The team at Sonic Hacking Contest (shortened to SHC) is finally ready to show of a teaser of some of the games we will get to see and try for ourselves at this years contest, starting next week. One of the best parts about the contest is that, similar to the SAGE event, all games shown must submit a playable demo that is available to the public (that means you!). Once downloads go live next week, we’ll be the first to tell you where they can be found, and help you determine which ones you think are worth your time.
Today, SHC 2023 released a short trailer to give us an idea of what to expect, be sure to check it out below along with a breakdown underneath it discussing some of the projects seen listed in the trailer.
Here is some basic info on the major hacks and mods from the trailer:
- Sonic CD: Dubious Depths
- This mod is a restoration of a scrapped level, for the Sonic CD 2011 port to PC.
- It’s progress can be tracked at it’s Gamebanana page.
- Sonic Mania: Ruby Chronicles
- A mod that remixes Sonic Mania with new routes, harder bosses, and more.
- It is available at Gamebanana, however it’s uncertain if this is the same as the SHC 2023 version.
- Sonic Eggman’s Conquest
- This was shown at last year’s SHC, but interestingly it’s artstyle is completely different.
- The levels shown also look original unlike the old demo that just reused Green Hill Zone. Time will tell!
- Sonic 3 Air: Visions and Dreams
- This appears to be a insanely ambitious mod of the PC port/decomp, Sonic 3 Air. With a healthy dose of DELTARUNE references.
- The clip from the SHC trailer is from a full trailer for the mod released by user ‘techncolour’.
- If you’re interested, this clip might have slight spoilers but it shows how deep this modification of Sonic 3’s code goes
- Hellfire Saga
- I’ve played this myself, it is exceptional and it is complete!
- That link is to a patched rom, I assume it’s provided this way because Sega rarely does takedowns?
- I’ve played this myself, it is exceptional and it is complete!
- Sonic Delta 40 MB: Sonic Delta Next
- Previous versions of this ambitous hack had 37 levels from Sonic 1-3K, including beta levels, as well as the main trio playable.
- A lot more info can be found on it’s SHC 2020 entry page.
- Sonic Megamix Mania
- This Sonic Mania mod has been in the works for years now, and it’s lookin’ great.
- It’s based on the fantastic Sonic 1 Romhack, Sonic Megamix, which was actually made by members of the Mania Team.
- Now that some of the later levels are being shown off, I feel we might be close to release!
- Modern Sonic Adventure 2
- This is a popular mod for the PC version of Sonic Adventure 2 that was playable at the last SHC and SAGE.
- It seeks to overhaul SA2 with updated graphics, lighting, music, visuals, animations, controls and more.
- The current version can be downloaded here.
As a big fan of Sonic games, especially from the classic series, I’ve participated in probably 5 or 6 years of the Sonic Hacking Contest, to varying degrees. However I was shocked to learn recently that this is actually their 20th year holding this event, which really goes to show how the massive amounts of collective history and building upon each others success really defines the Sonic rom hack / fan game community. To stay up to date with the on goings of SHC 2023, make sure to check out their Twitter account.