Sonic 2 fan remix.

[Barry the Nomad]

^ Thumbs up to this post!

I don't see why talented folks like this simply create their own characters and games and make a profit. See Twisted Pixel, one of the most inventive 2D devs in the current gaming world.

[CrazyT]

Demo is out guys. I'm downloading it now. Hope ya'll enjoy it.(hope I will too lol)

http://rapidshare.com/files/426253745/SFRdemo.rar

[CrazyT]

Played it

Impressions: My expectations were high and they have actually been surpassed which is mindblowing.

There is just 1 zone with 3 acts and no boss. The level design is excellent and while alot is copied from the original, the extensions and adjustments feel natural and cleverly designed. It's like as if it has been done by the original creator. The badniks, there are loads of friggin badniks. The last time I saw a sonic game with so many badniks per act was in sonic 1. Killing badnik to badnik feels nice and after running through stages it started to flow, killing badniks while still keeping the pace. This has kept me on my toes and made even the first zone challenging which are mostly the easiest ones (especially in modern sonic games). It's as if this has been missing in every sonic game after sonic 1.

About the visuals... While things have been said(and I have too) that it looked busy and clustered. Ingame... it just looked gorgeous. There is so much going on tha my eyes kept wide open of surprise the whole time. It was pure eyecandy but it added to the experience and the joy. Act 1 especially has a small sequance near the end where a whale............................................. ...

While act 1 and 3 are similair to the originals, act 2 is a whole different thing.

This game has the quality of an official product. Loving it  

[Shigs]

What are the minimum requirements?

[Orta]

Oh balls, I have to deflower the computer and install Windows on it.

[fluffymoochicken]

I still can't get past the graphics. That Act 3 video on the front page is especially gaudy and nasty as all hell.

[Tad]

Believe it or not, I actually prefer the Sonic 4 graphics. Great attempt -- and I will play this when it's released, but it's too messy and well..ugly.

[max_cady]

Well, you beat me to it.

I just played the three stages and honestly I don't know how people can get so worked up over a fan-made game.

As nice as everything looks, the use of color in this game is terrible I can barely see a couple of badniks because there is really way too much stuff onscreen that's either blocking my view or it's just too distracting.

[matty]

Well, that was interesting.
The visuals are very nice. There's a bunch of stuff happening in the foreground (I saw one of those damn birds from 3D Blast - damn, can't smash it!), which I love. Details like that really make it feel like a world and not so much as a "stage". It's something I appreciate seeing in a game. The style reminded me of the Donkey Kong games on the SNES, at least till it started raining. Eh.

The gameplay is good. To be honest, my video card is a bit dated so the frames might have choked the controls a bit, so I can't make an honest call, but overall it has the flow I remember from the original games.

It could use some polish here and there, such as the audio (loud waterfall is LOUD). I'm looking forward to playing new levels when they're released.

[Barry the Nomad]

Okay, I played it and HOLY CRAP IT'S...


good for a fan game, but this constant comparing to Sonic 1-4 needs to stop. It emulates the classic gameplay which in itself really isn't that big of an accomplishment. Who developed the original Sonic physics? Sonic Team. Who emulated those same physics again and again for more than 15 years? Sonic fans. Now if the guy one upped the existing physics, bringing something new to the table gameplay wise, I think the game would be worthy of comparison to 1-4. But as it is, it's Sonic 2 gameplay with a few issues. I don't mean to sound like I'm hating on the guy's work, he did a good job, but I really can't see why people are raving for something that has already existed 19 years ago. Skilled painters can reproduce the Mona Lisa, but does that make them worthy of da Vinci levels of praise?

Really it all comes down to the visuals that deserve the most attention, as this is the area that the game designer spent a majority of their time. I'll admit, they're impressive for a fan work, but as I've stated all over the topic, they simply do not have that Sonic spirit seen in the official games. The game shares more with Vectorman or Rayman 1 than with Sonic. It's a cool reinterpretation, like seeing The Simpsons drawn in an anime style. Cool to see, but not an evolution of the existing style by any means. I'd rate it an "A" compared to the dozens (hundreds) of fan produced sprite-based games. But compared to 1-4 I'd rate it a "C".

[CrazyT]

So after playing it multiple times I have to say i'm still loving it, but the visual busy aspect is starting to become more noticeable.

I am not a member at sonicretro so it's too bad I can't get my feedback straight to him, but as it is I think the foreground does need some cleaning up because I do have a hard time noticing the badniks at high speeds. The background is just astonishing, I think the best part of the background are the little touches like the ROBOLAND sign that gets built across the three acts, or the eggman logo shining in the background of act 3.

Some enemy placements are just unfair and the physics need a little bit of tweaking. It's not like official games don't suffer from bad enemy placements but yeah, just pointing it out. All this can be fixed pretty easily with the right people working on it(check) and the right feedback.

You can see that the game is still in an early state. No monitors, no checkpoints, no moving platforms and no spikes.

As it stand, the game is just still truly amazing, I still stand by alot of my points in my previous post and enjoying every single run. A zone without a boss and a container filled with animals does make it feel as if you haven't acomplished anything, but still fun.

In my opinion these guys should be hired by SEGA. It's indeed weird that he's doing all this stuff and not getting any profit out of it. Maybe he just has a great passion for sonic and apart from making something for others to enjoy, maybe he also wants to bring a message to proof something. Or maybe his goal "is" to be noticed and get hired.

This is just emerald hill, if he ever makes a new zone, I can't wait to see how he designs it.

*NOTE Download has been taken down due to copyright. I had a feeling this would happen.

[fluffymoochicken]

It emulates the classic gameplay which in itself really isn't that big of an accomplishment. Who developed the original Sonic physics? Sonic Team. Who emulated those same physics again and again for more than 15 years? Sonic fans. Now if the guy one upped the existing physics, bringing something new to the table gameplay wise, I think the game would be worthy of comparison to 1-4. But as it is, it's Sonic 2 gameplay with a few issues. I don't mean to sound like I'm hating on the guy's work, he did a good job, but I really can't see why people are raving for something that has already existed 19 years ago. Skilled painters can reproduce the Mona Lisa, but does that make them worthy of da Vinci levels of praise?

Agreed with all of this. I have a mild distaste for fan games in general, because while some people make them out of general curiosity or for the fun of it, it seems that some create them as an easy way to gain developer attention. It's easier to get yourself known when you (without permission) use a character that already has lots of fans behind it, rather than, y'know, attempting originality and coming up with your own ideas.

I believe that is the case, here. :| They didn't even have a problem blatantly rehashing level designs from the existing Sonic games. The only thing of significance I can see that they added are (hideously fucking awful) 3D graphics. It'd take a lot more work before I'd give these guys praise.

[George]

Anyone have a back up to upload or a new download link?

[matty]

Anyone have a back up to upload or a new download link?

Huh... can't say that I have, sorry. Nothin' here but us Chickens!

[George]

I already found it thanks to CrazyTails and updated the front page with it.

I have yet to play it. Might do a front page write up on how I feel about the whole thing in the morning.