I’m doing another Rom Hack review? Yes. Now shut up and read.
Background
It started with a hack of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 known as Sonic 2 Heroes. It was a hack where you took control of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all at once. It was fun, but kinda limited. It was only later that it was suggested that it merge with another hack, known as Sonic 1 and 2 (which combines both Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 into one game). Flamewing, the creator of Sonic 2 heroes, teamed up with the creator of Sonic 1 and 2, ColinC10, to create the hack that would become known as Sonic Classic Heroes.
Sonic Classic Heroes!
Gameplay
Sonic Classic Heroes (SCH) takes the gameplay of Sonic Heroes and combines it with the levels of the first two genesis Sonic games. You take control of Sonic with Tails and Knuckles following you. By pressing “A” you can switch which of the three you control. Every character has their own strengths and weaknesses. Sonic is the fastest, has an Insta-Shield that in the second it’s used extends attack range and makes Sonic invincible, and can do a Super-Peelout by pressing UP + B/C. Tails can carry Sonic and Knuckles by flying, but can’t fly forever or run as fast as Sonic. Knuckles is the slowest and can’t jump as high but he can glide, climb up walls, and break through certain walls with ease. All three characters can spindash by pressing UP/DOWN + B/Z (although Sonic will do his Super-Peelout if UP is pressed)
Levels and Cutscenes
SCH has a total of 17 Zones, each having 1-4 acts depending on the Zone.
Note: Keep in mind that these are the original Zones from Sonic 1 and Sonic 2, so I’m not critiquing the hack.
Sonic 1 Zones
Green Hill|3 acts
A great speedy and colorful opening Zone. Great music too.
Marble|3 acts
And we immediately lose all that speed with slow and tedious platforming. Bah.
Spring Yard|3 acts
A combination of the first two Zones, this one has speed but is still plagued with slow platforming. Nice music.
Labyrinth|3 acts
A very slow, uninteresting, tedious, underwater Zone. Ugh.
Star Light|3 acts
Finally some more speed! A very fast Zone with great music, this Zone rules.
Scrap Brain|4 acts
Imagine hell with buzzsaws and flamethrowers. The third act is basically another act of Labyrinth Zone, but isn’t as tedious if you take the shortcut, and the fourth acts pits you against the final boss from Sonic 1.
After a short cutscene you are taken to the Sonic 2 levels.
Emerald Hill|2 acts
A very Green Hill like level, Emerald hill is very fast and has great music.
Chemical Plant|2 acts
A very fast level with some amazing music, this is one great Zone.
Aquatic Ruin|2 acts
A fast underwater level, but if you take the upper path you won’t have to even touch the water.
Casino Night|2 acts
A casino level with pinball, speed, and more pinball.
Hill Top|2 acts
A blue and boring level, it’s still fast but even the music makes this Zone feel weird.
Mystic Cave|2 acts
A fun cave like Zone featuring the infamous spike pit which is now no longer a trap as Knuckles can climb out.
Oil Ocean|2 acts
A giant level with the entire bottom being filled with oil. I wonder what would happen if it caught fire?
Metropolis|3 acts
Dr.Eggman’s big bad base. Filled with cheaply placed enemies like Shellcrackers and Slicers, your ring count will always be at 3 at best.
Sky Chase|1 act
A very unique Zone as you’re on top of Sonic’s plane the Tornado killing enemies.
Wing Fortress|1 act
A flying ship which contains many platforming challenges.
Death Egg|1 act
The final Zone in the game, in this Zone you face off against Silver Sonic and Eggman in his giant Death Egg Robot.
SCH also has two cutscenes. When you beat Scrap Brain Zone act 4, you get the ending of Sonic 1, but the three heroes immediately look up to see the Death Egg and Wing Fortress flying by. Amy Rose, a pink hedgehog comes in with the Tornado and picks the three up and carries them to Emerald Hill Zone. If you got all the Chaos Emeralds you’d get the good ending of Sonic 1, but the Death Egg and Wing Fortress would still appear. After defeating the final boss, you get another cutscene in which Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles fall from the sky and are saved by Amy. Getting all 7 Chaos Emeralds results in the same thing except they will be in their super forms.
The 7 Chaos Emeralds
I’ve said “Chaos Emeralds” a lot haven’t I? How do you get them? That’s where special stages come in. By having 50 rings at the end of the stage, and by jumping into the giant ring, you’ll be taken to a special stage from Sonic 1. By navigating through the equivalent of an acid trip, you’ll obtain one of the 7 Chaos Emeralds (the seventh special stage is fan made, there were only 6 in Sonic 1). By having 50 rings and jumping into a checkpoint, you’ll be taken to a special stage from Sonic 2. By running through a half-pipe and getting the required amount of rings, you’ll be awarded with a Sol Emerald from Sonic Rush. By getting all 7 Chaos Emeralds you unlock the ability to go Super. By collecting 50 rings and pressing the jump button in mid air, you’ll go Super (or in Tails’ case, Semi-Super because he needs the Super Emeralds to go Super, which don’t appear in this hack). While Super, Sonic and friends are completely invincible. Each one also has a special bonus.
Super Knuckles runs faster, jumps higher, and glides faster.
Semi-Super Tails runs and flies faster.
Super Sonic runs faster, jumps higher, and can do a double jump in any direction
Upon turning Super, every Invincibility monitor becomes a “S” monitor. Upon breaking it, every character temporarily gains their Hyper form (or in Tails’ case Super form)
Hyper Sonic gets even faster and when he double-jumps he knocks out every enemy on the screen!
Hyper Knuckles is faster than Super Knuckles and when he grabs onto a wall after gliding he knocks out every enemy on the screen.
Super Tails is faster than Semi-Super Tails and he has his FLICKY ARMY OF DESTRUCTION! These buggers attack anything on the screen for you!
Geese! Overpowered much?
Menus
The hack has an autosave feature. On the save select screen, you can pick your save file, start another one, change character order, listen to the music in the sound test, change menu themes, and pick whatever level you want. There’s also standard and Combi-ring mode. Combi-ring mode tethers your characters together and you have to make use of physics to get through the levels. It’s basically like the game Knuckles’ Chaotix for the Sega 32X. Speaking of the Chaotix…
The Chaotix
Before you start a new game, you can choose between Team Sonic, and Team Chaotix. Team Chaotix features Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, and Charmy Bee. Vector can double jump in any direction, Espio’s basically like Sonic, and Charmy can’t jump, but instead dashes in any direction INFINITELY! He never gets tired and so you can just fly over the whole level!
Score
Around a 9/10. I love this hack, so much to do!