As fans grow up with fond memories of their favorite games, their attachments sometimes inspire them to make video games of their own. As recent releases like TemTem and The Outbound Ghost seek to recapture the experience of their inspirations while crafting something new, Panic Porcupine aims to combine two franchises into one difficult but fun experience.
This indie game, developed by Spicy Gyro Games and Shiny Dolphin Games, takes the fun and fast physics of classic 2D Sonic the Hedgehog games and ups the ante using Super Meat Boy's spikes, saws, and other platforming traps to make a challenging title. While games such as Elden Ring are known for their blisteringly hard difficulty, Panic Porcupine aims to be hard, but also wants to make losing a subject that players can laugh about. Game Rant spoke with the lead developers of the title, who prefer to go by the names of their studios, about what went into the unique title.
Panic Porcupine's Humble, yet Experienced Beginnings
Spicy Gyro and Shiny Dolphin first met at game developer meet ups in 2011. The two bonded quickly over using the same programming tools by Clickteam growing up, and other similar interests. Spicy Gyro had a few iPhone projects he wished to move onto PC, and he ended up asking for Shiny Dolphin's help when porting them. One of these was a game that took inspiration from Sonic the Hedgehog, a childhood favorite of both developers, called Polyroll.
Polyroll was similar to Sonic in many ways, but the real aim of the project was to bring its gameplay closer to Super Mario Bros. While working hard to get Polyroll onto platforms like Steam, Shiny Dolphin and Spicy Gyro had a shared interest in making a game with more Sonic-esque physics, which was how the two got the idea for Panic Porcupine.
Where many indie games take notes from prominent franchises, and examples like Sonic fan games often aim to fill a void that these franchises have left over the years, Panic Porcupine was born less out of filling a niche and more out of love for Sonic's unique design. According to Shiny Dolphin, the core of Panic Porcupine's development was about how fun programming a game with those physics could be.
"We wanted to do something with Sonic physics. We wanted to play with those loops and those jumps, and things like that. Difficulty-wise, I think it just came from the premise of Panic. Like… I think it started out with building a Sonic-like engine. I really think it was just the idea of combining Sonic and Super Meat Boy that got us into making the game."
Panic Porcupine Adds Meat to Classic Sonic Gameplay
While Sonic and Super Meat Boy are both platformers, the two evoke different feelings through their gameplay. Sonic is about exploration and learning to control the hedgehog's speed in new environments, whereas Super Meat Boy is about precision, timing, and trial and error. Super Meat Boy has been known for its tongue-in-cheek humor, and Panic Porcupine uses similar jokes as a way to make the game less inherently frustrating. Spicy Gyro shared one moment with a fan that characterized the way Panic aims to make it so that players won't give up despite the challenge.
"I was watching somebody stream it the other day, and I don’t think they beat any of the levels in the demo. This wasn’t the Steam demo, this was a demo that had some later levels in it, but they didn’t beat any of them. But they said, 'I’m having a lot of fun losing.'"
According to the developers, the game is going to be 58-levels long, including bosses, and this isn't as linear as fans would expect. Some levels have secret unlockable paths that may skip more challenging levels, and the final world is completely open for players to pick which stages they start with - much like picking a Robot Master in a Mega Man game.
Panic has the potential to be a special platformer that doesn't sacrifice difficulty over fun, while also being a loving homage to what came before. As more gamers ask for easy modes in AAA experiences, titles that choose to remain difficult while making that act of losing more fun are certainly welcome. In turn, Panic Porcupine may provide a fun experience where even losing can get players to laugh, whether they enjoy Sonic or not.
Panic Porcupine is set to launch on October 27 for PC.