Ranking the Sonic Hacking Contest 2025 Entries

The Sonic Hacking Contest has been an event I would get excited for every year since I first began playing Sonic rom hacks as a teenager. Each year the entries get better and better so I wanted to celebrate that by ranking all of the entries that I played in this year’s competition. I was limited to which entries I could run on my crusty laptop so I didn’t get to play them all but I treasured the time I had with all the ones I could play. Anyone making free Sonic fangames is a hero in my book even if I certainly enjoy some more than others

28. Sonic 3: Master Edition 3 SHC 2025 Demo

A rom hack adapting the multiplayer stages of Sonic 3 is a fantastic idea but unfortunately this comes wrapped up in an absurd difficulty hack that throws spikes and bottomless pits around every corner. I enjoy difficult games and I’ve certainly played enough Classic Sonic to be pretty good at it but this isn’t the fun kind of difficulty, it’s just frustrating constantly getting blindsided. Later on you will see a difficulty rom hack that implements the right kind of difficulty

27. Sonic West Quest 2025 SHC Demo

This wasn’t much better to be honest… West Quest changes the level aesthetics and designs of Sonic 1’s stages to worse, uglier variants. On the plus side it does expand Sonic’s moveset, giving him the spin dash and even a double jump. This even balances the double jump better than other hacks by having Sonic uncurl when you use it, leaving him vulnerable. That isn’t worth a lot with level design that feels so restrictive though. I never felt like I was being given opportunities to take advantage of the double jump. To top it all off the bosses are just as frustrating as anything in Master Edition so I did not enjoy my time here unfortunately

26. Desert Bus in Sonic 1

This made me giggle when I saw it on the Hacking Contest entry page. This adapts the infamous Desert Bus into Sonic 1. If you’re not in the know Desert Bus is a minigame that would have been included in Penn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors for the Sega CD. The game was cancelled but we have access to it now. None of the minigames were especially notable besides Desert Bus, a simulator where you drive a bus through the desert in real time. Your journey takes 8 real world hours to complete. No pausing, no brakes. This act in tedium was created as a joke but the internet has transformed it into a legendary challenge of patience and there are even charity events where people take up the keys to the Desert Bus for a good cause. I’ve never played Desert Bus (It’s on my list) but I flew to download this when I saw it. Unfortunately, as you might’ve guessed from it’s position on this list, I did not enjoy this one bit. Admittedly you’re not really supposed to but the entry’s description describes it (Or at least the shortened 8 minute version) as “a nice meditation experience”. I really love slow realist films like Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, which I would also describe as meditative, so I felt like there was a good chance I would enjoy this rom hack, more than the average Sonic fan looking for a speed fix at least. My experience was far from meditative however. You run along this path but have to constantly jump up to higher plains otherwise you will hit the bottom of the screen and die, having to start all over again. Don’t go too high though because if you hit the top of the screen you also die. Frankly this game is too hazardous to be called meditative, relaxing or even boring. I found it more frustrating than anything

25. Sonic Titanium

It may be a little early for a wintery rom hack but it certainly makes this entry stand out. Unfortunately whilst there are some unique ideas here it ends up being more frustrating than fun. First off the game won’t even let you start playing until you navigate to the options to input your age. This is a joke, I think? I don’t really get it and it’s a confusing first impression. Getting into the game it looks nice, Sonic has a unique sprite and the intense badniks actually go well with the wintery environment. It’s a cool and unique aesthetic, a high adrenaline Christmas. The level design is the real issue with this rom hack. High speed sections send you flying into pits and you have to make leaps of faith where you can’t see where you should land. This is made far worse by only having one life. This is another confusing choice since there are checkpoints throughout the level but they serve no purpose. It ends with a boss fight that is challenging but only because you only have a single ring whereas he has 15 hit points. Ultimately there is little here that I enjoyed

24. Sonic Vania

This one is quite experimental and aims to blend Sonic with another type of game. This turns Sonic into a Metroidvania. My curiosity peaked when I saw this. Metroidvanias are a genre I’ve been getting into recently, including the other Sonic Metroidvania fan game Sonic Chrono Adventure. Competing with LakeFeperd is a tall order but does Sonic Vania put up a good fight? No not really. Well that isn’t exactly fair, there are some aspects of this game I really enjoyed. Specifically Sonic’s expanded moveset. This gives Sonic a wall jump which I found to be tons of fun for vertical exploration. Sonic can also swing on ropes which I found to be the opposite, very frustrating. I even used the wall jump to avoid rope swinging whenever I could. I’m glad that the game allows for such freedom and player expression but it would have been much better if the rope swinging felt better to control, especially later on when it became mandatory. The aesthetic wasn’t doing much for me either. It was strong on a technical level but everything was overly bleak and frankly a little edgy. Usually I enjoy a bit of edge but this wasn’t doing it for me

