Based on an idea from Rayman on the original PlayStation from way back in the mid-1990s, this hack of Sonic the Hedgehog borrows an interesting gimmick I never knew existed. Basically, take the creature from It Follows and make it visible, a copy if you will, of Sonic, that mimics your moves. If it catches you, you die. Simple. Such a cool idea that I wish more games, especially 2D ones, would be implemented as it would add tension to most titles.
Sonic Has a New Shadow
The idea is what caught my eye when I was perusing the ROMHacking.net website and saw something about Sonic the Hedgehog 1 but your past haunts you. The title definitely caught my attention because, well, what in the world could they add to Sonic 1 to make it better?
Apparently, I was close minded as this is an awesome idea. It makes the tried and true classic scary, dangerous, and forces you to keep moving – something Sonic 1 does quite well – movement. I don’t see this working all that well on later Sonic games but would love to see the developer, or someone else, give it a try to see.
Ghosts of the Past
The delay is only a few seconds, nothing major but still a bit of breathing room before the inevitable happens. That is just enough to build tension in later parts of the levels where movement is somewhat hindered.
I never knew this was a feature in the original Rayman game, at least on PlayStation. It was called Dark Rayman there. Had I known it was a feature when you beat the game, I probably would have purchased it back then. It is an amazing tweak today and I can only imagine how amazing it was back in the 90s.
Sadly, I have no clue of this type of feature being available in other games. I can easily see it adding a TON of tension though.
What games would you like to see implemented like this? Obviously, the 2D Super Mario games would be a given, but could you imagine the 2D Zelda games with a similar mechanic? Not only having to focus on the quest but now death literally a few seconds behind you?