Over the years, Sonic fan games have certainly evolved from the days of Klik & Play. Back in 1995, Sonic Boom started it all, with collecting apples and avoiding bees… it was an amazing feat, being the first noted Sonic fan game, and today’s major fan games still provide that same sense of amazement only on a much bigger scale! As of recent, Sonic Fan Remix took center stage on the fan gaming scene. It ultimately changed the way fan games were thought of previously by the public; disposable projects on par with fan fiction. It caught the immediate attention of major gaming blogs, companies, and developers, so much in fact that Sega’s representatives requested Megaupload, the site which hosted the download file, to take down the file because they believed it would disrupt the sales of the then upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1.
Back in September, a video of the work-in-progress Chemical Plant Zone was shown by forum member and Sonic Fan Remix creator Pelikan13:
Three days ago, Sonic Retro forum member Andrew75 posted a work-in-progress engine test, Project AXSX, dedicated to faithfully recreating Sonic X-Treme, as well as a 3D version of Sonic CD. In the demo version that Andrew75 released, we see a test level of his Sonic X-Treme remake. It is as close to what anyone has seen of the original Sonic X-Treme, recreating the level design, camera, and movement of Sonic. It’s truly amazing, almost like seeing a tech demo of an official Sonic game! You can see his topic and the link to download here!
34 Comments on this post
Leave a CommentWhen it comes to Sonic fan games, nothing tops Sonic Megamix, period.
Comment left on 1.3.2012 by I’mSonic#1
Megamix is a ROM hack. It is based on an existing Sonic game engine. Fan games are games created by utilizing the plethora of game maker programs out on the web, made from scratch or a fan-made engine template.
Reply left on 1.3.2012 by InstantSonic
There is also the fact that fan gaming projects have done things that SEGA said they couldn’t do.
Comment left on 1.3.2012 by ahchurro11
HAHA, yes!
Reply left on 1.3.2012 by InstantSonic
The AXSX engine is f*cking awesome!! I haven´t been so excited about an engine in a lot of time!! The graphics and gameplay in the demo are plain awesome, and it´s really fun!! Sonic Xtreme as we truly imagined it
Comment left on 1.3.2012 by KMetalmind
First of all, consider me something of an outsider – I’m not a fan game developer, or a member of your forums, and I don’t know the precise maths behind Sonic movement. But I’ve been a follower of the Sonic fan gaming scene for a decade, and I’ve always loved what I’ve seen. New exciting projects are constantly bettering what was already impressive before, and there’s so much potential bubbling up now for some amazing things. All of the above projects are unbelievable in their own ways, and I admire anyone who has the passion to put that much time and effort into anything.
What I would like to do is raise one issue though. I wonder if the community has much more technical expertise than artistic and creative ability. The new Sonic Fan Remix Chemical Plant level, and also your ongoing Sonic 2 HD project raises such concerns. I can’t wait to play either – the Fan Remix project is like nothing ever seen before, and Sonic 2 HD appears to be a wonderful story of collaboration, from what I’ve seen of it. Both technically brilliant and highly polished, but why do such impressive projects have to be based on levels and ideas that we’ve already played before?
Don’t get me wrong, I love an occasional new look on an old familiar setting – Sonic Generations was a wonderful game for that reason, but my biggest passion in general is Sonic levels. The way they differ in terms of their structure and their unique ideas for level-specific objects and enemies, and the way in which they can sometimes explore completely new, exciting locations that break away from the done-to-death beach level, the casino level, the flying fortress level, etc.
I agree that this is all a hobby, and as a developer, you should only do what you really want to do. But I would love nothing more than to see a bit more originality, some new ideas rather than recycling old ones, as I feel it’s the only area that is lacking. SEGA can be as guilty of it as anyone sometimes, but for every Sonic 4 episode 1 or Sonic Generations, there are also games like Sonic Colours and Secret Rings, which open up whole new possibilities no one had ever dreamt of – a theme park/armoury made out of hamburgers and cakes.. ancient ruins floating on the backs of giant stingrays in the sky.. I can’t recall seeing many ideas like that in a fan game. If I tried, I could probably recall dozens of Green Hill clones however.