23. Sandopolis at Absolute Zero – Demo

Sandopolis is easily the most hated level in Sonic 3 but I’ve never found it to be that bad. I can see why the puzzle elements would annoy players but there’s plenty of different paths and opportunities for little skips with spin dash jumps. That being said it’s certainly not the best zone in the game so replacing it with a new and improved version is a good idea for a mod, one that I’m surprised I haven’t seen already. Unfortunately I don’t think this mod achieves that goal. Starting off this isn’t very pleasing visually. It’s just a different colour palette which looks more sickly than icy. The level design isn’t awful but there’s a lot of spikes thrown all over the place and it’s definitely a step down from the original version. The boss is unchanged even visually and act 2 (which is the act where people really have an issue with this zone) is completely untouched. I’m sure the plan is to shake up act 2 and maybe even the bosses in later versions but as for this build that was submitted to the contest I’m giving it the cold shoulder

22. Sonic 2 Addendum – 2025 Demo

Sonic 2 has a lot of cut content which fans have been reincorporating back into the game for years. This project does the same and honestly it’s all been done before so I don’t see much reason to play the rom hack over it’s contemporaries. The level design for the recreated beta zones isn’t bad but it is a clear step down from the wonderful level design of the official Sonic 2 zones. You also have to play through a lot of those official zones to get to the new stuff. I didn’t mind playing through those levels again because Sonic 2 is my favourite game ever made but I could see this being frustrating for anyone who just wants to see what new content this has to offer. To top it all off my run was cut short when the game just crashed in Hill Top Zone

21. Sonic Spazdunka

This is the first of many entries that reconfigure Sonic 1 into a much faster game with new level designs and an expanded moveset. For most of the rom hacks that fall into this category I would describe them and their level design and Sonic 2-esque but here the speed is really ramped up, to the point where I’d compare this to Sonic Advance 2. That’s not necessarily a good thing though, hence this being the lowest ranked of these speedy Sonic 1 rom hacks. There are so many points in this game where you’re sent off with blistering speed, only to crash into an enemy that you couldn’t see coming. The official Sonic games (and most rom hacks even) would stop you with a wall or boulder, something to stop you in your path but not punish and hurt you. Another issue I have with this game is it’s aesthetic. To be frank it’s just ugly. All the colours are too oversaturated. I appreciate the attempt to hone in on Sonic’s environmental storytelling straight from the first level here with the polluted lakes but it hurts my eyes. All that being said I still had a lot of fun with this rom hack, primarily because of the expanded moveset. Sonic gets both an air dash and a double jump. These absolutely destroy bosses but they’re very fun to fling Sonic around with

20. Sonic The Hedgehog: Moonlight Isles

Now for something prettier, Moonlight Isles is a rom hack that really feels like the opposite of Spazdunka in a lot of ways. Moonlight is far less ambitious, not expanding Sonic’s moveset or even giving him the spin dash. This groundedness results in stronger level design but an unexciting experience overall. It does look nice! The (Moon) lighting gives it a calm atmosphere and I enjoyed my brief time with it but it didn’t leave much of an impact

19. Rush Tricks

Sonic Adventure 1 is the best 3D Sonic game so I was excited to see it getting some love in this competition. This adds the tricks you can do in the air for extra points from the Sonic Rush games. Nobody cares about points so the tricks are mostly for added style, although you can also get a little height from the tricks which may come in handy. This mod doesn’t change all that much about the game compared to other entries in the competition, I just think that this is neat. I don’t know if this was conflicting with any of my other mods but Sonic would also turn green when doing tricks which was funny

18. Sonic Like Legos

The concept of this rom hack is to take bits and pieces from the stage and rearrange them to make a new layout, like how you can take apart a Lego set and use the pieces to make something new. I can see how a creative process like this would be fulfilling and it resulted in a decent rom hack. The level design is quite slow and not very Sonic-like but there is some good platforming and exploration here so I did enjoy myself. My issue with this rom hack is how basic it is, even down to the engine and moveset being completely vanilla Sonic 1, with the speed cap and all. Sonic just feels sluggish compared to the other Genesis entries, let alone the fan remakes. The experience here reminds me of Sonic 1 on the Master System if anything. It’s more just a faster Mario than it is Sonic but I like Mario so that’s still good

