Sonic Hits ZX Spectrum Next in Homebrew Port

In the UK retro scene, the ZX Spectrum Next has picked up an unexpected new project, a homebrew port of Sonic the Hedgehog from the Sega Master System. Developer Dave Douglas, known as Dave18 in the homebrew community, has brought Sega’s blue mascot to the machine in a work-in-progress build.

Douglas has already done similar work on the Next, including a port of the Master System’s Astro Warrior. This new Sonic build is still in beta, but it already shows how far the Spectrum Next can be pushed by homebrew coders.

The game being ported is the 8-bit Master System version of Sonic the Hedgehog, not the Mega Drive original. According to Time Extension, that version was made by Ancient under the direction of Yuzo Koshiro, which gives it a different feel and level design from the better-known 16-bit release.

Douglas has said the current build still has graphical issues to iron out. Sprite and tilemap priority is only handled at a basic level for now, so some sprites can appear behind tilemap elements. He has also pointed to Stage 1, Act 2, where Sonic’s top half disappears when he enters the water, a glitch he plans to fix in later updates.

That sort of problem-solving is part of what makes the Spectrum scene so enduring. The Next may be far more capable than the original 1980s machine, but it still rewards the same careful coding and technical patience that defined classic British microcomputing. For readers following the wider Next scene, the project is another sign that the platform still has room for ambitious new homebrew work. For more retro news, see our news tag.

Originally published by Time Extension. Read the original report.