10 Great Sonic Mods in the Steam Workshop

The decision between playing something new from the backlog or something that you already love is always a hard one. But what if you could play something you love that IS new? Thanks to Steam Workshop, and a copy of SEGA Mega Drive & Genesis Classics, you can do just that!

As a bit of a Sonic fan, I went looking into mods for the first three classic Sonic titles, to see what I could find - here are 10 of them in alphabetical order.

Metal Sonic Hyperdrive

(Sonic the Hedgehog)

It would have been a crazily ambitious mod if it just had Metal Sonic, along with completely new zones. Then you add two speedy moves, with their own unique animations. But then you discover that there’s a hidden menu (press C on the start screen) that lets you play as five different characters!

Did I mention that one of the characters is Kirby, and another is Mario (under the name Somari the Adventurer)? And that everyone has their own unique moves (except Mario & Sonic who share the spindash)? This is a fantastic mod, even discounting the fact that I love Metal Sonic (AKA Metalix, right fellow Sonic The Comic fans?).

Metal Sonic Rebooted

(Sonic the Hedgehog)

What appears at first glance to be a lesser sequel to Hyperdrive, as you only have the basic spindash, there’s actually more to it than that. There are certain monitors which will give you a buddy, in the guise of a bomb on two legs, which will follow you around and help you out.

Also, the other speed move is present, but now costs five rings each time you use it. On top of that is the double jump for five rings, and if you collect over 200 rings you can go into Overclocked Mode. In a nice touch, you retain your rings between zones.

Mobius Evolution

(Sonic the Hedgehog)

A complete mod which allows you to play as Blaze the Cat as well as the titular hero. You have the spindash, but other than that both characters play the same.

The level designs are great, with some new mechanics such as speed ramps, hot air balloons and hang gliders. The bosses are also new, rather than changed-up originals.

Sonic 1 Dragon Edition

(Sonic the Hedgehog 3)

You start off in the Green Hill Zone, but there are no enemies and it’s been redesigned. That’s because this is the hub, and you have to pick which zone you’ll go to next, via giant rings.

With everything completely redesigned from the new zones to some of the enemies within, this is one of the more challenging mods on this list.

Sonic 1 Megamix

(Sonic the Hedgehog)

One of the more interesting, if not fully functional mods, it added five playable characters with unique movesets, new level layouts and new music. The version available on Steam is kinda broken, but if you look around you can get an updated version of the mod that works on the Mega CD.

It’s a shame that it’s unfinished, as the framerate is in constant flux and there are glitches all over the place. However, it adds a homing double jump for Sonic and Shadow, so it’s definitely a blast playing through it.

Sonic 2 Versus Edition

(Sonic the Hedgehog 2)

Occasionally you don’t want Player Two to faff around taking bullets and risky jumps for you, you want to grind them into the dirt and make them eat your dust in Versus mode!

There are changes to the original mode, of course, making things a bit fairer for both players. There’s no single-player content to this mod, but thanks to Steam implementing Remote Play, you can ask people on your friends list to join you for a thrashing. Just maybe don’t phrase it that way.

Sonic Classic Heroes

(Sonic the Hedgehog 2)

Not only does this mod allow you to play through the first two games in a row, not only does it allow you to play as one of two teams of three characters, and not only is one of those teams Chaotix. But you have two options - let them run around like Tails usually does in the base game, or connected Knuckles Chaotix-style.

If you’ve never wanted to have two teammates who might occasionally get stuck on the opposite side of something, forcing you to struggle or risk getting dragged to your demise, then you’ve never wanted this mod. But you have and do.

Sonic ERaZor

(Sonic the Hedgehog 3)

It may reuse some things from the original game, but adds so much more. Rather than a general idea of a story, this adds in cutscenes and text to make an actual storyline, as well as a tutorial.

It is one of the most difficult mods on this list, as the new mechanics take some getting used to, and the difficulty is very high. There are no Game Overs, as you’re expected to die constantly and learn from it.

Sonic Halloween

(Sonic the Hedgehog)

Perhaps the most weirdly specific mod on this list, it’s more than just a reskin! Well, it is that too, with bare trees, spooky badniks and pumpkins all over the place, but it’s so much more.

The levels are redesigned, the music has been spookified and the bosses have been vastly improved. By which I mean they are more difficult. Not to spoil it for you, but you’ll see what I mean when you’ve dealt with Robotnik for the first time…

Sonic Zoom

(Sonic the Hedgehog)

With an aesthetic that evokes the Master System Sonic titles, it would be easy to recommend this based on the art style and nothing else. However, I can recommend it on other things.

The zone design is great, the bosses are varied and, again, the art is fantastic. The music isn’t half bad either!

Special mention:

Doctor Robotnik's Creature Capture

(Sonic the Hedgehog)

Did you ever wonder how Robotnik got all of those little animals to shove inside badniks? Well, now you can find out exactly. Run around timed levels to catch a set number of cute animals one by one in a net, then put them in a capsule. If you run out of time, Sonic will bust the capsule and free them all!