Sonic & Hackers Act 1

See what I did there? In a feature with a twist, over the next few scroll-downs (or ‘pages’) you’ll find a summary and review of the most interesting ‘hacks’ of Sonic games found on teh interwebz. To those unfamiliar, a hack is when an unauthorised change is made to a game’s files, whether that be graphics, sound, level design etc, and are often produced by ‘hardcore’ fans to re-create a game as they envisioned how it was ‘meant’ to be. The hacking of games stretches far beyond the Sonic series, yet arguably no other series contains the same amount of mystery, controversy or speculation that Naoto Ōshima et al’s creation does, hence the focus on the spiny blue one. Resultingly, countless attempts, some serious, some not, have been created to plug any gaps, with varying success. Onwards you’ll see the best and appallingly worst of the array of interventions, picked and primed for your pleasure.

Disclaimer: I am no hacker and have little experience with the process (minor tamperings with Pro Evolution Soccer 4 aside), this is simply a critical overview of a handful of what’s out there, highlighting a few to try.

Sonic 2 Long Version by Sonic Hachelle-Bee & Esrael
To the unfamiliar, the snappy-named Sonic 2 Long Version fills the void left by Sega’s forced cancellation of additional levels to the original Sonic The Hedgehog 2, either due to memory or time constraints. Arguably one of, if not the, most interesting hacks, the game is the familiar Sonic 2 we know and love plus what should have been. It features playable versions of Wood, Dust Hill, Genocide City and the (not Sonic & Knuckles) Hidden Palace zones, also including a triple dose of Death Egg.

First of the new levels is Wood Zone, an accessible yet extremely unfinished level in the Sonic 2 Beta ROM, located once Hill Top Zone’s fully licked. Unreliable clipping aside (Sonic tends to get ‘caught’ between ramps, for example), it’s a rather pleasing rendition of what might have been. While Act 1′s built from the foundations laid by the Beta version, the second act is entirely improvised and great work. It puts your platforming skills to the test, adding a more challenging version of Aquatic Ruin’s Dr. Robotnik squabble at the end. One particular criticism, however, would be the choice of music. While I imagined the Beta‘s early mix of Metropolis Zone’s aural theme to be dropped in, the hackers saw fit to sensibly assign Emerald Hill’s two-player mode’s music to the level. While suitably mocking when Sonic falls to his death for the tenth time, it doesn’t really ‘fit’, yet it’s hardly a major issue.

Based on a promotional mock-up ‘screenshot’, Dust Hill Zone is arguably the most unique. Borrowing aspects from both Sandopolis and Ice Cap Zones of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it’s unexplained dual-faceted juxtaposition of desert and snow makes for a curious, yet ultimately misplaced, experience. Nevertheless, it’s a complex level and can be rather confusing on first visit. Once you get to grips with it it turns out to be a lively and applaudable affair, with enemies, tricks and deception in droves! Entirely improvised from the aforementioned promo shot, you’d be understandably mistaken for believing Sega themselves designed it. For example, towards the end of the second act Sonic must hit springs in order for the level to open up. They basically act as switches to progress through the level and it’s executed so seamlessly that it resulted in topping the new zones ‘chart’.

Dust Hill's two extremes demonstrated 'seamlessly' for you

Up next is the morbidly titled Genocide City Zone, possibly omitted due to the potential ‘bad dreams’ it may have given the kids, and it’s produced from entirely home-made graphics. What with the Beta’s level merely being a fuzzy vacuum, there was nothing to base it on other than the images conjured up in the mind of the player; and so hackers ‘Sonic Hashelle-Bee’ and ‘Esrael’ produced a Halloween-esque backdrop. Lightning forks, the moon and cloud formation akin to Zool’s peeper, colour the background’s gloomy sky, while digging deeper rotting corpses are found dangling from chains in the lower reaches of the level. Pleasant stuff. If it wasn’t for the glitchy walls, gaping drop that the game cannot cope with and repeated level design of Act 2, it’d been a more pleasing experience. The intense difficulty of the Robotnik battle at the end culminates in an ultimately missed opportunity.  Good to finally see, but not the ideal finished product.

