Yoshi and Sonic were two of my favourite characters growing up. Heck, they still are. I can remember playing both Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for hours after I was supposed to have gone to sleep, which was really my parents' fault for allowing me to have a little CRT in my bedroom. They were two characters that were beloved by all but would never cross, both being posterboys... animals, for their respective companies.
You guys know I love a ROM hack, and while doing the rounds the other day to see if there were any new adventures to play, I came across a ROM hack by Xenowhirl that I had no idea existed - Yoshi in Sonic The Hedgehog 2. Yes, two of my childhood favourite games fused together, using each other's game mechanics in a way that creates the kind of nostalgic adventure I could have only ever dreamed about.
How mad is that! Seeing Yoshi in the title screen for possibly the most famous Sega game of all time is incredible, and the gameplay is just as fun. Essentially, players play as Yoshi instead of Sonic, with Sonic riding along on the back of Yoshi like Baby Mario in Yoshi's Island. It changes the way you think about the levels in Sonic 2 entirely, as well as how you deal with the enemies and boss battles.
Credit: Xenowhirl/Sega/Nintendo
Suddenly, when Sonic takes a back seat and Yoshi takes the lead, the levels feel much more like a Mario platformer, especially with Yoshi eating enemies and turning them into eggs. You tend to move more slowly, and you end up looking at everything in a much different light. That is, when you're not looking at how cute Sonic looks just chilling out on Yoshi's back. Someone give him a sugary snack to chomp on already, the little guy looks hungry!
Credit: Xenowhirl/Sega/Nintendo
There are different Yoshi's to play as as you travel through memorable Sonic 2 levels, flutter jumping and dashing to victory. Honestly, I love ROM hacks like this that fuse together characters that never should have been in the same game back in the 90s. I know we've seen them both compete alongside each other in the Olympic Games titles, but this would have been downright sacrilege during the console wars!
You can find out more about this great little mash-up over on the official project page!
