Sonic hacks
From Sonic Retro
Sonic hacks are altered versions of Sonic the Hedgehog games that have been edited through the process of ROM Hacking. From the emergence of Cyan Helkaraxe's Sonic 1 Beta Hoax in 1999, the production of hacks has been a vital part of the Sonic research community and scene. Starting with the early documents penned by Cyan and saxman, to the Nemesis guides, the Sonic Community Hacking Guide, and beyond, researchers have used their understanding of the Sonic games to alter them in various ways. While earlier hacks were simple, such as minor palette changes, a number of hacks today are very complex. Over time, as the scene learns more about the underlying code behind the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the extent of these modifications has expanded. Modifications now include:
- palette changes
- sprite changes
- major art (title screen, HUD, et al.) changes
- level art changes and original level layouts
- music and sound changes
- importation of levels from other games
- changes in movement engines or bosses
- original concepts and gameplay styles
Today, with the assistance of hex editors, disassemblies and specific Sonic Hacking Utilities, fans have been creating more extensive modifications.
Hacks in the Sonic community are now usually distributed as full ROMs. In the past, IPS patches were used, since these are usually much smaller than a full ROM and were therefore easier to distribute in a time when dial-up was widely used. It was also believed, that since patches do not contain any copyrighted code, it was not illegal to distribute one. This format fell out of use when split disassemblies became available as a way to edit game data, and when dial-up was being replaced by faster broadband connections. The massive shifts in the ROM that can result from reassembly made IPS patches very large, and they would often contain a good volume of code anyway, thus eliminating the alleged legal advantage. Though saxman's RXL patch format was designed to replace IPS, it quickly faded into obscurity along with its predecessor.
Contents
List of hacks
(The most notable hacks are listed separately below.)
Sega Mega Drive
The majority of Sonic ROM hacks are modifications of Sega Mega Drive / Genesis games, since these are smaller and relatively simple compared to the games of later consoles. Also, many ROM hackers in the Sonic scene grew up with the Genesis and its games, so they hold fond memories of these games.
Sonic the Hedgehog
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/* Sonic TG*/
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3
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Sonic 3 & Knuckles
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Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island
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Sega Game Gear
Sonic Drift 2
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Sonic Triple Trouble
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Sega Mega CD
Sonic the Hedgehog CD
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Nintendo GameCube
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut
Research and modifications of Sonic Adventure DX has been made much easier by the game's availability on PC. Dude,MainMemory and Endri are considered pioneers in modifying this game.
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Other
Unofficial ports
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Notable hacks
In alphabetical order
Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
- Eggman in Sonic 1 (a.k.a. Eggman the Dictator) by LOst
- Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog by Stealth
- Project Shadow 2 by JohnnyUK
- Robotnik's Revenge by ColinC10
- Sonic 1 Beta Remake by Mistergambit
- Sonic 1 Remastered by Puto
- Sonic 2 Remastered by Puto
- Sonic 1 Return to the Origin
- Sonic 2: Advanced Edit by Rika Chou
- Sonic 2: Aluminum Edition by Dr. Eggfan
- Sonic 2 Delta by Esrael
- Sonic 2 Long Version by Sonic Hachelle-Bee
- Sonic 2 & Knuckles Long Version by Sonic Hachelle-Bee
- Sonic 2 SMTP by SMTP
- Sonic 3 Delta by Esrael
- Sonic Boom by SÆGA
- Sonic Gaiden by Yuski the Dog
- Sonic in Chaotix by JJFTails
- South Island Adventure by Hivebrain
- Sonic - The Lost Land by Shadow Fire
- Sonic the Hedgehog Extended Edition by Cinossu
- Sonic the Hedgehog Plus by Hivebrain
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (colourised ending hack) by Nemesis
- Tails in Sonic 1 by drx
- Tohaka by Ultima