Have to say, while the game doesn't look good compared to Mania, I think it's not that bad and could've worked for a Saturn game. It just needs better visuals and polishing cuz some of this stuff seen here is something I wish Mania did a bit more of.
whatever aesthetics they're trying to go for here just don't work when there isn't any original assets to back them up... the smorgasbord of genesis art, mania art, and other random shit fails to maintain the narrative of this being a lost saturn sonic game and, above all else, simply does not look good.
It also simply isn't close enough to what a Saturn game usually is like. There aren't any 3D assets at all either. Needs custom art and new stage ideas.
Sonic fans paying full price for a "nintendo hire this man" tier tech demo: 🥰 Sonic fans when criticizing a free fan game someone made in their spare time: 🤬
The game looks pretty alright, if a bit messy at times (those loops on the first zone look like they're on a completely different plane of existence 😅), but damn them special stages look rough. I get the idea they were going for, playing pool or snooker or what have you, with Sonic 3D Blast vibes for the graphics... but the fact you can only shoot through eight fixed directions is a terrible idea for a game that depends so much on chaotic collisions like snooker. Add to that the fact you can't even see the whole board, and you got yourself a pretty messy situation, an idea that probably sounded great on paper, but was sadly miserably executed. Also, it seems like there's only one Special Stage entrance per Zone, so I'd say that's a pretty strict way of doing it. People also mentioned the fact the game is a mishmash of assets from many Sonic games over the years, which brings down the idea of this being a Saturn title, and I'm inclined to agree, even if I don't tend to notice these sorta things most of the time. One thing I did notice was the lack of experimental 3D objects. Sonic Overture emulated the feel of a lost Sonic game for the Saturn, made with tons of beta elements from Sonic 1 to the point it almost feels ethereal, and the pseudo 3D experimentation it does in some areas adds even more to that. Heck, most if not all bosses from Knuckles Chaotix had some 3D pizzaz in them, it was something the Saturn could and would do, so it's a pity to not see anything like that here. I see that some of the bosses tried that, but it's less extra-low-poly/faux 3D and more SNES Mode 7 with sprite squash. Speaking of which, folks were complaining about the bosses, so lemme see... the first one seems alright-ish, one of the quasi-2.5D ones, pretty inoffensive. Second zone, Dynamite Zone... ok, I'm starting to get the messy spriting vibes folks are talking about even more with this zone here. But anyways, the second boss... sure, uh, exists, and with some pretty unnecessary sprite rotation too. The third boss, in Act 1, is another quasi-2.5D chase, but it's away from the screen instead of towards it. Usually, it's when you run towards the screen that chase sequences tend to be more unfair, since objects usually come towards you with very little warning when you're too close to the screen... and yet somehow this game managed to do the exact opposite. I don't blame anyone for cheesing it like the guy here did, these trees approach so quickly you barely have time to dodge, and are so big you can barely see where the next ones are. And the bombs just add another layer of difficulty to something that already requires a lot of concentration and reactionary precision to do right. I'll just mention that, from what I've heard, the music does sound pretty good! I dunno if it's original or if it comes from other games, but still, it's a nice part of the package. Fourth bos- what the fuck is that resolution? My guy, your Snoweggman looks like an N64 texture! And why isn't Eggman directly piloting it like one of his mechas? Is this a limitation of the devs? Weren't they able to make a big sprite of a boss controlled by Eggman with a fixed weakspot, so they instead separated the two and have Eggman meander around? ...is this gonna be a recurring theme? Oh boy. Ah, and because that couldn't be the only issue with the boss, the warning signs for the rolling spiked ball appear _at the same time_ as the spiked ball itself, instead of a second or two before to, y'know, do their job as _warning_ signs and _warn_ you about Eggman's big spiked balls! That's the thing that stood out to me as painfully bad about this boss. Other than that, I liked the idea of using the big stalagtites as stepping stones to reach Eggman, despite the messy array of smaller stalagtites that gets barfed onto you, and the animation itself is pretty alright despite the mid sprites. Hmm, alright, I like the way Rainy Savannah looks, nice cloudy effe- OK, EPILEPTICS LOOK AWAY! Also, is it just me, or are the special stage entrances consistently close to the starting point of Act 1? Eh, maybe it's just me. But these acts do feel pretty damn small in general. And I just noticed the special stages use the same message from Sonic R but without the number, probably ripped straight from there: "You Got Chaos Emerald(s)", even tho in this gane you can only get one at a time which makes the "(s)" needless, this game is incredible. Suddenly, Metal Sonic appears! With some pixel _tilting_ no less. I'm fine with sprites rotating in a way that forces their pixels to remain acting like, well, pixels. But sprites whose pixels also rotate alongside them is something that always grinds