Sonic 2 CX Wii U Forwarder (a Widescreen Sonic 2 vWii game)

[muniryka]

Sonic 2 CX is a vWii/Wii Homebrew Channel game made by user SuperrSonic, this game uses a legally obtained copy of Sonic 2 to emulate a Full Widescreen Sonic 2 experience with a lot of additional features including : Save States, Video Options, 3 Playable Characters, Insta-Shield, Drop dash, Homing Attack, Shields from Sonic 3, 2 Player Story Mode, Super Peel-out & Knuckles (jokes aside the game does include knuckles as a playable character alongside tails & sonic). this game has many other features and can also be played using a Wii U Pro Controller.
this game is also notably a vWii game which means it has a kind of lower resolution than the Sonic 2 Decomp for Wii U.

I've made a Wii U Forwarder for this vWii Homebrew Channel game (Sonic 2 CX) so that you can play it directly from the Wii U Menu without having to enter the HBC everytime you wanna launch it.

However we need to set up the game on the apps folder of the SD Card so that the Forwarder knows where to launch it. this forwarder is just that, a forwarder, and it won't work if you don't have the game on your SD Card.

Now you might be asking, "Why would i play Sonic 2 CX since we already have the superior Sonic 2 Wii U port with higher resolution and the 2 Absolute mod?"
here's your answer :
1- Why not have the option. plus it's widescreen.
2- Sonic 2 Wii U port still doesn't have a forwarder like the one i made for 2 CX.
3- Sonic 2 CX surprisingly can be played with the Wii U Pro Controller. (but not the Wii U Gamepad).
4- IT HAS STORY MODE MULTIPLAYER. How cool is that! (it's not splitscreen though so it's kinda iffy)

okay so without further ado, let's start the tutorial of setting up Sonic 2 CX :


Step 1 : Download the Sonic 2 CX .zip file from this OSC link : https://oscwii.org/library/app/Sonic_2_CX

the reason we're downloading it from OSC is because OSC is a website known for checking, offering and maintaining the most up-to-date Homebrew Channel apps without needing to go to different sources and risk having an outdated version of an app.

you can also download the Homebrew Browser app for the vWii's HBC from the OSC website, you can use it to download Hombrew apps from the OSC servers directly from your Wii/vWii (like Sonic 2 CX) and it can also update your outdated Homebrew apps.


Step 2 : Unzip the Sonic 2 CX .zip file that you just downloaded using your favorite file archiver (7zip for example)
now you have the apps folder that you just unzipped from that zip.

Step 3 : Navigate to the apps folder, then open the Sonic_2_CX folder.

Step 4 : Open the meta.xml file with your favorite text editor (i use WordPad)

Step 5 : Go to the line that is below the "<arguments>" line, that line is "<arg>sd:/apps/Sonic 2 CX/</arg>"

Step 6 : Add two underscores on the spaces of the "Sonic 2 CX" word in the "<arg>sd:/apps/Sonic 2 CX/</arg>" line so that it becomes "<arg>sd:/apps/Sonic_2_CX/</arg>"
then click save on your text editor and exit it.

Step 7 : Legally obtain a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, this can be done in various ways which include :
1- Getting it from the Megadrive & Genesis Classic Collection or Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Steam Release from steam in the Uncompressed Roms folder
2- Getting it by dumping your copy of Sonic 2 (there's many tutorials on how to do this)

Step 8 : After you obtain your copy of Sonic 2, name it exactly like this : SONIC2.bin
name it with all caps or else it won't work.

Step 9 : Copy your SONIC2.bin to the root of the Sonic_2_CX folder inside the apps folder that we were previously working on.

Step 10 : Right Click your SONIC2.bin and compress it into a .7z file using 7zip. (you should use 7zip and not WinRAR)

the apps folder should look like this :

and the Sonic_2_CX folder should look like this :

Step 11 : Now copy the apps folder that we've been working on to the root of your SD Card and let it overwrite.

Step 12 : Unzip the Sonic 2 CX .zip file (that is attached on this thread) to the install folder in the root of your SD Card.

Step 13 : Plug your SD Card back to the Wii U, enter WUP Installer GX or any other installer, install the Sonic 2 CX package and now you'll find it on your Wii U Menu.

-Tutorial is Finished-
​

here's what the icon and banner of Sonic 2 CX will look like on the Wii U:

Pressing the home button will bring out a menu with many settings that you can try but don't mess with it too much! You can also exit the game from that menu.

Get a second Wiimote or a second Pro Controller and join as Player 2 !

you sadly can't play this game with the Gamepad but it's totally playable with the Wii U Pro Controller, if anyone knows how to solve this, i'd love to know ! thanks for following the guide and i hope it works for you!

