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SAGE has just revealed a special holiday iteration of their event via their Youtube channel, called, fittingly, Christmas SAGE! It'll have over 50 games. It'll run from December 8-15! The 40 second trailer showcases a lot of games, including a Sonic Drift remake by Noah Copeland, a new demo for Scratchin' Melodii, another demo for Sonic Test Labs, and some sort of pre-rendered 2D Sonic game, amongst others. Check out the trailer below: Original Post Content: View full story

SEGA has marked the launch of the latest Sonic Frontiers DLC, Final Horizon, with a focus on Sage for this month's Sonic Pict illustration. Shared by the official Sonic JP social media account this weekend, the beautifully-coloured piece shows a melancholic Sage staring off into the distance as The End can be seen approaching on the horizon. Supreme, one of the colossal Titans found among the Starfall Islands, is just vibing in the background there. Here's the notes from SEGA about this illustration, from their social media account (machine translated): Via X Sonic News Tips Credit: Sonictrainer Original Post Content: Sage sits while Supreme poses in the background View full story

I have long had an interest in Creative Araya’s Sonic SMS Remake games, but I simply haven’t had a chance to get to any of them…until now. From what I’ve played of the first two games, these are excellent reimaginings of Sonic’s first two 8-bit adventures, with solid additions to the level design, character roster, and special stages (among other things). But Sonic SMS Remake 3: Timelines looks to take things even further, with even more drastic changes to every aspect of the game. These changes make this the most promising entry into this fan game series yet! Timelines remakes the first stage of Sonic Chaos, drastically altering the level design to accommodate what is essentially the game’s brand new game play gimmick: character teams. The demo has two teams at the moment, with Sonic, Shadow and Silver on one, and Amy, Blaze and Rouge on the other. You can switch between the three characters on each team to get around the stage, using each character’s unique traversal and attack options to get to the end. Each team is further distinguished with a special trait, with Sonic’s team being centered around speed, while Amy’s team is all about attack power. To that end, both Sonic and Shadow are very speed-centric, with Sonic having a drop dash while Shadow has a mid-air dash. Silver, in addition to having their speed, can also float infinitely through the air, with an additional skill that lets him phase through certain walls, allowing him to reach other parts of the stage and find secrets. Silver… kind of breaks the game, since his infinite flight can theoretically allow him to simply float over the entire stage. But I personally just used him for whenever I needed to quickly get out of a jam, or explore a different part of the stage. Amy, Blaze, and Rouge also have all of Sonic’s basic moves, but with additional attack-centric movesets. Amy can smash down on enemies with her hammer ala Mighty’s Sonic Mania attack (and also knock rings to the ground), Blaze has a screen-clearing fire move, and Rouge can…fly, but unlike Silver her flight is limited. On the whole, these characters are a lot of fun to play, but I’ll admit a lot of my enjoyment comes from the sheer novelty of seeing these characters realized as 8-bit sprites, complete with their unique movesets. The Turquoise Hill acts boast solid design. The first one especially manages to showcase beach team’s capabilities well. The second one has a unique look, but most importantly also makes a unique design choice for a Sonic level: it has two completely different level goals on both the left and right hand sides of the stage, effectively making it two levels in one. Both levels are also very fun to explore, with loads of different paths and secrets. This is good, given that Timelines also has red ring collectibles! I’ve always enjoyed Sonic Chaos, but its levels were a bit basic, so I’m glad to see such complex takes on its opening acts. Given the quality of these, I’m looking forward to what future updates will bring. In addition to Turquoise Hill, there’s also a few mini games to play. You can collect “time stones” by gathering enough rings to access a special stage, inspired by Alex Kidd in Shinobi World. It seems all of the time stones will be collected via playing other SMS games, which is a very cool idea. 'Shinobi World' is widely considered the best Alex Kidd game, and it plays great, so Creative Araya clearly knows its stuff. I look forward to seeing which other games will be featured! Once you access the Alex Kidd stage, you will be able to access a weird mini game called “Tiny Animal Place.” It appears…loosely inspired by the GBA Chao Garden. You can pull up grass, move animals around, and tap them to check their demeanor. I must say, I don’t quite get it, but it is harmless. Speaking of, you can access the animal game via a Sonic Generations-inspired hub world called. There isn’t much to do here yet, though I do look forward to seeing what’s added in future patches. Finally, the game also features a brand new special stage, and a twist on its bosses. The special stage is different from the Sonic 1-inspired ones from the previous SMS Remake games: you fly forward on a 2D plane, collecting blue spheres while avoiding red ones. The stage grants you extra lives, and is pretty heavily based on the special stages from Sonic Chaos. The demo’s one boss is technically two in one, featuring both a slightly altered version of Sonic Chaos’ lady bug boss, and a second phase where you need to fight the turtle boss from Triple Trouble. On the whole, I had a fine time with Sonic SMS Remake 3: Timelines. It shows a lot of promise, looking to be a big improvement over the source material while still embracing the project’s 8-bit roots. I played this on a Steam Deck using Proton, but it’s also possible to play it via Windows (obviously) and Android smart phones. You can download the game here. Check out our gameplay video below: Original Post Content: View full story

