Sonic 1 The Next Level - Walkthrough

[@SegaMario]

I'm so glad that Sonic Mania has some things that this hack has - freely-rotating sprites and extra frame sprites for Sonic to make him appear with more smoother animation.

[@AlexParr]

I agree!

[@xucxichstudio6500]

me too

[@setsers1]

YES

[@MastaGambit]

To be fair it's far more impressive to see that in a sega genesis game than it is in the Retro Engine

[@SegaMario]

@@MastaGambit Definitely. But was Mania even made on the Retro Engine? Or a modified version of it?

[@centipede167]

This is like the Sonic game we all dreamed of making when we were kids.

[@setsers1]

YES

[@theawkwarddonkey3763]

Ye

[@gmmarcano2193]

Yeah

[@Omegaknucklesaltenan]

Wait, this is an actual hack with the Sonic 1 Engine? I could've swore it was a custom engine based on how the sprite rotation and the camera movement was being handled. That's unbelievable.

[@Dilan_Duck]

This game shows the real capacity of the Genesis

[@ryzmaker11]

many official games from back then already do but this game, as its name implies, is the "next level" ;) (the thing is, the mega drive hardware has tons of potential meaning a wide margin of progression. an even more recent demonstration of this is the forthcoming xeno crisis which almost seems like a 32-bit game)

[@jameslozada3326]

@@ryzmaker11 If the game really Needs more, then we Move the Game to the Sega CD! and not the Sega 32X: Sega's 32-bit Console.

[@Zekium]

A lot of commercial games really well used the capacity of the Genesis : - Most "Traveler's Tales" games (Mickey, Toys story, Sonic 3D and the not so known Puggsy that use effect you would believe you're on SNES) - Kawasaki Superbike Challenge - Star Cruiser (specially impressive when it came out on the first year of the machine) - Batman and Robin - Thunderforce IV - Red Zone (Looks like the first GTA except GTA is on the first playstation)

[@Chloe.6259]

Now blast processing has much more sense

[@RWL2012]

and the Japanese and (60Hz-modded) PAL Mega Drives :)

[@itsNikash.]

I was not expecting to see a boss like this. Totally unique from the moment the opening of the boss room began felt refreshing.

[@ProfRenderer]

This. Art. Is. AMAZING! Not surprised seeing that MarkeyJester is behind this. And the mechanics and enemies are very well thought up. If this was a real full length hack, I'd totally play this! Heck, might as well play this one too!

[@SegaMario]

Good lord, MarkeyJester made such an incredible hack. More frames of animation for Sonic's sprites, non Genesis-like music ON a Genesis, and sprites being able to rotate like the SNES.

[@SegaMario]

You don't say?

[@ralphjeremy6590]

+Sergeant Sunflower sega never realized the genesis have those capabilities.....

[@jc_dogen]

The SNES could only rotate backgrounds, and only one of them really. You could rotate sprites in software on the cpu, but the genesis had a much more capable cpu, so you could argue it had better sprite scaling and rotation capabilities.

[@alanbareiro6806]

And the sprites don't really rotate. Markey just used more sprites and his smoothed up the animations. Although, if I'm being honest, smoothed rotating animations look better than 360 degrees rotation.

[@starvalkyrie]

rotating a background image is no different from rotating an actor sprite, other than the background image would often involve more pixels thus be more processor intensive. The SNES mode7 scaling was a variety of built-in instructions to scale and rotate sprites. This process is actually pretty processor intensive for an older system. However you could program your own custom scaling/rotation process for a genesis game beyond what was built into the graphics api. It's just more work for you, and likely less efficient.

[@bluetheelf4655]

Ok, if this was a real Genesis Sonic game, how many would buy it? I would.

[@RoddyDev]

Yeah, imagine if Markey Jester showed this to Sega in the 90s?

[@reiul9787]

I would

[@AnonymousFrogNG]

1 zone? I don't think so.

