Ed. note: The following is provided by the staff of Sonic Hacking Contest for the year of 2022.

Before we begin…

Twenty years ago, the Sonic Hacking Contest started, run by Ayla for many years. The winner of that first contest in 2002 was Sonic 2 Delta…20 years later, the hack is still going, as Sonic Delta 40mb.

Things have massively changed over these 20 years (and 19 contests), we have gone from binary ROM editing with a hex editor and a few tools, to split disassemblies and bringing more flexibility to game modification. But we also have 3D entries too, on many consoles and PC, and for the last few years, mods based on the Retro Engine Sonic games, with decompilations available and tools in the works, offering another way to mod games, rather than just the traditional 16-bit method. There are more people making entries than ever before, no matter when they first started playing Sonic.

The contest itself has changed in these last 20 years. We have gone from private entries being shown behind closed doors to judges only, to fully public entries where everyone can access them. We went from deadlines being missed out and late results at times, to guaranteed set dates.

We went from only offering a contest, to having an expo option where people can choose not for them to be judged. We used to have judges look at everything possible – now they are split between three categories, for judging to be easily managed, and looked at in finer detail than ever before. The introduction of the Evaluations, gave detailed explanations and opinions on each enrty.

We have gone from just being promoted on a few Sonic hacking sites (some still around, some no longer with us) to wider exposure through its own website and the interactive Contest Week, with entries easily accessible, streams during the week on YouTube and Twitch, and of course, allowing the public to vote for their own trophies, something people would not have expected decades ago.

And whilst it all used to happen on forums and IRC channels, these days there are other places to discuss hacks and mods too, such as Twitter and the many various Discord servers out there that cater to different types of games and so on, for people to learn the craft and make their own.

I do not want to thank just this year’s participants, judges, streamers and of course those who played the entries this week. But every single person over the last twenty years who, at some point of their time on the internet, took part in the Sonic Hacking Contest. I hope in twenty years later, we will still have the SHC, in some form or another, and the same applies for fangames with SAGE.

People come and go, their interests and their lives change, but these entries are eternal, especially with the SHC Vault for the last ten years, keeping these entries available for years to come. Without the people who participate, there is no Sonic Hacking Contest. To keep this up for two decades is remarkable and impressive. Who could think in 2002 that the SHC would still be here in 2022.

That being said, for all the pushing about it being SHC’s 20th Anniversary, we weren’t able to celebrate it this week and we are truly sorry about it. We have a few ideas in mind to do something about that, although we have shown many old entries before through the previous pre shows.

And now, here are the results for this year’s Sonic Hacking Contest! (Ed. Note: after the jump!)

THE TOP THREE OF EACH CATEGORY

If the 3D Trophies do not display correctly, you can view them all here.

RETRO: SONIC TROPHY – 1ST PLACE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

3D: SONIC TROPHY – 1ST PLACE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Frozen Hill by Nikauu

2DPC: SONIC TROPHY – 1ST PLACE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Knuckles’ Emerald Hunt DX by MainMemory & KarlEmerald

RETRO: TAILS TROPHY – 2ND PLACE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic & Johnny by Lone Devil

3D: TAILS TROPHY – 2ND PLACE – JUDGED

Sonic 06 Definitive Experience v4.0 & STH2006 Project Demo 5 Mission Extravaganza by brianuuu

3D: TAILS TROPHY – 2ND PLACE – COMMUNITY

Sonic Forces Re-imagined – SHC 2022 Demo by brandonj

2DPC: TAILS TROPHY – 2ND PLACE – JUDGED

Sonic 3 Redesigned by GFX32

2DPC: TAILS TROPHY – 2ND PLACE – COMMUNITY

Mighty and Ray in Sonic 3 A.I.R. by iClodius

RETRO: KNUCKLES TROPHY – 3RD PLACE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic Sunventure by Scrap Sorra

3D: KNUCKLES TROPHY – 3RD PLACE – JUDGED

SADX Chaos Edition V2 by VeritasDL

3D: KNUCKLES TROPHY – 3RD PLACE – COMMUNITY

Sonic 06 Definitive Experience v4.0 & STH2006 Project Demo 5 Mission Extravaganza by brianuuu

2DPC: KNUCKLES TROPHY – 3RD PLACE – JUDGED

Sonic 3 A.I.R: D.A. Garden Edition by Thorn & D.A. Garden

2DPC: KNUCKLES TROPHY – 3RD PLACE – COMMUNITY

Eggman 3 Angel Island Revisited by Bluesteak

 

RETRO CATEGORY TROPHIES:

