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Community, Fan Works, Hacking, Site News

Sonic Hacking Contest 2014 Live!

shc2014

Has it already been a year? We and SSRG are teaming up once again for the annual Sonic Hacking Contest, where talented fans work on creating their own game hacks. Now, this may make some people think that it will be nothing but the usual MegaDrive game hacks, but the contest also features Sonic Generations and Sonic Adventure DX edits among others.
New to this round is the introduction of Team entrants, which allows multiple users to be credited together for a work instead of last year’s single representative. Teams can consist of Retro members, SSRG members, or a mix of both.
As always, you’ll need a Sonic Retro or SSRG account to log in and actually vote for which title you feel best deserves an award from many categories. Downloading, however, is free to the public. Who knows, maybe these works can inspire some of you to take a stab at it next year, especially with the many tools Generations hacking has.
You’re still reading this? Get over to the site already!

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Community

Sonic-A-Thon Endures Sonic Game Gauntlet for Child’s Play

sonicathon2014

Summer is halfway through for us northern hemisphere folks, but it is never a bad time to kick back in the air conditioning and watch a bunch of fans do crazy things in a variety of Sonic games. The motley crew over at HellfireComms is well underway on their Sonic-a-thon charity drive, where all proceeds will go directly to Child’s Play.
The crew is currently going through Sonic Rush with Sonic Labyrinth up next. You know, that crappy one on Game Gear where Sonic has Slow-Shoes and has to roll everywhere? At the least, the personal torture these guys are inflicting upon themselves playing the (abundantly) bad games of the series should be entertaining.
The event started on Aug. 4, but has no definite end time. The party is already underway, so go help some sick kids enjoy video games too! Check out the schedule for more info on when things will be played.

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Community, Fan Works, Humor, Podcasts, Site News

Sonic Fights Robotnik Chapter 7 Live Fan Fiction Read

In the tradition of Sonic Amateur Games Expo comes a fan fiction reading of the greatest Sonic story ever told by the greatest Sonic fan in existence, SonicFan. This year InstantSonic, Katzu Niku, GeneHF, Bartman3010, Overlord, OverlyEquipped, Neo Hazard and of course DavidTL bring you a live (Now pre-recorded on YouTube!) read of chapter 7 of Sonic Fights Robotnik!

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Community, Fan Works, Hacking, Podcasts, Site News

SEGA Channel Retro: Windy Valley Mod for SADX, Featuring CorvidDude


The live show is already over, but you can check out the archived stream above as well as more content below!
This week’s live show on SEGA Channel Retro is a tour through the Windy Valley Beta Mod that was released recently for Sonic Adventure DX. We’ll also have CorvidDude, the author of the mod bringing his insight on restoring the level from the AutoDemo.
If you want to check out the mod for yourself, you can hop over to CorvidDude’s YouTube channel and check the links in the description of this video.
I’m joined by Overlord, GeneHF and OverlyEquippedin our little venture as we also check out the latest Sonic title, Sonic Jump Fever as well as catch up with Sonic Dash with Andronic. Also say hello to me as I try to roll eggs with Billy Hatcher in SEGA Superstars. Finally I take a blind look at Atlus and ACE Team’s latest offering, Abyss Odyssey.
Sonic Adventure DX: Windy Valley Restoration Mod with CorvidDude [Twitch] [YouTube]
Sonic Jump Fever, Sonic Dash, SEGA Superstars [Twitch]
Abyss Odyssey [Twitch] [YouTube]

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Community, Fan Works, Game News, Interviews

