Sonic Time Twisted is a Sonic the Hedgehog PC fan game developed over the course of 12 years in GameMaker Studio by Overbound and finally released in April 2017. Its What If? premise takes place after Sonic 3 and Knuckles, with Dr. Robotnik having been killed after Sonic destroyed his escape mech at the end of that game. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles begin cleaning up the leftovers of the late doctor's robot armies, but they soon come across Metal Sonic, who wants to employ alien technologies, the Time Stones, and the Chaos Emeralds in a plan to resurrect his master...
Gameplay is based on Sonic CD, with each zone having a Past and a Future version with different gimmicks, enemies, and hazards. Time travel is more practical: you simply run past a time travel sign to warp and you remain on that time zone even in following levels until you hit another sign. Each time zone has a set of 7 Special Stages, which are a mix of the ones from Sonic CD and Knuckles' Chaotix: you race against Metal Sonic to the end of a 3D obstacle course, avoiding enemies and jumping over pits.
You can get the game on the developer's page.
Tropes twisted, or not, in this game include:
- Alternate Timeline: The game is posited as a series finale in a scenario where Dr. Robotnik was killed after the events of Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Acting as a sequel to both that game and Sonic CD, Knuckles joins Sonic & Tails in ridding the world of Robotnik's remaining forces, now under the command of Metal Sonic as he seeks a means to revive their creator. Through the use of alien technology, Robotnik is revived as Galacnik and nearly destroys Little Planet, only to be killed once more by Super Sonic. The Time Stones restore Little Planet, and the heroes are able to destroy the rest of his forces with Metal Sonic down for the count. Supposedly.
- American Kirby Is Hardcore: Actually invoked into the plot of the game, itself, with the game's story taking place after the storylines of the Japanese-developed Sonic CD and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The very first clue of this being that Big Bad Eggman is called Robotnik throughout this very page. Upon his revival, he becomes Galacnik, which changes his original Japanese design to gain the Nightmare Face of his Western-designed Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog counterpart, and the body and powers of the also Western-designed Galactus. The end result is a villain more powerful and menacing than Eggman/Robotnik ever was on his own in the official Sega Genesis games.
- Anti-Frustration Features:
- Dying in the first mini boss fight against Metal Sonic doesn't actually cost you any lives.
- You can retry Special Stages in exchange for lives, which aren't too hard to get. Also, each Special Stage has a 1Up in it, allowing you to retry them over and over as long as you collect the item.
- Collecting 100 rings in a Special Stage also gets you an extra life.
- You can cancel Super Sonic at will after transforming, both saving you from running out of rings and allowing you to use the super mode in short bursts to bypass troublesome obstacles. Super Sonic also retains the air action of your current shield.
- Time Travel is much easier to pull off compared to Sonic CD, where you needed to run for several seconds after picking up a Time Warp. This time, you just have to run towards and twirl around a Time Post in order to time travel. Also, these posts are reusable, and can even be canceled at will by jumping before your character finishes twirling around one in order to avoid an unwanted Time Warp.
- Astral Finale: See Space Zone below.
- Background Music Override: Averted in the case of Super Sonic, who has no unique theme in this game.
- Bad Future: The "Future" versions of several zones in this game aren't as extreme as the Bad Futures of Sonic CD's zones and more akin to that game's present time, but they still come off as less-than-ideal compared to than their "Past" counterparts, which can be heard in their music:
- Attraction Attack, the first zone, has its Future self show that it has already been influenced by Robotnik's evil methods, such as having a giant golden statue of his head overlooking the entire city similarly to his statue in the Bad Future of Stardust Speedway.
- Raging Ruins is, indeed, in total ruins for its Future, where its Past self has shown that the zone used to be an ancient and healthy civilization before the desolate metropolis that its Future self has become.
- Frigid Fortress loses its actual peaceful fortresses from the Past, as the Future shows that the whole area has had its lakes become polluted with nuclear waste, giving the icy-blue zone a sickly-green coloration.
- Drifting Dynamo Past takes place entirely in the desert where the destructive airship is being built, with the airship itself in the background. Drifting Dynamo Future, however, has said airship completely built and ready to raid the skies, and a majority of the Zone has you infiltrating it similarly to Flying Battery.
- Bloody Hilarious: The fate of the True Final Boss. After ramming on Galacnik's face a few times, IT GETS RIPPED OFF, with actual display of gore. Super Sonic then goes and bursts through him, tearing him to bloody pieces. And yet... his mustache stays attached to his disembodied nose. All of this happens in the blink of an eye and is followed by Sonic calmly flying alongside his friends back on Mobius as cheerful music plays.
