Let's get this out of the way first and foremost: Sonic: After the Sequel is not only a good fan-game, but a good game by the standards of 2D-platformers. At the very least, it succeeds in emulating the feel, scope, and overall experience of the Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis games that have inspired it. It also boldly explores new territory to ensure that the experience is fun and exciting whilst being familiar. The environments, badniks, and bosses are all novel, and the three elemental shields drastically alter the ways in which the player can navigate through levels.
After the Sequel is at its best when it emulates what made Sonic 3 & Knuckles such a joy to play: All the acts within a given zone are clearly related, most likely through similar level design (i.e. Sugar Splash's blocky walls, or Moon Mansion's towers), while each subsequent act in a zone adds in something new that cumulatively amps up excitement and challenge. I'm reminded in particular of Technology Tree as a successful example of this, which throws in swinging bars in Act 1 and then adds in a UFO which attempts to blast you from the background in Act 2, which finally becomes a threat in Act 3. Sustaining this cumulative effect in each zone, which possess three acts in this game as opposed to two in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, is a hefty challenge that, for the most part, has been successfully met.
Unfortunately, the games' periphery content is less fleshed-out than that of the main game. There are bona fide special stages through which to collect the Chaos Emeralds. The objective of these stages is to gain enough speed in a 2D tube to chase down the speeding trinkets, while avoiding green jelly which will slow the player down. In practice, the special stages either end too quickly and easily, or are unfairly difficult. There really isn't a lot of middle ground. The last boss is underwhelming and anticlimactic, in spite of striving to shake up tradition at least a little bit. Finding the special rings to access the optional extra acts is easy enough, but the extra acts themselves are mostly existing ones with additional enemies and traps and more garish level art.
That said, the game's core is excellent, and a certain game mode makes accessing the special stages unnecessary to get the good ending. A definite recommend.
VideoGame Has its faults, but a lot of fun at its core.
Let's get this out of the way first and foremost: Sonic: After the Sequel is not only a good fan-game, but a good game by the standards of 2D-platformers. At the very least, it succeeds in emulating the feel, scope, and overall experience of the Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis games that have inspired it. It also boldly explores new territory to ensure that the experience is fun and exciting whilst being familiar. The environments, badniks, and bosses are all novel, and the three elemental shields drastically alter the ways in which the player can navigate through levels.
After the Sequel is at its best when it emulates what made Sonic 3 & Knuckles such a joy to play: All the acts within a given zone are clearly related, most likely through similar level design (i.e. Sugar Splash's blocky walls, or Moon Mansion's towers), while each subsequent act in a zone adds in something new that cumulatively amps up excitement and challenge. I'm reminded in particular of Technology Tree as a successful example of this, which throws in swinging bars in Act 1 and then adds in a UFO which attempts to blast you from the background in Act 2, which finally becomes a threat in Act 3. Sustaining this cumulative effect in each zone, which possess three acts in this game as opposed to two in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, is a hefty challenge that, for the most part, has been successfully met.
Unfortunately, the games' periphery content is less fleshed-out than that of the main game. There are bona fide special stages through which to collect the Chaos Emeralds. The objective of these stages is to gain enough speed in a 2D tube to chase down the speeding trinkets, while avoiding green jelly which will slow the player down. In practice, the special stages either end too quickly and easily, or are unfairly difficult. There really isn't a lot of middle ground. The last boss is underwhelming and anticlimactic, in spite of striving to shake up tradition at least a little bit. Finding the special rings to access the optional extra acts is easy enough, but the extra acts themselves are mostly existing ones with additional enemies and traps and more garish level art.
That said, the game's core is excellent, and a certain game mode makes accessing the special stages unnecessary to get the good ending. A definite recommend.