Hello everybody! As a recent member of this community, I wanted to begin posting with what I call "ACStriker's Game of the Day", which is...well, a daily overview of any of the many games I know of. For today I'll talk about a pretty beloved but also quite impressive Sonic the Hedgehog fangame...
Sonic Robo Blast 2 is a project by the Sonic Team Junior group that begun in 1998, and is still being worked on up to this day. It was one of the earliest (if not the earliest) attempts at a 3D Sonic fangame ever known in theInternet, as it would use a modified version of the Doom Legacy engine (yes, they modified a FPS game for a 3D platformer; I'll get back to this later).
Before talking about the current version of the game, I want to mention that the effort done by the team was incredible, since the game was indeed being developed since the 90s as a brand new 3D platformer based in the classic Sonic games (originally was a 2D platformer like its much more obscure predecessor), and the project kept making strides along the years; being able to survive the test of time thanks to their dedication.
For example, this is the Title Screen of the first SRB2 demo released back in 2000; by comparing this with the picture at the beginning (which is the Title Screen for the v2.2 version, released in December 2019), you can tell that it went beyond just an amateur dream.
As of the time of this writing (v2.2 being the last major version so far), the game's campaign is fairly long, spanning out at 21 levels (including boss fights, but not counting multiplayer-exclusive and unlockable bonus stages), and can be played through solo and cooperative (Splitscreen and Online/LAN). There's also a "Record Attack" mode where you can try to get the fastest times in clearing a map.
The game evokes a very interesting visual style, with crispy, bright and colorful sprites for the characters, enemies and objects instead of models (though you can enable 3D models as an alternative option) and blocky yet endearingly crafted and detailed worlds. While you might think it was an attempt at "retro-style visuals", it is actually an evolution of the flat maps that were enforced by the engine itself and older versions of the game (though some were reworked from scratch and made even more detailed).
As previously mentioned, the game was built on top of the Doom Legacy engine as a clever way to have a 3D game foundation (back in 1998) that just needed a rework to act as a platform game. While the engine would be massively modified and expanded to make it a bona fide platformer and allow slopes (smooth floor elevations), the way maps are made is still similar to Doom, with some limitations...that would spark creativity (both in working limitations and the ease of use).
Zone Builder (map editor) with Greenflower Zone 1 open.
Maps are designed from a 2D plane (sort of like a blueprint, as if you were an architect) as you draw lines and shapes that form sectors (that form rooms, platforms and structures, among other things), though Zone Builder currently provides a 3D view as well in order to edit the map from a freecam point-of-view. The properties of both the lines that form the sectors and sectors themselves can be changed (for sectors, this includes their floor/ceiling height), which is pretty much one of the key points in building a map. While this is only a brief paragraph of the whole mapmaking topic, it is particularly easier to get into as a beginner than 3D modelling, and just like Doom itself nowadays, SRB2 is incredibly easy to use with mods, so testing, sharing and playing other creations is very easy.
Zone Builder in Visual Mode (3D view) in the same map as above
Back to the game itself, you can opt to play as Sonic (with or without Tails as a sidekick), Tails and Knuckles. Sonic has a new ability called "Speed Thok" that activates by jumping midair, and acts like a air dash (like a Homing Attack but only pushes you forward instead of landing automatically at enemies), while Tails and Knuckles still keep their trademark flight and glide/climb abiities respectively.
If this wasn't enough, not only there are some few unlockable characters as well, but also as mentioned before, SRB2's high moddablity has brought many community players to make custom characters for the game!
On top of the Single Player campaign (and any custom maps you download), there are also Emblems, which can be obtained by looking for the 5 colored emblems hidden in the levels, and playing in Record Attack for Time/Ring/Score emblems. These are awarded by beating the stage under a certain time, with a certain amount of rings, and getting a certain score respectively. The Ring emblems are exclusive to normal stages, while the Score emblems are only in boss fights and special stages; in boss fights they can be obtained by beating the fight without any damage.