- Bonus Stage: The Special Stages for this game, as mentioned above, are 3D races against Metal Sonic. While staying ahead of him, you can also collect shields and an extra life. Watch out for pits and enemies — a single hit is pretty much all you can take before you're unable to catch back up with Metal.
- Bonus Stage Collectables: Both the Time Stones and the Chaos Emeralds are present here, making for a total of 14 special stages. The Chaos Emeralds unlock Super Sonic, but the Time Stones are worthless on their own. You must collect all of them to fight the True Final Boss and reach the good ending.
- Bookends: Sonic CD began with Palmtree Panic. The final level in this Sonic CD-inspired fan game is Planetary Panic.
- Bottomless Pits:
- Rather rare in normal gameplay, just like in Sonic CD, since you're expected to look up, down, and all around in search of goods.
- Special Stages, however, take place in a track floating over a void.
- Call-Back: In an early cutscene, Tails asks Sonic about what happened to Dr. Robotnik. Sonic's explanation shows the aftermath of Sonic 3 and Knuckles, with Robotnik apparently being unable to survive in space like Sonic does. The scene also shows the Chaos Emeralds scattering away from Sonic, justifying the Bag of Spilling.
- Came Back Strong: Metal Sonic eventually gets his wish, and as a bonus the revived Robotnik inexplicably turns into the towering Galacnik.
- The Cameo: Amy briefly appears after the true ending, watching Sonic and co. fixing the Little Planet.
- Colony Drop: At the end of Sunken Saucer Zone, the spaceship crashes on Little Planet and splits it apart, setting the stage for the final level.
- Cutscene Power to the Max: Knuckles is usually only capable of gliding in gameplay, but if you play as Sonic or Tails, the game's intro of Attraction Attack, and all of its Multiple Endings show Knuckles completely flying without ever having to land.
- Darker and Edgier: The game is for the most part your usual colorful and light-hearted Sonic adventure, but there's some serious Mood Whiplash at times. To begin with, the plot involves the death of Dr. Robotnik. At the end, he's revived as a gigantic Galactus-esque version of his western design, scary evil eyes and all, and is eventually killed off for good by Super Sonic during the real ending. This is actually depicted in gory detail.
- Dragon Their Feet: Dr. Robotnik might be dead, but not for long if Metal Sonic, who was absent from the incident on Angel Island, gets any say in that.
- Fan Sequel: To both Sonic CD and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The game takes place sometime after the story of Sonic 3 & Knuckles and involves Little Planet from CD. The gameplay is based on both games, as well, such as having multiple playable characters like in 3&K, and Time Travel as a gameplay mechanic like it was in CD.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: The fake score tally that appears before the Drifting Dynamo Zone boss has one detail that immediately gives it away: all totals appear as 0.
- Foreshadowing: At several points in Planetary Panic Zone, Galacnik's silhouette can be seen sliding back and forth in the background. Also a Freeze-Frame Bonus.
- Gag Nose: Galacnik's weak point is his huge purple nose. After the guy is torn to pieces, the scene is made Bloody Hilarious by the sight of his nose still drifting around in space.
- Golden Super Mode: Super form become available once you collect all Chaos Emeralds, and there's a secret final boss for them, too. Though unlike the official classic games, the super form is only available for Sonic.
- Green Hill Zone: Viridian Valley Zone looks like the usual Sonic grass level, but is the fourth stage in the game.
- Hijacked by Ganon: Metal Sonic spends the game as the main antagonist, working towards reviving Dr. Robotnik. But after he does that, you find him all beaten up and missing a leg, pitifully begging you to not harm his creator. It is then that Robotnik, or rather, Galactic Robotnik, rises onto the screen as the final boss, shoving Metal out of the way.
- Insistent Terminology: You might notice Dr. Robotnik isn't ever called by name in-game or in promotional material. This serves to make the connections to the western Sonic canon more surprising when they come up.
- Invulnerable Attack: Sonic has the Insta-Shield as his default air action. It grants a little extra range and, if timed right, can phase through hazardous things like bullets and spiked enemies.
- The Juggernaut: Knuckles gets a unique ability in this game called "Fists of Rage", where he wildly swings his arms around at full speed, allowing him to bash through enemies and obstacles by just running through them instead of relying on a Spin Attack or Spin Dash to do the same thing.
- Killed Off for Real:
- Can you believe Dr. Robotnik is freaking dead? According to Sonic, the cold vacuum of space shattered him to little pieces. note He gets better thanks to Metal Sonic, but Sonic then kills him dead at the real ending.
