About
Sonic Smackdown is a free fan-made 2D fighting game starring the Sonic the Hedgehog cast, built in Unreal Engine by indie studio ArcForged. Inspired by titles like Street Fighter and Dragon Ball FighterZ, it offers a complete 1v1 experience with a sizable roster, distinct movesets, and flashy super moves.
The game was downloaded over 180,000 times and was capped off by a 'Definitive Edition' before ArcForged ceased development to focus on original projects and the later tag-fighter spinoff Ultimate Sonic Smackdown.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- SonicSmackdown_x64.exe
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- GE-Proton
- Winetricks
- vcrun2019
⚙ Setup notes
Game: Free Sonic fan fighter by ArcForged (Unreal Engine 4, Windows-only). No SEGA involvement, no DRM.
Install (portable/standalone): Download SonicSmackdown_x64.zip (the "Definitive Edition") from ArcForged's official itch.io page and extract it (use 7-Zip if standard extraction fails). The launcher is SonicSmackdown_x64.exe inside the extracted folder. Add that .exe to Steam as a non-Steam game — there is no installer.
Proton: Force GE-Proton (or proton_experimental) in the shortcut's Compatibility settings.
Redistributables: The game needs the VS 2019 (VC++) runtime. Under Proton this is covered by vcrun2019 (via Protontricks on the non-Steam shortcut's prefix); GE-Proton bundles most VC++ runtimes so it often runs without manual steps.
Controller: Native XInput gamepad. ArcForged themselves recommend running it as a non-Steam game so Steam Input handles controller detection — this is the documented fix for gamepads not registering.
Warning: This is the original/complete Sonic Smackdown. The separate newer 'Ultimate Sonic Smackdown' tag-fighter is a different download and is reported not to run on Deck, so stay on the original.
The one thing to know
Supply your own copy: Free fan game (not SEGA), never sold on Steam — runs as a non-Steam shortcut under GE-Proton.
Controller: Native XInput gamepad support; add to Steam so Steam Input handles controller detection (DirectInput-only pads like DS4 need Steam's mapping). Keyboard/mouse selectable in settings.
Binary: Launcher is SonicSmackdown_x64.exe, found in the extracted SonicSmackdown_x64.zip (Definitive Edition) from ArcForged's itch.io page. Portable — no installer.
Warning: The 'Ultimate Sonic Smackdown' sequel is a different game and is reported not to work on Deck.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options, Proton version)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.