SONIC TROPHY – 1ST PLACE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

TAILS TROPHY – 2ND PLACE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic & Johnny by Lone Devil

KNUCKLES TROPHY – 3RD PLACE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic Sunventure by Scrap Sorra

QUARTZ QUADRANT TROPHY – BEST VISUAL – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

D.A. GARDEN TROPHY – BEST AUDIO – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

HEXADECIMAL TROPHY – BEST TECHNICAL – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic Delta 40Mb by Neto

CHEMICAL PLANT TROPHY – BEST LEVEL DESIGN – JUDGED

Sonic and Johnny by Lone Devil
HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

CHEMICAL PLANT TROPHY – BEST LEVEL DESIGN – COMMUNITY

Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku
HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic & Johnny by Lone Devil

RADIANT EMERALD TROPHY – BEST SPECIAL STAGE DESIGN

Null Vote – Not Awarded

PROFESSOR PICKLE TROPHY – MOST ENTERTAINING – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic & Johnny by Lone Devil
COMMUNITY HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

POLYGON JIM TROPHY – MOST WTF?! – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

SHC2022 Sonic.EXE mega drive by lavagaming1

CHAOTIX TROPHY: BEST TEAM ENTRY – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

RIVALS TROPHY: BEST MULTIPLAYER ENTRY – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic & Johnny by Lone Devil

STORYBOOK TROPHY – BEST CUTSCENES – JUDGED

Sonic Delta 40mb (Sonic Delta Next) by Neto
NOT AWARDED BY THE COMMUNITY

EMERL TROPHY – BEST CHARACTER IMPLEMENTATION – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic & Johnny by Lone_Devil
JUDGES HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – Anniversary Edition – Pink Update by Sophiedude

EGGROBO TROPHY – BEST BOSS DESIGN – JUDGED

Sonic Skychaser by GTKoopa
HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic & Johnny by Lone Devil

EGGROBO TROPHY – BEST BOSS DESIGN – COMMUNITY

Sonic & Johnny by Lone Devil
HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic Skychaser by GTKoopa

MOTOBUG TROPHY – BEST ENEMY DESIGN – JUDGED

Null Vote – Not Awarded

MOTOBUG TROPHY – BEST ENEMY DESIGN – COMMUNITY

Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

MANIA TROPHY – BEST FRESH CONCEPT USING EXISTING CONCEPTS AS A BACKBONE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic 1 – Score Rush by Giovanni

SPINBALL TROPHY – BEST ENTRY OF A GAME NOT COMMONLY MODIFIED – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Silver Sonic: Rise of the Death Egg by Roebloz & TheLesha

BLAZE TROPHY: MOST POTENTIAL – JUDGED

JUDGED: Sonic Sunventure by Scrap Sorra
HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

BLAZE TROPHY: MOST POTENTIAL – COMMUNITY

Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

SILVER TROPHY: MOST IMPROVED – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

JUDGED: Sonic Sunventure by Scrap Sorra

STUDIOPOLIS TROPHY – BEST VOTED BY MEDIA PANEL

Sonic the Hedgehog: Isle of Magnetic Artifacts by Neo Team Kyukyoku

3D CATEGORY TROPHIES

QUARTZ QUADRANT TROPHY – BEST VISUAL – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Frozen Hill by Nikauu

D.A. GARDEN TROPHY – BEST AUDIO – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

HEXADECIMAL TROPHY – BEST TECHNICAL – JUDGED

DLC Restoration by ĐeäTh

HEXADECIMAL TROPHY – BEST TECHNICAL – COMMUNITY

SM64 Generations by Skyth

CHEMICAL PLANT TROPHY – BEST LEVEL DESIGN – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Frozen Hill by Nikauu

RADIANT EMERALD TROPHY – BEST SPECIAL STAGE DESIGN – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

PROFESSOR PICKLE TROPHY – MOST ENTERTAINING – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

SADX Chaos Edition V2 by VertiasDL
COMMUNITY HONORABLE MENTION: SM64 Generations by Skyth

POLYGON JIM TROPHY – MOST WTF?! – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

SADX Chaos Edition V2 by VertiasDL

CHAOTIX TROPHY – BEST TEAM ENTRY – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic Riders DX Version 2.0 by Extreme Gear Labs

RIVALS TROPHY – BEST MULTIPLAYER ENTRY – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic Riders DX Version 2.0 by Extreme Gear Labs

STORYBOOK TROPHY – BEST CUTSCENES – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

EMERL TROPHY – BEST CHARACTER IMPLEMENTATION – JUDGED

Sonic 06 Definitive Experience v4.0 & STH2006 Project Demo 5 Mission Extravaganza by brianuuu

