Sonic Megamix Returns

Stealth reveals reason behind “cancellation” and more

Many were disappointed to learn of uber-ROM-hack Sonic Megamix’s cancellation. After a cryptic message stating that the cancellation was “nobody’s fault”, Megamix saw it’s final release on August 14th, 2008. It is today we learn that wasn’t exactly the case.

A topic in Sonic Retro’s “Engineering & Reverse Engineering” sub-forum by Sonic Megamix coder (and E02 Engine Developer) Stealth reveals that “Megamix was only actually ‘cancelled’ for a maximum of three days“. Declaring the circumstances behind the cancellation were nothing more than a misunderstanding, work on Sonic Megamix has continued, in secret, for the past 6 months. On its return to the public spotlight, Stealth had this to say:

“The situation is this – As was Tweaker’s intent when he left, I am taking a more active role in this project’s presentation. It’s not as if this changes anything, as I’ve been lead programmer and co-producer since I first helped Tweaker turn this into more than a hex palette and music hack in 2004.

(…)

The only difference is that now, Tweaker has taken a more relaxed role in development. We aren’t changing staff, direction, or any of that business; you’ll all just have to get used to the fact that there are and have been more people involved than you’ve paid very much attention to, and we’ve all had very important roles in development. This isn’t Tweaker’s fault – he tried many times to tell you in explicit detail. You’ve just largely not paid the fact any attention.

With that said, you know how I feel about my projects, and this is no exception. It never has been, less of Tweaker’s over-zealous promotion. I am protective, and I will remain so. We will do what we please with this project, and on a time-table of our own choosing. Requests and questions about release dates are annoying and pointless. There will be no further demos, or even “private” beta-tests. Fact is, Megamix was supposed to end development with “version 4″ (at a later point in time), until this mess happened. There is no way we can possibly make another non-final release and keep it substantially fresh. Trust me – you’ll thank us when you have much more to play with all at once than one level at the end of the game and a couple of menu text changes.

This doesn’t mean that there won’t be occasional teaser updates. I generally don’t like those, but development will be long, and some of the rest of the team just can’t keep their pants on.

(…)

Finally, and this is important, we reserve the right to halt completely at any time. We owe a debt to no-one, and we don’t have to publicize any newer builds. All we ask for is some decency and respect. Don’t launch into actual complaints about how we choose to handle our business. Don’t rip us off solely for the sake of riding off Megamix fame. Also, don’t go asking for or looking for things that don’t belong to you. If we hear about the leaked material, or see it being spread/used, that’s it. If you want to do our jobs for us, we just won’t, and when you can’t handle it, you’ll only have yourselves to blame.

Otherwise, we will be happy to share further Megamix developments with you.“

And share he does, as with this news comes a new Megamix video, showing Sunny Shores and it’s new boss fight, recorded from real Sega CD hardware.

Within minutes, many other members of the Sonic Megamix staff posted videos of their own to the thread, including a look at the revamped Dark Fortress Zone as Shadow the Hedgehog:

We here at TSSZ will keep you posted on further developments.