An infamous game turned to a 16-bit jokeWell, hey guys, so today, I was looking around in the RGR for some interesting games to review and contribute to it and I found this somewhat interesting Sonic 1 hack to review. Well, after I played it for a while, not as interesting as I thought it would be but oh well, why not review it? So anyways, let us get started right on to the review!
Intro: Somari?! Oh my... Please no....Of course, as you can see, that is why this game really caught my attention at first. This is literally like a 16-bit version of Somari, a very infamous game that resulted into several retro gamers possibly throwing up. (I'm obviously exaggerating here if you didn't notice, I doubt anyone really threw up). Anyways, now back to being serious, so, in this sonic 1 sprite hack, the sonic sprites were simply
replaced with custom made and somewhat poorly drawn Mario sprites which is basically like the official 8 bit Somari but in 16-bit for the sega genesis. That 8 bit Somari game was a game that everyone really didn't like due to it's low quality of graphics, gameplay... Well, nearly everything. So, Anyways, will a 16 bit version of an infamous game be any better than the original? Or is it very bad just like the original? Let us find out!
Gameplay: 8All I can seriously say here is that the gameplay is such a somewhat funny joke. Well, what I mean by "joke" for the gameplay for this sonic 1 hack is that it is not very bad in gameplay, it just does not make any sense. Now, let me explain why, firstly, Mario moves at the same exact speed as Sonic the Hedgehog, which is quite funny since Mario can't run that fast. Also, he jumps and rolls exactly like Sonic with the same exact physics. As in, this is basically like the original Sonic the Hedgehog 1 but with only sprite changes. Also, oddly enough, Mario can actually do a spin dash just like what sonic can do in sonic 2 and 3, which is hilarious. But still, I mean, it is kind of cool to see Mario jump and run around just like that but it just.... Doesn't work out. Though, I really don't have much of a problem with it and it can't have a low rating because the gameplay is pretty decent, but as we know, that is definitely not the real Mario we know. He almost feels like some kind of strange mutant trying to impersonate the real Mario. So, to basically compare this gameplay of this sonic 1 sprite hack to the original sonic the hedgehog, both Mario and Sonic run the same exact speed and have the same exact jump height except that this sprite hack actually have the spin dash, unlike the original Sonic the hedgehog 1 we know. Which is, I guess, pretty cool, but this definitely shows that is not the real Mario since he can't run as fast as Sonic nor can he do a spin dash. That is about it for the gameplay.
Graphics: 6Well, there is definitely some flaws in graphics for this game, mostly due to the modified and custom Mario sprites replacing the original Sonic sprites, now, let me explain it. So, let us first start with the title screen of this game, just look at how Mario looks like in the title screen. This is the first thing that comes to my mind when I look right at Mario in the title screen, "What the heck? Why does he look like this?" Okay, to explain it, Mario looks like some type of dumb person in the title screen just putting his hand up as if he has no idea what to do. He does not look heroic like Sonic or how a character is supposed to look like in the title screen. NOW, I do NOT mean to offend Mario or anyone here, just saying my honest opinion with the sprite, the real Mario we know of course looks awesome. Also, the sprite is very fuzzy kind of and very unclear in my opinion. Now, let's talk about the Mario sprites in game. So, the way Mario looks like in-game, is very.... Odd. He simply just looks very... furious kind of, as if he is hiding his anger for something. Is that the Mario we even know? Is Mario someone who looks like a very angry and insane person? Definitely not. As we all know, Mario either looks heroic and awesome or slightly expressionless at times, but not literally, furious. Also, at the bottom left corner that indicates how much lives Mario has left, just look at how his head looks like. It is just deformed.... Just nose is kind of too big, his head is too wide but short... Thats not how Mario even looks like in my opinion. Also, oddly enough, some objects and badniks seemed to have a few color palette changes. Anyways, other than that, all is exactly like the original Sonic the hedgehog 1 really. That is about it for the graphics portion in my review.
Sound: 8Alright, so, as the most of you can probably guess right now, the sound is pretty much the same just like the original Sonic the hedgehog 1. No changes were brought up to any sound effects and no changes were in the background music either, but still, much better than messing up the original good old sounds. Actually, I always liked the original Sonic the hedgehog sounds the best to be honest. Most other sonic hacks with modified sounds usually just mess up or the sound is just not as good as the original sounds if you know what I mean. The original sound effects were always of high and fitting quality and the background music is also very fitting and catchy in the zones, unlike the other modified sound hacks I have seen. Thats all I can say for the sound.
Addictiveness: 5Ehh.... Not so sure if I would ever want to play this game again to be honest. Like really, the Mario sprites pretty much disgust me (no offence if you are somehow actually offended from this) and I would rather play another Sonic hack with better sprites and cool special moves that is more well done than this game. That is about it for the addictiveness portion in my review.
Story: N/AIt's always best when I wouldn't judge much on the story for sonic 1 sprite hacks like this. Though, if you were to think about it more, it will be more like, "Dr. Eggman has evil plans, will
Sonic the hedgehog Mario be able to stop his evil plans? Help Mario stop Dr. Eggman!" That is pretty much how sonic games always end up like for their story, very simple, but, I do find it somewhat interesting to see Mario stopping Dr. Eggman instead of Sonic the Hedgehog but there is really no story offered in this sonic 1 sprite hack. So that is about it for the story portion in my review.
Depth: 7Well, I wouldn't say that the depth of this sonic 1 sprite hack is so bad really. I mean, it does have some made up version of Mario and all the original Sonic the hedgehog 1 levels. I guess it's safe to say that this is a much better version of the original infamous Somari after all. There isn't really much else to say here.
Difficulty: 7I'll have to say that it mostly depends on the zone you are in. Like green hill zone is normally a piece of cake meanwhile labyrinth zone is a very challenging zone and all the zones are exactly the same like the original sonic the hedgehog 1 zones. So really, some zones are easy, some are intermediate (in between easy and hard) and some can be very hard. Thats about it for the difficulty portion in my review.
OVERALL: 7.5Well, this sonic 1 sprite hack maybe some type of a joke I guess but it is still pretty decent. That is about it for my game review. Any constructive feedback or comments about my review always appreciated, thanks for reading and have an awesome day on vizzed! :)
Graphics
6 Sound
8 Addictive
5 Depth
7 Difficulty
7
User Notice 
-1.png "Mario in Sonic 1 (Somari) Title Screen")
-2.png "Mario in Sonic 1 (Somari) Screenshot 1")
-3.png "Mario in Sonic 1 (Somari) Screenthot 2")
