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You might have heard chatter on social media about a fan project that just wrapped up this week, called 'Sonic Omens'. The final chapters of this impressively ambitious - but highly controversial - fan game was completed and released to the world a few days ago, and the Sonic community has been quick to comment on how developer Ouroboros Studio has made use of the franchise's accepted canon. * Warning: Spoilers for the 'Sonic Omens' fan game below. * While the feedback on the project's core gameplay seems generally positive - if Sonic Unleashed style gameplay is your kind of thing, it sounds like you're going to have a great time - it's the story beats, use of characters and dialogue that are currently a source of confusion with those who have played the game. "It's a fairly decent fangame," writes user Blake Leyland. "The visuals/scenery look good. The gameplay is solid, but there isn't much else that stands out to me." What did stand out to Blake though, was the return of Sonic Adventure 2 character Maria - a young girl who grew up with Shadow the Hedgehog on the Space Colony ARK - and her somewhat complicated and uncharacteristic turn to a boss in Sonic Omens. The idea of having to battle "Maria's ghost" as Shadow was a touch uncomfortable for some. Despite this, one player felt that the Maria boss was pretty good in terms of execution. "It turns into a bullet hell, near final boss... you've got a screen nuke move you build up, so everything balances out. I was actually surprised," writes user 'Snick of the Internet'. It's worth noting that the above was just about the only praise that 'Snick' was willing to give the game - making it clear that overall they really didn't like the game. At all. Perhaps the part of the story that surprised people the most was the inclusion of Chris Thorndyke, a human character that Sonic befriends in the official 2003 anime 'Sonic X'. Chris comes from a completely different universe to Sonic the Hedgehog, according to the anime storyline, so it's interesting to see him return in Sonic's world. However, it's less the actual inclusion of Chris Thorndyke that has generated surprise - rather, his adult design (seen above and here, where a user draws comparisons to Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series) and his fate within the storyline. During the course of the game, Chris dies and during a credits sequence Sonic is seen visiting the character's grave. It's certainly a very... complex and creative take on the Sonic the Hedgehog universe, and while the plot does seem to have some fans online the general feedback is somewhat less kind. Which is a shame because a lot of effort has clearly gone into developing this game. Sonic Omens has also been mired in controversy for the past year or so, as it was discovered in 2021 that Russian game studio Ouroboros had a Patreon account that was tied to various elements of the game's development. This led to accusations from the community of the studio attempting to find ways to profit from their use of the Sonic the Hedgehog IP, something that is frowned upon as it could invite blanket repercussions and fan game project bans from SEGA. For its part, Ouroboros has written a number of statements to fiercely deny this, rejecting what they called an "unfounded wave of hatred" from an "aggressive minority" of "brawlers". In a recent statement from early 2022, representatives from the studio claimed that "everything published from [Sonic Omens] was original content - such as bosses, team-created assets , original soundtrack and concept art. Ouroboros has every right to monetize that content." If you're as confused as we are right now and just fancy trying a new Sonic fan game, you can download Sonic Omens from the Gamejolt page right here. Just, maybe mute or skip the cutscenes while you're playing it. View full story

Sonic animator (and saviour of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie) Tyson Hesse has released a statement to fans on Twitter that he is not involved in the production of the intro movie to Sonic Superstars, as a wave of intense criticism flooded the social media platform. "Credit where it is due, I did not direct or take part this intro," Hesse explained on his Twitter page. "This [was] done fully in Japan by a Japanese team. My only contribution was the character sheets from Origins, which were used again by the team here." UPDATE: Hesse followed up with the Sonic Stadium to clarify that his statement was not referring to any criticism but instead in response to “a bunch of tweets giving me misdirected praise.” It is clear he did not see the criticism flooding Twitter at the time, but it is a fact that his statement did arrive following an intense wave of criticism on the platform. We appreciate the clarification and have corrected elements of the story so there is no confusion. The original story continues below. SEGA released the full, clean version of the upcoming 2D Classic Sonic game's opening cinematic, which bore significant resemblance to the aesthetic found in similar intros for Sonic Mania and Sonic Origins. But it did not take long for a wave of negative comments to be posted to the social media network. One user posted a number of still frames in a thread to highlight in detail a number of faults with the animation. "There’s SO MANY animation errors... Not only are the drawings wildly inconsistent but Sonic suddenly gains 2 right hands," they explained, adding that other areas of the video appear "choppy", lacking depth perception, characters that teleport positions and camera transitions that "doesn't flow properly at all." "That Sonic Superstars intro looks really really rough... Its really really baffling to see something so low quality come after the outstanding animation in Sonic Origins and the Knuckles prologue short," they added. "Just watched all of the previous sonic intros and animations on Youtube, and then went back to Superstars' opening," another user wrote. "Yeah [saying the Sonic Superstars animation is "off" or something are] not lying... Camera angles are wonky, animation is choppy in a bad way, characters go off model too frequently, timing is off, the works. What the hell happened?" Others were less kind. "That sonic superstars intro looks like straight ass," writes one. "Whatever studio they're getting to make these is most defenitely [sic] being crunched to hell and back." Another writes, "Gonna be honest the Sonic Superstars intro is kinda ass, it just doesn't have the energy or flow of the Mania or even the Origins animations." As is the case with Twitter these days, scrolling through the platform for long enough will ensure that your timeline is filled with chat like this. Many Twitter users quickly started drawing connections to Tyson Hesse’s work, which likely prompted the artist to speak out (although as he clarified, he did not see any of this criticism levied at the video at the time). For what it's worth, we didn't think it was all too bad. Obviously Sonic having two right hands is quite (hilariously) off, but we're sure this janky intro won't otherwise diminish a promising-looking gaming experience (that is, if SEGA's animation team doesn't fix all these issues before launch). I mean, we are supposed to be buying a game, after all. Still, at least we can all agree the Tee Lopes + Jun Senoue music is good, right? Or will that kick something else off? Please (don't) sound off in the comments below! View full story

