The 2025 Sonic Hacking Contest was pure nostalgic joy

The Sonic community is a talented bunch. So much so that they host their own hacking contest each year to highlight how, through loving reimaginings, existing Sonic games can be given new life. This can span from the addition of a new character to a complete overhaul of an existing Sonic title. It’s bold, refreshing stuff, and we love to see it. 

Fans held the Sonic Hacking Contest earlier this month. A judging panel will decide which Sonic hacks are worthy of formal acclaim and will post their results on October 18. In the meantime, we’ve been trying out this year’s crop of sonic goodness. Here’s what we played and why it touched our hearts. 

✓ Videogamer Summary

• Sonic debuted in 1991, becoming Sega’s mascot, and has remained so to this day.
• The Sonic Hacking Contest is a love letter to the beloved hedgehog, offering fans a chance to offer their own spins on classic titles.
• Hackers introduce new characters, new levels, and sometimes complete overhauls of beloved Sonic titles.
• Sega is known for its tacit approval of fan projects and seems keen to let Sonic fans cook.

Sonic CD’s Scrapped Rounds – Demo 2

Cut levels from past Sonic games are the stuff of legend, and one from 1993’s Sonic CD is no exception. First developed as an enhanced version of 1991’s Sonic 1 from the Sega Genesis console, Sonic CD was instead made as a whole new entry, complete with time travel, a great soundtrack, and more. But since its release, players discovered a level select menu revealed that a mysterious ‘level 2’ was missing.

In subsequent interviews, designer Naoto Oshima stated that this level was called ‘Dubious Depths’, but was cancelled early on. The 2011 remake was also meant to have a new desert level called ‘Desert Dazzle’, but Sega also put a kibosh on those plans. This hack adds back the two levels, taking into account everything the community knows of them. This results in two gloriously realised stages.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) physics overhaul

It’s no secret that the 2006 release of Sonic the Hedgehog, meant to reboot the series, was a disaster. Debuting in an unfinished state, rife with glitches and boasting a bizarre central story, it’s a title that Sega (and many others) would like to forget. However, some in the community have given Sonic 2006 a second chance, with this hack being a prime example.

If you played the game on PS3 or Xbox 360 back in the day, you may remember how strange the physics felt for all characters. Here, they’re essentially fixed, meaning Sonic doesn’t feel like a lorry when players control him. The hack also delivers consistent momentum and even some new abilities for characters like Blaze and Knuckles. If you’re going to play Sonic 2006, this is the way to do it. 

Sonic 2 Addendum – 2025 Demo

Like Sonic CD, 1992’s Sonic 2 had some levels cut in the lead-up to its release; however, the omissions from the latter are, arguably, a bigger deal. Originally envisioned as a time-travel story, players could go back to earlier versions of Emerald Hill Zone and Chemical Plant, as well as visit a world overtaken by the series’ antagonist, Dr. Robotnik. A holistic approach was vital in Sonic 2, making cut levels conspicuous by their absence. 

In Sonic 2 Addendum, many of these cut zones make a comeback, such as the Sand Shower Zone, Cyber City Zone, and Hidden Palace. The time-travel aspect is absent here, but you get a game that’s almost as originally intended from the developers. Each stage features distinctive designs and compels you to wonder just what Sonic 2 could have been if the team had more time.

Sonic 3 Master Edition

In recent years, there’s been a rise in taking existing games and making them very hard to complete. Sabatu’s Tomb Raider 1 is a great example of this. In the Sonic community, a mod of 1994’s Sonic 3, called Master Edition, takes this concept and ramps it up to 11. First released in 2007, there have been constant updates ever since, transforming Sonic 3 into a fiercely challenging beast. 

This latest version of Sonic 3 Master Edition adds new features and refines existing ones. It includes three difficulty modes, as well as some of the power-ups and levels from Sonic 3’s competition mode; there’s a lot to like here. Like other mods that ramp up the challenge in other games, you’ll find yourself coming back to Master Edition, just to see how far you get before you reach the Game Over screen.

Sonic EraZor 8.1

What do you get when you combine Sonic 1 and pure, undiluted mayhem? Sonic EraZor. This hack gives players a different way of playing Sonic with new bosses, different palettes on existing levels, and a dash when you double-press the jump buttons. But what makes EraZor special is its refreshingly novel use of the Sonic engine.

For example, the special stages are now platform-based, requiring you to take tall leaps or risk going back to a checkpoint. What’s more, there are odd cut-scenes that move its story along, yet in some, you’re in control, making EraZor strangely cinematic. It’s a hack that simply must be played to be understood, but it stands as one of the all-time greats.

