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.
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.
![[M]artin](/data/avatars/l/53/53229.jpg?1568173037){kind=avatar}
