Sonic the Hedgehog has a long history of ROM hacks and fan made games. As long as clever fans have had access to computers, they have been trying to reimagine the blue blur in a new way, remixing past levels, updating music, retroactively adding characters from later games or even making things from the ground up. With that in mind, it is no surprise that this trend has only continued to grow. One of the more notable recent ones is Sonic Utopia. Check out this reveal trailer!
The game is being developed by a very small team. The main person behind the game, The Great Lange, had this to say about the demo:
“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. Nearly everything in this demo, from art to sound to the gameplay engine, was made from scratch. I created all of the models, animation, and most of the textures and sound, as well as the music. The 3D Sonic engine and the gameplay driving this vision was created by my programmer, fellow Murasaki. We’ve been working together on this for a while and we’re glad to finally share it, with a debut at SAGE 2016.”
This game reminds me of the Green Hill Paradise demo that was released by SuperSonic68 a little while back. Unlike that demo, Sonic Utopia has a much more old school look to Sonic himself. He seems to be based on his Sonic 1, 2, 3 and CD versions. Sonic even has his classic “figure eight” running animation.
I have to say, I am really impressed with this trailer, and I will definitely give this demo a shot. With the upcoming official Sonic game, Sonic Mania, it is cool to be excited about Sonic games again, fan made or otherwise.
Nedu only learned about chili dogs from watching the Saturday Morning Sonic cartoon. He is also a content writer on AYBOnline. His views are his own.
