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Link: https://shc.zone/entries/contest2024/993
Right off the bat, this hack doesn’t run on Blastem. You may want to check this out.
Once we’re past that, this hack is fairly standard.
Palettes range from quite okay to “this needs to be fixed…” (Spring Yard in particular has some uneven color ramps and weird dark blues.)
Sonic sprite ports work well and look well! The UI isn’t quite there — the attempt to port Sonic 3 sprites didn’t really work (this one is from SCAA, isn’t it?), and the Sonic 2 HUD works well enough except for the E that is still from Sonic 1…
Music is mostly Sonic 2 ports, and all of them have something subtly odd about them. The first zone doesn’t seem to have the right drums, and there are oddities in regards to instrument choices.
The level design is kind of the most interesting part of the hack as there are some cool ideas in there! However, there’s a lot of work to be done on flow and polish. Chunks end abruptly in ways that don’t look right, objects fly above the ground or sink into it too much, etc.
Just like the other “Encore” hack this contest, I’m not quite sure what this hack was going for. Maybe next time it would be cool to make whole new layouts and aim for a more original experience?