The pre-event showcase reel for this year’s Sonic Amateur Games Expo just dropped with some great looking games if you’re a fan of retro platformers and Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s become one of my most-anticipated events since 2019, when an early build of Pizza Tower stole the show, long before it was a viral indie success. Now each year I dive into SAGE’s submissions in search of hidden gems—a rather pain-free endeavor, I’ll admit, as there are easily hundreds of hours of polished underground finds to enjoy for free. Here are a few from the trailer that caught my eye ahead of the show’s opening tomorrow.
The first game of note is Rollin’ Rascal, the silky-smooth momentum platformer (I prefer that term to the more nail-on-the-head “Sonic-like”) by Curiomatic out of Brazil. I’ve been following this game for years now, both on its itch.io page as well as its official Discord, and I’m elated to see it make an appearance at SAGE. Having played an early demo, I can speak to its quality—this game is the real deal; It nails the sensation of dashing across wide-open stages at breakneck speed without sacrificing control and precision. The final game will also have a very cool multiplayer mode that I’m excited to play around with when the final game releases. Hopefully, we’ll get a fixed date for whenever that is during this year’s SAGE.
Toree Saturn was also an entry in last year’s showcase, but it’s worth a mention here because it is the type of high-octane electro runner that comes to mind when I think of Sonic and momentum platformers. I love the mid-aughties arcade visuals—the rampant texture aliasing, the limited palette, and those low-poly visual effects bring me back to when I would sit and watch the looping demo on the Virtua Fighter machine at my local mall’s arcade. Very Spark the Electric Jester but with an even bigger focus on precise jumping and the homing attack. This one’s out now, by the way, and it’s super cheap.
Returning to the expo’s Sonic roots, Sonic Rush Rerun is another stylish homage to one of the series’ most underplayed installments. The art style is dazzling, thanks in large part to the animation work, which is stylish and full of character. I also loved the look and feel of Sonic Rush 3D from last year’s event, and it’s fun to see another team’s approach to modernizing the same game. Since Rerun is preserving the sidescrolling perspective, the gameplay looks to be a much more faithful interpretation of the source material, which is what I’m personally keen for. Also, it might have the best announcement trailer for a fan game that I’ve seen.
Tricky and the Dream Caster brings the retro vibes with a heavy CRT filter and charming Dreamcast-era graphics. From what I’ve seen online, it looks like a fun mix between the slapstick spin-and-jump style of Crash Bandicoot and the unbridled velocity of a great 3D Sonic. And is it just me or does the movement give off Warframe vibes? Seeing the game in motion just brought back memories of countless hours spent bullet jumping.
We won’t get the full list of entries until the show starts on September 19, but I’ve got the Steam Deck charged up and ready to start downloading. Check out the full showcase reel down below:
