20 Recent Indies That Put AAA To Shame

For more than two decades, Sega’s Sonic franchise has been the laughingstock of the gaming community, including Sonic's very own fanbase.

While the premise of a fast-paced action game where you blaze through huge maps at breakneck speeds sounds great on paper, the Sega team hasn’t actually been able to properly deliver this concept in 3D, and most of their post-2000s Sonic releases have been mediocre at best.

Fortunately, this year Sonic fans have finally gotten the game they wanted—it’s just that it’s not actually a Sonic game at all!

Haste is a 3D action platformer that does what SEGA’s spiky blue mascot doesn’t. The game provides fast-paced gameplay in which you zoom around open-world maps as a courier named Zoe.

Haste does an excellent job of capturing the speed of its main character while simultaneously making the environment she passes by feel vibrant, alive, and highly interactable.

Although the game isn’t very long or rich in story, it truly feels like “Sonic but good,” which shouldn’t be surprising, considering its developer, Landfall Games, is an independent studio behind another successful 2025 indie release, PEAK.

It may not feature a blue rodent with a penchant for chili dogs, but it sure gives Sonic a “run” for his money!