[@setsers1]

AMEN

[@setsers1]

@@AnonymousFrogNG what?🤨😠😆

[@XenonXyanide]

Very nice uses of late 80's/early 90's licensed House music. I wish this hack was alot longer, as I love the theme and level design of this rom. Excellent work and probably better than anything that Sega has put out recently. Great stuff.

[@sithsmasher7685]

+Xenon Xyanide That's the only thing I hate about it. Far too damn short.

[@sithsmasher7685]

***** MarkeyJester cooked this up just 3 months before the hacking contest. Yes, it's a demo, and it will remain so, sadly.

[@MartellThaCool]

I hope SEGA one day look at this and say we need to hired these guys for making this great Sonic The Hedgehog hack

[@sonichashackedyou21]

That's what they did with Christian Whitehead

[@VoxelPie]

and Headcannon AKA the people who made Sonic 1 Megamix.

[@Dreadish]

"Have you ever played Sonic The Hedgehog on a different planet?!" CD, Colors, and Lost World (sorta)

[@lordsyn86]

- Dread - this has a 32x feeling to it

[@iPandora08]

- Dread - I've just played colours and cd

[@aa-xi9lv]

*that fluid animation tho...*

[@Jericho398]

That boss is the most original sonic boss I ever seen.

[@setsers1]

Hehe! Yup.

[@JamesR624]

Prediction for ROMhack for 2017 or 2018, Markey Jester ports Sonic Mania to the Genesis.

[@MarkeyJester]

Donate a truck load of money to me, and I'll do it. >=3

[@madsonweb]

tell me your patreon or something similar and I'll donate, and I guess other people will do the same

[@theobserver4214]

James Rowe Prediction for next Dreamcast home brew game. Markey Jester port’s Sonic Mania to the Sega Saturn

[@setsers1]

HOLY FUCK

[@setsers1]

@@MarkeyJester YOU'RE FUCKING HERE

[@hyperstarman6848]

Reminder that Markey made this quickly as a last minute submission to a contest when they didn’t have enough time to finish their original entry

[@CronoMn]

I'm surprised this is not a hack rom of Sonic CD. This is really amazing!!!

[@borage7122]

Crono Mn so am i, it's ROM hack not hack rom

[@frannielmartinez]

It's the same

[@skoda8666]

@GUSTAVO666BR Error1010010101010 For sure it can. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5zGimN6hr2CipI

[@knuclear200x]

This is what we really need. More boss battles that dont just feature Robotnik flying on his Egg-o-Matic hovercraft. It's a lot more interesting having more characters who want Sonic dead

[@BComet]

Well, this don't work with Lyric

[@AshleyTMDW]

+Bruno Comet (B. Comet) Or Mephilis

[@seba83888]

we want originally boss battles

[@seba83888]

+seba83888 dont care if its eggman I want origially

[@BoredbroDotCom]

I really hope they make this hack into a full game. It is so awesome.

[@inksoldier5544]

Omg, level and Sonic's sprite are VERY BEAUTIFUL.

[@DashPadGames]

Damn this looks good.. I'm loving everything.. the music and especially all those additional frames of animation. Marky did an amazing job as usual.

[@epicwolfchillli]

@Jarapod whos that

[@thestarboundone8911]

This is literally the next level

[@user-ku3sr7cl3u]

Oh. My. God. Those graphics are gorgeous!

[@MadameSomnambule]

This is like 32x or Sega CD levels of techincal awesomeness. Love how the music has an early/mid-90s sound going on, a nice little period accurate touch. Hold up, looked it up. You made some awesome song choices for this. No wonder it feels so early 90s. That super sneakers theme from Sonic Labyrinth tho, you really did it justice! :D

[@AlastairPursloe]

One of the best hacks I've seen. The level design is perfect, and interesting too. The late 80s/early 90s music gives it that traditional Mega Drive/Genesis Sonic vibe. This puts Sonic 4's development team to shame.

