LET'S PLAY SONIC CLASSIC HEROES - Fast is all we know.

Hello ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Let's Play Sonic Classic Heroes.

Sonic Classic Heroes is a ROM hack based on Sonic 2, made by two hackers who go by Flamewing and ColinC10. It's had a few iterations, but the most recent is version 0.10, which was released in August 2013.

As far as fan-made passion projects built from decades-old games go, it's some kind of incredible! The game allows you to play through all the levels in both Sonic 1 and 2 using teams of multiple characters with a shockingly high level of customization. I've posted about it on Talking Time in ages long past, and I've wanted to do a proper let's play series on it for awhile now.

As always, my recording sessions are streamed live to my Hitbox with co-commentary by SKYPE CREW, then chopped up and posted to youtube a few days later. It's becoming pretty common for me to stream on Monday nights, but my schedule is anything but consistent. I'm always overjoyed when people actually show up to my stupid sessions, so I'll try to announce when I'm setting up to stream in this thread and on my twitter.

If you want to play this hack yourself, it can be downloaded from its page on Sonic Retro.

Finally we got the Youtube Playlist. if you just want the videos.

POLOUGE BONUS POST!
HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?
Long ago in a magical land known as the Sonic Hacking community, two star-crossed hackers worked on two separate projects.

The first was Sonic 1 and 2, created by the wise and generous ColinC10. This hack inserted all the levels from Sonic the Hedgehog into it's sequel Sonic 2. This allowed the player take Sonic and Tails through all the levels of both games as a single experience.

The second was Sonic 2 Heroes, created by the brave and noble Flamewing. This hack took the main idea of the Sonic Heroes and implemented it in a game that's actually worth playing. The completed hack let players go through Sonic 2 with the trio of characters from S3&K with their full movesets intact, switching between player character on the fly.

Upon the release of Sonic 2 Heroes, members of the Sonic Retro forums jokingly suggested that ConinC10 and Flamewing should combine their projects, creating a frankenstine's monster of a ROM with all the features of both. Flamewing laughed, then reached out to ColinC10 and with his help set out to make that rediculous pipe dream a reality. That completed project was released in July 2012, proving that dreams can come true, and sometimes you do get everything you could have possibly asked for. Were this any other story, that would be the perfect happy ending.

Oh but this isn't "any other story". Now that we had everything we asked for, the hackers set out to deliver what we never even thought to request! August 2013 saw the most recent version's release. with a second team of characters and new gameplay functions taken from the last source anyone thought of: the much maligned 32X title Knuckles Chaotix.

The hack is still technically in development, with no less than 6 additional teams proposed to be included in future releases.

HOW IS THIS LET'S PLAY GONNA WORK?
In my previous let's Streams, I would play through the game in question as one normally would, while shooting the shit with my Skype Bros. That system won't really work here though, as what I want to showcase is the absolutely massive number of ways this game can be played.

Both Team Sonic and Team Chaotix can take on the game with all three at once, just two at once, or one all by their lonesome. In any setup where it's not just one character all by themselves, you also have the option of playing in Chaotix mode which changes gameplay significantly. That means we have a grand total of 22 ways to play. And that's not even bringing up the options to play through just Sonic 1 or just Sonic 2 and so on and so forth.

For this LP, I'll be using the level select to play through levels individually, with different options active, to show off just how vast the customization here can be. I won't be showing off every possible combination, but I'll try to keep things nice and varied, while taking steps to show off just how crazy some of the options can make certain levels.

I'll still be shooting the shit with my Skype Bros though! Some things never change.

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 01

GREEN HILL ZONE
COLOR COMMENTARY
FanBoyMaster

In which Sonic, Tails and Knuckles ease gently into the swing of things in the immediately recognizable Green Hill Zone.

GENERAL

• THE SETTINGS USED ON THIS LEVEL ARE JUST THE DEFAULTS. If you don't mess with any of the options when you start the game, this is what you get. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, running around Green Hill Zone. Whoever you're controlling is the leader the others will follow, and you can cycle through them with the A button.
• THE CHARACTER SPRITES ARE ALL FROM S3&K. For Tails and Knuckles their move sets are reproduced from that game more or less exactly. Tails can fly and Knuckles can glide and climb. Sonic, on the other hand, gets a few minor modifications from the Sonic 3 standard. His maximum speed is now higher than both Tails and Knuckles, and he gets a version of the Figure-8 dash from Sonic CD.
• ALL SHIELDS HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH S3&K ELEMENTAL SHIELDS. As in S3&K, Sonic is the only one that can use the special abilities, the bubble bounce, electric double jump and fire dash.
• YOU CAN ACCESS SPECIAL STAGES FROM BOTH SONIC 1 AND SONIC 2. Both of them are reached in the same way as their original games: S1 stages by jumping into the big ring at the end of a level with 50 rings or more, and S2 stages by hitting the stars over a checkpoint with 50 rings or more. Getting all 7 emeralds from either of the two stages gets you super sonic, and getting all 14 gets you Hyper Sonic, but since I'm doing this with no saves using the level select, it's pointless for me to get any of them.
• YOU CAN GO INTO BALL FORM AND USE MOVES AS THOUGH YOU JUMPED WHENEVER AIRBORNE. Another tweak from the Sonic 3 Standard. In the original games if you jumped on a spring or ran off a ledge you would fall to the ground in standard walking or running animation. In this game hitting jump while in the air will make your character curl up into a ball as though they had jumped from the ground. This gives you just a few more movement options, like using any special jump moves or landing on a robot no problem after hitting a spring.
• I DON'T LIKE HOW THIS VIDEO LOOKS. I mean ew. Unfortunately I don't think there's much I can do to pretty it up, as I can only push the bitrate and resolution so high before my SKYPE BROS start suffering for my vanity. The next two levels were also recorded at these settings, but I'm gonna experiment and see if I can't make the next session look a little nicer.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:37 - LOLDEAD.
  BEAT: That's what I get for not paying attention!
  FanboyMaster: Oh, what have you done.
  
