The version PAL regions should have got back on release day in 1991 but ended up with a slower version.

This Sonic 1 hack is like no other out there! The game runs at 60Hz speed in 50Hz when booted up on a PAL Sega Mega Drive console or on the (Europe) setting on an emulator. vladikcomper was able to achieve this by speeding up the game clock by 17.5% and even managed to use more of the extra PAL resolution on the top and bottom of the screen making it so you can see more of what is on screen. The PAL resolution is now using 320×240 instead of NTSC’s 320×224, so the borders are almost completely gone in PAL 50Hz mode and you see more of what is on screen than not only the standard PAL Sonic 1 version but also see more on screen than the NTSC 60Hz version.

The music is also optimised to match, the extra graphical effects such as Green Hill’s cloud scrolling effect, Labyrinth’s rippling water and Marble and Spring Yard’s different layered scrolling backgrounds are all here and it features the spin dash making this leaps and bounds better than playing the original in NTSC 60Hz.

The title cards move very quickly as well.

NOTES:

1. The Special Stages remain unoptimised and still feel floaty at default 50Hz because vladikcomper stated that he forgot to alter rotation matrix calculations in the Special Stages to accommodate for the larger screen, so the layouts appear slightly off-centre. It even overdraws sprites as if the game is running in widescreen, because this very source code is also a base for his next hack, Sonic 1: Widescreen Edition. This hack was made in 2022 so it looks doubtful this will ever get fixed in a future release as vladikcomper has gone onto other Sonic projects since then.

2. If the hack is booted in 60Hz a message will display telling the player that by forcing the hack in 60Hz you won’t get the extra benefits from PAL such as a higher used resolution and to play the game properly it needs to be booted up in PAL 50Hz. Pressing A and start at the same time will remove this screen and game will start like normal in NTSC 60Hz but without the extra PAL benefits.

3. The hacks is called ”240P 4K Edition” meaning it has a resolution of 320×240 pixels (not 240 progessive scan). 4K because it is the only game on the PAL Mega Drive that can output a perfect 21604K image on a smart TV by using a special upscaled 4:3 Integer Scale all made possible by the hack’s extra PAL resolution. This can’t be achieved when running the hack in NTSC 60Hz as the resolution reverts back to standard 320×224.

Redhotsonic’s Youtube video explains this in greater detail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUsKCM5oc0M&t=469s

4. If you’re thinking the game is gonna run at 70Hz when booted in 50Hz and then in-game switched to 60Hz, think again. The game crashes as soon as the refresh rate is changed.

CONCLUSION: This Sonic hack is every PAL gamers dream come true! It is the way the game was supposed to play in PAL 50Hz back in 1991 but due to time constraints or Yuji Naka’s inexperience at the time, the game went released in PAL regions 17.5% slower.

This hack by vladikcomper sadly doesn’t get much recognition or overall praise from the community since it’s release and I think that is down to the fact that a higher majority of retro gamers prefer NTSC 60Hz from the get-go and can just play the original at 60Hz all along and the fact that this hack came out way too late in the community to make much of a noise. People have moved on and so it’s a case of ”too little too late”.

If you’re a PAL 50Hz gamer then this is for you! If not, you’ll probably pass on this.

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