]

Given that it's just a fangame passion project filled to the brim with fan service, I'd just chalk it up to being its own thing. Though, one observation I do think is worth pointing out is that Generations seems to treat the character designs as being something only we the players see and not the characters themselves. Modern Tails doesn't recognize Classic Sonic as being different from Modern Sonic the first time he sees him, and both Sonic's looking at each other through glass mistake it for a mirror and it's only when Classic runs ahead before Modern that Modern figures out it's another Sonic. All references to the fact there's two of both Sonic and Tails from then on are worded as though the situation is confusing and hard to get used to.

Effectively, the in-lore time gap between the classic games and the appearance of the modern designs is miniscule, and as such it seems heavily implied the characters haven't actually changed in appearance in-lore, it's just that they look different to us for our benefit.

 

[InfernoMelon]

Though, one observation I do think is worth pointing out is that Generations seems to treat the character designs as being something only we the players see and not the characters themselves. Modern Tails doesn't recognize Classic Sonic as being different from Modern Sonic the first time he sees him, and both Sonic's looking at each other through glass mistake it for a mirror and it's only when Classic runs ahead before Modern that Modern figures out it's another Sonic. All references to the fact there's two of both Sonic and Tails from then on are worded as though the situation is confusing and hard to get used to.

Effectively, the in-lore time gap between the classic games and the appearance of the modern designs is miniscule, and as such it seems heavily implied the characters haven't actually changed in appearance in-lore, it's just that they look different to us for our benefit.

Wait, if WE only see the Classic designs and then what the actual characters see like is it something like this

Or I'm just completely wrong because Modern Tails is not wrong with Classic Sonic being not being different with Modern Sonic since they are technically the same character from different timelines

 

[PencilVoid]

From @toaster in KK's Discord server:

@Katmint seems to be correct.

 

[time gear]

Wait, if WE only see the Classic designs and then what the actual characters see like is it something like this
View attachment 118530
Or I'm just completely wrong because Modern Tails is not wrong with Classic Sonic being not being different with Modern Sonic since they are technically the same character from different timelines

I'm not going to claim to know what the characters look like canonically, only that the evidence is that the design change didn't happen in lore. As for the timelines thing, that does seem to have been the original intention with Mania and Forces (although mistakenly worded as being different dimensions instead of timelines), though in the time since then SEGA and Sonic Team have started treating it all as one unified timeline with a loose "everything is canon" stance. It's a bit vague as to what is and isn't canon though, as Mean Bean Machine is a video game spinoff of AoSTH, Spinball is a video game spinoff of SatAM and there's also the whole legal drama regarding Chronicles.

 

[InfernoMelon]

I'm not going to claim to know what the characters look like canonically, only that the evidence is that the design change didn't happen in lore. As for the timelines thing, that does seem to have been the original intention with Mania and Forces (although mistakenly worded as being different dimensions instead of timelines), though in the time since then SEGA and Sonic Team have started treating it all as one unified timeline with a loose "everything is canon" stance. It's a bit vague as to what is and isn't canon though, as Mean Bean Machine is a video game spinoff of AoSTH, Spinball is a video game spinoff of SatAM and there's also the whole legal drama regarding Chronicles.

Wait, people still believe that "everything is canon" thing because if that's true, where does Archie Comics stuff fit unless it's just a alternative universe type thing and if it's that and yes, technically everything is canon in some way

 

[nonya]

Effectively, the in-lore time gap between the classic games and the appearance of the modern designs is miniscule, and as such it seems heavily implied the characters haven't actually changed in appearance in-lore, it's just that they look different to us for our benefit.

At the very least, that seems to have changed by the time of Forces, where Tails can identify Classic at a glance and Eggman refers to him as "pint-sized"

 

[time gear]

Wait, people still believe that "everything is canon" thing because if that's true, where does Archie Comics stuff fit unless it's just a alternative universe type thing and if it's that and yes, technically everything is canon in some way

Archie Comics stuff would just be its own thing (both because there's nowhere for it to fit in the canon and because of similar legal drama to Chronicles), the only canon comics are the IDW comics.