14 Fan-Made Sonic Games That Succeed Where Sega Failed

The Sonic fanbase is an extremely dedicated one. They'd have to be. Ever since the infamous Sonic 2006, Sega's mascot with attitude slowly turned into a walking punchline, and has never really recovered.

Luckily, Mario's former rival is finally back on the rise. Sega's coming in hot with two new games in 2017: Sonic Mania, a stunning love letter to classic Sonic games of yesteryear, and the as-of-yet untitled "Project Sonic 2017".

But if you look at the underground fan projects the blue blur has born, Sonic's already been having a retro renaissance. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, and the fanbase has seen the former gaming icon's fall from grace as a challenge to overcome. There's even a yearly game jam, SAGE, the Sonic Amateur Games Expo, dedicated to games in the stylings of Sega's hero.

With Sonic Mania on the way, before you replay the Mega Drive classics, branch out and try a few of the most unique fan projects from across the web, ranging from goofy parodies and tech demos, to retail-quality endeavours that shatter Sega's own efforts.

Maybe you'll even find a new favourite to replay for years from now...

Maybe it's cheating to put two games in one spot. But we figure they're similar enough to take one spot.

Sonic: Before The Sequel and Sonic: After the Sequel, the first two of a trilogy, are two of the most popular Sonic fan games ever released. Once you've dug yourself into all that's on offer, it's not hard to understand why.

Created by designer Felipe "LakeFeperd" Daneluz, Before the Sequel positions itself as a prequel to Sonic 2 (hence "before the sequel"), and perfectly captures everything Sonic's best games have in spades. Likewise, AtS positions itself between Sonic 2 and 3.

With catchy, all-original soundtracks, classic 16-bit graphics and a perfect physics replication of the Mega Drive games, both of these games shattered expectations of Sonic fan games, and are shining diamonds that can easily rival Sega's work.

One bright point is the incredible soundtrack- the quality of which has been praised by Jun Senoue, composer of Sonic 3 and beyond.

You can download Sonic: Before The Sequel at https://sites.google.com/site/sonicbts/.

After the Sequel can be downloaded at https://sites.google.com/site/sonicbtsbooth/.