Sonic: The Next Level is a fairly good hack, though not long. It improves the quality of the game play while keeping a Sonic 1/Sonic CD feel to it., and greatly compliments it with better, improved animations that you don't see in many games or hacks, at least ones I have seen. I just wish there were hacks like this that were a whole game rather than 3 acts. There aren't many 


Graphics: 9.5

The graphics in this are amazing, with all the colors, some unique enemies, and an amazing background, it is overall very good. Even just looking at sonic, you can see he has a lot more frames in his animation than normal. You can pretty much look anywhere and see some hard work put in. The only reason I don't give this a 10 is because it can be kinda hard on the eyes in the 3rd act, as it has A LOT of colors. Overall, this is still extremely good.


Sound: 10

The music in this is very smooth for the game style, but surprisingly fitting for the theme of the stages. I am not gonna list the names of the songs as they are meant to be secret (look them up if you want though) but they have been imported very well. Most songs ported to the genesis sound compressed to a point where they are unrecognizable, but here they stand up pretty well to the way they originally sounded.

Addictiveness: 6

Though being fairly fun to play with all the effort put into it, it still is a short experience, and doesn't take long to see everything, As I said, it is only 3 acts long, but still can take a little while if you don't know your way around. The problem is, its a sonic game, so your not gonna be in a stage for very long. It makes up for it with the gravity puzzles, and the graphics+sound, but it short length just holds it back, and I can't recommend this to anyone who wants a story involved either. Its a case of "quality over quantity".

Depth: 4

Like I said before, the game is short, and doesn't have a story to it. You are just thrown in to explore the new stages, and there isn't much to it. This isn't the type of hack to be played by people who want a long, lasting experience, or by someone who wants a lot of content either.

Difficulty: 6

This is a fairly challenging hack, maybe not to experienced players of sonic though. If your someone like me, who has played the series as a whole, but isn't the best at the game still, then it may be challenging. I don't feel like one to judge difficulty, but this is my personal opinion on how difficult this is for a sonic game. Not too difficult, but occasionally keeps you on your toes at certain points. I would recommend this to new players and experienced players alike.

Overall: 8.9

I was gonna give this a 9 from the get-go, but as I think about it, it really is held back by the fact that it is just so short, and it makes me sad that it isn't longer. Regardless of this fact, this is still a very good hack of Sonic The Hedgehog. There was still so much love and attention put into this, and all that makes this overall fairly good to me, and to others I feel, or atleast I hope.