Video Game / Sonic SMS Remake

The trilogy memorial at SAGE 2023

Sonic SMS Remake is a trilogy of Fan Remakes of the Sega Master System/Game Gear Sonic the Hedgehog series of games for Android and PC, made by João Araya. The games are meant as a showcase of his own fangame engine, the "Open Sonic SMS" engine for GameMaker Studio, which has also been used to power several derivative projects (that he links to from the website). Ports also exist for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One (plus Series X and S), PlayStation Vita, and Playstations 3, 4 and 5 that have been made by MDashK.

Each installment remakes its equivalent installment in the original series, with the third one combining the last two installments into one, for the modern day with more quality of life improvements (such as widescreen, brighter art palette, etc.) whilst retaining and polishing the artstyle of its original counterparts. The trilogy consists of:

• Sonic SMS Remake, which remakes Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit) and adds Tails, Knuckles, Mighty and Ray as playable characters, alongside adding Marble, Spring Yard and Star Light (zones not present in the original 8-bit game) into the game in Remake Mode.
• Sonic 2 SMS Remake, which remakes Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit) and does a major overall of the main game. With the story now centering on Dr. Eggman stealing the Master Emerald with both Sonic and Tails (or Knuckles and Amy, or Shadow and Metal Sonic, or Mighty and Ray) in pursuit. The game uses a duo team gimmick, allowing you to switch between characters on the fly during gameplay,
• Sonic 3 SMS Remake: Timelines, which remakes Sonic the Hedgehog Chaos and Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble, and centers on Silver coming from the future claiming Dr. Eggman's after a new source of power, the Time Stones, which allows him to travel through time within his dimension, and change the timeline. With Sonic, Shadow and Silver (alongside Amy, Rouge and Blaze) off to find the Time Stones before Eggman! The game still in development, though a one zone demo has been unveiled.

The games themselves can be downloaded from the game's website.

