Sonic the Hedgehog has always been known as one of the fastest characters in all of gaming. From racing through the 2D levels of the original Sega Genesis game to the boost gameplay of modern 3D Sonic, the Blue Blur is no stranger to picking up the pace. As if being the fastest thing alive wasn’t enough, one fan decided to give Sonic the power to teleport between games.
In a recent tweet from Alistair Aitcheson, a game developer, he revealed his most recent project dealing with the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Through the use of emulation, the developer had managed to make Sonic change games after touching a ring. The creator of the new hack that uses the BizHawk emulator released a video showcasing the innovative way to play Sega's games. Each time Sonic touches a ring, he would instantly switch to another game, allowing the player to advance in multiple games at the same time.
This newest project lets players jump between levels in games on a number of systems. According to the creator of the project, the emulation supports GBA, Sega CD, Saturn, 32X, Mega Drive, Game Gear, Master System, SNES and NES. While numerous classic titles were shown such as the original Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic R, Aitchenson even revealed that the game runs Somari, the strange fan recreation of levels from Sonic the Hedgehog that reskins the character to look like Mario.
Strangely enough, this isn’t the first time that Sonic has been involved in a timeline-shifting phenomenon. One of the games included in Aitcheson’s new project, Sonic CD, has a similar mechanic to the one the creator is using in this new hack. While Sonic CD on the Sega CD doesn’t switch between different games in the series, it does allow the player to switch between different versions of the game. Using time travel, players have the opportunity to change between three time zones: past, present, and future.
Fans seem excited with the news of this new way to play some of their favorite games. With over 5,100 likes on Twitter, the community seems eager to give this new project from Aitcheson a try. Many have even suggested additional Sonic games for the developer to add to the emulation such as Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, while others want to see more franchises such as Pac-Man and the Puyo Puyo games played in this new format.
It’s exciting when fan-made projects breathe new life into existing games. Hopefully, this innovative idea from Aitcheson helps Sonic fans pass the time while they wait for the release of the next mainline game in the Sonic series rumored to be called Sonic Rangers.