[@MrEvilbyte]

Digging the Sonic CD style gameplay and layouts. With apparently a Chaotix artstyle. And that ....... music!

[@wakkowarner123]

Playing this put a big ol' smile on my face :)

[@alanbareiro6806]

MarkeyJester must be working at SEGA along with Taxman and Stealth!

[@electrosphere5581]

This is one of the best ROM hacks I've ever seen. The great use of music,the art style,gimmicks,level design and the creative boss fight are amazing.

[@Reayashin]

Act 2 My favorite overall.

[@Pikmin88]

Yeah, Act 1 was good too, but act 3 was a tedious pain in the ass.

[@gagejohnson3494]

Is it because of Alex Lee?

[@maniacaal]

Take.

[@rassilontdavros3004]

Jester made this on the GENESIS? In only a few MONTHS?

[@megathepunnymenace]

RassilonTDavros IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!

[@megathepunnymenace]

PP7628 I was exaggerating. I thought it was kinda obvious.

[@xXSpongeBroBrownPantzXx]

RassilonTDavros I kind of love the art even if it’s kind of has weird color mixing, but I love the abstractness. The level designs good but something seems a little empty about it idk why

[@RWL2012]

he seems to be in the UK so more likely for a 60Hz-modded PAL Mega Drive, unless he really imported a Genesis

[@epicwolfchillli]

@@xXSpongeBroBrownPantzXx imo act 3's level design is kinda confusing and not really good but the other 2 acts where fine

[@gabrielhenry7237]

Sonic 3D Blast: I pushed the Genesis to the limit Sonic ROM hacks: Amateur

[@tweechie_]

this is fuckin impossible. Sample based, CD like music, smooth animations, even faster gameplay... HOW?!

[@marzenam7564]

Mario1985 nie ma

[@retrosoul8770]

Gen hardware is underrated, that's how. It's quite capable, Sega never should have nor needed to flood their own market with add-ons, shame, it made the Gen seem weaker than it really was.

[@RonaldMcDongus]

those smooth animations remind me so much of sonic mania

[@FoxMan_FF]

I think this is by far the most "traditional" Sonic romhack that MarkeyJester has ever done, if you want to call it that. I loved this, it was wonderful.

[@DobieMeltfire]

Any FanGames/Hacks that resembles Sonic CD is great, we need more of them.

[@Reayashin]

+DobieMeltfire Sonic Hacking Contest 2015 begins next week. (Oct 19)

[@DobieMeltfire]

+Lone Devil Will you be in the contest? You have a great collection of sonic hacks.

[@Reayashin]

DobieMeltfire Spoiler Alert: Of course.

[@PablosCorner]

Nice to see ya here Dobie.

[@DylanDude]

+DobieMeltfire This resembles Sonic 1, not CD. Even then this has a far more 32x vibe to it.

[@RockingBlur]

>Markey Jester presents yesyesyESYESEYESYESYESYESYSEYSEYESEYSEYSEYES

[@williamcollis455]

Does the creator know his game is in the upcoming Netflix series High Score? Seriously, the trailer shows 6:40 from Act 3.

[@graysonwells21]

I was wondering where did the footage of that gameplay come from. I never knew this fan game existed.

[@WeegeeCool1]

@@simonm7917 nope, they just thought it was game footage and used it.

[@Slightly_Sadistic]

MarkeyJester is certainly aware. The hack so good, it made it to Netflix. Intentional? Prob not.

[@trailwaver404]

Imagine sega showing this to the public as a demo from what the genesis can do back in 1992

[@renatao6330]

world would end

[@SonicRevolutionZD]

Sonic Mania looks like MarkeyJester on Steroids!

[@lazy7279]

Uhm... Just...

[@Gamesmarts194]

Sonic Revolution (BETA) Honestly they're pretty equal in different ways in my opinion.