17. Sonic is Alone.

I love horror so I kicked my feet when I saw a horror entry to the contest. Sadly I couldn’t get S1F: Horror Pack to work but I rejoiced when I saw Sonic is Alone towards the end of the entries. I certainly didn’t expect a kinda compelling narrative to come from this rom hack. It begins with you finishing Sonic 1, only for the game to tell you that now the world will be erased because of you. Then you run through barren versions of the game’s stages as the world continuously deletes itself. This ended up being a lot more meditative than Desert Bus in Sonic 1 was and it gave me time to ponder how despite being an environmentalist hero in these games you do totally destroy the world you’re trying to save whenever you close the game down. In essence you’re playing as the Time Eater from Sonic Generations, sucking up everything in your path because there is nothing else for you to do. This isn’t amazing horror storytelling or anything but it’s very compelling for a Genesis rom hack. I felt like I couldn’t place it any higher on this list since the gameplay itself is so basic but I really enjoyed this one

16. Debut Sonic in Giovanni’s Level Pack 2

This one certainly gets points for creativity. This is a couple of completely new, huge level layouts for Marble Zone and Scrap Brain Zone, based around a gimped moveset where you don’t jump as high and you need to activate curling into a ball by pressing the jump button again, rather than curling automatically. It was tricky to get used to this after playing Sonic 3 AIR where I can spin dash, drop dash and even recurl in the air after being launched off a spring with mods. I managed to get over this hump and found the rom hack to be a unique experience that I enjoyed, although I did miss Sonic’s wider moveset and I think I would have preferred just a simple mod where I get to make the most out of what Sonic can do

15. Sonic With A Pogo Stick

This is another one that made me chuckle when I saw it on the contest page. It’s just a funny idea that the dev ran with to it’s logical extreme. The physics for the pogo stick work well and it’s a fun new way to navigate through a couple stages. There’s not much to say here really, you’re either gonna see this and think that sounds fun and want to try it or you’re gonna think that sounds stupid. I found it very fun

14. Cold Peaks Zone

This one is another Sonic 3 AIR level mod that looks beautiful. Putting a new ice level into Sonic 3 is a daunting task considering that Ice Cap may be the best ice level in any game period but Cold Peaks manages to stand out. It’s a lot more fun and bouncy compared to Ice Cap. More of a winter wonderland aesthetic. The boss fight against Mecha Tails is a great addition since we never get a cool robot Tails boss fight in the official games. The transition where he grabs you and flies you to Angel Island is super cool. Really this fits in pretty well into the actual game which surprised me. Unfortunately I don’t think this is going to be a regular addition to my playthroughs since the level design is a considerable downgrade from Sonic 3’s other zones. That is to be considered for a fan mod but even compared to it’s contemporaries in this competition this zone runs a little long, with essentially the same ice block puzzle repeated over and over again

13. Sonic 1: The Green Emeralds

This one was a lot of fun. It’s another Sonic 1 rom hack that changes the level aesthetics and design to be faster paced like Sonic 2 but this one goes a little overboard in places. It just throws enemies at you which I wasn’t able to see coming a lot of the time. This is true of even the original Sonic games but here there’s tons of enemies even in the first stage. It never becomes too frustrating and besides from that the level design is good overall but I don’t know if I would call it especially well designed. It’s a fun experience for sure but there are other rom hacks before it and even in this competition that deliver the same ideas in a stronger

12. Pooka Party!: A Sonic 3 A.I.R. Boss Bash

Here’s a mod that changes a bunch of the bosses to original, more challenging fights. This was a lot of fun! It was balanced well so the bosses were tricky but not frustrating. I died my first time to a good number of them but I wasn’t stuck trying over and over again. They’re not amazing but they’re at least as good, if not better, than most of the bosses in the official game. The addition of a boss rush mode to get to the new stuff was also a nice touch

11. Sonic the Hedgehog: Borderline (SHC 2025 Demo)

Here’s a rom hack with a cool, modern aesthetic. It enhances Sonic’s moveset slightly by giving him a double jump. This is fun but there are other entries in this competition that do more and even a more satisfying double jump. The level design is fun and fast. Nothing here stands out as exceptional but it is all very solid