Tropes

• Adaptational Alternate Ending: Since 2's main plot is reworked to have Dr. Eggman steal the Master Emerald instead of kidnapping Tails in the original, Sonic and Tails' normal/bad ending is reworked to simply both of them running in the credits sequence, instead of the original bad ending where Sonic runs alone then looks into the sky. Consequently, the good ending sees Super Sonic and Tails carry the Master Emerald in tow, before the camera pans slowly towards a new character, Espio, and there's even another Golden Ending that's gained from playing said new character and Vector and selecting a specific act in the final zone.
• Adaptation Amalgamation: The remakes don't just do a 1-on-1 remake of the original games — many elements from other adjacent games are merged with it too.
  • The first game adds back all the zones from the 16-bit version that were left out in the 8-bit version, placing Marble Zone between Bridge and Jungle Zone, Spring Yard between Jungle and Labyrinth Zone, and Star Light between Scrap Brain and Sky Base Zone.
  • 2 replaces Green Hills Zone's spot as the fourth zone with Oil Ocean from the 16-bit version, adds an entirely new zone heavily based off of the credits sequence and the 16-bit version's Sky Chase Zone, and even adds new bosses like Sonic Chaos' Gigapolis Zone Boss, Triple Trouble's final boss as the Final Boss in place of the original, and Sonic 3's Big Arm as the True Final Boss. The Master System version's boss music is repurposed as the music for the Final Boss whilst the game uses the Game Gear version's boss music as the regular one.
  • 3 Timelines goes even further, combining Chaos and Triple Trouble into one game per Word of God.
• Adaptation Dye-Job:
  • In Sonic Mania Plus, Super Mighty merely glows whilst retaining his shell's red color. In the SMS remakes, his shell glows turquoise when super.
  • Aqua Lake Zone Act 1 gets a major rework in its palette, replacing its pink foreground and green background with blue ones for both.
• Adapted Out:
  • The Easter Egg in Sky High Zone Act 1 where ducks appear if you push on the leftmost monitor isn't carried over into the remake.
  • Sonic's rings can no longer be recollected after getting hit in 2 and 3 Timelines, despite their original versions allowing that.
  • Zig-Zagged with Green Hills Zone. Whilst its spot as the fourth zone in the original game is replaced with Oil Ocean Zone, Time Hill Zone recycles its music and some of its level design for its first Act, even if its artstyle is mainly taken from the credits sequence.
  • The ability to skip across the water's surface isn't carried over for any games porting Sonic 2 and onward.
• Anti-Frustration Features: Many elements from the level design to gameplay mechanics have been reworked for the sake of making these games more bearable to play and improve upon it.
  • Many gameplay mechanics that have become a staple in later Sonic games, such as the Spin Dash, Super Sonic, shields, and even newer mechanics such as Sonic Mania's Drop Dash get implemented into the game, which can help in overall gameplay.
  • There's now a full-fledged menu for all the games, and even a save data switching system to allow multiple different playthroughs.
  • Some Guide Dang It! instances are averted by use of Notice This or similar guides, such as Sky Base Zone's propellered platforms, and Sky High Zone's hang gliders (whilst the latter also has its flight changed from the left button to the A button)
• All in the Manual: Certain details in the game like the stories and some zone origins are found mostly on the website.
• Cheat Code: A list of cheat codes (that are also posted on the game's website for convenience) can be unlocked by pressing the game version text 4 times. 1 and 2 provide a myriad of cheat codes for things such as adding 15 more lives to your current playthrough, unlocking all of the Chaos Emeralds immediately, unlocking the Level Select, etc., whilst 3 Timelines only has one for Debug Mode.
• Dungeon Bypass: Running into the wall at the starting point of Scrambled Egg Act 1 leads the player into a pipe that bypasses the majority of the level until just shy of the final pipe leading to the goal.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: In the boss fights in 1, the character you're playing as still retains their special moves compared to 2 and 3 Timelines, where the characters are stripped down to only being able to Spin Dash (unless you put in a cheat code).
• Final Death Mode: Encore Mode in 1 and 2 have this as a gimmick. You can swap between any of the available teams by using a certain Monitor, but if any of them die even once, you lose that pair for the rest of the run.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: The game's website mentions that Hidden Cave Zone is a puzzle place made by the Master Emerald itself to keep out those not worthy of finding it, hence the convoluted methods needed to advance the zone.
• Golden Ending:
  • Beating the True Final Boss (which is only possible if you're playing as Sonic and Tails, as well as having obtained all of the Chaos Emeralds) unlocks a different credits sequence showing the duo running down Time Hill with the Master Emerald in tow, before the camera stops following the two and pans over to a previously unseen character spying on them… which also means that character and another become playable in the main campaign.
  • Playing as Espio and Vector after beating the True Final Boss and selecting Time Hill Act 1 will lead to Hidden Cave Zone. Reaching the Master Emerald in the zone will lead to a different credits sequence that serves as a Sequel Hook that ties into 3 Timelines.
• Guest Fighter:
  • Tails, Knuckles, Mighty, and Ray are available as playable characters in 1.
  • The aforementioned four, as well as Amy Rose, Shadow, and Metal Sonic are playable in 2. Beating the True Final Boss also unlocks Espio and Vector.
  • 3 Timelines adds Silver, Blaze, and Rouge into the mix.
• Guide Dang It!: Accessing the bonus zone requires you to specifically access the first act of the final zone and selecting Espio and Vector. Then once you're in the zone, you have to perform a convoluted sequence of actions in order to properly progress through the zone to make it to the Golden Ending.
• Harmless Freezing: Aqua Lake Zone Act 1 has been given a gimmick where if you spend roughly 10 consecutive seconds above water, you'll automatically be frozen in a block of ice and have to Button Mash out. This can be a bit of a hassle if the freeze happens while you're in the middle of some platforming; thankfully, the screen will start to display a "0°C" message shortly before you freeze. It's still better to take the upper route until the level forces you to submerge near the end, since the consequences of spending too much time underwater are far worse.
• Hub Level: Time Warp in 3 Timelines, inspired by Sonic Advance 3 and White Space from Sonic Generations.
• Levels Take Flight: Time Hill Zone Act 2 has your character stay on top of the Tornado's wings as they have to traverse and avoid getting hit by Badniks and floating bombs in order to reach Dr. Eggman's base, taking a page straight out of the 16-bit version's Sky Chase Zone.
• Life Meter: The remake has an option to toggle a life bar for bosses that show exactly how many hits left are needed to defeat them.
• Recycled Soundtrack: Two instances can be found in 2:
  • Oil Ocean Zone uses Sonic Mania's Act 2 version for its music, despite the game meant to be more in line with the 16-bit version.
  • Hidden Cave Zone uses the Tidal Tempest Past theme from Sonic CD.
• Secret Level: Choosing to play as Espio and Vector after selecting Time Hill Act 1 will send the player to the Hidden Cave Zone, a zone that's more of a puzzle that requires a series of criterion to be filled to be able to reach the Master Emerald at the bottom and achieve the second Golden Ending.
• Shout-Out: 3 Timelines has its Dimensional Stage take place in a different game than the usually-expected Sonic game, with Turquoise Hill's Dimensional Stage being an Alex Kidd in Shinobi World level. Dimensional Stages based on Bonanza Bros., Enduro Racer, Columns, Fantasy Zone, Gain Ground, and Alex Kidd in Miracle World are slated to appear as well, according to blog posts as well as a YouTube playlist created by the developer.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Due to the change in 2's plot, Tails is spared in the normal/bad ending and is seen running with Sonic during the staff roll.
• Timed Mission: Scrap Brain Zone Act 3 is now a timed Act, as you have to reach Dr. Eggman within 1 minute and 30 seconds before you lose a life. Likewise, in Scrambled Egg Zone Act 3, you have 30 seconds to guide a Sea Fox-esque drilling machine to the end of a tunnel to face Silver Sonic.
• True Final Boss: If you play as Sonic and Tails and have collected all of the Chaos Emeralds, an extra boss can be fought where Super Sonic battles against an escaping Dr. Eggman riding Sonic 3's Big Arm boss in a Doomsday Zone-style zone. Defeating him after that will unlock Espio and Vector as playable characters in the main campaign.

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