The penultimate modificated level lands us in the enigmatic Hidden Palace Zone, where the first act was almost complete in the Beta version, only to be axed more harshley than a couple of the heads of Henry VIII’s wives. Complete with glimmering bridges and God-intended music (number on Sonic 2′s sound test), Act 1 almost perfectly delivers what we always wanted, minus suctionless tubes (like Hill Top’s), that you unexcitedly have to roll through manually. Unfortunately after that great high, Act 2 seems to have been abandoned. While its layout is complete, it lacks enemies, contains few rings and has less soul than Soulja Boy himself. Truly disappointing from a gamer’s perspective, yet as this is the last build since 2004, I’d hazard a guess this is a premature ‘final’ version. Shame.

Finally, and unexpectedly is Death Egg with a Chemical Plant infusion. For some reason, the Egg has been divided into three acts. Using Chemical Plant’s level layout and Death Egg’s colour scheme, you’re forced to basically re-play a level with a different skin. An odd decision and ultimately pointless. At least the final act is completely untouched.

Out of pure experimental interest, the game was completed ‘properly’ (ie. no saving before a Special Stage) in order to judge how the extra length would affect the overall experience; meaning that collecting every emerald was a necessity. Having once gathered all the shiny buggers by Aquatic Ruin (it’s very possible), I failed miserably this time, finally amassing all seven emeralds well into Mystic Cave Zone (now the game’s seventh level, coincidentally). A pathetic attempt if there ever was one. Anyway, overall, the game stole 4 hours and 48 minutes of play time, possibly totallying an extra 45 minutes of gameplay over the original. Not bad, and ultimately a disappointing loss to the officially released version.

For more tidbits on the ‘lost levels’ , have a butchers at this interview with Brenda Ross, a Sonic 2 level art designer. Quite interesting, if a little redundant!

Robotnik’s Revenge by Colin C10
For sheer originality, Robotnik’s Revenge simply has to receive the champion’s crown of hacks. Fused with a blend of Robotnik battles from Sonic and Sonic 2, the spiky blue speed machine is challenged to consecutively deal with every boss from his first two outings on a paltry diet of rings. Set in a marvellously seamless Death Egg, each fight is introduced via the inviting chime of a star post as if it was one of Mother Nature’s creations; it truly could’ve been sewn together by Sega themselves. While posing a challenging and interesting affair, it also delivers in working perfectly, mixing some memorable and frustrating Dr. Robotnik confrontations, gift-wrapped in one pleasant, compact package. Does giving the portly genius the once-over seventeen times seem easy to you? Why not try it for yourself then? I’ve managed a respectable time of 13 mins 30 seconds & a ‘B’ rank; can you better me or this guy?

Sadly, this nifty part of Sonic 2 spawned the awful Sonic Spinball

Sonic 2 Advanced Edit (Beta 3) by rika_chou ‘and many others’
Often featuring less sprites than a Pepsi vending machine, Sonic 2 Advanced Edit is a regrettably unfinished recreation of Sonic’s second attempt at foiling Dr. Robotnik’s evil plans. With Sonic, Knuckles and Tails as playable characters, it was an intended redesign of Sonic 2 as opposed to an improvement or gap-plugger. Beyond the precariously unfinished nature of the hack is a well-produced and convincing attempt at ‘playing Sega’, thus slightly tear-inducing that they’ve abandoned the project. Yes, a crime worse than an unwanted ‘Christmas pup’ dumped on a roadside, in a damp cardboard box in the cold. In the rain. At night. (Only joking, RSPCA!)

Moving on, upon hitting whatever you’ve assigned the start button as you’ll experience a sense of quality resonating from your monitor. What was once Emerald Hill Zone, is now Neo South Island, in a pleasantly chunky, spritely form, complete with non-bombing Buzz Bombers! Swapping Sonic’s Sonic 2 sprite for Sonic 3′s (an odd move), the speedy chap blends in tidily in a well-produced level. Using advanced loops for Sonic to run around and a complex-on-initial-view level design, it promised to deliver a fresh and enjoyable Sonic adventure, unlike Sonic Adventure, funnily enough.

