Cross-post from the SHC 2022 entry page: Neo Team Kyukyoku presents... Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts! Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts (SHIMA) is a hack which aims to overhaul Sonic 1 using a Japanese-inspired aesthetic. The main feature of this demo is Blossom Gardens Zone, the resting area of the isolated, star-god worshipping Kuratranos tribe. BGZ is a fast-paced experience littered with swift-acting enemies, height-granting gimmicks, driving music, and advanced graphical effects. This new zone can be traversed with three playable characters: Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna. Sonic, in particular, features a set of unique sprites, the dropdash ability, and a new companion: Abbey the Flicky. Abbey can pick up nearby rings and circle potential targets for Sonic, including hidden monitors. Download the hack from the entry page here. Some things to note: There is an experimental parallax effect which suffers from minor graphical glitches. Don't forget to check out the sound test. While the soundtrack is far from complete, you can find several arrangements, remixes, and original compositions which we plan to utilize in later releases. We are aware that the SHC build has a bug where collecting a bubble doesn't reset your air, if you want a fixed build, then please click me Screenshots: Spoiler: Credits Neo Team Kyukyoku Members AngelKOR64: Character programming Chron D: Music arrangement DeltaWooloo: Co-leader, Level layouts, music arrangement, object ports, programming, sound effects Dio-ZX: Character art, object art Drag109: Level art fuzzy: Level art, programming iced t: Level art, object art Inferno: Level layouts Inktitious: Level art Jerry: Level layouts KatKuriN: Level art KGL: Level layouts Kurk: Co-team Leader, level layouts, music arrangement, music composition ManiacShard: Object art NaotoNTP: Object art ProjectFM: Co-team leader, creative direction, level art, music arrangement, music composition, programming, story planning Raendom: Programming Rivet: Programming two^: Concept art yami: Level layouts, music composition Former Members AmzroSevca: Concept art, story planning Gemini0: Former team leader, general art, level layouts, programming jrm1007: Concepts, object art Haz Rabbit: Concept art, programming lavagaming1: Programming NotQuiteHere: Music arrangement poly: Logo, music arrangement Mr. Gandy: Character art XGSOAP: Character art Playtesters Accel BladeOfChaos Certainly Glitchy Cosmic Eternity DaxKatter (also did the title screen theme and Super theme) fengish GGK912 Hooded Edge KCEXE KNIJohn Matty Meara Blanchette MCTravisYT Professor Renderer PX Sleekflash-16 Sr Paradoxo soapyy TheInvisibleSun UnusualSeeker Resources AsuharaMoon: Wind-Up Koi sprites AURORA☆FIELDS: SMPS2ASM and AMPS CartoonsAnimate22: Tails and Knuckles sprites CuckyDev: GHZ ball base Dolphman: Turtle badnik flamewing: Ultra DMA Queue + optimized Kosinski (improved by vladikcomper and MarkeyJester) and Enigma decompression code Lone Devil: Metal Sonic sprites MainMemory: SonLVL and Drop Dash programming guide MarkeyJester: DualPCM and sound test Mikel Nash: Sonic 3-style super sonic sprites panoramhusky and Leanie - Tails sprites Observer: Sprite rips ShibaMayo: ShibaSaturn sprites snkenjoi: Flex 2 The Eighth Bit: Space Queens MIDI TheOneMusaab: Sonic 2: The Alternative Sprites tildearrow: Furnace Teck: Super Mario Land - Ending Theme MIDI vladikcomper - optimized Nemesis decompression code ValleyBell: mid2smps, SMPS Converter, SMPS Research Pack VladislavSavvateev: DMF2AMPS Assets From: Capcom no Quiz Tonosama no Yabou Cave Story Freedom Planet High Seas Havoc Mega Man Series Michael Jackson's Moonwalker Ristar Sangokushi Retsuden: Ransei no Eiyuutachi Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers Shinobi III Sonic Series Touhou Project Series
I haven't really been keeping up with the Sonic Hacking Community since the last decade ended but this hack looked interesting enough for me to give a go. While I do like how original this hack is with it's custom art, the additional polish to sound design and visual effects, and the fact it has a custom soundtrack, a few things bother me. For one, I'm not sure what's going on with the noise channel in Blossom Gardens Act 2's BGM but it's distracting and doesn't really mesh well with the rest of the music in my opinion. Why is Ristar in a Sonic game? Even if he's just a statue in this hack, isn't he from a completely different IP? The statue of him seemed out of place to me but it isn't really a big problem, more of a nitpick if anything. One thing I've noticed right away are the physics being drastically changed. I found Sonic to be way more laggy and slippery in his movements. I understand it's something people could just get used to but why change a core component of the game if it didn't need to be fixed? I feel like the changes in the physics really mess with the flow of the game and hope they get tweaked in a possible future version. I'm looking forward to any updates on this hack as it was a pleasant experience outside of the few issues I had. Edit: The physics might not be as bad as I thought as I'm playing through this again after playing a bit of Sonic 3. The slopes at the beginning of Blossom Gardens Act 1 really messed with my jumping and my issues may be due to them.
Hey, thanks for the feedback. Let me take a look at them: Firstly, you mentioned BGZ2's noise channel being a little not to your tastes. The idea was that the note increased every beat before it resets as soon as the drums started playing (you can see how it works by looking at the sound test). If the effect is loud on your side, I'll try to speak with the composer about this. Secondly, Ristar was there since the idea was that we'd add lost heroes of ancient civilisations, with Ristar being an excellent example since he's only had one game. Many people liked the Ristar statue, so we might see him pop in and out of different zones in the future. =P Other than that, I'm glad that you enjoy the hack.
I have to say, I was incredibly disappointed when I reached the end after just three zones, because this hack is just breathtaking. Played it through four times on real hardware, and it still captivates. My fav bits have to be the details on the sprites (in particular, Knuckles looking straight up when climbing and sliding down walls when descending) and the sound design (the ring sound getting higher during collection streaks is just genius, as is the use of the S3 glass shattered sample for breaking monitors). I do agree with BinBowie that the noise channel in Blossom Gardens Act 2's music is a bit too prominent, but other than that, the music is preety good as well.
Amazing ROM hack. The visuals and graphics are gorgeous. I also love seeing my turtle Badnik get used in it, but I'm not credited for some reason. Here's the original sheet it came from in case you need to credit me: https://www.spriters-resource.com/custom_edited/sonicthehedgehogcustoms/sheet/166575/
So, I managed to completely crash the game's sound driver on my latest playthrough. Possibly related to breaking speed shoes and invincibility monitors simultaneously, though it happened after the power-ups timed out, and strangely, the rest of the game continued to run.
