It's Like a Whole New Game (almost)
Well, hey guys. So, today, I'll be continuing on my Sonic reviews Marathon for this month. So, now, we may start walking into more Sonic hacks that are even more altered than the original Sonic games. So, I have managed to find a Sonic hack that is quite a lot different from the original. Almost everything has been changed, graphic-wise, sound-wise, and zone-wise. Also, one thing I can predict before I start is that game play portion may be unusually large since that is what is mostly modified and has the most things to talk about. So anyways, let's get started right onto the review!

Intro: Whats special?

So, in this Sonic the hedgehog 1 hack, there has been many things changed. The first thing that got changed is the main character. There is now a new main character who is called, "Dark Sound the Hedgehog" Well, pretty much already shown in the title of this Sonic 1 hack. Now, to be honest here, I have no idea who Dark Sound the Hedgehog is, never heard of him before, and I am pretty sure that he is probably some made up Sonic character, I'm guessing. Well, hopefully, I'm not mistaken. Though, really, he looks a lot like Sonic anyways. So, this hack has quite a lot graphic changes, a lot of sound and background music changes, and most of the zones appears to also be changed. Some of them are completely changed and some aren't really changed that much. Though, when I tired this game out, to be honest, it turned out pretty well and pretty professional. I thought it was bad when I looked at the screenshots, but, when I tried this game out, I was pretty much wrong. Anyways, now, let's jump right into the game so I can explain why I found this game, not so bad...

Gameplay: 9.5

Oh, now, that is definitely something that made this Sonic hack pretty awesome. You are probably wondering, "Why does it get such a good rating?" Alright, let me explain. There are several factors here that makes this Sonic 1 hack, a very enjoyable hack to play. Now, I will go ahead and divide the gameplay section into a few other sections so it doesn't look like a mess. So, the 3 very important factors that really makes up the gameplay of Sonic games are: Physics, Special abilities, Zones and the badniks/enemies. Now, let's go ahead and jump right into each one of them:

Physics: Somewhat modified well and sometimes strange

Now, let me go ahead and explain. So, the physics is somewhat similar to Sonic the hedgehog 1's physics, Like if you were to jump, it feels similar to the original Sonic 1 in many ways. However, if you try to run, you'll notice a nice difference. Firstly, Dark Sound the Hedgehog seems to run pretty fast at a different pace. What I basically mean is that he does not have that strange limit in the original sonic 1 where you would start to just move at a decent pace, you can just keep going faster and faster. Which is what a true Sonic game should probably be like. Secondly, what I meant by "sometimes strange" is that, when you jump, you usually jump at a normal height, but at some areas, when you jump, you may notice that you are jumping a bit higher than normal. Sometimes even a little lower than normal too. It happens at some areas sometimes. Which is kind of interesting. And the gravity seems to somewhat change a bit, the gravity just at times gets a bit lighter, and just sometimes gets a bit heavier. But still, the gravity changes in a pretty good way, I think it's supposed to do that so it can adjust to certain areas that requires higher jump height and lighter gravity. Like, in a certain area in a zone where you need to jump on platforms that are pretty far from each other, the gravity just gets a bit lighter and you are able to jump a bit higher and fall down slightly slower than usual, which is pretty cool and fun. I find it very unique from other Sonic games and hacks. I don't remember seeing any other Sonic game or hack before that would change the level of gravity at certain areas. Though, one thing that sucks is that it is sometimes a bit rare when it happens depending on the zone. To basically sum up that point, the gravity changes at certain areas where things gets more fun and the speed has a higher potential in moving fast than the original physics. 

Special Moves:

Yep, now, we move on to the special moves. There is one awesome thing about the special moves but yet one thing that also sucks about them. So, now, let us start with what is awesome. So, firstly, Dark Sound can do the good old and original Spin dash by simply holding the down button and tapping the jump button while on the ground. Secondly, he can do the Sonic CD alternative dash move (similar to spin dash but while you are standing.) by simply pressing the up button and tapping the jump button while on the ground. Alright, also, those moves don't have any bad things about it. Now, we will move on to even more awesomer moves, but with some catches. Firstly, he can do a forward air dash! To do it, simply face the right or left direction and press the jump button while in mid-air! It greatly increases his speed in the air and makes him move a lot faster. Similar to the homing attack, but it's not really homing toward any badniks or monitors. But now, here is the catch, when you do that, it will deduct from your rings. Do it a lot, and you'll have 0 rings left and you can no longer do the move until you get some rings, but don't worry, it won't make you lose any lives. Now, we have a small double jump move! To do it, simply press the jump button while on the air and while holding the up key. It will allow you to make a double jump, very useful and fun to use! However, it does use up some rings or I think only one ring, which is less than the air-dash move. Now, one final special move that probably most gamers won't like much, which is a fast down-dash. Basically, makes you go all the way down to the ground while in mid-air pretty quickly. Not so sure how it is useful, but somewhat cool I guess. Simply hold the down button while in mid-air and press the jump button to do it. I think it also uses up rings too. Only the spin dash and the standing spin dash on the ground don't use up any rings. (Thank goodness. lol. Just imagine how horrible that would be.) I know losing rings by using some special moves sucks but... If you come to think of it, just makes the game more special. More like some real special moves that requires some payments. XD

The zones and The badniks:

Now, lets talk about the zones and the badniks. This is indeed another important factor in Sonic games. Firstly, lets start off with the badniks. The first thing I said when I first encounter the badniks was, "Whoa whoa whoa. Wha?". Why did I say that? Well, lets see, the badniks are..... wild and destructive. They are A LOT more violent than the original. They move quite fast and shoot loads of projectiles too. If you just stand still around a few badniks for a whole 2 seconds, the next thing you'll notice is a huge loss of rings. The best thing to do is to just run fast and jump away from them. Something even more annoying is when several badniks would shoot out several projectiles and you just end up running into them without noticing. Now, the next thing to talk about is the zones. They are really modified. Well, most of them. The zones are completely different meanwhile some are the same. Most of them, I must say, is a lot more fun and interesting, even the same with the special stages. Also gives you a nice experience of different zones.
That is about it for the gameplay portion in my review.

