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Homebrew developer Dave18 / Dave Douglas – the same talented fellow who ported the Master System title Astro Warrior to the ZX Spectrum Next – has done the same trick with the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog.
While it's very much a work in progress, the beta version remains an impressive feat – and shows just how versatile the next-generation Spectrum is.
"Following on from what I learned, [getting] Astro Warrior from the SMS to the Spectrum Next, I thought I'd try my luck with Sonic," says the developer, who acknowledges that there's still a lot of work ahead to bring the project to a satisfactory conclusion.
Sprite/tilemap prioritisation, for example, has been "implemented at a basic level. If Sonic is behind the tilemap, then all sprites in the central playfield appear behind." This is "particularly noticeable " on Stage 1, Act 2, as when Sonic is in water, his top half disappears," says Douglas, who says he will address this issue in a future update.
You can download the beta here.
The Master System version of Sonic the Hedgehog is interesting because it wasn't coded by Sonic Team, but by Yuzo Koshiro's Ancient, and is therefore an entirely different game to the Mega Drive / Genesis version.