Sonic VR

Sonic VR

Version: 1.0
Last release: 2011-09-18, 00:52 GMT
System: Sega Mega Drive
Original game: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)
Credits: ColinC10

Sonic VR is a hack by ColinC10 for the Sega Mega Drive, which contains elements from both Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, combined into 40 mini-levels.

Gameplay

By the words of ColinC10 himself, "no rings, lives, time limits or bosses, just virtual-themed artwork and music by Anamanaguchi". The game is separated into four sections of ten levels ("filesystems"). Filesystems 2 through 4 must be unlocked by completing most of the previous filesystem's levels. Once the game is loaded, the player is presented with a text menu listing each filesystem. Once the player chooses a section, its background music begins to play and another menu is displayed listing each level in the form of "levelXXX.bin", with the title displayed at the bottom of the menu.

Each level is based on a monochromatic high tech theme, where the player must reach an exit ring to clear the level. Most levels usually involve a good knowledge of Sonic's physics and may require the player to solve a puzzle and do the right moves at the right time. Except for the last level, each level revolves around a specific theme, such as jumping or platforming, or the badniks involved (e.g. in the "debugging" level all the badniks are bugs). There are no ranks and no ending screens: clearing a level simply adds a star next to its name in the level select ("filesystem") menu, which is saved into SRAM to resume playing at a later time.

If the player no longer wants to play a particular level, they can pause the game and press to return to the level select menu.

Soundtrack and compatibility

Sonic VR's soundtrack makes use of edited PCM samples and a bank switching technique to break the "classic" limit of 4 megabytes to load the 6 necessary to store the huge amount of music data. Because of this, support in various emulators may vary (in particular the sound isn't quite right in Gens, and will not load in Gensoid), and therefore Kega Fusion is recommended. When playing this on Genesis Plus GX for the Wii with 68k Address Error turned off, will load the stage but you will fall to your death unless you go back to the level select by pushing then + + and loading the stage there. But sound effects won't play and for some reason, where the HUD should be, it has corrupted graphics. If 68k Address Error is turned on, the stage won't load and you will be stuck in a black screen.