10 years ago, Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog on PS3 and Xbox 360. It was an utter disaster, and in one fell swoop nearly killed the Sonic franchise for good. Since then a majority of Sega’s Sonic games have been poorly received, but some of the character’s most dedicated fans are taking matters into their own hands.
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Since 2000, Sonic fans have convened online nearly every year for the Sonic Amateur Games Expo (SAGE). SAGE gives fangame developers the chance to share footage or downloads of their Sonic-related projects with the community.
This year’s SAGE features over 50 finished and unfinished projects (which you can check out right here), but one specific fangame has been making waves:
“Sonic Utopia is an experiment that not only tries to expand on Sonic gameplay in an intuitive way in 3D, but also aims to capture the best of Sonic’s style and tie it together in a cohesive experience,” explain the developers. “Nearly everything in this demo, from art to sound to the gameplay engine, was made from scratch!”
The developers say they’ve been working on this project for quite a while, but wanted to save the debut for SAGE 2016. You can actually download the early demo (which is on display in the trailer above) at this link.
Although we’re hopeful that Sega can right the ship with Sonic Mania and Project Sonic 2017 next year, it’s nice to see fans picking up the slack in the meantime.
