Sonic Time Twisted Online

Sonic Time Twisted: Sonic CD Fan Game with Time Travel Zones

Sonic Time Twisted is a free 2D platformer fan game built in the spirit of Sonic CD and Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

Developed by Overboundn, it pulls the best parts of those Genesis-era classics into one project that aims to feel like a real sequel rather than a tribute. Online port by Echo on KBHGames.com

The hook is simple. Time travel sits at the core, letting players jump between the past and future versions of every zone. Same map, completely different vibe — one moment you’re tearing through ancient ruins, the next you’re sprinting past a futuristic city built on top of them.

What You’re Actually Playing

Three classic characters are playable: Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Each one handles the way you’d expect from the Genesis days, with 360-degree physics that stay close to the original Sega titles. The momentum, the spin dash, the slope handling — it’s all tuned to feel like the real thing rather than a rough imitation.

The game spans 28 acts across 8 original zones. Ten boss fights are scattered throughout, and there are 14 special stages rendered in 3D that work as bonus rounds outside the main level flow.

Zones and Time Periods

Each zone has two faces. Attraction Attack Zone is an amusement park — half-built in the past, partly overrun by Dr. Robotnik in the future. Raging Ruins Zone shows off an ancient civilization at its peak in the past, then becomes the foundation for a sprawling cityscape in the future.

Frigid Fortress Zone swaps an icy castle for a toxic frozen wasteland. Players bounce around on bonus stage orbs in the future timeline or just explore the castle straight up in the past. Viridian Valley Zone goes from prehistoric jungle to a marina, while Tidal Tubes Zone leans hard into pirate ships and water pipes — drawing inspiration from the canceled Perplex Puzzle stage and Sonic Zero’s Tidal Tubes.

The remaining zones round out the lineup: Drifting Dynamo, Submerged Saucer, and Planetary Panic.

Shields, Power-Ups, and Extras

Six elemental shields are available, and three of them are brand new to this fan game. They’re more than cosmetic — each one changes how Sonic interacts with the world, opening up movement options that vanilla shields don’t offer.

The latest version, 1.1.2, released on March 12, 2022. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, so most setups can handle it without much fuss.

Game Controls

• Arrow keys / D-pad — Move
• Spacebar / A button — Jump
• Down + Jump — Spin Dash
• Enter / Start — Pause menu
• Gamepad supported

Characters

Sonic the Hedgehog

Play as Sonic with all the moves from the Genesis/Megadrive games. Spindash, Super Peelout and Insta Shield are present in addition to shield powerup moves.

Miles “Tails” Power

Play as Tails with his ability to fly and attack enemies with his spinning tails.

Knuckles the Echidna

Play as Knuckles with the ability to glide and climb walls. Additionally Knuckles can now take out enemies at high speeds with his whirling arms.

Shields

Bubble Shield

Perform a bounce attack as Sonic and survive underwater without air.

Lighting Shield

Double jump with Sonic, draw rings towards the player and avoid harm from electric attacks.

Fire Shield

Dash Left and Right with Sonic and avoid fire attacks.

Wind Shield

Fly like Nights for 10 seconds as Sonic.

Rock Shield

Bounce rocks at your enemies as Sonic and avoid damage from spikes.

Ice Shield

Launch an ice attack as Sonic to freeze enemies in place for a limited time.

Zones

Attraction Attack Zone

It’s not a tropical level! This amusement park is partially under the control of Dr. Robotnik’s robots in the future, but still under construction in the past. Test your acrobatic skills on the tightrope, or keep your head up in the ball pits.

Raging Ruins Zone

In the past, speed through a garden of mystical ruins floating in the clouds. In the future, a high-sky city has taken over the skyline. Blast through cannons at your own choice of direction through the city, or navigate windy currents and avoid mechanical dinosaurs in the past.

Frigid Fortress Zone

This gorgeous winter wonderland with a calming atmosphere hosts a huge castle complex in the past that gets ruined into a toxic frozen wasteland in the future. Warp around the future on magnetic orbs from Sonic & Knuckles’s bonus levels, or explore the castle in the past through spiraling portals.

Viridian Valley Zone

A lush green zone, with the marina in the future and prehistoric jungle in the past. In many ways, a breather level in terms of atmosphere, but danger and challenges creep in the shadows.

Drifting Dynamo Zone

Far out in the badlands, pursue and explore the suspicious “Drifting Dynamo Airship” and explore the twisted desert down below in the future, or venture through the much more lush past and Sky Chase your way around on the Tornado to find the origins of the Dynamo.

Tidal Tubes Zone

Adopted from Sonic Zero: Remastered and re-imagined into a new experience, players can zip through the pipelines of one of Robotniks oil rigs in the future, or explore the pirate grottos in the past.

Sunken Saucer Zone

Deep under Tidal Tubes lurks the ruins of an underwater mother ship. Here, Metal Sonic hopes hold the key to resurrecting Dr. Robotnik. Trek through a stage that’s a “reverse Sky Sanctuary” down to the bottom, running right and left to navigate the maze!

Planetary Panic Zone

The final normal play zone. Will Metal Sonic succeed in his plans to bring back Robotnik from the dead?

??? Zone

The final final zone?

Special Stages

Time Stone Special Stages

While exploring the past look out for Big Rings that will warp you to one of seven 3D Special Stages where you can win a Time Stone by beating Metal Sonic in a race to the finish. Along the way you can collect lives and shields.

Chaos Emerald Special Stages

Chaos Emerald Special Stages on the other hand, are only in the future zones. Similar to the past you can find Big Rings hidden in the future that contain one of seven Special Stages where you can win Chaos Emeralds, as well as more lives and shields.

Save Screen

The game has 7 save slots to choose from, with a delete slot at the end. When one fills a slot, they can go to any previous act and time period that they have visited, however note that Special Stage Rings won’t reset until finishing the game. Note that although this file select shares many aspects with the Sonic The Hedgehog 3 file select, its level select can be used without finishing the game. The game used to not include a “No-Save Mode” until one was added in 1.1.0, originally for technical reasons. When used on mobile, the save screen can be used by scrolling horizontally to select a save slot and swiping up and down to select a character or a zone. Instructions on how to select, create, and delete save slots appear above and below the main interface.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the game, named Dueling Ages was produced by Amelia Hinchliffe with tracks from LARKSS, Andy Tunstall, ExShade, and others.

As always, remember to have fun!