I honestly don’t mean this to be aggressive, I’m more interested in supplying some food for thought. And of course, I am generalising massively – not every game is a copy of an official one, and I also understand there are hurdles. Not everyone is as talented an artist as they are a programmer, which is essentially the problem here really. It leads to many fan gaming levels being composed of chopped up sprites and level art from existing official levels, and though they may be combined very cleverly, it’s difficult to escape the thought that you’re just playing more of what you’ve already played before. I think I would honestly prefer playing a game that has less than perfect, though completely original graphics rather than one that is composed entirely of very polished, but also very familiar patterns and pieces of art.
Through one engine or another, we’ve got Sonic physics pretty much pinned down. There are fewer and fewer bugs to turn a blind eye to, and one can start to expect the legitimate experience, or something very close to it, when sitting down with a new fan game or demo. As a Sonic fan though, to me, the physics go hand in hand with great level design, which encompasses the appearance, ideas and ‘soul’ of the level as much as it does the actual layout of it. If you’re a fan game creator looking for the next big challenge, this, I think, is it.
Comment left on 1.3.2012 by LiQuidShade
Thanks , I’m glad you like it, but i wasn’t alone working on AXSX,
Please don’t forget Xaklse who made Sonic GDK, which AXSX is built on. Without him and his hard work modding GDK this project would have been stuck with the older engine with had very bad performance.
Comment left on 1.3.2012 by Andrew75
Before the Sequel was probably the most polished fan game I have ever played, but the level design of the Sonic portions was quite mediocre.
If Falk goes on to make another game, I hope they’re more intricate like the Tails levels.
Comment left on 1.3.2012 by Sanic
BTS was made by LakeFeperd. I merely mirrored the topic on sonicretro because he didn’t have forum access at the time.
Comment left on 1.3.2012 by Falk
Edit: Corrected
-D
Reply left on 1.3.2012 by InstantSonic
Before The Sequel was actually pretty terrible. I don’t know why people are praising it. Then again, opinions and different tastes.
It’s pretty amazing how far Fan Games have come though
Comment left on 1.3.2012 by 1stkirbyever
Kirby SUper Star for the win?
Comment left on 1.3.2012 by PhotonTH
LiQuidShade had a good point.
Comment left on 1.4.2012 by SonicNKnux
The fan remix…that was just too awesome…ya know it sorta felt the same as when I first picked up Donkey Kong Country for the SNES for the first time…except here the graphix are 1000X better and its ofcourse SONIC LOL. As for Xtreme? If someone puts this together and gets it out there…hoh baby…we shall wait.
Comment left on 1.4.2012 by Shadowbane2009
I’ll admit it, I’m getting sick of Green Hill (and the original in general; Marble Zone sucks), but I think it comes from nostalgia and need for stability. Until very recently, Sega’s new mechanics were rather ham-fisted and poorly executed, while the fan games’ old-fashioned style was more…stable than Sega’s variable quality at that time. “Gunplay/werehogs/swordplay may rise and fall, but Green Hill stands forever”, you might say. Now that Sega is getting its act together, the fan games might seem less necessary.
Personally, my favorite fan game is Sonic Robo Blast 2 (especially the Tortured Planet WAD). That’s a great fan game if you want something “different”. Eggman Hates Furries is pretty good too, although the ending had too much yaoi for me.
Comment left on 1.4.2012 by Jaeger
Sonics Bible Adventure and Sonic Boom are betta. HA!
Comment left on 1.4.2012 by Mandrake
You find in life that only a select few are capable of coming up with completely original and innovative ideas. There’s not as many as you’d hope, and those who have ideas aren’t necessarily great with other things, like organising a project to realise them.
Fangaming as a whole has always had a fairly big problem – if you’ve got the skills to do something amazing… there’s a bigger incentive to use those skills to create something totally unique and sell it.
And compared to Mario who was designed for multiple roles, Sonic only really tends to work well as a 2D platformer. I’ve never really seen a “good” 3D Sonic fangame – even that Xtreme remake seems to be focusing on fisheye lenses, which only benefit the X and Y axes.
