.Mode(s)Freedom Planet is a video game developed and published by GalaxyTrail, a studio set up by designer Stephen DiDuro. The player controls one of three animal protagonists: the dragon Lilac, the Carol, or the Milla. Aided by the duck-like Torque, the player attempts to defeat Lord Brevon, who plans to conquer the galaxy. While the game focuses on fast-paced platforming, its levels are interspersed with slower scenes.The game began development as a using characters created by user Ziyo Ling for its main cast. Early into development, DiDuro lost interest in creating a and reconceived the project as his own.

Sash Lilac, originally a, became a dragon; antagonist was replaced by Lord Brevon; and the Sonic series' -based system was abandoned. Further changes were suggested by fans and incorporated throughout development.

Freedom Planet was developed in Denmark and the United States, with its art direction carrying influences, such as medieval inspiring its.With development focused on the platform, the game started out as a demo first released in August 2012 and was, after a successful campaign, released in its entirety via in July 2014. Freedom Planet was later released on the in October 2015, on the in 2017, and on the in August 2018. Critics praised its gameplay, aesthetics, and balance of Sonic elements with original content, but were mixed on its pacing and length. A sequel, was announced in late-2015 and is in development. Milla explores the 'Aqua Tunnel' level. The game's shows that her, represented by red leaves, is partially depleted.

More leaves that can be collected are visible onscreen.Freedom Planet is a (2D) and game. The player directs one of three —Lilac, Carol, or Milla—to run and jump through and destroy robotic enemies. Levels contain obstacles such as corkscrews, hills, ramps, and rock walls. The player fights a in the middle of each level and a main at the end, after which the story is advanced. Because of its aesthetics, and fast-paced gameplay, Freedom Planet has been compared to the games released for the in the early 1990s.Unlike in Sonic, the player character has a meter instead of a -based health system.

To refill this meter, the player collects red leaves dropped by enemies and scattered throughout levels. Lilac's and Carol's maximum health are seven leaves, Milla's four. Being hit by enemies' and bosses' attacks reduces the character's health, and a is deducted when no health remains. If all lives are lost, a screen appears; however, the player may freely restart from the last. Can be found within levels, as can shield and invincibility-type. Lilac fights one of the game's bosses, the Robopanther, while Carol assists her with attacks and Milla with extra health.Each of the playable characters make use of an 'attack' and 'special' button. Lilac and Carol both make use of an energy gauge on the, which recharges on its own and limits the use of their special moves.

“Freedom Planet is an emotional, comedic and fun fast-paced platformer that will keep you on your toes and wary of incoming dangers.” 5/5 – Gamerscape “Freedom Planet is well-written love letter to the sixteen-bit era, reminding players of the power of the action-platformer. Expect to be serenaded by the splendid soundtrack.”.

The gauge can be recharged quicker by collecting crystals and keystones.Lilac's basic attacks consist of strong but sluggish hair whips, an uppercut into the air, a crouching kick, and a dive kick from mid-air. The Dragon Cyclone, used by pressing jump mid-air, lets Lilac spin like a and deal touch damage but also acts as a with reduced gravity. Pressing the special button with a full energy gauge activates the Dragon Boost, an eight-directional air dash that deals heavy touch damage and makes her temporarily invincible.Carol regularly attacks with a cycle of three fast but weak punches, which is changed into a single strong claw attack while rolling or pouncing. The pounce acts as Carol's double jump, slightly moving her forward. Her special attack is a series of rapid kicks which steadily consume a fifth of the energy gauge and give her invincibility. Collecting a fuel tank mid-stage allows her to change into a 'motorcycle mode', where her top speed is increased and her acceleration doubled.

During 'motorcycle mode', the double jump becomes a rolling attack and gets the same properties as Lilac's cyclone move. Pressing 'special' on-ground triggers a nitro boost that consumes energy. For vertical mobility, the normal Carol is able of doing a, 'motorcycle mode' Carol can ride up walls. Another set piece only Carol can interact with properly are jump pads, which are placed in a set order and lead to alternating paths by jumping off of them in succession.Milla, who does not have an energy gauge, can create a cube of energy by holding down the attack button, which she can then throw at enemies.

Holding down the special button lets her pull out her shield that can reflect projectiles. Pressing 'special' while holding a cube lets Milla use the Super Shield Burst, a strong mid-range beam which pushes Milla in the opposite direction. Milla can fly for a short time while holding the jump button mid-air by flapping her ears like wings.The player may complete the game in either the 'Adventure' mode with all cutscenes or 'Classic' mode, which omits them In Adventure mode, upon first starting the game, players are only given the option to select from either Lilac or Carol after a cutscene, in which the two temporarily split up. Milla is unlocked by clearing the second stage, Relic Maze, as either Lilac or Carol. Once a stage been cleared for the first time, it is unlocked in the character's mode, wherein the player tries to finish the level in the fastest possible time. Players earn by accomplishing certain goals, such as completing the game as a character or defeating an end boss with a special move. Plot The game begins as Sash Lilac and Carol Tea—an dragon and —rescue a duck-billed creature named Torque after his crash lands.

