Sonic Sundown - Early Teaser

By Red Miso Studios
Type Judged   Category ROM Hack   Game Sonic the Hedgehog 2 8-BIT (GG, MS)

This is an early two-act teaser of Sonic Sundown, an advanced "whole game overhaul" type hack of Sonic 2 SMS about travelling across different planets. And a rebranded continuation of Sonic Eclipse from SHC2018. :)

This teaser contains two things:

  • Neptune Lake Zone Act 1 and 2 as Sonic;
  • an extremely early preview of Balance Wheel Zone as work-in-progress Tails.

Note that this is mostly intended as a small sneak peek of more to come in the next years and a tech demo :)

List of implemented features showcased in this demo:

  • New sprites and animations for Sonic (including an expanded frame count for existing animations and lots of completely new animations for style);
  • WIP playable Tails;
  • New abilities:
    • Air Roll;
    • Spin Dash for Sonic;
    • Flight and flight cancel for Tails; (press down to flight cancel)
  • Shield and Save Point (arrow) monitors;
  • New level with fully custom art, as well as custom palette cycling and animated tiles;
  • Custom or substantially modified enemies;
  • Simulated parallax scrolling in some levels;
  • New audio SFX and music;
  • Brand-new title screen;
  • No Game Overs or Time Overs, new HUD with the ring counter expanded to allow for 999 rings;
  • Sonic CD-like extended camera;
  • Lots of engine changes.

Known issues:

  • Tails has missing sprites;
  • There is sometimes slowdown or camera jitter with lots of objects on-screen.

Hope you enjoy!

P. S. Try to collect above 100 rings and the game will show you a Tails signpost :P

Credits

Red Miso Studios Staff

  • pixelcat -- project lead, level and sprite art, programming, audio sfx, level design;
  • LaterSingTogether -- Sonic and Tails sprites, monitor and signpost art;
  • ProjectFM -- LOZ music (temporarily on the Title Screen);
  • Sergey ESN -- BWZ badnik art (not featured in the demo);

Thanks

  • VAdaPEGA -- NLZ music that I lifted from Sonic Eclipse (2018);
  • Devon -- hardware testing;
  • TheBlad768 -- hardware testing and advice;
  • Glitch -- for creating the disassembly and tools back in 2009 :p
Gallery
Download

File Type: rom/master-system

File Size: 512 KB

VitalikNerd005 @ 2024-09-28 04:25:57

Super awesome!

 
Roknadal @ 2024-09-28 06:59:22

One of the few MS sonic games I actually liked! I can't believe that this is a MASTER SYSTEM ROM hack with how gorgeous it is. and the remix of sonic boom is a banger

REALLY excited for the next update

(please don't abandon this project, I beg of you)

 
Roebloz @ 2024-09-28 22:37:00

Absolutely amazing!!! I had seen some of the screenshots and was already expecting it to be great, but I was underestimating how good it looks. I LOVE the visuals and music, and the level design is great!!! This is probably my favorite one so far, and I've only gotten through 3 entries.

I hope you make this into a full game!!!

Anyway, here is my playthrough and review! https://youtu.be/2lzNanup7Zs

 
diablo666 @ 2024-09-29 09:36:15

One of the hacks that shows the full power of the console and what can be squeezed out of it. I liked that the characters were adapted, the locations are juicy. We are waiting for the full version

 
dilworks @ 2024-09-29 11:06:27

Damn, for a second I thought this was a Genesis ROM hack... until the SMS physics reminded me where I was standing on :D

Seriously, the art is just gorgeous for a SMS game. The music is also pretty good!

Short and sweet, this is a great entry for a SHC that has surprised me positively for the amount of 8-bit entries.

 
Eeveelover64 @ 2024-09-29 12:51:24

short 'n sweet but visually impressive! im so glad you added an air-curl, disabled roll-jump lock, and has tails be able to cancel flight! can't wait for the next demo!!!! :D

 
HackTsopis @ 2024-10-03 09:03:33

All I can say is that this is a quality teaser of the future of Romhack). I wish you good luck in creating it, Red Miso Studios!

 
Big Mike @ 2024-10-03 20:03:18

This the best 8-Bit Sonic game, inclding both official or hack games! Your work (not just this project but stuff like Hellfire Saga) is raising the bar quite high! I look forward to seeing more of both this project and your work in general!

Last modified by Big Mike @ 2024-10-03 20:04:07

 
Joshy20XX @ 2024-10-05 05:59:18

The spindash in Sonic 2 SMS! Let's goooo!! The parallax scrolling in the short Tails stage is very cool! Can't wait to play the next demo.

 
cherrichi @ 2024-11-13 02:59:56

saw this on the chao direct and i genuinely just want to applaud you for somehow making a full sonic hack on the MASTER SYSTEM of all places

it genuinely looks beautiful for having sms limitations and im excited to see more of it!!