• 00:44 - I OUTLINE A PLAN FOR HOW I'M GONNA STREAM TO FANBOY.
  But it's all a pack of lies, and I end up doing things totally differently, so just ignore it.
• 01:28 - SLOW ROTATION PSYCHEDELIC TIME!
  I grabbed the level end ring to show that the Sonic 1 Special Stages Still existed.
• 03:03 - ON THE SUPER PEEL OUT SPRITE BEING A WEIRD MASHUP OF SONIC 3 & SONIC CD
  FanboyMaster It's like watching a small child hand you a handcrafted present.
  BEAT: It's like Snoop Dogg putting homestucks on his facebook.
  
• 03:58 - HALFPIPE TIME!
  I basically just jumped in here to show that the Sonic 2 Stages still existed.
• 06:08 - SLOW ROTATION PSYCHEDELIC TIME AGAIN!
  I grabbed the level end ring to wait I already did that back at 1:28 this is bullshit. It won't happen again I promise.*

*Unless I forget.

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 02

MARBLE ZONE
SECOND STRINGER
FanBoyMaster

In which we switch over to the other trio of playable characters, the guys from Knuckles Chaotix!

Except Knuckles because he's in Team Sonic. And Mighty, as nobody's seen Mighty for a long time.

GENERAL

• THE CHAOTIX SPRITES APPEAR TO BE TO BE SLIGHTLY MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THE ONES FROM KNUCKLES CHAOTIX. I've never played knuckles Chaotix, but from what I can tell, the sprites here look like they always did: freaky and ugly.
• THE GAME USES A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT PALLET WHEN YOU PLAY WITH THE CHAOTIX. The Genesis could only display 64 colors onscreen at a time. These levels were made with Sonic's blue and Tan in mind, so to properly display the Chaotix's sprites (including Espio's stupid color-changing idle animation), the hackers needed to get creative. This means a lot of Minor changes to the game pallet such at the much purpler title card, the much darker flame shield, and one I'll point out in the highlights.
• THE CHAOTIX'S MOVE SET IS WEIRD, AND CAN MAKE SOME LEVELS TRIVIALLY EASY. Vector can climb up walls just like Knuckles. Espio does one better, as he can stand on any wall and then run up it. Finally Charmy can just fly forever. That's seriously his only move. No jump no roll no spindash just fly fly fly fly fly.
• I USE THE CHAOTIX'S WEIRD MOVES TO SKIP BASICALLY ALL OF MARBLE ZONE. Because fuck Marble Zone.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:44 - I SKIP MARBLE ZONE ACT 1.
  I dunno if that secret passage was always in the original Sonic 1. There's no way Sonic could have reached it.
• 00:52 - FANBOY IS UPSET BY VECTOR.
  FanboyMaster: I can't get over Vector's rolling animation, he turns into a doughnut.
  BEAT: Why wouldn't he be a doughnut? It makes perfect sense.
  FanboyMaster: It's deeply upsetting!
  BEAT: Doughnuts are delicious.
  
• 01:20 - I SKIP MARBLE ZONE ACT 2.
  I dunno if that secret passage was always in the original Sonic 1. There's no way Sonic could have reached it.
• 01:40 - ESPIO'S OTHER JUMP ANIMATION.
  Espio has two separate jump animations: one where he does his dumb top spin/look Ima helicopter thing, and one where he's rolled up in a ball like everyone else. I think the hackers made ball mode so you could take him to the Sonic 1 Special Stages, but for some reason it also shows up here when I'm bouncing off the breakable blocks.
• 02:08 - I SKIP MARBLE ZONE ACT 3.
  I dunno if that secret passage was always in the original Sonic 1. There's no way Sonic could have ahahahahaha.
• 02:46 - LOLDEAD.
  BEAT: Oh shit I might actually die like an idiot.
  And then BEAT died. Like an idiot.
• 03:35 - OH MY GOD ROBOTNIK BEST COLOR CHANGE EVER FOREVER.
  Jersy Shore tan. Just drink it in. You love it.

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 03

SPRING YARD ZONE
TETHERED BY FATE AND SPARKLES
FanboyMaster - Smiler - Patito

In which switch back to team Sonic, but also enable the terrifying and glorious Chaotix Mode. Because of course I want the bounciest level in Sonic 1 to have even more bounce. That's just obvious.

GENERAL

• SO WHAT'S CHAOTIX MODE OR WTFEVER? Chaotix Mode brings back those weird magic rubber bands from Chaotix and attaches them to all members in the team. This changes gameplay in some pretty big ways! The most obvious effect is that my team is now violently yanking and throwing eachother all over the place, but equally important is...
• IN CHAOTIX MODE THE CAMERA CENTERS NOT ON YOUR PLAYER CHARACTER BUT ON THE MIDPOINT BETWEEN ALL ACTIVE CHARACTERS. That's important because it means the guy you're playing is no longer the center of attention. You are physically tied to your team and can no longer just leave them behind like you would tails in Sonic 2 or S3&K. It's still occasionally possible to get enough momentum to stretch the sparklebands enough to offscreen them, but rule of thumb is one gets stuck, everyone is stuck.
• SHOULDN'T YOU HAVE DEBUTED CHAOTIX MODE WHILE ACTUALLY PLAYING AS THE CHAOTIX? No. That's stupid. You're stupid.
• IF I LISTED EVERY INSTANCE OF PHYSICS LOSING IT'S SHIT IN THE HIGHLIGHTS I WOULD NEVER FINISH THIS POST. Seriously just watch the video. It gets downright amazing. Between this Bad Rats and Goat Simulator, the single unifying theme of my videos is that that physics is my enemy and I have to kill it.
• WE SEE JUST A LITTLE BIT OF SPRITE FLICKERING. The Genesis could only handle so many sprites on a single line of screen at one time, and Sonic 1 was designed with that in mind. Hence things tend to get a little weird when he shows up with both his friends and a batch of sparkles to boot.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:30 - GRAVITATIONAL EQUILIBRIUM.
  Knuckles and Sonic take turns bouncing on a spring and getting dragged back down while Tails floats helplessly at their lagrange point. Kind of set the tone for this whole video.
• 00:53 - THE RUBBER BANDS SUCK LOL JK THEY RULE
  First real example of how your team can trap you when the Rubber bands are on. It's okay though because moments later I manage slingshot an exhausted Tails skywards, ride his momentum way above where I could jump, then bail as Knuckles, glide off into the distance, getting me far enough away from the AI members to offscreen kill them and break the rubber bands. I love this goddamn thing.
• 02:42 - THE SPIRAL LAUNCH.
  FanboyMaster: This is not what physics was meant to be.
  BEAT: OH WOW! YES! YES DID YOU SEE THAT SHIT?!
  FanboyMaster: No. No! NO!
  BEAT: I'm happy already!
  
