There's been a lot of talk about the brand new, 2D, high-definition
Sonic game. It's been something people have wanted for a long time, and the idea that this could be a sort of “
Sonic 4” is pretty damn amazing. We've even got a screen shot and level design for the game!
Except, well,
we don't. You see, at the same time that Sega was making their announcement for their new
Sonic, code-named
Project Needlemouse, a couple of young guys in Massachusetts announced their fan-made game,
Needlemouse: The Emerald Hills. Needless to say, the timing was more than a little off, and those level builds are not from the new
Sonic title.
However, this fan-made, inspired-by-but-not-endorsed,
Needlemouse: The Emerald Hills is pretty damn interesting. I contacted the two guys behind the game, Jono Forbes and Matt Schoen, and talked to them about their project. While certainly big fans of
Sonic, Forbes said that “we think we are the perfect age for this product. The first game we ever really played was
Sonic 1, and that was my thing...that was my childhood, and that's what got me interested in game design.”
According to the team, the game has been in the works since May, but has been tossed around for the last few years. Obviously,
Needlemouse: The Emerald Hills is an act
Sonic-fandom, and they hope to make a game that would act as inspired from the speedy hedgehog's better days. Ultimately, they hope to have a final game for people by spring of next year, although that depends on how things come together.
Before I left them, I asked them about what they would want to see in a new, 2D
Sonic the Hedgehog game. Forbes said that “if Sega is going to be remaking the classic, I would assume they would be keeping to the original feeling, as well as trying to keep to the art as true as possible, in a modern HD way; a big distinction between these
Needlemice, I think, is that while we are also striving to remake the original feeling, we're taking our liberties aesthetically, and you can expect some radical changes to the look.” For those interested, check out the
Needlemouse: The Emerald Hills website to follow up on the project, as well as stay up to date on any updates and beta tests for the game.
Contest:
7:20 PM on 09.14.2009
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No.
I mean, I can appreciate they're going for a different art style but ew.
Coincedence? I think not.
It was a half-coincidence that Sega named their project the same as ours, Mr. Needlemouse was Sonic's original name, but nobody was using it. It only made sense to call a Sonic-inspired project Needlemouse. We had planned to announce it Wednesday night, but woke up to Sega's announcement, which is the weirdest situation imaginable. I mean, it was even the same day!
Somebody is either very pessimistic, very paranoid, or both.
First, the domain was registered and the website went live in late August, long before anyone knew about Sega's game. You can go ahead and check by looking up the WHOIS information or maybe Archive.org. It was pure, insane coincidence.
Secondly, It's not intended to be a Sonic 1 reboot, just Jono and Matt's attempt to take the classic gameplay mechanics and put them in a 3D engine (2.5D, think Shadow Complex).
Finally there is quite a bit completed on this project, just nothing we've shown publicly. The game is playable at this stage, but definitely bug ridden and in need of testing. In a short while we intend to release little playable chunks that let us get feedback from the community before releasing the full game - for free of course.
Not to mention the just plain bad and inappropriate typeface choice (and the fact that the bottom text of their website will overlap the image if the browser window isn't large enough). I realize this project is in it's infancy, but these people are in desperate need of a decent graphic designer.