A thing that kind of got lost somewhere along the way in the Sonic the Hedgehog series is its themes of environmentalism. The games just kind of became about doing Cool Things or kissing human women, all of which I approve to be clear in as earnest a way as I can come across. Thematically, some of the more recent games can be a bit lacking, so it’s nice to see a game like Artius: Pure Imagination take a stance on something. That something being, quite simply, making art yourself is good, actually.

Here’s the setting: you play as one of four different characters, which can be switched out at will, each of which have their own unique artistic talents like painting or music. They live in a city known for its art history, and they’re about to graduate from a prestigious arts university that also features a magic book (as they tend to do) where you’re given pages to harness its power. Then, uh oh! A guy who sucks at art nicks it and forces an anti-art regime across the city.

On the gameplay front, it’s very much like 2D Sonic, but by way of Pizza Tower. A refinement of what came before it essentially, still putting an emphasis on speed albeit with some nice little improvements here and there; you can run for extra speed, slam yourself downwards at a moments notice, rapidly turn about face on tight corners, and even attack enemies with unique moves depending on the character you’re playing at. It’s not a massive divergence from classic Sonic games, but enough to create a clearer sense of flow. Most of the time; rather than one long level, it’s separated into multiple sections, which is a little jarring at first. I’m sure the speedrunners will be fine.

As rudimentary as the story sort of appears to be (I’ve only tried out the demo, the full thing could go deeper), the platformer certainly cements its pro-art stance with an art style that reminds me of point-and-click adventure games, old internet Flash games and a dash of that vague ephemeral concept called Saturday morning cartoons. It’s bright, it’s vivid, there’s plenty to look at and go “ooh” or “ahh” without being distracting. And certainly, despite not textually being about AI, it feels like this is a response to the nightmare tool, one that wants you to be expressive through the art of platforming. Even its subtitle feels like a nod to rely more on your imagination than anything else.

Artius: Pure Imagination doesn’t have a release date just yet, but it does have a demo you can try out for yourself on Steam.