Retro Interviews: The Freedom Planet Invades Florida Supercon Edition


Miami is known for quite a lot of things, but a burgeoning event for comic and game aficionados of South Florida, the Florida Supercon, bubbled to one of its biggest shows yet. Invading the Miami Beach Convention Center located a stones throw from South Beach during the Fourth of July weekend, the event featured several game development studios showing their works. Joining the likes of Yacht Club Games’ Shovel Knight and Dennaton Games’ Hotline Miami 2 was a small group under the banner of Galaxy Trail, makers of Freedom Planet.
For those unfamiliar with Freedom Planet, take a moment to consider the halcyon era of the MegaDrive. Taking cues from Sonic The Hedgehog, Sparkster (or Rocket Knight, if you prefer), Ristar, and Pulseman among others, Freedom Planet stars speedster Sash Lilac, the brawler and biker Carol Tea, and the timid but imaginative Milla Basset, on a journey to save the land of Avalice from certain peril. You know, the typical thing that will send heroes out to smack a few baddies in the face.
Given its origins as a Sonic fangame that grew to its own style and found great success not only on Kickstarter but on Steam’s Greenlight service, Galaxy Trail’s presence at Supercon definitely warranted checking in on the game, now that its Steam release of July 19 is just around the corner. There, I met with the lead programmer and creator of the game Stephen “Strife” DiDuro.
Continue Reading

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Community, Fan Works, Game News, Game Secrets, Hacking, Site News

Windy Valley Beta Restoration Released for Sonic Adventure DX PC (2004)


Back in 1998, our first glimpse of Sonic Adventure showed what would be the first true 3D experience with Sonic and friends. After the game’s release, the level we were told was Windy Valley was nowhere to be found in the final game, instead having been completely reworked before hitting store shelves. Even though shots of the original design were used to advertise the GameCube rerelease Sonic Adventure DX, the original look and feel of Windy Valley became one of the holy grails for Sonic enthusiasts interested in the development process.
After the retrieval of the AutoDemo, work has been performed by several people including many dedicated members of the Retro community, who have pooled their efforts to get these stages back up and running. Finally, after fifteen years we can witness this one of a kind experience with a mod for the 2004 PC edition of Sonic Adventure DX, with a fully playable beta version of Windy Valley. With recreated graphics and fully functioning camera angles, CorvidDude wants you to jump over to his YouTube video for more information as well as instructions on how to download and install the mod. Special thanks go to CorvidDude, MainMemory, ItsEasyActually, Catley, Melpontro, and many more who were involved with this project.
[Source: YouTube]

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Community, Site News

TooManyGames 2014: “Surviving the Dreamcast Apocalypse” & “The Secret History of the Hidden Palace Zone”


SEGAbits and Sonic Retro made our very first convention appearance together this year at TooManyGames in Oaks, PA. In addition to walking the convention floor, Barry the Nomad, Patrick aka Kori-Maru (Website of the Dead), Sonic Retro’s own David the Lurker and A.J. Rosa (My Life with SEGA) held a panel discussing the life and death of SEGA’s swan song, the Dreamcast. The same panel also included a presentation from Retro, covering the history of Sonic the Hedgehog 2‘s Hidden Palace Zone – with rarely seen footage of Sonic 2‘s release and early efforts to remake the lost zone. We also met with several fellow SEGA fans, gave away a pile of rare SEGA swag, and did we mention the panel was standing room only? SEGAbits (and Sonic Retro) Does.
Also featured in this video is a convention walkthrough with the crew, and a one-on-one bout between Patrick and A.J.
Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

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Community, Fan Works, Hacking, Retro Contests, Site News

Sonic Hacking Contest 2014 is Live

Sonic Hacking Contest 2014
 
Sonic Retro and Sonic Stuff Research Group team up once again to bring you the Sonic Hacking Contest 2014.  The competition for all ROM hacks, mods and more based on our favorite blue blur. Entries are now being accepted on the website and can be accessed by logging in with either a Retro or SSRG forum account. Our resident Cinossu breaks it down on our forums with whats new for this year.
“Like last year, everything is handled on-site and you can log in with your Sonic Retro forum account to get started. More information is on the site itself, including instructions on what to do, how to do it, etc.
The biggest addition this year is Teams, which can be set up from the new “Teams” section. They can be a mix of both Retro and SSRG members, and allow credit to be on all members of the team as well as allow any member to modify and set up entries for the whole team.
As always, enjoy. If any issues, bugs, etc. are found, just let us know either in here, the SSRG thread equivalent, or in the comments of the news post on the site itself.”
The deadline for entries is on July 31st, 2014. If you’re not interested in participating, you will eventually get to see the entries that are made publicly available, or look at entries from years prior. Head on over to the website itself for more information!
Ready, Set, Procrastinate!
[Source: Sonic Hacking Contest 2014 – Sonic Retro Forums]

