Fan Fridays: Sonic Legends

To conclude our month of interviews, we’re pointing the spotlight on Sonic Legends, a project that seems to incorporate levels from fan games and rom hacks of the past two decades, adding unique elements and flair along the way.

We contacted the head of Legends ScarlyNight to discuss the inner workings of his latest project. All that and more after the jump!

There’s a lot of different Mania Mods out there. Where did the idea for Legends come from, and what sets it apart from the rest?

The fact we’re not even one of those anymore. We have very recently shifted focus from Mania to an older RSDK format so we aren’t as constrained to Mania’s limitations as they currently stand. I can’t really give many details now, but you will see what we have in store very soon!

Legends was originally conceived right after the announcement of Sonic Mania and because of Christian’s involvement with the community, fans began wondering if any of Christian’s old levels like Egg Garden Zone from Retro-Sonic would make an appearance in Mania. I stepped up and made a few mockup screenshots of a few of the fan-made levels he made, to which people reacted positively, hoping this would be an actual game one day. Now, nearly two years later, I’ve decided to make that become a reality, but I wanted more than just that, seeing as the community that I’ve spent a lot of time lurking as a kid reached its 20th anniversary this year, the concept of the game pretty much a celebration by and for the community was born.

What are some games we can expect Legends to draw zones from?

We are planning to mix familiar fan-favourites, as well as a few original zones exclusive to this game. I can’t really discuss the zone list right now, however judging by the results of the level poll we did a couple of months ago, it seems like people will love a debris-filled plummet!

While Mania had a plethora of scrapped concepts and trivia to build off of, Legends is based off more confidential fan works. Has this proved to be an issue throughout development?

The zone list has gone through numerous iterations as many levels and ideas were thrown back and forth and developers were contacted left and right and asked for permission to put their zone in our game. The list is essentially finalized now, and I hope everyone enjoys what we’ve got on the table!

Out of all the different fan games, which is your personal favorite? Does it affect the way you view and/or build this project?

Definitely the three big-hitters of the late 2000’s: Retro-Sonic, Sonic XG and Sonic Nexus, since all three were merged at one point only to see it die off immediately (which isn’t a bad thing at all considering we’d eventually receive Sonic Mania in its place), but those three and its eventual merger “Retro-Sonic Nexus” have definitely been a massive inspiration for some of the content featured in Legends.

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I’m eager to give this game a shot, and I’m sure many others are as well. Will fans be able to try to game for themselves any time soon?

As stated at the beginning, we are currently remaking the game from scratch, with the Mania version now scrapped and swept under the rug. Maybe someday we’ll release the old Mania version but for now it is certainly a no on that. So please be patient!

For now, where can viewers follow up on the project?

People interested in the project can find us on Twitter at @SonicLegends20, as well as our Discord server where they can view updates on the game and talk about it with other people. We really hope we can make something magical that anyone can enjoy!

That’s all I’ve got for you today. I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with us, and I wish you luck throughout development!