• 05:28 - HERE I COME ROUGHER THAN THE REST OF EM.
  FanboyMaster: No now it's Knuckles.
  BEAT: It's Knuckles now.
  FanboyMaster: It's all Knuckles. Unlike Sonic I don't Knuckles.
  BEAT: He don't Knuckles. He'd rather flex his Knuckles.
  
• 06:50 - SONIC & KNUCKLES JUST HANGING AROUND
  Watching this again I can't not be overjoyed by the sight of them just getting wrecked by the spinning spike ball and flying around in their damage frame forever, but at the time I didn't even comment on it!
• 07:16 - SISYPHUS.
  The single obstacle that took the most effort to overcome in this level was a hill I tried to roll up. I could not make this shit up.
• 07:52 - KNUCKLES AND SONIC GET A TINY GLIMPSE OF WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE TAILS.
  Because they both end up getting thrown to their death an absolutely insane number of times.

I don't think I would ever make progress in this mode, as I'd spend all my time trying to keep them all in some horrifying perpetual orbit around one another.

They are truly a cosmos unto themselves.

Probably the best part was Tails soaring through Spring Yard with Knuckles and Sonic rolling on tethers below him like the weirdest set of truck cojones ever.

(disclaimer: not weirder than actual truck cojones)

That's all I currently have recorded, And It's close at work. So I'm PROBABLY not gonna be able to record for at least a few days.

But when I do, I'll try and get a bunch of levels knocked out. I have some general ideas of what I want to do for most of them at least.

So yeah. Hope you guys are enjoying it so far!

The first video was already interesting, but I couldn't stop laughing at the second one. I love all the awful animation of vector, including his donut-roll and just the way he moves. Then I saw the rubberband nonsense and it was even better. This whole thing is glorious.

If there is anyone (anybone?) who is capable of doing such a thing it's you. (Please don't kill physics - it keeps all of us alive.)

BEAT WAS NEVER ALIVE.

YOUR "PHYSICS" THEY ARE A PLAUGE. A POX UPON YOUR HOUSES KEEPING YOU FROM YOUR FULL POTENTIAL.

I SHALL LIBERATE YOU.

Is this the true goal of the skeleton war?

Just want to say I'm enjoying this!

You've got a great bunch of people on your videos, BEAT, and I'm not talking about the Chaotix.

I am definitely not talking about the Chaotix.

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 04

LABYRINTH ZONE
DOWN WITH THE SHIP
FanBoyMaster - Kalir

In which I try my best to make the most dreadfully slow level in Sonic 1 interesting! I'd like to think I succeeded, but then I'd like to think lots of things.

GENERAL

• YOU CAN REDUCE YOUR TEAM SIZE FROM THE DEFAULT 3 TO JUST TWO OR ONE. I've mentioned this before, but this is the first time I've shown it on video. Tails and Knuckles pretty much wreck the first two acts together, and Sonic goes it alone for act 3 and the boss. That said, you can't actually change out the team you're playing with between acts, that's all editing magic.
• THE BUBBLE SHIELD IS SO GOOD. Not only will it keep you alive underwater forever, but all characters are granted it the second you get a shield. This means that if you lose it, you can just switch to someone who still has it and continue to not drown. The guy who lost it will totally drown though.
• LABYRINTH ZONE IS REALLY WEIRD. It doesn't really feel like a Sonic Level. It's full of gimmicks that show up here and then never show up again. Hell some of them don't even come back in later games. See the highlights for some of the more specific weird things.
• LABYRINTH ZONE IS REALLY SLOW. Almost painfully so! The ground is always uneven, preventing you from getting any real speed, and your ability to move underwater is just terrible. This hack actually makes the level's plodding pace more bearable, As Tails and Knuckles can use swimming or gliding to get through the water more quickly. Even Sonic has an easier time here than he did in Sonic 1 with the added ability to spindash.
• THE GAME VOLUME IS TOO LOW NOW. If it's not one thing it's another. I'll fix it next time I record but this session covered up to the end of Sonic 1, so I'm afraid this is gonna be standard for a little bit longer.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:29 - SWITCH GLITCH, IGNORED.
  This hack introduces a glitch where occasionally your character won't be able to jump off the grey buttons that open up various level gates. It's annoying but it never lasts long, so it's not actually game breaking. You can see it happen to tails for a moment, but nobody comments on it, because for some reason I'm trying to remember the name of 16 Blocks.
• 01:02 - SWITCH GLITCH, COMMENTED ON.
  This time I actually noticed it! Hooray!
• 02:28 - SWITCH HIDDEN IN ITEM BLOCK.
  To the best of my knowledge, that's the only such hidden switch in any of the classic Genesis sonic games It shows up once in this level, then never gets used again. Weird!
• 03:37 - IF YOU CAN'T DO LABYRINTH ZONE WITH JUST SONIC, YOU SUCK.
  FanboyMaster: You don't even believe that you don't suck. Come on man.
  BEAT: I might! Shut up man.
  Kalir: It's important to have self esteem.
  
