# Fan-made Sonic 1 GBA Port



## granville (Aug 31, 2008)

As we know, Sonic Team's attempt to port the original Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) to the Gameboy Advance was....well....*A TRAVESTY*.

But now a hacker from the Sonic Retro website called Stealth (co-leader of Sonic 1 Megamix) has developed his own custom Sonic 1 GBA port! He actually reverse engineered the original game (WITHOUT THE SOURCE CODE) and ported the code into a GBA rom file. The port is perfect. The music, sound, graphics, and most importantly: the core game engine and physics are EXACTLY as they were in the original. I can't give you a better explanation than Stealth himself. Here's what he said in his blog:

*"Another fantastic technical achievement from the creator of Sonic: Project Mettrix, the E02 engine, and former co-leader of Team Megamix, Sonic hacking ninja extraordinaire Stealth breaks the barriers with another mindblowing breakthrough–a TRUE port of the original Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis to the Game Boy Advance!

As many know, there was an “official” attempt to “port” Sonic 1 to the GBA under the name “Sonic Genesis.” However, this version of the game was, quite frankly, horrible–it was less a port and more a disgustingly inaccurate recreation. The physics were completely fucked, Sonic would go through walls, the music was ear-rapingly dreadful, among other things. It was a gigantic mess–probably the worst Sega product ever, and a disgrace to the Sonic brand.

However, Stealth seeks to redeem the Sonic name by taking it upon himself–and I mean a one man job–to do what Sega’s paid 3rd party lackies could not: create a respectable, accurate, and true to the original version of Sonic the Hedgehog for the Game Boy Advance. As this video shows, the project was an absolute success!"*



*Building on the concept of “anniversary mode,” Stealth includes the acceleration system from Sonic 2, the spindash technique, and two additional characters–Tails and Knuckles–to enrich the Sonic experience on the new platform.

All music is using recordings of the original Genesis tunes, so accuracy is a high as it can get–none of that horrible Mircosoft Synth sound! The sound quality is a bit scratchy at points, both in sound effects and music, but that’s a technical limitation of the GBA sound hardware itself. Aside from that, it delivers a very faithful representation of the music from the original game–after all, it’s hard to go wrong with a recording, isn’t it? =P

So far, the current build sports Green Hill Zone with all three of the characters, along with at least one working special stage. I’m not sure if any future work will be done beyond this proof of concept, but if it will, it’s sure to exert the same amount of quality that this release does.

Sega, eat your heart out!*






I don't think I can provide a link to this as it is a copyrighted game and unauthorized hacked port. But Sonic Retro has everything you need to know. If anyone can confirm whether I can post a link, I will. But I won't take the risk. I may even be breaking the rules by mentioning the website. If I am I'm sorry. I'll edit this message if it's a problem.


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## alex (Aug 31, 2008)

Awesome. Music is kinda going a bit fast I think... Or emulator speed? :\ cool though.
Damn, I wish I could try this...
Screen feels small though...


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## [M]artin (Aug 31, 2008)

Looks and sounds beautiful, the way it should. Awesome work.

The added features are nice too, hopefully I'll get a chance to try out those new characters soon enough.

Fingers crossed that this project will reach 100% completion!


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## Doomsday Forte (Aug 31, 2008)

Stealth made SonED, which along with Esrael Sonic Editor, was one of the best Genesis-era Sonic hacking tools on the web.  And maybe still is.  So if anyone is capable of making a proper Sonic 1 GBA, it'd be him.  =P

Definitely gonna check it out, but the small screen is a turn-off.  But hell, better than overly-zoomed-out.


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## ojsinnerz. (Aug 31, 2008)

From watching that video, there is only one thing that I can say. AWESOME.


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## AshuraZro (Aug 31, 2008)

From playing the rom, I can second that AWESOME.

In your face, Sega.


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## Warm Woolly Shee (Aug 31, 2008)

Amazing to do that without the source code.


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## Doomsday Forte (Aug 31, 2008)

That, and Sonic 1 Megamix is probably one of the greatest Sonic hacks I've ever played.  Three selectable characters with their own unique abilities, with their own monitor types AND HUDs, and music for each act, and then there's the fact that each act is incredibly long too.  

But this isn't a topic about that.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  Though, I wouldn't doubt the strength of this hack either.  I get enough portable Sonic on my PSP, but this certainly helps for those with just GBAs/DSes.


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## CockroachMan (Aug 31, 2008)

Very impressive.. I just don't understand why GBA and not DS..


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## Doomsday Forte (Aug 31, 2008)

CockroachMan said:
			
		

> Very impressive.. I just don't understand why GBA and not DS..


Probably to show that Sonic 1 GBA can be done and not suck.  And a bit of a personal "fuck you" to Sega as well, I'm sure.


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## RupeeClock (Aug 31, 2008)

I tried this on my DS, it's bloody awesome.
Playing as Tails and Knuckles works good too, and all 6 chaos emeralds can be obtained.
It even has debug mode in, just tap R!


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## Seven (Aug 31, 2008)

"*Tags: awesome, fuck yeah*"

Indeed. Trying this out now. Nostalgiabomb imminent.


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## Gore (Aug 31, 2008)

Duuuude, sweeet.
Now how about a Sonic 3D blast port?
Or am I the only one who liked Sonic 3d blast?
Or is there already one?


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## alex (Aug 31, 2008)

PaperPlane said:
			
		

> Duuuude, sweeet.
> Now how about a Sonic 3D blast port?
> Or am I the only one who liked Sonic 3d blast?
> Or is there already one?