10. Ultimate Cream Cheese Flavor

Adding new characters is the bread and butter of the Sonic hacking community. There are countless rom hacks that add new playable characters. Cream herself has already been added to Sonic 2 in Pink Edition but here we get a mod adding her to Sonic 3 AIR. There are some issues with this hack, mainly some of the sprites don’t look great but that’s more than made up for by how much fun Cream is to use. It’s so fun having this little girl absolutely destroy any game that she’s in. Cheese the chao just flies across the screen to destroy any enemy or boss in his proximity. Giving Sonic 3 even more replayability is always a great service

9. Sonic Sunventure

This is an easy choice for the best looking out of the bunch. As opposed to a lot of the Sonic 1 rom hacks in this competition that transform the game into a faster experience this one sticks to the original game’s slower pace and I can see why. It’s clear that the dev wanted you to slow down and smell the roses, that is to say this game looks gorgeous and you’re gonna soak it in whether you want to or not! It’s a tough job to make me want to slow down in a Sonic game and this achieved that. That is an accolade to both it’s art and level design, which was fun enough for me to enjoy thoroughly despite the limited moveset

8. Amethyst Earth

Mods for Sonic 3 AIR feel like a natural extension of the rom hacks we’re used to getting in this competition and this mod in particular feels very reminiscent of the sort of hacks we’re used to. It’s short, only consisting of a couple zones. The level design is a little trickier than what would be in official Sonic games but nothing too extreme. The art is gorgeous and the bosses are a highlight. That all can be said for many of the most beloved Sonic rom hacks and it’s exactly how I’d describe Amethyst Earth. This definitely does it’s part to evolve and innovate though. Being a mod allows for things that wouldn’t be possible in a rom hack like these bosses. I saw that they were crossovers with fighting games and assumed they were joke bosses but no they’re really well designed and fun to fight. The in game achievements are a fun addition too

7. Unidentified Flying Rose Demo

There may have already been a mod for Sonic 3 AIR that added Amy in last year’s contest but this mod goes a different, unexpected route by giving Amy a jetpack. This is cool enough just cosmetically but it also lets you take to the skies in the new Sky Chase act. After that Amy lacks a spin dash and doesn’t curl into a ball when she jumps but she can use the double jump from Superstars and she can throw hammers. This projectile based combat is different from every other Sonic 3 AIR character mod that I’ve seen and it makes you fight all the bosses completely differently

6. Pac-Man in Sonic 3 A.I.R

The rom hacking and modding scene is no stranger to crossover characters. I’ve already talked about the fighting game crossovers in the Amethyst Earth mod but even as far back as 2011 fans were putting characters like Chip McCallahan, from Chip’s Challenge into Sonic 1. Here is a far less obscure character, Pac-Man! This mod comes along with a bunch of lovingly crafted new assets, giving Pac-Man original sprites, even for the special stages. He also has a totally original moveset, where he bounces around like his own Pac-Man World platformers. He feels really well balanced with the other characters, to the point where he’s essentially what I wanted Mighty to be in Sonic Mania Plus with his hammer drop ability. A huge asset of modding Sonic 3 AIR is how easily customisation options can be added, which this mod takes great advantage of. With the default settings I found it a little frustrating how Pac-Man doesn’t curl into a ball when he jumps, leaving himself vulnerable. I also found the sound effects to be cute but a little loud and grating. Navigating the options allowed me to change Pac-Man’s jump to the traditional Sonic jump and curl and an option for Genesis-esque sound effects that I found much more pleasant on the ears

5. Sonic 1: The Super Challenges

People have been hacking Super Sonic into the original game for years now but this packages that experience into a time attack mode where your rings are stored in between levels and you have to try to make it through the whole game without losing them all. It doesn’t sound like much but everything is presented so nicely and the transitions between levels are so seamless. It just feels so good to breeze through this game like this. They go so far as to add Amy as a playable character, rocking her double jump from Superstars, which is really unnecessary considering that Hyper Sonic has an omnidirectional air dash but it shows the love and care put into this rom hack