This week, two former employees of Gamefam, the studio behind Sonic Speed Simulator on Roblox, have made public complaints about their treatment at the company while employed there and the lack of transparency in their dismissals. In a TwitLonger post, a 3D artist who worked on Sonic Speed Simulator going by the handle Digital Purgatory paints a grim picture of Gamefam as a studio, describing their behavior as "predatory." Digital Purgatory cites being underpaid compared to industry standard, salaried at $30,000 annual. Salary estimates for professional 3D modeling jobs vary, but this falls significantly below even the lowest estimates of roughly $50,000, and is less than half of the average estimate of $75,000. Beyond this, Digital Purgatory describes a pattern of crunch and lack of communication at the studio. Sonic Speed Simulator's frequent update schedule placed heavy demand on Digital Purgatory with little-to-no additional support: "Essentially I slaved away every week, working the nights while also taking care of my dad [...] just to be belittled and ignored and put on half-time cutting my pay in half." Following submission of assets for Sonic Speed Simulator's Werehog update, Digital Purgatory was informed that they were terminated without significant prior notification: "I get a notice that I was terminated from the company that I did not even notice until the next Monday to check on my tasks for the week." We attempted to contact Digital Purgatory for additional comment, but have not received a response at time of writing. Gamefam shows off Digital Purgatory's model/animation work in a Twitter post following their dismissal. This crunch and lack of communication is mirrored by former associate producer Alice in a separate TwitLonger post. While Alice was originally hired at a salary she was satisfied with, it did not ultimately match the demands of managing two high-demand projects, including training on the Roblox platform, managing international teammates across global time zones, and working within a culture that seemed to expect intense crunch: 'One such comparison was my boss telling me a fellow producer "Stayed up for an entire week" before his project launched, implying I should be more like him,' Alice describes. As her projects' progress was falling behind, she also became subject to a bizarre, opaque weekend dismissal like Digital Pergatory. Alice describes, 'The reason: "Leaking company secrets." When I asked what led him [the CEO] to believe this, I was told he had no proof but that it was the "only explanation" for my lack of productivity.' Her previous contract terminated over the weekend, Alice was offered a new contract to come later, and continued working until the new one was finalized; however, she would not get any clear answers as to when the new contract would start, its salary, or what compensation she would receive for her work between contracts. Alice adds, 'I was even told that I need to "Watch my tone" and "Be grateful" I was even being given a chance.' She opted to leave the position at the end of that week. In her post, she notes that she had not been compensated for her time between contracts or with previously offered severance pay. This comes at a time when Gamefam's website is touting major brand partnerships, including WildBrain, who recently premiered Sonic Prime's first episode within Sonic Speed Simulator. When asked for comment, Gamefam directed us to this public statement on Twitter: Fallout from these incidents have led to community backlash against Gamefam, including the hashtag "SonicSweatshopSimulator" trending on Twitter. On the official Sonic Speed Simulator Discord, there have been reports of users being banned for discussing the topic: Both Alice and Digital Purgatory stress not to harass other employees at Gamefam. Alice closes her post by stating "If you want to make change, focus your attention at the top of the pyramid - where it matters most," while Digital Purgatory added this message to their thread: While it could be very easy to cynically lump this in with the broader controversies surrounding the Roblox platform, it is worth noting that Gamefam, according to its website, maintains over 30 Roblox games with millions and billions of plays, partners with major brands for specialized content, and expects professional education and experience in its job listings. This is a studio that absolutely presents itself as professional and leans heavily on its engagement successes. This is not a fan project gone astray, this is a global game development studio allegedly putting the intense pressures of an ever shifting marketplace onto its employees without appropriate communication and resources. Gamefam lists their many of their projects, including play counts, on their official website. Whether or not you play Sonic Speed Simulator, it's important to understand that, even in the best circumstances, professional game development is a demanding field made even more so when the game in question is built on maintaining regular updates. Crunch, insufficient pay, and even a lack of basic respect multiply the demands involved in professional development. This pushes hard-working, talented creators to further life stress, burnout, or worse. As fans of the Sonic series, it's important for us to be aware of who SEGA partners with and how they operate, as the ethics of partner behavior reflects back on SEGA itself. Sonic games, and all games, cannot exist without the work of developers, artists, testers, producers, and more. Each deserve fair compensation and humane treatment. Thanks to Blacklighting, SSF1991, and Nuckles87 for providing resources for this story. View full story