Update:

Well, we said these Nintendo website listings aren't 100% right. Freedom Planet's developer has tweeted that the game will actually come after the RTX convention (which is 7th-9th August) as development has taken longer than expected. Thanks to Grumblevolcano for the heads up in the comments.

Original Article:

It's a common refrain for Sonic fans that are also a bit old - this writer raises his hand - to gnash their teeth and bemoan the state of 2D Sonic gaming. The mascot peaked way too early, in the opinion of some, and what's demanded is a solid, straight up 2D Sonic game.

Now, Freedom Planet is very much its own thing, but it's also exciting for fans of the Sega franchise - it did start out as a Sonic fan game, after all. Yet it promisingly expands on its source of inspiration, introduces its own world and makes adjustments to give itself an identity of its own. It was also included in the [email protected] E3 promotion, and we enjoyed it in our first impressions - our own Thomas Jones said that despite the Sonic references it "manages to be a wonderful and individual platformer".

The good news is that it'll be on Wii U soon, with fans happily sharing the fact that it's listed for a 3rd August release on the official Nintendo website; that's for North America. These early game page listings aren't always 100% accurate, though, but hopefully it will hit on that date.

Already on Steam, it's been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews from PC gamers; here's hoping it lives up to its potential on Wii U.