Sonic the Hedgehog: Project '06, or simply Sonic P-06, is an upcoming platform game developed by Argentinian programmer Ian "ChaosX" Moris for Microsoft Windows. It is an unofficial remake of the 2006 video game Sonic the Hedgehog, originally developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega.
As the original game is infamous for its poor quality, the remake aims to fix its issues, restore content scrapped during development and add brand new content, too. As of April 2023, the project has had five demos released, with each demo getting a bug-fix patch that would address certain issues, while also adding more quality of life improvements, based on fan feedback.
Gameplay
Project '06, a remake of the 2006 video game Sonic the Hedgehog, is a 3D platformer. As of Demo 5, the game features all nine playable characters: Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Silver the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Rouge the Bat, E-123 Omega, Blaze the Cat, and Amy Rose.
Although a faithful recreation, Project '06 features various changes designed to improve the experience. The time spent on loading screens has been significantly reduced. The physics are far more advanced than the original, as Project '06 runs on the Unity engine, while the original was on the Havok engine. The graphics are more detailed and the game uses different color grading. Character attributes have been altered: for example, every character now runs faster, while some moves for Tails, Knuckles, Shadow and Amy from Sonic Adventure (1998) and Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) have been reintroduced. Players can also choose between various cosmetic options, for example, make Sonic's animations resemble those from a 2005 prerelease showing, or change the appearance of the HUD.
Some levels have received slight changes to level design, such as some elements being brought back from the original game's demos, for example, a bridge now replacing a wind path at the beginning of Sonic's Kingdom Valley. Other levels have been made longer, such as Blaze's Wave Ocean.
Sonic's, Silver's and Shadow's upgrades from the original game have been made available from the start, while Sonic's optional upgrades, the Gems, are now hidden around his stages for the player to obtain. Silver has received two new upgrades that are hidden in his stages as well, with one of them giving him a move he used in his boss fight in Sonic Generations (2011). There are now rewards for Sonic, Silver and Shadow for clearing all of their respective stages with an S rank. The rewards for each of the hedgehogs come in form of an overpowered upgrade hidden in one of their stages.
Development
Background
Sonic the Hedgehog (commonly referred to as Sonic '06) is a 2006 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was intended to be a reboot of the Sonic franchise, with a more realistic setting than previous games. The game faced serious problems that forced Sonic Team to rush development, and it received negative reviews for its story, controls, camera, bugs, and long load times. According to Engadget: "Many consider Sonic '06 to be the lowest point in the franchise... Most Sonic fans want to forget the game was ever released."
The game was never released on Windows personal computers, so some Sonic fans have made unofficial efforts to develop a port. Beginning in 2015, a group led by developers Gistix and Mefiresu worked on a port of Sonic the Hedgehog using the Unity game engine, and released a number of demos between 2017 and 2018. Although development on the project has continued, progress has slowed, and Gistix is no longer involved. In December 2020, Mefiresu announced that the project was cancelled.
Production
Project '06 is being developed by Argentinian programmer Ian "ChaosX" Moris. Moris had been a Sonic fan since childhood, when he received a Sega Genesis with a copy of the original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). He played through the Genesis Sonic library. After buying a PlayStation 2 (PS2) in 2010, he played its Sonic releases, as he was "addicted to Sonic the Hedgehog and gaming overall by that point," and when he got a computer, he played more Sonic titles like the Sonic Adventure games. It was after getting the computer that Moris learned of the 2006 game, and it immediately fascinated him. "Its advertisements, atmosphere, tone and sound, CGI, graphics... everything resonated with me... It grabbed my attention like crazy." Moris unsuccessfully attempted to get a copy of the game despite being aware it had been poorly received; this did not matter to him.