A few years back I started tinkering with a Sonic 1 ROM hack, that for whatever reason was called "Android Genital", it's a dumb anagram for "Naldrag Edition". Then at some point a bit down the line I decided to rename it to Metal Beatdown because I wanted to add some weird Metal Sonic focus. All that weird information out of the way the idea behind this ROM hack was to make something similar to a harder Sonic 1 hack akin to "Revenge of the King" from Kirby Super Star Ultra. Complete with alternate palettes, different level layouts and harder enemy placements/traps, and even boss arenas. I never actually posted a public demo here or anything and every now and again I've been wondering if I should ever get back to work on this project. The only thing is I'd have to start it back up from scratch if I do, because the original data got lost after an older hard drive of mine got wiped... which isn't that big of a deal. So what I'd like to gauge is what people think of the level layouts, palettes, music, and whatnot. Demo Changes - All of Green Hill's layout has been changed - Most palettes have been changed - Most music has been changed - Zone order has been changed (I think) Screenshots Grape Hills Zone Spring Plaza Zone Stardust City Zone Blazing Pagoda Zone Deepsea Ruin Zone Gene Panic Zone Download ...And without further ado, the demo~ http://www.mediafire.com/file/gnyi6bcsaztkizr/smd_sag.zip/file Any feedback on this I'd appreciate, and if people seem to like it I believe I'll start back to work on this silly project... it'll probably get a name change though for obvious reasons ha ha ha. Unless people like the name that is.
Haven't checked this out yet, but I'll definitely check it out before I head to bed. Gotta admit, it's crazy seeing you break your decade long silence here.
Not too much to say about this hack. Grape Hills' palette is alright (tip of the mountains and the clouds in the background look a bit off, though). Spring Plaza's color choices clash with each other and just look out of place. Blazing Pagoda's is far too red and the blue-ish grass clashes with it. I dig the blue in Deepsea Ruins, though I think a new background could be in order (I never liked the monochromatic design in Labyrinth). Stardust City's palette is alright, though, it looks a bit dull (to be fair, I thought the Star Light palette was dull, too). I think the red-ish tint in Gene Panic Act 1 clashes with the dark saturated blue in the background. The custom music just sounds like generic mid2smps conversions using the stock patch/instrument set. The Sonic 1 drums also never fail to get on my nerves (lol). As for the level design, one thing I immediately noticed were the abundance speedier sections that led straight into platforming sections that were over bottomless pits or were filled with other hazards, all without much warning. This is something you should avoid doing. You should be able to use the level design to slow down the player first before starting a platforming section. You as the developer don't encounter issues with this because you already know what to expect when you test it, but for someone who is going into it blind, that's not the case, and the usual result of this is that they rush into those sections and end up getting hit or killed.
Palettes wise Grape Hills and Deepsea Ruins were my favorites, the rest I was never too sure about and I think I had a creepier palette for Marble/Blazing Pagoda at one point. This is something I'll definitely take into consideration though. Caught me red-handed. There WAS a later version where I *think* I had some better music conversions, but it was lost with the original source files. If I get back onto I could always look into trying to get assistance first. This was the thing I was worried the most about. I can sit here and all day and like all this stupid hard stuff, but if other people don't get enjoyment out of it, then it's not really worth it. I'll definitely take this into consideration though and try to tighten up the level design to where it's more balanced. PERHAPS...
