E3 2015: Freedom Planet is the Sonic Game Sega Never Made

<p>In the decade that the world seemed to stop loving Sonic the Hedgehog&comma; I&&num;8217&semi;d like to think that – in some alternate universe – <em>Freedom Planet<&sol;em> was the best Sonic game Sega actually made but no one ever played&period; The instantly lovable stepchild of Sega&&num;8217&semi;s 8-bit legacy and <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;freedomplanet&period;galaxytrail&period;com">GalaxyTrail<&sol;a>&&num;8216&semi;s tribute to retro platformers&comma; <em>Freedom Planet <&sol;em>effortlessly channels the best of its roots in a charming dash down memory lane&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>You first step into the oversized shoes as Sash Lilac&comma; a perky dragon girl who might as well be Spyro&&num;8217&semi;s kid sister&period; As it so happens&comma; nasty Lord Brevon&&num;8217&semi;s been doing nasty things and a mysterious creature from the sky asks you for your help to save Avalice&period; You can&&num;8217&semi;t say no&comma; so it&&num;8217&semi;s off to the races down hill on your way to cream bad bots in the face at the speed of a purple comet&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If there&&num;8217&semi;s smoke there&&num;8217&semi;s fire&comma; as they say&comma; and frankly&comma; <em>Freedom Planet<&sol;em> smells of Sonic in nearly every way possible&period; The more the demo progressed&comma; the more apparent its inspiration became&period; The graphics&comma; the gameplay&comma; the character designs – all of them wreak of nostalgia from the collectible leaves&sol;rings down to the Green Hills layout of the initial level&period; Yet it&&num;8217&semi;s how well it seemingly does them that counts&period; <span style&equals;"line-height&colon; 1&period;5&semi;">Everything from the raucous&comma; offbeat atmosphere to the upbeat chip tunes pumping through the air&comma; GalaxyTrail&&num;8217&semi;s done their homework and<em> Freedom Planet<&sol;em> celebrates what&&num;8217&semi;s so beloved about the genre in general&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;06&sol;04215539&sol;Freedom-Planet-Wii-U-Combat-BagoGames&period;png"><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-85516 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;06&sol;04215539&sol;Freedom-Planet-Wii-U-Combat-BagoGames&period;png" alt&equals;"Freedom Planet Wii U Combat BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>What <em>Freedom Planet<&sol;em> does best as a platformer it does better at as a combat-based platformer&period; As part of its unique twist on Sonic&comma; the game mixes and matches powers typical of the genre&period; Like Sonic&comma; Sash can travel at lightning speeds&comma; but like Knuckles&comma; she can also whip out her hair like a tornado to smack enemies than just bounce off of them&period; In addition to holding her own in a footrace&comma; Sash can charger up and launch herself like a torpedo across the air as an unorthodox means to reach other platforms&period; The combat system lends a fun diversity to her multi-note skill set and I can easily imagine the grin on her face the whole time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The level design&comma; complete with bug-themed bosses and cartoony robots&comma; is a labyrinth of stuff to find and explore&period; Getting sidetracked with shortcuts and hidden rooms is all part of the retrograde fun&period; It surely extends the run time of the ten-minute demo by at least a few more minutes and goes to show the dedication behind every nook and cranny&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If a rip-off is what GalaxyTrail&&num;8217&semi;s creation is reduced to&comma; then it&&num;8217&semi;s a rip-off done right in every endearing way atypical of the term&period; It carries the heart and soul of its fore-bearer with pride&comma; if not to remind us just why platformers have endured as long as he has&period; At its heart&comma;<em> Freedom Planet<&sol;em>&&num;8216&semi;s<em> <&sol;em>a joyous passing of the torch from hipster hedgehog to dragon girl as a spiritual successor unafraid of tinkering with its inspiration&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p><em>Freedom Planet <&sol;em>is available on Windows for PC and Steam&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s also slated for Wii U sometime later&period; For more on all things Nindie and more things E3&comma; stay tuned to <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com">BagoGames<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;