[@iregretsomeofmypreviouscom3284]

I like this hack more than Mania. At least this one has original zones.

[@Duif420]

Finally a good hack again!

[@PatMacYT]

Next level indeed.

[@JetroNetro]

I never thought I’d see you here!

[@SonicRevolutionZD]

MarkeyJester should keep going on with his hacking career. Every time I see his hacks I get those BLAST PROCESSING feels, the music, the level design is RADICAL!

[@OldMasterNama]

9:53 Bus Error You Were Late

[@gravitybreaker1]

only a minute into the video, and I love it.It's the atmosphere and level designsega needs to do something like this

[@splegoon4289]

Silky smooth sprite animation 👍

[@onthedre]

Forgot about this game for a while but man this is really ahead of its time even for a hack. Very inspired.

[@eletgres519]

this game is and still is so god damn cool.

[@Ai-fj1dc]

This clearly is the most impressive ROM hack I've ever seen

[@pokemonlover4208]

I’m here because somehow Netflix got away with using gameplay of this hack in one of their episodes in a show called High Score. No joke, check out episode 4 of it if you don’t believe me.

[@lmaochill321]

Facts like wtf

[@WeegeeCool1]

I know

[@yehaamedia3336]

Yep...this game's canon.

[@HyperchaotixFox]

I'd really like to see what Markey Jester could do with an original game concept. I bet he could make a pretty decent game.

[@PP-bs3od]

He's done some before, Markey the Jester and The Chaos Layer. Unfortunately he never finished either.

[@retrohill5848]

Random people's dreams : I dreamed of my crush kissing me My Dreams: 8:15

[@gabrielvaldez4042]

XD

[@iregretsomeofmypreviouscom3284]

This hack is more original than Mania

[@basurerodej8501]

Judging by your user name i think you regret this (Sort of)

[@nck9755]

Jose Channel but he’s not wrong

[@PickleRicksFATASSCOUSIN]

@@basurerodej8501 Plus he's more of a bomberman fan than a sonic fan

[@eletgres519]

This man is right. Sonic mania reused more zones instead of making up their own zones.

[@Bunihime]

This is giving me major ristar and sonic cd vibes and i love it

[@ezeo_o499]

Muy bueno, especialmente la musica y el fondo (background) de Gust Planet!!

[@CdotNaoki]

Amazing 1st zone despite my doubts..... and then crash. I am sad and want SEGA to see some of these

[@ScatterbrainPete]

This rom is said to run on the Genesis alone, without any add-ons like Sega CD and 32X. If that's true then someone should seriously show this to Yuji Naka and Hirokazu Yasuhara. This stuff's really impressive.

[@PP-bs3od]

This can in fact run on a stock Genesis!

[@YoshiEaterX]

Where's the music from? It's super Jazzy~

[@VincentHernandez2121]

+fighteroffighters You, my good sir, are AWESOME! This comment deserves to be on the top!

[@WahnTawns]

You're the real MVP. Thank you!

[@withonetouchishallbringyou8038]

fighteroffighters thnk so much

[@cockshield]

The title music is "20 Million Miles From Earth by Space"

[@blanknam3d]

@@Davrie I'm a month late, but because I happen to also be looking for the names of the music, I found them with a little sleuthing. Maxine Hardcastle - It's Gonna Happen (Wesley Clarke remix) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXzYnZSta6t3r7c (act 1) Alex Lee - Take It kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXupo4GPprV2nLc (act 2) I'll update this later if I find Act 3, though.

[@CrimsonNeo]

Ugh, I wish ROM hacks like this got more views instead of just the meme hacks. This one deservers a lot of views, honestly.

[@digimaks]

This is pretty well put toget her Sonic hack. The graphics with music certainly have that Sonic CD feel to it. I guess that was the main intention anyway. The boss scene tho didn't make sense and certianly not the Sonic style. Anyways wish it was full game, sicne it goes into Sonic CD style- definitely applause to that!