• 04:20 - LOLDEAD.
  420 BLAZE IT SMOKE WEED EVERYDAY.
• 04:38 - LEVEL WRAP ABUSE.
  The waterfall at the beginning of Act 3 is actually an infinite loop. Hitting the switch gets you a way out, but you can just blow it off and go down it as many times as you want. I take another lap on my second shot at the level to grab a bubble shield I missed. Yet another weird thing that exists in this level and nowhere else in Sonic 1.
• 07:55 - BOSS TIME.
  Labyrinth Zone's Boss is the only one like it in any of the 2D sonic games. Instead of having to beat the next Robotnik Machine, you have to climb up a vertical obstacle course full of things just dying to kill you while the water slowly rises to drown you. A weird, out of place ending to a weird, out of place stage.

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 05

STAR LIGHT ZONE
NOT THESE LOSERS AGAIN
Kalir - FanboyMaster

We bring back the Chaotix, this time with their signature rubberbanding intact! Will they be able to conquer the dangers of the star light zone?!

GENERAL

• I'M NOT SURE WHICH GROUP IS EASIER TO PLAY WITH IN CHAOTIX MODE. I haven't really done any individual level tests, but between this one and spring yard with Team Sanic, the reptiles and insect seem to get stuck on the level geometry more often. That said they also have an easier time getting out of jams because...
• CHARMY'S AIR DASH IS FUCKING OP. Anytime everybody gets stuck or you just don't feel like taking on a stage challenge, you can seriously just switch to Charmy and fly the fuck away.
• THE GAME BASES THE PARTNER MOVES AND AI ON THE CURRENT LEADER. The game cheats quite a bit when it comes to making the AI partners match the leader. In Team Sonic it's almost unnoticeable, the AI partners get max speed and jump height adjustments to bring them in line with the leader. With Team Chaotix, it's much more noticeable, and it's all Charmy's fault. The little bastard has animations for a spin jump and spindash, but they only exist so he can follow Vector and Espio moves when they're leading. You can't ever use them while actually playing as him.
• I CANNOT POSSIBLY DO HIGHLIGHTS FOR ALL THE RUBBER BAND MADNESS IN THIS LEVEL. They're just everywhere. I don't think it hits QUITE the surreal beauty of spring yard with Team Sonic but it's not that far off.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:02 - FRIENDSHIP IN PERIL!
  FanboyMaster and I can't agree if Espio or Vector have the worst Spin animation and it's TEARING US APART.
• 00:39 - THE ANGUISH OF LOOPS.
  All you had to do was go the same way as us Charmy! This wasn't hard Charmy!
• 01:36 - LOLDEAD.
  After ditching Vector and Charmy the two violently respawn, pulling Espio down into the fearful pit. Rest in peace, honorable Ninja lizard.
• 01:46 - HOW BROKEN IS CHARMY?
  The dude just GOES. Vector and Espio are dragged helplessly along as the Bee rockets skyward, while Fanboy and I discuss the madness of the forgotten Trackball-controlled Sonic Arcade Game.
• 02:50 - DOUBLE LOOP FAILURE.
  BEAT: Well Charmy you done fucked up now.
  
• 03:12 - THE ALIGATOR STRUT
  FanboyMaster: I like Vector's slow walk, because it's this weird real businessman thing.
  BEAT: I think of it more as like a pimp walk from a guy who's trying way too hard to be what he thinks a pimp is.
  FanboyMaster: It's amazing regardless.
  BEAT: Yeah, keeping it real extra extra.
  
• 03:46- THE THE CHARMY ORBIT.
  Charmy drags his friends in a perfect elliptical orbit. It's beautiful and pure and nobody even comments on it!
• 04:38 - I SKIP A HUGE CHUNK OF ACT 3.
  BEAT: Bee is OP please nerf.
  
• 05:27 - THREE LEVELS OF SEPARATION.
  Oh you take the high road, and I'll take the low road...
• 06:03 - BOSS CRUSHER.
  Vector's jump move is an air dash that can go in any direction, including straight up. Normally this boss is just out of reach, and you have to use the see-saws, but with this team I can just dash straight at him and skip the whole fight.

I need to play this hack immediately.

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 06

SCRAP BRAIN ZONE
TRASH MINDS
FanBoyMaster - Kalir

In which I switch back to Team Sonic, then die. I die immediately! I die constantly! My deaths are immortalized on video, and when all is said and done the only notable thing about my life will be my deaths. Buckle up kiddies because this is gonna be a long one.