ALSO, i've made the forwarder attached below thanks to this thread : https://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-u-to-vwii-forwarder-channels-ac.618060/ by the amazing AdamCatalyst !
you can follow this thread to make your own WiiU to vWii Homebrew forwarders. ;D

 

[flowlapache]

Nice job and tutorial! thank you

 

[muniryka]

Nice job and tutorial! thank you

no problem! enjoy playing

 

[sonictopfan]

Superrsonic never ceases to impress me, his contributions to the community are definitely appreciated.

On a side note, where do I get Sonic 1 forever and Sonic 2 Absolute for the Wii U? I still don’t have them and I can’t build them on PC since my laptop is so old and crappy it cannot run these games.

Btw, how do you convert a Wii app into a Wii U forwarder? I’ve been trying to convert USB Loader GX with SD support as a WUP forwarder.

 

[muniryka]

Superrsonic never ceases to impress me, his contributions to the community are definitely appreciated.

On a side note, where do I get Sonic 1 forever and Sonic 2 Absolute for the Wii U? I still don’t have them and I can’t build them on PC since my laptop is so old and crappy it cannot run these games.

Btw, how do you convert a Wii app into a Wii U forwarder? I’ve been trying to convert USB Loader GX with SD support as a WUP forwarder.

of course i'll help you tommorow, i'm quite busy right now. is that okay for you?

Post automatically merged: Feb 25, 2023

Btw, how do you convert a Wii app into a Wii U forwarder? I’ve been trying to convert USB Loader GX with SD support as a WUP forwarder.

You don't need to do that lol
There exists already a USB Loader GX with SD support WUP Forwarder somewhere, i even have it installed on my Wii U
i'll send it to you tommorow if i find it

Post automatically merged: Feb 25, 2023

Btw, how do you convert a Wii app into a Wii U forwarder?

All i did is follow this tutorial : https://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-u-to-vwii-forwarder-channels-ac.618060/ but don't make usb loader forwarder with it, it already exists

 

[MikaDubbz]

I don't suppose you have a similar port for Sonic 3, vWii or Wii U native? Dying to get AIR or something similar on my Wii U with the others.

 

[sonictopfan]

of course i'll help you tommorow, i'm quite busy right now. is that okay for you?

Post automatically merged: Feb 25, 2023

You don't need to do that lol
There exists already a USB Loader GX with SD support WUP Forwarder somewhere, i even have it installed on my Wii U
i'll send it to you tommorow if i find it

Post automatically merged: Feb 25, 2023

All i did is follow this tutorial : https://gbatemp.net/threads/wii-u-to-vwii-forwarder-channels-ac.618060/ but don't make usb loader forwarder with it, it already exists

Of course no problem, thanks for going the trouble.

 

[muniryka]

I don't suppose you have a similar port for Sonic 3, vWii or Wii U native? Dying to get AIR or something similar on my Wii U with the others.

first of all, Sonic 2 CX is not something that i made, SuperrSonic made it, i know you're trying so hard to find some sort of Sonic 3 Widescreen Romhack or App for either the vWii or Wii U but sadly there's no such thing as far as i searched. let's hope it becomes available someday xD

 

[MikaDubbz]

first of all, Sonic 2 CX is not something that i made, SuperrSonic made it, i know you're trying so hard to find some sort of Sonic 3 Widescreen Romhack or App for either the vWii or Wii U but sadly there's no such thing as far as i searched. let's hope it becomes available someday xD

I didn't neccesarily mean to imply you made this, I just though maybe when you came across this you came across a similar thing for Sonic 3. Such a shame that it's the outlier of the Genesis-styled Sonic games, even Mania is on the Wii U.

 

[sonictopfan]

I didn't neccesarily mean to imply you made this, I just though maybe when you came across this you came across a similar thing for Sonic 3. Such a shame that it's the outlier of the Genesis-styled Sonic games, even Mania is on the Wii U.

Sonic 3 didn’t get much exposure back in the day, such a shame but also understandable seeing how the Sega Saturn came out the same year those side scrollers were being seen as old news, honestly part of Sonic Mania’s success is because many of these critics never played Sonic 3 and thought those elements borrowed from Sonic 3 like the elemental shields and mini bosses and extended move set and Knuckles’ alternate paths are brand new ideas by the Mania team.

 

[MikaDubbz]

Sonic 3 didn’t get much exposure back in the day, such a shame but also understandable seeing how the Sega Saturn came out the same year those side scrollers were being seen as old news, honestly part of Sonic Mania’s success is because many of these critics never played Sonic 3 and thought those elements borrowed from Sonic 3 like the elemental shields and mini bosses and extended move set and Knuckles’ alternate paths are brand new ideas by the Mania team.

A big part of why 3 is an outlier for the Wii U in this case today is all of the music licensing issues. It's why it never saw a mobile port release which almost certainly would have been decomped when 1, 2, and CD were. I'm sure if Michael Jackson had stayed alive long enough, 3 would have seen a fantastic mobile release, and this wouldn't be an issue today.

