Long story short: rebuilding Sonic the Hedghog 2 of Genesis fame from the ground up using original high res graphics built from the original low res sprites. They're also talking about a level creation system whereby levels not originally appearing in Sonic 2 could be created.
To be honest, I'm kind of hoping they'll generate graphics for other characters of the Sonic universe that appeared in other Genesis era games. Rather than making it "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" with high res graphics, make it a definitive Genesis era kit of all the great Sonic platformers (imagine a game engine that could play all levels from Sonic 1 to Sonic and Knuckles). I bet they could even adapt much of the recent 2D handheld stuff, although I suppose if they did, it'd probably be built on generic artwork rather than recreated artwork like the Sonic 2 stuff is. And really, it's not just Sonic 2 as-is, because they're adding in functionality for Knuckles right from the beginning, as well as potentially having online multiplayer and built-in additional levels. Maybe just the ability to swap in characters would be good too; that way a person could create a sprite set for Sonic (and potentially other base characters...) based on the more modern incarnations. I think they might even be considering doubling the frame rate and creating inbetweens for smoother animation.
Anyway, I've been trying to keep a pulse on this, and they released the tech demo yesterday. I checked it out and it looks really promising. I was a little worried that they were plowing through all the necessary artwork and they wouldn't have the programming to back it up, but they really delivered.
I took a few screens from the demo for anyone not wanting to bother downloading a demo with nothing really to play. They're not levels or anything, just a screen where you can move around and test out the physics. Knuckles is also available in the demo (although not in high res because his artwork isn't done yet), and his gliding and climbing abilities seem to be working flawlessly. Check out the 1x one first... you might not even be able to tell that it's running on new high res graphics, that's how true to the original it is in it's take on the graphics:
Title (they even animated Sonic popping up and throwing his thumb back like he did on the Genesis)
1x
2x
4x
I think I prefer the 2x one. More visibility of the world around you than the original, but still having a character of reasonable size/depth.
I just hope they can complete it without getting killed by Sega.
ps this is a community endeavor, so if you have skills with graphics, programming, or music, you might be able to help. Check out the forum.
pps im really glad i could get through this post without mentioning super street fighter 2 turbo hd remix OH ****
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