Update []:
The eagerly anticipated fan modification, Sonic Megamix Mania, finally has a release date: February 6th, 2026.
If you cast your mind back a few years ago, you might remember us telling you about Sonic Megamix Mania all the way back in 2023. Described as "a fan-made modification" for the PC-based Sonic Mania Plus, it is being built as a successor to the famous Sonic ROM hack Sonic Megamix, a popular ROM hack for the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
Among its many features are a faithful remake of the content from Sonic Megamix “V.4.0b” in the Mania engine, alongside a new Megamix Mode, "built upon the foundation of the original", which reportedly "adapts concepts from the ROM hack combined with the team's own vision". It is being built by a group calling themselves Team Megamix Mania, which includes the project organizer, lead level designer Bánhegyi "Balibali" Balázs, level artist and lead designer Anthony "Troopsushi" Botsford, lead programmer Codenamegamma, and various other contributors (the full list of which is available here).
Here's the outline for the story, taken from the project's website, hinting at some of the playable characters included:
5 MONTHS HAVE PASSED since SONIC THE HEDGEHOG's previous plight against the nefarious DR. EGGMAN. Ever since their first conflict the two sides have been battling constantly, with victory being just out of Eggman's grasp. However, after years of fighting, Eggman had vanished after the incident on Space Colony ARK, leaving the world safely in Sonic’s hands - or so it was thought.
During this time of peace, the CHAOTIX discover a paper trail of blueprints to be built on an Island known as the Chiral Peninsula. These plans have Eggman’s name written all over them, requiring the power source of the Chaos Rings or Master Emerald. In his solidarity, Eggman was able to make a ton of breakthroughs using his research from Newtrogic Island. Now he is able to create robots that use positive ring energy as their power source, helping him stay under the radar of Sonic and G.U.N.
With this information in hand, MIGHTY THE ARMADILLO calls upon his good friend RAY THE FLYING SQUIRREL to warn Sonic the Hedgehog and KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA about their lead on Eggman. In this rare time of freedom, the flickies are able to repay their debt to Sonic after the events on Flicky Island. They prevent Eggman from using the Chaos rings, breaking them down into a plethora of blue, red, and yellow rings scattered throughout dimensions.
Without hesitation Sonic and friends travel to the Chiral Peninsula. As Ray drops them off one by one, he discovers an unconscious figure that looks similar to Sonic. Unbeknownst to Ray, he reawakens Shadow the Hedgehog. Without any recollection of his past, Ray decides to drop him off at the peninsula but as they approach, Shadow spots Eggman and orders Ray to chase him down. While it may just be intuition, Shadow feels the need to reclaim a sense of vengeance and recover his memories.
You can watch the latest release date trailer below:
Original Story []: If you've been around the Sonic online fan community for a while, you may have heard of Sonic Megamix. This was a fairly extensive ROM hack of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game that was released between 2005 and 2007 for the Sega Mega Drive, before being ported over to the Sega Mega CD.
Developed by a talented group of Sonic hackers including Stealth — an individual who later went to work on numerous official Sonic titles including RetroEngine remakes of Sonic 1 & 2, Sonic Mania and Sonic Origins — it featured new levels, characters (Shadow the Hedgehog and Mighty the Armadillo), music, abilities, and art, and has since become something of a legendary hack within the game's community.
So recently, when we became aware (via the filmmaker Garrett Gilchrist) of the V0.9 release of Sonic Megamix Mania, a new and improved remake of the hack for the PC version of Sonic Mania Plus (now available to download as part of the Sonic Hacking Contest 2023), we knew we had to dig deeper and learn a little bit more.
The hack, as described on the contest page, is a fan-made modification of Sonic Mania Plus, which includes a straightforward remake of the original Sonic Megamix with some improved art and slightly touched-up levels. That's in addition to a new Megamix mode that takes the core ideas of the original hack and gives it a fresh spin with plenty of new gimmicks, art, music, and level design. It is the work of Team Megamix Mania, which is a fairly large team comprised of artists, musicians, QA testers, translators, and designers (full credits here).
The current version of the hack includes:
- 12 Classic Mode Acts and The Final Fight
- 8 Megamix Mode Acts
- And 6 Diverse Characters (including Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Mighty, Shadow, and Amy)
It is available to download here for free, but you'll need a copy of Sonic Mania Plus on Steam in order to play it, in addition to the Amy Mania mod (should you fancy playing as Amy Rose).