Submission #10029: Stockiel's DOS Sonic the Hedgehog in 01:57.280

DOS
baseline
(Submitted: SONIC.EXE World)
libTAS 1.4.7 + PCem 17+st-1
11728
100
225
PowerOn
3aedf883c08724d869a8c14d86b8d935
Use the late 90's pcem specification.
Use the linux-based create_iso.sh tool, not the windows one
Make sure you delete flash.bin from the .pcem/roms/ga686bx folder
Make sure .pcem/roms/86c764x1.bin is there
It also assumes a default NVR present rather than the one from the config in ~/.pcem/nvr
			
Submitted by Stockiel on 11/13/2025 12:09 AM
Submission Comments

Instructions on how to play the TAS movie

  1. You of course need the ROM, that's the first step. You can find it here. >>> eien86: Removing reference to ROM download. The game is based on licensed material. <<<
  2. Follow the PCem set-up guide here.
  3. If you followed the guide correctly and have the emulator and game set up, you should be good to go!

Intro

Sonic the Hedgehog for MS-DOS is a Spanish Sonic fan game released in either 1999 or 2000 by Virtual Dreams. The game also has wonky physics compared to the Genesis game of the same name, so it's kinda like Sonic the Hedgehog for the GBA, but a few years before that.

Goals

  • Try to beat the game as fast as possible
  • Perform stunts in specific areas, like boss fights
  • Input manipulation to make some areas faster

Levels

  • Green Hill (Fase 1) - Time: 0:28
    • The start of the game, nothing too special here, just run and jump.
  • Garfol Cyte (Fase 2) - Time: 0:18
    • The first boss fight, where you are in Star Light Zone but fighting Robotnik in his car from Sonic 2's Emerald Hill Zone.
    • The first stunt is here too, Sonic essentially bounces on Robotnik to defeat him, like how boss fights in Sonic the Hedgehog for the GBA works, but Sonic eventually starts bouncing on the spike of Robotnik's car... Weird hitboxes right there.
  • Pico Land (Fase 3) - Time: 0:28
    • This one is also like Green Hill, run and jump. But near the end, there's precise maneuvering to let Sonic keep his speed, since if there wasn't any precise maneuvering, Sonic would get hurt.
  • Final Timur (Fase 4) - Time: 0:15
    • The final stage with the final boss fight, where Robotnik has essentially became vulnerable, but not really, because he can shoot flames and spike balls out of his body.
    • The final stunt is also performed here, where Sonic hits Robotnik more times than normal, still don't know why this happens, because Robotnik's hitbox resets after a few seconds, not a few frames.

Emulation

  • libTAS 1.4.7 was used along with PCem 17+st-1 with the late90s package.
    • The TAS itself was made using Linux Mint Debian Edition 6 (Faye)

Screenshot suggestion for publishing

Other notes

I tried finding other improvements, specifically in Garfol Cyte where I tried to see if the power-up hidden behind a wall when you go left will improve the time, unfortunately, it was slower by about a second, so yeah. This is the final product. Hope you enjoy!

eien86: Claiming for judging.

eien86: Working with the author to get the movie to sync. Now requested an encode on their side

eien86: Got the sync, now to judging

eien86: Sonic The Hedgehog (DOS) is an obscure unlicensed game made by VirtualDreams Productions in 1999, based on the original Sonic game for the Sega Genesis. The game is made using the DIV Studio game making software using assets from the original game, and features two full stages, each with a boss fight. Overall, the game is pretty well made in that it very closely repllicates the Genesis game's physics (though not its pace).
This movie solves both stages with pretty much seamless execution in both the stage traversal and boss fights. I didn't find anything that indicates any evident suboptimality.
Congratulations Stockiel on your very first TAS! If you are going to TAS another DOS game in the future, I much recommend using Bizhawk 2.11's DOSBox-X core.
Accepting to Standard
fsvgm777: I'll figure something out with PCem hard-locking while dumping. Anyways, processing.
Last Edited by fsvgm777 on 11/24/2025 8:16 AM
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