The thing about the Sonic franchise is that in contrast to other platform games like Mario, which stick to a single formula, Sonic games frequently change their core gameplay to keep things fresh. SD: It’s difficult to say, but I have a theory. Did you feel like Sega wasn’t quite delivering what Sonic fans were looking for? Mega Man fans in particular have seen homages like Azure Striker Gunvolt and Mighty Gunvolt appear on the Nintendo eShop.

ND: The industry has seen a lot of homages to older franchises that have either disappeared or “lost their way,” so to speak. I felt like it had some potential, so I began a Kickstarter a few months later after building our first prototype. Stephen DiDuro: I originally worked on the game as a small, unnamed Sonic tribute, but after a month or so, and with some prodding from my colleagues, I replaced everything with original content and made tweaks to the engine to make it more combat-friendly. How far along into development were you when you decided to make it an original IP? Nintendojo: Freedom Planet originally started as a fan-made Sonic the Hedgehog game. We had the pleasure of speaking to Stephen DiDuro, the game’s producer, and he told us why Wii U owners should look forward to the title when it releases later this year! Developer GalaxyTrail is one such team, and its title Freedom Planet promises to be an exciting new addition for fans of Sega’s classic Sonic the Hedgehog titles. As the Nintendo eShop continues to grow, the number of indie developers rising up to fill the demand only continues to increase, as well.

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