There are tons of hacks around for the original Sonic the Hedgehog games. Some are good, some are a bit ‘meh’ – but it’s always nice to see what the hacking world can come up with.
Well there’s a new release, from a Russian hacker, vladikcomper, over at SonicRetro – Sonic Winter Adventures and it’s pretty impressive. Quite a few hacks I’ve seen, will just take a Sonic game, change around the level designs and maybe the colours and that’s it. They are still fun, but rarely achieve the enjoyment of the original (official) releases.
But while Sonic Winter Adventures has taken old level designs from Sonic 1 and changed around some of the colours, vladikcomper has also added in some new features, such as: spin dash (not in the original Sonic 1 release), light speed dash, ‘super peel out’, homing attack, new/replaced backgrounds and even new bosses.
Vladikcomper commented in the SonicRetro forums:
“The day has finally come: the day I am finally releasing a full-fledged, full on hack that I have been working on for quite a long time. I can’t believe it’s finally happening! What an exciting moment for myself!
I must say, a lot, and I mean a lot of work is still needed until I feel this hack is complete. To my regret, SWA still doesn’t boast a wide variety of levels, so don’t expect too much from the hack. In any case, I was able to make this release as a playable and enjoyable as possible, so I’m extremely happy about this release.”
While the level variety isn’t very high, vladikcomper has added in something that is bound to keep gamers playing; unlockables:
“Even after you finished all the levels, the game is far from over! As you go, you will open some previously hidden features and modes, so be on the lookout.”
I’m sure some Sonic purists won’t be too happy about some of the additions to the game, but it’s easily one of the best Sonic 1 hacks I’ve played and, as it is a free download, why not go try it for yourself?
[Source: SonicRetro]