However, the first two acts of Neo South Island is about all you’re welcome to; from there on in the levels become increasingly sparse until you reach the latter parts of the original Sonic 2, which are left untouched, if a little glitchy to the point of nauseating on Metropolis. Not good when you’re low on blood sugar, I can assure. Most interestingly, apart from some intelligent (and cruel) level design on Neo Gigapolis and others, is ‘Oil Ocean Zone’. The suitably miserable aesthetics of the original level have been replaced with level art that can be attributed to the elusive Dust Hill Zone (see below), with its desert backdrop providing rather pleasant viewing. Again, satisfyingly chunky, the first act is great for all of 30 seconds, where upon acquiring a static shield and jumping over a couple of chasms, a hole greater than Big Pit welcomes you to an unavoidable death. Again, it’s disappointing that it’ll never be finished, but one deemed good enough as an example of a better hack. Have a look for yourself; there’s even a handy level select on the title screen.

Might be a Dust Hill interpretation, might not, but it looks nice, eh?

Knuckles The Echidna In Sonic The Hedgehog by Stealth
What Sega never achieved, a rather clever chap known as ‘Stealth’ managed to shoehorn Sonic-sidekick Knuckles into the original Sonic The Hedgehog, producing some fine results. The official story for the omission of the ability to play as the red echidna in the original Sonic outing via Sonic & Knuckles’ lock-on feature was that S&K’s palette colours were too different to Sonic 1′s. As a result of importing the Knuckles sprite, Sega hit the supposed brick wall of a colour scheme nightmare, transforming the entire game into a 1960s-esque swingers’ club; needless to say that would’ve made for interesting viewing! Skipping to the end, Stealth craftily used Sonic’s shoe colours to ‘dress’ Knuckles with, in addition to altering his choice of socks and; hey wow! (2:26 onwards), Knuckles was free to skip and dance with cute, needy animals once more! It was a clever move, but could Sega really not have achieved this themselves? Questioning Sega’s integrity is hardly alien nowadays, yet back in the ’90s they were gaming gods. Perhaps lead designer Yuji Naka was on a fag break at the time.

Considering Knuckles was originally introduced as Dr. Robotnik’s ally it, like Knuckles in Sonic 2, puts a spanner in the Sonic series’ chronological works; yet on Knuckles goes, hypocritically battering (and outsmarting) Robotnik’s evil overtures. First impressions spark pensive thoughts; Knuckles looks different (palette problems fully explain that, however); he’s assigned Sonic 3′s physics, and so runs faster than the blue one originally did, further adding to the irony; and, well, Knuckles in Sonic 1 ain’t cricket! But as you delve below the first act of Green Hill’s surface, using Knuckles feels ‘right’; until you begin abusing the game.

Knuckles stumbles across some development debris in Spring Yard, usually out of a hedgehog's reach

Knuckles’ ability to climb walls and glide can amusingly render Yorkie-sized chunks of the game redundant. Find elevated terrain in Green Hill Zone and feel free to laugh at all the carnage below as you sail to the level’s end. Most entertaining is Marble Zone, where all three acts, often a pain in Sonic’s wee backside, can be successfully reduced to a mere nothing, coupled with a firm middle finger salute to Dr. Robotnik and all of his evil plans. Ha! Trumped. Feel free to experiment for yourself and see how you can ruin the game!

The drawbacks to the hack, however, are that the game simply wasn’t designed for Knuckles, meaning not every wall is climb-able, where clipping issues tend to creep in, thus sending the piny red one to a fall not nearly as disastrous as Humpty Dumpty’s (fortunately!). Furthermore, Super Knuckles is only available via a cheat, so once all emeralds are gathered, collecting fifty rings means nothing. No, not even a high-five from Dr. Robotnik. Tsk! And there’s no escape from the suffocating clutches of Labrynth either; it’s still the Worst Level Ever.

Heh heh. Consider yourself merked, EggFace!

And that’s all there’s time for. ‘AllThatRumpus got through Act 1′, if you like! More to follow in ‘Act 2′ some time in the future.