At Torque's request, the three set out to protect a powerful relic called the Kingdom Stone. This involves them in a conflict between three nations on their planet: Shuigang, a country militarized by its new king, Dail; Shang Mu, led by the wealth-obsessed Mayor Zao ( or ); and Shang Tu, whose Royal Magister is unprepared for war. Lilac and Carol rush to the Kingdom Stone's shrine but are waylaid by the Shang Tu officers General Gong and Neera Li, who doubt that the Stone is threatened. The protagonists arrive just as the Stone is stolen by Spade, a henchman hired by Zao.

After the shrine collapses, Carol is separated from Lilac and pinned by rubble but gets saved by the timid Milla ( ) Basset. Gong and Neera are initially unimpressed with Carol's and Lilac's claims of a planned Kingdom Stone heist.That night, Torque tells Lilac, Carol, and Milla that he is an alien sent to apprehend the intergalactic warlord Arktivus Brevon, whose spacecraft wrecked on the planet. Brevon has invaded Shuigang, murdered its king, and prince Dail to be his servant. He intends to steal the Stone to power his ship. The protagonists decide to reclaim the Stone from Zao but they are accosted en route by Spade and Brevon's assistant Serpentine.

In a conversation with Spade, it's revealed that he secretly worked for his half-brother Dail all along. Talking to Spade soon falls short as the group is suddenly attacked by Serpentine using one of his mechs. The delays given by the chase give Dail and Brevon's forces time to steal the relic.Afterwards, Zao sends the protagonists as emissaries to Shang Tu to discuss an alliance against Shuigang.

Traveling by airship, the team gets ambushed by Shuigang's sky battalion and they crash into a river leading to Shang Tu. Arriving at the palace, they are detained by the Magister, as Neera accuses them of trying to cover up Zao's crimes. After an unsuccessful attempt of Milla to break out of jail, Torque is acquitted when Lilac falsely pleads guilty. Lilac, Carol, and Milla quickly break out together to reunite with Torque, only to see him captured by Brevon and Serpentine.Carol quarrels with Lilac and storms off. Lilac sends Milla to find her and then goes to save Torque from Brevon's nearby base, but she is captured and tortured by Brevon. Meanwhile, Carol and Milla ally with Spade to storm the base, where they rescue Torque and Lilac.

Toy soldiers war chest. They are all separated in the ensuing conflict. Neera finds Lilac, arrests her, and brings her back to Shang Tu, where the Magister determines that she is innocent and reveals that Zao is challenging Shuigang for the Stone.

Lilac rejoins her friends and convinces Shang Mu and Shang Tu to unite against Dail and Brevon's army. During the battle, Brevon announces that his ship is repaired, and Lilac, Milla, and Carol board it.

The team combats Brevon's minions, including a mutated Serpentine. Brevon captures Milla and turns her into a grotesque monster that attacks the other protagonists, who are forced to render her unconscious. Enraged, Lilac and Carol attack and defeat Brevon, but the Kingdom Stone is destroyed in the process.

Shortly after the battle, Milla awakens in a medical tent and sees the sky lit up by swirling, crystalline energy released from the Kingdom Stone. The realization of the Kingdom Stone persisting in a different form brought an end to the war. Torque says goodbye to Lilac, Carol, and Milla and returns to space.

Development Freedom Planet was conceived in late 2011 by American game designer and programmer Stephen DiDuro, who had just founded the GalaxyTrail Games a few years prior. Using the engine, the game was intended be a small Flash game to 'hone his skills as a game designer' but quickly grew to become an full indie game set in an original universe. After struggling to find a fitting name for the game, it was made up of the first two words that came in DiDuro's mind, 'freedom' and 'planet'.

Freedom Planet originally began as a direct homage to Sonic. As work on the game continued, I felt more and more like it was becoming a waste of time because I was ultimately creaing something in the shadow of an established franchise and that it would never truly be my own work.

So, I set out to try and design a main character that would pay homage to my main source of inspiration while still being unique enough to stand out on her own.—Stephen DiDuroBefore becoming its own, the game started off as a Sonic; a version of the game only seen in early footage show and as the game's main antagonist. Early on, DiDuro had decided that the Sonic affiliation would hold back the game. By the time of the first publicly released demo, the rings were replaced with red leaves and the characters' abilities were altered; rolling into a ball wasn't a default move anymore and exclusive to Carol in the final game.

Charging energy for special moves was dependent on Lilac's movement speed was changed to be generating gradually instead as it proved too difficult to control. The physics and controls were also tweaked to be more responsive and tight; running up walls was made easier and jumps were less floaty to allow player to dodge enemy attacks more easily. While the game retained the 'speed platform gameplay', it took it in a different direction by introducing combat mechanics based off one of Strife's earlier Sonic fan projects. 'Instead of jumping on robots to destroy them, you fight them with punches, kicks, and special attacks', according to DiDuro.In an interview, DiDuro described Freedom Planet as 'a nod to ’90s-style Japanese platform games, like Sonic, and a little bit of '. Lilac's Dragon Boost is based on a from, where the titular character slams its body against enemies in a similar fashion. Carol's Wild Kick ability resembles 's signature special attack, and her wall kick feels similar to the one found in the games for.

