For Those Who Can’t Wait for Sonic Mania
Another gaming icon gets a retro-inspired fan-made game this week as Sonic is back in an un-canon adventure called Sonic the Hedgehog Time Twisted that will appeal to fans of the original 2D speedy platformer games. Even its title screen will make you think of Earthworm Jim and other 2D platformer mascots of that era with its zany font. This fan-made game comes out in a year that will see two new official Sonic games, Sonic Mania, which is a new game that also acts as a throwback to old school 2D Sonic, and Sonic Forces, which is a 3D Sonic game that has been looking pretty great so far.
The game is developed by Overbound Studio, and has been a hobby project for 12 years. Since it’s still in early access, it may still be a bit buggy, but here are the list of features in the final build of the game:
- 28 Acts to explore
- 8 Original 2D Sonic Zones
- 10 Bosses to fight
- 6 elemental shields including 3 all new ones
- 360 physics extremely close to the Genesis/MegaDrive Sonic Games
- 3 Playable Characters Sonic, Tails and Knuckles
- 14 3D Special Stages
- Time Travel between the Future and Past
I didn’t get too far into playing Sonic the Hedgehog Time Twisted as Knuckles “accidentally” drowned in the underwater section of the first act of the game, but this fan-made ode to 2D Sonic seems on point in replicating that old school charm. The game also features an original OST that uses CD-quality music to get you through those loopy zones and spike pits. As for the plot? The story focuses on preventing the nefarious Metal Sonic from resurrecting his fallen master by collecting Time Stones.
Unlike Nintendo, Sega of America is actually pretty cool when it comes to fan-made games as it hired one such dev, Christian Whitehead aka “The Taxman”, who made the beloved Sonic Retro in 2007, to help co-develop the upcoming Sonic Mania. In short, Sega does what Nintendon’t when it comes to fan-made games.