Yup, plays just fine on hardware (well lag and such aside that's just the genesis showing that it's a 27 year old piece of equipment)
Sorry to bump this topic, but a few weeks ago I decided to (finally) give this a try. I was amazed by the experience. Just like SFactor, I found that this hack was absolutely unpredictable, and each time I got through an act I was wondering what awesome stuff I'd find at the next one, and every single act would impress me. The new gimmics are fantastic but as it's already been said you've gotta use them more. A LOT more. And hell, I'm playing this with savestates because you know what happens at hacks, but I surely love the new experience this hack offers and as it's been noted, this lucks like an entirely new game.
I had so much fun with your hack but are you going to update Blaze? It's nice to see her for the first time in a Sonic hack but she's just like Sonic.