The Best Sonic Fan Games You Can Play Right Now

Love em’ or hate them, Sega haven’t always been the best custodians of the chili dog munching, inter-species romancing, chatty chatty chit chat blue blur.

But thankfully, for as long as the internet has existed, the ever creative Sonic fanbase has stepped in to do what Sega… uh doesn’t or couldn’t.

The annual SAGE (Sonic Amateur Games Expo) online event highlights the amazing creations from the Sonic fan community, sometimes offering these unique fan games to the public for everyone to enjoy. Unlike Nintendo, which fiercely protects its intellectual property, Sega generally takes a more relaxed approach, often embracing and supporting fan contributions. This openness has been fruitful, as evidenced by Sonic Mania—considered by many as the best official 2D Sonic game ever—which originated from this vibrant fan scene.

These fan made games have evolved massively over the years, to the point we now have Sonic products that even Sega themselves seem incapable of making.

Anyway, here are 5 of the best Sonic fan game creations you can play today, if you have a moderately powered PC and are prepared to get your hands dirty installing them.

Sonic Galactic

If any of the games here could stand toe to toe with an official Sonic entry, it’s Sonic Galactic from Starteam. Choose from either Sonic, Tails, Knuckles or Fang and speed through 3 very complete feeling zones alongside some fancy looking 3D special stages. With super gorgeous original sprite art and music,  this feels very much like the natural step on from Sonic Mania. There are some cool nods throughout the demo to Sega and Sonic history, and a few cheeky copyright infringing moments out there. 

This is currently still just a demo, but can be downloaded right now for Mac and PC.

Download from: https://sonicgalactic.github.io/

Sonic And The Fallen Star

What I love about Sonic And The Fallen Star is that it comes bursting out with its own visual style focusing solely on Sonic and his breakneck speed. This is a fully fleshed out game with nine zones, unique bosses and a large helping of love and appreciation for the original games. The special stages hark back to Sonic Mania and the soundtrack is a perfect mix of Sonic CD era 90s dance with a spot of Hideki Naganuma flavoured big beat that reminds me of Jet Set Radio meets Sonic Rush. You even get wonderfully hand crafted cutscenes that add to the perfectly polished experience. A must download for even the casual of Sonic sicko.

Download from: https://stardropsmh.github.io/sonic-and-the-fallen-star/

Sonic Triple Trouble

This one is a little different from the pack, being a 16-bit reimagining of Sonic Triple Trouble on the Sega Game Gear. Some sections feel one-to-one with the original, at other times it reinvents itself and vastly improves the experience. While feeling perhaps more like a fan project of old when compared to Galactic and Fallen Star, it’s an incredible effort, made all the more amazing due to the fact that it is the work of solitary dev Noah N Copeland. Noah is also chipping away at a 16 bit version of obscure curio Sonic Drift, so keep an eye out for that one too.

Download from: https://gamejolt.com/games/sonictripletrouble16bit/322794

Sonic GT

This is the only true 3D Sonic game on this list, Sonic GT from Not So Greedy is a slightly alternate take on the open world vibe of Sonic Frontiers, placing it in a slightly more traditional setting. At times, the speed can get in the way of the gameplay and the open nature of the levels can leave you wondering where the hell you are going some of the time. But hats off for the inclusion of fully voiced characters, complete with classically corny Sonic dialog and again, a soundtrack that rocks as much as it soothes.

Download from : https://gamejolt.com/games/Sonic-GT/533291

Sonic Robo Blast 2

Now, I know, this looks like a bit of a pixelated mess… but there is a very good reason for that. What you see here is a working demo of Sonic Robo Blast 2 running on a real life 32X. Yup, this is what you could have won back in 1995 if you were unlucky enough to own that piece of trash. This has been knocking about for some time, but the advent of the Doom Resurrection project has allowed Robo Blast to be ported to actual hardware using that engine. Impressive as this may be, the full fat PC version is where the true joy can be found. Sure, Sonic games have evolved past this point you could argue, but Robo Blast is … a blast and well worth the download.

Download from : https://ssntails.srb2.org/srb32x/ (32X version)

https://www.srb2.org (PC Project)

Now there has been a new entry in the fan game canon in recent weeks, a project that looks full of promise, but for reasons, has been put on the shelf in a seemingly permanent fashion.

Sonic And The Moon Facility

When Fallen Star developer Stardrop showcased a trailer for Sonic And The Moon Facility back in August 2023, it was described as a melding of Mega Man Zero meets good ol’ classic Sonic. The full story behind the why and how the project became derailed is unknown, other than there was a brief that the team felt they had not been able to reach. Thankfully, the decision was made to upload what they had  and what we have is a surprisingly complete feeling experience. In fact, this might be the best of the bunch. You can definitely feel the DNA of Fallen Star, but this feels a bit closer to a classic Sonic game with all the wacky stuff removed. That’s not to say it’s not without some cool features of its own. You can play as Sonic or Tails and on completion you unlock Amy and Metal Sonic too. Also, knowing that the Sonic fans can be a picky bunch, can even choose from a selection of different colour pallets. 

Sure, the game might lock up from time to time, some bosses feel a bit half cooked, but Stardrop could have let this rot on their hard drives forever so, all in all, we are a lucky bunch. A must try!

Download from : https://gamejolt.com/games/sonicmoonfacility/975042