- Metal Sonic appears to break down for good after the true ending. note
- Last Note Nightmare: The credits theme fades to a eerie clock ticking if you got the bad ending. On the good ending, a more triumphant melody replaces it.
- Levels Take Flight: Drifting Dynamo Zone is named for the airship that takes up part of Act 1 and all of Act 2 in the future. Subverted in that in the past, it's still under construction, and is relegated to the background as you play entirely in the surrounding desert.
- Mineral MacGuffin: Both the Chaos Emeralds and the Time Stones are present in this game. The Chaos Emeralds can only be found in the Special Stages of giant golden rings in the Future, while the Time Stones can only be found from Special Stages discovered from giant silver rings in the Past. All 14 of these Bonus Stage Collectibles must be collected in order to see the Golden Ending of the game.
- Multiple Endings: The ending varies depending on whether or not you collected all the Chaos Emeralds and/or Time Stones.
- Bad Ending: Galacnik keeps the ruined Little Planet in his grasp.
- Time Stones-Only Ending: With the stones’ power, Little Planet can be fixed back to normal, but with Galacnik still alive, the planet’s fate remains in quite a dire situation.
- Chaos Emeralds-Only Ending: With the emeralds’ power, Super Sonic utterly demolishes Galacnik, freeing Little Planet from his control, but Little Planet itself remains in ruins from Metal Sonic crashing the Sunken Saucer into it with no other way to fix its damage.
- True Ending: Galacnik and Metal Sonic are flipping dead from Super Sonic, then he fixes Little Planet with the power of the Time Stones before resuming his quest to rid Mobius of all robots.
- Musical Nod:
- Raging Ruins Future theme contains a segment of the 8-bit Sonic the Hedgehog's Scrap Brain Zone theme.
- The Special Stage Past theme is a remix of both the Japanese/European and American themes of Sonic the Hedgehog CD's Special Stages. Appropriate, seeing that you're finding the Sonic CD-exclusive Time Stones in these Special Stages.
- No Fair Cheating: Like in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, entering a special stage removes the big ring you used from that save file, so no playing the first stage over and over to get all 14 MacGuffins.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: We all know Sonic isn't above destroying Dr. Robotnik's escape pods and abandoning him to a grim fate, but the evil scientist always turns out alive later and everthing's all cartoonish enough for viewers to make light of it. Here, though? At the end of this story, Sonic flat-out kills the giantfied Robotnik and tears him to pieces.
- Pinball Zone: Attraction Attack Zone, which is the first stage in the game. It has flippers, bumpers, and slot machines.
- Recurring Boss: Metal Sonic is fought a few times throughout the game and is your rival for the Special Stages.
- Single-Use Shield: The three shields from Sonic 3 are joined by an extra three exclusive to this game. Each one enables a different air action for Sonic.
- Lightning: Immunity to electricity, Double Jump for Sonic.
- Fire: Immunity to fire, air dash for Sonic.
- Bubble: Infinite air while underwater, Ground Pound for Sonic.
- Wind: Allows Sonic to fly around for a while. Very useful.
- Ice: Sonic can perform a wider Insta-Shield that freezes badniks.
- Rock: Grants immunity to spikes... for some reason? Sonic can throw up to two rocks at once that bounce on the ground. They regenerate after a while and, if he or the other two characters take damage, pop out as if you had thrown them.
- Space Zone:
- Downplayed with Planetary Panic Zone. You're on the Little Planet, but it's breaking apart into asteroid-like pieces after being crashed into by the Sunken Saucer.
- Played straight with the extra level, Galacnik Gauntlet Zone.
- Time Travel: The main mechanic of the game, albeit simplified from Sonic CD from having a Past, a Present, a Good Future, and a Bad Future into having just a Past and Future version of the first 6 zones, with the Future being compressed the Present timeline of the zones. Obstacles vary between time periods, and the Chaos Emeralds and Time Stones can only be found in the Future and the Past, respectively.
- True Final Boss: The aforementioned Galacnik Gauntlet Zone, which is unlocked after collecting all the Chaos Emeralds and Time Stones. It plays much like The Doomsday Zone, with you flying as Super Sonic and bashing the boss while avoiding asteroids and projectiles. Problem is, you actually take damage from the projectiles. Watch out for a glimpse of the next wave of rings and bullets everytime you slam the boss.
- Video Game Flight: Tails' flight is controlled exactly how it was in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, including a time limit before he gets tired and has to land, and using his spinning tails to hit enemies in mid-air.
- Weird Crossover: By the time you discover the Final Boss, you'll find out that this game is one between Sonic the Hedgehog and Marvel Comics.
