SAGE 2016: Review Slew #1

Another year, another Sonic Amateur Games Expo! With dozens of entries at this year’s show, we’ve got tons of games to cover this year, so let’s get right into it.

Sonic Mania Fan Game

We’re kicking things off with an interesting one – a game built on the Sonic Worlds engine meant to simulate the Sonic Mania experience and tide you over until the real game comes out next year. YESMEN10 did a pretty good job replicating the level design of Studiopolis Zone, with many of the zone’s distinctive graphics making an appearance here. The controls are solid enough as well; that said, I could never get the Spin Dash or Drop Dash working properly, and that ended some of my runs prematurely. If you’re crazy-excited for Sonic Mania like I am, this game is a neat way to help keep you busy (and hyped) until the real game launches.

Sonic Hero Warriors

Appearances can be deceiving, and this game is proof. The gameplay is smoother and deeper than the very simplistic graphics let on; you can switch between Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles and their respective abilities on the fly, and each character has multiple fighting moves as well. The tutorial level is fairly empty, but the meatier portion of the game gives you a fair amount of environment to explore and enemies to destroy. Nothing really stands out about this one; it’s serviceable, but it’s brief, and its presentation really could use some improvements. As it stands, there may the foundation of something interesting here, but the game and its presentation need much more development time to really prove themselves.

Sonic Neo Genesis

Here’s a fun one that succeeds thanks to interesting level design and responsive controls. Sonic Neo Genesis benefits greatly from sharp graphics, creative levels, and engaging boss fights that help it entertain and challenge players. The choice to include the Spin Dash as an upgrade that must be found in the field is an interesting one, and it ends up giving the game a slightly more robust feeling. The difficulty also ramps up considerably in the second zone, so be prepared to slow things down and pay attention. With great presentation and precision platforming that works, this multi-zone affair is definitely worth a look.

Crat Strat’s Sonic 1 Hack

Here’s our first bona-fide clunker. This isn’t much more than a bare-bones object hack of the original Sonic the Hedgehog with very little to offer. Level design elements are added and deleted seemingly at random, with no modifications really feeling like they make sense. Some chunks of the original stage remain completely intact, and you’ll likely fall victim to a wall early in Act 2 that traps you in a speed tube with no recourse but to reset the demo. New moves like the Drop Dash are promised, but they do not appear in this demo, so there’s really not much to see here. Unless you’re desperate to play any hack of Sonic 1 you can get your hands on, I’d steer clear of this one.

Donnie the Chao

Now this is just too funny. If you needed more proof that good old Donnie is a genuine staple of this community, here it is: he has an entire SAGE game dedicated to him! In this game, you guide Donnie’s Chao avatar through what is mostly a hack of Sonic 1 and, cleverly, collect memes instead of rings – which exist in this world as a kind of metallic candy corn, apparently. You’ll notice some color palette changes and some serious differences in level design throughout, but by-and-large, it plays just like Sonic 1 does. Though I do wish this was based on a build that didn’t have the spike bug, it’s still a fun little tribute to the man who really is everywhere.

Classic Sonic 3D Adventure

Classic Sonic 3D Adventure has so much potential. Given its art style, utilization of hub worlds, and general level design, I’m tempted to think of this game as Super Mario 3D World meets Sonic Adventure. Some gorgeous cel shading, textures, and blurring effects give the game a very distinct look, and it’s definitely one of the best-looking Sonic fan games I’ve seen in some time. Sadly, some very slippery controls and overeager acceleration make the game a chore to play at times, and thanks to some wonky 3D perspective, making jumps with any sort of precision is excessively difficult. There’s some fantastic work in this one, but it’ll need quite a bit of refinement if it wants to take things to the next level.

GMate

The point of this one is simple: prove that a Sonic game with accurate physics can be made in Game Maker. In its SAGE demo, GMate (named after Game Maker 8) gives players one testing level and boss fight to play around with. The core mechanics do feel a fair bit like Sonic 2, believe it or not. It’s no Retro Engine remake, and there are some obvious minor differences in things like momentum and jumping, but on the surface, it’s a reasonable fan recreation. In terms of the rest of the game, it features some engaging level design and some smooth techno graphics. If nothing else, though, it’s a fun piece of tech, serving as proof that, if you work hard enough, you can replicate the Sonic experience on pretty much any development platform you want.

That’s all for now, but we’re just getting started. Check back tomorrow for another Review Slew!