Super "Sonic Saves the World" World is a kaizo-style romhack for NTSC Super Mario World. It stars Sonic the Hedgehog in a subversive 4th wall breaking adventure that parodies and has fun with video game culture and humor.
The creator of this hack is completely unknown. The game credits "allegedly Maddy", which many have speculated is a reference to Maddy Thorson, the lead creator of popular platforming games such as Celeste and TowerFall. This is not to say that they are the creator. The game features many other video game references, with this being another one. There is no evidence linking them to the creation of this game.
The creator wishes to remain anonymous. In the files shared with the game, the following statement was included:
Additionally, anyone who claims to be the author of this hack is a liar
The true author will never publicly acknowledge their creation of this work
The game uses resources sourced from a large pool of creators, who are additionally credited, but not directly linked to the creation of this game. The game's creation was made possible in part from these creations of other members in the community being made publicly available for free.
The game was released under the pretense of being "ShareONLYware"; a game meant to be passed directly from individual-to-individual only. This limited who was allowed to play, contributing to further an air of mystery around the game. Opinions on this decision are mixed. Some enjoy the novelty and small community feeling it provides, while others dislike how it prevents people who are not from the correct communities from participating.
In another act of subversion around the game itself, the creator wishes for the game to not last forever, mentioned multiple times through the "DontReadMe (Forbidden Knowledge).txt" file. This ties in with the idea of sharing "exclusively through individual-to-individual sharing", for the work itself to spread like ideas would, or be preserved in the way of oral history, and question if anything is eternal.
The point of origin for it's first release is unknown. It started gaining reputation around the end of November 2021 after streamers began streaming the game on platforms such as Twitch or YouTube. The "individual-to-individual" sharing makes it difficult to follow how and where it spreads.
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Why upload?
Because video game preservation matters.
The "DontReadMe (Forbidden Knowledge).txt" says "I'm not the boss of you. You should play this game in whatever way makes it most pleasurable for you."
This is how I choose to play.