my gears a bit. I know old games had sprite scaling, but even then, they had to make these sprites within the constraints of the consoles and engines they were making these games for. Still, this is more of a personal petpeeve than anything. The "fight" with Metal itself is alright, there's some nice tunneling effects going on with the background. Not sure if they make sense in context, dunno if this is some sort of tube formation with waterfalls, but still, it's neat-looking. The proper fight with Metal is probably the best boss battle so far, but the fact you're in water makes waiting for an opening to hit him a smidge lackluster, and it makes avoiding his horizontal dash attacks more luck than anything. Oh, Sky Chase already? Uh, alright. Nice to see them switch things up a bit, can't say most classic Sonic games and fangames have shooting sections, but I also can't say I like the background used. It's literally just a picture of a regular cloudy sky lol, compared to the other backgrounds, it's insanely outta place. Ok, I excused the exact name copy of Sky Chase cus the gameplay was vastly different, but Giant Wing is literally just Wing Fortress. It does explode and you need to fall and avoid the debris, so that's nic- MORE PIXEL TILTING AAAAAAA well that was a short act. Welcome to the Wet Lands, here's the Boardwalk levels from DKC 3 but with the Special Stage screen background that I think is also from Sonic R, also here's Sonic Kai straight from Knuckles Chaotix, have fun! And wait, Eggman is controlling him on a cockpit, so they could have had him pilot the giant snowman boss, they know how to do it! They just... chose not to? Ok I guess. This game feels less like a Sonic fangame, and more like a Sonic game made in flash back in the late 2000s or early 2010s, and with an extremely high scope. If that was the perspective behind it, it would've been extremely impressive, and I feel like we could excuse the sprite lifts and the less good ideas a bit more. But since this is a very recent fangame, made with versatile and more advanced engines, I guess it's a bit hard for some folks to excuse some of the game's flaws. To me, this game looks decent, at times alright, but not exactly something you should take too seriously or hold to the level of Before and After the Sequel, or of the remake of Triple Trouble. Who knows, it might've been this dev's first game, and if that was the case, I'd say it was indeed a very solid start. Truth be told, I know nothing of the development of this game, so that's something I can't comment properly on. Anyways, there's a chase sequence with Metal that looks pretty good, and the second act of Wet Lands, in Eggman's base (kinda odd we're keeping the Wet Lands name but ok) looks quite nice, I love those neon Eggman signs! It does remind me of the Sonic Advance games too cus... bottomless pits lol. The boss here has some probably needless sprite upscaling, but it reminds me of what the Final Fever boss battle could've been (further emphasized by the music, hehe), I think it's cool. Oh that's a... nice art of Sonic. I think I can even see the marker pen stains... yeah, it's likely that this game was made by a young bloke that probably doesn't have much experience with pixel art. Well hey, they gave their best. One final Super Sonic battle later, and that's a wrap! Well, the game ain't stellar, but it ain't awful either. Seems like a fine enough time, or at the very least quite decent. It just needs work on some noticeable areas, or maybe this could serve as a learning experience for the dev's next game... ...actually, looking at the credits, that's a lot of developers. And artists. Damn. Ok, didn't expect that. And it was made over the course of _SEVEN YEARS???_ Ok so, with so many hands on deck to make this game a reality over such a long period of time... what happened here then? This game kinda feels like the result of something with a team half the size, in half the time (broadly speaking, game development is hard). Strange, I may need to look into this game's history.
In fact there was only one programmer, and it was me, but the demo included some assets and I felt bad not including them, but most of the game was made by me, it started in 2018.However, at the beginning of the year, only Dynamite Plant Act 1 was available, so the rest of the game was made between February and August.
@@Un_Ryu_sonic ahhh, so that's why the dev list was large. So you was, technically speaking, the main and only dev of this game?? Well I'll be damned, for a one-man show, not bad at all! Some weird decisions there in the middle, but in that time frame, it's perfectly understandable. Kinda reminds me of a Flash game, now that I think about it, and those are pretty nostalgic to me :)
Nah, gang. The special stages BLOW. 💀
Yeah these special stages physically hurt to watch.
@@thardump859 This game had so much going for it too, sad to see it like this.
Not that I disagree, but that's true for most Sonic games.
@@ashuebot-tabi4449 I love Sonic, and I'm not even mad about this. As a Sonic lover, I agree with this statement. 🗿
@SuperSaiyawolf Easily the best ones are the rotating ones from the first game. All others are kind of mediocre.
The game is not bad but bosses are hard as heck. Special Stages are worst
Have to say, while the game doesn't look good compared to Mania, I think it's not that bad and could've worked for a Saturn game. It just needs better visuals and polishing cuz some of this stuff seen here is something I wish Mania did a bit more of.