Milla's floating ability as well as the ability to pick up items are based on 's flutter jump and 's throwing mechanics respectively. Concept artWhile the game was developed in Denmark and the United States, its art direction was influenced by medieval art, particularly that of. The game's visuals reference modern and as well. Much of the text in the game world is written in, and the logo includes a subtitle written in, Furīdamu Puranetto ( フリーダム・プラネット), despite the game originally lacking Japanese language support.When DiDuro first attempted to design his own protagonist for the game, it was unsuccessful. Browsing on the art website, he soon discovered Chinese artist Ziyo Ling, requesting and getting permission to use her characters Sash Lilac, followed by Carol Tea and Milla, for his game. Lilac, originally conceived as a hedgehog, was redesigned to be a dragon after criticism about her similar looks to Sonic were made. The design of Robotnik's replacement Lord Brevon, originally named Dr.

Brevon, was inspired by Dr. Sloth, one of DiDuro's favorite characters from.The soundtrack was composed by DiDuro in collaboration with Leila 'Woofle' Wilson and Shane 'Blue Warrior' Ellis, the latter having contributed to two of the game's tracks before leaving the project. DiDuro would often provide a base composition in format, with Woofle creating the final but also create additional compositions. Voice actor Dawn M. Bennett, the voice of Lilac, provided voice samples for the tracks Relic Maze 1 and Pangu Lagoon 1 respectively.

There were disagreements on the direction of the soundtrack sometimes, with DiDuro wanting 'fast-paced and in-your-face from the get-go' while Woofle aimed for more 'fly-by-night'; starting 'quieter and more happy' and progressively getting intense. Woofle mentioned the track Sky Battalion to have been the hardest thing to compose, stating that it was 'the low point in her entire career', it wasn’t a song that she felt was 'appropriate for the game'. Regardless, Woofle described DiDuro as 'a great musician and (.) easy to collab with'.Post-release, the game would still receive updates, such as an update in December 2015 that made Milla accessible in Adventure mode. Updates to make Torque, and Spade playable characters were planned for release in 2016 but have been postponed to focus on the sequel.

Another reason, according to DiDuro, were his displeasure with the way Torque felt in the existing stages. Torque has been unlocked for testing in a public beta branch of the Steam version.Release Freedom Planet was first released as a for in August 2012, to positive reception. After a full version of the game was funded through, it was taken to and approved for. Its release was first projected for early 2014, then delayed to June 30. Shortly before that date, it was delayed again to July 19; the developers wanted to promote the game at a convention in, Florida, and to avoid competition from the heavily discounted products in Steam's Summer Sale. The game was released, after a third delay, on July 21, since Steam didn't allow games to be released on weekends.

Coinciding with the game's release, GalaxyTrail released Freedom Planet - Official Soundtrack, a digital version of the soundtrack, as DLC.To advertise the game, GalaxyTrail created branded T-shirts, and Lilac was included as an in the 2013 game. DiDuro considered and rejected the idea of developing an version of Freedom Planet, but stated to be saving money to the game to the. The game was released on the website in late 2014. GalaxyTrail also developed versions for and, which were released on Steam on April 17, 2015.On March 9, 2015, Stephen DiDuro announced through Twitter that a version of the game for Nintendo's console was planned for release on the online store for late 2015, later specified as August 13. A demo was released as part of a promotion titled 'Nindies@home', wherein players were invited to try several upcoming Wii U games between June 15 and 22.

On July 28, GalaxyTrail confirmed that production of the final version of the game was taking longer than expected, suggesting that the game's release would be later. DiDuro announced the cause of the delay on August 18; the Wii U version had been set back by a 'console-freezing bug', which would postpone the Wii U release indefinitely until the issue was fixed. He later explained that the bug had taken so long to detect because it only occurred in retail versions of the console, preventing GalaxyTrail and Nintendo from learning of the issue. The bug required a hard reset of the system to address the problem, which could potentially cause damage to the Wii U hardware. The bug was eventually fixed, and the game was successfully released on the eShop on October 1; customers who had tried the game's demo were rewarded with a 15-percent discount.

On the American Nintendo eShop, Freedom Planet was a best-seller, peaking at the 2nd spot, right behind.In November 2015, GalaxyTrail joined forces with the company distribute an exclusive physical release of Freedom Planet. This limited collector's edition box included a flash-drive with a game file, the official two-disc soundtrack, an instruction manual and key, along with various custom-designed collectibles. On June 29, 2016, GalaxyTrail announced that the Steam and Wii U versions of Freedom Planet combined have sold over 250.000 times.A version for the was released by on August 30, 2018. Quality of live updates present in the Switch version as well as the newly added language options were released for the remaining versions soon after. In 2019, GalaxyTrail teamed up with to distribute a physical release of the Switch version.

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