Sonic The Hedgehog, back then this name had respect and admiration for it from all over, today… His reputation isn’t the most spotless you could find, having numerous games that lives in infamy, being a fan of this franchise can be difficult on so many levels. You have people that could try to make the assumption about being a “furry”, you have some that just simply will clown you for it due to the past failures like Sonic ‘06, or some that just can’t give the series any respect or love that it CAN deserve. My personal relationship with the Sonic franchise had started mainly in the shows like The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog to Sonic X, until I played my first game being Sonic Unleashed on the PlayStation 3. Say what you will about the Warehog being arguably the only downfall of the game, but the daytime stages everyone can agree was the best part, no contest. The now modern boost gameplay has always been so appealing to me as someone who finds the speed in Unleashed to be, simply put, breathtaking. Sure future games used the formula too and did their own spin on it, but along with Jason Griffith from that point forward no longer being in the role as the blue blur, none of the games really captured me quite like Unleashed did. As a fan however, I have usually stayed pretty loyal, went back into some of the past games, recently finished the original Genesis/Mega Drive title even.

Now… What if a fan, that loves all the best of the Sonic franchise, just made a game out of pure love and passion for the series, and for fun? You get Sonic Dimensions! A 2D fan title created by “Phantom-Radea”, no story, boost gameplay, 7 acts, and you play as Sonic and Shadow going through each act. Sounds simple? Well because it can be! Sonic always benefited from staying more simple than complex, and this game simply shows that by even forgoing a narrative for the entire experience, it’s just you and the acts themselves, and that’s totally okay! Each act is either taken from an existing title in the franchise’s history or is just a spin on an existing act trope or theme.

For starters there is Radiant Falls which is a very clear Green Hill (insert random version number here for being so many of them), but it rocks out with some music from Sonic Heroes 2nd act. The second is Radical Highway from Sonic Adventure with… the modern remixed Chemical Plant Zone theme, Aquatic Terminal with Aquarium Park’s act 1 music from Sonic Colors, Digital Track which has no immediately distinguishable songs to be noticed by it, however having the most unique design and theme in the game, then Cool Edge my favorite stage from Sonic Unleashed with its kick-ass music, then Cosmic Tempest being a ruins themed level with Crisis City’s music from Sonic ‘06(at least it had good music), and to top it off is Astral Station, the finale space level of the game and with some amazing music too.

You cannot deny the dedication here for this fan game in the levels and gameplay, truly a fun and FREE experience, with fantastic music that I both can recognize and is at the very least new to me. Now about the gameplay? Fucking perfect! They took the gameplay from Sonic Rush and streamlined it with other modern abilities and some of its own twists, like how Sonic and Shadow differ one another, Sonic is naturally faster on the ground, has a double jump, and a slide kick to deal with enemies on the fly, Shadow is more combat focused and has greater air distance along with his own version of the ground pound move, and both also have their spin dash for free use! In addition, the stages have classic item capsules with ALL classic power-ups found in Sonic 1-3, including elemental shields!

That not enough? How about the red rings in each stage to act as more collectables and to extend the game? Still not enough? How about special stages to earn extra lives, or the big thing being Chaos Emeralds as usual? However, as most who are familiar with the struggle of the Sonic games, this is usually the most infamous part to complete, but this game even fixed that by rewarding you with them by each of the 7 acts you S rank! That’s right, you only need to S rank each of the 7 acts to get the Emeralds in this game, and in addition for those looking for a real challenge, you can try your hand at getting the new X ranks! Truly there is just so much to do here, it’s like an official Sonic package all on its own, and it delivers! For those that are disappointed by Sonic Forces and any more modern games, I recommend you download Sonic Dimensions and try it out yourself from Phantom-Radea’s Deviantart post here!

Sonic and Shadow logo for the mockup I did was made by Tails-and-Silver-Fan on Deviantart!

Hope you enjoyed this, though it was a cool new idea I could run with, what’s your favorite Sonic fan game? Comment below and feel free to suggest other ideas, catch you all later!