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Site News

Shameless Promotion: Sonic Retro @ TooManyGames

SBTMG
It’s almost here.
If you are an avid reader of our sister site SEGAbits (and if you aren’t, shame on you), you more than likely read a news article from last month announcing the “Surviving the Dreamcast Apocalypse: SEGA Fans in the 21st Century” panel that will be part of the TooManyGames convention. That’s right, three days of video game insanity at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA, and right smack dab in the middle? A panel by SEGA fans, for SEGA fans. On June 28th, at the stroke of noon, all eyes will turn on SEGAbits Admin/Writer Barry the Nomad, “My Life With SEGA” creator A.J. Rosa, and The Website of the Dead owner Kori-Maru. There will be all sorts of SEGA discussion, reflecting on the moment where the company that ruled our childhoods forever changed, plus never before seen clips from A.J. that’ll be sure to dazzle. But how can you have a panel about SEGA and not touch on Sonic at some point?
Sonic Retro’s own David The Lurker (oh wait, that’s me) will also be there spooling a tale that is both familiar and strange. If you have the entire wiki memorized, you won’t be shocked by anything I have to say, but featured therein will be THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE HIDDEN PALACE ZONE, a trip down memory lane as we reflect on the one level that has captivated the minds of hardcore fans since it was teased in magazines way back in 1992. Missing from the final product, it inspired a legion of fans to create a Sonic Internet community that would have been vastly different had Craig Stitt’s baby made it into the final version. There’s a reason that “Master Emerald” still hides out in our logo.
So if you’re in the Greater Philadelphia area, or have the urge to travel, you can still register to get in. Be it one day or all three, I promise it’ll be a wild and crazy time. And if not…well, the Angry Video Game Nerd will be at the same convention. You can always go bother him afterwards.
For more information:
SEGAbits Original Announcement
Too Many Games Official Site
Too Many Games Attendee Registration

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Community, Site News

Sonic Retro, The Sonic Stadium, & SEGAbits join forces to celebrate Sonic’s 23rd birthday

Sonic23on23
Twenty-three years ago today, SEGA changed the future of video games with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog, and to celebrate Sonic’s golden birthday (that’s when your age matches your birthdate) we’re teaming up with The Sonic Stadium and SEGAbits. All week long, all three sites will form Team SegaSonic*, bringing you Sonic the Hedgehog articles, original content, videos, streams, and more from today through to the 29th! Also, as part of the celebrations, we’ll be hosting a panel with SEGAbits at Too Many Games in Oaks, PA on Saturday the 28th at noon – featuring a Dreamcast round table, a My Life with SEGA episode premiere, the history of Sonic the Hedgehog 2‘s Hidden Palace Zone, and a trivia contest with rare SEGA prizes including The House of the Dead 3 & 4 posters signed by series director Takashi Oda. There will also be several Sonic prizes on hand.
Readers can join in on the celebrations as well! All you have to do is follow SEGAbits, The Sonic Stadium, and Sonic Retro on Twitter and share your Sonic the Hedgehog photos and memories with the hashtag #Sonic23on23. The best tweets will be retweeted and shared to over 11,000 SEGA and Sonic fans, and we all know that in today’s world nothing is more rewarding than a retweet.
Happy Birthday, Sonic! The party has just begun!
*And now we wrestle over which one of us gets “speed”, because we all know “flight” and “power” are kind of lame.

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