Sonic With a Pogo Stick

It’s Sonic With a Pogo Stick. That’s it. That’s the hack. 

Sonic With a Pogo Stick reinvents the original Sonic by adding increased elements of verticality alongside traditional momentum-based mechanics. It’s bold. It’s weird. It’s unashamedly, unremittingly Sonic. 

You can jump on enemies and build up speed to bounce long distances to complete the two-level demo. You can also play as Tails or Knuckles if you want to spread the pogo stick love. It’s a fun hack, and we’re hoping developer RobiWanKenobi completes the title in full. As a wise philosopher once said: What goes up, most come down. 

Wii PS2 Unleashed Project 

It’s not just the 2D Sonic games that see modifications in this glorious hacking event. 2011’s Sonic Generations has seen plenty since its release, with the community slotting in levels from past 3D Sonic games into the title as if they were always there. Wii PS2 Unleashed is another example, where every level from 2009’s Unleashed is playable in Generations.

This includes every Act 1 Day Stage, with all secret red rings to find, as well as the Gaia Temples and the quick time events that are scattered throughout. It’s very impressive, and makes us wonder if Sega missed a trick at the time by not doing something similar via official DLC for Generations.

Unidentified Flying Rose

Thanks to Sonic 3 AIR, an unofficial port of Sonic 3 and Knuckles on modern platforms, there has been ample opportunity for enterprising modders to get stuck in. As a result, AIR has been able to showcase plenty of brand new levels, but Unidentified Flying Amy could set a new standard. This builds on Amy Rose, who featured in Sonic Origins as a new playable character, but with some new features.

Here, you can throw her hammer at enemies, as well as use it to bounce off walls. But she also has a jetpack, letting players enjoy a novel sense of verticality. It’s very fun, and Amy’s art style looks far better than what we got in Sonic Origins.

Mean Bean 2 Tisuu

Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine from 1994 is an underrated classic. Based on the Poyo Poyo puzzle series, you must drop these colored blobs to clear the columns and rows to win the match. It’s simple, clean fun, but Sega seems to have forgotten about it, leaving the community to pick it up instead.

Mean Bean 2 Tisuu is an unofficial sequel to the original, which overhauls the original Mean Bean Machine with new boards, characters from other games, and fresh art that completely overtakes what came before. It’s very impressive and maintains the fun difficulty spikes that its predecessor was known for. If you remember Mean Bean Machine and yearn for a return to simpler, beanier times, then you’ll love this overhaul.

Sonic 1: The Super Challenges

Sonic 1: The Super Challenges is a great example of taking an existing Sonic game and adding a fresh challenge to it. You play as Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles in their super forms from Sonic 3. From the moment you start the game, you can pick from four modes: Island, Endless, Clock, and Randomised. The aim is to reach the end as fast as possible.

But Super Challenges switches up the levels by adding new hidden paths, a time attack mode, and more, all while your rings deplete. If they reach zero, it’s the end, so you have to be tactful in how you keep your favorite character in their super form. It’s a refreshing, novel spin on the Sonic 1 formula. The new artwork, including a fresh title screen and a shiny, re-imagined HUD, all fit the Sonic 1 aesthetic wonderfully. 

FAQs

1. About Sonic Hacking Contest (SHC2025)
2. EXCLUSIVE: From Sega CD to iPhone SSD, Sonic designer Naoto Ohshima talks 30 years of Sonic CD, Sonic Superstars, secret levels and sequels (iMore)
3. Desert Dazzle (Sonic Retro)
4. Sonic CD’s Scrapped Rounds – Demo 2 (SHC2025)
5. Complete Physics Overhaul (SHC2025)
6. Sonic 2 Addendum – 2025 Demo (SHC2025)
7. TRLEvision #7: Sabatu’s Tomb Raider 1 – SteveOfWarr (YouTube)
8. Sonic 3 & Knuckles: Master Edition (SonicRetro)
9. Sonic 3: Master Edition 3 SHC2025 Demo (SHC2025)
10. Sonic ERaZor 8.1 (SHC2025)
11. Sonic With A Pogo Stick (SHC2025)
12. Wii PS2 Unleashed Project Demo (SHC2025)
13. Unidentified Flying Rose DEMO (SHC2025)
14. Mean Bean Tsuu – SHC 2025 Demo (SHC2025)
15. Sonic 1: The Super Challenges (SHC2025)
16. Sonic 3 A.I.R. (Angel Island Revisited) (Sonic 3 A.I.R.)