You might see me play a fair bit of Zelda and Mega Man fan games, but it’s been a long time since I did anything Sonic the Hedgehog related. The truth is, there are a fair number of high-quality fan-made Sonic games out there to play, but the one included here is one of the best of them!

Sonic: Before the Sequel was released in 2012 and, as you may have guessed, takes place between the original game and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The game is massive: it features 11 zones to zip through, each with three full stages (called Acts, of course!) and a boss battle. Add a great soundtrack and customized cutscenes to that and you have a very solid experience. I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it, but I really got into it and had a blast playing the game for nearly two hours!

I’ll definitely finish this one up with a part two sometime in the future, but if you’d like to play the game yourself: download Sonic: Before the Sequel here!