I guess that depends on what you think you’re losing from it. For instance, Sonic and Tails’s parents.

Did Sonic’s parents really need to be revealed as being robians? Did Tails’s folks really need to be found in space?

In both cases they have contributed to story and plot lines, but are those stories of such worth that it would be a crime for them to not be included?

It’s a ‘your mileage may vary’ situation. In -my- opinion? There is plenty of Sonic media out there that doesn’t include the parental figures of the characters that’s plenty enjoyable.

I don’t personally see any particular reason why Archie ‘had’ to have them either- they were in a massive, horrible global war. It’s easy enough to say “yeah, their parents are out of the picture now.” Sad, yes, but it could of contributed to just as many stories as them having parental figures.

As for why SEGA may be mandating that- consider one of their characters (Knuckles) is now entrenched with characters that are under dispute of law (the Brotherhood). I think you can see why they wouldn’t be happy about that.