EMERL TROPHY – BEST CHARACTER IMPLEMENTATION – COMMUNITY

SM64 Generations by Skyth

EGGROBO TROPHY – BEST BOSS DESIGN – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

MOTOBUG TROPHY – BEST ENEMY DESIGN – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

MANIA TROPHY – BEST FRESH CONCEPT USING EXISTING CONCEPTS AS A BACKBONE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Customizable Sonic by Lady_Lunanova

SPINBALL TROPHY – BEST ENTRY OF A GAME NOT COMMONLY MODIFIED – JUDGED

DLC Restoration by ĐeäTh
HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic Riders DX Version 2.0 by Extreme Gear Labs

SPINBALL TROPHY – BEST ENTRY OF A GAME NOT COMMONLY MODIFIED – COMMUNITY

Sonic Riders DX Version 2.0 by Extreme Gears Labs
HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic Unleashed: Reimagined by Sticks_Unleashed

BLAZE TROPHY – MOST POTENTIAL – JUDGED

Customizable Sonic by Lady_Lunanova
HONOURABLE MENTION – Sonic Forces Re-imagined – SHC 2022 Demo by brandonj

BLAZE TROPHY – MOST POTENTIAL – COMMUNITY

Sonic Forces Re-imagined – SHC 2022 Demo by brandonj

SILVER TROPHY – MOST IMPROVED – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic Forces Re-imagined – SHC 2022 Demo by brandonj
JUDGES’ HONOURABLE MENTION – DLC Restoration by ĐeäTh

STUDIOPOLIS TROPHY – BEST VOTED IN MEDIA PANEL – FOUR WAY TIE

DLC Restoration by ĐeäTh
Sonic Forces Re-imagined – SHC 2022 Demo by brandonj
Sonic Riders DX Version 2.0 by Extreme Gears Labs
Customizable Sonic by Lady_Lunanova

2DPC CATEGORY TROPHIES

QUARTZ QUADRANT TROPHYY – BEST VISUAL – JUDGED

SONIC MANIA VR – Mission Mode by jubbalub

QUARTZ QUADRANT TROPHYY – BEST VISUAL – COMMUNITY

Agent Stone in Sonic 3 A.I.R by HazelSpooder

D.A. GARDEN TROPHY – BEST AUDIO – JUDGED

SONIC MANIA VR – Mission Mode by jubbalub

D.A. GARDEN TROPHY – BEST AUDIO – COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

HEXADECIMAL TROPHY – BEST TECHNICAL – JUDGED

Sonic CD Randomizer by MainMemory
HONOURABLE MENTION: Achievements Plus+ (and Coins!) by fadeinside

HEXADECIMAL TROPHY – BEST TECHNICAL – COMMUNITY

Achievements Plus+ (and Coins!) by fadeinside
HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic CD Randomizer by MainMemory

CHEMICAL PLANT TROPHY – BEST LEVEL DESIGN – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic 3 A.I.R: D.A. Garden Edition by Thorn and D.A. Garden
COMMUNITY HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic 3 Redesigned by GFX32

RADIANT EMERALD TROPHY – BEST SPECIAL STAGES – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

PROFESSOR PICKLE TROPHY – MOST ENTERTAINING – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Eggman 3 Angel Island Revisited by Bluesteak
COMMUNITY HONOURABLE MENTIONS to both Mephilies Hunt by Sotaknuck and Super Mario in Sonic 3 AIR by Dynamic_Lemons – a very close result in this trophy.

POLYGON JIM TROPHY – MOST WTF?! – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

CHAOTIX TROPHY – BEST TEAM ENTRY – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

RIVALS TROPHY – BEST MULTIPLAYER ENTRY – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

STORYBOOK TROPHY – BEST CUTSCENES – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

EMERL TROPHY – BEST CHARACTER IMPLEMENTATION – JUDGED

Additional Characters by Sotaknuck

EMERL TROPHY – BEST CHARACTER IMPLEMENTATION – COMMUNITY

Mighty and Ray in Sonic 3 A.I.R by iCloudius

EGGROBO TROPHY – BEST BOSS DESIGN – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Agent Stone in Sonic 3 A.I.R by HazelSpooder

MOTOBUG TROPHY – BEST ENEMY DESIGN – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

MANIA TROPHY – BEST FRESH CONCEPT USING EXISTING CONCEPTS AS A BACKBONE – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