SRB2 indeed does have a lot of content, both included and community made, but one of the key aspects in any game, the gameplay itself, is also quite polished from all the years of development and iteration. The intended control scheme is interesting, as you move with WASD, jump in Spacebar and move the camera with the mouse...just like an FPS (which makes sense considering the roots). While it might sound alienating to complete newcomers, this scheme is actually spot-on for the game, allowing to maneuver your speedy character while having complete control of your view. Of course being a PC game you can customize your controls, and if you wanted a more traditional camera scheme or are using a controller, the game can provide a "Simple" mode in which the camera moves and centers automatically similarly to SM64 and other 3D platformers (but still letting you control the camera manually with the right stick or whatever you use). And regarding the normal control scheme, the game also provides you a quick but comprehensive tutorial so that you can understand it easily!
Overall this is a game that I'd really recommend anyone to try out, not just because its a fun (and free) 3D platformer, but because its quite an unique experience compared to other platformers (and Sonic titles). The odd mix between the concept of classic Sonic platforming adventures and Doom's underlying engine was turned into quite a charming and cohesive game thanks to the hard work put by the Sonic Team Junior staff into expanding and polishing the game (specially for v2.2, which not only took 5 years to release, but also was a gigantic leap with reworked presentation and levels among other things).
Another thing that I want to mention again is the amount of content that fans have made for the game as I mentioned earlier: Characters with their own brand new abilities, whole new maps (and map packs), mods that change the way the game plays (from subtle and interesting mods to wacky and crazy stuff); there's even a seasonal contest (Official Level Design Contest, OLDC for short) promoted by the developers for people sending in their maps and then put together in a pack, which gets released and then there's a voting period to decide the winners of the contest.
Shadow mod in Foliage Furnace, a custom map from the Autumn OLDC 2020 pack
To conclude with this topic and reaffirming the ease of use for the map tools (as well as my involvement with this community), I had made myself some few SRB2 custom maps; one was in a (currently in hiatus) project to port maps from the cancelled Sonic X-treme into SRB2, where I fully ported Jade Gully 1 into the game.
Footage of SRB2Xtreme by myself.
Another map I did was in the OLDC Summer 2020 contest: Hectic Harbor. While I wasn't able to give it the amount of polish and length I wanted due to having rushed it (read: starting to make the map days before the deadline :p), it still was so fun to see people play my map after the efforts I made on building it.
Footage by DoMikoto, Hectic Harbor map made by myself. Rustic Templar map made by MK. Both maps featured in OLDC Summer 2020.
Alongside that one, I had released a Peach Castle map (for the Match subdivision of that contest, which was based on maps for the SRB2 Battle mod) that was a almost complete triangle-by-triangle recreation of the original map in Super Mario 64. Now, while the way I did this was quite crazy and stubborn (as well as very stressful, trust me), it does show how far can people are able to try bend the engine just to make a cool looking map, be it a practical thing or not.
And with this, I can cap off today's game with a pretty simple message: the game is great fun, has a lot of stuff to do with the base game, you can find a lot of custom content for it as well if you wish, and it was really a joy to write this up as it might be one of my favorite games ever. Big thanks to SeventhSentinel, now the lead man in the team, for keeping the community alive and renewed, as well as everybody else from the staff for their incredible dedication to a game that had been in the works since 20 years!! Of course I will be waiting to see what else people can bring to the table...and you know...if I ever bring something to the table as well and finish any of the unfinished custom maps I was working on months ago for the next OLDC :)
Map and screenshot by myself. No, this isn't released yet.
With all of this said, I might cover either sooner or later a particular kart racing mod based off this same game, where I had also put myself a fair amount of custom maps and played quite a lot when it released. And yes, it does deserve/need its own page because its a rather extensive mod that reworks this game as you see here...to a racing game a la Mario Kart! But for now, check out SRB2 right here and have a blast!
(Also...as of the time of this writing, the Master Server that hosts the forums where mods were officially posted is still in the process of migrating to a new software, so if you are reading this shortly after this was published, that might not be done yet. I can assure you it will be worth checking out the mods when it is though.)
Both title screen pictures borrowed from SRB2 Wiki. Ingame and Zone Builder screenshots provided by myself. Yoshi character mod by SMS Alfredo. Eggman Jetpack (Eggpack) mod by DrStephen. Shadow mod by Inazuma. Foliage Furnace map (featured in Autumn OLDC 2020) by Kwiin and Kanna. SRB2 Battle mod by CobaltBW (one of the developers).
Special thanks to the folloowing for being my first followers :D --- @paultactico2, @amidank, @vgc, @dushica, @vgichar