Graphics: 9

Well, not so bad. Pretty good. A lot of things has been modified from the original but they still do look like the original though, it's mostly all color changes, really. But still, it doesn't look so bad. To basically explain it, they give you more of this different feeling for the different type of Sonic game. Definitely a type of Sonic game like never before, from what I have seen The original is mostly happy looking, a bit, while, this Sonic 1 hack give you more of an unhappy and somewhat chaotic look. It gives you more of a nice different experience from the original despite it being mostly color changes. Also, it is still of decent quality. As for the modified Sonic sprites, which is the dark sound sprites, it is also just color changes. Dark Sound looks exactly like Sonic, but with a slightly darker fur color of blue and blood red eyes (Not, sonic.exe. lol) with more of a different look in jumping and spinning. Now, one last thing, the title screen. Oddly enough, it seems to be mostly unchanged. The only thing that is literally changed is Sonic's eye color and that little "v.2.00 dark" thingy at the bottom of where Sonic is on. Kind of a bummer really, but not a bid deal and not that bad. There isn't really much left to talk about for the graphics. 

Sound: 9

Well, the sound is alright. It is very fitting to the zones and fairly catchy. I wouldn't really say that it is better than the original but it is almost as good as the original. It is of decent quality and it gives you that feeling of a fast and hard challenge that you must go through in this Sonic game. As for the sound effects, I think most or all of them were unchanged. But still, it fits well with the modified background music. I think all of the background musics were modified unless I'm missing something. The background musics fits for a situation that you must go through as fast as you can and a hard situation that you must survive through, which is how a Sonic game should really be like. It just helps in making this game more enjoyable and it motivates you to move faster and try harder in the game. Thats about it for the sound. 

Addictiveness: 9

It somewhat kind of depends on what person you really are. If you are that type of person who is interested in playing very challenging, different, and unique Sonic hacks, then this would be the right game that you would probably get addicted to playing. If you don't really like playing extremely challenging games, then, you may start getting annoying from playing this Sonic hack after a while. As for me, I am somewhat addicted to this game which led me to eventually start making a review about it. I just love playing these unique, challenging and different zones again and again. I just want to finally be able to finish and master the zones. But, it requires so much effort that it makes you want to keep trying it, again and again. Especially considering the changing gravity and cool special moves, it helps you to even play this game even more again and again. 

Story: 6

Ehh... Now, here is the insignificant and bad parts about most Sonic games. It is simply the same story of Sonic (or Dark Sound the Hedgehog for this Sonic hack) having to simply defeat Dr. Eggman. No other twists or interesting thing. Just a simple and overused story, but this is not what really matters much in Sonic games anyways. 

Depth: 10

Yea, one thing I need to say is that this game sure has loads of depth. I mean, the zones are greatly modified (most of them) and it gives you a completely different Sonic experience unlike the original. You just don't know what can possibly come up next in the zone, even if you played it several times, the zone is just something you can't even memorize. I was able to memorize some of the original zones but as for this one, you can't. Also, one more thing that brings in REAL depth is the way you lose rings when you use the special moves in the air. That really shows how deep and dedicated this game is. Normally, Sonic hacks would just make things all simple and shallow, but this one dives really deep. It offers zones that were seriously modified like crazy and some awesome special moves. 

Difficulty: 9

One thing I must say is that this Sonic hack is pretty challenging. Nearly all zones are challenging for me. Why? Let's start off, the badniks. A LOT more violent compared to the original Sonic game, there are literally like... projectiles in the air, just everywhere. Even if there is just one badnik around, if you leave it alive for more than 1 second, expect to see lots of projectiles coming around, and normally, the zones are filled with badniks. The zones are also filled with lots of surprises. For example, I'm moving so fast and then I jump high, I hit a badnik and I bounce all the way up, then I fall all the way down, then I hit another badnik and I bounce all the way up again, then when I go down, I bounce on a monitor, a few seconds later, I lose ALL of my rings! It turned out to be a hidden Dr. Eggman monitor! Like.... Sheeesh. How was I supposed to know that an Eggman monitor was hidden behind a tree in the most unexpected spots possible? XD I was just moving in an epic way until that Eggman monitor came in. 

OVERALL: 9.3

Well, that is about it for my review. This Sonic 1 hack was done pretty well, I must say. Thank you for reading and have a good time on vizzed!
  Graphics 9   Sound 9   Addictive 9   Depth 10   Story 6   Difficulty 9

Overall 8.3    Graphics 9    Sound 9    Addictive 9    Story 6    Depth 10    Difficulty 9

It's Like a Whole New Game (almost)   Mohammedroxx3
Well, hey guys. So, today, I'll be continuing on my Sonic reviews Marathon for this month. So, now, ...
  Graphics 9   Sound 9   Addictive 9   Story 6   Depth 10   Difficulty 9
      Review Rating: 3/5     Submitted: 02-09-14     Review Replies: 4

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