Sonic the Hedgehog. You know, I’ve heard that he can really move. He also has an attitude. But he’s also the fastest thing alive too. But he’s had some trouble. Sonic had the HARDEST time jumping into 3D, and there were only two 3D games before he would be bombarded with bad games, a laughable attempt at voice acting, and the worst reboot ever. He’s recovering now, but even Sonic Team has lost faith in themselves. They gave Sonic a run button in Sonic Lost World because they didn’t want to screw up the controls. The new Sonic Boom TV show and game is taking place in an alternate universe so that if it bombs, they can backtrack and forget about it. But the fans are what takes the cake. They’re IDIOTS. They complain about the stupidest things. They complained about Tails being unlockable in Sonic CD 2011, Sonic having GREEN EYES, and more. Not all the fans are imbeciles though. Some are pretty incredible. Most of those people are Rom Hackers. What’s a Rom Hacker? Rom Hackers are people who dig into the ROMS of games, and change the coding to make a different experience. What results from this is called a Rom Hack. These will be posted on websites (say, Sonic Retro) for people to download and enjoy. Recently, one Rom Hack caught my eye.
Sonic the Hedgehog: Color Contrast!
Sonic 1 Color Contrast (SCC) is a Rom Hack of the original Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis. As the title might suggest, color plays a large roll. Each zone has been sapped of it’s color and music, and Sonic (also colorless) has to get them back. Scattered throughout the stages are three Color Monitors, one Sonic Monitor, one Music Monitor, one Cycle Monitor (Marble Zone lacks this monitor), and in the case of Labyrinth Zone and Scrap Brain Zone act 3, a Goggles Monitor.
Each Color Monitor restores 1/3rd of the main colors. A Sonic Monitor restores Sonic’s colors and grants you an extra life. A Music Monitor restores the music to normal. A Goggles Monitor restores underwater colors. And a Cycle Monitor restores all the cycling palettes. Collecting all of the Monitors in a stage will allow you to enter a Special Stage and get one of the six Chaos Emeralds. Get all six to restore all the color in every zone. There’s more though, including a High-Jump Shield which allows you to jump higher, a Restart Monitor which takes you back to the beginning of the stage, Speed Shoes, Invincibility, and Ring Monitors.
In each zone there are two acts, Act 1 and Act 3. Act 2 is technically the Hub World. Scrap Brain Zone however, doesn’t have a Hub.
All of the level designs are different from the original game. There are some familiar sections however.
Personally, I really like exploring the expansive levels in search of the many Monitors. You also only need to find one Monitor to complete the stage. So if you don’t feel like it, completing the stage isn’t an enormous chore. There’s also plenty of room for speed. This is a great hack.
Verdict
8.4/10. Enough said. My name is JD and I’m OUT!
By the way
I don’t mean to offend anyone in the Sonic Fan base, I really like Sonic myself.