The Flickies where a one game thing right? I don't think that outside of the Sonic fanbase many kids would know about them. Also they never gave powers before, why start now?
Like Flash alludes, Flickies have technically been a part of the series since Sonic himself (those birds you rescued from robots throughout the course of the 16-bit anthology...ring a bell?). Or even older, if you consider the 1984 Arcade classic "Flicky". 3D Blast/Flicky's Island was just where they actually were a bit more than just a "bit part".
But like so many other things associated with this series, it's another example of wasted potential for things that are already established. The main example, to this day, still remains Shadow. Why they needed him, when Knuckles, Metal Sonic and Fang/Nack all did on their own, what's he's doing now as a combined, Gary Sue creation? Still remains a mystery to me.
Of course, now a days, I would probably prefer the likes of Fang, Bark and Bean to probably stay as far away from the current-era Sonic series as much as possible. Hey, AM2! Put these guys in another fighting game like Fighter's Megamix! I'd be on such a game like white on rice! And it'd save good characters like these guys from being associated with the Sonic series! Do it now, while you still can!