GENERAL

• SCRAP BRAIN ZONE IS HARD, BUT NOT THAT HARD. Had I practiced up or even just played a little more carefully I would not have gotten anywhere close to that many deaths. This is my just reward.
• I START WITH CHAOTIX MODE ON, THEN TURN IT OFF ONCE I REALIZE I'M STARRING IN A GREEK TRAGEDY. Which is to say, after my first game over. Yes, I game over. Multiple times.
• THERE'S A FOURTH SHIELD IN THIS GAME THAT'S NOT FROM SONIC 3. The elusive Gold Shield. It's not actually that rare, I just haven't ran into any until now. It grants Sonic a homing dash but offers no special elemental protection. That's right, they recreated the shield from Sonic 3D Blast in 2D and threw it in. This game you guys. This game.
• SCRAP BRAIN ZONE CHANGES NOTICEABLY FROM ACT TO ACT. Act 1 takes place outside, with a grimy polluted sky overlooking a massive cityscape visible in the background. In Act 2 you're inside Robotnik's headquarters, getting closer and closer to the man himself. Then Robotnick drops the floor out from under you, sending you to Act 3: the ancient ruins he just sort of built his base of operations on top of. It's a really nice bit of storytelling though level design.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:03 - LOLDEAD.
  Thus the tone of this entire video is immediately set. I laugh like some horrible banshee-hyena combination, and resign myself to my grim fate.
• 00:30 - LOLDEAD 2: THE PRICE OF GREED.
  I spot a glimpse of a gold shield, and suddenly everything else takes a backseat. My desire for it is so great and terrible that it costs me everything, including my life.
• 00:54 - ALL THE COOL KIDS ARE DOING IT.
  Sonic drags Knuckles into the hole, so Tails goes into a spindash all by himself, just to join them. I didn't even know the AI partners could spindash on their own. Little guy really didn't want to be left out.
• 01:56 - LOLDEAD 3: THE BURNING FALL.
  BEAT: Well shit. Game over'd. Didn't call that one actually! Did not call that happening!
  Kalir: You have lost.
  FanboyMaster: I'd have called it.
  
• 03:05 - LOLDEAD 4: CRUSHING DEFEAT.
  My executive choice to turn off the rubber bands does me little good.
• 03:13 - THE PSYCHOLOGY OF AN EGG MAN.
  FanboyMaster: Remember that Robotnik's entire life goal is "man I really wanna own an amusement park".
  
• 04:12 - STUCK IN A HOLE.
  The puzzle's simple enough: the gate on the floor locks you in, the switch opens the top, you press it, then jump on the red retracting platforms to reach it before it closes. That said the AI partners is something Sonic 1's puzzles were not programmed to handle. Knuckles keeps retracting the red platforms before Sonic can jump on them. Eventually I escape through the gate that's supposed to close behind us, because Tails, who's stuck a floor below, goes to the left of it, tricking it into opening.
• 04:50 - LOLDEAD 5: DIE IN A HOLE.
  So of course I celebrate my newfound freedom by rocketing off into a death pit.
• 06:20 - NOT THE BIG RING!
  Kalir: This is your reward. You have been rewarded.
  BEAT: I don't- no. I don't want this reward.
  FanboyMaster: This is what rewards look like, apparently.
  
• 07:01 - THE GRAVITY GEARS.
  One of the weirder features of Scrap Brain zone were these giant wheels that you could spin on in defiance of all natural law. If use properly they can throw you really far. I manage to do a perfect jump to the top then fuck up, hit a spring, and end up right back where I started.
• 08:25 - LOLDEAD 6: THE PRESSURE'S ON.
  After crashing into every obstacle ever in rapid succession, I finally succumb to a crusher and get my second game over. It's no big deal though because I've got a continue! That said...
• 08:40 - SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH THE CONTINUE SCREEN'S PALLET.
  Pause the video there and just drink it in. Sonic and Tails seem kinda-off color, but the real standout here is the bluish-gray Knuckles. Fanboy dubs him "Gruckles", which is a good and fantastic name.
• 09:45 - THE GRAVITY GEARS EXPLAINED WITH MARIO X SONIC FANFICTION.
  Kalir: This is actually the prototype of basically every single thing that exists in Super Mario Galaxy. They actually imported it straight from the Eggman.
  BEAT: Yeah, Robotnik's got them on like, a contract. It's pretty cool. They're members of the same villain's Guild.
  
• 10:54 - LOLDEAD 7: PARTY KILL.
  All three characters just jump into the spikes barely hidden by the vines. All of them. No survivors.
• 11:10 - LOLDEAD 8: TEMPTING FATE.
  I bemoan being stuck on the slow path, when suddenly I'm not stuck anymore!
• 11:50 - LOLDEAD 9: DID IT HAPPEN AGAIN?
  It happened again. I edited out restarting the game and continuing from the level select, but there's no way to edit out my shame.

You totally, totally do!

I get people telling me on the twitters about how this game looks "horrible" and I'm like oh my god dude you could not possibly be more wrong. Yeah, you can totally break the game with the partners and the rubber bands and the like, but you always have the option to just turn it all off and play the game as it originally was, but with added improvements like as the shield types, the peel out and the ability to transition into a spin in midair.

I haven't played the (apparently fantastically updated) mobile versions of these games, but from where I currently stand, I'd call this hack the definitive version of Sonic 1 and Sonic 2. It finds small ways to improve upon the original experience, And then adds wonderfully silly options for people like me who've played the hell out of these games and want to mix it up a bit. It's everything an update of an old game should be.

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 07

FINAL ZONE
FRIENDS AT THE END
Kalir - FanBoyMaster - Kalir's Dog

In which we take on the final boss of the game, finishing it completely and brining this let's play to a close

JK LOL.

We aren't even like half done yet come on man.

