Peru’s FAKE Sonic on SNES

Sonic the Hedgehog on a Super Nintendo, rescuing Mario from a cage? Back when Sega and Nintendo were still bitter rivals, this fake Sonic for the SNES made it happen, without either company’s blessing. Under the hood, it’s a ROM hack of Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos (Sunsoft, 1995), created in 1996 by Twin Eagles Group, a crew of Peruvian hackers. The title screen simply reads Sonic the Hedgehog, but later pirate carts sold it as Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and some even put Sonic & Knuckles on the label. Since the hack mainly swaps out graphics and sound, it still plays like Speedy’s game. You free caged prisoners, except the mice are now Marios who yell “Mario!” instead of “¡Gracias!” The cheese became rings, yet they won’t save you from a hit: health is still measured in hearts. And forget the spin attack. Sonic fights with the kicks he inherited from the mouse. Most of Sonic’s sprites were lifted from Sonic 2 on the Genesis, with his hanging and swinging poses borrowed from Sonic 3. The speed shoes and 1-Ups were completely redrawn, and the new voice clips, including a cheerful “Sonic, Sonic!”, were apparently recorded by the hackers themselves. Look closer and the seams start to show. Large chunks of the backgrounds are replaced by shades of red, and only the boss arenas are spared. One of the reds in the clocks, hearts, Tabasco bottle and its flame turned yellow. Even the dust Sonic kicks up changed color, since it shares his palette, and the sliding doors in Galactical Galaxies got a fresh coat of paint, not for the better. With no Sonic equivalent for drinking Tabasco or breathing fire, those animations were patched in clumsily. Then there are the cuts. Three of the original’s seven worlds were scrapped, along with the opening cutscene, the world map, the pre-level screen, most of the soundtrack and the artwork on the continue and game over screens. At least you start with 16 lives instead of 3. The final boss is where things really break: land the first hit and the music turns into a garbled tune while the sound effects get corrupted. Beat the game and the original ending is nowhere to be found. The bootleg signs off in total silence with a few heartfelt messages, like “Sonic loves Nintendo, Mario loves Sega”. A few years later, Sega left the console business and Sonic finally landed on Nintendo hardware for real. The same hackers also made a second Sonic for the SNES, but no cartridge has turned up yet. If one ever surfaces, you’ll see it here, so subscribe and don’t miss it! Fake Sonic on SNES, Sonic the Hedgehog SNES bootleg, Sonic 4 SNES, Speedy Gonzales Los Gatos Bandidos hack, Twin Eagles Group, Sonic and Mario, Sega vs Nintendo, Super Nintendo pirate game, unlicensed SNES games, bootleg games, pirate games, unlicensed games, rom hacks, homebrew games, retro gaming. #SonicTheHedgehog #SNES #BootlegGames ⚠️ DISCLOSURE / CREDITS All gameplay footage in this video was captured, synchronized, and edited exclusively by Pixaplin. No third-party footage, compilations, or reused material from other channels has been used. This video is a transformative work created to document, analyze, and review video game history, gameplay mechanics, and cultural impact. All scenes have been curated, structured, and edited alongside original commentary to provide an educational, analytical, and entertaining perspective on the titles featured. This production is 100% original, created solely for this channel for educational, review, and historical preservation purposes.