UPDATED: A Fan-Made Sonic RPG Concept Shows Exactly Why the Franchise Has Been Missing the Genre for 30 Years

For a series that has existed for more than three decades, Sonic the Hedgehog has tried just about everything. Platformers, racers, party games, sports crossovers, mobile spinoffs, and even experimental story-driven titles. One genre, however, has always felt like an awkward fit. Sonic has never truly cracked a role-playing game that actually feels like Sonic.

That is exactly why a recent fan-made concept from Sonic creator Sun.mp2 has caught so much attention.

In a short animated commission shared online, Sun.mp2 imagines a Sonic RPG where movement never stops. Instead of halting the action when combat begins, battles play out in real time while Sonic and his party stay in constant motion. Traditional RPG menus still exist, but they are reworked into momentum-driven “Action” choices rather than static, turn-based commands.

Choosing “Chaos” calls in Shadow the Hedgehog for a fast tag-in attack. Selecting “Dash” lets Sonic unleash a speed-focused strike himself. Even item usage follows the same philosophy, keeping the pace aggressive and fluid. The result looks less like a genre experiment and more like a natural extension of Sonic’s identity.

That single design decision is what makes the concept click. Speed is not a bonus or a modifier. It is the foundation of the entire system.

The comparison to Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is unavoidable. Released in 2008 for Nintendo DS, it remains the franchise’s only true attempt at a traditional RPG. While exploration allowed free movement, combat itself forced Sonic and his party to stand still and wait their turn. For a character defined by speed and momentum, that disconnect was hard to ignore.

Dark Brotherhood was not universally disliked, but it was widely seen as underwhelming. Criticism often focused on its slow battle system and the sense that Sonic had been forced into a genre framework that did not play to his strengths. The idea was ambitious, but the execution never fully came together.

Sun.mp2’s concept tackles that problem directly. Instead of bending Sonic to fit an RPG template, it reshapes the RPG template around Sonic. In just a few seconds of animation, it presents a version of the genre that feels fast, expressive, and unmistakably Sonic.

That is why the concept has resonated so strongly with fans. It shows that a Sonic RPG does not need to sacrifice speed, spectacle, or personality to work. It simply needs to respect what defines the character in the first place.

VTuber Sizzstar, who commissioned the animation, also clarified the roots of the idea, crediting an earlier Sonic Mania mock-up GIF created by DeviantArt user LucasThePucas as the original inspiration. According to Sizzstar, that animation has been used as an intro concept for years, with consistent credit given to its creator, even after Lucas largely disappeared from the platform following its release.

SEGA has spent years experimenting with how far Sonic can stretch as a franchise. This fan-made idea suggests that the missing ingredient may not be a bigger budget or a different studio, but a clearer understanding of Sonic’s core identity.

Sometimes, the smartest ideas really do come from the fans.

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