[@Stickboy321Go]

As a person who played the this game, it’s a master piece

[@Monika-tu2lc]

Sega TAKE NOTES

[@artoliann]

Hey! Sega can make great video games don't doubt them they can make better video games than the community....

[@charmcaster7078]

@@SpriteStrikerAnimates You're right. especially when most are just troll, jokes, unfinished etc.

[@marcelocontreras6600]

@@charmcaster7078 and that is the reason why I don't really like SAGE at all

[@AccelerateHedge]

This hack is a genuine masterpiece. It deserves so much more attention than it gets. This has to be one of my favorite Sonic fan _things_ ever made.

[@penguinimptheinsane774]

Wow. This is a really good hack coming from a hacker known mostly for joke hacks (Ring Ride series, etc.). Very good hack, this.

[@MarvyGD]

this on some NEXT LEVEL stuff

[@TheSonicbandicootX]

Smooth rotation in Mega Drive Sonic game!! Fuck,this is awesome

[@sintheemptyone8108]

Great graphics, original zone, great music choices and great level design. He deserved that win. This is something your average fan can only dream of achieving. It is at the same time discouraging and inspiring me. Maybe I will never reach the same level of polish and skill but the journey could be worth it regardless.

[@Ninjacat25]

You might surprise yourself. People can learn new skills.

[@oosha2000]

This hack is amazing, good work Jester

[@jimmyflame8931]

The boss looks like a mixture of R.O.B. from the NES and a boss from Vector Man on Genesis. Very awesome and well done fan game.

[@BComet]

Fan-game? It's a hack bro.

[@jimmyflame8931]

Either way, it's still good.

[@ranchdressing]

Every single time you hit that Invincibility, dude, you make me musically trip out. And in a good way.

[@palladium346]

This is a very good concept for a future sonic game, I say that rift Sonic fell in soon takes him on a journey though out the different game stages mostly not Sonic's. A journey that changed his life and himself (different sonics with different abilities) on the way to get back to his home dimension while making new friends and enemies.

[@jaypin88]

The Music has gotten me in some way of a vibe, lol if only someone can post the OST for this Hack.

[@JetroNetro]

The ending is amazing! Love that Adrian Gauna reference!

[@Digiflower5]

I just saw this on High Score, im like what sonic game is that.

[@dakuteru-x3409]

One of the best Sonic hack games ever!

[@Rezmic]

Custom sprites, animations, scripts, and everything looks well done, this is how a hack should be made.

[@victoriabrown9192]

SMOOTH ANIMATION

[@rahaabken]

This hack has got some great music! Especially the invincibility theme.

[@rahaabken]

Thanks, would you happen to know were the invincibility theme is from?

[@rahaabken]

Thanks again :)

[@lemonismq4642]

Thanks to one man,it's Rapina Bros-Reach To The Top,awesome music!

[@rahaabken]

Thank you very much, have an awesome day!

[@FractalMannequin]

MarkeyJester reached perfection with this hack. Even the music is damn good. EVEN THE GODDAMN MUSIC.

[@MikhalaWelch]

too good to be a hack. I could've sworn that this was a fangame.

[@ZAchillesV]

3:35 the actual song is called Take it by Alex Lee

[@Mischismes-zv1ci]

Some people say that this was R2 (Dubious Depths/ Relic Ruins) Sonic CD unsued level (PT: It’s False it’s the D.A. garden music)

[@nightmareindreamland]

Sonic Mania totally implemented some ideas from this game

[@AsmrAsap]

One of the best Genesis soundtracks ever.

[@Oysterblade84]

I'm famous!

[@Dandaman955]

+Adrian Gauna It's alright: This time around, we all couldn't play it.

[@MartellThaCool]

your work is incredible

[@lovelylow69]

Adrian Gauna Then where are your 5 million subscribers?

[@RoddyDev]

Perfect Sonic || And where are your manners?

