[ColinC10]

I've had very little time for hacking this year so for this one it's back to basics!

Get Sonic to the exit in each of the 40 mini-levels. No rings, lives, time limits or bosses, just virtual-themed artwork and music by Anamanaguchi.

There are a couple of annoying sound issues that I haven't been able to get rid of, and some sound effects don't even play at all in certain emulators, so for that reason I suggest you use Kega Fusion. Other than that I'm reasonably happy with it, despite how quickly I knocked it together. In fact it's probably the hack I've enjoyed working on the most, so I'd be interested to hear what you guys think.

Screenshots:


This is the title screen. Told you I was going back to basics!


More command line goodness in the level select.


I hope you like grey.


The levels range from insultingly easy to teeth-grindingly difficult (this one's somewhere in the middle).


Finally, I should point out that the version of Sonic VR entered in this year's Hacking Contest is a demo with only around half of the levels. The download link below is for the full version, so bear that in mind when voting. SRAM saves from the contest demo will carry over to the full version.

++Download++

All comments are welcome!

This post has been edited by ColinC10: 17 September 2011 - 07:54 PM

[Eduardo Knuckles]

I'm very impressed with the knowledge you applied on this game. I simply loved how you implemented a big lot of creativity on every level I saw on this game. It's fucking enjoyable and it's freaking awesome, man. Congratulations!

[Selbi]

I love how you used the music from the BIT.TRIP series. It fits really well.

As for the gameplay, that is even better. Seriously, this is one piece of entertaining beaty.

[Rika Chou]

I love this. Very different than other hacks out there, but also very fun.

It kind of reminds me of Marble Blast Ultra.

[Cinossu]

Immensely enjoyable, both this version and the hacking contest demo. Quick and fun.

[Supakitsune]

Ah, Helix Nebula... One of my favorite Anamanaguchi songs. Great work on this; the puzzles are both challenging and enjoyable.

[Alriightyman]

This just instantly became my favorite hack!!! What are the names of the songs in this? They are very catchy.

[MarkoMan]

This is pretty awesome. It's like a level design 101 homework project or something.

Kinda surprised that there's no ranking system though. lol

[LordOfSquad]

aaaaaaaaaaaagh

nope nope nope.

I've gotta take a break from this. Chainsaw Massacre has got me about to throw my keyboard through my window. Stellar hack as always though. I'm gonna come back at it later with a fresh mind and hopefully tear through these last few levels.

I've got to say though, I'm not a fan of the soundtrack. I'm sure someone here wouldn't have minded making actual Genesis versions of the songs you used. Compressed versions of the originals aren't my favorite.

[RGamer2009]

#35 is KILLING ME.

GAAAAHHH!!!

This is a fantastic hack ColinC10! I love having these mini challenges! They truly separate the boys from the men in terms of 2D Sonic Physics.

In fact...someone send SEGA this hack, and explain to them that most challenges in this hack wouldn't work with Sonic 4-esque physics.

[DustArma]

I love it, very challenging, but it crashes the one Genesis emulator that has a decent speed on my phone

This post has been edited by DustArma: 18 September 2011 - 01:02 AM

[jaz]

Awesome hack, love the mini levels.

Does the QR code in the background actually work? Tried to decode it with no success.

[Ravenfreak]

This hack is awesome! But level 13 is a fucking bitch. >.> And 13 is my favorite number too. I make it half way through and then I fall. x.X

[ColinC10]

Thank you for your comments so far, everyone. I took a risk with this hack, because I've never done any level design before and without decent levels this hack would be totally worthless. I can breathe a sigh of relief now that at least some of you guys seem to have had fun with my challenges!

Alriightyman, on 17 September 2011 - 11:01 PM, said:

This just instantly became my favorite hack!!! What are the names of the songs in this? They are very catchy.

Selbi, on 17 September 2011 - 09:04 PM, said:

I love how you used the music from the BIT.TRIP series. It fits really well.

I hadn't realised Anamanaguchi had provided music for BIT.TRIP, but yeah, that's the kind of vibe I was going for. The tracks weren't actually written specifically for BIT.TRIP, though (unlike Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, where they composed the soundtrack). The tracks that I used were all chopped and rearranged in order to fit on the ROM and to loop. If you like the music then check out the originals as well as Anamanaguchi's other stuff: a lot of it's available on their website and the rest is easy to find. Here's the track listing:

0 - Helix Nebula
1 - Mermaid
2 - Blackout City
3 - Mess

MarkoMan, on 17 September 2011 - 11:48 PM, said:

Kinda surprised that there's no ranking system though. lol

I know, I can't believe it either! Very early on in development I intended to have a time limit for each level (which would have allowed the usual S-F ranking system, of course), but I quickly decided this wasn't necessary as some levels are more enjoyable when you can sit and ponder them indefinitely without having to continually restart, and others have time pressure built in to the design. Plus, I liked the idea of having no HUD. So all you get this time round is a little star next to the level! And in case anyone's expecting any surprises, that's really all you get - your prize for completing all 40 levels is nothing more than a sense of smug satisfaction.

DustArma, on 18 September 2011 - 01:01 AM, said:

I love it, very challenging, but it crashes the one Genesis emulator that has a decent speed on my phone

Sorry about that. The hack isn't really very kind to emulators - I think it's a combination of the unusual music playing method and the 6MB ROM size with bankswitching.

jaz, on 18 September 2011 - 02:25 AM, said:

Does the QR code in the background actually work? Tried to decode it with no success.

I wondered who'd be the first to try this! No, there are no hidden messages in the backgrounds. In fact, I took out letters and replaced them with a weird made up language of symbols because I kept thinking I could see words in the background, which was quite distracting!

[Spanner]

You know, releasing this when I still haven't pushed out the hacking contest demo (and I'm just about to). :/

Really tempted just to put a link to this one as well. For what is supposed to be a quickly-made hack, it's still something like your usual releases.

EDIT: Here, first hack made public. Have fun with the demo.

This post has been edited by SOTI: 18 September 2011 - 05:12 AM