Tech Demo Video: Taxman's Sonic CD Running On Dreamcast

As Sonic Mania grips the globe, more than a few minds have pondered whether a Dreamcast port would be possible. We even did a stupid video editing the launch trailer to include the Dreamcast logo. No one can imagine that Sega would commission such an enterprise, but the question remains, would it be technically feasible?
How did Namco's lawyers not catch wind of the blatant plagiarism?
Tom reached out to Christian Whitehead, aka 'The Taxman', one of the key persons behind the Retro engine that powers Mania and the recent ports of Sonic 1, 2 and CD to Android and iOS devices. He was optimistic that a DC port would be possible.
And just yesterday, a new post on the Sonic Retro forums provides some videographic evidence of such a feat being achieved. Forum member 'sonicblur' has posted a video of Taxman's 2011 remake of Sonic CD running on real Dreamcast hardware. While this isn't Sonic Mania, it is in the same family of games, running on the same engine, or at least an earlier version of the same engine. While the video shows many glitches and graphical bugs, it is still an impressive technical achievement.


Remember, sonicblur is quick to point out not to make too big a deal about this. He has little time to work on it, so don't expect to be downloading a disc image any time soon. There are also some copyright issues to be wary of, as Sega is still profiteering from the 6 year old game.

So don't get too excited, just sit back and bask in the warm glow of the knowledge that Sega's last little white box is still full of surprises, and in small corners of the globe, talented coders can still produce magic from its rusty, two decade old hardware.

12 comments:

Blondejon said...

Awesome proof of concept. Hopefully someone else will pick this up and run with it. Id like to request conversions of any gamne with the word "Shinning.." in the title as well :)

fanat said...

There's also this demo that you can download. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwVhHWnKAmE
Made by the same guy and it's the same engine as Sonic Mania.
Super early build though. Can't believe that you haven't posted about it Tom, as people literally told you about it in the FB group.
Here's the download http://www.sega-dc.de/dateien/spiele/RSonicDC.rar

Tom Charnock said...

Erm...I'm currently writing an article on it and am waiting for a new capture device so I can record a decent video. Thanks though.

fanat said...

Well that's the thing, this article and the Retro-Sonic DC demo are about the same thing: the Retro-Sonic aka Sonic Mania engine. So it seems weird that you fail to mention it in the article that's supposed to be about it.

Tom Charnock said...

You'll also note that I didn't write this article. Get off my back dude.

Sappharad said...

Just to be clear, Taxman didn't do this Dreamcast port of Sonic CD though. It was reverse engineered from the mobile ports and ported to Dreamcast from there.

Although the underlying game and engine was made by the same guy, this port was done without his help or knowledge. He was not involved.

DreamcastUK said...

Fantat, give Tom a chance he said he is waiting for a capture card to arrive and he didn't write this article so Tom didn't fail to mention anything.

Fantat, are you on the Facebook group then for Dreamcast Junkyard? If so what's your name on there?


doceggfan said...

Hi fanat,

It's almost not worth mentioning the Retro Sonic DC demo, as that came out in 2007-08, 4 years before the Sonic CD port, and a good 10 years before Mania. While the engine shares the same name, it's unlikely that much of the code would still be similar to what's used now in Mania.

This accomplishment of porting the 2011 Sonic CD is new news, and is closer in relationship to mania than the old 2007-08 demo. Granted, I could have mentioned it, but I didn't think it was that important.

Scott

Hiro said...

Imagine that the game comes out on the Dreamcast in physics, while the current ones are in digital.

And hell explodes.

It's a pity they give the excuses by saying that they have no potency, instead of saying that they can not put it into physics.

fanat said...

No, I won't get off your back. I'll scale it instead ;p No homo.

Doceggfan, actually the specific build available for download is from July 2006, so it's even older than you think.
However the rest of your argument is pure speculation ("unlikely that the code is similar") and therefore hardly holds any ground.
And even if it would turn out to be true it still wouldn't be a relevant argument: this is a *dc* blog, you're writing about a game which had a directly related prequel on the *dc* (the same dc that this blog is about ^^) in the form of a tech demo. So yeah, it's worth mentioning.

What is important is that it's directly related to sonic mania and one of it's developers - Taxman.

The Sonic CD version is not even directly related since, as Sappharad kindly pointed out, it wasn't ported by Taxman.

FYI, if I come off as looking for trouble - I assure that that isn't the case. I just like to argue, especially when I consider myself to be factually correct. And, I do not consider civil argumentation to be any sort of a bad thing. Quite the opposite. Cheerio :D

Tom Charnock said...

Haha! No worries man. Apologies if I got a bit touchy XD

hoogafanter said...

Yeah, cheerios