Michael4Numbers’ Sonic Test Labs demo is a promising, tough-as-nails game feels like a combination of Unleashed and Adventure game play, with a healthy heaping of momentum and a dash of Jet Set Radio sprinkled in for good measure. It is built around the premise of a facility, sponsored by GUN capturing Sonic and running him through test labs to “study” how to best deal with him. Going by how he is in the game, Sonic seems to be cool with this. At its core, Test Labs is effectively Sonic’s Adventure game play on steroids. It’s significantly faster, with much more focus on momentum, way less automation, and a trick button ripped straight out of the Rush games. To accommodate this speed and momentum, levels are much larger, with wider and longer tracks, massive slopes, and lots of branching path that either give you traversal options, or a faster, more platform-heavy way to get you through an area. Really, in terms of level design, a lot of it doesn’t feel so different from some of the more complex areas of the 3D boost games, Unleashed included, except with a focus on momentum instead of boosting. Of course, with this increase in speed and level complexity, players also have significantly reduced margin for error. It is very easy to die in this game. In the first level, death pits are everywhere, and just a slight miscalculation of your speed or slight delay in pushing the homing or light speed dash buttons will spell your doom many dozens of times. The game’s reliance on momentum also means that it’s very easy to simply approach an area too fast to reasonably avoid death. I died a lot when I first started playing this demo. While I’d say most of my deaths could be avoided, not all of them felt fair. The homing attack targeting reticle occasionally doesn’t appear, enemies will occasionally damage you during a homing chain, and the wall-mounted booster pads are something that’s virtually guaranteed to kill you on your first try, since you need to move Sonic into the second pad manually, with no opportunity to home in on it. I would like to see future builds adjust these . Perhaps the worst offender in this game is the machine gun turret that starts targeting you in the middle of the first level, which feels borderline RNG. There is simply no reliable way to avoid being hit by this thing beyond either hoping it fires while it doesn’t have you in its line of sight, or if you kill your own momentum and simply wait behind the walls until its safe to move. In a game where the challenges and obstacles are primarily things you can reliably practice at navigating, this obstacle feels uniquely out of place, and I would not mind seeing it nixed in a future build, or at least adjusted to punish players for moving too slow. Unfair murder turret aside though, Sonic Test Labs’ most egregious challenges aren’t too much worse than what you’d expect to see in any of the more difficult Sonic games, and the well placed check points and lack of lives make the unavoidable deaths easier to stomach. After about a half hour, I wasn’t just beating Test Labs, I was crushing it, and it’s easily one of the most satisfying experiences I’ve ever had in a Sonic game. The game has an absolutely excellent sense of flow once you’ve had some time to practice the layouts. I felt exhilarated as I started jumping from platform to platform, nailing light speed dashes and smashing barrels into enemies all while constantly performing tricks and keeping up my momentum through the whole thing. After every playthrough I felt the drive to do better, to perfect my run and figure out how to finally avoid the areas that stop me in my tracks. As tight as the design is for the first stage, I’ll admit the second one doesn’t quite do it for me. While it features far fewer death pits, the level design is also a little more simplistic, and missing your chance to make it to the level’s upper paths can leave you just running down a straight road or underneath a bridge with little to do for a little too long. The automated sequence near the start where you can shoot yourself in the air and potentially home in on robots and do a trick through the middle of a helicopter also doesn’t really seem to work reliably. Sonic Test Labs also has a great atmosphere and superb sense of style that seems to be at least loosely inspired by Jet Set Radio. This gives it a very distinctive look amongst Sonic fan games. The demo’s soundtrack is also quite solid! Sonic Test Labs is a superb effort, and a SAGE entry I highly recommend for anyone who’s after a 3D Sonic game with a little more challenge. This project will be one to watch, folks! Here’s hoping this SAGE won’t be its last! You can download it here. Original Post Content: View full story

One, specific niche of Sonic project that I’ve come to love are the ones that seek to recreate what’s been lost to history. Whether it’s canceled cartoons and comics, or game demos and prototypes, I have a soft spot on my heart for projects that give us a peek at what could have been, even if what could have been was garbage. Sonic X-Treme has typically gotten the lion’s share of the attention, but none of those are at SAGE this year. Instead, we have a little project from RetroDev called Project 32X, something that seeks to create some playable iteration of those Sonic Mars concepts. Now, I’m just going to say it upfront: this isn’t very fun. The level design is very basic, Sonic does not react to hitting or being hit by enemies, and the lack of camera control makes certain parts of each level very frustrating. Specifically, when you have to run into the screen and platform, forcing you to be very careful about jumping over each level’s many death pits. But while this isn’t very fun, it is a convincing, playable recreation of what a 32X is capable of. From the flat shaded low poly models to the very basic geometry and limited draw distance, if I didn’t know better I’d think this was a genuine 32X ROM. As the demo goes on, levels become more complex, with branching paths, optional emerald coins to collect, and even a neat little ramp gimmick, all done while keeping it convincingly within the realm of something a 32X could run. While the level designs are totally original, they do feel like something done in the spirit of the more linear level concepts from Sonic Mars. Ultimately, as a game based on those concepts…this is about the kind of game I’d expect! I do hope future iterations of this demo eliminate certain issues, such as the aforementioned lack of enemy feedback and into-the-screen platforming. But I also hope this project doesn’t sacrifice being a convincing 32X game in the name of fun. While this is not a particularly fun game, it is an interesting study into how a Sonic game might function utilizing Sonic Mars’ concepts and the inherent limitations of really early 3D game design. If that sounds interesting to you, I recommend checking Project 32X out! You can download the game here. Check out a video of the entire demo from our Youtube channel below: View full story

