Sonic Redux


SHC 2017 Entry

Sonic Redux is the first extensive hack of Sonic R, one of the more obscure entries in the series. The goal of Redux was to be a "Sonic R 2" of sorts, with new planned characters and courses with a focus on making sure the game is balanced and fun. I only ever got to implementing the characters though, and I had a lot of issues doing so, so I'm not sure if I want to continue with this.

Features

Widescreen Support

Note: this feature has been ported to the Sonic R Mod Loader.

Now you can play Sonic R in HD (720p, 1080p, you name it)! See those Saturn-era polygons in detail you never thought necessary. But even more importantly, you can play in 16:9 widescreen, giving you a wider view of the racetrack and a less terrible aspect ratio if played fullscreen.

Improved handling and physics

Various tweaks have been done to make the controls and handling a little bit better. For instance, you can now walk backwards by holding the down key. Turning is also quicker, slopes have more effect on you, and the characters feel like have more weight to them.

Rings in Times Trial Mode

Note: this feature has been ported to the Sonic R Mod Loader.

Ever wanted to plan your racing strategies with the ring gates and accelerators in mind? With a few tweaks here and there, rings are now enabled in time attack mode.

Randomized characters in GP mode

Note: this feature is an option in JSONMenu.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Eggman. They're ALWAYS who you race against in Sonic R. Every single time. ...no more! Because the characters are better balanced, it's now possible to shuffle who appears on the starting line. Every race will be different!

Jumping and Action button

Every single character can now jump. Amy's slow noisy car is no more! Instead, the special abilities have been mapped to a new button, the "Action button". See the Characters section for more details.

Special Meter

Many character's special abilities are shown on the new Special Meter. This can show how much time you have left in the air, or how much longer you need to wait to use your ability, or it can help you with timing tricky moves. It also shows the number of balloons or Sonic Tokens you've collected. See the Characters section for more details.

Controls

Characters

Sonic Redux comes with 8 brand new racers, complete with (admittedly really unpolished) custom models and special abilities.

Sonic the Hedgehog

The fearless hedgehog, always up for some competition.

Pressing Action while running he can roll into a ball and zoom down hills at breakneck speed.
Holding Action from a standstill will charge up his Super Sonic Spindash, launching him from 0 to super sonic speeds in no time at all.

Miles "Tails" Prower

Sonic's best pal, always at his side on his adventures.

Press Jump in mid-air to fly through the air for a short period of time, as indicated on the Special Meter.
Tails will slowly descend as he flies, but if you hold Action he will rise instead.
When the Special Meter is empty Tails will fall!

Knuckles the Echidna

The sole guardian of the Master Emerald on the floating Angel Island.

Press Jump while in mid-air to have Knuckles glide, slowly descending until he lands.

Amy Rose

Sonic's not-so-secret admirer. Subtlety never works, she claims.

Jump and press Action to start swinging her hammer. This will reset and start draining the special meter.
If she lands while the special meter is not empty, she will bounce off the ground. If you're careful, you can even bounce off of water!
Land on ground while meter if full to bounce forwards and gain speed.
Land on ground while meter is near empty to bounce upwards and gain height.

Fang the Sniper

Lead member of the mercenary group Team Hooligan. His real name is Nack the Weasel, but he thinks that name's not cool enough for him.

Get at least 10 rings to fill the boost meter.
Press Action when Special Meter is full to fire the cork gun. This will stop others dead in their tracks and cause them to drop 20 rings. This costs 10 rings.

Metal Sonic

Formerly Dr. Robotnik's most menacing threat. Recovered from the aftermath of the Little Planet incident, he's since reprogammed by Tails for training purposes.

Don't hold Action to move slowly, but with great control.
Hold Action to move very fast with almost no steering.

Blaze the Cat

Princess from another dimension. Sometimes she comes over for birthday parties and races, when not busy dealing with her own matters.

Hold Action to use her Boost to speed past others. Steering will be more difficult when boosting.
When the Special Meter is empty Blaze will be unable to boost!
Collect rings and complete laps to refill the Special Meter.

Silver the Hedgehog

He hails from the distant future, but with the power of the elusive Chaos Emeralds he can travel through time. He's a bit of a dweeb, even if he doesn't want to admit it.

Hold Action to activate his Psychic Powers. This will preserve his speed, but he will be unable to move. He will still bounce off of walls, however.
Hold Action in mid-air or walk off a cliff while your psychic powers are active to hover. Silver will stay at exactly the height he's at. This will drain your Special Meter, but it will be replenished when not hovering.

Future Plans

I am currently undecided if I want to continue development, but if I do, here's my checklist:

Port existing modifications to 2004 version

This will require me to re-reverse engineer the game. I'm making decent progress, but it's time consuming. Specifically, I'd need to do the following:

Engine Improvements

Content

Toolchain

This will take a considerable amount of effort. (The 2017 SHC release was already 152 KB of ASM for the code changes alone!) I don't have much experience doing track design or 3D animation. Again, I don't know if I want to continue this, but it's not off my radar entirely.