Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 (or Sonic 06) is often the butt of jokes concerning the franchise, as many see it as one of its lowest points. Despite Sonic 06's glaring issues, some fans think it deserves a second chance. While Sega is more or less distancing itself from this failure, there is some worth in fixing the game's problems. This was the basis for a fan to completely remake the game, improving its gameplay under the title of Project 06.
Project 06 is a complete remake of Sonic 06 using the Unity game engine, created by ChaosX2006. The first demo of the game released a few years ago, that only contained all of Sonic's stages in the game. While the core gameplay of Project 06 stays the same as the original, it aimed to give fans a much tighter and smoother experience of playing the game. This ranges from shortening the length of all the loading screens, to enhancing the presentation with remastered visuals. This latest release of the game's demo not only includes Sonic's stages, but also Shadow the Hedgehog's unique campaign stages.
Shadow is Sonic's darker double and rival, and he has his own story campaign in Sonic 06. His campaign revolves around an ancient evil sealed within a jeweled scepter, known as Mephiles the Dark. The levels are the same in structure as the ones starring other two playable hedgehogs, but the main difference is that Shadow has heavier emphasis on both combat and vehicle segments. These include using a jet glider and motorbike that can shoot down enemies. While these segments were rather lackluster in the original, Project 06 smooths them out to be much faster in pace and flow.
Project 06 also brings additional features and content into the game. This includes little mini-cutscenes in the middle of the stages and added animations. The treasure-sensing hint system from Sonic Adventure 2 is seen when Rouge is looking for a key in a later stage. Another notable improvement sees another mechanic from a Sonic game added, as the lock-on homing attack reticle from some of the recent games makes an appearance.
The feedback for this demo has been incredibly positive, with many fans being hyped for this remake. The added content, newly implemented mechanics, and ironed out issues were all met with praise. The demo only contains Sonic and Shadow's levels in a Trial Campaign mode, so there aren't any story cutscenes to tie the stages together apart from the opening cinematic. There are also no boss fights in the game currently, as this fan game is still in development. Regardless, dedication like this shows that even the worst Sonic game deserves a remake in the eyes of some fans.
Project 06's demo is available to play on PC.