4. Sonic 1 on Bird Hill Island SHC 2025 Demo

This was a very nice surprise. To be frank this rom hack doesn’t look like much on the surface. It adds Tails and Knuckles to the game, gives Sonic his Sonic CD moveset and changes the level design and aesthetics but not to the point where they’re unrecognisable. That being said, I ended up loving my time here. It doesn’t do anything especially flashy but the level design, which is probably the most important part, is really good here. This is a great transformation from the more stop and go platforming based level design of Sonic 1 to the faster paced level design of Sonic 2. The bosses are also a straight upgrade from the original game. The bosses themselves aren’t really different but they arenas you fight them in are. The first boss for example is still the wrecking ball but now you stand on a curve. This is great because it raises both the skill floor and skill ceiling. The uneven terrain makes jumping and hitting the boss normally more difficult but it also allows more opportunities to spin dash jump up to the boss to take care of him more quickly. This is also one of the more comprehensive entries to the competition, especially for what’s being listed as a demo. It’s every level from Sonic 1 and it’s just as long as the original game. As much as I enjoyed this rom hack there are issues that stop it from being any higher on this list. It’s unimpressive aesthetically, audibly and especially technically. I found myself clipping through walls and even the floor at times. The description also notes that there’s a softlock for Knuckles which isn’t a great look or experience for anyone who wanted to give him a go. Regardless this is a fantastic time and absolutely worth checking out

3. Sonic The Hedgehog: To Be A Star

From the moment I first scrolled through the entries I was excited to check this one out. The aesthetics were giving great vibes, it looked impressive and confident. Did it deliver? Absolutely. To be a Star is a very short experience but one that is masterfully crafted. It’s only one level and a cutscene but that level is great and seeing the cutscene was the most exciting I was during the whole competition. The great presentation continues past the cutscene as Sonic has new sprites that look fantastic, to the point where before going ahead in the level I experimented to see all of the new sprites on offer. When I actually began playing through the level I found that it was unlike most Sonic levels. This one features mostly vertical progression. I found this to be refreshing and fun, to the point where I didn’t miss the spin dash. This is the rom hack I am most excited to see further developments of and I would not be surprised at all to see this one winning the competition but that doesn’t mean it’s my favorite, there’s still a couple entries left that i enjoyed even more…

2. Sonic 1 Unfinished Example

In this competition there’s a good number of Sonic 1 rom hacks that alter the level design to be more in the style of Sonic 2 and adds onto Sonic’s moveset but this one is my favourite. Really the level design here is comparable to Sonic 3’s with a great balance of platforming and exploration. There are extra lives hidden everywhere which is rewarding but you can also zoom through the stages at lightning speed. A huge part of the speed and flow here is the moveset. It’s not just the spin dash but you also get a double jump, a stomp and an air dash. So essentially you have access to all three of the shield power up abilities at all times. This just feels so liberating. It’s great for the exploration, platforming and speed. All three of these elements flow into each other seamlessly. My favorite part of the Sonic franchise, the platforming genre and maybe even video games as a whole is playing around with cool movesets and this scratches that itch better than any other entry in the competition! My only issue is the name, which makes it sound so unassuming. I suppose it is accurate since this doesn’t contain every level in Sonic 1 but this is a great experience and one that I would have missed out on if I wasn’t playing as many entries as I could and ranking them like this

1. Sonic Erazor

The reigning king returns. After winning the contest last year Selbi returns with a new version of Sonic Erazor that sweeps me off my feet again. Everything I’m looking for is here. An expanded moveset with my beloved jump dash and double jump, amazing level design, a unique aesthetic giving the game it’s own identity and technical mastery! You may remember from the very beginning of this list that I said there was another entry that does difficulty in the right way and this is it. It’s brutally challenging but very forgiving. It gives you infinite lives and plentiful checkpoints so the challenge is always exciting but never frustrating. The Micheal Bay action aesthetic makes the game more than just it’s difficulty. Selbi goes above and beyond, not just giving us this as a rom hack but a widescreen executable! I hate to be so predictable but this is an easy choice for the best entry

References:

Sonic 3: Master Edition 3 SHC 2025 Demo https://shc.zone/entries/contest2025/1290

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (GEN, 1993)

Sonic West Quest 2025 SHC Demo https://shc.zone/entries/contest2025/1235

Desert Bus in Sonic 1 https://shc.zone/entries/contest2025/1205

Sonic the Hedgehog (GEN, 1991)

Penn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors (Sega CD) Cancelled

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Weerasethakul, 2010)

Sonic Titanium https://shc.zone/entries/contest2025/1312

Sonic Vania https://shc.zone/entries/contest2025/1212

Sonic Chrono Adventure (PC, 2013)

Sandopolis at Absolute Zero – Demo https://shc.zone/entries/contest2025/1225