Of course we have 3 AIR which is a fantastic stand-in, but the way that it's programmed (by my understanding) makes it nearly impossible to bring over to the Wii U, at least not without a ton of extra work.

Finally, I've heard that feasibly it should be able to be decomped out of Sonic Origins, but that would take quite awhile and I think the scene is overall more than happy with AIR. Which sadly puts the Wii U in the sticky situation that it is. I have faith that one day we'll see a native widescreen Sonic 3 on the Wii U, somehow, even if its still not for years.

 

[sonictopfan]

A big part of why 3 is an outlier for the Wii U in this case today is all of the music licensing issues. It's why it never saw a mobile port release which almost certainly would have been decomped when 1, 2, and CD were. I'm sure if Michael Jackson had stayed alive long enough, 3 would have seen a fantastic mobile release, and this wouldn't be an issue today.

Of course we have 3 AIR which is a fantastic stand-in, but the way that it's programmed (by my understanding) makes it nearly impossible to bring over to the Wii U, at least not without a ton of extra work.

Finally, I've heard that feasibly it should be able to be decomped out of Sonic Origins, but that would take quite awhile and I think the scene is overall more than happy with AIR. Which sadly puts the Wii U in the sticky situation that it is. I have faith that one day we'll see a native widescreen Sonic 3 on the Wii U, somehow, even if its still not for years.

The version on Sonic Origins is the best bet atm since it runs on the same engine as the rest of the mobile games, that’s said I do prefer Sonic 3 AIR and not only because of the music, I think the approach Sonic 3 AIR took is a better approach as it plays faithfully like the original game with additions and improvements instead of recreating everything on a different engine.

I haven’t tested Sonic 2 CX (I don’t have a Wii U pro controller and I’m too lazy to look up a Wii remote and two AA batteries) but from what I can gather it does a very similar job to Sonic 3 AIR, perhaps Superrsonic can do a similar project with Sonic 3? I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask him as he’s a very cool guy from my past experience, he even helped me before obtain a dump of a couple of undumped GC2GBA titles, Crash Bandicoot Blast from Wrath of Cortex and the Tiny Chao Garden from Sonic Adventure DX (the later does have a dump online but only in Japanese making the exclusive mini game unplayable if you can’t read the language) he also taught me how to convert GBA games to run on Wii via Nintendont way back before mgba and vba received proper updates.

 

[muniryka]

The version on Sonic Origins is the best bet atm since it runs on the same engine as the rest of the mobile games, that’s said I do prefer Sonic 3 AIR and not only because of the music, I think the approach Sonic 3 AIR took is a better approach as it plays faithfully like the original game with additions and improvements instead of recreating everything on a different engine.

I haven’t tested Sonic 2 CX (I don’t have a Wii U pro controller and I’m too lazy to look up a Wii remote and two AA batteries) but from what I can gather it does a very similar job to Sonic 3 AIR, perhaps Superrsonic can do a similar project with Sonic 3? I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask him as he’s a very cool guy from my past experience, he even helped me before obtain a dump of a couple of undumped GC2GBA titles, Crash Bandicoot Blast from Wrath of Cortex and the Tiny Chao Garden from Sonic Adventure DX (the later does have a dump online but only in Japanese making the exclusive mini game unplayable if you can’t read the language) he also taught me how to convert GBA games to run on Wii via Nintendont way back before mgba and vba received proper updates.

Yeah sadly sonic 2 cx only works using pro controller or wii remote
I'll make sure to send you how to kbszll the sonic 2 decomp soon

 

[MikaDubbz]

Yeah sadly sonic 2 cx only works using pro controller or wii remote
I'll make sure to send you how to kbszll the sonic 2 decomp soon

Man I could have swore I had Sonic 1 Forever and Sonic 2 Absolute working on my Wii U both with the GamePad and the Pro Controller, but now after you said they don't work with the pro controller, I went and double checked, and they don't! (Though I imagine it shouldn't be too hard to make them work that way in the right hands, but still I swore they already did!) I don't know what kinda Mandela Effect wormhole you pulled me through, but let me go back to my previous universe where the pro controller did still work with these great mods on the Wii U!

 

[muniryka]

Man I could have swore I had Sonic 1 Forever and Sonic 2 Absolute working on my Wii U both with the GamePad and the Pro Controller, but now after you said they don't work with the pro controller, I went and double checked, and they don't! (Though I imagine it shouldn't be too hard to make them work that way in the right hands, but still I swore they already did!) I don't know what kinda Mandela Effect wormhole you pulled me through, but let me go back to my previous universe where the pro controller did still work with these great mods on the Wii U!

ugh it's so annoying tbh... i hate playing with the Gamepad so the fact that Absolute and Forever don't work with the Pro Controller is such a dealbreaker to me :/