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Sonic fan games typically set the bar pretty high for themselves. Before Sonic 4 was the Sonic 4 we all know and acknowledge as existing today, plenty of fans tried to fill the gap, touting their game as the next title in the original trilogy. It wasn’t until more recent years that we’ve seen fan games reach completion with more frequency. Titles like Sonic Classic, Sonic Before (And After) the Sequel, and Sonic Axiom are just a few of the games that did the impossible and actually gave us complete games.
[UPDATE: The games will be played on stream here, Saturday Jan. 23 at 8:30 p.m, so drop on by!]
If you’re enrolling in RAGE, our Really Amateur Games Expo, you’ve got until Jan. 22 at 11:59 p.m. CST to produce a game of some sort based on this year’s theme: Sonic Boom.
It doesn’t have to be a full scale game so much as a 5-10 minute long demo or an older game (think Space Invaders or Breakout for example) and it doesn’t necessarily have to be good, just technically sound (read: no crashes, memory leaks, or texture failures.) If anything, have fun with it and maybe it can expand to a bigger (and better) game down the road.
Sonic Retro webmaster shares her thoughts on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in the latest issue of Retro Gamer
The latest issue of the UK classic gaming magazine Retro Gamer is celebrating its 150th issue in a big way by counting down the 150 Greatest Games Ever as selected by readers. What’s so cool about the issue is that for many of the entries, they turned to those in the fan community to wax nostalgic on the greatest games. Several classics from the developer have made the cut. Just some include 1986’s OutRun with a piece written by Sumo Digital’s Steve Lycett, Shenmue with thoughts from the Shenmue Dojo webmaster, and (as stated in our headline) a write-up on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 by Sonic Retro’s very own webmaster Scarred Sun.
Seeing as the magazine is out there for sale right now both physically and digitally, I’m not going to spoil the surprise of the game’s placement or what was said, so you’ll just have to find out for yourself.
RAGE (Really Amateur Games Expo), which was originally going to return last month on December 18th, is going to return for real this time on January 17th! If you don’t know what RAGE is, basically it’s a sort of game jam where you have five days to make the worst but also funniest fan game possible.
While the goal is to just do whatever and somehow churn out the shiniest turd you can make, there are still guidelines that need to be followed:
• Games need to stick to the theme, this is the most important requirement to note.
• Submissions need to be in by 11:59 pm CST on Friday, January 22nd.
• Send all RAGE submissions to [email protected]; submissions before January 17th will not be accepted.
• Games should really only be 5 – 10 minutes long. We’re not looking for an epic here.
• Feel free to use any engine/platform/program you like, just make sure it’ll run on modern day systems!
• If you don’t have something on hand, there’s trials of several commonly used programs, as well as free versions. Less experience might even help you here!
• Have fun with it! Sure you’re shooting for bad, but you’re wanting to make funny bad, like The Room or Birdemic of video games. (In other words, you’re aiming for humor, not just garbage.)
Of course, you wouldn’t want to spend time and effortless effort making something terrible without getting rewarded for it. Thankfully, the RAGE organizers thought of that. If you win this contest, you’ll get a $50 Amazon gift card. (Or if you don’t live in the US, your country’s equivalent of $50.)
If you’re a member of our forums, be sure to take a look at the official thread. You don’t have to be a member to take part in this contest though.
Continuing the tradition of Monday Links not on Mondays, it’s my turn to steal the glory from Tim!
With 2015 coming to a merciful end, we can look forward to a few exciting things in 2016: a Cubs team that may finally put an end to that dang curse, a bunch of movies and sequels, Nintendo doing something with the NX, and most importantly, heavily criticizing the brand direction of a certain blue hedgehog.
He turns 25, you know. No rental car agency can stop him now.
Just like the daylight gets shorter and trees wither in the on-coming cold spell (in the northern hemisphere), a new winter brings a new Christmas with Sonic by Balena Productions.
Christmas with Sonic, a series of animations with Sonic and friends celebrating a festive time with some fun storylines, brings a new installment by Steven Page. You may or may not know his other works such as “Sonic in Jaws” and “Sonic is Scared Stupid” from your “Recommended for You” list on YouTube. This time, the intrepid Blue Blur celebrates Christmas like a proper snowbird: in the tropics visiting the Prower family. The short is illustrated by Riana.
It’s been a largely slow year for a series about a hedgehog that goes fast, but it’s a quiet before the storm as Sonic enters his 25th anniversary (and the ability to legally rent a car!) in 2016. But from us at Sonic Retro, we wish you all a Happy Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus/Popsicle/Etc. and look forward to rocking 2016 strong with all of you!
Right, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but here goes.
You might have noticed that the forum thread of the Sonic Amateur Games Expo (SAGE) on our forums was suddenly locked a few days ago. Well, that’s because the event, which was originally going to be held from December 18th through December 24th, has had to be delayed until Spring of next year.
This is because the SAGE staff decided that, instead of putting on a mediocre show with key members of the team missing, the best choice was to postpone the event until Spring, to give the community the best SAGE has to offer.
If you’ve been working your ass off to get your game entry ready before the original deadline (which was tomorrow), we get it if you’re angry about this announcement being so late. This really should have been announced sooner.
The Really Amateur Games Expo (RAGE) has also been delayed, but only until early January. While we don’t know the exact dates for either of the events yet, you can still read the guidelines for them in the thread on our forums.
In case you’ve not noticed, it’s a Tuesday. Besides it being M. Bison’s favorite day of the week, this is a particularly special Tuesday: it’s Sonic 2sday.
Sonic 2 was released on this day 23 years ago. Fairly exciting stuff considering all that it packed after the Blue Blur’s first outing. It even brought along perennial buddy and the sometimes annoying Miles “Tails” Prower.
Five years ago, we hosted our first Sonic 2sday Challenge. The premise is simple enough: you attempt to destroy the arduous task of Nick Arcade Expert’s Challenge of collecting 25 rings in under 30 seconds. I mean, ’90s tv sitcom star Melissa Joan Hart couldn’t! Surely a ragtag group of Sonic fans could. The catch? You must use the existing Sonic 2 Nick Arcade prototype.
Still not enough challenge for you? Then for those seeking to REALLY show off how awesome they are, feel free to submit your own challenges, such as the dreaded Emerald Hill Sweep (getting all seven emeralds in Emerald Hill) using both Sonic and Tails. Or use the mobile version of Sonic 2 and go for the gold as the fastest speed demon of Hidden Palace Zone.
After all, Hidden Palace and Sonic 2 started this lovely mess that became Sonic Retro.
Otherwise, kick back and enjoy a super spin through one of the pinnacle titles of the classic era. Sorry Sonic 3 fans: you’re ignored until further notice. If you really want to show off, you’re welcome to shamelessly plug yourselves in the comments below attempting this dreaded challenge or just streaming some Sonic 2 goodness. You could send it to the contest email from five years ago, but I hear a certain demonic presence inhabits that account now…