That game was good! I have in in mega collection! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 But I can't seem to beat puppet zone. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 I lost at the last moment. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 hate it now...
And I never noticed in the second act that row of ring boxes and a life. :\ I'm blind


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## cornaljoe (Aug 31, 2008)

This is definitely amazing, gives me another reason to play my GBA.


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## Ferrariman (Aug 31, 2008)

Damn, I wasted $20 on Sonic Genesis on GBA. Now I need a new 3-in-1...


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## Maikel Steneker (Aug 31, 2008)

Wow, this looks awesome 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 I'm going to try this NOW


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## Satangel (Aug 31, 2008)

Looks very nice indeed :-)
Tnx for the heads up


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## granville (Aug 31, 2008)

I hope stealth at least finishes this port. I'd like Sonic 2/3/and Knuckles as well, but at least a full Sonic 1 port! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




The thing is that the rom is rather large due to high quality recorded samples of music and sound effects. The game will likely get much bigger when he adds in the other zones. Maybe Stealth can figure out some sort of compression or custom sound driver to make the sound smaller in size.

Well we know now that the screen cropping wasn't what destroyed Sonic Genesis. This custom port has the exact same cropping, but I had NO trouble playing it AT ALL.

Unfortunately, I'm still saving for my new CycloDS and can't access my DS to play this. How does it play on real hardware?

SEGA got school'd


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## Maikel Steneker (Aug 31, 2008)

granville said:
			
		

> Unfortunately, I'm still saving for my new CycloDS and can't access my DS to play this. How does it play on real hardware?


As well as is does on my MegaDrive


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## granville (Aug 31, 2008)

I didn't notice this before, but stealth has also managed to port Sonic CD to the original Genesis. It's a bit bare bones, though:

1- only the first act of Palmtree Panic is available
2- only the Present time is active (if you hit a sign and time warp, it doesn't change times)
3- no music (sound effect work perfectly though)

On the bright side, the game works EXACTLY as it should within the limits of the build. The first level is presented in full at full speed and with perfectly ported graphics! All Sonic hacks for Genesis I've tried on JenesisDS worked perfectly too! So I guess this is one way we could possibly get Sonic CD on DS! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





I also think you can play as Knuckles and Tails, but I haven't found out how.

Again, I don't think I can link you to the rom as it is technically illegal. If you managed to find the Sonic 1 Genesis port, there's a forum link on that page. There's a picture on the thread with Sonic CD. The picture is the link. He calls the hack "R11A Genesis".

BTW, the rom is only 442KB!


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## Hit (Aug 31, 2008)

Reversed engineered, I don't think so
Probably a modified emulator with the game built in


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## granville (Aug 31, 2008)

Hit said:
			
		

> Reversed engineered, I don't think so
> Probably a modified emulator with the game built in


Believe it. He reverse-engineered and ported the code to GBA without any sort of emulator. Don't you dare diss Stealth's programming know-how! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




EDIT: *Holy crap! I just found a secret with the Sonic 1 GBA port! You can press L+Start on the title screen and it will take you to a partially coded Labyrinth Zone!* There are no enemies or obstacles (except for spikes) there and you can't drown, but the basic level art is done and the water functions properly (physics-wise and it dims the screen). You will get to a point where you can't get any farther unless you use the Debug mode (press R). Only the first act is there. Much of the gimmicks in this level aren't implemented yet.


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## RupeeClock (Sep 1, 2008)

Dayum, hidden Labyrinth zone and all?
It even accounts for Tails swimming underwater.

It would be really nice if Stealth decided to finish the port, he could probably even add battery saves if he wanted.


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## Wabsta (Sep 1, 2008)

Wow, this looks awesome!
However, I think I enjoy it more to just play it on my television screen, on my Sega


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## shaunj66 (Sep 1, 2008)

How. The. Fuck. Is that possible?

Seriously there are some very talented people out there! Amazing work!


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## Hadrian (Sep 1, 2008)

Sonic Genesis was atrocious but SEGA's other ports like Comix Zone where spot on.  It just went to show that Sonic Team didn't care at all about the port itself or the fans that wanted it.

Porting this without source code and have it looking near identical is a damn fine achievement and I hope that the people/person behind it could get some paid work from it.


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## The rate of noth (Sep 1, 2008)




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## teonintyfive (Sep 1, 2008)

He REVERSE ENGINEERED THE WHOLE GAME!? Holy fuck, that's mad shit.


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## RadioShadow (Sep 1, 2008)

Pretty cool.  But in the readme file in the download it says:

"This is a personal skill-builder project, and I have no
future plans for it unless Sega wants to commission me
to finish the port for any system"

I guess he doesn't have plans to finish it?


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## Deleted-119707 (Sep 1, 2008)

i cant find it XD lol


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## granville (Sep 1, 2008)

RadioShadow said:
			
		

> Pretty cool.  But in the readme file in the download it says:
> 
> "This is a personal skill-builder project, and I have no
> future plans for it unless Sega wants to commission me
> ...


Maybe he won't continue it, but he says he doesn't know what he's going to do yet.

And for the person who posted that they can't find it, I'm almost certain that linking you to it is a severe violation of these forum's rules. You'll have to find it yourself. But I will tell you:

Google+part of the title of this thread=Win!


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## CheatingSoi (Sep 2, 2008)

Wow this is awesome. If only he completed this and turned that debug mode into a level editor.


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## AshuraZro (Sep 2, 2008)

CheatingSoi said:
			
		

> Wow this is awesome. If only he completed this and turned that debug mode into a level editor.


That debug mode is built in to Sonic 1. He can't just add a level editor to it.


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## RadioShadow (Sep 2, 2008)

nicky041192 said:
			
		

> i cant find it XD lol



*cough* googlesonicretro *cough*


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