In addition to using one the emulators mentioned above, make sure you're also using the latest version! Outdated emulator versions may have additional issues with Sega/Mega CD Mode 1.

Cool presentation. I do feel it leans a bit much into the beta though.

Awsome Hack/ROM

Do you plan on releasing the soundtrack? I really like the custom songs and ports, and I'm not familiar with if they're from anywhere else for me to listen to while doing other things.

Sonic & Tails are Japanese dub voice

Incredibly promising rom hack, I love all the art, music, and little attentions to detail that make this feel like it could've been officially released after S3&K... but I found the bosses to be very tedious and discouraging to learn, which isn't helped by the unnecessary ~40 second runback on the first boss, and having to wait through the slow first phase of the third boss on repeat attempts was what made me decide to stop playing. I'd love to play a more refined version of this hack someday!!

the hack REALLY does not like savestates (i had to use them for the first time in my life on that dreadful first boss). that combined with the rings falling through the floor made me quit after the first act. it's a little upsetting because i saw this on youtube a while back and i thought it was gonna be amazing. too bad i cant play the rest of it though... i guess thats what razor and zenon are for.

bro make it a bin file

Really loved the presentation, graphics and music! But i think the bosses are not recommended for casual players. Otherewise, i like the level design and most of the cutscenes

In my opinion this is one of the best ROM Hacks released for the Sonic Hacking Contest, this game is amazing, plus, the cutscenes and history it's something I liked too. This was a great first release, I'm interested to see more in the future.

Amazing and nice work! :D

I was wondering where that ROM Hack was in SSRG and what a coincidence it was here! I really loved this. I'll write some details later.

i really liked it!!! graphics, story, audio, everything except level design is good!!!

so yeah please improve level deisgn and boss design. people already talked about bosses (i think they're actually really good, just difficult), but bro levels are kinda insufferable (like those who have new layouts, green hil act 2 and onwards) but i really do see potential here, and hope this aint the last entry of this project here!!!

I could not fit my thoughts on the hack into a comment due to character limits. My full review is here.

Really liked this one; the contrast between level and boss difficulty is odd though. Personally, I would cut the first fight in half, and extend the stun period of the 2nd Neon Carnival 1 fight.

pretty much all of the level design after GHZ1 gets a bit messy - i think focusing on less gimmicks and hazards from multiple stages, the better. it's impressive that it's all there! just needs more focus, cause the game itself is very fun and motivating to play! the bosses are all relatively good, 2nd one being the best, but i do think you should do something about the waiting/dodging phases to add in more opportunities to fight back. PS you should totally add Tails' recurl from flight :3

The best hack in, what... maybe the last two years? The soundtrack and sound effects are the bomb, and the graphics are absolutely incredible! The story is the best part so far, though things got a bit confusing at the end of the trial. Please, release the soundtrack—the ports and the original tracks are absolute fire!

This is the best Sonic fan game I have ever played, but PLEASE fix the save files. I started the game and made a save file on the third boss but it got corrupted.

bro this game is so peak W Chainspike

The presentation and music was great. But the unbalanced difficulty of the bosses compared to the levels soured my enjoyment of this promising hack. When you get hit, most of your rings fall through the floor or disappear nearly instantly. Neon Carnival 1's boss is only vulnerable for less than half a second!! Retrying bosses becomes tedious when you have to get through multiple boss phases or cutscenes to get a chance to make progress.

Dude, the artwork, animations and music ara amazing. But those bosses, are really not fun. I agree with the other comments.That's not difficulty, and even less an improvement over the bosses from the classic games. But, despite that, the hack it's really good.

The first boss feels alot less like a test of skill and more like a roadblock from the actual game I want to play, I shouldnt be driven to use save states at the very first boss fight. It feels as if it was made to frustrate the player with each attempt making the player: go back to collect rings, wait for the signpost cutscene to end, skip a cutscene, wait for tails to be captured, skip about 3 more scenes just to likely die and repeat the process all over again because the boss actually has 4 phases.

This was the most impressive hack this year! That's defintely for sure! It has phenomenal presentation! However, there are some questionable design choices with the game as a whole. I didn't have too much of an issue with the bosses in general compared to other people, but I feel like the level length is way too long for my liking. I almost timed over in the second act of the second zone, because of how long the act was.

This is one of the best hack on this contest, but bosses... metal sonic is good, mecha sonic is bad. Level design is also have issues like a PITS ON INTRO LEVEL!!!!! it's bad I think. but hack also remain good

I realy liked this hack. I've been waiting to play it ever since I saw the teasers on YouTube but I have one question. What's the .cue file for? I tried loading it in my emulator and got nothing and if I open the .gen file in a spot without the .cue that has no problems either. I also tried burning it to a real disc and put it in my Sega CD 2 and that got nothing as well.

The .cue is a dummy file for certain emulators that may need it in order to boot Sega CD Mode 1 software. On original hardware, you can simply load the .gen file on a flash cart and it will work. You don't need to burn a CD. Sorry for the confusion.

Also, can you learn about making ISOs?

I don't know this game's history so I don't have any bias towards it and... I have to say, after reading all these glazing comments ... I am not that impressed. Now, the visuals are gorgeous and the music is a bop but... everything else?... I just don't find it fun. The bosses are terrible. Why can't I recover my rings during them? They too long and far too difficult, and the levels are just kind of prolonged and boring. Sorry to say but I don't get the hype behind this one.

The hack is simply amazing, go for it! You still have a lot to do. I often come across bugs, so if you need a tester, feel free to reach out.

Yo this game is peak but really f-ing hard, my suugestion is let the player keep some Rings when getting hit, and PLEASE make Neon Carnival Zone not bottomless anymore

Uhh... well it looks nice. Music's decent.

But what in the holy mother of fuck is this stage and boss design? Everything great about the gameplay is just recycled from the original games. I wish I could like it, but after losing to the first Mecha Sonic fight, and every time having to go back and get rings and then skip the cutscene again and then lose tails and then skip another cutscene- fuck man. Drop or MAJORLY overhaul the bosses, bring in another level designer, and this could be really really cool.