GENERAL

• IT'S NOT ACTUALLY CALLED FINAL ZONE IN THIS GAME. Because if you're playing in Sonic 1 & 2 mode, it's very definitely not the final zone! On the level select it's listed as Scrap Brain Zone Act 4, but the title card still says Act 3. Which is fine. The whole "Zone" is really just the boss of Scrap Brain Act 3, but with a fade to black thrown in to take you out of the Labyrinth Zone recolor.
• SONIC 1'S FINAL BOSS AND ENDING WERE ALWAYS KINDA UNDERWHELMING. It's just Robotnik playing with some pistons, standard 8 hits to win. It's actually even easier in this hack, as the spindash lets you easily avoid the projectile attacks in between the pistons. It's fine though, seeing as this is no longer the actual end of the game.
• THE FIRST HALF OF THE VIDEO IS TEAM SONIC IN SONIC 1 & 2 MODE. With those settings, he game gives you the standard level end score tally after the fight, then shows a modified version of the Sonic 1 end cutscene that leads into the events of Sonic 2. It's a nice touch.
• THE SECOND HALF OF THE VIDEO IS TEAM CHAOTIX IN SONIC 1 MODE. Just in case you ever wanted to know what it would look like if Vector Charmy and Espio starred in Sonic 1. The game goes straight to the Sonic 1 ending cutscene, which plays just like it did in the original game except with Team Chaotix instead of Sonic. Then it goes to credits.
• ACCORDING TO SOME QUICK CALCULATIONS, THERE COULD BE LIKE 56 VARIATIONS ON THE CUTSCENE YOU GET AFTER SCRAP BRAIN'S BOSS. There are 7 different configurations for each team. There are two different teams, which brings you up to 14. There are two different game modes you see this Cutscene in, so that's 28, and if you have all the chaos emeralds, you get a slightly different ending scene, bringing you up to 42 if only Sonic 1 mode does the Emerald ending, and 56 if both do. I haven't tested that past what's seen in this video, and I'm not going to because holy shit.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 01:20 - CRITICAL COUNTING FAILURE.
  FanboyMaster: Does Eggman have 12 hits in this?
  BEAT: Uhhh I think so.
  Said as he strikes what's actually the 8th hit, ending the boss.
• 01:48 - TEAM SONIC VICTORY CUTSCENE.
  BEAT: You asked where Amy Rose was in this game. There she is.
  FanboyMaster: Oh no.
  Kalir: Why would you ask a question like that?
  
• 02:06 - JK LOL IT'S NOT OVER.
  Hey check out that Death Star knockoff. Neat. Let's wreck it. Also, the music in this bit is from the penultimate boss of S3&K, but you can barely hear it on my recording because my game audio was too low. Sad face.
• 02:26 - SWITCH OVER TO THE LAMER TEAM.
  FanboyMaster: Let us examine this imaginary tale: what if the Chaotix had done it?
  
• 03:35 - WTF DOMINIC DEEGAN FUCKING REALLY?!
  I'm sure I had a good reason that made sense at the time.
• 04:24 - TEAM CHAOTIX VICTORY CUTSCENE.
  I'm not sure if the big sprites for when they jump at the screen are edits from Knuckles Chaotix or original art made for this hack. Given the character designs they're working with and the limits of the Genesis, they're alright.
• 04:43 - FADE TO CREDITS.
  I cut them short. I'll show off the full credits at the proper end of the game.

My dog really wanted to be a part of that video apparently.

Everyone hound BEAT about his long in the making critical analysis of dominic deegan

And that wraps up the Sonic 1 portion of the game!

Unfortunately it's also all the footage I currently have recorded. It's going to be a very busy weekend for me, but I'm reasonably sure I can find time between now and next Monday to sit down, round up a few members of the SKYPE CREW and get another few levels in the can.

By this point I've showcased most of the new ideas his ROMHack adds to the source material. The videos so far have covered both teams, how you can reduce them from 3 to 1, the leader switch mechanics and the rubber band mode. Hopefully, I've done a good enough job showing it off to give anyone reading a pretty decent idea of what the gameplay options are. So now that the groundwork's covered, I'm planning to approach the Sonic 2 portion of this LP with less the goal of checking off every combination of characters and game mode off the list, and more going with characters and modes that would be more interesting and entertaining for whatever level I'm on.

I have a few ideas for some of the levels, and at least one surprise up my sleeve, but for most of them I'm open to suggestion. If there's any combination you'd like to see, just demand it and I'll probably run with it!

As always, the recording will stream live on my hitbox, and I'll announce when I'm starting in this thread and on my twitter.

Thanks for reading & watching!

Your dog knows greatness in the making when he sees it.
Fukc uyo

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 08

EMERALD HILL ZONE
GREAT NOW DO IT AGAIN
FanboyMaster - Kalir

In which we burn through the first level of Sonic 2, Green Hill Zone!

I mean Emerald Hill Zone.

But really Green Hill.

GENERAL

• THE LIMITS OF RECORDING WITH OBS ARE ALL OVER THIS VIDEO. Because I can't push the bitrate too high things get kinda blurry and messy when the team hits peak fast. Additionally the game runs at 60 frames per second, but OBS streams at 30, (which used to be the youtube standard anyways) so the gold shields look REALLY WEIRD.
• I PLAY THROUGH EMERALD HILL TWICE. Once as team Sonic with the bands on, and once as the Chaotix with the bands off. It's this way because I wanted to play as Team Sonic, (as I like them more), but then realized there was some weird stuff I could show off with the Chaotix halfway through. So you get both! Lucky you!

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:12 - SONIC UNDERGROUND
  I'm so glad that show is long forgotten. Oh also, Sonic gets trapped beneath the platform. Knuckles decides to join his blue companion in a show of solidarity. Tails just fucks off into the skies.
• 00:40 - LOOP FAILURE.
  At this point I shouldn't need to tell you that the easiest way for the rubber bands to fuck up your shit is for one of the three characters to not make it around a loop when the others do.
• 02:18 - NOT SAFE FOR WORK/LIFE.
  BEAT: Knock Knock, here comes Fuckles.
  FanboyMaster: That sounds horrible.
  BEAT: Well it's not worse than Five Nights at Fuckys.
  
• 03:28 - SWITCH TO TEAM LOSER JERKFACES.
  I play them using standard Co-Op, because why the hell not.
• 03:36 - HIDDEN PALACE ZONE?
  We briefly discuss the fate of the lost Sonic 2 Level Hidden Palace Zone. I don't believe it's in this hack. Maybe in the next update.
• 04:32 - CHAOTIX ON A CORKSCREW.
  Every member of Team Sonic has animations for a full vertical rotation, seen from the side. The chaotix on the other hand have no such animations, so they quickly default into their jump/roll animations when they go through the corkscrew. And since Espio's default jump/roll is a top spin... well... see for yourself.
• 05:10 - WALLMAN.
  Did you remember that Espio could just stand on walls forever?! Me neither. I'm curious about ceilings though...

