Sonic Boom's 'Sax Man Engine'

As you are all aware of, a very popular engine was developed simply known as 'Saxman's Sonic Boom Engine' (which can be found HERE). While the enhancements were all fine and dandy and yadda-yadda-yadda, I felt the one area that Sonic 2 was long overdue for is enhancements made in its sound. Well, I've developed the very solution. I present to you, fellow SSRG users...

Sonic Boom's "Sax Man Engine"!​

Q: What is 'Sax Man'?

A: Sonic Boom's 'Sax Man Engine', as I have officially named it, is an enhancement of Sonic 2's sound driver targetted [sic] at the very people who modify the sounds in their own hacks. It began as an unofficial sound revision of Sonic 2 by cleaning up as many sounds as I could. It grew into something more. 'Sax Man' includes a number of enhancements in the very foundation of Sonic 2's sound driver that allows for more high quality sampling, among other things. It is, of course, closed source. I will provide a full run-down of the current and upcoming features -- keep reading.

Q: Seriously, what's with the name?

A: Well, it's based on the greatest instrument...the saxophone. And I was inspired by 'Saxman's Sonic Boom Engine' (Sonic 2 engine enhancement). The name "Man" can be interpretted many ways, but in this case, it basically means to "man the fuck up and not fool around with sound anymore." That is exactly what Sax Man's purpose is. And as for sticking my name in front of it, well, that was a last minute choice to ensure you developers that you're not being bamboozled.

Q: Why should I care?

A: Hacking Sonic 2 is slowly becoming a thing of the past. It's less interesting to many people these days (myself included). The games are quite old now, not to mention there's tons of terrible Sonic fan games to keep our attention. But there's still life in Sonic 2 yet. 'Sax Man' attempts to bestow new life into Sonic 2's sounds and music. The initial release has a good number of features that I think people will find hard NOT to dance and sing to. And with the features that I am currently working toward adding, I believe it will become THE definitive tool for music and sound hacking of Sonic 2.

The first screen you'll be greeted with.​

FEATURES

**WAV to Z80**
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Being brought to you here exclusively, I have cracked the heavily encrypted WAV format to make conversion to the Z80 format as easy as a button click. Sit back and relax as 'Sax Man' takes care of all your sound needs; no copy-pasting code necessary here! "It is now that much more convenient!"

**Red Book to Z80**
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Are you reading this thinking "Well, Sonic Boom, this engine sounds handy and all, but I've already begun working with the Mega CD for my high quality sound needs!"? Well, abandon ship because I've taken care of that for you! No longer will you be forced to start your project all over again from the ground up simply because a "newer" and "better" engine has come along. This tool comes with a converter to translate your Red Book audio from the Mega CD and makes it ready to run on standalone Mega Drive hardware at no cost to the sound quality!

**Mega Drive Piano Roll**
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What?! I can sequence my own music straight from the Mega Drive?! Yes, now it is possible! Tired of having to settle for some mediocre tracker program to make your Mega Drive music or having to download a keygen for something cool like 'Fruity Loop Studio'? No more! The first time you create a ROM build using Sax Man, another selectable option on Sonic 2's title screen will pop up under the "Options" text that reads "Piano Roll". Select it and you will be presented with a screen that gives you a full range of controls that are just ripe for music sequencing ('The Miracle Piano Teaching System'-compatibility included). Best of all, your work can be saved! Exporting your tracks from the Mega Drive itself is a feature currently in production and will be demonstrated when it is public-friendly.

**Knuckles in Sonic Boom's Sax Man Engine**​

To any of you who might have been worried that lock-on technology would be incompatible with this brand new engine, you can put those concerns to rest. Enjoy the included high quality sound effects of Knuckles' gliding and climbing. This is THE definitive version of Knuckles in Sonic 2 that is a must-play!

**Sonic Boom's Sax Man Engine Lock-On Technology** (Coming Soon!)
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Yes, you read that correctly! Not only is this engine going to be available to use in conjunction with emulators, I am currently working with a team of Mega Drive experts to get this thing running on real hardware via its own cart. What other games will this cartridge support? Who knows?! Finding out will be half the fun!


Check out the following screenshots of the engine mid-action!

DOWNLOADS​

Sonic Boom's Sax Man Engine (with a Sonic 2 ROM Sample included) -- CLICK HERE

Sonic Boom's Sax Man Lock-On Cartridge -- Preorders are limited in quanity. Instructions on placing an order will be made available soon, stay tuned!

Sax Man Engine Tutorial -- WATCH HERE


Thoughts? Suggestions? Care to make a review based on your expereince working with Sonic Boom's 'Sax Man Engine'? Anything else you'd like to see added on top of the wide selection of working features in the near future? Post your ideas and opinions below; I'd like to hear from you!

Enjoy the true essence of Sonic 2's sound like you've never heard it before!

"It is now that much more convenient!"

 

Placing the jokes behind, this does look pretty damn awesome...

"Sonic Boom's Sax Man Lock-On Cartridge" that has quite the ring to it.

 

First of all, Sonic 2 hacking is not dead; I won't allow it!

Secondly, those screenshots of the engine in action is seriously impressive.

 

big fan of the Sax Man Zone music right here

 

Best project of the year. Beware of imitators. All that's missing is a sexy sax man dancing through the beautiful fields of the much-enhanced EHZ.

 

This is just the sex, man.