Have you ever seen original concepts for Sonic 1, and wondered how these concepts could’ve been used in a future Sonic game? Well, Sonic Overture ‘95 attempts to answer that question. Sonic Overture ‘95 is a 2d Sonic fan game that acts as a prequel to Sonic 1. Some of you might remember a fan game called Sonic Overture from 2014. Sonic Overture ‘95 is a revival of the original Overture, done by a new development team. The game is also based around the idea of a 2d Sonic game being on the Sega Saturn. A demo for Sonic Overture ‘95 dropped on itch.io about a month below, which will be linked below. Enough chit-chat, let’s dive into Sonic Overture ‘95.
The first thing you are presented with when booting the game up is the Sega Saturn’s intro screen, which is a very nice touch. Then the title screen appears, and the first thing you will probably notice is just how beautiful it looks. The 32-bit style, mixed with the vibrant color palette presents an amazing look that looks similar to Sonic Mania. Seeing Sonic in 32-bit just makes me wish we could’ve gotten an actual official 2d Sonic game on the Saturn. I’m probably going to be gushing about the visuals for the entire review, but I don’t have a problem with that. After getting past that work of art, you’re presented with another work of art in the main menu. Here you can choose which zone you want to start with, which is a nice feature. Choose Sunrise Gate, and now you're ready for an adventure.
Before I talk about Sunrise Gate, I have to talk about Sonic’s sprite art. It looks magnificent, and it’s very animated, but the thing I love the most is the use of the Sonic 1 blue on him. This little detail is something that still makes me smile, even though it's a very small, minor thing. I’m just so used to seeing sprites based on Sonic 2 that seeing one based on Sonic 1 is fresh air to me. Using this old blue also makes sense in the game anyway, because it takes place before Sonic 1. Anyway, back to Sunrise Gate. Sunrise Gate is an easy Zone, it can be seen as your Green Hill equivalent, but there's a little bit more to the local. Act 1 is your standard affair, but Act 2 has you on top of the bright red, and gold gate, platforming your way through multiple pathways. Multiple pathways is a theme for the entire game, as there are no pits to my knowledge, so falling simply means that you now have to take the more dangerous bottom route. I appreciate when 2d Sonic fan games use this design philosophy, it rewards the player for skill by giving them goodies on the higher path, while not brutally punishing the player for making a mistake.
Sunrise Gate also introduces a gimmick that is built on throughout the entire demo. There are these totem poles throughout the level, and jumping on them makes Sonic stop. Then when you jump off, you can just keep going. How is this a cool gimmick? Well, it would probably take you until Granite Zone to figure out that you are meant to immediately jump off the totem poles to keep momentum. This flow of movement feels good, especially in Granite Zone when it's emphasized a lot more. The totem poles' reason for existence was unclear on my first playthrough, but after experiencing how Granite Zone builds onto it, I appreciated them a lot more. I hope we see more of this gimmick in later builds of the game.
The last thing I want to go into while at Sunrise Gate is just how much character, and charm is present in this game. Almost every Act has a cutscene in it, and these cutscenes are done well. Take the one in Act 2 for example. Before the fight with Eggman, you run into him while he’s asleep in his pajamas, which causes him to wake up. Sonic then proceeds to annoy him, while Eggman honestly just wants to go to sleep. This annoyance eventually leads to the fight. I love these interactions, they simply add charm and positivity to the game. I smiled at all of these, especially the one in Act 1 of Granite Zone, which I’ll leave for you to discover.
Granite Zone is up next, and it’s a revamped Marble Zone, but actually fast, and fun. It still keeps the stone look from the original, but it also has a lot more plant life. The lava is still present, and it might annoy you because it's still easy to fall into the lava pits. However, outside of that, Granite zone is very different. It has a lot of straight platforming challenges instead of the slow, puzzle platforming the original presents. Act 2 also introduces the scrapped ball mechanic from Sonic 1, and I gotta say, this is the best interpretation of it. I won’t explain the gimmick in depth here, but it can be confusing at first. However, after experimenting with it on repeat playthroughs, I found it to be a blast, especially when I began to use it to find different pathways. My only issue with this zone is that the enemy placement is obnoxious. I kept getting hit a lot, and sometimes it felt like the whole level was just covered in enemies. Now I will admit that I’m not the greatest Sonic player so this minor complaint might come down to my lack of skill, but it’s still something I wanted to mention.
There are other things I can try to describe, like the amazing soundtrack, but I think I have said enough. I honestly probably sounded more like an obsessed fanboy than an actual reviewer, but I didn’t have any issues with the game, besides the enemy placement in Granite Zone. I did read some comments mentioning the game does not feel 1 to 1 like Genesis Sonic, but I can’t really notice that, I also like classic Sonic in Sonic Generations, so take that as you will. Please check this game out if you have not already, and to the Sonic Overture Team, this has been a great experience, and I hope to see more of it. This has been Travis and have a great day.
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