Rainy Savanah is giving me animated Pokémon level seizures.
anyways i think the game is super cool
whatever aesthetics they're trying to go for here just don't work when there isn't any original assets to back them up... the smorgasbord of genesis art, mania art, and other random shit fails to maintain the narrative of this being a lost saturn sonic game and, above all else, simply does not look good.
It also simply isn't close enough to what a Saturn game usually is like. There aren't any 3D assets at all either. Needs custom art and new stage ideas.
Me when the Sawnick
Sonic fans paying full price for a "nintendo hire this man" tier tech demo: 🥰
Sonic fans when criticizing a free fan game someone made in their spare time: 🤬
What the flip kind of Special Stages were those? Lost World 3DS had better special stages than those.
the 3D bosses are the worst
The game looks pretty alright, if a bit messy at times (those loops on the first zone look like they're on a completely different plane of existence 😅), but damn them special stages look rough. I get the idea they were going for, playing pool or snooker or what have you, with Sonic 3D Blast vibes for the graphics... but the fact you can only shoot through eight fixed directions is a terrible idea for a game that depends so much on chaotic collisions like snooker. Add to that the fact you can't even see the whole board, and you got yourself a pretty messy situation, an idea that probably sounded great on paper, but was sadly miserably executed. Also, it seems like there's only one Special Stage entrance per Zone, so I'd say that's a pretty strict way of doing it.
People also mentioned the fact the game is a mishmash of assets from many Sonic games over the years, which brings down the idea of this being a Saturn title, and I'm inclined to agree, even if I don't tend to notice these sorta things most of the time. One thing I did notice was the lack of experimental 3D objects. Sonic Overture emulated the feel of a lost Sonic game for the Saturn, made with tons of beta elements from Sonic 1 to the point it almost feels ethereal, and the pseudo 3D experimentation it does in some areas adds even more to that. Heck, most if not all bosses from Knuckles Chaotix had some 3D pizzaz in them, it was something the Saturn could and would do, so it's a pity to not see anything like that here. I see that some of the bosses tried that, but it's less extra-low-poly/faux 3D and more SNES Mode 7 with sprite squash.
Speaking of which, folks were complaining about the bosses, so lemme see... the first one seems alright-ish, one of the quasi-2.5D ones, pretty inoffensive. Second zone, Dynamite Zone... ok, I'm starting to get the messy spriting vibes folks are talking about even more with this zone here. But anyways, the second boss... sure, uh, exists, and with some pretty unnecessary sprite rotation too.
The third boss, in Act 1, is another quasi-2.5D chase, but it's away from the screen instead of towards it. Usually, it's when you run towards the screen that chase sequences tend to be more unfair, since objects usually come towards you with very little warning when you're too close to the screen... and yet somehow this game managed to do the exact opposite. I don't blame anyone for cheesing it like the guy here did, these trees approach so quickly you barely have time to dodge, and are so big you can barely see where the next ones are. And the bombs just add another layer of difficulty to something that already requires a lot of concentration and reactionary precision to do right.
I'll just mention that, from what I've heard, the music does sound pretty good! I dunno if it's original or if it comes from other games, but still, it's a nice part of the package.
Fourth bos- what the fuck is that resolution? My guy, your Snoweggman looks like an N64 texture! And why isn't Eggman directly piloting it like one of his mechas? Is this a limitation of the devs? Weren't they able to make a big sprite of a boss controlled by Eggman with a fixed weakspot, so they instead separated the two and have Eggman meander around?
...is this gonna be a recurring theme? Oh boy.
Ah, and because that couldn't be the only issue with the boss, the warning signs for the rolling spiked ball appear _at the same time_ as the spiked ball itself, instead of a second or two before to, y'know, do their job as _warning_ signs and _warn_ you about Eggman's big spiked balls! That's the thing that stood out to me as painfully bad about this boss. Other than that, I liked the idea of using the big stalagtites as stepping stones to reach Eggman, despite the messy array of smaller stalagtites that gets barfed onto you, and the animation itself is pretty alright despite the mid sprites.
Hmm, alright, I like the way Rainy Savannah looks, nice cloudy effe- OK, EPILEPTICS LOOK AWAY!
Also, is it just me, or are the special stage entrances consistently close to the starting point of Act 1? Eh, maybe it's just me. But these acts do feel pretty damn small in general. And I just noticed the special stages use the same message from Sonic R but without the number, probably ripped straight from there: "You Got Chaos Emerald(s)", even tho in this gane you can only get one at a time which makes the "(s)" needless, this game is incredible.