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 09

CHEMICAL PLANT ZONE
DROWNING IN THE MEGA MAC
Kalir - FanboyMaster

We keep the Chaotix around without their titular tethers, just to see what kinda stuff they'll fuck up in Chemical Plant.

Turns out, it's quite a bit!

GENERAL

• THE CHAOTIX'S PROGRAMMING IS WEIRDLY SITUATIONAL. Both Charmy and Espio use their non-standard jump animations for flying through the pipes. It's honestly really impressive how the hackers went out of their way to ensure that they could use the best animations at their disposal for every scenario the games could throw at the B-Team.
• THAT SAID THE CHAOTIX IN THE PIPES IS STILL HILARIOUS. Vector's giant Doughnut roll is obviously poking out the sides of the tube, and Charmy is like a tiny little dot inside a vast empty space. Only Espio fits with his aforementioned alternate jump. Which is disappointing. I was really hoping they'd try and cram his stupid top spin in there.
• CHEMICAL PLANT ZONE USED QUITE A BIT OF TRICKERY TO MAKE THE ACTS FEEL BIGGER. The normal path actually doubles back on itself a few times with your characters running past the paths that got you there. It's a fantastic level design, but when you suddenly add characters who can fly, things get messy.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:02 - BEAT IS GOOD AT WORDS
  BEAT: Casino Night Zone! With these guys!
  FanboyMaster: This is not Casino Night Zone.
  BEAT: I wanted to to Casino Night Zone with these guys for exactly one reason, which will become apparent-
  FanboyMaster: IT'S CHEMICAL PLANT!
  
• 01:55 - THE CHARMY SKIP.
  By abusing the hell out of Charmy's Flight ability, I'm able to skip a decent chunk of Act 2 by Flying across the level horizontally and getting to the start of an opposite slope. I'm clearly not supposed to be able to do this, evidenced by the slope initially having no collision. It doesn't get turned on until I run around in the area that immediately precedes it.
• 03:30 - VECTOR SAVES THE DAY.
  I'm so proud of my stupid not-drowning strat here.
• 04:00 - ROBLUENIK
  For a brief moment you can see the rare blue robotnik sprite, which happens when you interrupt his attack and he pours the blue crap all over himself. It's just wonderful.

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 10

AQUATIC RUIN ZONE
SUDDENLY INDIFFERENT
Kalir - FanboyMaster - ZeroELEC (via text chat)

In which we turn the rubber bands back on the Chaotix, and drag them kicking and screaming through Sonic 2's only "real" water level.

GENERAL

• YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO ANYWHERE NEAR THE WATER IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. I actually made a command decision to take the lower route in Act 2 just to show that yes, this ruin was indeed Aquatic. That didn't work out so well.
• EACH AI PARTNER HAS THEIR OWN DISTINCT DROWNING TIMER. This is actually pretty much exactly the way it was with Tails in Sonic 2 or S3&K. If you don't have a bubble shield and don't give all three of your guys a turn at the bubbles, expect to see them all die and re spawn every few seconds. Only the main guy usually gets the PANIC NOW music though.
• VECTOR THE CROCODILE, WHO IS A CROCODILE, CANNOT SWIM. A crocodile. As in those enormous unfeeling hell beasts that cut through the water like a knife. Proud members of a Genus that's survived multiple extinction events by just fucking off back into the water that call home. Creatures that are reason lesser beings like you and I stay the fuck out of the water, because monsters are real and they are all crocodiles.
  Except Vector.
  Because he can't swim.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:20 - CHARMY YA DONE FUCKED UP.
  BEAT: Charmy no! CHARMY NO! CHARMY WHYYYY?!!
  
• 00:45 - CHARMY GOES CATATONIC.
  In a glitch I've personally never seen before, Charmy just stops. It's as though he was suddenly hit with the full realization that he's the worst character in the entire Sonic franchise, and couldn't bear to continue. It's like his AI AI turned off completely and he, he stopped making any attempt to keep up with the others. Switching back to him as the leader snapped him out of it, and the game worked normally from that point onwards.
• 01:42 - POOR DECISIONS ABOUND.
  FanboyMaster:Why would you go for the garbage route?
  BEAT: Why wouldn't I?
  
• 02:21 - VECTOR SUCKS.
  Kalir: Vector shouldn't drown, on account of the fact that he's a friggin crocodile.
  BEAT: Yeah he's probably got lungs the size of... tanker trucks or whatever.
  FanboyMaster (exasperated): A crocodile?
  BEAT: Yeah! A crocodile's lungs!
  
• 02:47 - VECTOR TOTALLY SUCKS.
  For some reason, the PANIC NOW music glitches out, and just never starts. The countdown was onscreen the whole time, but I just assumed it was for Charmy or Espio, and was quite surprised when Vector suddenly up and died!
• 02:57 - TEAM YOYO.
  Even now, 10 videos in, I still get captivated by the team just throwing eachother all over the fucking place, as like Charmy does here.
• 03:08 - VECTOR COULD NOT POSSIBLY SUCK MORE.
  Vector manages to get himself locked on a half loop that everybody else just ran past. Goddamn you Vector.
• 04:05 - ESPIO SUCKS
  BEAT: Oh my god Espio! You were supposed to be the good one!
  
• 04:17 - BOSS FIGHT IS A GIANT CLUSTERFUCK, PER USUAL.
  Zero Elec (read by FanboyMaster): Everyone is holding the team back.
  

Adding the unused Robluenik animation is consolation for no Hidden Palace, I guess.

It just occurred to me that Sky Chase is going to be a mess with this set-up.

I will not let what could have been distract me from what we have been given, but now I'm wondering what kind of work would be required to add hidden palace into this ROMHack to end all ROMHacks.

