Well this is a nice surprise. For a while now, SEGA Europe has had an online gaming arena called ‘PlaySEGA‘, which wasn’t very interesting on launch but now has a nice selection of Mega Drive games to play over the Intertubes. For Sonic fans, the gaming portal has suddenly become very exciting indeed because the service recently launched the Sonic Level Creator.

Taking the engine from classic Sonic the Hedgehog titles and providing users with tilesets and basic creation tools, the Level Creator allows for a whole mix of unique user-generated content. And in a LittleBigPlanet stylee, members of the PlaySEGA service can play and rate each other’s creations. I’ve had a go on a few, and it’s great fun.

The catch? PlaySEGA is mostly a pay-for service (understandably), so while any member can play a level, you have to be a VIP member to actually create your own stage. A free trial allows you to play levels (and various Mega Drive classics) so you can get a taste of what is possible.

Thanks to the SSMB for the heads up!