Despite calls from Sonic fans for Sega to release a new standalone game based on Sonic's Adventure's Chao Garden over the last few years, the company has seemed somewhat reluctant in the past to revisit the pet-raising simulator in a title of its own.
As a result, there are some who have given up hope of ever seeing Sega or Sonic Team return to the virtual pet concept again, believing that Sega has simply chosen to leave the minigame in the past, rather than try and fail to live up to the lofty expectations players might have set out for it.
Luckily, though, it seems that in the absence of any official continuation, a few Sonic fans have banded together to try and make their own Chao-Garden-inspired game, to try and give players what they have desperately wanted, with this brand new project being called Star Garden.
Star Garden is the debut game from the indie developer Game Garage, and, according to its Steam page, will feature both a single-player campaign and multiplayer battle modes (local & online). Its main campaign sees players take control of one of two cosmic ecologists named Leo and Lyra who crash land on a mysterious unexplored planet called Solaris, and end up meeting a bunch of small Chao-like creatures, who they must then raise, customize, and evolve to help them unlock the mysteries of their surroundings.
The main gameplay, meanwhile, seems to be divided between combat racing, exploration, and creature collection.
It crossed our radar last week thanks to the studio's recent announcement that the Sonic R singer TJ Davis was coming onboard as the game's announcer, and immediately had us curious to find out more about the project, and the team behind it. So, we reached out to the game's producer, Matt Mannheimer, to answer a few of our questions, including how the project originally got its start.
Speaking to us over email, Mannheimer said, "Star Garden started as an idea a few years ago, around 2020–2021, but it didn’t really take off until the YouTuber chaomix joined the project. My friend Evan and I first mentioned it to him at a Target during the TooManyGames convention one year. He seemed interested right away. Now he’s our director, main programmer, artist, and so much more. I would honestly say he’s the 'heart' of this game. Once we formed our studio, Game Garage, the project really started."
As to why the team decided to make a game inspired by the Chao Garden as their first title, Mannheimer added, "The Chao Garden was such a unique experience. There was something special about raising creatures and watching them grow. Running through the stages of the Adventure games as Sonic, Shadow, or the other characters to find items for your Chao gave the games an endless loop. There was always something to do! But, unfortunately, the Chao haven’t really had a full return since the Adventure games, and we’d love to see SEGA bring them back someday."
Besides the Chao Garden from Sonic Adventure & Sonic Adventure 2, the team also list several other games as having an impact on the direction of the project. These include the Dreamcast titles Phantasy Star Online and Jet Set Radio, and the GameCube racing game Kirby Air Ride. The game's Lumi creatures, for instance, are able to transform into Warp Star-esque transportation devices, similar to those seen in Kirby Air Ride, with Mannheimer telling us that the stats of your virtual pet will have an impact on how your vehicle controls.
"Before Air Riders was announced, we started working on Star Garden thinking the Kirby Air Ride series also wouldn’t return," Mannheimer told me. "It was another style of game we loved, and we wanted to bring it back in our own way. When I was a kid, my friends and I would pretend to be different Kirbys in City Trial mode and make up silly stories, kind of like playing with LEGOs.
"When the sequel was announced recently, it caught us by surprise, but we’re really excited to play it and respect Sakurai-san and his team for making their passion project! We’ve since added our own twists to make Star Garden stand out a bit more, like rail grinding, tricking, new offensive and defensive abilities, water traversal, and more!"
Up until now, Mannheimer tells us the development of the game has been made on a $0 budget, with most members of the development team working on it part-time. But the hope is to launch a Kickstarter next month, on September 2nd, which will help secure the funds necessary to bring the project to completion
We tried to press Mannheimer on a target release date or a list of platforms the game will be released for, besides PC. But, in response, he stated "Right now, all I can say is to stay tuned for our upcoming Kickstarter! A lot more Star Garden news will be arriving near that time."
A free demo is expected to go live on Steam the same day as the Kickstarter. We'll try and keep you posted on further updates.