SONIC MANIA VR – Mission Mode by jubbalub

SPINBALL TROPHY – BEST ENTRY OF A GAME NOT COMMONLY MODIFIED – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

BLAZE TROPHY – MOST POTENTIAL – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Sonic the Hedgehog Vintage – 2022 Demonstration by ZachmanAwesomeness
COMMUNITY HONOURABLE MENTION – Sonic 3 Redesigned by GFX32

SILVER TROPHY – MOST IMPROVED – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Null Vote – Not Awarded

STUDIOPOLIS TROPHY – BEST VOTED BY MEDIA PANEL – JUDGED AND COMMUNITY

Knuckles’ Emerald Hunt DX by MainMemory & KarlEmerald
HONOURABLE MENTION: Agent Stone in Sonic 3 A.I.R by HazelSpooder

Epilogue

SHC is an annual event where hacks and mods come together to showcase for all the fans who want to play them, with many streamers coming on board to take time out of their very busy schedules to participate – and of course, let’s not forget about those who judge the trophies too.

Sadly a few judges were unable to participate this year, due to personal circumstances, or unexpectedly becoming too busy to meet the expectations of voting for trophies and providing evaluations. This was beyond our control this year. Evaluations will therefore be delayed, like we have before, for at least a few days to allow judges who have not finished, to complete their entries.

We may be considering earlier deadlines next year, to ensure things are all filtered and judged in good time. We may also consider making changes to the trophy voting itself, to change how voting is done. At the end of the day, we want a great contest week, there’s always new things we can do.

Next year, we will be looking at introducing new judges to fill in the gaps, in particular as this year has shown – people with the knowledge and experience of modding Sonic 3 AIR. A number of other changes will also be made. A brand new website, built from the ground up, will be on its way to better the user experience and bring people requested features people have asked for some time. We will also look at enhancing the themed trophies, naming them differently per category.

For a few years, the contest week has been in the middle of October as this generally is the best time for the majority of people to be available. On this occasion, unlike last year, we will not announce next year’s Contest Week date at this time as we determine if this date should remain or if we should change it to something else, however please assume like always, there will be a SHC, so if you have something you want to submit next year, please continue to do so, and get ready for 2023.

Special Thanks

• Cinossu – Web Development and Graphics
• SeanieB – Server Hosting
• Blue Vivacity – Official Trailer
• ShogunDX – Stream Graphics and Trophy Template
• ĐeäTh, Sewer56 – Compiling the trophy slide graphics and scheduling on Twitter.
• CalamityJames – Now Playing Stream Overlay
• MarkeyJester, Lave Slime, Cyber1204, ĐeäTh – 2022 Splash Screen Updates
• The Duck Dealer – 1st / 2nd / 3rd Place 3D Trophy GIFs
• All the judges this year who were able to participate:
◦ Retro: · D.A. Garden, Jubbalub, Ravenfreak, Spanner, SSF1991 (Donnie), SuperEgg and Yoshister
◦ 3D: Dario FF, ĐeäTh, HyperBE32, ItsEasyActually, Melpontro, Sajid, Sewer56, Skyth, SpeepsHighway, SSF1991 (Donnie) and TwilightZoney
◦ 2DPC: Axanery, D.A. Garden (who stepped in to help with A.I.R entries), Jubbalub, LJSTAR, RMGRich (chuli), Rubberduckycooly, SSF1991 (Donnie) and SuperSonic16
• pixelcat – Previous involvement with the contest this year.
• Sewer56, MainMemory, Sajid, SuperSonic16 – One-click mod loader support.
• MainMemory – identifying issues with two 2DPC entries that we could not run at first.
• Ayla – Without her, the SHC would not have happened.
• The Media Panel – Landy, Sonic Stadium (GX + nuckles87), Argick, Chaomix, redhotsonic, MegaGWolf, SomecallmeJohnny, JustJesss, TailsChannel (Dakiii), DaveAce, Sam Procrastinates, Garrulous64, MotorRoach, Stealth, SEGADriven.com, Blue Vivacity, Velcomia, Razor and Zenon
• Non-English Media Panel – MechaShadowREV, Soniczny Kanał (FrenzyFox), Martoxiss, Kurasshu Mashu, Chiyoko (ChipJockey), VladislavSavvateev (sonic.fan), MangaTD, Sonic Team Blog (Nico), Studiopolis Polska (Neron and AniTrochęFioletowy)
• Anyone I may have missed (sorry!)
• All those who submitted to the Contest and Expo.
• And of course, YOU.
Don’t forget to send us your feedback of this year by submitting to this form here.

The Sonic Hacking Contest will return in 2023.
Until next time – Ready, Set, Procrastinate!!