>>99560800>He just wanted to rescue animalsI think that's the thing, the animal protecting environmentalist angle may have felt obstructive over time against Sonic's other characteristics and motivations.
Having him just happen to seek the thrill of opposing Eggman even when not challenged, defying him when directly threatened or just wanting to race to the goal ring for kicks makes it easier to cook up levels and stories that don't require too much thought about it.
There's still the overall air of Eggman's behavior representing the ills of putting the environment under tech progress obviously but his main source of villainy is mostly his cruel behavior.
Also all that stuff you talk about lore, like the environmentalism thing going to people like Tikal, is less Sonic and more side characters. And there's the thing, I think like a lot of protagonists Sonic has been distilled to base heroics that work around whatever the threat is leaving the rest of the cast to reflect different views of right and wrong.
So in a way you and others who want Sonic to be simplified have ironically gotten your wish, it's just allowed the rest of the stuff to get more complicated as a consequence. If Sonic maintained complexity it would have been more difficult to steer away from that.
