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Hello! My name is Naean Howlett-Foster, and welcome to my current fan game project: Sonic The Hedgehog 5.

This game aims to be an unofficial sequel to SEGA's official  Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles game.

Sonic 5 Fan Game logo designed by me, Naean Howlett-Foster, in collaboration with help and ideas from KingofHarts.

Overall Sonic 5 Fan Game logo design is based on various official classic Sonic The Hedgehog game logos, by artists and designers from SEGA.

Some of you may be thinking something to the effect of:

"Wait, you're saying that you're developing a sequel to Sonic 3 & Knuckles of all things? That's quite the bold statement!"

True, it is indeed a very bold statement. However, please hear me out on this...

With the right knowledge and understanding of what made previous classic 2D. Sonic games so solid, and by building upon them, it is entirely possible to craft up-to-standard successors. What SEGA did with Sonic The Hedgehog 4 was heavily nitpicked by many, that is true, but it was mainly scrutinised so much (And rightly so.) because of its major shortcomings in critical aspects.

It does not, however, mean that the concept of a Sonic 3 & Knuckles sequel is inherently impossible, far from it. If I believed that it isn't possible, this project would have been canned ages ago, or not started at all. Sonic 4 didn't fail to meet reasonable expectations because of fans setting the bar too high, Sonic 4 flopped because of SEGA not setting the bar high enough, and also grossly misplacing the game's title in stark contrast to its actual content.

This project isn't purely for the sakes of nostalgia or retro throwbacks. Rather, it is a project which aims to genuinely build upon Sonic 3 & Knuckles (A game that I utterly love.) and produce a faithful sequel to it which I hope fellow fans can enjoy. I'm attempting to 'fill the gap' so to speak that SEGA has left mostly unfilled, due to how they treated Sonic 4. This project really means the world to me, so I hope that people will give me, the other team members, and the project itself, a chance before judging.

The community has been burned too many times officially with various different subpar quality Sonic games, and I honestly get that completely, but I ask that people don't let that taint them into concerns that this is probably another Sonic game titled in a way to purely grab attention and downloads. Sonic 5 is not a title that should be just thrown around, it is extremely important, and ties this game directly with the quality of the classic 2D. Sonic games. Choosing to create a sequel to Sonic 3 & Knuckles is a massive task that requires careful development. The correct mindset and approach are absolutely key.

Of course, I know that how much people like the final game is entirely subjective. Nevertheless, I hope that my passion and best efforts shine through regardless.

If this fan game doesn't end up being your cup of tea, and / or you don't like it, that's completely fine. :-)

Playing as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy, you'll be traversing across various different tropes and territories, some more familiar than others, in a roster of over 10 Zones.

Along the way, you can jump into checkpoint sparkles to grab power-ups in Bonus Boards, and jump into giant rings to tackle Special Stages and reclaim the Chaos Emeralds.

Crush Doctor Ivo Robotnik's latest malicious plans!

While not playing through Zones solo, you can also team up and compete with others via various different multiplayer match types in Competition Mode.

Furthermore, there are special pickups scattered around Zones, as well as post-game Challenge Courses to take on which pit you against a variety of objectives.

Collect and conquer to unlock additional music tracks for customising the game's soundtrack; and unlock bonus concept artworks to see material which founded the game's development, from gimmick planning sheets to scans of boss and badnik designs.

More specific information about aspects such as level designs and gameplay features will be revealed sparingly as development time passes.

A lot of game details / content will not get published, and be up to you to discover first-hand in the final game. I believe a crucial part of the fun is in what you don't know prior.

Full Name: Sonic The Hedgehog 5 Fan Game

Shorter Name: Sonic 5 Fan Game

Typically, this one is most commonly used by me when referring to this project.

Abbreviation Names: S5FG Or S.5 F.G.

While I cannot control what other people call this project, I generally prefer if people choose to include the term Fan Game (Or something very similar.) when referring to it.

This makes it clearer to less-informed people that this is not an official Sonic game, and potentially avoids confusion with licensed SEGA games / products / etcetera.

Thanks! :-)

This project is currently in the alpha stage of development.

Bearing this in mind, please do not expect any gameplay screenshots, gameplay videos, or game demos while in this development phase.

The quality of this game is of utmost importance to me, and its development is not being rushed whatsoever. As such, there are no planned set in stone release dates.

The final game will be publicly released only when I am thoroughly satisfied that it is comprehensively complete.

Sonic 5 Fan Game will be out when it is done, and not any time sooner.

Your patience is greatly appreciated during my fan game's lengthy development time. Many aspects of this project are worked on alone by myself.

I consider this fan game of mine to be a "life-long project". This means that I fully expect development to take many years before reaching completion.

If you're here looking for / expecting regular news and updates akin to a typical AAA development studio, then you're in the wrong place, sorry! :-)

Currently, and for the foreseeable future, my aim is to develop and release Sonic 5 Fan Game for Microsoft Windows operating systems only.

As this project is still in the early stages of development, I cannot provide any further definite platform details or specifications at this time.

Sonic 5 Fan Game is a non-profit project based on SEGA's Sonic The Hedgehog franchise. It is not officially tied to SEGA in any way.

All copyright and trademarks of the Sonic The Hedgehog name, characters, as well as the overall intellectual property, belong to SEGA.

Me, the other team members, and Sonic 5 Fan Game itself, do not intend to infringe upon any copyright or trademark laws.

Any and all distribution of this fan game from Nez Tech (www.neztech.org) and the project leader (Myself, Naean Howlett-Foster, also known by nickname Nez Man.), including through external websites (Such as MediaFire (www.mediafire.com), for file hosting purposes.) will be done 100% free of charge. Absolutely no monetary gain will occur via this fan game's intended and controllable distribution. Please be cautious of suspicious download offers and malicious website pages, which may contain malware for example.

To ensure that your download(s) of Sonic 5 Fan Game files are safe and correct, always download this project's files directly from www.neztech.org or its list of verified external links.

There are no optional donation channels directly related to this fan game. There are absolutely no ways for people to send me money *in direct relation to Sonic 5 Fan Game, be it to cover development costs, or to receive the fan game itself, or anything else related to this project. Any and all offers which claim to be legitimate donation / purchase options for this fan game are not to be trusted whatsoever.

If Sonic 5 Fan Game, or any portion of it, is offered for play or download via mandatory payments, strictly no money exchange should actually take place.

Sonic 5 Fan Game from Nez Tech will always remain completely free to download and play. Please do not pay for this fan game!

* While people can choose to support me financially in / from an unrelated, general (Self-employment.) perspective (By sending me PayPal Donations, becoming Patrons of my Patreon account, and buying my merchandise from DeviantArt and Redbubble.) any and all profits made from these sources will not directly impact development of Sonic 5 Fan Game.

Sonic 5 Fan Game will continue being developed regardless of any and all external financial support from others. Money given to me by others will not directly impact this fan game in any way, shape or form. Donations will not result in any special treatment whatsoever (Such as "paid perk" distribution of special demos, for example.) in relation to Sonic 5 Fan Game.

I will never place Sonic 5 Fan Game, nor any portion of it, behind any pay-walls / pay-to-access services / etcetera. It should strictly not be sold nor paid-to-play in any capacity.

If you want to spend money on a Sonic The Hedgehog experience, please do so through licensed SEGA means.

Maybe buy something similar to my fan game, such as the official Sonic Mania Plus perhaps? :-D

Best regards,

Naean Howlett-Foster.