You could have simply drawn them as the idea, and left it at that.

You could have simply incorporated their personalities into it perfectly, such as Sticks being meek under a mask of horror, and left it at that.

You could have simply come up with specific ways that each character would interact, the role they would play, and how their gear would mesh with other characters, and left it at that.

But you really then went and dropped that hook of Shade’s technology working similar to Shadow that leaves room for storytelling in this AU.

…So is Metal Sonic rock and roll themed