[@lovelylow69]

Roddy I’m just saying, if he’s famous then he should at least have 5 million subs. XD and it was a joke. Where’s YOUR manners?

[@filipecosta1232]

4:20 Is this a Spark The Eletric Jester reference? I don't know, please, elucidate me on this.

[@plantman2387]

How does this music run on the Genesis sound chip? It legit sounds like something you would hear on Sega CD or Saturn

[@RWL2012]

The Title Screen, Act 2, Invincibility and Boss music (and Adrian's speech) is 26KHz 8-bit mono PCM recorded sound files playing on Channel 6 in DAC mode on the YM2612. The hardware has always been able to do this (though it requires careful programming to not sound like crap), but it wasn't used in official games due to the storage limitations and expense of cartridge ROM chips. So all you got was "Seegaa!" and a few drum samples etc with the rest of the sound synthesized on-chip, which is still the case for the SEGA screen, Act 1, Act 3, Speed Shoes, Extra Life and Level Complete music here. Markey Jester's "Jester's Challenge" has an entirely "streamed PCM" soundtrack with 6 tracks. The title screen of his "Pana der Hejhog" also has _streamed PCM_ music. Also check out vladikcomper's "Sonic 1 with HQ Digital Audio". It's also possible to software-mix Amiga MOD music and stream it to Channel 6 of the YM2612 in DAC mode, but it uses almost all the CPU power, so gameplay can't run at the same time. One official game, Toy Story, does this on the title screen and credits. In 2022, the Titan MDMOD player was released, which allows the playback of Amiga MOD music files on the Mega Drive / Genesis. Search: MDMOD A Person - for my video of it on my second channel.

[@ultimatescorpion12]

wow this is amazing

[@Flashenite]

Is this sonic 4 ? IT'S THE TRUE SONIC 4 !!!

[@Reayashin]

+Flash Dash17 yes

[@Reayashin]

***** yes

[@SunkythePootis]

+Flash Dash17 Nah that would be Sonic 4: Cybernetic Outbreak :P

[@Vrodinee]

You idiot

[@LuigiXHero]

+Mega Mayo The rotation is still works like the original. He just added a ton of extra frames for each angle.

[@BotmanR]

WELCO METOT HENEX TLEVEL

[@topazbear2]

saw this on high score passed off as a real sonic game on Netflix

[@_PuppetMaster86]

I was so confused when I saw it, too. I saw this ROM hack years ago and when I saw it on High Score and was like, “is this an original ROM used in the championships like with Mario/Zelda?”

[@Sinistrad627]

I wish this hack had more levels, the Gust Planet zone is truly amazing and very well done. :D

[@lupinedreamexpress]

I was going to say what the last guy said. But its already been said. WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS GOOD LEVEL DESIGN? Genius.

[@federicogonzalez3514]

This fangame looks like a Sonic CD's sequel.

[@Automatik234]

The hack is amazing!

[@theobserver4214]

This is super trippy to see. So smooth

[@mammouthlafouinne3678]

I'm not the easily impressed type.. but this mod is IMPRESSIVE and level design is AWESOME.

[@supersonicgg3437]

MUITO BOM O JOGO MELHOR QUALIDADE DE INMAGEM MOVIMENTOS REALISTAS, SPINDASH E MAIS

[@slippy495]

That feeling when this game is 3 levels long and is already better than anything Sega has ever made.

[@taihijpnjlnjb3981]

What im saying? My FAVOURITE sonic fan game, is so cool and its so cool the level designs!

[@eltiolavara9]

i haven't really looked at the sonic romhacking stuff for like eight years or so, this is some AMAZING shit

[@abyssbun444]

this game looks amazing now I want to play XD (for some reason I think this game would've been perfect for the Sega Saturn)

[@theobserver4214]

True

[@abyssbun444]

I hope this turns into a game someday

[@stephentester7664]

the invincibility theme is the best song