Suddenly, Metal Sonic appears! With some pixel _tilting_ no less. I'm fine with sprites rotating in a way that forces their pixels to remain acting like, well, pixels. But sprites whose pixels also rotate alongside them is something that always grinds my gears a bit. I know old games had sprite scaling, but even then, they had to make these sprites within the constraints of the consoles and engines they were making these games for. Still, this is more of a personal petpeeve than anything. The "fight" with Metal itself is alright, there's some nice tunneling effects going on with the background. Not sure if they make sense in context, dunno if this is some sort of tube formation with waterfalls, but still, it's neat-looking.
The proper fight with Metal is probably the best boss battle so far, but the fact you're in water makes waiting for an opening to hit him a smidge lackluster, and it makes avoiding his horizontal dash attacks more luck than anything.
Oh, Sky Chase already? Uh, alright. Nice to see them switch things up a bit, can't say most classic Sonic games and fangames have shooting sections, but I also can't say I like the background used. It's literally just a picture of a regular cloudy sky lol, compared to the other backgrounds, it's insanely outta place.
Ok, I excused the exact name copy of Sky Chase cus the gameplay was vastly different, but Giant Wing is literally just Wing Fortress. It does explode and you need to fall and avoid the debris, so that's nic- MORE PIXEL TILTING AAAAAAA well that was a short act.
Welcome to the Wet Lands, here's the Boardwalk levels from DKC 3 but with the Special Stage screen background that I think is also from Sonic R, also here's Sonic Kai straight from Knuckles Chaotix, have fun! And wait, Eggman is controlling him on a cockpit, so they could have had him pilot the giant snowman boss, they know how to do it! They just... chose not to? Ok I guess.
This game feels less like a Sonic fangame, and more like a Sonic game made in flash back in the late 2000s or early 2010s, and with an extremely high scope. If that was the perspective behind it, it would've been extremely impressive, and I feel like we could excuse the sprite lifts and the less good ideas a bit more. But since this is a very recent fangame, made with versatile and more advanced engines, I guess it's a bit hard for some folks to excuse some of the game's flaws. To me, this game looks decent, at times alright, but not exactly something you should take too seriously or hold to the level of Before and After the Sequel, or of the remake of Triple Trouble. Who knows, it might've been this dev's first game, and if that was the case, I'd say it was indeed a very solid start. Truth be told, I know nothing of the development of this game, so that's something I can't comment properly on.
Anyways, there's a chase sequence with Metal that looks pretty good, and the second act of Wet Lands, in Eggman's base (kinda odd we're keeping the Wet Lands name but ok) looks quite nice, I love those neon Eggman signs! It does remind me of the Sonic Advance games too cus... bottomless pits lol. The boss here has some probably needless sprite upscaling, but it reminds me of what the Final Fever boss battle could've been (further emphasized by the music, hehe), I think it's cool.
Oh that's a... nice art of Sonic. I think I can even see the marker pen stains... yeah, it's likely that this game was made by a young bloke that probably doesn't have much experience with pixel art. Well hey, they gave their best.
One final Super Sonic battle later, and that's a wrap! Well, the game ain't stellar, but it ain't awful either. Seems like a fine enough time, or at the very least quite decent. It just needs work on some noticeable areas, or maybe this could serve as a learning experience for the dev's next game...
...actually, looking at the credits, that's a lot of developers. And artists. Damn. Ok, didn't expect that. And it was made over the course of _SEVEN YEARS???_
Ok so, with so many hands on deck to make this game a reality over such a long period of time... what happened here then? This game kinda feels like the result of something with a team half the size, in half the time (broadly speaking, game development is hard). Strange, I may need to look into this game's history.
In fact there was only one programmer, and it was me, but the demo included some assets and I felt bad not including them, but most of the game was made by me, it started in 2018.However, at the beginning of the year, only Dynamite Plant Act 1 was available, so the rest of the game was made between February and August.
@@Un_Ryu_sonic ahhh, so that's why the dev list was large. So you was, technically speaking, the main and only dev of this game?? Well I'll be damned, for a one-man show, not bad at all! Some weird decisions there in the middle, but in that time frame, it's perfectly understandable. Kinda reminds me of a Flash game, now that I think about it, and those are pretty nostalgic to me :)
The Game is Complete ?
@@redthespark6113 yes
It's not a good game
But it's not bad either
It's meh😅
still better than superstars
@DonPuffles I don't think this is a fair comparison tho..
Screw this game!
It had big potential but the special stages are ass & the level design is gutter trash.
The art design takes from the worst of Sonic BTS as well. It’s not an amazing looking fan game at all.
Honestly, everything about this game is trash.