Sonic Hacking Utilities

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Essential Tools
Program	Description
Hex Workshop	The recommended hex editor. Has many handy features, and is generally used by most ROM hackers. It's shareware, but the smarter lot of you will find a way around that.
XVI32 Download	Freeware, simplistic hex editor with the basic needed features to do what you need. Supports wildcard value searching, which is bloody handy, and is unique to this hex editor.
68kd Download	Command-line 68000 disassembler. ASM68K or IDA Pro is generally preferred.
SNASM68K Download	Command-line assembler for the Motorola 68000 written by Cross Products.
ESE ASM Edit Download	Motorola 68000 Editor written by Esrael.
IDA Pro	Popular disassembler used in reverse engineering software. It works on code generated for a wide variety of processors, including the Motorola 68000 and Z80 processors used in the Mega Drive.
Psy-Q ASM68K Download	The Win32 version of the assembler that was used to assemble most Mega Drive games.
Compressors/Decompressors
The Sonic Data Compressor Download	A frontend for a batch of compression/decompression programs for the Nemesis (Art), Kosinski (Level Art/Mappings/etc), Enigma (Special Stages/etc), and Saxman (Music in Sonic 2 Final) compression formats.
Nemesis MD Programs Download	Primitive version of the above. A small feature worth noting though is the Nemesis art searcher, which allows you to search for Nemesis compressed data in other games that may use the compression format.
Multi-Purpose Editors
SonED Download	The last version of the original SonED. SonED is a level art, level mappings, level layout, level palette, as well as other level aspects, editor. It is highly recommended to all beginners and experienced hackers alike, and will no doubt be one of the most useful tools you will ever need.
SonED2 Download	A newer, sleeker, more featured incarnation of SonED designed for editing split disassemblies of Sonic games via a unique "projects" system. Boasts a simplified art editor, as well as a new collision editor. If you learn to use this, it's definitely worth using over the original.
Esrael Sonic Editor Download	A multi-purpose utility that supports a wide variety of editable aspects - Special stages, level layout/art/mappings, title cards, level select names, palettes, etc. Being an earlier, discontinued version of the program, it supports some things ESEII does not. It's best to have both.
Esrael Sonic Editor II Download	Enhanced version of the above, with some extra features such as a level porter, and a better art editor -- even a built in hex editor with text support! Reccomended.
Chaos Download	Level editor made by Brett Kosinski for Sonic 2. No longer supported.
ChaoSaX	ROM hacking suite by Magus (formerly Chaos) and Saxman. The entire suite is made up of multiple programs for modifying different aspects of Sonic ROMs. Its user-friendly GUI makes it very useful for beginning hackers.
Gerbilsoft ROM Hacking Studio Download	Basic ROM editing utility by Gerbilsoft which handles special stages, title cards, palettes, etc.
Sonic Tweaker Download	Edits demos, water, text and palettes for Sonic 1, 2, 2b, 3K and Chaotix.
Graphics Editors
Sonik Sprite Download	Paint-esque uncompressed sprite editor for Sonic 1, Sonic 2 (beta/final), and Sonic 3. Supports assembled versions of all sprites, making art editing jobs easier for you. Also supports a scripting system, so you can add your own sprite entries if they aren't currently supported (for ANY game, by the way).
Tile Layer Pro Download	General uncompressed art editor for multiple platforms, including Genesis. Works by browsing the ROM and editing the art in 8x8 blocks, which can be put together via the Tile Arranger for easier editing. Essential for editing compressed art (after being decompressed, of course).