Sonic the Very Useful Engine. A hack that was just recently added to the RGR. How well does it stand up? Well, this review will tell you all you need to know.



Graphics are... Thomasified. Yes, that's a word now. 10/10

The first thing you will notice while playing this hack is that... there are a lot of interesting changes to the graphics. And all of them have to do with Thomas the Tank Engine. You see, that's the whole point of this hack in the first place .



The things that have been Thomasified

Now, I can't list every change, since there are a lot of graphic changes, but here are some of them.

-The rings have Thomas on them.

-The Chaos Emeralds are now the Thomas Emeralds, with a Thomas face on them for good measure.

-Dr. Eggman (or Robotnik) is now replaced by the Conductor. I guess conductors are evil in Thomas's world.

Aaand a lot of other graphical changes unique to each zone, and each enemy.



How good ARE the graphical changes?

You might be thinking that the creator just pasted a lot of Thomas heads everywhere. While you are sorta right, you are also sorta wrong. There are a lot of Thomas heads, true, but that's not it. Jaws have been turned into Thomas the Tank Engine, body and all. And honestly, the graphic changes are a big reason why this hack is amazing in the first place. Reason is, the Thomas heads look like they were meant to be there. It's weird to explain, but for example, the Thomas heads in the walls look like they were engraved there. Anyways, time for the sound...



The sound is also very Thomasified, with some other tracks in it. 7/10

The sound, like the graphics, have also taken on a Thomas theme. You might think that there are a lot of variety, but you'd be WRONG. There's literally like only a few different tracks, and only one of the tracks are played a decent amount.



The tracks

Thomas and Friends theme song- This track is dominant. It plays whenever you have rings, and in a Sonic game, you always want to have rings with you. It gives off the vibe of, well, Thomas. The problem with the track is that you're probably gonna hear it for the whole game. Eventually, you will want to turn the volume off. Not a good thing.

Cantina Band (Star Wars)- A brief part of this song plays when you are drowning. Enough said.

Have You Ever (The Offspring)- An orchestral version of the song plays in the "infinite water slide section" of Labyrinth Zone Act 3. It sounds awesome imo.

The Lonely Man (Incredible Hulk)- This plays in Star Light Zone Act 2. I don't even.

Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus)- This track is hidden until you do something special. More on that in the depth section <.<.



How well does it stand up?

Don't get me wrong, I think the selection of the songs are awesome. And the way they’re implemented are also great. The major problem is with the Thomas theme, with the reasons I've already explained above. And unfortunately, the theme takes away a few points on the grading scale, because of the repetitivity. Next we'll see how addictive the hack is.



Very addictive. 8/10

Did I mention that this hack got the Polygon Jim award in the Sonic Hacking Contest? Well, the award is given to the "most entertaining" hack. This hack is clearly very entertaining.



Simply put, you wanna experience the Thomasness

This hack is very addictive for one reason. Sure, the sound can get grating at times, and the gameplay is unchanged, but the reason it's so addictive is because of Thomas. You simply want to see what pieces of graphic were changed, and see the epicness of Thomas. Or maybe you just want to hurt your sides by laughing so much. Either way, you will be playing the hack a decent bit. The score gets lowered by the sound and other things, but it's still a very addictive hack.



So, what else is new?

There is a New Game +. Yes, there is a New Game + just in case you didn't have enough Thomas yet. It doesn't change that much, though. Well, at least the main game is very addicting. Unfortunately, the Story is something totally different...



The Story... is unchanged... what a missed opportunity. 5/10

The story for this hack is the same as Sonic 1s. Eggman (or in this case, the Conductor), has imprisoned all the animals in robots, and Sonic must break them all to save the animals and fight the Conductor. So yea... in a game where Thomas is everywhere, this is such a disappointment. There isn't much else to say... so, time to go to depth.



For a Sonic 1 hack, there is a little bit more depth. A little. 7/10

I already mentioned the New Game +, but what does it do, and how do you get to it? Well, prepare for secrets (and perhaps spoilers?).



What you will experience with New Game +

The code is sorta complicated, so you can just look for it yourself (hint: it's a familiar code <.<). Google is your friend :V. But, here are the things that were changed with New Game +.

-Whenever you collect a ring, not only with the Thomas theme play, but Sonic's face will have Thomas's face on it.

-Green Hill Zone's boss is the Conductor, with the wrecking ball, but Miley Cyrus is on the ball. Yes, you read that right. Miley Cyrus :V. (this is also where Wrecking Ball plays).

And that's it. It's something, but not much. It does make the game a little more enjoyable though.



The difficulty is the same as Sonic 1s. 5/10

Well, as this is mainly a graphical hack, and not a level design hack, there isn't much to say here. Sonic 1 isn't THAT difficult, some of the levels are hard, but it's in the middle for me. It's also fairly short, so playing it in one sitting isn't that hard.



Overall: 7.4/10 (if it were just for the lols, it would be 10/10 <.<)

Well, that's a fairly average score. Would I recommend it? Yes. This is a great game to play if you are either bored, want some lols, or just want to play a refreshing [or should I say, a rather non railway (dies from pun)] sonic hack experience. It has it's flaws, but it's still a good hack nonetheless.

Great work with this review, you did an excellent job of separating each section and then articulating all of the good/bad parts about each of them. I like that you are honest or blunt when discussing certain aspects of the review, you don't waste time dawdling on in hopes of maybe making a point, instead you just keep it straightforward when the time calls for it. 

Altogether, this review turned out quite nicely and you did a great job of conveying your overall thoughts/feelings of the game while keeping a truthful point of view. I don't think anyone could ask for more when it comes to game reviews. 


Keep up the great work!

I never play hacks, but you make THIS one look like a lot of fun for (former) fans of Thomas the Train. I also love your style; it's like a regular review but you take liberties vs the "regular" format, which makes it all the more interesting.