>>536774428
>>536777895
Cream isn't a replacement, she's just a better example of a friend for Sonic and a compassionate supporting character who also loves adventue.
She's inspired by his heroism to be a hero herself, not to try and tie him down. Cream and Sonic bond through their adventures. Cream loves the adventures she gets to have with Sonic. It's very wholesome and charming because they bring out the best in each other. It's satisfying for the audience.

Sonic and Amy's toxic one-sided situationship is... disheartening, to say the least. Some might even say demoralizing. And people who feel sorry for this clearly mentally unwell little girl will often have complaints of the franchise that it must change so she can get her impossible wish fulfillment. They will even go as far as to... harass SEGA staff and official Sonic production teams to try and get them to include SonAmy just because they feel sorry for Amy. It isn't fair to Sonic Staff or Sonic himself to expect him to be out of character just so a poorly thought through narrative jobber can be happy. Amy is an anchor in a franchise all about freedom, that's the problem.