To celebrate Sonic’s 30th anniversary, a fan has remade the first Sonic the Hedgehog for the Commodore 64.
Sonic could potentially be the game franchise with the biggest amount of fan games. There are an untold number of fan takes on the blue blur. Sonic Utopia did open-world Sonic before he did, though it is mostly a proof of concept. Sonic Dreams Collection is a slightly horror take on the world, feeling something like a fever dream. And Sonic Mania is essentially an officially licensed fan game.
Now, mrsid has completely remade the first Sonic game for the Commodore 64.
The Commodore 64 wasn’t exactly known for beautiful looking games. It definitely doesn’t have the hardware capabilities to play Sonic on its own. So mrsid had to utilise an RAM Expansion Unit. These were hardware expansions that were designed to allow the Commodore 64 to have greater software capabilities. But they didn’t take off at the time.
This Sonic remake is the first game to exclusively use an REU, allowing the signature fast speed found in the first game. The game genuinely looks great, and it has a crunchier take on the soundtrack too.
Admittedly it looks a bit slower paced than the original release. But we can probably cut it some slack considering the hardware it’s running on. Fan projects like these are great to see because they really show off the versatility of certain games. SEGA would never be able to justify a Commodore 64 remake of Sonic the Hedgehog. So it’s down to fans to do the unthinkable.
What do you think about this Sonic the Hedgehog remake? Let us know on our social channels.
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Featured Image Credit: mrsid/ SEGA