It’s that time of year again: Sonic Amateur Game Expo 2023, aka SAGE, has officially begun! And with it, loads of new fan games and original titles have their latest builds ready to play! As usual, Sonic Stadium will be covering as many of these games as we are able, so stay tuned for lots of hands-on previews, videos, and streams through (and a little after) SAGE’s final day on September 8! You can check out SAGE 2023’s games on the official website here, and you can find this year’s trailer below: Original Post Content: View full story

Hey there Sonic Stadium friends! Hello there from across the pond, it's me, Perfect Chaos Zero from SFGHQ/Sonic United and SAGE! I'd like to invite you TSS folks to have a shot at winning my stuff! I'm giving away all sorts of goodies at SAGE and I'd love to give some of it to YOU! I would ESPECIALLY like to invite you to take part in the Make A TERRIBLE Fan Character Contest! TSS has always had some part in SAGE at one point or another for many, many, years, so I wanted to make sure you guys over here knew about this opportunity to win some cool stuff! Even a copy of mmf 2 which is like 100 bucks a pop! (we got'em cheaper than that tho haha) We can't wait to see what kind of awful, absolutely idiotic submissions you guys can come up with! Remember, the more hilariously stupid, the better! That said, here's the thread where you submit your entry! For convenience's sake, I'll give a quick run down of what the contest includes here as well, of course. Basically, the goal is to make up an awful and absolutely hilariously bad fan character. Simply post an image of your character, along with a bio and list of likes and dislikes in the appropriate SAGE contest thread! No really, it's that simple! Oh and by the way, -YOU CAN ENTER THE CONTEST UP TO THREE TIMES!- The more hilarious the better, feel free to make the drawing as craptacular as you like, awful and increadibly stupid recolors are welcome! Also, feel free to join us for other contests, as I'm giving away tons of prizes over the next 48 hours as part of Win PC0's Stuff! I hope to see you guys there! After all, who doesn't like winning free stuff?

SSK: Super Sonic Knockout Demo.5 is out for SAGE 2011. Alongside is my REMIX ALBUM with 30min of Slammin Jamz for only! http://huepow00.band...album/ssk-beatz DISCLAIMER: =========== SSK BEATZ is in no way affilated with SEGA® or Sonic Team®. Sonic the Hedgehog and related trademarks are copyrights of SEGA®.

That's right, it's that time again! It only feels like yesterday that SAGE 4 - the first of two Sonic Amateur Games Expos in 2002 - ended, but today show organiser LuckettX has announced open registrations for the next online event. The next show is due to launch on 16 September. "SAGE is fast approaching and now's the time to get your entries in," LuckettX writes in a statement on TSSZ. "But hold it right there, you feisty younger whipper-snappers, this year the registration involves a bit more than just the name of your booth and link. This year... you have to put effort into your registration!" The new registration process involves three steps. The first step has fan game developers sending the usual details - Team Name, Fan Game details, Descriptions, links to booths. Step Two requires registrants to send in a banner ad for their booth, and the final step asks for a 'promo item' to be created. Promo items are described as "a singular item of interest, related to your team or game. It could be a little statue, or a pie, as long as it's original and groovy." As well as an item, booth owners must provide a description of the item as well. As for the purpose of the items, all will apparently be revealed when SAGE starts on 16 September. If you have a cool fan game and want to take part in SAGE 5, be sure to send your entries in to LuckettX - and also tell The Sonic Stadium about it so we can cover it! View full story

Last year, a bunch of cool fan game community guys organised an online event called the Sonic Amateur Games Expo. It was a showcase of upcoming projects that put Sonic into various fan-created gaming scenarios. Well, it was so popular that it's coming back for a second run this year! While the show was said to be a small, experimental affair in 2000, we're hearing that SAGE 2001 will be a hundred times bigger. There will be 20 virtual booths showing off demos of fan projects such as 'Sonic Robo Blast 2', 'Sonic Thirdscape' and 'Sonic Forever'. Best of all, the show will also be open for a five-day period! This should hopefully allow for enough time to download and try out the cool new works that teams have got cooking for you. Full details are available on the SAGE website here. View full story