Comment left on 1.4.2012 by Black Squirrel
Erm. does Srb2 (Sonic Robo Blast 2) count because thats a pretty good Fan game
Comment left on 1.4.2012 by Sapphirezx
Fan games are cool when they work, i only wish i could get them to work the only fan game I’ve played is sonic robo blast 2, i tried blitz sonic and sonic gdk, neither one works.
Comment left on 1.4.2012 by sonicplayer
I agree with this guy, before the sequel looked pretty bland in level design and the final boss was…well very unexciting, still my interset for it is still there.
Comment left on 1.4.2012 by sonicplayer
I’ve got a fan game officially in the works right now…
Look for Sonic Trilogy: Enhanced in the Fangaming forum, on the pinned WIP topic… also search it on Facebook.
Comment left on 1.5.2012 by KingofHarts
If Sonic Fan Remix was a Remake of Sonic 2, I would say It seems farther along than the actual Sonic 2 HD. Which I haven’t heard anything from except the countdown to the trailer and a Demo Coming soon. More than 4-5 Second of Gameplay would be nice.
Comment left on 1.5.2012 by DarkLeach7
Surprised Sonic The Fated Hour and Sonic Nexus weren’t mentioned XD
Comment left on 1.5.2012 by flame6753
You mentioned them; now they're mentioned.
Reply left on 1.5.2012 by InstantSonic
Sonic Robo Blast 2, as lovely as it is (and it is lovely) still doesn’t really sell it the idea that “3D Sonic fangames” can work. In order to compensate for the immense speed of Sonic and chums, levels tend to be very big and very… empty. You don’t really get the feeling you’re exploring a world, just running past it.
Obviously some of this comes from the fact it’s over a decade old and is derived from the engine powering Doom, but in order to give the user multiple paths its forced to leave wide open spaces everywhere. And it doesn’t attempt loops or ramps or anything that characterises 2D Sonic.
Certainly one of the best soundtracks in fangame history though.
Comment left on 1.5.2012 by Black Squirrel
ok wtf i was trying to reply to 1stkirbyever, watever
Comment left on 1.5.2012 by sonicplayer
@black squirrel i do i have to agree that srb2 does feel like your just running through levels (but is still very fun) there are good 3d sonic fan games like sonic gdk or blitz sonic
Comment left on 1.5.2012 by sonicplayer
The article says Project ASAX, but it’s AXSX.
(Oh, and it also says “it’s” where it should be “its”.
)
Comment left on 1.5.2012 by crt989
Er…I’m a bit befuddled at all the praise Sonic Fan Remix is receiving. The physics look a bit wonky, the graphics are so-so, and the whole thing looks no more advanced than any of the higher-end MMF2 games we’ve seen for years. What am I missing in that Chemical Plant teaser that is so brilliant that it “changed the way fan games were thought of previously by the public”? I can think of a handful of other fangames worthy of that claim.
Comment left on 1.6.2012 by Matt
The problem here is that you're basing it off the one video of a WIP level. You sound like you haven't played the demo or even seen a video of it, for that matter. Check out google for Sonic Fan Remix, bro.
Reply left on 1.6.2012 by InstantSonic
SBTS is actually a very polished fan game but the level design is very bland. There aren’t enough paths either. I like it and have not come across a glitch yet but the lack of paths can cause it to be boring at times. The boss fight are amazing
. One fan game I do like better even though it is less polished is Sonic Axiom because of the level design. There are many pathways to explore on each level although the glitches can kill the fun at times. I believe LakeFeperd and Vexer should work together eventually. Those two could make the perfect fan game.
Comment left on 1.6.2012 by Steve
I don’t know if anyone knows, but sonic after sequel is a reality
Comment left on 1.6.2012 by sonicplayer
This game’s simply incredible! It’s a shame Sega doesn’t hire these developers, work with the Sonic Team and produce quality games like this one!
Comment left on 1.7.2012 by Jason Fairbanks
OMGOMGOMG BEFORE THE SEQUEL LOOKS AWESOME!!!! HECK YES!!!! I HAVE TO PLAY IT NAOOOO!!!!!!
Comment left on 1.13.2012 by Frikin’Biolizard