I know the level sorta exists in Vanilla Sonic 2 (the foundation this ROMhack was built upon) and is playable via hacking, but the level's tile set doesn't exist, so what you get is a glitched-out mess.

To the best of my knowledge, the most complete version of the level available in actual ROM form is in the Sonic 2 Beta* ROM that hit the internet way back in the stone age. My understanding was that one had a 100% complete first level, but the second level had no sprites of any sort other than Sonic and Tails. No enemies, rings item boxes or bosses. I'm not sure if any ROM of the game with a populated second act even exists.

The hackers are obviously more than capable of adding levels to the game. I mean hell, all of Sonic 1 is proof of that. That said I have no idea if doing that was was as simple as copy-pasting the levels from Sonic 1 into Sonic 2, (then making a ton of adjustments) or if they had to manually re-create the levels from Scratch.

If it's the former, I suppose the most obvious way to add in Hidden Palace would be to take the version from the Sonic 2 Beta ROM, then manually going through Act 2 adding all the rings, item monitors enemies and EVERYTHING one piece at a time. Given that (to the best of my knowledge) the only official version of the level's second act is the IOS version, they'd probably have to do it manually from maps made by piecing together screenshots. And that sounds just TORTUROUS.

But hey, anything's possible! Maybe in the next update...

*Which, if memory serves, wasn't actually a beta at all, but a promotional demo build that got stolen and dumped to the internet at some point.

SONIC CLASSIC HEROES 11

CASINO NIGHT ZONE
GAMBLING ADDICTION SUPPORT GROUP
FanBoyMaster - Kalir - ZeroELEC (via text chat)

In which we take team sonic through Sonic 2's bounciest stage and try to make it even bouncier.

I would like to think we succeed.

GENERAL

• I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH THE COMBINATION OF CHAOTIX MODE AND THE ENDLESS PINBALL BUMPERS. I cannot overstate how much I love this hack. This entire post could be the words "MAN THIS HACK YOU GUYS! MAN!" over and over again and that still wouldn't do it justice.
• THE SLOT MACHINES DON'T SEEM TO REALLY KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH THE TETHERS. I would have assumed that once a character is in the slot machine they would just be locked in there, as you can't exactly bounce out of them. However, on a few occasions I manage to get one guy in one, only for the other guys to immediately yank him out. If I had to guess, it's probably based on whether or not the slot machine is actually visible onscreen.
• LIKE IN SPRING YARD AND STAR LIGHT, THERE'S IS NO POSSIBLE WAY I COULD HIGHLIGHT EVERY INSTANCE OF PHYSICS MADNESS. I'm not quite sure if this level wins out against Spring Yard in terms of "OH MY GOD WHAT", but then, it's not my place to judge.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:05 - KNUCKLES REALLY LIKES THAT FLIPPER.
  Both Sonic and Tails try it out and they think it's just fine, but Knuckles goes again and again and again and again...
• 00:33 - FLIGHT/SPIKES GLITCH.
  Tails ditches the others, only to run into a weird glitch where he gets horizontally locked over some spikes. Given that Sonic 2 wasn't designed around having a flying character and the very odd specifics of that area's geometry, this isn't entirely surprising. Slightly more surprising is how, is that after I get out and ride the platform up, every single character, one at a time, manages to get themselves stuck in the exact same spot.
• 00:50 - THANKS KEN PENDERS.
  FanboyMaster: Ken Pender's characters are all Knuckles in a hat.
  BEAT: Knuckles in a hat. Knuckles in a wig.
  FanboyMaster: Ken Penders successfully sued to get the rights to Knuckles in a hat.
  BEAT: Does he actually own that now?! Like, that worked?
  FanboyMaster: He owns all of the characters he made, which are all Knuckles in a hat.
  
• 01:26 - TAILS DOESN'T WANT TO SPINDASH.
  Kalir: So... You're not ever leaving this place, are you?
  
• 02:41 - TAILS DOESN'T WANT TO PINBALL.
  After a very bouncy journey down a Sonic 2 approximation of a pinball table, Knuckles and Sonic finally make it down to the pinball plunger that shoots them to the rest of the level. Tails, however, wants nothing to do with it, and sets up camp on a platform just out of sight above them. They can't leave without him, but since he's offscreen for all but a split second when I launch the other two, the window to get him back is tiny.
• 04:05 - SLOT MACHINE REJECTION.
  I discover that it's possible to yank characters out of the slot machine. Unable to sate my horrible gambling addiction, I keep trying until I get distracted by the rubber bands and the bounce pads suddenly flinging Tails into the stratosphere, where he always truly belonged.
• 04:58 - WELCOME TO PINBALL HELL.
  BEAT: Yes yes! What- No- God- Oh God! HOW DID YOU GUYS GET IN THERE?! Guys I'm very disappointed in you.
  FanboyMaster: You have no one to be disappointed in but yourself.
  BEAT: Wait no, we're good, Knuckles is-TAILS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TAILS?!
  Kalir: Oh.
  BEAT: VERY UPSET WITH YOU RIGHT NOW TAILS. VERY UPSET.
  
• 05:55 - ROBOTNIK WRECKS MY SHIT.
  I state my intention to wreck Robotnik using Sonic, like someone who actually knows what he's doing. Then I immediately eat those words as Tails and Knuckles decide that now would be a great time to just chill at the bottom of the boss arena, pulling Sonic off-course and into Robotnik's attacks until he's finally granted the mercy of death. This is the price of arrogance.
• 06:30 - I WRECK ROBOTNIK'S SHIT.
  Re-watching this video to write it up, there were so many bits of glorious 3-way rubberbanding in this level I couldn't even comment on them all. But this boss fight is my absolute favorite part. Just lookit em all flinging eachother around! Perfection. Utter perfection.