There is another interesting thing that is very rarely mentioned despite actually being acknowledged in-game. Amy's stunt on Prison Island is not the first time she's tried to rescue Sonic. Tails knows it's not the first time. Unless that first time happened between Adventure games, her heroics do predate SA1.
Looking back on this part of the earlier discussion, it makes me wonder if part of the online reaction is due to a lack of an updated rerelease of SA1/SA2/Heroes that showed more of the adventure seeking side of her. The Fast Friends Forever bio is mostly
not a retcon but I can see how people wouldn't catch that. It's less that it's a retcon itself and more that it reflects other retcons, like Superstars showing her totally being part of the team the whole time, and lesser focused moments like the SA2.
But there is a problem that muddies the waters: Sally Acorn and Archie Comics. Amy wasn't always treated the best in early to mid Archie and some fans are resentful. Many are jealous of Sonic and Sally's relationship, and yes, I used present tense. While I'm behind on The BumbleKast, people have sent questions asking why Sonic and Amy's relationship hasn't progressed as far as Sonic and Sally's relationship did (dating, kissing, officially stating they're a couple, etc). There's an air desperation and feeling owed that specific plot point. This wholly ignores the differences in character design (Sally is designed as "attractive" while Amy is designed as "cute" and has overtly cartoonish elements in how she interacts with the world) and overall differences in writing styles. But there's one secret that's probably not
supposed to be secret in all this:
Sonic Team ships SonAmy.
Sally was never a thing in Japan and outside of the attempt to stay different from Mario & Peach, Sega constantly tease Sonic and Amy together. It was once her chasing and him running but now it's written more even. But the fascinating thing is while people have been focused on Amy, I've noticed what they've been doing with Sonic. Across recent media like comics, Frontiers, and Prime, Sonic will have entirely different body language around Amy compared to Tails, Knuckles, and everyone else. As someone who GMs tabletop RPGs, I could easily see Sonic Team going "we're being obvious!" and no one notices. A shame since I think there's a different form of fun with shiptease versus a full relationship. Especially since people in universe (or at least Tails) notice.